The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-12-24
WHO IS TO BLAME?


amount Of sadness. The disaster of
last Monday night, greater in it's loss
of life than the one of the preceding
week, has caused people to stop and
ask themselves who is to blame. There
comes a time when the people must
take upon themselves the responsible
ity of placing the blame for great dis
asters. Naturally most people come to
the conclusion that the building inspec-
tor is the man who should be held re-
sponsible for the loss of life caused by
the crumbling of the fire shaken walls.
Certainly we have building inspectors
| for the purpose of inspecting buildings
and passing upon their safety. 1t may
be true, as the building inspector said,
| that the wall which caused the loss Of
life was the safest Of all the walls left
standing, and if so, there is much more
reason why he should have taken ac-
ton in reducing the other walls at
/ once. 1t may be claimed that there
! was no time between the fire and the
second disaster for razing the walls,
but the City of Minneapolis certainly
had police power enough to cause the
|adjoining buildings and streets to be
vacated. II the walls could not be
RACED it would have been an easy mat
ter to have compelled the people in the
adjoining building to vacate until such
time as it would have been safe to
live there. Instead Of warning the
people Of the danger, it seems that
| they We're assured of their safety. In
ordinary affairs Of life we are prone
to take chances, but where human life
is in danger there should be no chance
taking. Most anyone is liable to make
mistakes, but when mistakes are made
which cause the loss of human life the
one who makes the mistake is usually
rendered scant mercy. The RESPONSE
blity for the loss of life on last Mon
day night ought to be fixed, and when
that responsibility is placed, the party
who is to blame should feel the strong
arm of the law. If anyone has been
negligent in this matter mere public
censure and loss of position would be
scant punishment. When the grand
juries and county attorneys take these
matters up and bring them before
courts and petit jurors that will con-
denim and punish we will have less of
so-called accidents. Minneapolis has
been peculiarly negligent in it's regard
for human life. We have too many Of
these so-called accidents. A little more
than year ago, there occurred on the
east side of the river an explosion
which caused the loss of several lives
and the obstruction of large amount
Of property. This so-called accident
was due to the grossest negligence,
caused by the storing Of large guam
titles of highly combustible materials
in close proximity to business and
office blocks. A short time after that
a heavily loaded car passing over the
bridge near the Uuion depot barely
escaped going through and down upon
the railroad tracks below. Every few
weeks the death list, caused by the
grade crossings, is added to. All these
deaths are called accidents. They are
| not accidents at all. They are the logi-
cal results Of perfectly apparent
/ causes. The people of this city are
taxed higher than the people of most
other cities, and they obtain less for
their money in the way of life and
property protection than almost any
other city in the United States. Not
! long ago the entire business portion of
the large city of Baltimore was des-
| troyed by fire and not single life was
| lost, either at the time of the fire or
as result of it, while the burning
of a portion of city block has cost
the loss Of a dozen lives in this city.
Why the difference? 1t will not do for
us to accept the explanation of those
who had charge Of the inspection of
| this wall. 1t will not do to say 1--WE
thought it safe" Eight and probably
more lives We're lost because of that
thought. The people of this city have
come to a point where they must in.
sist upon more rigid regulations and
precautions than have heretofore been
enforced. Responsibility for this whole
affair should be placed upon the City
Council for it has the appointing power
and the supervision of the building in
spector's office. We think it would
be much better had we charter
which threw the responsibility fol-
such work upon the mayor, and held
him responsible for the different de
partments Of the city. Such is the
case in most large cities. In Mime
apolis, however, we have been to ar
unusual degree injured by rotten mu
nicipal policies. We have not ever
been able to secure new charter
although we have been attempting tt
do so for years. Our city is run by a
council composed Of a single body who