electricity or to cable, the street railroads can now afford to reduce, by the sale of commutation tickets, their fares from five to four cents, or even three cents, and still have left a fair margin of profit upon their investment? The cost of transportation of a passenger upon any individual road can be made a matter of almost exact figures; and we believe that when the items properly to be included in such a computation are carefully set down, that the relative cost of transporting a passenger by horse car as compared with that of electricity or cable will be found to be such that any reduction in the fare cannot be made without positive loss to those who have put their money at risk in the enterprise. It is true that with the advent of quicker transit the gross receipts of most all companies that have changed from horse to electricity or cable cars have greatly increased. This is undoubtedly true, owing to the fact that a longer distance can be travelled in the same length of time, and the other fact that congested portions of the city have been relieved and the dwellers therein sent to the outskirts, thus creating new centers. of population and business; and further, that with this change of motive power has come more convenient and pleasanter facilities for transit, inviting not only more of the usual business travel, but an increase in transient, pleasure and excursion riding as well. But to an equal extent with the increase of gross receipts, has the expense of installation and operation kept pace, and so preserved in net receipts the former figures. The cost of the reconstruction of a system necessitated by the change of tracks, cars and stations, and extensive machine shops, tools and new equipment, are the first large items of this expense, and to these are to be added the expense necessitated by costly repairs in maintenance. Further must be added the increase in wages of employes, engineers, mechanics, electricians, and skilled machinists whose employment is necessitated by the new regime, either because they receive more money for their labor or work less hours for the same wages.

A fact that must not be overlooked in this connection is that of the growing demand on the part of the public the company serves, for greater luxury and elegance in the matter of the appointments of travel. Our cars must be handsomely and more expensively furnished than were those our patrons were satisfied to use a few years ago. Not only must they move faster, but they must be better lighted, better heated, and generally better fitted up for the safety and convenience of passengers than were those accepted formerly. The supplying of these demands has been attended by an increased operating and maintenance expense. Thus, while an increase in the patronage of the road has been in most cases evoked by the change of motive power, we believe it can be safely asserted that little decrease in the expense per passenger carried has been made. This conclusion is brought out by the results attained on the operation of electric and cable roads in the majority of the cities of the country in the past few years, as shown by their reports.

A careful study of the published reports will make it apparent, even

with the depreciation accounts eliminated, that the cost per passenger upon electric or cable roads is not less than was that on the horse cars which they have succeeded. As yet, as far as urban roads are concerned, we cannot discover that on the whole there is any more profit in a well managed electric or cable street railway than there was in a well managed horse car road; and we venture the assertion that to-day less of profit in the form of dividends derived from receipts of operation, is being distributed to shareholders in the modern electric and cable roads, proportional to the business transacted, than was given them by the old-fashioned horse car companies. From the books and statistics of the majority of companies no favorable arguments are to be drawn for the reduction of fare.

It must also be borne in mind, in the consideration of this question, that while it is an easy thing to reduce the fare on a road, it is by no means as easy to return to the old rate in case such a reduction results in a loss and proves a failure. Unlike the merchant, who at will may raise or lower the price of his wares, and for a day may attract a crowd to a bargain counter, in the hope that there may be profitable sales effected to-morrow, the loss occasioned by a reduction in street railroad fares cannot afterwards be regained by a corresponding increase above the rate originally receded from. Higher than the five cent point we may not go, and that fare once lowered, even with the plainest statements of the loss it entails before the public, an attempted return to the old rate is provocative of dislike on the part of the patrons, and is almost sure to set in motion legislative action designed to compel the continuance of the lower fare. Such a reduction, therefore, since it is likely to be made permanent and continuous, whatever may be its effect on the company, is made at the risk and in the face of the various contingencies which surround the business of a road which must maintain an uninterrupted service through fat years and lean years, through times of depression and dullness, when competition and an uncertain labor market may make inroads on its income, and therefore is, to say the least, decidedly hazardous.

By the advocates of reduced fares it is ordinarily assumed that the cheaper rate will invite a sufficiently greater number of new riders to make good the difference in income by the lessened price to each. But we believe that a computation based on the earnings of almost all companies at the five cent rate, to ascertain how many more passengers, say, at a four cent fare, would have to be carried to make good the difference between the two rates, together with the increased cost for the more carried, including the risk assumed of accidents, will demonstrate the fallacy of such an argument. The old adage "quick sales and small profits" will not apply in this matter. A less reduction than one cent per fare will hardly be acceptable or sufficiently attractive to induce a more liberal patronage on the cars. But the reduction of one cent in five entails the loss of a high percentage of the original price and which is much greater than the ratio of original profit.

The fallacy of such a reduction is well stated in the editorial columns of a recent issue of the Street Railway Journal. It is there remarked: "A loss of twenty per cent. of their gross receipts, following a reduction of fares from five cents to four cents, would send half of our best paying roads into bankruptcy, and would so cripple the others as to make improvements in service practically impossible. A further reduction of twenty per cent. would make them all shut down."

For want of time we have not made mention of the serious danger to a company of loss through peculation by the conductors where the cash fares upon the roads are fixed at one rate and commutation tickets are sold and received at a less rate. If the value of an article consists in the cost of its production and its exchange, we think in the light of present street railroad operation, that the standard five cent fare is a just and reasonable equivalent for an average ride upon a street car, and that no reduction therefrom is advisable or expedient.

