Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-02
THE FARE TEST

FTNHE manner and method of Mr.. Mitten's
u appeal to trolley users who were asked
yesterday voluntarily to relinquish their
legal right to exchanges and transfers make
the experiment notable in more ways than
one. As n precedent indicative of n new
code Of corporation ethics. the p. r. T's
newest approach to the patrons of its lines
was almost astonishing.
Utilities corporations have not always the
habit of simplicity and frankness in their
dealings with the outside world. That may
be the reason why so many of them are
forever getting into trouble. Street railway
companies of the past looked for no quarter
from the public-and they gave none. They
dealt in the days of strikes and bankruptcies
and inefficient service with the men higher
up, and felt that they had followed the one
course open to them. IL you had ever sug-
gested to one of the old fashioned traction
magnates that he go over the heads of the
men in office and trust himself to the grace
and reasonablencss of the people you would
surely have known what ribald laughter
sounds like when it comes from the heart
The fact that the p. r. T. did this Is in
itself something to wonder at.
More significant still is the relative posi-
uons assumed by the company, its men and
the people who use the trollpys. In every
other street railway crisis the corporations
and the public have reason to make COM
mon cause against the men who operate the
lines. Here the men were aligned with the
company and in sympathy with manage
ment which sympathizes with them. Mr.
Mltten and the employees have taken long
jump and they will be widely talked about
And the interesting thing about Yesterdays
experiment is that it could not have been
attempted If the p. Il. T.. had not won, BY
years OF good conduct, the right to appeal
fairly, hands down, to friendly and unprei-
udiced jury That is more than you can
say for good many other corporations
whose aches and pains are matters for daily
diagnosis and speculation in the newspapers.
If the results of the fare test were not all
that the street, car management expected II
is not necessary to assume that the end of
the matter has been reached or that a final
verdict Is rendered. great many people
taken unaware, proved TO be not quite so
magnanimous or self sacrificing as they
might have been. But the general response
made it plain that, whatever general opjnion
may be in relation to fare schedules and the
underlying leases, the majority of the people
nave developed sympathetic interest in
Mitten and his problem and disposition to
view his troubles as they view their own
To ask man who is in a hurry to work to
to do this without warning, is to put ordi
nary human nature to a pretty severe test
Had the riding public been given a day of
grace in which to consider the nature of the
proposal the, results of the fare test might
have been far more encouraging than they
! proved to be from tho p. Il. Il. yiewpoint
The attitude of the companys employees was
admirably tactful Most Of the people who
| rode on the cars yesterday felt sincere de :
sire to help the men and the management to
maintain relationship so obviously friendly.
The direct results of this unique and in =
formal appeal to public opinion may be in =
conclusive in general way and even of
doubtful value in the light Of larger surveys
made on technical grounds. But the manner
IN which it was presented proves again that
the Mitten theory of intimate co operation
between the corporation and its men is a
valuable asset for the city which should be
retained at all hazards no matter what the
| outcome of the official fare discussion may be.