The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-25
NOT SPEAKING FOR THE PEOPLE.
The Way Director Barrow Regards
Our street Hallway Criticisms.

me way director barrow ReEafuS
Our Street Railway Criticisms.
Savannah, Ca, Dec. 24-To the Edito-
rial Staff of the Morning News. Gentle
men: l have read with a great deal Of
pleasure your interesting editorial in this
mornings paper, and 1 desire to express
to you my appreciation of the suggestions
you make.
I beg you TO allow me, however, to re
spectfully submit that you are in error
in supposing that the fact that the critics
know less about the subject matter of the
criticism than those who are criticised, is
not a relevant matter
You are again in error. if you will par
don me for saying so. 1 did not say that
the editorial staff of the Morning News
knew less about street railway manage
ment than the officers of the street rail-
way company did. What I said was, that
the officers of the company, in my opinion
did as wen as the editorial staff would
have done All l asked for us, was to be
put upon an equality with you as railroad
experts. 1t is you, who give it the appear
ance of charge that the editorial staff
knew less than the railroad officers did.
My high regard for you personally in
duces me, also, to remind you of another
feature in your interesting editorial, when
/ think must have been hastily written.
When you speak in that editorial of the
criticisms made by Che editorial staff, you
called it the criticisms of the people"
YOU gentlemen of the editorial staff are
crnipapflU raSnprfahlp
in my opinion, very important part of
the body polite bat you are not "lhe peo-
pie" l will not say that you remind me
Of the celebrated address of the Three
Tailors of Tooley Street which begun,
We, the people of England"
But I am sorry that l have to make
another complaint against the editorial
staff, and I beg YOU to believe that l am
writing in sorrow, not in anger In the
editorial article in your local columns Of
the 22d inst.5 you arraign us before the
public for faiAng TO carry out our contract
with the city, in that we have not double
tracked Anderson street, nor removed the
track from Duffy street, nor double track
ed the south end of East Broad nor the
west end of Bay street, from Barnard to
West Broad. Did you not know that there
was no contract permitting us to do this?
Did you not know that we were expressly
Your own files Of last spring and summer,
If you will examine them, viii show that
by contract with the city, we were pro
hibited from doing these things, which
you now attack us for not doing / know
from my personal acquaintance with you,
that you do not approve OF a public jour
nal making a charge against any citizen
in its editorial columns, which is not
founded in fact I do not believe that any
"a
create a prejudice against a citizen, by
charging him with failure
to carry out his contract,
when, In point of fact there was
no such contract. 1 must believe that the
article which appeared the I'D, and which
contained these charges was hastily writ
ten and that the charges were uninten-
tionally inserted.
In conclusion, l candidly admit as l said
in my interview. that the management OF
the street railway system in Savannah is
far from perfect. Mistakes have been
made but they have not been intended.
There have been shortcomings in many
respects but we tried to prevent them.
We have done our best 1t was perhaps
| a poor best but nobody has come forward
with a suggestion as to how the schedule
| could have been made better during the
| emergency and unprecedented demands
which have recently been made upon the
| capacity of the company. SINCE che large
| increase in travel which has suddenly
| poured into our cars we have strained
every nerve to meet the requirements of
| the public. We have built new tracks, we
have added to our equipment as fast as
the work could be done, and the new
equipment turned out. We have added
over ninety new men to our force Of mo-
tormen and conductors. When you re-
member that we were equipped upon a
basis of about one-half of the business
! that we have been for sixty days unex-
| pectedly called upon to do and that to in
| crease our equipment and force required
! time, and when you remember the add
tioual fact. that in taking on so many new
| mon, it is impossible 10 avoid now and
| then getting one that is incompetent. l am
sure that in common fairness you vii
make some allowance for the fact that the
! management has not been absolutely per.
/ feet.
In conclusion / beg to assure you that
/ we do not object TO criticism. and we an,
/ thankful for suggestions. We win also
| he obliged TO any one who will report e
us any failures of duty on the part OF
any of our officers or agents; but we DC
| ask that the public mind be not inhamcl
against us by accusations that we have
| failed to carry out contracts when no sucr
| contracts exist.
With assurances OF my regard for you
| personally, and Wishing you "A Merry
! Christmas. Pope Barrow
! crhe contract to which the Morning News
! had referred ana which Mr., Barrow seem.
/ 20 have overlooked IN his enumeration. b.
/ The actual or implied contract that fhs
street railroad company shall give the poo
| pie good street car seryioe.-Rd)
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