OCR Text |
Show RAELROAD IN Supreme Court Rules Even Officials j Cannot Legally Ride on Paeses. Itailroad officials and others who have legally held annual passes on the Oregon Short Liue cannot hereafter here-after cross the Idaho-Montana state I line. Vice President and General Man lager William If H:inor6ft has issued the following circular: "In an opinion filed on the 11th Instant In-stant in the case of Terry John againtit the Northern Pacific Railway company, the supreme court of Montana Mon-tana bos decided that the free carriage car-riage of passengers locally In Montana is a diicrlmlnation against those who are required to pay fure, and that it Is forbidden by tho constitution and statutes of that state. Conductors on all trains have ben notified, accordingly, ac-cordingly, that outstanding pas-sea must not b honored for trips between points In Montana. "You hold this company s card an- ! nnal pass for the year l'Jlu, good over the entire system, or lirated pass ! good in Montana, and this letter is sent to notify you that it will not be honored locally in Montana." ' This means that soliciting agents cannot hereafter make Butte and Montana Mon-tana territory generally without pay- ' lng full faro and as it will naturally prove quite a burden to many of the traveling force, the Butte 'trips will be curtailed as much as possible. The Oregon Short Lino is but following out tho programme of the various oth- , er roads operating in the state of : Montana, the railroads being forced to the decision by the opinion of the supreme court of that state that passes cannot be used by any persoj, whether a railroad man or not. I Railroad men will be unable to cross the state of Montana on official business under th's ruling, nnd naturally na-turally the tide of travel will bo diverted di-verted towards Salt Lake City. It will visibly decrease tho number of (railroad (rail-road rnen stopping at the. hotels of , Montana cities and work many other hardships. However, tho courts have : no decreed and no railroad man can object, but the people of Montana are already up in arms against the law which diverts from their c'tles a class ; of the best paying traveling men. |