A prominent judge of Chicago tells me that for years the leading railroads entering that city have sent him annual passes without request. I found the same thing in Denver, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and nearly everywhere else I have been in this country. The mayor of one of our giant cities told me this very morning that the principal railroads sent him annuals but he returned them. It would be better if he would turn the next lot over to a publicity league or put them in a museum. In many cases the railroads are practically forced to give passes. A. B. Stickney, President of the Chicago and Great Western Railroad was asked by the Industrial Commission[8] about the giving of passes to members of the judiciary of Minnesota and Illinois. President Stickney said, “If any of them ask for transportation, they get it; we don’t hesitate to give to men of that class if they ask for passes; we never feel at liberty to refuse.” “Is there any good reason why a judge who gets a good salary should have a pass—any greater reason than why John Smith should have a pass?” “That depends,” said President Stickney, “on what you call a good reason.... Twenty-five years ago I had charge of a little bit of a road that was a sort of subordinate of a larger road. “I had occasion to visit the president of the superior road about something, and he said: ‘Mr. Stickney, I see that the sheriff of this county has a pass over your road. I should like to know on what principle you gave that sheriff a pass.’ “‘I did it on the principle that he was a power, and I was afraid to refuse him,’ I said. “‘Well,’ said he, ‘I refused him.’ “‘You will wish you hadn’t before the year is over,’ I replied. “Sometime afterwards, and during the year, I went into the office to see the superintendent, but he was not in; I went into the general freight agent’s office, and he was not in; I went into the general manager’s office, and he was not in. So I then went into the office of the president and said, ‘What kind of a road have you got? Your superintendent is not here, your general freight agent is not here, and your general manager is not here.’ “He hung his head down and said: ‘Do you remember that conversation we had about that sheriff’s pass? He’s got all those men on the jury and has got them stuck for about two weeks.’” Q. “That answer seems to indicate that railroads would be afraid to refuse for fear of the penalties?” A. “I think the railroads find there is a class of men that it is to their interest not to refuse if they ask for passes.”