The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-10
FOR THE PROTECTION OF RAILROAD
EMPLOYEES.

f'OR THE PROTECTION OF RAlLROAD
EMPLOYEES.
1t is much to be regretted that recent
decision of the United States Circuit Court
of Appeals has greatly impaired the efficacy
of the law of 1893 requiring the use of auto
matte car couplers and power brakes. The
law was intended for the protection Of rail-
road employees. and it has been very bene-
fetal in that respect. It's enactment was
largely due to the earnest and repeated
recommendations of President Benjamin
Harrison on the subject. In his first an
nual message he called attention to "the
urgent need of congressional legislation
for the better protection of the lives and
limbs of those engaged in operating the
great interstate freight lines of the coun-
try, and especially of the yardmen and
brakemen." He presented statistics of
fatal accidents among such employees and
said: ut is a reproach to our civilization
that any class of American workmen
should, in the pursuit of a necessary and
useful vocation, be subjected to a peril of
life and limb as great as that of a soldier
in time of war" He repeated this recon-
mendation in his second, third and fourth
annual messages. The present law on the
subject was passed in the closing days of
the Fifty-second Congress, and President
expiration of his term.
The law required ali locomotives used in
moving interstate traffic to be equipped
with power or train brakes. and all cars
so used to be equipped with power or train
brakes and with automatic acting couplers.
The railroads were given five years in
which to comply with the provisions of the
law, which was to become operative Jan.
l, 1898. From that time it was quite gen.
orally complied with, and resulted in great
ly reducing the number of accidents among
railroad employees. In 1898. the year the
law was passed, the number of casualties
in coupling and uncoupling cars was IL, 10
namely, 433 persons killed and 11,277 in
jured. In 1902 the number OF accidents from
the same cause was 2.256-namely, 143 killed
and 2,113 injured. The number of men en-
gagged in railroading was fully 80 per cent
can be no question as to the beneficial eff
fects of the law since il went into opera
ton.
In the case of Johnson VS.. Southern Pa
cifc Railway Company. the plaintiff being
an employee who had been injured, the
United States Circuit Court held as follows:
That it is not necessary to equip locomo-
| tives or tenders with automatic couplers,
| because the law does not so specifically pro-
| vide.
That car is not in interstate traffic un-
| less actually in transit in an interstate
| Journey, loaded with Interstate commerce
| or being actually moved or handled in prep
aration of an interstate movement. In
other words, a car having made an inter-
state journey Is not in interstate traffic
| while being switched unless such switch
| ing is in actually preparing an interstate
I train. Nor is car which has been loaded
| in one State with freight destined to an
other State, and which has been unloaded
and is returning empty for another load in
| interstate traffic while so returning empty
That the law does not require that cars
| shall be equipped with couplers which will
| couple automatically with those i'm use or
| another road. That ii does not even REQUIRE
that the cars of one company shall be sc
| equipped as to couple automatically with
other cars of that company which NAV be
| equipped with another type of automatic
| coupler. 1t Is only necessary that cars shall
| be equipped with automatic cOuplers which
will couple automatically with their owr
| kind of couplers.
The decision CONSTITUTES the law very mar.
rowly and practically nullifies it's main OBJ
| ject, which was to secure such uniformit,
in applied automatic coupling devices a.
| to permit all cars in a train to be coupled
and uncoupled without requiring men t.
| go between the cars. IL railroads are t,
be permitted to use any kind of automati,
coupler they see fit different roads usins
different kinds that will not work auto
maticaly with each other, the main objec
of the law will be defeated.
To obviate such result the United State.
Senate has passed a bill which is nov
pending in the House. amending the Law
of 1898 in such a way to make its mean
ing clear and prevent the law from becom
! ing dead letter. The necessity for thi
amendment is as urgent as was that TO
the passage of the original law Unless
Congress wishes 10 remit the railroad EN-
ployes of the country back to condition
in which the number of casualties anon,
them was six times as great as it was las
year. the law should be promptly amende,
and strengthened.