Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-31
The Fundamental Evil.

Until the coroner's jury has brought to
light the exact circumstances Of the Terra
Gotta collision it Is possible only to con-
slider the broader aspects of the disaster.
That 1t was of the "avoidable' character
is obvious. 1t was caused by blunder so
horrible i'm it's results as to test the public
restraint in passing judgment upon the sys-
TEN which permits such mishaps. Two
trains on one block! There lies the whole
story in its broadcast aspect The night
was foggy. the rails wet and thus the con-
ditions imposed upon all operatives the
need Of the greatest care. Yet despite this
fact there seems to have been no special
precaution against mistake. The colliding
train was sent down the track at a dan
gerously high speed. Did the engineer
know that local, frequently stopping and
probably losing time. was ahead of him?
He should have known precisely what was
in front and where 1t was. II the local was
late the engineer of the "dead-head equip
| ment' train should have known of tho
fact several blocks up the road. Did he
run past other red signals than those
which, 1t is now understood, were set at
Takoma? Did the fog obscure them? If
so that fact should have made everybody
responsible for the operation of the train
more cautious.
Blunder blunder, blunder The sIckening
story of our railroad mismanagement is
told over and over again, in shocking varia-
ton of the same theme Now it is a tower
man who makes mistake; now an en-
gineer who thinks he knows more about
the conditions and the chances than the
dispatching force; now 1t is a brakeman
who neglects his duty as signalman. Oc-
aSio J1Hy oil It
end of a useless, criminal waste of life
Speed. speed, speed There is more
thought of covering the ground than of
protecting passengers. The railroad au-
thorities cry out in extenuation that the
public demands for more speed are re-
sponsible for these repeated disasters.
That is a deliberate attempt to shift the
blame. AS well accuse the child who cries
for unwholesome food that a thoughtless
parent gives to it to stop its clamor The
truth is the demand for speed has nothing
to do with the fundamental evil of our
modern railroad organization. The fault
lies in most cases in the lack of discipline
and effective supervision.
Railroad officials cannot be unaware that
the red signals are ignored by engineers
again and again when disasters do not
follow. Are the engineers who are thus
guilty Of Immediately harmless infractions
of rule promptly punished? Are brakemen
who are known to neglect their duties as
signalmen disciplined when caught, even
though no collision results? OF course they
are not. 1t is absurd to expect an inteIli-
gent public to believe that such system
exists in the light of the repeated catas-
trophies that are undeniably obviously due
to faulty operating management.
The evil is deep seated. 1t must be Grad
icated, however, unless we are to pay for
our railroad transportation price in hu-
man life that Is heavier than the sacrifices
nation makes in maintaining its honor
The District of Columbia, now ia It's turn
the victim of this horror of laundering rail-
road operation, looks in its hour of dis
tress and sorrow to Congress for relief,
joining its voice to those already raised
asking for legislation that will at least
lessen the dangers by imposing checks and
prescribing penalties for their infraction.