New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-11
npnssfNGS At GRADE.

The subject of grade-crossihgs ID ono Vi iiii,
nortance TO the people Of every large city ana
Re- vrbnrbs The destruction Occasioned by
In, ;s much greater probably than is COM
.oorlv s,,nnosed In this State there were AZ
nersons killed and 81 injured at such crossings
in 1887, and there were 20 killed and "a in
iured in 1888. This is better record than
many other States have to show. The total
ouubar of deaths at the grade-crossings in
pbiladelnbia for the three years ending with
1897 "a estimated at 1873. A year ago "The
Chicago Tribune" published the names Of rs
nersons killed in 1887 at the crossings OF only
three roads. and the list for the entire city
reached 142 names. There were 10 deaths
:, n single month. There is no difference OF
on;nion Of course, as to the necessity OF doing
o-,.ov with system so fatal as this. Laws are
rorJino IN n number of States to prevent the
making of new crossings at grade, and to do
awav with them where they now exist. Some
of the railroads have set about this work OF
their own accord, one of these being the New
York. New.Haven and Hartfordi but it Is
necessarily slow and tedious.
The problem involved is, indeed, not so easy
as il might appear at first sight. A special
commission appointed by the Massachusetts
Legislature to investigate the subject has Just
made It's rerort, the essential features Of which
ara published by "The Railroad Gazette.p 1t
is found that there are some 2,260 crossings al
grade TO be altered, and the cost Is estimated
| at S4s131. 900. The question arises how this
enormous expense is to be betrayed. This
amount is equal nearly TO one-third Of the
aggregate stock Of the sixty corporations re-
porting to the Railroad Commissioners Of
Massachusetts, in 1887, and is nearly 90 per
cent of their gross income for that year. 1t Is
six and one-half times as much as they paid in
that year in dividends. II Is obvious that any
thing like rapid abolition Of grade-crossings
! is impracticable The, commission seeks to
meet the difficulty by recommending that the
dividend-paying roads abolish per cent and
the Notwithstanding roads IL per cent
Of their crossings every year. AS to the ap-
portionment Of the cost the commission makes
no recommendation beyond suggesting that
| II be borne by the railroads, the street rail-
roads, the counties cities and towns and adj
jacent properties benefited. The idea that the
State should bear any part OF this expense is
distinctly disapproved. The laws OF Massa-
chusetts already provide that the cost OF the
separation Of grades at crossings shall be sp-
portioned between the railroad and the city.
town or county, but taxpayers are often found
10 be unwilling to add TO their burdens in this
way, and this provision has not been much
used. The new plan proposes TO put the work
under State authority, but to limit the tax
which may be imposed upon communities to
some fixed proportion of their assessed prop
erty valuation, leaving the rate OF division Of
the cost among the various parties to be do
termined By the circumstances in each case.
One step can be taken which will cost moth
lng-this is to forbid absolutely the making Of
new crossings at grade. The number Of such
crossings abolished in Massachusetts, during a
period Of ten years was only one-half the num-
Der Of such new crossings made. Among the
Railroad Commissions bills now pending at
Albany, and upon which hearing is TO be
had tomorrow, is one which fOrbids the max
ing OF such new crossings, and provides for
separation Of those already existing. III there
is likely to be any difficulty about the i'm
mediate adoption OF the second part Of this
measure the first ought to pass without dis
senting vote, leaving the second to be dealt
with as soon as practicable. Some of the bills
proposed by the Railroad Commission such as
those magnifying the COMMISSIONS powers,
are of more doubtful expediency.