Evening journal., 1910-08-22
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A New Version Of "The-
PubIiC-be-D Damned"
AneCdOte
BY "HOlland."

Every once i'm while, when the
question of the relations of the cor
porations TO the public is under dis
cussion, some one rises and retells the
story in which William II. Vanderbilt,
successor of his father, the Commo-
dore, was made to say, "Oh the public
be damned" And playing upon this
alleged saying of a prominent public
utility man of his day perhaps the
most famous of his time-one of the
public utility corporations of New
York city and New Jersey has taken
for its motto "The public be pleased"
Yet, according to the story once told
me by a fellow traveller of Mr.. Van
derbilt at the very time when he was
said to have consigned the public to
the realms of the damned, no such
remark, or anything like it, was made
either by MI. Vanderbilt or by any other
member of the party. My informant
was the late James ID. Laying for many
years a leading railroad operator in
the Middle West, holding high posi-
tions with the Big Four system, of
which he was vice president, the Penn
sylvania lines west of Pittsburg, and
other prominent railway corporations
Here is Mr.. Layngs version of the in
cident, now told for the first time in
print
Some eight years after the death
of the Commodore, his father, William
II. Vanderbilt and a few railroad men
who were associated with him-I was
among the number-went on an in
spectiOn trip of some of the Vanderbilt
lines west of Chicago. AT that time
the people of Illinois and especially of
Chicago, were greatly interested in
certain railroad matters in which the
Vanderbilts had a hand, and when IL
was announced through the regular
newspaper channels that Mr.. Wander
bilt, with a party of friends, was on
his way from New York to Chicago,
where he expected to stop a few days
before making a tour of inspection
over the Chicago & Northwestern Rail-
way. at least one of Chicago's news
papers conceived the idea of intercept
ing Mr.. Vanderbilt for an interview
somewhere along the route. l remem-
ber perfectly we'll that a reporter
poarded our train when we were still
perhaps two hours out of Chicago and
sent in his card to Mr.. Vanderbilt.
III see him. said Mr.. Vanderbilt,
and in a few moments the young man
was occupied chiefly in asking Mr..
Vanderbilt questions relating to the
| railroad matters which happened to
/ be interesting to Chicago most at the
moment. Mr.. Vanderbilt talked more
/ freely than / had ever known him to
/ talk before; he was I'm good spirits,
and, besides, he seemed to take quite
a liking to the newspaper man.
How many questions the reporter
] had asked and had nnuurarad for hin,
] don't know ecept to say that they
were many, when he put this question:
But how will the public take this
proposition. Mr.. Vanderbilt? Mr.. VAN
derbilt smiled tolerantly; l could see
plainly that he thought the matter un-
der discussion was so unimportant as
hardly to merit attention. Then he
replied still smiling. and in a genial
on-hand manner: How will IL take il
Why, ! don't believe the public cares
the first damned thing about the mat
ter. | don't believe IL interests the
public in the slightest Then the in
terview drifted on to some other sub
ject only TO come to an end a little
later. with Mr.. Vanderbilt bidding the
reporter a cordial good day.
Il would take my oath that Mr.. Van
derbilt made no other reply than the
one have repeated to you, for l heard
his conversation with the reporter
from beginning TO end. Therefore. you
can imagine what our astonishmeni
was when. on getting the newspapers
we discovered that Mr.. Vandrbilt was
quoted in one of them as haNng said
I'm response TO the question. But how
will the public take this proposition
MIR. Yapderbiltg oh, the public be
damnedI At once I was for correct
ing the statement. and | made such
a suggestion TO Mr.. Vanderbilt. who
/ have always believed. never felt that
the reporter had willfully misrepre-
sented him But Mr. Vanderbilt shook