Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-02
MOORE AND MITTEN

MAYOR MOORE in his recent speeches
AV1 has made no secret of his opposition
to Thomas Il. Ntitten, the Mitten manage
ment of the z. II. T. and the bonus scheme
for employees of the transit company which
started the row in the Board of Directors
and the movement for Mitten's removal at
the end Of this month. The Mayor, wit.
tlngly or otherwise, has thrown his inau.
ence and the influence Of his Office with tho
insurgent directors and the powers behind
them.
There are two sides to every question.
A man may adhere to one or another with.
nut being open to charges Of insncerity and
without having Interior motives. So long
as he acts courageously in the open he must
bc credited with an honest purpose. Ger.
tainly he will have an unquestioned right
% his own opinions.
The Mayor has the virtue of frankness.
His tactics have been neither slippery nor
"vasivc. He Is with the anti -Mittenites,
and his derisive references to the present
'raction management and his broad hints of
nfair treatment accorded by that manage
nent to the city and the car riders will
undoubtedly be used as propaganda for the
insurgents who are clamoring for change
from the present order.
The Mayor fails, however, to explain his
hoice of alternatives. If Mitten goes, who
ill take his place? If the present CO.
nerative labor agreements are abandoned,
hat sort of agreements will be substituted?
ill any labor agreements be substituted?
md what sort of operating policy will be
ubstituted for that under which Mitten
Eliminated strikes, improved street.car
"rvce and put the r. Il. 7. on q paying
rnsis?
If Mr.. Moore can answer these questions
knows more than any Of the insurgent
irectors. Better Cur service Is needed.
'ut will 1t be obtained by the mere ousting
NIitten and deliberate war on the work.
lg force of the II. II. T.? Hardly. For
he present cooperating union there would
substituted unit of the Federation of
.abor, and instead of peaceful settlements
wage and working problems there would
20 an inevitable resort to strikes.
my interest," said the Mayor, 'is not
rimariy with the employees organization
W the dissatisfied members of the p. r. Il.
Board of Directors. 1t is with the public.
want to see the public's interests and the
tvs interests served before the interests
f either p. II. Il. group are served"
That statement Is admirable enough so
mr. rs it goes. But it expresses nothing but
hope. 1t suggests no means by which the
ope may be realized. Until the Mayor can
ee to the end Of the general question and
cfne in clear terms the sort Of working
'rinciple which he would like to see estab.
ished in the place Of the Mitten manage.
nent, the discriminating public will be dis.
osed to regard his propaganda with much
cserve.
In what quarter among Mitten's oppo.
uents does the Mayor expect to find the
sort Of public spirit necessary to an ideal
administration of the street car service?
Who are the men who may be expected to
improve upon the present order? Can we
look for this difficult service to the moving
spirits of the Union Traction Company or
TO the groups which stole the city's streets
and now hold them in hook under legal
technicalities? Shall we trust in the New
York financial clique which continues to
dream Of national street.car monopoly
and Of q n-cent fire as n national inst.
tuition?
These are the forces that have been fight
ing Mitten, and they are the forces that
would. create the necessary substitute for
the Mitten system. The fight on Mittcn is
by no means ended. 1T will be continued
under the surface to the last ditch. And II
the Mayor is to give aid to Mitten's enemies
he should be prepared to tell the people just
what they may expect If Mitten and his
assistants pack up and leave.