Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-05-01

Your duties bring You into per
sonal and daily contact with the people along the
lines OF the Southern Railway, and, as one who
has filled positions which some of you are now
filing, propose to speak to you briefly OF the re-
lations Of freight and passenger agents to the pub
lie. Your duties are Of q twOfOld nature. YOu
owe duties to the railway company by which you
are employed and you owe duties to the pub.
lie. These double duties do not in any way result
in conflict or divide allegiance, for he serves the
railway best who serves the public beet.
The general officers Of railway have, unfor
tunately, too few opportunities for meeting and
talking with the people who are dependent upon
the road for transportation services. The man hav
ing business relations with thu road, as q rule,
comes into personal contact with the local repre-
sentatives Of the traffic and operating departments
The policies Of the railway are formulated and map
ed out by the general officers, but the application
Of these policies to specific transactions must be en-
trusted In the main to in the field. 1t follows,
then, that You have In substantial sense the re-
putation of the Southern Railway for fair and Just
dealing in your hands. Whether the company shall
be popular or unpopular depends in very large
measure upon your attitude toward the public and
your treatment OF those doing business with the
road 1t is of supreme Importance, therefore, that
you, who daily come into intimate personal contact
with the public, should bear in mind constantly
that it s the unvaryng policy OF the company to be
just and fair to all alike-tO the small shipper and
the occasional traveller we'll as to the large ship
per and the regular traveller; that you should be
perfectly frank In all business dealings; that you
should always be considerate and patient and that
you should do all in your power to make the ser.
vice Of the road satisfactory to those for whom they
are performed
All classes Of the public should be treated with
consideration and be given every possible and reas
enable accommodation Even the man who makes
impossible or unreasonable demands should not be
dismissed with q curt refusal. lie may not know
that what he asks is either impossible or unreaeon
able and few words OF frank explanation pointing
out to him why his wishee cannot be complied th
may send him away friend OF the road instead Of
q faultfnder. While everything possible should be
done for the accommodation Of those doing business
with the road, care should be taken not to promise
the impossible in the way Of facilities OF services
When failure to fulfill such q promise follows, the
who made 1t may be able to shift responsibility
to the operating or some other department or officer
but the damage done to the reputation Of the road
cannot be easily remedied. Questions that seem to
yOu to be trivial may be considered Of much i'm
portance by the persons asking them and they
should be answered with patience and courtesy
The efficiency Of the services as whole depends
upon the efficiency Of each individual official and
employee Every agent and employee should study
his duties In detail and should understand thorough
~ just what he has to do in any contingency that
may arise. He should then neglect no detail or his
duties, however unimpOrtant ii may seem to him,
for no matter how carefully and minntely duties
may be prescribed by the general officers, the neg
lect Of some apparently minor detail may lead To
serious Or possibly 70 disastrous results, OF
even more Importance than q careful observance Of
duties prescribed BY the company is obedience to
law. Many Of the relatiOKs between the railways
and the public are now regulated BY Federal and
State statutes, and every official and employee Or
the Scuthern RsilWay Company must understand
that its business affairs are to be conducted az
ali times IN strict accordance with the laws Of the
land. No transaction or practice that il forbidden
BY the laws can be permitted and as ann sure You
al understand, there must be no resort 60 evasion
on any kind.
AZ representatives. Of the Southern Railway Com.
pany voH should bear Ia mind Az al times the basic
served by II ore identical and that they ate naepr
ably interviewer, The Tailway pan prosper only %