Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-07-11
SHERMAN ON PULLMAN.
The Ohio Senator on the Railway
Sleeping Car Service.
A Monopoly Greater Than the Sugar.
EXtOrtionate Rates Charge for
Bertlls.

Senate which has attracted wide atten-
tion, on his resolution directing an in
vestigation of the Pullman sleeping
car business, with a view to the de-
termination of what are reasonable
rates of fare.
This matter" he said, "has refer
ence whatever to the strike now in pro-
gress in the West. 1t is me.hing
that have been thinking about for
long time, and | have talked with my
colleagues in the Senate sufficiently to
find that they are in hearty sympathy
with effort to cause reform in the
rates charged by the Pullman and
other sleeping car companies. | re-
gard these rates as simply infamous.
1t is outrageous for us to be compelled
10 pay high prices for such poor ac-
comodations as we receive in our trips
to and fro about the country. They
give you short, narrow berth, SO
close and uncomfortable that in many
cases one would rather sit up all night
than submit to the Inconvenience of
the compartment. If you get a lower
berth and no one has the upper, the
porter insists upon putting down the
lid, and so increasing your misery,
rather than giving you the benefit of
the air. don't know why this is so,
unless it is an effort on the part of the
company to make their prestige all the
greater and the more unenGurable.
Il regard the Pullman Company and
Sugar Trust as the most outrageous
monopolies of the day. They make
enormous profits and give their patrons
little or nothing in return in proper
ton. 1t is perfectly clear to me that
there is a way to reach the sleeping
car problem with ease through Govern
ment action. States have in many
instances adopted regulations intended
to reduce the evil of extortionate
charges on the railroads, but there are
lew, if any, railroads that run sleepers
through but one State, and thus the
laws are of no avail, for no State can
regulate any corporation beyond its
own limits. For instance, in Ohio we
make an effort to control this matter,
but the railroads have always found
a way to avoid the law. The United
States can easily control the charges
for sleepers, just as the railway fares
have been regulated by means of the
interstate commerce law. | believe
that act has been amply enforced, with
out very much trouble, and | can see
no reason why similar act should not
be passed with reference to the sleep,
ing car problem. A bill OF a dozen
lines will suffice, fixing the rate per
mile to be charged by these companies
and providing penalty for overcharg-
ing.
II think the rates should be reduced
one half. The Pullman Company, for
instance, is very rich, made SO by the
enormous and disproportionate profits
on their cars. With half that profit
the company could make a great deal
of money, and give the public better
service. Perhaps you don't know, but
it is, nevertheless, fact, that the Pull
man Company charges each railroad
running its cars three cents mile for
every car, and this goes into the pock-
cts of the Pullmans, in addition to the
rates paid by the passengers. For in
stance, between New York and Chicago
the railroad pays about $40 for each
sleeper run, and the Pullman Company
gets several times that sum in addition
from public. That $50 paid by the
railroad is counted into the running
expenses of the road, and is eventually
paid by the passenger in the fare he
gives for his questionable accomoda-
tions on board sleeper. feel these
heavy rates myself, frequently, for
when we 60 out to our home in Ohio,
we have to pay for my wife, my daugh-
ter and myself as much for sleeper
rates as for the entire railroad fares.
The berths are so close and uncomfort-
able that we have to spread out over a
good deal of space in order to avoid be-
ing made ill by the journey.
Then, too, l think the system Of
tipping the employees of the company
shoul 1 be discontinued. 1t is small
matter in the individual case, but it is
an extortion to pay the porter for each
trip you take. The trouble is that
these men are not paid enough by the
company. If they were paid adequate
salaries the passengers would not be
obliged to come forward to help them
out. l really think the men need the
money in most cases, and l always
give because don t want to feel or ap-
pear mean about the matter. There is
sort of compulsion about it, though,
that is very disagreeable, and it could
all be avoided.
These points, of course, are all to
be gone over by the Committee on In
terstate Commerce, which will probably
take up the matter as soon as Senator
Butler returns from the South. don I
know how long he will be gone, but
know that this matter has already met
with the approval of a large majority
of the Senate. There is one matter
that should not be overlooked in this
consideration. The main patents on
these sleepers have expired, and there