The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-03-07
In the Right Direction.


vi Cfle thirteenth or the current
month President W. W. Finley OF
the Southern Railway, delivered an
address III Atlanta to the represent
atives Of the freight and passenger
departments OF that railroad upon
various phases of their duty both to
the company and to the public.
; Among other matters President
Finley laid great stress upon the
TACT that the interests of Il railroad
and the public which it served were
Identical and insisted that the repre-
sentatives Of the railroad give con
sderate treatment OF every one hav-
/ ing business with the road"
/ My personal experience convinces me
that the people as a rule are fairnInded
and when fully informed can be relied
upon to deal justly with the transporta-
ton interests
We are certainly glad that the head
of the largest railroad system in the
Southern States looks upon the mat
! ter in this way ana We trust that he
will impress upon all Df his suborli-
mates the fact that no railroad, or
! any other corporation for that mat
ter, can hope to succeed by policy
OF lIabitual aIltagOnisu.
Some days after this addresses was
delivered Mr.. {. H. Akert, general
manager nf the road, sent copies nf
| Mr.. Finley's speech to he more in,-
pOrtant OF the officers of the Opprat-
lug department together with IL let
ter Of his own addressed to them
from which we take the following ex-
tract:
All that he has said to the freight and
passenger men as to their duties to the
public and to the road apply with equal
force to the men in the operating depart
ment. 1t is the earnest desire OF the of
titers OF the company to promote and
maintain harmonious relations with all
those doing business with the Southern
| Railway and to increase the efficiency Ol
the road in every direction. For the at
tainment of the b2st results it is neces
sary that as pirt of cooperation should
| exist i'll all departments and that each
Individual should thoroughly understand
his duties and should zealously devote
himself to their faithful performance. i'll
woke the hearty support OF every man
In this department in carrying out the
policy OF the company in these impOr.
tant matters.
In connection with this general ques
zion of considera ton of the public, and
i'll addition to other duties OF employees
n this respect, desire to be understood
chat whenever there is an unusual delay
10 passenger train, the cause of it, So
lar as known, and its probable duration
should be politely and frankly communi
Gated 10y those i'll charge of the train tC
the passengers, and their questions in re
spsct to it should be considerably ar
swered. In all matters the bearing o
our employees toward passengers, as wei
as toward the public, should be govern
ed by high sense of courtesy and con
sideratiOn
Neither the truth nor the import
ance OF this matter car be question
| ed. The question of rates, both pas
senger and freight, is now being wide
ly discussed, but the idea underlying
the quotations we have given shoulC
not be overlooked. We have always
been all earnest advocate of govern
mental control and regulation o
railroads. We think that many rail
road rates, both freight and passen
ger, are unreasonably high an(
should be regulated and reduced, bu
at the same time we are firmly con
vinced of the fact that much of th'
friction that today undoubtedly eX
lists between the railroads and th
general public has been caused b,
want OF courtesy and considera
ton on the part OF the railroads to
wards the travelling and shipping
public and the resentment, some
times carried to unjust and extrem
lengths, on the part of large por
tiOn OF the public towards the rail
roads which has been largely caused
by the attitude too often assumed b,
the railroads i'll their dealings will
the public.
If Mr.. Finley insists upon the polio,
advocated by him, and we have NJ
reason to doubt that he will do SO
md if other railroad presidents viii
join the movement, the result will b
that matters affecting the relation
,hip OF the railroads to gOvernmen
,and the public can be and will be set
lied i'll IL spirit that has oftentime
been conspicuously absent in tn
past.
Time only can tell what the out
come will be but we hope for the bes
and will most heartily welcome til
day when {. better understanding
and more cordial spirit will exist be
tween the people of the State and til
railroad companies.
Hurried meals. lack OF exercise are tt
main causes of dyspepsia. A Rings by
pepsia Tablet after each meal aids digestio
and improves the appetite. Sold by IL
nerner-McNair Drug Company
ID L.