Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-01-10
FINLEY ON MILEAGE BOOKS.
President of Southern Discusses Sub.
ject From His Standpoint.

| TTCoIuCnt VI oOuInCIH blSSuSSSS oup-
ject From His Standpoint.
Editor Yorkville Enquirer:
Recognizing frankly the obligations
of a railway to the public which 1t
serves, 1 have, since I have been
charged with the management Of the
Southern Railway, availed myself of
every proper opportunity to present to
the public matters affecting the rela-
tions between the railways and their
patrons. At the same time have avail
ed myself of the courteous co-opera-
,, ton Of the press of the south to dis
cuss matters in which the southern
people and the railways are vitality
| interested, and in connection with
which am endeavoring to make the
Southern Railway a factor of In
creasing helpfulness in the field Of
southern development
My experience with this policy has
convinced me that 1t Is the proper
one. / have confidence in the fair
ness and justice of the southern peo-
pie. l am of the south and for It.
1t is with confidence in being given
a fair hearing, therefore, that 7 seek
to present to the public opinion Of the
south a matter vitality affecting the
railway companies. not In any spirit
straightforward statement of a busi-
ness proposition. / feel sure that
this course will commend itself to the
public. This proposition Is the regu-
lation requiring the exchange of in
Interchangeable mileage book coupons
for tickets.
The railway companies operating in
the southeastern states have on sale
interchangeable mileage coupon books
which are sold at a substantial reduc-
ton from the single-trip ticket rates.
These mileage coupon books are not
passenger tickets, but the coupons
they contain are exchangeable for
tickets at the ticket offices of any
of the railways that are parties to the
The purchaser of one of these books
has the advantage of buying coupons
at a wholesale rate which are ex-
changeable for transportation.
AS each railway which is a party
to the interchangeable mileage book
arrangement sells books the coupons
of which are exchangeable for tick
cts not only on that road, but on
each Of the other participating roads,
and as neither the selling road nor
any other road which is under obli-
cations to receive the coupons has
any means of knowing how many of
the coupons may be used on any par
ticular road, an infallible system of
interline accounting is absolutely nee
essary in order that each company
shall be assured of its proper pro-
portion of the revenue derived from
the sale Of each mileage book. This,
/ think, is self-evident business
proposition which will commend itself
20 every business man.
The best evidence that a railway
can have that it has honored mileage
coupons sold by another railway Is the
possession Of the coupons themselves.
1t follows that the basis Of any re-
liable system Of interline accounting
must be a plan which will insure the
preservation Of every such coupon
which each road receives. This is
accomplished by rule requiring the
owner of mileage coupon book to
exchange coupons for his ticket in
the same way that a traveller who
does not own such a book exchanges
his money for a ticket Mileage cou-
pons are the equivalent Of money to
the road which receives them, and,
under this system, they are surround
ed by the same safeguards as is the
money which the agent receives for
tickets. 1t is universally conceded
to be a reasonable rule of accounting
that a railroad should, in it's dealings
with passengers who purchase trans
portation with money, require that its
agent at a station should receive and
account for the money and issue a
ticket therefor, and that another and
Independent agent on the train, name
ly, the conductor or ticket collector,
should receive an account for the
ticket, thus, in an accounting way,
one agent being a check on the other.
If this is reasonable as to a money
transaction, it seems to follow that it
is also reasonable as to a transaction
in which one company is required to
receive coupons issued by another
company, for such coupons are, as
above stated, equivalent to money.
Under this system the ticket agent
handles the money or its equivalent
in mileage coupons, sells the ticket,
and thus makes record of what the
company has sold. Another man COL
lects the ticket and thus makes a
record that the ticket has been used
and must account for it. The agent
must account for the selling price in
money or mileage coupons. as the case
may be, and the coupons from books
sold by other roads constitute a claim
on the respective roads by which they
have been sold. Every business man
knows that such records and checks
are essential to any proper system
of accounting and that every claim
for money from another business es-
tablishment must be supported by
evidence Of the claim. The railways
have been unable to devise any other
system that will so certainly prevent
complications in interline accounting
and so effectively safeguard the reve-
nues of each company.
No one claims that it is unreason-
BILE for a carrier to require traveller
without mileage book to buy tick
ct instead of paying the money on the
train. Is it unreasonable, therefore.
that the man who uses mileage
coupon book and gets his passage at
lower rate should also be required
to buy his ticket, the only difference
being that he pays in coupons while
the other pays his money.
That this is a reasonable view OF
the matter is also shown by the fact
that the regulations in effect in south
eastern territory have been sustained
by the supreme court of South Caro-
lima and the railroad commission of
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
In the central west. including the
states of Illinois, Indiana. Ohio and
Kentucky. there has been for num-
Der of years a system under which
the purchaser pays $25.0O for 1000
mile coupon book. He must ex-
change the coupons for tickets just
the same as in southeastern territory,
with the additional requirement that
he shall sign the ticket when it is
taken up on the train. On the return
to the railway company of the cover
of the book, showing the entire use
of the coupons, five dollars is return
ed to him, and not until then does
the purchaser receive the beneht OF
.1s.N. N.,...a