Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-20
The Truth About Skip.Stops
REPRINTED From Today's Public, Ledger

A COMMITTEE of estimable citizens, men
"A and women, selected by the manage.
ment of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit
Company and invited by that corporation
to SAY whether skip.stops are really guilty
of causing death and increased accidents"
has begun its labors with an interesting
attempt to pass the buck" A request has
been sent. in the name of that committee,
10 the publisher of the PUBLIC LEDGER, to
come before that committee with such evi.
dence as you (he) may have to support, to
justify and substantiate the charges which
your his) paper has made that deaths we're
caused by skip.stops."
Philadelphia undoubtedly wants the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth about this. skip.stop business,
but 1t will not look to the management
of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company
nor to any committee of its making for a
judgment that will be worth the paper
on which it is written. The very fatuous-
ness Of the committees initial proceeding,
in calling upon the newspaper--the mere
channel through which the charges AVE
been voiced by scores of individuals and
associations-instead of going directly TO
the final sources of information-the wit.
nesses before the Coroner's inquests-
throws discredit upon the whole proceed.
ing. 1t j~ustiles the suspicion hat the
principal purpose OF the company is to
cloud the issue and divert public attention
from the real question.
Instead of f%rankness the public has been
trpatp1 in this matter with an ola hnrata
camoufiage, with the result of deepening
popular distrust in the good faith of the
company, intensifying discomfort with a
system of skip.stops which, whatever may
be said for 1t in principle, has ueen de-
signed with a clumsy disregard of public
opinion and of the convenience and com
fort Of riders. 1t was not until the agi-
tation against the skip.stops became uni.
versal that the company delgned to admit
that its system might not be perfect and
hat IT would be willing 10 meet just
criticisms and make corrections. One would
have thought that after its long record
of clumsy blunders in dealing with the
public the company might by this time
have considered the value of tact and con.
ciliation in seeking to introduce a new
system of this sort, involving admitted in.
convenience to thousands and designed To
save expense to the company. Instead OF
that, 1t went ahead in the old autocrarlc
observation-disclosures fashion. 1t has only
itself to blame that the opposition has
taken a violent form and IL the possible
advantages to the public IN increased speed
of transit are overlooked in the light OF
the increased money in the Golfers of the
company.
If the committee Of thirteen-a sinister
title-wants to know the truth about the
relation of the skip-stops and accidents, lei
II summon the witnesses before the Coro
ner's inquests, Then IL those witnesses
nave not been already seen" by the claim
department of the company, perhaps the
committee will be enabled to ,"say" tC
the satisfaction of the management
whether skip-stops cause death. Whether
their say'so will satisfy the public is an
other story.