Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-03-29
A Waste That Should Be Eliminated.

Chicago last Friday caused the death
of twelve individuals and endangered
1.-The lives of many others. The feeling
lof horror which swept over the coun-
ttrv was rendered the more intense
when it became known that the means
of escape from the upper floors of this
building were grouped in the rear and
THAT in early stages of the conflagra-
were cut off from all hope of rescue
because of that fact. A freight ele-
lvator. a passenger elevator, two stair
ways and a fire escape ladder constitu-
ted the facilities; entirely adequate if
properly placed.
/ AS is usual in such cases, an investi-
cation was begun Immediately after
the disaster, with a view to placing
the blame therefor upon the proper
persons. The investigation soon caused
a feeling of indignation to supplant the
feeling of horror. A letter calling at
1
captain of the fire department to his
chief The chief states that the letter
| was forwarded to the building COM
missioner. The building commits
sioner says that he never received
| it and the records of his office show
no action on the complaint. Either
the fire chief or the building commits
sioner We're remiss in the performance
of their duties to the public. which is,
that, property. The blame does
not rest entirely with these indi-
viduals, however, for the proprietors
of that store and the owners of that
building had a responsibility toward
their employees which they did not
fulfill. 1t would therefore seem that
there are at least four parties who
must hereafter consider themselves re-
sponsible for the death of twelve
young men and women, the building
commissioner the fire chief, the owner
OF the building and it's occupants
In America we hold life almost as
cheap as did the barbarian rulers of
old. Few large employers of labor
would care to admit it, and yet it is
unquestionably fact In every large
city there are thousands of working
men and women employed at small
wages in places and under conditions
which make the chance of loss of life,
within comparatively brief period,
become almost a certainty. Such con-
ditions are deplorable from a humani
tartan standpoint and should not be
permitted to exist for a moment on
overlook the humanitarian side of life
in the pursuit of the almighty dollar,
(and that is the general custom in this
land of ours) it is only fair that we
consider it from an economic stand
point. In the case of the Chicago fire
the twelve individuals who lost their
lives were young, just entering upon
their years of greatest earning power.
Some of them We're the mainstays of
whose purchasing power is
now reduced to minimum, if indeed
they do not become public charges. The
great general public must take up the
burden laid down by these twelve in
dividuals and carry it along until these
better fortune. On the day that these
twelve lost their lives in one catas-
trophe hundreds of others made the
great sacrifice as individuals, in pairs,
or in small groups. On other days
Immediately proceeding, and since last
Friday, others joined them in
yielding up their lives in this battle
for industrial supremacy. In the aS-
grcgatc the dependents Of these vic
TINS constitute a great BURDEN upon
those who are spared.
Such waste does not pay if we con-
SlucT III purely dS Il matter OF dollars
and cents. The small sum saved by
the owners of the buildings or by the
occupants is paid many times by the
great majority. SO long as the greed
of human beings rules we will not be
able to stop this terrible waste except
by law. In this particular case there
was law enough and the fault lies
i'm its non enforcement. Let us then
have more law. if it is law we lack,
but if it is not, let us have those laws
rigidly enforced.
-~-~-
MAINE