Whatever clever or ingenious scheme may be devised and adopted by the street railway manager for making more attractive the service offered by the company and thus increasing its patronage, it will fail of its ultimate purpose unless with the growth of business so stimulated he shall exercise a like amount of skill and sagacity in the selection and training of employes, upon whose honesty, faithfulness, intelligence and carefulness he can depend. Attractive resorts upon the route of a road may be opened and fostered; a general system of transfers offering great benefits to the patrons of the line may be introduced; new territory may be occupied; in many ways more travellers may be allured to the cars; still, if the fares so brought to the hands of the company's collectors are not honestly handled; if its motive power and the devices for its application are unintelligently and uneconomically managed; and if that measure of discipline which secures the safety of its patrons is not enforced, the increased gain will not be found to result in an increase of the coveted net results.

To state in full the various rules and methods adopted for the securing of the desired characteristics just mentioned on the part of the employes would take too much of our space, already so nearly exhausted. We have not room to speak of the many and various excellent schemes of rewards and prizes offered to their men by not a few companies, for excellence in the matter of freedom from accidents, careful handling of the company's property and perfect reports, schemes which have proven most useful and with which it would be well for us to all become familiar.

We cannot, however, refrain in this connection from congratulating the street railroad companies upon the fact that a superior class of men have of late years sought employment at their hands. The motorman or gripman of to-day is the superior of his predecessor, the horse car driver. The conductor of the modern fast moving car, with trolley to care for, transfers to issue, and a more critical public to serve, must needs be brighter and more capable than his brother of the old style car. The

chief engineer, the electricians, the master mechanic, and the superintendent are necessarily men possessed of a better education and with a far wider range of thought and information than were those whose duties were limited to the care of horses and stables, mule cars, and flat rail tracks in former days. As our business has grown in its technical and scientific requirements, it is attracting a class of men for whom before there was neither call nor inducement to enter its service.

These facts are to be considered in the selection of our employes. A regular mental and physical examination should precede the appointment of all trainmen, and in the mechanical departments only skilled men, exclusive perhaps of apprentices, ought to be engaged. Every effort should be made by the manager and his assistants to enlist the interest and promote the education of the employe as regards his duties and the general characteristics of the business.

While it is true that sometimes "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," we cannot sympathize with that policy which would make of the workman merely an automaton. The rule which some roads have of requiring their motormen to spend a certain time in the repair shops before they take their places on the cars, is one worthy of imitation, and various other methods adopted along a similar line of education are to be commended. But with the desire on the part of the manager to educate the faithful men in the ranks must be a determination to prevent the retention or engagement of the dishonest, the intemperate, or the worthless.

We venture to make a suggestion which may aid in the line of this, perhaps. Let it be a general rule of street railroad companies that all conductors, motormen or gripmen must, before entering the service, procure a bond from a reputable guaranty company. For motormen this bond would be in the nature of protection against damage to property; in the case of the conductor, damage to property or dishonesty. The company selected for the giving of such bonds should be one having agencies in all the principal cities and towns of the country.

The modus operandi of the bonding would be as follows: The man seeking either of the positions named, would make application in written form with a statement of names of former employers and their location, and would then be informed that such application would be sent to the guaranty company, and if accepted by them as a good risk, other conditions having been complied with, his appointment would be made. The guaranty company would then in accordance with their usual methods, make inquiry of the references given, as to applicant's record, and aside from this, examine all records in their several offices in the various cities to ascertain whether the said applicant had ever been the cause of a loss to them upon any former railroad or in other position. With this system, in whatever other city the wrongdoer might apply, his second attempt would be likely to be frustrated. The peripathetic fraud would be caught, while the knowledge on the part of those once accepted, that if through earelessness or dishonesty their bonds should

be forfeited, and the record of such a fact placed on the books of the guaranty company would ever prevent another bonding, and thus debar them from the obtaining of another position of trust, would certanly prove a valuable deterrent to initial wrong.

If the street railway companies could but unite in this matter, a responsible guaranty company would no doubt be found which would undertake the work as outlined above, and the cost to the employes for such bonds could, by arrangement, be made inconsiderable. The assurance that the records of applicants would be carefully searched, and their subsequent actions carefully noted and recorded, would certainly serve to discourage bad men from applying, and restrain others holding such position of trust as that of trainmen from yielding to temptation and going wrong.

The methods of an army-like discipline to effect the discovery of offenses and the prompt discharge of the offender, the setting about the camp of guards and pickets beyond which no one may pass, is necessary and effective, but after the practice of many successful military commanders, who, when the battle was set, were accustomed to ride in front of the rank and file of the army, and with words of encouragement and cheer, stimulate to deeds of daring and devotion, so may we not with success adopt some method of coming into personal contact with our men, not as stern judges, presiding simply at their trial and prepared to deliver sentence, but leaders, educators and fellow workmen in the business in which we are engaged. In the case of a smaller company this might be accomplished with comparatively little trouble by the manager or superintendent making it a point to frequently meet his employes, either in a group, say at the stations, where there are several connected with the system, or en masse, at some meeting held for the purpose. Thus, instead of always presenting himself as a taskmaster, he will be able freely to discuss with them the necessities of the business and the purposes of the company with especial reference to their individual welfare, and he will have opportunity to bring before them items of general information touching latest developments in the technique of street railroad work. In this way he and his men will be en rapport, and more cordial relations will be established between them.

Where a company consists of a large number of lines, requiring the employment of many men, and the division of official work among a number of officers, it becomes a question as to the best method to be adopted by the officers for making themselves known to the individual employes other than by the usual style of written orders, promulgated from time to time, and posted in the stations and shops. Having felt the desirability of some other and pleasanter medium of communication with his employes, the writer of this paper, about a year ago, began the monthly publication of a little sheet entitled "Milwaukee Street Railway Bulletin," and its objects were set forth in a short editorial in the first issue, to the effect that the publication was issued in the hope that by it might be effected a closer relationship between the manage