Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-13

g., TUESDAY, JUNE Ii.
| fire. It was the scene Of the blacklist crime in
| American history when John Wilkes Booth
| shot Abraham Lincoln within its walls The
government closed it then rs a theater and de-
| voted it to the use of the surgical department.
| The ghosts Of countless victims of the war
| may well be imagined to walk among the hos
pital records of their wounds.
1t was Friday when Lincoln was assassinated.
This tragedy was also Friday occurrence, and
| happened almost at the hour when the funeral
service over the brother of the assassin was in
progress in New York.
While superstition will see meanings in all
these facts common sense teaches that not fate
but deliberate carelessness or helpless incom-
| potency produced the wreck of Friday II
seems the more reprehensible because. aside
from human life of priceless value imperiled,
| there were invaluable records destroyed and q
| medical library Of inestimsble worth ruined.
1t seems incredible that in the city of Washing
ton such incompetency or carelessness could be
permitted. A close and exact investigation of
the cause of the crime-not accidents de-
manded.
Heavy Debt of Parsimony.
From the P.ttsbur2 Dispatch.
Unfortunately there seems to be no doubt
unsafe condition of the building was known
long ago. Not only were the warnings of
danger wholly disregarded bat the weak build
ing was heavily laden with books and records,
and a large force of clerks put there in the
Jeopardy which is shown by the event to have
existed. The policy of leaving the peril un-
remedied IN the hope that the calamity will not
come this month or this year has worked out
the result.
G,,e1 Il
as manslaughtcr. 1t is undoubtedly so in alb
stract equity, and it is generally defined in
criminal Jurisprudence. The man who, by the
omission of what is his duty, causes the loss OF
life is criminally liable: but unfortunately in
such cases the responsible party is high enough
In influence to escape tie penalty. In this case it
Is not yet clear at this writing where the respon
slbilIty lies. 1t is probable though, that it will
be shifted 20 the shoulders of Congress. which.
while spending the public money ut the rate OF
half q billion year. could not spare from its
jobs the few thousands necessary to protect its
employees from the peril of tumble-down build
ings. 1t is certain that the same sort of thing
will so on until the enforcement Of our laws
becomes SO vigorous and independent that the
penalty OF such neglect will be visited on the
most influential and powerful.
Dreadful Responsibility.
From the Philadelphia North American.
According to the latest reports the disaster at
Washington Friday is not as bad as was at
first supposed. but it is bad enough. Twenty
one dead bodies have been recovered and two
more are supposed to be still buried in the
ruins, while n large number of those who were
in the building at the time the crash occurred
have been moro or less seriously injured. 1t is
q shocking affair, and not the least shocking
thing about it is the indisputable fact that it
was due to the criminal negligence of Congress.
Iha ,r1 av1t. a Ill Al e
Lon-preventaDle casualties. 1t has long been
foreseen as a possible, il not probable occur
renee. and common prudence and decent re-
gard for human safety required that it should
have been guarded against The building was
known to be unsafe. 1t was expected one day
or other to collapse, and whoever under such
circumstances permitted its occupation by five
hundred persons has upon his shoulders heavy
responsibility. There seems to have been neglect
and laundering and extraordinary reckessness
all along the line. Primarily Congress was to
blame for refusing in spirit Of miscalled econ
omy to make the necessary appropriation for
the work of placing the building in a proper
state OF stability and repair.
That is SO like Congress, especially the kind
Of Congress which the people have been send
| ing to Washington for the past two or three
years. The bunghole may be out, but the
spixot Is safely turned, and the effort is
made to offset the waste Of millions expended
| from the point Of view OF political expe-
diency by the denial of thousands to good and
| necessary uses The soldier vote is a COW
eted factor and the Grand Army order is a
power, hundreds of millions are voted
away in pensions with a needless inconsid-
| Grafton. but the clerks by whom the pen
sion claims are investigated and prepared
| for allowance are of no account. They have
| mo pull nor any influence in their'"dees-
| trict," and they can be allowed to take their
chances in an old tumble down building
| from which the rats have fled. and whose
| insecurity is notorious. 1t may not fall down
| after all, You know, or it may take its pre-
destined tumble out of Office hours. so the
| appropriation is voted down, and if the 500
clerks employed in that particular bureau
| don t like the risks they are required to take.
why, this is free country: they can resign.
| That is how Congressman seem to have argued,
and today. perhaps, they are sorry they did.
1t is said that In some cases suit to recover
| damages will be brought against the govern
ment. III half the reports about the condition
of the building are true, there is ample basis
| for such suits, but whether the plaintiffs will
| make much by them is quite another question.
According to the general experience, the prose-
cution of claims against Uncle Sam is about the
most heart-breaking. hopeless and Improbable
business in which human beings can engage. But
there is no room for doubt about the equities
Of the case The injured and the survivors Of
the dead are entitled to be literally COM
pensated for what they have suffered. Under
the circumstances Congress will hardly be able
to refuse to do something for them, but the
chan ces are it won't be much.
An Impartial Inquiry Demanded.
From the Phi! adelphia Times
In view Of the sudden and violent demon
stration Of personal hostility to Col. Ainsworth
manifested at the coroners inquest over the
bodies OF the unfortunate victims of the Ford
Theater disaster in Washington, it Is fortunate
that military court Of inquiry is to follow the
coroner's inquest. The excitement and bitter
ness caused by the disaster will have somew hat
subsidized and it will be possible to get at the
against Col. Ainsworth. a most careful and eff
cient medical officer. who had nothing to do
with the erection of public buildings, shows
that public feeling, at least among the crowds
that frequent coroners' inquests. is wrought up
to pitch that renders a calm, Judicial invcsti-
CATION an impossibilitv at present