The Portland daily press., 1889-09-05
Foreign Notes.
The Union station and the hackmen

To the Editor Of the Press:
In one respect your editorial Of this morn
ing, in relation to the Union Station and the
hackmen, views tine matter from an errone-
GUS standpoint. The suggestion that 1t Is
easily possible to find means Of suppress
ing this practice" without requiring them to
take off their badge, is not sustained by ex-
perience. Rules against soliciting In the sta
tion have been In force in many places, and
The universal experience was that they were
successfully evaded to an extent that made
the practice an intolerable nuisance. 1t Is
found that the 'cearing Of the badge is in,
and Of itseB, an exceedingly successful mode
OF soliciting IN The pditinl rooms. For this
reason. and In consequence Of the facility
with which all other rules that have been
%ay Oe as gas IN % as
ed, not only by the station authorities, but
by the managers Of the railroads, as abs0-
lutely essential to the proper management Of
their business. The sticking to the present
credit" but Of downright business necessity
In the view OF men whose experience enti-
ties their judgment to consideration.
That the present situation Is "a very alb
surd state Of things" l cheerfully concede I;
but In our view we are not responsible. 1t
W
In the newspapers, but i may be permitted
to state that we hold, In the first place, that
the present ordinance does not cover the case
OF taking of the badge In the station, any
department Of Boston conflicts with the
same rule OF the railroad companies In that
city; In the second place, we hold that IL Is
beyond the rightful power Of the city to
make 1t an offence to comply with regula-
tions deemed by us to be necessary for the
conduct of Dartias fQeQ
as much so as lt would be to make it an Of
fence for hackman TO attend church with
out wearing his badge.
The station authorities and railroad mana
gers regret extremely that any conflict
should have arisen; but as they believe that
they are In the exercise OF their lawful
rights, and that the course which they have
taken Is imperatiyely required for the proper
conduct OF their business and the perform
ance of their legal duties to travellers, they
must await the decision OF the court TO justi-
~ their action In the eyes OF THE great ma
jority Of the public" j. III. ID.
THE law Of the case 1t Is not worth while
to argue. for that belongs entirely to the
court and the lawyers. But we would sug-
gest that going into church and going into
a railroad station after baggage are, by no
means parallel cases. One is in the line Of q
hackman's business. and the other Is not
The PRESS doesn't care straw whether
this controversy is settled by some conces-
ston on the part OF the city or some conces-
sion on the part Of the Union Station OH
cials, or both. 1t seemed to us that prompt
punishment of the hackmen detected In So
liciting passengers inside the depot. and his
exclusion from the privilege of doing so any
where on the company's grounds would put
an end to transgressions Of that sort. II
seemed to us, also, that the city regulation
was more needed for public protection than
the Union Stations, and therefore that the
latter ought to yield to former. But II both
sides are bound to stick. better select some
arbitrators and settle 1t that way. The
present condition Of things constitutes a
nuisance, which ought to be abated. There
may be some great principle at stake, bui
the ordinary person needs very powerful
magnifying glass to detect it,