Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1897-03-18

hey are poor, and times are hard, that
40 sooner does railroad become a
than it becomes subject
Of public and private plumber, that the
wants to make it bear the
entire State expenses, and the individu-
al wishes 10 become enriched, by bleed
ing it in every way the ingenuity OF
man can devise. A horse or COW can
not be killed but the road is sued at
once, and the animal charged up to 1t
at greatly more than its value. "A
spark from an engine cannot set ire
to worthless broom sedge patch with
out the owner attempting to amerce
the road in heavy damages, whilst
when a careless person has met with
accident, the juries invariably charge
the negligence to the inanimate train
instead of the careless person. There
is much truth in this. There are
throughout the South in every State
and possibly county lot OF small
shyster lawyers, who watch every
movement on the part of the roads.
and when there is flaw or supposed
flaw in their management, away goes
the little shyster, hunts up the person
suffering the supposed injury, and in
forms him of his ''outragous" treat
ment, the result being that suit is
brought, and by denunciation of cor
porations, a portrayal of the high
handed manner of treating the public,
and all the rot of which demagogic
blatherskite is capable of emitting, a
jury usually with an ancient and deep
ly rooted prejudice against railroad
methods, finds some adverse verdict,
especially if the client is poor, as he
always il. stated to be. Many indivld
ual cases might be cited to show re-
markable decisions, but we will omit
all of these but two. Not long since
drunken woman sat down on the ties
of a railroad and went to sleep. A
stack of railroad ties piled by the road
side prevented the engineer from see
ing her in time to stop or possibly tc
warn her by blowing the whistle. She
was killed. The only way a train
could see the woman was through the
eyes of the engineer, yet the person
killed had chance not only to see the
much larger object approaching her
but also to hear it. She did not heeo
this, yet a jury found verdict against
the road too small for appeal it Is true
but a verdict, showing that it had NJ
confidence in it's own verdict and thai
it was not in good faith, for if the wo
mans life was worth anything it wal
worth more than $500-which is thu
the amount from which an appeal cal
be taken.
Another instance in an adjoining
State. A family lived by the side of ;
railroad, in which were several small
children, the smallest child crawlet
out away from the house on the rail
ways track and was killed. The roac
was censured for not playing nurse fol
baby, and large verdict was render
ed against it. An engineer could mo-
tell sleeping baby from sleeping
cur no doubt. No one would have ex
pected him to stop for cur, or even {
sheep, but as it proved to be baby
which careless parents had allowed
to get into danger, the parents were
exculpated and the road censured
Such instances might be multiplied tx
an endless degree.
So far has prejudice against railroads
gone that some time ago train wreck
ers stole from one of the tool houses O.
a railway crowbars with which they
lifted rail and many people were
killed. The cOrOners jury could fine
nothing else for which to condemn the
road so they condemned it in then
verdict because the tool house wal
not locked SO that parties with evi
intent could not so easily procure i'm
plements with which to execute theil
nefarious schemes"
It must not be understood that VIZ
are defending the roads in anything
they do, but we are calling attention
to the growth of public feeling, OF
rather public action on the part of the
people, and the courts, and some law
yers, which has grown to such magni
tude, as. to trun capital away from
railroad building, and drive it into
other more secure Investments. Oul
people should know and realize thai
there is nothing SO advantageous te
the South as railroads. and yet there
is nothing for which it is so difficult te
obtain capital to build, equip or con
duct. Once this was not so. Distrus1
has, however, turned capital inte
other channels, and whilst much Of
that distrust has arisen from the man
agement of the roads, still the hostili
ty of the people along their lines and
he-seemingly fixed determination on
the part of the States through Their
legislatures, and the people by every
device capable of being concocted, to
loot and plumber them. has greatly
augmented the distrust of those whose
money otherwise would go to theiI
building. So instead of reaping great
benefits which increased railway devel
opment of our country would bring,
we get nothing but what the juries
give us from the few roads, which we
make our legitimized prey.
An EX-COnfederate Private for Governor
Editor Of Spectator Vaadicator: