Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-21

IL looks as though II would go hard with Melius,
the brakeman throus IN whose carelessne5s the re-
cent fatal disaster ON the Hudson River railroad
occurred It ought to go hard with him, too, since
there is doubt that he was grossly negligent Of
his duty, in not going back far enough 10 signal
the approaching train which caused the wreck.
But the punishment should not stop with MeliuS,
as d sort OF ylCariOus Offering. IL ought to reach
the managers OF that rich ana corruptDg corpora
tiOn whose duty it was, and within whose power
It was, to render such disaster impossible
through the neglect or want OF judgment Of any
single Individual Their failure to provide the
block system for the running OF its trains is repre-
hensble In the highest degree; but their parsinO
ny which led TO the withdrawal OF the extra flag
man formerly stationed at the fatal Spuyten
Duyvil cut IL nothing less than criminal, and it
ought TO be so treated.
SO much for what IS passed. For the future
there ought TO be more stringent legislation, either
by Compressor in all the stltss for the better pro-
lection OF human life On railways The history OF
the SpUyten Duyvil horror shows three points
which should have the attention OF lawmakers
and those who execute the laws. In the first place
the block system, or some other plan which would
make such disasters absolutely impossible, should
be insisted upon On all railroads In the second
place, the use OF stoves of any kind In passenger,
mail or baggage cars should be prohibited. Cars
can easily be heated by the exhaust steam from
the locomotive, or IL not In that way by other
device for the purpose, which would soon be pro-
duced by inventors IL asked for by railway mana
gers Finally all trains, whether passenger or
freight, should go fully equipped with axes, picks
erow-barS, jack screws, windiasSeS, chains and
other wrecking material Had these safeguards
been provided, no such result as that which fol-
lowed the crash on the Hudson River road could
have occurred There can be no excuse for any
railway which fails to provide them hereafter.
Senator Windows speech on the Sherman fund
ing bill, Thursday, was brief but it WIS full Of
sound financial sense. He laid down one general
principle of financial legislation which nobody
can dispute. He maintained that unless it can be
clearly demonstrated that Il financial measure will
benefit the government il i Dctterto .et il alone"
for the that stability and fxedneSS in money
matters are OF the greatest Importance 1t was not
claimed even by the supporters OF this bill, either
that it is necessity that it Will certainly effect
any saving. The question OF gain or loss is pretty
evenly balanced, and no man can demonstrate
that the government Will gain any advantage by
It. The only argument yet made in its behalf was
that it may save the government s., 100000 per
annum: on the other hand it may cost more than
that The result is uncertain, the measure but an
experiment, so argued the Senator, and he thought
II had better be summarfly laid ON the table Mr.
Windows brilliant success as the manager and
director OF national finances gives extra weight To
his words this subject, and even those who
have faith in three per cent bond will no doubt
agree that there is much force in his position.
Kaiser Wihelm's reSCript, which has so stirred
the Indignation OF his SUBJECTS declares it Is 'the
duty of all ofIicitls TO support the kings policy at
the elections" and ntimateS quite plainly that the
performance OF this duty will be rigid.y exacted
This would indicate that the emperor does not feel
assured of the loyalty OF his officlls TO the crown
when the question at issue Is between the people
On one side, contendng for liberty, and the crown
on the other, Insisting upon its inherent rights
over the subject. 1t has been suggested that the
doctrine laid down by the German emperor Is not
entirely pew In this country. The duty OF the
government Official TO support the party policy at
elections has been insisted upon here.
The suggestion made by Practising Physician"
In another column, in regard to the Importance
and economy of manufacturing bovine here, In
view of the fact that smallpox is epidemic
throughout the country, seems to be good one. As
pointed out, few hundred dollars would purchase
heifers enough, and the process would not only be
inexpensive, but the inestima BILE advantage would
be secured OF procuring pure AMI fresh matter
The state OF Maryland has for years been making
Its bovine, and there is no reason apparent why
our District government should not do the same