New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-26
4 VESTED WRONG.

RIGHTS often come by usage. Adverse posses
sion Of land establishes title TO ownership II
long enough maintained. What was nj nrst
! moro courtesy or custom becomes in time law.
An interest that was at first contingent Is AT the
| end vested. In like manner rights may ne an
! nuIled through long process Of violation anu
neglect Where one man gains title 10 anu
through adverse possession one also loses IL.
And the rule applies to communities ana races
as well as 10 individuals. 1t is being appned 10
this community now.
There was time-the oldest inhabitant may
| remember it-when the principle was accepted
and at least theoretically maintained that
passenger in a public conveyance had certain
rights especially those Of a seat and of mmu-
nitv from physical assault Sometimes, In stress
of circumstance, those rights were waived.
But there was no dispute as TO their existence
and general effort was made TO respect them
whenever possible Whenever they were VIC
lated the corporations responsible for such VIC
lation assumed an apologize air and pleaded
non possumus. That time, however. is now
past. BY long usage, by persistent and increas-
ing violation, by public supineness and by cor
porate greed and insolence those rights have al
most become abolished There is now no general
The persistent and wanton violation of them is
no longer resented. And in the most cynical
manner their very existence is ignored by those
TO whom they should be cOnstraining law.
We do not say that this is so simply because
there is lot of crowding on transportation
lines in rush hours. Let us grant-though mere
ly for the sake Of argument. for it has not been
proved-that it would be physically impossible
senger What of the other eighteen hours Of
the twenty-four? The fact is that on some Of
cur most important transportation lines the
worst crOwding is not during rush hours, but in
the middle Of the day, when travel is compare
lively light. In rush hours cars or trains are
run at intervals of minute or two. and are
packed and damned. And il is pleaded that it
would not be possible TO run them any closer
together with safety. Yes; but at midday they
are run at intervals of from ten to twenty
minutes. and are then crowded as badly as in
the rush hours. Certainly it would he possible
to run them closer together. Granted that in
the rush hours the corporations could not if they
would give every passenger seat At these
other times they indisputably could do SO if they
would. But they deliberately elect not to do so.
Their rule is not TO try to run cars enough 10
give every passenger a seat, but TO run just as
few cars as WILL with the most uncomfortable
and indecent crOwding, carry all who want or
are compelled to ride
That is the salient fact of the situation and it
utterly dscredits all the pretences of the corpO-
rations that they are doing the best they can
They are not doing the best they can, and they
know 1t. And the public ought to remember it
and TO bear IN mind that in thus permitting
their rights to be ignored they are permitting
adverse possession against themselves. They
are permitting what was once temporary and
contingent wrong to become fixed in the estate
of vested wrong.