The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1894-09-28
RAILROADS AND The PEOPLE
An Excellent Address by President NJ. E.
Ingalls,. of the Big Four, on Their ReIa-
tions, the Cna so the Other.


An Excellent Address by President NJ. E.
Ingalls,. of the Big Four, Their ReIa-
tions, the One 80 the Other.
On the occasion Of the recent open
Ing Of the nav aud magnificent
terminal station of the Missouri Pa
ciflc & Iron Motntain; tile Wabash,
the Louisville & Nashville, the Balti-
more & Ohio Southwestern and the
Big Four at ST. Louis, begun five years
ago, 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 eff
fort which had had its fruition in, as
he declared, 1.-THE best, the most artis-
tic, the most eommodious 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 a
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 tinpara1-
leled development and prosperity of
/ this country during that time was it's
direct result and that its future de-
| pended upon the success of its trans
| portatIon facilities. THAT the rail-
ways should prosper" he said, is 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 em-
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 it behooves them to consider the
question carefully and endeavor to
find a 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 it the wise men should seek for
the cause Of the evil and it's cure. II the sys-
tenn of profit-sharing among employees could
! be adopted, have always believed that it
would be a 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 dlsa-
! 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 it is not as fashion
able as it used to be for newspapers and public
bodies to abuse railways and their manage
ment, but there are many states and cOmmuni
ties to-day where there exists feeling of
great hostility towards railway corporations.
This is unfortunate and it is the duty of rail-
way managers and OF statesmen to discover
wherein lies the trouble and endeavor to cure It.
To-day more than one-ffth of all the rail-
ways in the country arc in the hands of re-
ceivers, and nearly one-ffth of all the invest
ment in railways is unproductive. This repre-
sentS a capital Of over two thousand millions
of dollars. And yet you will find people
preaching a crusade to-day through the
ballot box against railway property and
its management You will find all
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 arbt-
trarily; they have endeavored to main
tain that they were private corporations
and could not be controlled by the public,
but that day has gone by. The wise
manager to-day has accepted the situation: he
fully realizes that railway corporation is not
private partnership; it is great public In
stitution with public duties to perform and
with responsibility to the public and sub
feet 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-
ueve it has come to stay and that it will take
the place of the dsiointed legislation OF the diff
ferent states and out of it future good to the
business communities and to the railways can
be obtained
1--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 so as to legalize
contracts between railways, so as to bring this
vast interest or our country unQer the protec-
ton as we'll 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 exacted on all freights as it is in
England. One cent hundred pounds terminal
charge would not be felt by the great mass of
the people, but it would bring prosperity and
comfort to the railway owners and employees
and would enable them to better serve the
communities which their patrons
1.-THE system of running passenger trains
and of making passenger fares must be
changed We haul Pullman or Wagner car.
weighing fifty tons with twenty-five passen-
gers fifty miles an hour and charge the
pying the same that we do to the one occu-
plying a coach that weighs twenty-five
tons and carries fifty people at speed
of thirty-fve 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 parlor
car accommodations, and they should sell a
ticket at another rate on their slow trains,
which should furnish merely seat accommoda-
tions.
Finally. q better state Of feeling between
employees and the management, between bust
ness communities and the management, should
be built up by association, by an accommodate
ing spirit on the part of each. pledge you to-
night the railways to work to this end
NEW AND BRIGHT.
''SHE is a great fayorite with the
tGNo- EGXTIxv cha