St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-11-17
RAILROADS AND the PEOPLE

RAILROADS AND THE PEOPLE,
A Hzesllsat Address by President -. =
lsgalls. oe shs Big Fear. % TAsar 1sas.
tssas. the Oss to The Other.
On the occasion Of the recant OPEN
ing Of the new and magnificent
terminal station of the Missouri Pa
ciAc 4 Iron Mountain, the Wabash.
the Louisville 4 Nashville, the Balti.
more 4 Ohio Southwestern and the
Big Four 1T St Louis, begun Eve years
ego. President NJ. E. Ingalls,, of the
Big Four, delivered an address ON the
Necessity for Better Feeling Between
the Railways and the People" After
reviewing briefly the history of the ef.
fort which had had its fruition in, -
he declared, 1.-THE best. the most artis.
tic, the most commodious Of any rail-
way station in the world."' and con-
graduating the people Of St Louis ON
its completion. President ingalls,
paid Just tribute to Dr..
Taussig. president of the Terminal
association, to whose efforts
large part of the success of the new
structure Is due. He then referred to
the phenomenal growth Of the rail-
roads in this country during the past
sixty years, and claimed the unparal.
leled development and prosperity Of
this country during that time was it,
direct result and that its future de-
pended upon the success of its trans
p0rtation 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 DO
better feeling between the railways
and tho people. between the railways
and their employees"
Referring to tho recent strike -
''the greatest, the most causeless and
the most unsuccessful" in the history
Of strikes and questioning what CON-
ditions made it possible that - 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
6nd . solution. for somewhere 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-
tenn OF profit sharing among employees could
b adopted have always believed that Il
would b . cure for these evils: but before this
can be successfully adopted we must secure
the profits. We ought also to establish
. system of pensions for those disa-
bled in the service. and for snnuities
for those who have been worn out serving
their corporations. There must also b
better feeling built up between the railways
and the communities they serve. Tho situation
q much improved now and it In not Is fashion
sble - IL used to be for newspapers and public
bodies to abuse railways and their manage
nent. but there are many states and commune
ties to-day where there exists . feeling Of
great hostility towards railway corporations
This Ia unfortunate. and 1t Is the duty Of rail-
way managers and of statesmen to discover
wherein lies the trouble and endeavor to cure il
To-day more than one-fifth of all the rail-
ways in the country arc In the hands Of ro-
ceivers. and nearly one-nfth Of all the invest
ment In railways Is unproductive. This repre-
SCENTS . capital of over two thousand millions
Of dollars And yet you will ind people
preaching . crusade to-day through the
ballot box against railway property and
It's management You will ind all man
81 nP
Taxes in every state and city are being
Increased almost beyond endurance. and
get 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. Tho railway man.
cases and 70 . 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 controlled by tho public.
but that day has gone by. Tho wise
manager to-day has accepted the situation: hs
fully realizes that = railway corporation n not
. private partnership; it is . great public In
stitution with public duties to perform and
With responsibility to the public and sub
ject In certain ways to public control Even
the interstate commerce law, which was Bit
terly opposed by the great majority Of the rail-
way managers. has been accepted; they all be-
SSA0
tho place Of the disjointed legislation Of the diff
ferent states, and out Of it future good to the
business communities and to the railways can
b obtained
I'VE must have certain reforms, and railway
managers must work these out subject TO Law
Of opinion that the interstate commerce Law
aAould be amended: amended SO ~ to legalixo
contracts between railways. 80 ~ to bring this
vast interest Of our country under the protec-
eion - we'll - the burden OF the Law. Our sys-
tenn Of freight rates must be changed. We cam
not raise the rates ON the great products which
arc exported and which have to b carried
long distances, for they will mot bear higher
rates Of transportation, but terminal charge
ahould be exacted on all freiGhts. as 1t II In
England. Ono cent . hundred pounds terminal
charge would not b 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 servo tho
communities which are their patrons
Tho system Of running passenger trains
and Of making passenger fares must b
changed We haul Pullman or Wagner car.
weighing nifty tons with twenty-five passen-
gers nfty miles IN hour and charge the
came rate per mile to the passenger occu-
pying the same that We do 70 the one occu-
pyinR . coach that weighs twenty 1--WE
tons and carries nifty people Ut speed
OF thirty-fve miles IN hour. The rail-
wars should own. either BY contract or lease.
their own sleeping cars: they should soil their
tickets II one rate. good on limited trains. and
this ticket should furnish sleeping and parlor
car accommodations. and they should sell .
ticket at another rate ON their slow trains.
which should furnish merely seat accommods-
lions.
Finally. . better state Of feeling between
employees and the management, between oust-
ness communities and the management, should
be built up by association. by IN accommodate
inR spirit on the part Of each. pledge you to-
night the railways 70 work 70 this end"
THE SCUIPTORS.
A STATUE of Shelley. the work Of the
scnlnfox Incchexi will he unYeilNd ut