The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1907-05-23

management winch mas 10 Dear Ine
odium Of tae unnecessary killing and
manning of its pifrons. Could the
censure Of the public be directed to
the employe insteed Of to the mana
ger. and could there be aroused :
public. feeling which would enforce
the existing laws to punish criminal
negligence, there could not but re-
suit an Improvement in the discipline
of the railway service.
THE question arises as to wheth-
{ er the railways could not themselves
accomplish all the good results to be
expected of a government board to
investigate accidents, were they to
pursue systematically the policy OF
giving to the press at regular inter
walls the results of their own invest
igations into. the causes of accidents.
Probably the railway could with ad-
vantage go further and report to the
public serious acts of negligence on
the part of employees even though no
accident resulted.
Reference to recently published
statistics from various sources shows:
I'd That in the five years that the
railways have made reports of acct
dents to the interstate commerce conf
mission over 20 per cent of the SER
ious collisions on American railways
have been due to the negligence of
trainmen and engine men. CD That
where serious collisions have occur
red on lines protected by block sig
nails "a per cent of these have been
due to negligence of train men and
signal men.
Support of Public Necessary.
"Such facts as these cannot be ig-
nored, and the point it is desired to
make is that good discipline and a
high moral among railway employees
are essential, if such appalling acct
dents as those fresh in the minds of
all our readers are to be prevented.
Discipline is difficult to enforce in a
republic, and in fact cannot be en-
forced unless the authority admin
istering it has the sympathy and sup
port of the public. Without the sup
port of public opinion any statute
will soon become a dead letter.
How often in America is rail-
way employe punished for criminal
negligence, even though his act may
have caused the deaths of scores of
persons? Scarcely an instance can be
cited. The public, as its opinion is
expressed by the actions of juries,
sympathizes with the culprit and WIS.,
its it's censure upon his employer
when civil suits for damages are
brought against the company.
In general the railways say as lit
tie as possible concerning accidents,
and complete statements are publish
ed only when the accident is of a
particularly serious nature. Too Of
ten the public receives these state
ments with unbelief, regarding them
as mere attempts to shift response
bility to some subordinate emp1oye
in order to excuse his superiors.
Should be Frank.
"A policy, consistently and regu-
larly followed, of publishing complete
accounts of all accidents and their
causes should result in giving the
general public proper idea of the
difficulties with which the railway
managers have to contend in matters
of discipline, and directing public
censure to the human agents to
whose fallibility the accidents are
nearly due. In addition, such pol
icy should assist in building up for
the railway and its officers a reputa.
ton for frankness, which is a most
valuable asset.
There is no question as to the eff
feet of public sentiment. when it was
once aroused, in correcting actual
abuses in railway administration and
in bringing about a better under
standing as to other matters that
have been wrongly considered as
abuses, and this sentiment should be
just as powerful and efficient in re-
forming the individual employees
whose acts endanger the safety Of
the public as it has been in reform
ing the corporations and their Of
ficers"
-OOO
Citizens of Wenatchee owe a debt
of gratitude to the State Food Com