Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-23
MeAooo REQUIRES cIvILITY
Railroads Belong to the People No
Less Than Formerly.

Railroads Belong to the People No
Less Than Formerly.
In an order Of the railroad admin
istration, signed by Director General
William G. McAdoo. employees OF the
railroad service throughout the Unit
ed States were summarily called
| for their reported discourtesies to the
travelling public and offering the ex-
PLANTATION that These are McAdoo's
orders" or that Uncle Sam Is run
| ming the railroads now" Text Of the
order was made public last Monday,
in which 1t was stated "for many
years 1t was popularly believed that
the public be- damned policy was the
policy OF the railroads under private
control. Such policy rs indefensible
either under private control or gov
Iernment control. The public
be- damned policy will in no circum-
stance be tolerated on the railroads
under government control"
The employees were instructed to
serve courteously and efficiently. and
were reminded that the general pub
lie is paying extra passenger and
freight rates TO allow their wages to
be increased in amounts totallng
$475. 100000 per annum.
The text of the order follows:
Washington, d. c.. Aug. IS. 1918.
ITO all employees in the railroad SER
vice of the United States:
Complaints have reached me from
time to time that employees are not
treating the public with as much con-
sideration and courtesy under govern
nrent control Of the railroads as un-
der private control. | do not know
how much courtesy was accorded the
public under private control, and |
have no basis, therefore, for accurate
comparison. 1 hope. however. that
the reports Of discourtesy under gov
eminent administration of the rail-
roads are incorrect, or that they are
at least confined to a relatively few
Of these complaints, they draw atten-
ton to a question which is OF the ut
most Importance In the management
Of the railroads.
For many years 1t was popularly
believed that the public be- damned
policy was the policy Of the railroads
under private control. Such q policy
is indefensible either under private
control or government control. 1t
would be particularly indefensible un-
der public control when railroad en-
Fployes are the direct servants of the
public. The public be- damned policy
will in no circumstances be tolerated
on the railroads under government
control. Every employe of the rail-
road should take pride in serving the
public courteously and efficiently.
Courtesy costs nothing and when II is
dispensed. 1t makes friends of the
public and adds to the self-respect Of
the employe.
my attention has also been called
to the fact that employees have some
Times offered as an excuse for their
Y shorteouings,s or az a tustifca-
Hon for delayed trains or other diff
culties the statement that Uncle Sam
Is running the railroads now," or
These are McAdoo's orders etc.
Nothing could be more rcprehensiblc
~ II, nt1r ,tn. ,,,,I
nothing could be more hurtful to the
success OF the railroad administration
or TO the welfare Of the railroad en-
ployes themselves. No doubt, those
who have made them have done so
thoughtlessly in most instances, but
the harm Is just as great If thing
Of this sort is done thoughtlcssly as
If it Is done deliberately.
There are many people who for
partisan or selfish purposes wish gov
crnment operation of the railroads to
be n failure. Every employe who Is
discourteous to the public or makes
excuses or statements Of the kind
have described, is helping these par
tisan or selfish interests to discredit
government control of railroads.
Recently the wages Of railroad en-
ployes were largely increased, involv-
ing an addition to railroad operating
expenses Of more than $I75,000,0OO
per annum. In order to meet this in
crease, the public has been called
upon to pay largely increased passen-
ger and freight rates. The people
have accepted this new burden cheer
fully and patriotically. The least that
every employe can do in return Is to
serve the public courteously, faithful
y and efficiently.
"a great responsibility and duty
rests upon the railroad employees Of
the United States. Upon their 10y
atty. efficiency and patriotism de-
pends In large part Americas success
and the overthrow of the kaiser and
all that he represents. Let us not
fail to measure up to our duty, and to
the just demand Of the public that
railroad service shall not only be effi-
cient, but that 1t shall always be cour-
teonalv administered"