Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-31

ditionS has to sag in favor of pas
sengcr traffic may therefore be con-
sidered as rtthout prcjudice.
ITO THE man who believes thorough
L ly in the private operation of our
railroads the suggestion on the part OF
the Association Of Railway Executives
that a large part Of the burden of the
recent 5000 900 900 increase in railroad
rates be laid directly upon the shoulders
of the travelling public must come as
distinct and none too agreeable shock.
He had been carefully educated to be-
! lief that the freight was abundantly able
to take care Of any advances after the
20 to 33 per cent advance in passenger
fares which McAdoo made shortly after
his assumption of the Office of director
general of the United States railroad
administration After all. the freight
rates form but n small part of the cost
of any community. The average man
has been told this 50 often that he has
come to believe il. And now he a.
shocked to know that he must pay more
and great deal more-whcn he
travels.
1t is common to compare our fares
with those Of foreign countries. par
ticularly with those Of Great britain.
LIT will be ponular now in certain cir =
cles to show that our new fare OF three
and one-half cents-cxclusive of lnil;
man charges and Surcharges-is still
considerably less than that of first class
fares in England and Scotland. which
as a wartime measure and to discour
age unnecessary travel wcrc raised from
four cents in our money to six cents,
where they have remained. And even n
you do include the Pullman charge and
the proposcd new surCharge for day
travel we shall be a fraction still under
british first class charges, which fur =
nish equipment quite equal in every re-
gard to our Pullman parlor cars.
Difference In Miles
Rut several facts remain unanswered
The first is that the maximum one way
tourney in the British Isles is barely 3OC
miles; ours more than 5000 miles
Which, in itself, is n distinct factor OF
difference. The second. and far more
;mportant. is that the British railway
scheme provides for at least two ant
generally three classes of passenger
fares and service. If either of these
lower classes is dropped it is the sec
ond class. The third class car and serv'
ice is invariably maintained, and or
practically every train. The fares OF
these remain at two conts mile, which
means that the man or woman of mos
moderate means in Britain has decen
travel facilities always available, ant
at low prices. And in these days aftel
the war in cars cleaner and better main
tanned than the majority of our Ameri
can day coaches today, particularly il
the East. with better average chances
of getting a seat.
The railroad in the United States ha
steadily refused to grant a second elias
fare. at least TO any general extent. TIL
man who rides in the Overland Limite,
across the continent from Chicago Il
San Francisco pays the same basis rat
per mile as he who rides as an emigran
from New York out to Chicago, or ol
10 the Pacific coast-three cents. o
course, il he decides that he woul,
prefer a Pullman, that Will cost hin
slightly more than one half a cent
mile in addition; according to the pro
posed scheme of the railway executives
three quarters of cent a mile. Thes
, gentlemen plead, with great disin
, genuousness, that the Pullman ca
brings TO them far less revenue tina,
, that of the well filled day coach, Bu
they lay no stress whatsoever Upon Nm
fact that when they introduced the Pull