The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1906-10-20
AUTO TRAGEDY
A FEATURE
Railroad Commission Scores
the Rutland.
ANNUAL REPORT Spicy
Methods Used in The Financing OF
Electric Roads Are Severely
Criticised.
ANNUAL REPORT SPlCEY

OF spicy reading It's condemnation
OF the present management OF the Rut-
land railroad is particularly severe
and II intlmates "lhat the safety and
accommodation OF the public Is a sec.
ondary consideration lie the operation
OF the roadn and further that 'the
public would seem to have no rights
which the railroad company Is bound
to respect"
The report goes on to say;
al the influence OF the Rutland rail.
road company at the capital is TO de.
feat all legislation calculated To pro.
mote aud protect the people Ia the use
OF the highways Of the state and calcu'
lated 10 furnish reasonable and needed
depot facilities, then the plain duty OF
the general assembly Is to abolish the
railroad commission and abandon It's
right TO regulate the railroad corpora.
lions which 1t has created and permit
them To prey without restraint upon the
people and menace without hindrance
the lives OF those who travel upon our
highways.
"The Rutland railroad under the new
ownership and management ofthe New
York Central system has developed
defiant opposition to the requirements
aud orders OF this commission both In
cases where the public has petitioJed
for better facilities and the installation
Of safety devices and 10 cases W ere
this commission, OF its own motion,
mas sought to secure safety OF opera.
ton on the part Of the road. Upon
purely technical point IL secured the
overruling OF an order of this commits
sion, prohibiting the company from
running an engine back Sard on pas
senger train.
"a terrible accident in which two
persons lost their lives would In all
probability have been averted IL the
company had operated its engine in
the way and manner in which 1t was
built and intended to be operated.
II is true that the persons attempting
to make the crossing in an automo-
bile were guilty OF gross carelessness
but the accident would not have hap.
pened il the speed OF the train could
have been sackened the fraction OF a
second before the crossing was reach
ed With the engine running with the
tender ahead the engineer could see
nothing of the approaching automo-
bile until It was actually struck and
thrown from the track. With the en-
CINE turned around he could have seen
1t in time to have materially slackenel
the speed OF his train and the automo-
bile would have cleared the track In
safety.
To defantly contest an order of the
commission TO operate its engine head
first, when facilities for turning it a.
ready exist at both ends of the run
and when the order of the commission
could have been complied with at a
slight expense to the company, is TO
serve notice upon the people .of Yer
mont that the Rutland Railroad CON-
pany has very little care for the safe
ty of the public making use OF the
highways of the state and that no
special effort will be made by tn at
company to afford protection to the
public even though it costs the com :
pany nothing to do So
These comments are applicable to no
other railroad corporation in the
State. n many instances the CT nclu
sion of the commission in the dee tr.
mination of petitions and in the inves.
tigation of accident cases have been
widely different from the results no ped
for by the railroad companies affect
ed; but 10 almost every Instance the
conclusions OF the commission have
been cheerfully accepted AID the rec
concentrations and orders acted upon,
except as above noted in the case of
the Rutland Railroad company.
The method of financing electric
railways Is severely criticised and
greater powers Of supervision are
called for. In regard to the electric
roads in operation in the state it says
that no special improvements have
been made except on the Barre and
Montpelier road and the Mount Mans
field electric road. The Bennington
4 Hoosick Valley railway is in poor
physical condition but is being oper-
ated in careful manner.
1.-TWO years ago this commission
called attention to the fact that meth
DDS have been employed in fnancny
electric railways in Vermont that have
proved very disastrous to invent, rs.
No restraint whatever is imposed up
on capitalization or the creation of
funded Indebtedness, except the linn
itations of the charter and the con-
sciences OF the promoters and those
limitations are usually so widely in
excess OF the actual funds necessary
to build and equip the road that a
large margin is left In shape of stocE s
and bonds in which the public is invi'-
ed and solicited to invest The oper-
alton OF the road discloses the fact
that gross earnings will not pay ope, :
ating expenses and the interests on the