The Portland daily press., 1874-06-04
The Modern Sword of Damocles.

Abstract theorizing about any public dan
ger falls very dead on the threatened public
unless some recent and potent illustration can
be adduced to arrest attention. So the jour
nalist, who addresses his words of warning
and advice to discouragingly iuattentive eyes
in time of repose, avails himself with avldlty
OF any circumstance which will make good
counsel practically useful. The Mill River
disaster furnishes vital text for a vast
amount of newspaper preaching just now,
and probably, under journalistic inspiration,
many useful steps in the way of protection
from a recurrence of similar disasters else
where will be taken.
In the first place it is found that neither in
Massachusetts, nor Maine is there any eff
Gent legislative provision for the supervision
of dams. Men are permitted to accumulate
great masses Of water and hold them over
populous valleys with no security for the iD-
habitants but the assumption that they will,
for their own protection, build sufficient bar
riers against the destructive element. 1t is OF
course very desirable in the interest OF manu-
featuring industry that dams be built and
that water be accumulated; but it is equally
desirable, nay, essential, that the dam be well
built and that the water be securely confined
within safe limits-and this can be assured
only by official inspection under stringent
legislative provisions.
Nothing is more fallacious than the theory
that men will guard against danger for their
own selfish interests. On the contrary ex-
perience shows that they will resort TO depor-
able shifts to save present expense, and the
sickening record of trail dams, weak bridges,
tottering buildings and cockle-shell ships
demonstrates the tendency to build at the
least possible present expense and take the
chances for the future.
About all we have to depend upon now is
the conscience of mill-owners in a matter
where the observance Of its dictates will cost
money. The proprietors Of the Sebago Dam
are taking steps to make that structure Sc
cure; but the jewellers in the Presumpscot
Valley would feel a more absolute sense of
safety, if there were to be subsequent ex-
animation by some responsible authority not
pecuniarily interested. There can be no
doubt of the necessity of effective legislation
in this direction, and the people should not
permit next winter to pass without it, 1t
will be resisted by mill and dam owners but
the security Of the people is paramount.
The N. Y. Eoening Post, in an elaborate
and thoughtful article on the subject, says
SIN the old days, Dionysius taught Damocles
moral lesson by placing the latter at table
loaded with all manner of eatabes. After the
feast was well under way, however, the ruler
of Syracuse directed his guests attention
upward to the sword which was suspended
over the fatterer's head by single hair. The
danger to which Damocles was thus subjected
is repeated in the case of the inhabitants of
New England who live below dams. In Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut the hair has al.
ready broken. OF late, buildings of various
kinds have fallen with monotonously painful
results. At the present time a court
in the State of New Jersey is try
ing to fix the responsibility for the occur
renee of one of these unnecessary disasters.
1t is full time that the sword which hangs SO
generally over our heads should be fastened
more securely. 1t is not only the man who
pays for the sword, but also, and for the pur
poses of legislation chiefly, the man who adj
justs the fastenngs, who is responsible. Pro-
fessional and moral responsibility is not suffi-
Gent to make us secure in our lives and es-
tates. The state ought, therefore, to inter-
vene through its legislature and courts. No
state ought to be as Massachusetts, is, with
out legal penalty for engineering and archi-
tectural crimes" sa