St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1908-06-03
Railroad Slaughter Checked.

ira Increased POWers-FreQueney0 OF ACCT
dents Lessened and Greater Safety OF
Travel Assured.
1t is pretty well known that at the
last session of the legislature additional
powers were given the railroad commis-
sion. but to what extent such provision
has operated toward making travel by
rail in Vermont more safe, or how tar
the convenience of such travel have been
made to conform to the requirements OF
health and the reasonable speed oil
iourneying, the public has not hereto
fore been informed. That such is the
case is not due to any disposition OF the
Railroad Commission to withhold from
the public knowledge properly belonging
to it, but rather to the fact that great
and important work has been so quietly
and so easily done that public attention
has not been called to the matter IN
specific cases. Indeed, the powers OF the
Commission have been made so ample
that railroads as a rule have needed the
requests of the Commission rather than
await it's orders. Had the Commission
been obliged to apply its power as
court, and it is court under existing
law, in the numerous cases wherein its
request has been sufficient, the public
would be fully aware of its activities.
In its relations to the railroads the
travelling public is most of all interested
in the safety Of railroad travel. In the
not far distant past, the frequency OF
accidents upon one of Vermont's princi-
pal railroads became a matter of caustic
comment if not one of actual anxiety and
alarm. While none of those accidents
reached the dimensions of a railway
horror,n the most of them approached
to the very line where a so-called lucky
accident" ends and an appalling destruc-
ton of human life begins. This state of
affairs will be remembered by everybody
who had occasion to travel by that rail-
road line, and during the period, if no
disaster entailing a large death list re-
suited, it certainly was not due to the
roads heaviest and best passenger
trains not frequently leaving the rails or
that the running service was at all
times free from a carelessness inconsist-
ent with the safety OF travel.
| At time Immediately following sue
cession of accidents, it was observed
/ that high officials of the railroad here
referred to- accompanied by the roads
most importantly gal advisers, descended
upon Montpelier from the directors car
OF the road and had private conference
with the Railroad Commission at the
! latters room in the state house. 1t then
4 leaked out that the conference related to
! the conditions that occasioned such
/ frequent accidents and. although just
what transpired at the meeting has
never been made public, the infrequency
of accidents since that time leads to very
! definite conclusions. Had the Commits
sion been made up of weak men no doubt
/ the dangerous neglect could have been
continued even in the existence of the
Commissions ample powers. But APP
parently, the railroad knew with whom
it had to deal and wasted no time in sit
ting up and taking notice. The appar-
ent results have been as follows:
The railroad very soon settled a trou-
blesome strike that had long existed in
its mechanical department, certain
changes were made in responsible heads
in that department, and a better aver
age service in its telegraphic operating
force at many stations was effected.
The result of these changes due to the
unequvocal attitude of the Commission
has been that trains have been run APP
proximately near TO the timetable and
that carelessness in the handling of trains
from every point of responsibility has
been in large measure eliminated, with
the consequence that accidents on that
line have been of no uenacing import for
the better part of a year These facts
argue but one thing and that is that
railroad travel in Vermont has become
safer, that there is better protection OF
life and limb guaranteed the travelling
public, because OF an existing authority
before whose mandates the railroads
must bow
Can the state afford any course that
in anyway can weaken this force to
which the powerful railroad corpora
tions must yield? Should it by any mis-
understood action place in the executive
office-the Office that holds the appoint
ing power in all the states commissions
any man for whose elevation the rail.
roads are now clamoring? Should a
policy that guarantees, so far as fore
sight and regulation can guarantee, the
safe return of loved ones to the home cir.
Gle after entrusting their lives to the rail.
ways, be weakened in the slightest de.
gree or for moment placed where there
can be a chance for such weakening
With the pliable Stanton in the govern.
orship, him for whom the railroad sup.
port is now cast. with what strength
would this policy be maintained in such
extent as the governors appointive
power could reach1
In all this most vital question con
fronts the voters of the state. Indeed
there is none more vital. Shall the
effectiveness of present authority over
the railroads be maintained by the cleo
ton to the governorship of Lieut.. Gov
Geo. H. Prouty, whose attitude upon
the case is positive and uncompromising
or shall all the good that has been ac
complished and the needs of the immedi