Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-12

From the Chicago Evening Post.
What adds new horror to the catastrophe in
Ford's Theater at Washington "a crime scarcely
less horrible than that of April, 1869. is the
fact that there are other buildings in the ma
tional capital in which a similar horror may
occur at any time. The public printing Office,
which is occupied daily bv 1900 employees, has
been condemned as unsafe for many years, yet
COngress has persistently refused to make pro-
vision for its repair or Replacement by Q more
stable building 1t was no secret to Congress-
men that the old Ford Theater was totterlng
aid unsafe. Yet not only was 1t permitted to
stand and to be used daily as the workshop Of
500 men. but by the criminal negligence Of the
authorities excavations were allowed to be
made under the vital places Of the structure.
The consequent collapse was nothing less than
crime which can definitely be trsced.to its
source.
No less q crime is the apathy or mistaken
economy which permits the other government
death traps to stand. A special session Of Con-
gress will, 1t is believed be called in September.
Heaven send that it will not even then be too
late to make provision against another murder
quite as horrible az that which. in Ford's Thea
ter, generation ago. stunned the whole world.
Fix the Responsibility.
From the New York Times.
1t is to be hoped that the responsibility for
the Ford's Theater disaster at Washington will
be definitely fixed by the court Of inquiry ap-
pointed by the Secretary Of War, at the re-
quest Of the head Of the record and pension
division Of the department The building was
used entirely for the work Of that division, and
the responsibility must be somewhere in the
War Department itself, unless it was hampered
by some other authority: The matter ought to
be thoroughly sifted and the blame put where
it belongs, for somebody was clearly to blame.
Another Tragedy.
From the New York Herald.
The fault II in thine own people. WIG
The disaster in Washington by which scores
Of abIe-bodied young men we're either killed
outright or MANNED for life is not connected
with . single mitigating circumstance.
IT would be very stupid to classify II as an
accident; it must be put down in the list Of
crimes.
So far as our information extends at pres
emit it was nothing less than Wholesale hom-
icidc.
The responsibility should be fixed and the
guilty party or parties made to nay the penalty
Of general contempt and indignation.
1t is useless to talk under such circumstances
about an inscrutable Providence, for the
Almighty had nothing to do with it-no more
than he bad to do with the deliberate murders
which follow each other in rapid succession.
He has made certain laws that are univer-
sally known. obedience to which is necessary to
the protection OF society and to personal health
and security. II a man swallows strychnine or
leaps from the roof OF four-storv building. he
arranges for bis own funeral, and Ii Is folly to
lay the accountability for his act at any other
door than the one he ought to have kept locked
or guarded.
II the government hires building for its
employees which the municipal authorities have
examined and condemned, and death or in
jury results. then on the governments head
rests the crime. 1t breaks law which Is mex
orable, law which it knows beforehand is in
exornble, breaks il in the full consciousness
that fatal consequences may at any moment
occur, and Is therefore criminal
great many tears shed for which the Al
mighty Ia in no degree responsible.
A great deal OF misery exists which God has
nothing to do with.
The responsibility for goodly proportion of
the happenings among men is sternly repudi-
Our business is to know that rotten build
ing will some time fall If we fill it with clerks
and it does fall, we have ourselves to blame and
no one else.
What q spectacle Of horror we sazed at! That
grim old theater In which enacted the his
torical tragedy Of the century ought never to
have been used by the government for any pur-
pose whatever. No foot Of man in the employ
OF the country should have crossed its threshold.
1t ought to have been RACED to the ground long
ago as n building Of baleful influence. Not one
stone should have been left on another to re-
mind US Of the foul crime which sent Abraham
Lincoln 70 heaven. That theater WAS n blot on
the District Of Columbia. perpetual night
mare. CHASTITY reminiscense.
But its floors were propped up with iron pill
lars because it threatened all the while to tum-
bic down, aud to its insecurity were Entrusted
the lives OF a hundred clerks Like demon it
had tasted blood and wanted more. and slyly
watched the opportunity which came at last.
At 10 in the morning there was laughter be-
ma h fhot 4 thar %
with many brave man buried beneath.
There Is an old saying, III Satan cheats You
once it is his fault; IL he does it a second
time it is your fault" We are ourselves at
fault. therefore. for VIC have been cheated
second time.
Now let the rubbish be cleared away and let
the ground be fenced in and sown with salt. Il
is n spot of anguish and horror.
Bat God pity the stricken families which are
in mourning today because. though fully aware
OF the threatened danger, certain officials took
the risk.
Worse Than Elunder.
From the New York Mail and Express.
No excuse or explanation can be offered by
Congress for compelling the use by government
employees of a condemned building Ave years
after its condition was made known. Such
policy Of economy" is worse than blunder,
for it is deliberate tempting Of fate.
Ci,eese-Paring Methods.
From the Philadelphia Evening TELEGRAPH.
A few dead men more or less cannot make
any difference to great. a mighty govern
ment. 1t is the duty Of good citizens to die for
their country but there are WAYS Of diving less
horrible than being crushed by falling buili-
ing. and there are better reasons for the sac,i-
flee than to save the government. the expendi-
ture of few thousand dollars.
The killing of thousands upon thousands Of
brave men in battle for the country brought no
reproach upon tho government for cruelty.
The murder of thirty forty mon in the
dcadraii at Washington should excite pop
uar Indignation and place the stamp of pub
lie disproval upon the cheese-parin. methods
Of economy introduced by Mr.. Holman and
practiccd by his di-clples.