Omaha daily bee., 1911-04-12

es Bascom. vet when he went before the
people for reelection he was defeated. As
he said afterward. he could not under
stand how Il happened because he al
ways got passes for his constituents who
asked for them"
How Requests Were worded.
For a federal judge to ask in the first
/ person singular for a railroad pass would
not only have violated the etiquette in such
cases made and provided but It would
have stained the ermine to an extent that
would have kept the dry cleaners working
overtime No. indeed The private secre-
tary OF a clerk wrote a courtly epistle in
the third person in the judges behalf
thus:
His honor, Judge Graft. will spend a
| portion Of his vacation in California. He
has already been kindly supplied with an
annual for himself. but II the rules Of the
company permit. he would be glad to have
the courtesy extended to his family Of
eight persons who will accompany him"
For governor, this form was all to the
sand dome
His excerency Governor Dedhed wishes
| to take n trip to the seashore with his
wife four daughters. three sons, a niece
two sisters-in-law five maids a valet
nurse, governess and coachman. He has
been rendered a private car on the n c.
line but would prefere a special train
over your route. Kindly send me trans
/ portstion for the governor and twenty
1 from sockettoum to New York and re-
/ turn"
! The way not to do it was beautifully
excmplified by the prosecuting attorney in
western state. who wrote long, threat,
enng letter to the president Of a railroad
company reminding him that he had IA
vored the judges in his territory with an
nuals, whereas II have daily to grant the
favors OF the law Of great state for your
railroad. Your men are all liable to prose
cution for running trains on Sunday, also
for letting trains stop across public streets
and in other ways"
Impossible to Reckon Pass Values.
How could such man be given a pass
Or. how could the lieutenant governor OF
another state get what he wanted when he
had the bad taste to write:
In appointing my committees, have
favored the railroads believing that the
interests OF the state demanded it."
What possessed the chairman Of a cam
paign committee In asking for passes for
twenty-one men to canvass the state. and
hold out the hope that, in event Of sue
cess, we may be able TO do you some
substantial favors?'
No one ever knew. nor will any one ever
know, the money value of free transpor-
tation given away by the railroads. No
railroad report ever referred to the subject
possibly no railroad management has ever
kept any statistics for a contemplation
thereof surely would have given the
!
Search all the reports Of all the state
railroad commissions from cover to cover
and you will not find so much as the
words passes" or free transportation. "
to say nothing of any information about
the quantity issued The Interstate Com
merce commissions voluminous literature
Is silent on the subject,
The nearest approach to definite infor.
nation from any authoritative source is to
be found in such fragmentary assertions as
the distribution of free transportation by
the Pennsylvania railroad to the value OF
81 100000 year in the Keystone state
alone; that a certain railroad in Pennsyl
vania distributed $500 passes for a single
state convention; that a western railroad
president boasted that he had been able tC
effect saving of 81 900 a day merely by
regulating the issue of passes. Not stop
ping, just regulating
Millions in u.
II is related that Philadelphia banker
who has been a member OF the board o.
directors Of the Pennsylvania railroad FOL
many years, assured a group OF friend,
that the cost of deadhead traffic to tn,
company from 1850 to 1906 almost eauaieC
the aggregate cost Of the tunnels under
the Hudson river and the new terminal il
New York city; and that the deadheaC
passenger, freight and express service {,
federal officeholders and their families haC
been not less than S25.OOOOOO
In the absence OF any definite statistics
the next best thing is an estimate by az
expert. To secure this, / asked the presi
dent Of an eastern line one OF the pioneer
in the anti-pass movement, what the dead
heads used TO cost the railroads of tn,
nation.
He said that II all free transportation ha,
been paid for passenger revenues would
have been increased 10 per cent.
In the ten years before the Hepburn Law
; went into effect, the passenger revenues o
! all the railroads aggregated S3.53S $50. 92l
Fifteen per cent OF this would amount I,
$3.50 ,5SS, or an average of $50 O76, 1853
: year This would have paid per cent in
terest on an investment of 81. 061. 527 $50: and
no doubt II would have been welcome. To-
as late as 1909 one-third OF the railroads ii
the United States paid no dividends T,
, put It another way, the cost of deadhea,
transportation would have built and equip
: ped 1929 miles of railroad ae an averag,
ped OF $4,000 q mile. which is a liberia
rate.
Every One In Five n Deadehead.
, This estimate would seem to be very con
sentative, from the fact that in 1906. whei
the deadhead was in full possession OF al
his perquisltes, passenger revenues on al
railroads aggregated S4S6 49, O2, while tw,
years later in 1907. after the rigors Of tn
Hepburn law had set In they were S574,
7iS57s. This extraordinary jump Of SIS, 297.
676 or IS per cent, in yearly earnings'in s.
short a period would seem to indicat
7 something more than natural increase Il
n traffic
This natural increase would be NOR
= than offset by the elimination OF the mer
j. joy-riders When they had to pay 10
e every mile they Travelled people only wan
j. dered from their fresldes when driven b
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