The Little River news., 1916-02-26
NiGGING THE RAILROADS.

From Lake Charles Amer1can-Press:
 The state railroad commission held an "important" meeting in New Or leans this week. Representatives of railroad laor oranizations were pre- sent. and passenger departmen: offl- cfalc were on hand from all parts oi fns. state. representing all of the dir fl9cat railroads. The burning 4ueE- 4ira before the commission was whet.l- aY the railroads should be allowed to charge 2n extra dime when a passel,- asr Is to-, lazy CT indifferent to reach railroad station on time to buy a ticket or when he hopes by not buy i1% a ticket to find some method of de- r1iying the railroad of it's full pay f3I carrying him.
 There are two outstanding facts in regard t0 this extra charge fer care iaaHess. One is that nobody is obliged to pay it. The other is that the rail- rogd 3o not want the revenue gained T ais matter. They would much pre- zel, for everybody to have ticlNe: be- fore entering the train.
 ' s not hard to understand why thc railroads desire to enforce the t.ckci buying rule The c1ly method by which a railroad may be assured that :. is receiving all of the passenger rev anaes it earns is by having the money pass through the hands of the ticket sellers. The conductors are as hon est and scrupulous as men in other responsible positions; but they have enH1gh responsibility and work car ing for their trains without having the added icb of collecting cash fares, eiving receipts and making change, liable in their hurry to make m!stak es for which they will be obliged to stand good Testifying before the commission. one conductor said that t would take three times as bog 70 go through the train if the ticket buying rrte was not enforced. With the long trains now run, the conductor should not have obstacles placed in the way of prompt attention to his worX
 Neither is it possible fer the rail- road absolutely to know that every conductor in it's employ is honest. It cannot take the ordinary precautions that business men take against dis honesty. Its only recourse Is to in stitrte a system of espionage to it's employees, all of which may be men of integrity, and disagreeable to the pa irons of the railroad. The employ mcnt of separate ticket collectors in- ereasing the revenue.
 Now, who are those upon whom the extra charge fec paying cash fare fats? The man who is habitually late for trains and makes them on the jump; the man who dislikes takins the trouble to go to the ticket window to obtain his ticket, or the man wnC ltcpeG to tempt some employe Of the read tc be dishonest We hear tales of ticket agents who are not at their posts, just as we hear of surly and un- accommodating ticket agents-buV seldom see them. We venture the aa sertion that it is very rare that mar is unable to buy ticket in tTme tt catcl; his train, and even these con tingencies may be sareguarded.
 The railroads of Louisiana, as wei as these of the entire country, ar. having hard encmgh time now, with nut Louisiana people adding to theil burdens by nagging over what ar, trifies to the patrons, but necessary precautions to the railroad itself Railroad commissions are constantly edging in on their sources of revenue while their patrons are demanding better service, and their employes in the building of less than a thou sand miles of new track in the en, tire United States-the smallest ad addition to the mileage since 1864.
 Men are not going to put theii money into enterprises which are sub ject to continual attack by public bod ies, and the railroads have been the victims of unceasing and sometimes senseless warfare for so lcmg thai