Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 208, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 August 1919 — MANY RIDE ON PASSES [ARTICLE]

MANY RIDE ON PASSES

BANKRUPTED RAILROADS HAVE MANY LEECHES SUCKING THEIR LIFE-BLOOD.

The following editorial taken from the Indianapolis Star reveals the iniquity of government administration of a public utility, especially when that administration is democratic: A resolution, introduced by Senator Newberry, elicited from the railway administration the fact that thousands of passes have been issued to people who, in the ordinary course of events, are contributing nothing to the management or operation of the railways. The senator’s interest was aroused when he noticed that a man who happened to be traveling on the same train with him had a pass numbered more than 10,000. It was good for transportation on any railroad in the United States. The holder of that pass also had a pass good for the priviliges for which the public is required to pay the Pullman company. The inquiry launched by the Michigan senator brought out the fact that 4,200 passes good on all lines have been issued by the railway administration,, and up to July 1 of this year 119 had been canceled, leaving the total oustanding at 4,081. Those figures do not include the passes that are issued by thevarious roads to their employes nor do they include trip passes. It was shown that all-line passes have been issued to wives, daughters, sons and other relatives of those in the railway administration. There was similar prodigality of Pullman annuals good on all lines. The report made to the senate shows that William G. McAdoo, who is now attorney for Charley Chaplin and some other movie stars, still has a pass good on every road in the country. Mrs. McAdoo, the president’s daughter; Robert H. McAdoo and Miss S. McAdoo, son and daughter of William G. McAdoo, also have all-line annuals. They also are able to ride for nothing in the Pullman cars. That may seem to many to be an unimportant item, but it is very significant in these times when there is talk of nationalizing the railroads. The opportunity for abuses in the granting of privileges would be an irresistible temptation in case the government should take over the railways. The burden would fall on those with no “pull,” just as it does now. While you are paying 3 cents a mile and a war tax of 8 per cent on that sum every time you go anywhere, William G. McAdoo and more than 4,100 others can go anywhere in the United States without paying a cent toward the high wages they have granted and the increased cost of maintenance for which they are largely responsible. If it has been possible for so much favoritism and waste to develop in the short time the administration has been in Charge of the railways, what might not be expected if political control were to become permanent?