The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-20
WHERE UNCLE SAM FAILS AS
A BOSS, -
Incidents Of Poorer Service on the
Railroads and In the Express Ser
vice Since the Companies Were
Taken Over by the i.oNernment.

Railroads and In the Express Ser
vice Since the Companies Were
Taken Over by the Government.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN--sir. So
long as It seemed a war measure the
taking over OF the railroads by the Gov
eminent was necessary and desirable,
but now the fighting has ended and at
the earliest possible moment the rail-
roads should be put back In private
ownership-not, perhaps. Just as they
were whom the Government took them,
but at all events In such way that
the owners OF each property will have
something to cay about how It shall be
operated. The present methods seem
hopeless. Schedules have gone to pieces
Never In old times in the North and
East were trains 20 irregula- and SO
universally late. The employees of the
railroad. that is to say, the hands who
run the trains. having succeeded in
frightening the President, the Congress
and the many committees that have
been appointed to arrange wages. seem
now quite out Of control and too often
are doing their work badly.
1t Is dangerous TO generalize from
limited experience. but recent railway
| journeys have led me 10 think that
the trains are being operated by engI-
neers and brakemen quite without ex-
perience. Long trains Of Pullman cars.
that two or three years ago would
have started slowly. all together and
without jar. now follow one another
with successive Jerks. Just as the
freight trains Of our boyhood days used
to start. At every jerk. the cattle
| horned or Misunderstanding in the car.
are thrown backward and then forward
again, TO their great discomfort. In
some cases b-akemen do not know how
to open the vestibule doors above the
| car steps between ordinary coaches and
| must be told by waiting passengers
! what catches to set free before the
| door can be opened.
For the past twenty years the peo-
| PIE living on the plains west OF the
Missouri River and engaged in aEri-
cultural pursuits have given much time
to damning the railroads and calling
for Government ownership. Now they
|
troll and find that the trains are re-
duced In number, run k:Tegularly and
at inconvenient times. at much greater
cost and without particular regard to
the convenience of passengers or
shippers or freight Il Is somewhat en-
tertaining to observe the Volte face
that has taken place among these peo-
Pile At last they have received what
they have long asked for-and are
overwhelmed with sorrow.
The express business now under Gov
eminent control is conducted with ap-
parent disregard of the individual.
Within the last thirty days or so have
been interested in from six to ten
packages OF goods that have been
shipped from New York to one ad-
dress. None of these packages has
reached It's destination. They were
taken away from different addresses
oy express drivers and apparently
melted away.
The other day visited a large ex-
press office TO inquire about one Of
these packages. There were perhaps
! three attendants behind a long counter.
| over which hung seventy-1ye o.
| eighty gestIculating shippers and re-
ceiVers. Every now and then one of
tho attendants disa ppeared sometime.
| all or them went and there was no
one left TO listen TO the. plants OF the
( untortunates who were waiting. or TO
read the documents which each one
/ waved in his despair. The great room
| OF the express company was crowded
| with desks for the use OF nfty or
seventy-five young women. half a dozen
OF whom seemed buslly occupied.
! The taking over by the Post once
department OF telegraph and telephone
systems seems 20 have resulted in con-
! FUSION. Due allowance must be made
/ for the influenza epidemic. which tas
/ now largely passed. but even af.e- this
~ made the telephone service remains
! unsatisfactory. Inattentlon, forgetful-
ness of numbers called and the giving
| or wrong numbers are now rather the
rule than the exception.
! To many business people the taking
/ over OF the cable lines by the Post
maste--General is a serious and seern-
! lnSly unnecessary inconvenience. Dur
( ing the lighting II was accepted more
or less as n matter OF course that
cable messages filed and paid for should
be suppressed. II was conceivable that
messages having TO do with trans
portation acroTs the ocean might In
some way give aid and comfort TO the
enemy Now, however. there seems no
better reason for holding all the cahl.
!';icS tiaH that our worthy Presiden.
and his family-ofiicial and unofficial
! may be able 10 gossip with one another
without interruption. The affairs of
business people may not be go inpor-
tant as those Of the Wilson family: but
to some OF US II would seem that IN.
feelings OF a million or more peonIe
who have relatives on the other side are
as vital and ought quite as much 10
be considered as the comfort and con-
! venience OF the President.
( The deplorAble condition OF the mail
service is constantly complained OF
1t may be unreasonable to ask that
the change from war TO peace condI.
lions In these matters shall be made NJ
once. or perhaps even very oulck,v
but it does seem that some expression
may properly be given TO the fact
which l believe to be entirely true. thar
under Government control the trans
portation service and wire communtca-
ton have suffered enormously. Let the
EFFORT be made TO shake free from these
lines the clutch that the Government
now seems to have on them.
The chief interest OF the average
/ man lies in the material reward that