New-York tribune., 1902-12-26
ONE THING CERTAIN.

In rerly to that part of Mayor Lows letter on
| local transportation deficiencies when relaIes
| TO the operation of reduced and lnauequa'e
number of cars during hours when tranlc Is noI
/ at its height Mr.. Skitt. general manager OIL Tue
| Manhattan Railway Company, says: l can
| assure you that with the complete lnstaiiation
..of electric trains we shall be able to and Will
.proyide a service that will leave no ground, IN
! 'non-rrsh hours. for reasonable complaint, nN
running Mt such hours as many trains as tne
public comfort aud convenience may require.
That is a fair and explicit promise III IL Is
fulfilled on the basis of just estiml'e As W
! the requirements Of public comfort ana con-
venienro the company's passengers will have
no right or disposition 10 complain so faf ~
that part of its service is concerned. and Mr.
Skitt will have the pleasure Of finding hihsell
an object of general commendaton-
In rather striking contrast with Mr.. Skltt
nIsiu and nertinent response 10 the Mayors
most important question is the vapory outgIV-
ing on the same subject of President Freeland
of the METROPOLITAN system. Points have been
raised concerning which 1t is perhaps Impossible
10 express a satisfactory opinion othand, but
the policy of running fewer cars than might De
run during the non-rush hours and fewer thah
are urgently needed is not one or them YET
Mir. Vreeland makes no discrimination, put
chooses to regard this part Of the subject
matter which is too broad to be discussed in
the limits of an ordinary letter. In so consid-
ering it he discloses the limits of his own IN
teIligence or candor. As we said long before
the present encouraging agitation began, an
arbitrary curtament of its service. with the
result of compelling n multitude of passengers
10 travel in extreme discomfort at hours when
they might be suitably cared for, is an offence
ha rSQ1
haps its srokesmen are wise to refrain from
offering excuses which would necessarily be
unacceptable What the public demands is not
n tedious investigation. but an immediate recog-
milton Of an obvious duty. The company takes
off cars when there is less than the maximum
demand in order 10 save expense. 1t cares not
how large a part of its enormous revenues
comes from passengers whom it wantonly sub
jects TO shocking abuses.
We do not deny for a moment that the trans
portation business in this city involves many
complicated problems, and we are inclined TO
think that some of them are at present insolu-
BILE. But there is no conceivable justification
for such a reduction Of the cars in use as III
evitably results in overcrowding. Mr.. Vreeland
knows that to be the direct consequence of the
policy he pursues, and pursues that policy for
the express purpose of producing that conse-
QueHce because u UledDs a Saving OF money
The strange thing is that management which
is liberal in many ways should be so penurious
in this particular. That is the point TO hammer
on, and in our opinion it is q mistake to make
suggestions OF betterment which may prove to
be fanciful and which are pretty sure to en-
courage Improbable controversy. 1t is an ABB
solute certainty that tens Of thousands of pas
sengers who maltreated might have
the advantage of seats and other decent condi-
tions if more cars were operated at hours when
II is perfectly practicable TO operate more cars.
Mr. Sktt promises that this shall be done as
soon the electrical equipment OF the elevated
roads has been completed. A similar promise,
redeemable forthwith, instead of an eXasperat-
ing avoidance of the issue, is the one thing
which the public is agreed in demanding from
Mr. Vreeland.