The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1882-07-15

neglect was unintentional The truth is,
there is no class of criminals which it is so
dangerous to treat with leniency as this, fer
the reason that laxity III their punishment
is sure to produce feeling of Indifference in
others as to the consequences of breach of
official duty and multiply the chances of
accident i'll the future, whereas the rigorous
imposition of the full penalty which the
law provides in cases of criminal neglect
resulting in manslaughter must, on the con
trary, tend to quicken their sense of personal
responsibility and compel the exercise of
greater caution. Thus, in the present case, it
would be a sad mistake to in1iict no other
punishment on the captain of the SciotO
than to take away his certificate; he should
be held on a charge OF mansiaughter, and
the owners of the boat, if possible, should be
compelled to pay the penalty fixed for VIC
Iating the United States statute regarding
the carrying of a greater number of passen-
gers than allowed by the steamers license.
We have little hope that this will be done,
bat it ought to be done. The truth is that
the public will always be at the mercy of
negligent officials until the owners or direct
ors of transportation lines are compelled to
bear their just portion of the blame, and it
is therefore made to their personal interest
to exercise greater care in the selection of
safeguards against accident There was, as
we have before intimated something more
than a good joke in the suggestion of Punch
that railroad directors should be compelled
to ride on the locomotive, in order to insure
the safety of the passengers in the coaches.
So long as the subordinate only, and not the
principal, is held responsible for accidents In
which the loss of life is involved, so long it
will be idle to look for any diminution in
the number or fatality of such accidents
The moment, however, that the actual man
ayers of company are compelled to undergo
the penalty for criminal neglect as well as
their incapable or inefficient employees, that
moment the public may be sure of expe
riencing great change for the better. 1t is
notorious that many corporations employ
men in responsible positions who are known
by them to be unfit therefor, simply because
they are willing to work for lower wages
than the better class of labor, and coroners'
Investigations have frequently brought to
light cases where the cause of accident was
the imposition on otherwise reliable ofIicials
of more work than they could reasonably
be expected to attend to. Once send the
directors or managers of a corporation to jail
along with the guilty employees, and we an
swer for it that there will be an immediate
aud visible improvement in the personnel Of
tae road
The truth is that the public have only
= Ives to thank in many cases for the
(which attend modern travel. They
q protest enough against the reckless
officials; they are not ready enough
10 g suit against common carriers for
5 sustained through their bad man
t. They do not sufficiently appreci-
t fact that the conscience of ali stock
companies and of many individual capital
ISIS car, he reached only tbrouCh the DnrI-at
nerve, and that appeals to their humanity
are altogether useless 1t is natural that it
should be So and it is but a waste Of
time and eloquence to rave against their
soullessness To compel them to do their
whole duty by the public it is only neces-
sary to demonstrate that neglect of duty
will involve financial loss