The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-16
In DEFENSE OF THE BILL.
Boiler Inspector Dill Shown 20 be a Meas
ure for the Support Of the LegisIa.
ture.


1 slgneu 'tltlZen, which attacked the Boil
er Inspector Bill, and attempted to blast
r the idea that a steam boiler should be in
: spectod by State authOrit;
To attempt to BLAST such n measure
!. might nave been considered something OF
t an undertaking. hJ ono who was fauiIia,
WIN no law OF his country, for the Fed,
. et"l government and many of tho States
rave enacteflaws providing for the In
spec'iOn of steam boilers and the examln.
{ alton OF engineers, and none Of those law
| are more liberal than the bill before tha
. State Legislature. In fact, tho writer OF
the communication above referred to IL,
r trays the fact that he does not Know what
t he wants, for he abuses the Delaware 6iit
, IN one Instance. for tho mere suggestion
r that the steam boilers should be 10 spccte,l
s f'i' aiu ~ INC hexy Instance, he critcises tho
plii necau'e " does not go further and
t prqylds fcr the more extensive inspection
oi SCAN man it does and follows it up
with the statement that the Federal Gov
ernMent has wisely provided for the in
speStion OF the boilers used on boats.
We can agree with him that tho FEDERAL
; dovormens was not only wise in this
move, but 1t has also provided for the in
spection Of stationery eugnes. But there
is one part Of. tho "citlzcu's" letter in
which he Detrays his utter ncapacity. He
declares that the Delaware bill viii re-
- lhire boilers used for the scaldiug Of h.ogs
70 DO inspected Well iow, il must he
very apparent that one man who does not
know the difference between an omen
iNae"n 9sed lor heating water to scald
nogs and q. steam boiler used for the
generation or steam, to drive an engine or
distribute heat, certainly cannot have u
very competent idea of what is meant by
steam engineering; nor how far its ma
chntry should be inspected in order to
insure safety to lifo and property. 1t is
hard to understand why he did no. 90
further and insist the bill included wash
boilers and tea kettles The wisdom of
the bill In question is not only sustained by
the long established course of othor States,
anu the Dn'ed States Government, but
Its one object, the greater protection to life
ana property from powerful agency in
constant and frequent use overywher is |
most commendabc and worthy.
The objections to its costs are misrepre- |
sented in the main. and trivial altogether
compared with the revenue it will afford, !
The h.il provides for no twelve hundred
dollar CLERK, and no employment as the
write" of the article signed Citizen" III.
lcges. In the first place, all fees and fines
collected under the bill. are for the benefit
OF the state, and 1t provides when and
| how they shall be accounted for and paid
In TO thu State Treasurer. 1t will yield
the State IN revenue eight to ten thousand
per year. 1t will cost for an Inspector
I
lowed an assistant for not exceeding nine
ty days, at journeyman's wages, So per
day, for the number OF days he is actually
employed. This aid is simply to avoid de- :
lay TO machinery and labor in cases whore ,
ahumber OF boilers are connected, and it /
W"n'd require one man considerable I
time to Inspect them. q
Where companies have performed their {
duty, and had their boilers insured and in +
spectcd, there Is no Intention of interfering l
with them. but some one should surely +
represent the public in Investigating how /
thoroughly the moneytsers of the powerful II
ana dangerous agency -steam- are negl- S
gent In providing for the safety and sccu- n
rlty OF life and to call attention TO such b
negligence when it occurs. When an r.
agency of power is of little uso it concern,
very few people, and it mus necessarily
nc left to such care and supervision 81 in
dlvldunls in private capacity may give to n
it; but when it has become a matter of II
general use and great number of cti y p
Zen5 are subject daily TO great danger from T.,
any lack of proper precaution, or impaired g
equipment of the machinery then the n
STATE becomes interested in knowing to h
what extent the equipment Is sound and u. ~
properly managed, and the only way it can W W
discharge that interest is to designate one 81 ?.
of Its citizen to ilJpect thu matter. Now y" "
our critic objects again, that we are liable ~
TO have political "heeler" for an Inspec- y. "
tor. Well, any office which the State has ~ ~
created. or ever may create is open to tho y, !,
same charge from the Judges OF its Su- ~ ~
preme Court down to its Fence Viewers. ", W.
