Joseph Rucker Lamar

“ If brakemen only are allowed the right of appointment to the position of conductors, then a privilege is given to them which is denied all other citizens of the United States. If the statute can fix the class from which conductors on freight trains shall be taken, another statute could limit the class from which brakeman and conductors on passenger trains could be selected, and so, progressively, the whole matter as to who could enter the railroad service, and who could go from one position to another, would be regulated by statute. ”

“ All actions of the conductor that pertain to the safe operation of the train are being carried on in his presence and within his observation all the time. The matter of handling the way bills and ascertaining the destinations of the cars in his train is easy and plain, and it does not take a person that has had experience as a conductor to understand that part of his service. The way bills are plainly written and the destinations plainly given, and booking the waybills and delivering them with the cars is clerical, and can be done by anyone that can read and write and who has ordinary sense. ”

“ All orders are given to the engineer as well as to the conductor. Every order sent to a conductor in a train is made in duplicate, and one copy of it is given to the conductor and the other to the engineer. It is a rule with railway companies that if anything should happen to disable the conductor, or in any way prevent his proceeding with his train, the engineer is to immediately take charge of the train and handle it into the terminal. ”

“ There the act provided that all engineers should secure a license, and in sustaining the validity of the statute the court pointed out that the law 'requires that every locomotive engineer shall have a license, but it does not limit the number of persons who may be licensed, or prescribe any arbitrary conditions of the grant.' This and the other cases establish, beyond controversy, that, in the exercise of the police power, the state may prescribe tests and require a license from those who wish to engage in or remain in a private calling affecting the public safety. ”

“ In so far as a man is deprived of the right to labor, his liberty is restricted, his capacity to earn wages and acquire property is lessened, and he is denied the protection which the law affords those who are permitted to work. ”

“ For it is to be noted that under this statute, not only the general public, but also four classes of railroad men, familiar with the movement and operation of trains, and having the same kind of experience as a brakeman, are given no chance to show their competency, but are arbitrarily denied the right to act as conductors. ”

“ Such a statute would shut the door, without a hearing, upon many persons and classes of persons who were competent to serve, and would deprive them of the liberty to work in a calling they were qualified to fill with safety to the public and benefit to themselves. ”

“ In the nature of the case, promotion is a matter of private business management, and should be left to the carrier company, which, bound to serve the public, is held to the exercise of diligence in selecting competent men, and responsible in law for the acts of those who fill any of these positions. ”

“ The private employer may likewise fix standards and tests, but, if his business is one in which the public health or safety is concerned, the state may legislate so as to exclude from work in such private calling those whose incompetence might cause injury to the public. ”

“ Ten years' experience was accepted as proof of fitness, but such experience was not made the sole test, since the privilege of practising was attainable by all others who, by producing a diploma or by standing an examination, could show that they were qualified for the performance of the duties of the profession. ”

“ Rep. 28, where this court sustained the validity of a statute which required all locomotive engineers to submit to an examination for color blindness, and then provided that those unable to distinguish signals should not act as engineers on railroad trains. That statute did not prevent any competent person from being employed, but operated merely to exclude those who, on examination, were found to be physically unfit for the discharge of a duty where defective eyesight was almost certain to cause loss of life or limb. Another case cited by the plaintiff in error is that of Dent v. ”