The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-09-21
One Excellent Reason.

One Excellent Reason.
The Comrades who appeared be-
fore the Common Council at the recent
meeting to protest against council reg
ulation of the operation of jitneys, had
one excellent line of reasoning for OBJ
jecting to the passage of the ordinance
and that was The Present State Law
is Not Enforced The comrades went
just q little too far in declaring that
no effort had been made to enforce the
law. If any one cares to examine the
records of the Municipal Court he will
find vagrant eases scattered along
through them, showing fines for oper-
ating without a bond, for operating
without license, for speeding, fer
reckless driving. As a matter of fact
a goodly per cent of the prosecutions
of operators of automobiles are found
to be among the ranks Of drivers of
jitneys. But the State Law is Not
Enforced in Connection With Jitney
Regulation. It is not necessary to
seek court records to prove this state
ment. The jitney men openly admit it.
They joke over it. One of the speakers
before the council said that if the
boys were given another year they
might be able to observe the law in
regard to putting lights in their
vehicles. Others admitted that routes
were not covered in strict keeping
with the provisions of the state law.
1t was admitted that some had oper-
ated without licenses. In fact, a con-
siderable argument was made on the
fact that a prosecution had been de
maIded of one man operating without
a license The prosecution was not
started. Whyg Because when the
district attorney investigated the facts
he found that the man in question had
followed the right that lot of the
jitney men insist on the right to run
his automobile where he wanted to.
The man In question covered no regu-
lar route. He took friend to the rail
way station for dime and took an
other friend about the city for an hour
for a dollar. 1t was the jitney men
who wanted this man prosecuted, but
even in their efforts they forgot the
most important thing, and that was
to get the name of the man who
did the driving
Most any person who looks at the
state regulation law will be forced to
admit that it is inadequate to protect
either the man who pays his money for
permit to operate a jitney or the
public expected to ride in them. A lot
of automobiles are being Operated
for hire in Kenosha which have no
permit and the drivers of which have
not filed any bond with any old com
mission. Under the law there is
grave doubt if these men could be sue
cessfully prosecuted. The automobiles
are their own personal property and
they are not bound by any agreement
with the state to cover a certain route,
to charge any certain fee, or to operate
IN any certain hours. They operate
just the same and possibly they prove
a convenience to the people.
If the state law for the operation of
jitneys were enforced to the very let
ter and to the very letter of it's inter
probation by the attorney general, it is
probable that the route of most iitneY
drivers would be along the corridors of
the county Jail. Most of them are
willing to admit that not one Of them
live up to the law as interpreted. The
fact that the officials Of the city and
county have noS done their duty in en-
forcing law in existence is an excel
lent argument against passing any
more IF the inadequacy Of the state
law were shown by prompt and vigorous
enforcement it is pretty certain that
the members of the council would then
be able to see just how far this law
would fail Of regulation It is posi-
bic that with this enforcement the
jitney drivers themselves would be
among the very first to seek an
ordinance regulating the operation Of
vehicles for hire.
An excellent start along the lines Of
regulation would come by enforcement
of the laws now on the statute books.
There ism any doubt but that there
would be just as great an effort on the
part Of the iitney drivers to violate
with IMMUNITY and with check, city