The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-11-24

net even Of the old materials, We IA !. conc.
thing; bat With Cuahing in -. CO.. 49,
ment, and Marcy sent of "a ~. 10 m;cht
obtain the most u..lcffe,, rs.un. eor the beue-
lit Of the asmizdstrs.. lion. the .srtv. and the !
Monroe doctrine and manifest destiny. The
President is m.ster Of the Cabinet to be sure;
but fierce is weak, and Marcy is obstinate.
Aafcye policy is dead against war, which
mleP.s result in new batch of military chief
sa.ns, who would lay al the old fogies on the
shelf We repeat, then, that If Mr.. Pierce does
not intend to reign, seifrespect, and respect
for public opinion, require that he should give
us . new CahiAet, or ut least new Premier, .
new Secretary Of the Treasury, and new Post
masteE-GeneEal. Anything for change.
Railway Accidents and shipwrecks-Rrck-
Less Destruction Of Life.
The a'/ident which took place on Wednesday
mornin & ON the Harlem railroad, seriously To-
jurinE some twenty persons, has once more
Drawn public attention to the state Of the laws
for the preservation and protection Of life.
| Within the last few weeks two cases Of ship
wreck, both involving immense loss oil life, have
been recorded in the newspapers; and though
it was quite clear that in both large share of
the disaster was due to the negligence, coward
ice or dereliction Of duty displayed by the
crews OF the lost vessels. no steps have been
taken, no proposal made to bring the guilty
| men to trial. We are bound to infer that the
law is such that seaman can desert his ship
in the hour Of danger, leaving the helpless be-
| ings entrusted to his care to perish, without ex.
posing himself to legal retribution. 1t has long
been settled principle Of Jurisprudence in this
country that directors, superintendents and
engineers of railways are not criminally respon-
sible for accidents happening on their line.
Parties injured have civil claim ON the com
papy for damages; and if they happen to be
possessed of time, patience, and money enough
to conduct q protracted lawsuit to close, they
may occasionally obtain three or four thousand
dollars in exchange for leg, or by way of re-
compense for broken constitution. But both
on sea and on land, the principle is tacitly re-
cognixed in our law that the State is not con-
cerned in protecting the lives of its citizens
from any injuries but those which proceed from
malice and few other special cases. This prin-
ciple is nowhere laid down in the books On
the contrary, the civil writer's as well as the
jurists distinctly enunciate the doctrine that in
dividuals are criminally liable for injuries COM
mitted through negligence, though without
malice Homicide, committed by accident, and
carelessness, has always been held q criminal
offence. But, by singular inconsistency,
while the principle is maintained in minor
cases, it is forgotten in those of greater magni-
tude. The law Furnishes the man who reckless
| ly fires pistol out of his window and shoots
his neighbor; but it holds harmless the rail.
way managers who negligently cause the death
Of forty people by collision, and the sailors who
deprive passengers of their only hope of saliva
ton by running away with the boats.
Ia the belief that this construction of the law
is correct, and that our law officers are limo
cent Of negligence in the premises, we wish to
draw the attention OF the new Legislature
which will shortly meet at Albany to he abso-
Lutte necessity Of making provision for the
casus 0missus. 1t is clear, for inst Ance that it
was wrong in the employees Of the Harlem
Railroad not to notify the WhitepIains train of
the obstruction that barred the track, as they
might easily have done by sending lights to
meet it and the wrong is eminently one Of
those which it is the duty Of the law to punish
| by way Of warning. Had the Harlem Railroad
people felt that in case Of accidents happening,
they would have been sent to the penitentiary
no reasonable man can doubt but they would
have adopted this or some analogous precau-
ton, and the mutlated persons now lying at
the New York Hospital would have been at
their work Is usual Nor is this solitar ' in
stance.
Time after time have we pointed out in these
columns how directly railway accidents we're
due to the inadequate responsibility imposed
upon directors, managers, and conductors. We
have contrasted over and over again the
slaughter which takes place on our roads with
the security that exists on foreign lines, aud
shown conclusively that the difference was
caused by the imperfections of our law. We
have called for single argument to prove
that a criminal responsibility should not attach
to railroad managers: not the shadow of rea-
son has been given. Some have talked Of the
hardness of the proceeding towards conductors
ard engineers: but harshncss which saves
scores Of lives at the cost of one mans comfort
is the essence of charity. Others have argued
that if railway directors were rendered perso-
nally liable for accidents, no one would serve
as director. It would be doubtless . seri ous
injury to Wall stfeet to lose the services Of
such men as Schuyler: but less, we opine. than
the total destruction Of hundreds Of human
beings whose lives were endangered by their
management. Depend upon it, railways will