The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-26
Street Car President is
Astonished by Consider
alton and Fairness
OUR CITIES BETTER
THAN At THE NORTH
High Class of Men in Politics.. But
Dangerous to Betray the Confidence
Of Communities.

Of Communities.
In the Saturday Evening Post has
appeared a series of articles, 1.-The
Confessions of a Reformed Street
Railway President" The people of the
South will be interested especially in
a part Of this series which appears IN
the issue of the Post of Oct. 9. The
writer tells a long and vivid story Of
corrupt and corrupting intercourse
between street railways, local politi-
clans and city governments, and then
says:
This condition of affairs caused me
to look about and take an inventory
of conditions over the United States
in general. It seems an anomaly, but
nevertheless it is the truth, that al
most every street railway
prospers in the inverse ratio of it's
popularity. Show me a street rail
way system that is abused and reVll-
ed, and nine times out of ten it IS
in a prosperous condition. Show me
one that is enjoying extreme p
larity and it is a safe guess that it is
condition, and very likely on the
downward road. Popularity is a
luxury which can only be had at pro-
hibitive prices; and on the face Of my
early dreams and my best intentions
I found that popularity and the street
4oiA " SS "iS iON Soo0 ooAAA
panionS. Why this is so / do not know,
But I have observed that the winning
of popularity is a business in itself,
. and that it is best left to a set of pro-
fesSional me who have made a STe-
cial study of it. This professional set
who make an asset of popularity are
the politicians who capitalize their
speciality and offer it for sale to the
highest bidder. ! find that it is cheap
TO buy my popularity of the politicians
rather than to try to buy 1t direct
from the public.
South Is Different.
A noticeable exception to these con-
dition exists in the South. i Y
had experience in Southern cities, and
to one who has been accustomed to
the unwarranted abuse a street rail
way corporation and it's officials are
subjected to in the North, the South
is q heaven of cOntentment The OWN
ers of the property above referred to
had acquired a street railway system
in a Southern city. 1t was given into
my hands to put on an efficient foot
ing. When / took charge of the
property the service was very much
worse than it would AVE dared to be
in any Northern city. Cars and racks
were decrepit and hOpelessly worn
out. motormen and conductors were
negligent of their duties and the mo-
tive power was barely sufficient to en-
able the cars to crawl along at a
Snail'S pace. | looked for the storm
of abuse and protest which had greet
ed me in my Northern home, but it
did not come. / felt lonely, for [
missed the people who came into my
office, called me names and told me
how to u my business. [ missed
being stopped on the street, several
times within one block, and told Of
negligence or disobedience of rules by
employees. 1t was actually uncanny
to have everybody greet me Smilingly
and treat me with the acme of polite
ness. The mayor and city council, to
my surprise, had no kick coming, and
with all the politeness and hospitality
of genuine Southern gentlemen invit-
cd me to their homes. [ could not
understand conditions at all. When I
had any business to AXE up with the
city officials, | was politely invited to
a conference; and at these conferences
] was treated like a human being of
good breeding and genteel Instincts.
Worked Hard to Rec.procate.
For several weeks after l took
charge of the property [ was unable
to remedy existing conditions, and I
actually huns my head in shame over
the street car service. Nobody else
did, so l was obliged to do it myself,
as we'll as all the worrying. Not
having any serious complaints coming
TO me, I had to hunt them up myself
and find the weak spots. never
worked SO hard in all my life to pro-
vide good service as / did in this case.
for ! just had to better conditions out
OF sheer consideration for the polite
ness of these Southerners. AS i'm
pfoVementS We're made, people began
70 stop me on the street and compli-