New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-05
COMFY ISLAND F4EEN

I;iouns Is not the proper way TO settle dis
Y1te1 question Of railroad fares. The persons
WHO arc making disturbance On the Coney
Island ears do themselves no credit. and are
not in any way promoting a just determination
Of their legal right CT he legal right Of the
companies 20 collect ten cents for the Coney
Island trip The trouble seems partly due 10 a
popular deusion fostered by a. undiScriminat-
ing Interpretation OF q court decision. IT seems
parity due also 10 The love OF lawIessnass which
ciIaracterizes a certain portion Of the COM
munity. There may be, and probably IS, a
minority which seeks intellgently to enforce
Its rights rs laid down by the court All It
needs to do Is 90 pay the disputed far" under
protest Long go the courts decided that disor-
der and resistance 10 expulsion were not the
privilege Of passengers III the face OF Illegal
charges and We think any person will be i'll
advised who subjects himself to injury in the
expectation of getting even by a damage suit.
The popular resistance to the ten-cent fare on
the Brooklyn Rapid Transit line TO COney ISL
ard seems to be utterly senseless. The line was
4 steam railroad running on private property,
and. though its motive power is changed ana
streetcars are run ont over IT. It is not street
railway. Apparently. it has perfect right TO
charge ten cents, and the refusal of passengers
10 pay is only eXcusable as stupid blunder
Oh their part through ignorance OF the charac-
ter of the line and the application of the recent
decision That ignorance might justify refusas
and payments under protest. but It does not
in the least excuse the creation OF a disturb
ance The status of the Coney Island and
Brooklyn line is somewhat different Lawyers
who have looked into the subject sag that the
recent decision squarely covers its operations
Il is n street railroad. and apparently IS bound
10 carry passengers the full distance TO Concy
Island for single fare. Instead of doing So
Il simply declares it will do as 1t pleaSeS, and
attempts on Sundays and holidays 20 collect ten
cents, though-the regular fare IS i've cents on
other DAYS It's dslcers give no adequate OK
PLANTATION Of what TO many seems an insolcnt
defiance of the courts. as it certainly is of pub
IL opinion.
II. in spite Of construction OF The law by
a high court which is generally thought TO apply
to his company. President Helms believes that
he has authority 10 charge ten cents. he owes
# TO himself, 10 the courts and 20 the public.
which honestly feels that ii is only asking the
rights guaranteed to It by the law. to explain
definitely tie grounds Of that belief ana re
move the delusion from the popular mind, II 1t
Is a deluson This he has far refused 10 do.
He makes vague declaration that the law
does not apply 10 his company, and his I'M
de.Iings ruGely reply to passengers who ask
that their supposed rights he respected that
decisions don't 90" with them II may be that
the decision does not apply, but. TO those VINO
are not told why, the attitude Of the company
seems simply lawlesS. and in turn provokes
Iawlessncss. Either the company should an
nounce that ii viii follow what is apparently
the law until what 1t believes its rights are
upheld in the courts. or it should clearly an
nounce the grounds Of its action and clear itself
from the widespread suspicion that it is mere
Il defying law.
As 10 the ten-cent fare itself we think II not
unrea sonable. It is not more than cent
mile from Manhattan. The people Of Brook
lyn get some extraordinarily long rides for five
cents and there is 10 justice in the talk about
the rapaclty and extorton of the roads because
they charge ten cents for the COney Island trip
It is worth it, The only question fairly at issue
is whether or not the law has imposed upon
the companies the duty Of carrying passengers
at a lower rate. That is a question for the
courts to determine, not for the mob on the one
hand or the railroad companies on the other, by
forcible and arbitrary acts. Unless the compa-
MES can clearly make out to the public prima
facie case for holding that the law rs now IN
terpreted does not apply to them, they are In
decency bound 10 obey il until the interpreta-
ton is reversed And citizens who believe
themselves wronged are under obligations. new
erthcIeSs 10 submit their grievances quietly TO
The courts and not try forcibly 70 obstruct rail
way traffic.