The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-04
The southern Railway Tragedy. Atlanta Journal

Atlanta Journal.
 Great catastrophes and tragedies, caused by negligence and resulting in death, should carry warning 50 ths living, of the inevitable consequences of tho violation of natural laws.
 The laws of health cannot De vi0- lated without bringing the penalty or such violation as q result. The laws of be violated without suffering the conSe- quences of such violation. The imme- diate result of these offenses may be great or small Oftentfmes they appear to disregard them Now and then a great tragedy, such as that which oe- cured on the Southern Railroad on
 Thanksgiving morning, will come as the direct consequence Of an haDltual disregard of the laws of safety.
 We are not now attempting to fast en tho blame for this tragedy upon any particular individual or individuals. We feel that the death of those who were victims of that horrible wreck should
 be ain ever present warning to railroad officialsof the danger of disregarding
 the laws of safety and prudence. If ] those who are responsible for the man aGement of the railroads do not learn from this tragedy the necessity for stricter recognition of the great re- responsibilities that rest upon them. the lesson will have been wasted. and other tragedies of the same character due to the same causes. will follow.
 It is an opportune moment to impress more deeply, if possible, upon the minds of railroad officials the importance yea, the absolute necessity--for greater regularity and greater safety in the operation of trains. No doubt they feel already as deeply as it is possible for human beings to feel. the horror and the pity of the great tragedy which oc- cured on the Southern Railway. We would not add to their grief by one
 word herein written. What we desire is to gather from this horror something that will in future operate for the ben- eft of the railroads, no less than for
 the safety of those who are compelled
 to travel.
 The fault--ths crime--of this conn mercial age is the Subordination of pub- lie safety to the spirit of greed In the
 transaction of business. itailroad Ot- ncials are perhaps not more careless Tn
 this respect than those engaged In other lines of business, but they are more conspicuous and their zeal is far
 more dangerous, by reason of the fact that the consequences of their neglect are visited directly upon those who are entitled to the highest degree of pro- tection.
 | The fault is not so much with men | as with the system, or perhaps we should say lack of system. Trains are 1 operated without regard for public l safety. Schedules are Ignored, in order ! that connections may be made and bus-7 | mess thereby increased. The safety of passengers is made completely subordl- nate to the struggle for business. The tragedy of the Southern Railroad was the direct result of failure to observe schedules. The trains were hours out
 of time. They were delayed at the starting point in order that certain con- nection might be made. By delaying for these connections. the trains would obtain a certain amount of business that they would miss if they observed their schedules. Delay meant the greatest danger to human lives. but 1t meant business for the trains. They
 were delayed-the horrible consequen- ces have been related to the public. Running without schedule, their sole 1 dependence for safety was poorly paid 1 and therefore Irresponsible telegraph | operator. The public safety was sub ordinated to the desire for pecuniary | profit.
 It ought to be made a crime under the l law to start a passenger train from Q 1 terminal point out of schedule time; | and this law ought to be enforced, so 1 that an employe or of1cial--no matter | who, or how high his position-Would | be crimfnaliy punished for subjectinE | the lives and safety of the traveling ] public to the dangers of delayed trains. Of course, there are delays that are l unavoidable. They occur along the l line of the road These are usually due | to accidents that cannot be avoided l Nobody can be blamed for such delays i unless they are caused by criminal neg l ligence. But, where trains are wilful- 1 ly, consistently and habitually delayed
 at the starting point, for the purpose l of making connections, every such dee | lay ought to be made criminal ot-
 fense; and any railroad, as well as offi-
 cial, violating the law on this subject
 should be subjected to the severest pun e 1 ishment.
 Railroads have no right to endanger
 the public safety by throwing to the
 wind their schedules and taking the | risk incident to delayed trains. They
 should be compelled to send their pas. I sengers out on schedule time, and tf
 delayed business is of sufficient import l ance, it should be handled In special
 trains, and these special trains should
 be compelled to observe schedules. Sat-
 ety should be the first consideration.
 If they cannot leave on one schedule.
 they should leave on another They
 should not be permitted tS run wild.