The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-09-28

An Excellent Address by President N. X.
Ingalls,. Of the Zig -Four. on Their Rolls
lions. the One to the other.

ing of the new and magnificent
terminal station of the Missouri Pa
cific x Iron Mountain, the Wabash.
the Louisville a Nashville. the Balti-
more a Ohio Southwestern and the
Zig Four Mt St. Louis. begun five years
aNo. President NJ. +. Ingalls,, Of the
Big -Four, delivered an address on the
Necessity for Better Feeling Between
thc Railways and the People" After
reviewing briefly the history of the eff
fort which had had its fruition in, as
he declared, 1.-THE best, the most artis-
tic. the most commodious OF any rail-
way station in the world" and COM
graduating the people OF ST. Louis on
its completion, President Ingalls,
paid a just tribute TO DR..
Taussig. president Of the Terminal
association, TO whose efforts a
large part of the success Of the new
structure is due. lie then referred 10
the phenomenal growth Of the rail-
roads in this country during the past
sixty years, and claimed the unparal-
.eled development and prosperity OF
this country during that time was its
direct result and that its future de-
pended upon the success OF its trans
portation facilities. THAT the rail-
ways should prosper" he said, lis to
the interest of every man, woman and
child in this great country Of ours, no
matter what his calling or business.
To attain this success there must be
better feeling between the railways
and the people. between the railways
and their employees"
Referring TO the recent strike as
1.-The greatest, the most causeless and
the most unsuccessful in the history
of strikes and questioning what con-
ditions made it possible that "a few
worthless demagogues" could induce
such large number of railway en-
ployes to neglect their interest and
forget the loyalty due the companies,
the speaker asked what was the cause
of the great dissatisfaction? As man
ayers il behooves them to consider the
question carefully and endeavor to
find solution, for some where there
was an answer. The great strike was
not without its lessons. one Of which
was that mo strike can succeed which
has no real ground of grievance and
which public opinion does not sup
port" Continuing, President ingalls,
said:
.'But out OF Il the wise men should seek for
the cause OF the evil and its cure. II the sys-
TEN of pront-sharng among employees could
BE- adopted. / have always believed that II
would be "a cure for these evils. but before this
| can be successfully adopted we must secure
the profits We ought afso 10 establish
system OF pensions for those disa-
bled in the service. and for annuities
| for those who have been worn out serving
their corporations. There must also be
| a better feeling built up between the railways
and the communities they serve. The situation
| Is much improved now and ii Is not as fashion
able as II used TO be for newspapers and public
bodies TO abuse railways and their manage
| ment. but there are many states and commune
ties to-day where there exists a feeling of
great hostility towards railway corporations.
| This is unfortunate, and 1t Is the duty Of rail-
| way managers and OF statesmen to discover
wherein lies the trou Die and endeayor TO cure It.
To-day more than one-nfth Of all the rail-
| ways in the country are in the hands OF re-
| ceiyers. and nearly one-ffth OF all the invest
| ment in railways is unproductive This repre-
| sents capital OF over two thousand millions
| OF dollars. And yet you will md people
| preaching crusade to-day through the
ballot box against railway property and
Its management You will find all man
| ner Of threats OF hostile legislation.
| Taxes in every state and city are being
| Increased almost beyond endurance. and
| yet these very communities depend for their
existence and their future prosperity upon the
railways which they would destroy This must
be cured in some manner. The railway man
ayers themselves are responsible in many
cases and to a great extent for this trouble.
They have managed their railways arbi-
trarily. they have endeavored to main
| tain that they were private corporations
| and could not be cont jled by the public.
but that day has gone by. The wise
manager to-day has accepted the situations no
fully realizes that a railway corporation is not
private partnership. II Is "a great public in
s,itutIon with public duties to perform and
with responsibility TO the public and SUBJ
jcct in certain ways TO public control Even
the interstate commerce law. which Bit
terly opposed 10y the great majority 81 the rail-
way managers. has been accepted; they al be-
lieve it has come to stay and that IL will take
the place Of the disJointcd Legislation OF the diff
ferent states. aud out OF it future good 10 the
business communities ana to the railways can
be obtained.
we must have certain reforms and railway
managers must work these out subject to law
and legislation. 1t seems TO be the consensus
Of opinion that the interstate commerce law
should be amended. amended Us to lcgalize
contracts between railways 20 as to bring this
vast interest OF our country under the prutec-
tion as well as the burden Of the law. Our sys-
TEN of freight rates must be changed. We can
not raise the rates on the great products which
are exported and which have TO be carried
long distances. for they Will not bear higher
rates OF transportation. but terminal charge
should be exactcd on all freights. as IL is in
England. one cent a hundred pounds terminal
charge would not be felt by the great mass OF
the people. but IL would bring prosperity and
comfort to the railway owners and employees
and would enable them to better serve tho
communities which are their patrons.
The system of running passenger trains
and OF making passenger fares must be
changed We haul q Pullman or Wagner car.
weighing nifty tons with twenty-five passen-
gers nifty miles hour and charge the
same rate per mile to the passenger occu-
plying the same that We do to the one occu-
plying coach that weighs twenty-five
tons and carries nifty people at q speed
OF thrty-fiv miles hour. The rail-
ways should own. either by contract or lease,
their own sleeping cars: they should sell their
tickets at one rate good on limited trains. and
this ticket should furnish sleeping and parloy
cur accommodations. and they should sell a
ticket at another rate on their slow trains.
which should furnish merely seat accommods-
tons