Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-03-21
DISREGARD OF LIFE.
An Aroused Public opinion sOrely
Needed.

An Aroused Public Opinion sOrely
Needed.
Editorial in the Century.
When one reads the accounts constantly
appearing In the newspapers of instances
OF the heroic saving OF human life, espe-
cially in fire and mine disasters, one is
| impressed by the value put by all men
upon life. The rescues OF miners, con-
tinuing sometimes from day to day, have
the whole country, sometimes the whole
world. for sympathetic audience. The city
OF New York was thrilled lately by the
story OF the rescue Of a fireman, after
\ twenty-four hours Of exertion on the part
of his comrades the first hours OF which
were with the hope Of nnding his dead
body only. Incidents like these awaken
passion Of tenderness, Of heroic struggle,
of widespread sympathy. AS for firemen,
| they are proverbial for reckless courage In
| saving endangered lives, and when It comes
| to the rescue Of one of their own number
| they will actually fight for the privilege Of
| hinging themselves into positions of deadly
| peril in order to save a threatened COM
| rNde. There never was time, moreover,
when such good care was taken of the
sick and afflicted, or when so much time,
money, equipment and Individual devotion
were given to the discovery and application
OF remedies for disease, ana OF means for
| the prolongation Of human existence,
Reading of such things from day TO day,
and nothing else, one might, as we have
said, come to the conclusion that in Amer
| lea the sacredness of life is keenly felt
! throughout the community. But as a mat
ter of fact, newspapers that give US
minute details, in column upon column,
of these heroic rescues, on the same page
chronicle events which bring the observer
to the very opposite conslusion.
Here we read of scores OF men working
day and night. without thought OF self,
! to save a single life; and then we read,
for instance of automobile tragedies where
! the speed craze leads to the loss not only
of the life of the speed-crazy but of the
innocent passerby. We read of railroad
accidents where may lives are lost through
some phase of recklessness. We are given
the appalling statistics OF railroad fatall-
ties and of often easily preventable acct
dents in the various trades, and we find
that America is far behind Europe in the
use of safety devices in the various occu-
pations.
! 1t is an aroused public opinion that we
need-a sort of national conversion. There
is need to spread abroad a new respect
| for the human frame; a conviction that Il
unneighborly, that It is wrong, that it is
wicked, that 1t is uncomfortable, that
people should not amuse themselves in a
way that endangeVs the bodies and the very
! existence of their fellow citizens Rail-
road trains, electric trollies and automo-
biles are constantly put to a speed that i'm
plies an outrageous spirit Of recklessness.
| man has no business to take reckless
chances with his own life, much less with
that Of his fellow citizen, who has an
| equal right to the safe use of the public
highway. This would seem to be truism,
but too many people act with a total dis
regard of so elemental a principle as this.
There are SO many delinquents, there is
such a lack of persistent defense on tho
part Of the public that perhaps those are
wise who think that a counter movement
should be started. and that the scattered
| and Intellectual indignation of the COM
munlty should find effective expression in
! a special organization.