Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-02

out date, thereby running until the first
of the year, when an order Is issued max
ing the favor good until the 18th of jan
uary, so as to obviate any Inconvenience
to the recipients.
When the interstate law went into effect
it was thought by shrewd observers that
the railroad corporations of the country
had fathered the bill, principally to wipe
out the free-riding craze. That law says
passes are to be issued only in payment
for actual work done. It was meant, and
so interpreted by the courts, to apply to
newspaper advertisement and to employees.
But 1t, like many other laws, through negli-
gence and shrewd connvance, became
dead letter. The greed of the smaller
roads for business led to the issuance Of
free transportation to shippers, and to pro-
tect themselves the larger roads had to
follow suit.
AS an illustration, large shipper Sc
cures the same rates for his goods over
two roads entering certain city. One
road is as good as another to him. The
smaller road in endeavoring to secure this
business will forward the shipper a yearly
pass, with compliments of the president
of the road The shipper is only human
and naturally feels fattered, to say moth
ing of the pecuniary gain. To be noticed
by the president of a railroad is not to be
sneeZed at at least in the estimate of ship
pers of considerable freight and to be the
owner of such complimentaries appears to
be the one object in the life Of many peo-
pie. They are enVleu by their nelghDOrS,
and naturally so. .
Many PASSES Issued.
The opposition road Is irritated at this
underhand method. and also over the loss
of the business. They have special agents
to look after their interests, who at once
set to work to find out the cause. This
the agents soon do After ascertaining the
facts they could nullify the obnoxious pass
and mulct the opposition road out OF a
heavy fine. but in doing so would make
the shipper an enemy. Therefore, they
meet fire with fire by also issuing pass
to the shipper in question. The latter Is
again fattered. and now being well for1-
fed with free transportation can af1ord 10
be Independent, consequently he uses poth
reads And through this conniving the
pass system has drifted back into Its OLD
state.
Persons not in touch with the railroad
business would be astounded to learn OF
the gigantic dimensions the pass system
has reached In this country. Actual fig
uIeS cannot be given, but those on the IN
side have acknowledged that two of the
largest corporations, with headquarters IN
the east issue passes that annually amount
to fully million dollars each. That Is, II
the same transportation was paid for In
ccin of the realm. If united cooperation
could be brought about fully $1OO,O0O could
be saved each year, and the railroad man
ayers are beginning to realize what a NICE
tidy sum that is. But the get-together
spirit is lacking, and unless the brakes are
put on there is no telling where the dead
head system will stop. The presidents. of
course, look after the interests of their
reads as much as possible. but the stock
holders pay the freight" in lessened divi-
dends.
AS Chauncey Depew, president of the
New York Central road. has said, at is
rot the pass system that is so bad, but the
abuse of it,
AS an Illustration, again take the case Of
the shipper mentioned above. He is known
to very few railroad men outside of the
agents and Is total stranger to the train
men. In his office are a dozen clerks. Per-
haps. when their vacations come around
they would like to take a run over to New
York out to Chicago. With their en-
ployers pocket book crammed with passes
do they cay their way? The answer is
obvious. 1t Is only of conscience,
and that is an elastic thing with many
people when 1t comes to dealing with cor
pOrations.
The Friends Come In.
There is hardly one person out of hun
bred who knows that to use a pass issued
in another's name Is against the law and
the user thereof is liable to a fine or i'm
prisonment. The railroads have put up
with considerable imposition in this line,
but the Pennsylvania road located clear
a rush. Two men hailing from New York
bought a pass in the latter city from an
irresponsible scalper good for a passage to
Pittsburg. The pass was originally issued
to Pittsburger. It was round ripper
and the man used 1t in going to New York,
where he sold the return coupon. The two
men started out all right, until they reach
ed the Pittsburg division, where they
against a snag In the shape of a conductor
that happened to know the person to whom
the pass was originally issued. At the
next station he telegraphed his suspicious
to his superintendent and awaited instruc-
tons. When the train pulled into Union
depot at Pittsburg officer was on hand;
the two men were pointed out, and they
were quickly marched in front OF a local
magistrate. A fine of S. was imposed, and
they were given the alternative of paying
their fare from New York to Pittsburg or
going to Jail. They paid for their car ride.
A somewhat similar case, with a differ
ent ending, came under the notice of the
writer recently. A pass was issued last
summer to a young man calling for
round trip to one Of the large cities. Ow-
ing to sickness, the pass was not used and
remained on his hands until the closing
weeks of the year. Being averse to seeing
the pass die without, being used, he pass
ed 1t to a friend who lived in the city. and
this friend used it for a trip one way and
handed it over to another friend. who rode
out the limits Of the pass few days later.
The railroad company, with all good inten-
tons, had extended the limitations Of the
pass until the 18th of January. The origi-
nal owner of the pass is a member Of
church in good standing, yet there was not
the slightest futter of his conscience over
his action. Funny, isn't it?
Fixing the Statesmen.
In conversation with one of the brightest
passenger agents in Washington on the
abuse of the pass system. an Evening Star
reporter CLEANED many facts Of interest
from the inside The agent, among
other things, said:
THE greatest abusars of the pass sys-
tenn are undoubtedly the members of state
legislatures the borders of which our
road enters. To one not conversant with
the facts it is hard to explain railroads
situation. Many believe passes are issued
so as to secure legislation that will benefit
the corporations. The opposite is exactly
the case. Railroads. as rule, will ask
tor nothing but what is just, but the I'M
just legislation is what they must contin-
ually guard against. For instance, sup
Jose the Pennsylvania Baltimore and
Ohio systems were to refuse passes to the
members of the Maryland and Pennsylva-
MIA legislatures.
1T is a sure prediction that inside of
two months bills would be introduced by
disgruntled legislators, and passed too, as