New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-15
HIRES TERSTS LIFE.

Harsh words are not always the most con-
vincing; but plain words have become neceS-
sary in dealing with the fatal results OF care
lessness or indifference in the use of electricity
in deadly currents Whether the offence against
society is already criminal Grand jury VIII
probably report, but if there is any detect OF
shortcomng in the law as il stands there ought
70 be none remaining when the next Legislature
adjouns.
II NAV be granted that the officers of com
panies which use the deadly currents for light
ing or power have had no deliberate intention
to harm anybody. They have presumably been
advised by experts that such modes of use or OF
insulation as they had employed were entirely
safe But CHASTITY experience has long ago
demonstrated that they were not Fnghtlul
deaths and narrow escapes bring daily teSti-
mony of the perils to which the public Is now
exposed Two deaths during the last week.
shock which might have been fatal to many
passengers if there had been many in horse
car. and another almost miraculous escape by
lineman, form a record for single week when
the people do not regard with patience. The
personal responsibility it is scarcely too much
to say the personal guilt, of the officers ana man
ayers of the companies in question began the IN
slant it became known that their modes OF con-
yeyance and insulation were not safe. 1t was
their duty to the public, without the slightest
unnecessary delay, to make them safe, or to stop
their currents until the necessary protection
could be secured.
1t is no new thing in human progress FOR lVeS
to be sacrificed by indifference in the harness
ing Of new forces to the service OF society. Inc
steam-engine counted its thousands OF victims
before the public saw the necessity OF legal re-
stIiction. inspection and penalties. Ventilation
in factories and underground works, and pre-
vention of explosions in mines, were not sub
iects of legislation until human lives had been
taken by cruel negligence. Powder and then
higher explosives, were at first manufactured
and stored and transported with such disregard
for the lives Of others that society had to inter-
fere Men who are guilty OF these things 40
not want to take lives Their offence is that they
are not anxious enough not to take lives to adopt
proper precautions and bear the necessary eX-
pense Civilized society stops them right there.
lifts its protecting hand, and fOrbidS the use OF
natural forces in modes unnecessarily perilouS
to life. Civilization knows that sort Of indifer-
ence as a crime, and provides a penalty severe
enough 10 MAKE peOplc tllllh pclVIc Vh'' ''"'
1t is no time to confuse the matter with queS-
tons regarding the best method of obtaining
safety Perhaps Mr.. Edison is right and dan
gerouS currents will be found dangerous still
when carried underground in any Of the meth
DDS thus far provided. If proximity to wafer
and gas pipes involves peril to persons in adj
Joining houses or even in streets, the insulation
of wires bearing such currents must he made
more complete and certain, cost what it may.
But if all these high currents have to be stopped
for weeks or for year until they can be used
with safety civilized society will require that
they shall not be used without safety. The
men and women of to-day can exist, if they
must. as their fathers did when no such dan
gerous currents were anywhere employed. But
it is not civilization to allow them to be used
at the peril of instant do"th to innocent persons
1t will be one of the first duties Of the next
Legislature, whether the law as it stands reaches
this case or that, 70 make broad and permanent
provision which shall reach the use Of electric
currents in every form that involves unneceS-
sary peril to human life.