Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-14
STOP RAILWAY HOMICIDES

The large number of fatal accidents
on western railroads since the begin
ming of this year is simply appalling
and should call to action the president
or congress, or the interstate commerce
commission, or other federal authority
clothed with power to compel railway
companies to provide for the better pro-
lection of human life.
Railroads east of the Missouri river
are able to show a far less array OF
dreadful accidents than railroads in the
west, where the transcontinental sys-
tenn prevails. And of late the fatalities
have become so increasingly frequent
that people in the southwest are liter
ally afraid to ride on railway trains, be-
lieving that the odds are against safe
Journey.
There is some reason for this condi-
ton of affairs. Take the Southern Pa
cific railroad as a case in point. Under
the ownership and management of
Coils P. Huntington and Crocker, acci-
dents were of rare occurrence. 1t is
recalled by old citizens that in a period
of nearly fifteen years the only note
worthy accident on that road was the
'Tehachapi disaster" In which train
on the mountains escaped from the
engine and carried a trainload of people
down to destruction-and even that was
not wholly the fault Of the road.
Latterly the fatal and horrible acci-
dents have come thick and fast, espe-
cially to the once reliable Southern Pa
cifc. What's the reason?
Railroad men say that under Coils
P. Huntington the roadbed was kept in
good condition, with plenty Of men at
good wages to work the track, and that
no train was allowed to run at greater
speed than thirty-five or forty miles an
hour. When the road passed into other
hands the squeezing policy began. Each
three sections of track was compressed
into two; and even after that, the num-
ber of section workers and track walkers
was lessened, so that the section mile
age to be worked and cared for is now
twice as great, and it is said there are
not enough men employed to keep the
road in any sort of repair.
On top of all this the tonnage of the
engines has been largely increased, the
number of trains multiplied and the
speed extended to forty-f1ve and fifty
miles an hour. In the meantime the
redwood ties are rottening, the spikes
are loosening and trackage is deteriorat-
ing upon a soil noted for it's porous and
unpackable nature. This is true not
only of the Southern Pacific, but like
wise of the Santa Fe and almost every
railroad running west from the Mis-
souri, river.
Year after year the roads show a
greatly increased net earning, but also
year after year the trackage deterio-
rates and the people are paying for the
difference with their lives. Today the
public must demand:
First-That federal regulation be in
stituted to compel railway companies
to make better provision for human
safety.
Second-That the speed limit shall he
reduced to thirty-five or forty miles an
hour.
Third-That the railway companies
shall be compelled to put their trackage
in first class condition Immediately or
suffer the cancellation of their charter.
1t is time to stop killing people
for the mere pleasure of increasing rail-
way dividends. 1t is time to demand an
instant reform in the railway misman-
agement of this country.