Putnam patriot., 1923-02-02
URGES PROTESTS
 AGAINST RAILROAD
Rev. 5. E. Cozad Would Have Mass Meetings to Denounce
 New Haven's Delinquency
Railroad Taking Publie's Time un-
 fairly.-Must Have Change

lies side of the present difficulties or the New York, New Haven X Hart ford Railroad Company has been for warded to The Patriot by the Rev. Simeon E. Cozad, pastor of the See ond Congregational church. The Pa triot. editorially. from time to time has set forth the fact that in the pres ent condition of the railroad the pub lie is the ultimate and greatest suffer CT. It is in hearty accord with NIT. 1 Cozad's suggestion that mass meetings held in protest throughout the rail roads territory would speedily bring about change of conditions.
 Mir. Gozad's letter follows:
 Putnam. Conn. Jan. 30, 1923.
 To the Editor of The Putnam Patriot, Dear Sir:
 One of the most striking things which has come to my attention re- gently is the remarkable docility of the travelling public with regard to the extremely aggravating delinquency of the railroad in the matter of it's train schedule. A printed time schedule I for the arrival and departure of trains Is in the nature of an agreement or contract between the railroad and the travelling public. At least it has the validity of n gentleman's agree ment. And yet this agreement Is violated continuously by the railroad with the utmost sang-froid. And the patience of those who spend their good money for such service seems to i be without limit Men who would see red if they received such treat ment from any other concern will en- dure meekly all sorts of inconvenien- ces at the hands of the railroad. No other business dealing with the public could put across such miserable ser vice and endure Who would wait ! in a grocery store for an hour and ten minutes to be served? Or who, having purchased a check for an ice cream soda, would stand uneomplain- 1 ingly in line for an hour or two walt l ing to be served2 Let a theatre be fifteen minutes or half an hour late 1 in starting it's program and the audi ence will begin in no uncertain tone to voice it's impatience. Let such a thing happen for a few nights in succession and there would be no audience. And yet the very same people, who would not hesitate to voice their disapproval over an ac- casional inconvenience at the hand of some local concern, will endure very meekly week after week a most at rocious type of service by the rail road.
 Wasting Other People's Time
 This is not matter for emotional or prejudicial approach. It is a | matter which has basic business and economic aspects. The services to which the railroads agree are services paid for in advance. The business which the railroads do is cash busi- ness. The railroad gives no credit to it's customers. The very feast it can do under such circumstances is to give its-customers what they have paid for in cash in advance.
 The big ground for complaint again st the railroads is in the amount of l other PtOpit \ kifitf NhANA thN- ""'NN' 1 The railroad not only wastes it's own time but it wastes the time of it's customers as we'll Time is value. Time is worth money. It may be that He who steals my purse steals 1 trash" but it is a kind of trash for which I have many uses. And he who steals my time steals something more than trash. He steals something that can never be replaced. Time is value just as health or property is value. If the railroad were to impair my health or destroy my property l would -have basis for bringing suit against it, but when it usurps my time there is nothing that l can do about | it. And yet one is as much a destruc- ton of value as the other. When a train which should arrive in Putnam at seven-twenty in the evening does not get here until ten o'clock and l happen to be one of the victims of this particular outrage, what the rail-
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