The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-25
THE RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC.

The opinion of Judge Gaynor of the
Supreme Court of New York, upon
which he issued a mandamus requiring
the Brooklyn street-railway companies
which have not regularly run their cars
for more than week to operate their
lines contains a presentation of obliga-
lions which such companies seem to
have lost sight of, and which, for that
reason, is most timely and pertinent.
Such companies have TOO frequently
proceeded upon the assumption that not
only are the streets of cities laid out
for their convenience and to be used
as their property, but that their popu-
lations were created for the single pur-
pose of paying fares whenever the COM
panies see fit to run their cars.
After setting forth that the street
railway, with it's franchise, cannot stop
running it's cars as a private corpora
ton can stop it's factories until it can
employ labor on it's own terms. Judge
Gaynor proceeds as follows:
The directors of railroad are account
able to the public first and to the stockhold-
ers second. IL they cannot get labor to per-
form such duties at the price which they
offer to pay, then they must pay more,
and as much as is necessary to get 1t.
Likewise. if the conditions in respect of
hours or otherwise which they impose
repe labor they must adopt more lenient
or just conditions They may not stop
their cars for an hour, much less week,
conditions of labor down to the price or
conditions they offer
Such doctrine as this will tend to
bring the street-railway magnates of
Brooklyn to their senses. The obtain
ing of the franchises of some of the
companies has been by corrupt methods
in which the rights of the people have
been ignored and few bosses enriched.
They have come to assume that they
are autocrats. owing no duties to the
public and under no obligation to their
employees. From the first the managers
of these companies have been the ag
gressors. At the outset the employees
proposed arbitration, but the magnates
would not listen to it. They even pro-
posed to leave the matter in dispute to
man who has been connected with
street railways and to run the cars
pending the decision, and to abide by
the decision, but even these terms were
rejected because the managers of two
or three lines stood out. More than
offered to pay men the wages for which
their old employees offered to work, and
also furnish transportation to Brooklyn.
Under such circumstances the street.
railway managers are much more re-
sponsible for the disorder Of the past
ten days than are the employees. AS for
the rnebs, they will appear in all large
cities against law and order. The fact
that the employees have been anxious
to go to work pending arbitration is
point in their favor.
But the central feature Of the opinion
is that street railways and railroads
must not be stopped from serving the
public. The welfare of a whole COM
munity whose streets have been sur
rendered in return for a given service
must be considered before all else. A
conflict between employers and en-
ployes must interrupt service
upon which thousands depend. If such
conflicts arise they must be settled
without an interruption of the service.
They must also be settled without in
terruption to avoid the loss of life and
the disorders which attend street-rail-
way strikes in large cities.