The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-12-22
\ CARD FROM MIR. MacRAE.
Tie Duty of a Corporation to the
Public-NOt the PubLc'S Interest to
Cypress a Corporation-What Con-
sututes a City's Progress.
Wilmington. n. G, December /

Wilmington. y. G, December IL.
To the Editor Of The Messenger:
Dear Sir: l beg 10 be permitted 10
publicly answer your editorial when
referred to the accident to Mrs. Piner.
I feel that you intention was to De
just, and for that reason and also be-
cause l believe that a majority Of the
citizens of this community are entirely
fair-minded when they understand the
facts, l am tempted TO reply.
l feel that you ave stated with ex-
actness the law in regard to p.ac.Eg
Tenders on street cars, the action Of
the Corporation Commission in regard
TO this law. and the subsequent drc.s-
ion of the Supreme court. Taking these
facts simply, as a basis, your conclu-
sions seem to be we'll drawn and your
criticism not unreasonable.
Let US look at it from a human
standpoint, however; one that we
would apply to our own personal reia-
tons towards our families, our neigh.
bors and our business, and it may look
different.
The Legislature of 1901 passed the law
| referred to in regard to tenders: bar
the same Legislature passed many ether
laws, some of which were upheld by
the courts and some of which were
not; some of which could be complied
with, and some of which could not. 1t
is frequently the case that the Leg S-a-
lures have passed laws which could not
be obeyed, and which the courts would
not sustain. The previous Legi ldtuTe
had created the Corporation Commits
| sion. They had given to this Commits
| sion certain powers; some of these pow
erS were sustained by the courts, and
| others were no doubt OVerruled. The
Corporation Commission has reversed
its own decisions not i~nfrequently. The
Corporation Commission, whose oppor-
tunities to investigate matters and 10
intelligently deal with questions relat-
ing to transportation companies are
such that they are undoubtedly better
| fitted to decide on matters of this KIND
tina the average Legislator, gave q
| ruling that tenders for street cars were
not necessary in this State. The I con-
illusions were probably reached hrSt
| because the cities are small, and second
| because it is an open question betWeen
| experts as TO whether Tenders are ben
eficial or not. In other words, ue do
| tors disa gree on this point. They do
| agree. however, that some tenders are a
! delusion and a snare, and only serve
to please the public, but are otherwise
| quite as dangerous as the car would %
without them.
The court decided that the Corpora
| ton Commission was wrong, but how
| would a layman be expected to kno"
| this? The Corporation CommissiOn
90 frl,,, tho g n n0NEpr thai me
law came from; then, too, the courts
! have made mistakes, because the judges
| are human, and you will not maintain
| otherwise. The Corporation Commits
| sion gave US no notice of a reversal o.
| their ruling If when we finally heal :
of this decision in August, we "Jutd
have aid Hand US the Tenders, We
would have put them IN promptly. But
| this is not a course possible to 70 w II
| the usual business practice. We deftt-
| ed promptly to put the tenders on. me
matter was taken ur with the CoIipa-
| ny's consulting engineer. He pr1c'eS-
ed along the lines o.: safety Whl,h We
would expect from d professional man.
H brought out at once the fact that
| we could put on W thin a reas 'fap:c
| time some cheap fender which YOU q
| comply iih the letter of the law, aid
| which would probably be as dangerous
| as the unprotected car. He was in
structed to make a thorough investiga-
| ton Of the merits Of the different makes
| of tenders 50 that we could get the best,
| and one which we hoped would prove
a protection where protection VS. Nell
Cd. in the due course OF business tie
reported; the tenders had to be con-
tracted for and made especially for the
company. There was much correspon-
dence necessary between the company
and the manufacturers in order to
adapt their tenders to the comp2n.'S
style of cars. There were no G.,upt
MANY unexpected and unavoi ,,ah,e de-
avs. Notwithstanding tie company's
anxiety to get the finders and comply
with the law. FIii2.lly some of the fen
ders and necessary parts arrived, and
the first ones, were installed on the SUI
burban c2.rs. The last fender ncc4S-
sary ip %equipping the city cars sn"u q
have arrived on a steamer one week
e2.rlier than they did, but missed con-
nection in New York. They reached
Wilmington on Tuesday preceding the
accident, but could not be gotten from
| the steamer until the next day. lhe
ears had been previously prepared, Snd
the tenders were at once put on
1 claim tha we used reasonable intel
ligence about this matter, and followed
it up with the diligence and efteEIlE"-
ness that is usual in good bus ness
| practice. The officials and employees
of the Consolidated Company are chs
en- with a view to their efficiency, HEd
the desire is to get the best obtailah'e,
but it is only claimed for them THAT
they are human and are subject % M
itations Of both capacity and judScn ut
! as are other mortals. If individuals
! exercised one-tenth of the care hat IS
REQUIRED of corporations there would