Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-11-18
ACTION AS WELL AS WORDS.

Ask any man you meet on the streets of
Perth Amboy whether or not the city should
have a new railroad station and he will I'M
hesitatingly tell you that it should.
A person who has visited Perth Amboy for
the first time in his life and was only here a
few hours, coming down from New York on a
business trip and returning at once, remarked
Of his own accord that the accommodations
given by the railroad for passengers who are
waiting for trains are entirely inadequate for
a place of this size.
Railroad officials have looked upon Perth
Amboy from the immigration train point of
view entirely too long. The people who have
stood at Jersey City and watched the newly ar
rived immigrants crowded into cars which are
little better than those provided for cattle, will
Know what this means. Railroad men invari-
ably refer to the "large foreign population
Of this city when any request is made of them
for improved conditions. Perth Amboy add
mits that she has a great many foreigners here
and the fact that she has shows that the city
is growing more rapidly than nine-tenths of
the places in the state. Immigrants would not
come here if this were not so. But these ''for-
eigners," as a great many outsiders choose to
call them, are, to a large extent, lawabidlng,
American citizens. They know what a first
class service is and they should join with the
thousands of American born citizens Of this
city in the demand for a new railroad station.
We say they should join with the American
born citizens because unless there is an united
effort along this line on the part OF the people
we cannot hope to accomplish very much. The
railroads are accustomed to being cham
mered" in the newspapers, as they say, and
unless there is public action taken to back up
the press the matter will receive but slight at
t%ention. When the people are as unanimous In
their desire for an improvement as they are in
regard to the railroad station, it seems strange
that they cannot get together long enough to
impress the railroad that this demand must be
granted.
AS referred to a few days ago, a petition
from the people Of Westfield had not been pre-
sented to the Central railroad over four
months before work was started on the new
depot. Yet the people at Westfield are entirely
at the mercy of the Central railroad. If the
company had refused to grant their request
there was nothing for the people to do but to
put up with what they had. With Perth Am
boy it is different. Besides the Central rail
road we have the Pennsylvania and the Staten
Island Rapid Transit, both of which have fire.
quent trains to New York. When freight is
considered we also have the Lehigh Valley. We
believe, therefore, that the proper kind of ar
gument put up to the railroad officials would
cause them to take notice.
In fact, the business men Of Perth Amboy
could accomplish wonders if they would stand
together in this matter. 1t is through the
freight departments that the railroads receive
their large revenues from Perth Amboy and it
is on the strength of this income that Perth
Amboy demands better recognition for passen-
ger service. A petition sent in by all the large
shippers of this city to any of the railroads