Evening star., 1919-03-16
FIFTY YEARS AGO In THE STAR


words that he would stfil b. Indirect
ly concerned or interested. in It.
Mr.. Stew art did. in fact, transfer HIS
business to William Il. AstnE. Jamas
Brown. William h. Dodge, James J.
Roosevelt and Henry Hilton, for the
purpose OF CARRYING II on during his
incumbency of the office of Secretary
of the Treasury and devotinE tho pro
ceeds to charitable objects. At q CON
ference held at the White House, how
ever. tho conclusion was reached that
this did not satisfy the letter or the
spirit Of the law of 1883. and on the
9th of March Mr.. Stewart addressed "A
letter to the President declining the
Office. George 5. Boutwell, OF Massa-
chusetts was nominated In his stead
and was confirmed and served as Sec
retary.
President Grants inaugural ad-
dress was enc of the shortest on rec
ord, and this was re-
Shorter garded as a good omen
and departure from the
speeches. custom of lengthy
speeches by public officials. The Sta.
OF March 9. 1869. quotes the following
from the Baltimore Sun: -.
With the incoming of the new ad-
ministration the era of short speeches
has commenced. The Presidents in
augural occupied only half a column.
Vice President ColfaX's address Oh
taking the oath was but fifteen lines
long. and Speaker Blaine's was less
than forty lines. May their worthy
example be universally followed 10
Congress and elsewhere by all our
Orators
A movement forslower railroad fares
was begun in this country fifty years
ago. but made lit
Lower Rail Ratesue headway for
pcAr some time. The
Star of March le,
1869, thus adverted to the question in
terms of comparison between Amer
can and British conditions:
I'VE are not always in advance o
John Bull. Great Britain is our pio-
neer in the cheap postage movement
and the question of cheap railway
fares. still under discussion as an ex-
pertinent here. has been satisfactorily
settled there, as it has been demon
strated by numerous statistics ;haL
the reduction of fares has invariably
resulted in increased profits to tn
railroad corporations of England.
Cheap fares have tempted the lowe
classes to indulge in the luxury %
travel, who would otherwise have re
Trained from SO doing. So success
full has been this reduction that thr
commission of Irish railways nov
recommend and urge a similar reduc
n H.
not only beneficial to the companies,
but to the cities through which the
roads pass and at which they termi-
nate. There is not a route runninr
from New York which has presented
facilities and inducements to citizen
to settle along the road whose re
ceipts have not multiplied far more
rapidly than the expenditures. TaV
Commercial Advertiser On that ci.t
notices a short road which ten year"
ago was virtually bankrupt. The stoch
was regarded as worthless and tht
projectors and original builders of thc
enterprise looked upon their money
as thrown away. New men took
hold of the road-those who looked ="
the future for their returns and MOI
to the present. Rates of fare were
cut down more than one-half. Rates
of commutation were established
where none existed before. Advertise
ments were inserted freely in the pa
pers, directing attention to the roau
and the facilities it presented AS Il
result people soon began to leave the
metropolis and settle in the villaeeS
along the route. They in turn in
duced friends to follow their example.
and now heavily crowded trains, run
ming almost hourly, pass to ana IT"
over the road and its value has IN
creased twelve fold. The same policy
pursued on other roads would sbe ar.
tended with precisely similar results