Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ Congress did not concern itself with the possibility that prominent persons, or others, might steal a ride through the unauthorized action of some employee of the railroad company. Congress was concerned with the well-known abuse which consisted in the giving of passes, or free transportation, by railroad companies, and it directed its legislation to that abuse. ”

“ Here, it was found that the engineer had no authority to give any free transportation to the plaintiff, and I cannot but think that in this view the defendant in error was outside the act. The supreme court of the state said: 'The common carrier did not issue any free transportation to this plaintiff, and he was not using any such free transportation. The engineer in charge of the locomotive pulling a passenger train under no conceivable circumstances has any power to issue free transportation to any person, and we are unable to see the force of the argument along this line. ”