But we have been trusting tho people of ~, ~
this country to select their own officials, va va
since 1776 and they have succeeded pretty ,'n a..
well. ne
In the bill under discussion, how gel
ever, we,have used considerable jealousy 10 10
as to who shall be appointed to the Office "" ""
1t requires that the Inspector shall be at i' ~
least hirty years of age that he shall flo pr 'n
aftidavits of three credible persons with q nu :.
whom he has been employed, showing that trI t,,i
he has had at least ten years experience ~
In the construction or management of viz viz
boilers, that he shall be able to solve all W. W.
questions concerning the strength of ~ Wv.
boilersand shall thoroughly understand W.. .r
the methods of testing thom Now if tho '''
'CtiZan', or any other citizen, can find a
so.callcd political "hoelcr" that can faith ,
fully meet all these requirements, he will i
have discovered one whose capacity not ml9
only excels most of tho conservative citi- %
,ens but us we'll the great majority Of tol
newspaper correspondence. Possibly The owe
tronblc with this bill j., the requirements as;
which it provides for the Inspector are too Vl''
,overc for the Citizen" ever to meet aud ces'
lie simply wants to down the structure CIV
q nrgeI also thr wa h,ya prynr hr3 M ~ inst
Inspector in this State ana th.rsfnro va ''Gs
levcr should have one. y
This line of argument Is against all pro. .toi'
,ress and nll common srnen aud th, nm tive
Who pr0duces IT, aroucs ngninst Lis nu,n and
iedt for wisdom and Judgment. As to on''
he amount provided IL tho bin, rs salary I'a,
or the lnspec Or, that Is amnra detail and H. i,"i
Is open to any proper objection and H.. u,
mondment Tho bill is II mRr, PROPOSE ,''t, .
ion for the consideration Of the Lr.isla. o'F
urc, and they are Of course glad TO receive
Intelligent and sensible suggestion in re-
ard to 1t. 1t provides for II very coupe III
INT man with scientific knowledge and of .
Q think such man should command the of ID
llary named, 5000 por year. Now the x
Jgi Stature have the power to make H. Cuu
hat thnv wish As to the idea advanced Stor
INT largo firms like those named in the has
Ciizen's' let tor, should not be bothercl refer
ith having their boiler subjected to sGho
tate inspection, we would say that there new
no more reason for tr,lstinrn largo firm tho !
van n small one Yon are aurely rs npt over
find one man operating his business ohta
one, possessed of just as much regard liS!:
r the public welfare as You will Ind ia
rgo corporation.
We emphasize that you may EXPECT to 10
nd with him inst ns much of surh nullio fetal
gard but there Ia no oocasion to nxnact that
find any more or any less than with the mecf'
rgcr concern. Besides the nurnose nf tbe Penn
II does not procned altorether from n plny,
irit of distrISt Of public safety hy reason onsll
culpahIo or Intentional neg!oat on the ware
TT of he owners vt stOnln huilafs, but it
signs to place within the reach of all
ch owners n most borough and capable
m to Inspect their machinery and ad- Tr5
50 .hem when IT, is perfectly safe. And Duri
ono vii! attamptt to argue that once cine
nr 's too often for srch investigation rnsin
'w, by consolidating such work in tho Simn
nas of the S ate, we ara aho to provide,
d The bill does provide, for such inspec-
n at less COS. to tho owner, than they wv,
able to have it done for Ivy cnga singa cron,
,arhte Inspector for each firm; and tho 10
zero it's all done by the Stntc, it will on a"o
!. ,hinI noh"d, Wv np"s.''urau'' reV9- Phon
,ds As 10 the provision for the exam- N''F
lou of Engineers, that is n very lhora,
] fair provision,
he cSrninatiun Is entirely oral and u. !
lHtical. The certificate. II obtained, tne '
is bnt one dollar per year. This ex- cltizo'
nation will not only keep OUT very prove
,p,.ro,,s incompetnucv frnm tbn mon' larger
% pf nr1ptnnt nj L., DntTOi