Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-08-23

THE ATLANTA 81
any right to regulate or control the roads operations
in this regard.
Such a contention is manifestly absurd. The
road owes duty to the passenger who travels on
mileage book no less than to him who travels on
regular ticket; and the State should protect the
rights and interests of the one thoroughly as it
does those of the other. The man VINO buys a mileage
book pays for in advance and he is entitled to due
value upon his purchase without having to go
through labyrinth of arbitrary rules in order to
receive it. His mileage calls for certain service
for certain amount of transportation and he should
be allowed to present that mileage aboard train
and have accepted for just what it is worth The
railroads make lower rates for mileage books IN
order to induce patronage. 1ney have no moral
legal right to compel passengers to waste time In
exchanging mileage which has already been paid for
before 1t can be used. But Governor Brown, In
trenching himself behind qubOe which, as we have
said better suited to the brief Of special advo-
cate of railroad than to the Governor of Georgia,
insists that the Sate is lmpotent to protect its peo
pie matter and that they must remain helpless
The Governors views constitutional law In
this regard are about as clear a London fog They
are suggestive that profound research and medita
ton which some years ago resulted in his famous
Zone" system for passenger rates.
His second powerful reason for killing the mileage
bill is that the conductors duties other than watch
full his train for the protection Oh the lives
passengers should be far possible freed from
complexities and tedious calculations" and that a
conductor take up several card tickets while he
might be pulling the mileage from book. Such
an argument we must confess is unanswerable; it
too much like the waggish deliverances Of Justice
Dogberry. 1t is invulnerable in its absurdty.
In other sections of the country. wherever mileage
is used the railroads voluntarily pull the mileage on
the trains 1t is not necessary to force them to do
so by law but if it were we do not believe there is
another Governor in the United States, great const
tutional lawyer though he might be, who would claim
that such statute impaired the obligation of con-
tract In Georgia and other Southern states, the
railroads have obstnatey set themselves against his
most reasonable demand, and the governor seems
ready to carry out their Wishes adding to their
contention the great, discovery that the proposed
law requiring the acceptance of mileage trains is
unconstitutional So, by the exercise of the arbitrary
powers attached to the Office which he fills he under
defeat the rights of patrons of the railroads
and to protect the railroads themselves in
sonable unjust and wholly unnecessary requirement
Fortunately the people are not without remedy,
and this remedy does not depend Governor Brown.
The Railroad Commission has the power to require
the railroads accept mileage trains instead of
being exchanged for tickets. The petition for the
enactment of this order has been before the Commits
sion for months. and has been held up by that body
only to await the action of the Legislature. The
Legislature did enact law by constitutional ma
jority to compel the acceptance of mileage by the
railroads on their trains. Having had this express
sion from the Legislature and having heard voice
in opposition that of the railroads and the
governor it is the plain duty of the Commission
to at once adopt and promugate the rule that rail-
roads selling mileage shall be compelled to accept
such mileage the trains.
The action of Governor Brown deserves to be
rcpudiated If he had been the direct representative
of the railroads in high official position, he could
scarcely have exhibited more complete obedience to
their demands. We hesitate to attribute improper
motives to Governor in taking the action that he
has but to say the very least Of it, his veto of this
measure is unreasonable in the highest degree, and
Unjust to the great body Of the people whom he, in
this instance at least misrepresents.