The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-12-17

"A S1Vk1- Of )l
On the morning of February 49,:
1908, a trolley car crowded with boys
and girls on their way to high school
was run down by Delaware Lacka-
wanna and Western railroad train at
Clifton avenue, Newark, N. J. Eight
! young women and one young man
were instantly killed or fatally in
1ured, and nearly twenty others were
crippled or otherwise seriously hurt
The crossing at which the accident
occurred had been frequently pointed
out by the newspapers and the public
OFFICIALS of the CITY as an especially
dangerous one. East-bound trains and
|; north bound cars both approached
the crossing on heavy down grades,
and the railroad tracks were hid from
view by surrounding buildings until
one was nearly upon them. 1t was
north-bound car that was struck by
|. an east-bound train. On the morn
ing of the accident ice and sleet made
7; the tracks slippery, and neither the
trolley motorman nor the engineer
!. of the train could do anything to
prevent the accident both saw was
inevitable:
There had for years. been agitation
in New Jersey for the abolition of
|, grade crossings, but railroad influence
in the. legislature frustrated attempts
/ to secure legislation to compel the
!. roads to abolish the dangerous cross
|. lngs at their own: COST, and the courts
had refused to make orders for the
adjustment Of such. : crossings, al
though they had the power to do so.
At the time of the killing, the city
officials Of Newark were negotiating
with the railroads to elevate and de-
press their tracks throughout the
city. Since the accident practically
all the crossings in the city have been
|. eliminated. the city paying more than
|, half "a million dollars Of the cost of
this work.
Prominent Men Acquitted.
The trolley road on which the
killing occurred was operated by the
Public Service corporation of New
/ Jersey, and owned by the North Jer-
sey Street Railway company, a sub
sidiary corporation. An Essex county
grand jury, sitting at the time, in
dicted the members of the executive
committee Of the board of directors
of the North Jersey" company, for
manslaughter. They were all in
dicted and tried on a single indict-
ment, and were all acquitted, the
trial judge not even allowing the case
to go to the jury. Among the men
so tried and acquitted were the late
A. j.. Cassatt, then president Of the
Pennsylvania Railroad company:
trolley magnate and promoter; Leslie
n frc+ Ia
Prudential Insurance company, and
David Young, general manager Of the
Public Service corporation.
The Public Service corporation
was organized, and is largely con-
troiled by the Prudential Insurance
company interests John F. Dryden,
president of the Prudential, was then
a Republican United States senator
from New Jersey: Thomas ~ Nc
Carter, president, Of the Public Ser
vice, was a former state senator and
attorney general Of the state. His
brother succeeded him as attorney
general. I -
Chandler w: Riker, the public
prosecutor who conducted the man
slaughter. trial for, the state. was,
with his brother, the present clerk
of the supreme court of the state;
largely Interested in trolley ompanies
which had been taken to the Pub
lie Service merger.
William S. Gummere, chief justice
of the supreme court Of the state, be-
fore whom the manslaughter case
was tried, was an attorney for the
Pennsylvania railroad before his ele-
| walton to the judiciary. Gummere
| has been reappointed as chief justice
| since the trial in question. His name
| also appears as a. director of the
! Federal Trust company of Newark, of
! which James Smith, Jr., is president
Smith was once a Democratic United
States senator from: New Jersey, is
| recognized as the boss of the Demo-
cratic party in the state, and is close
ly identified with the financial man.
agement of the Public Service COR
| poration.
! An Amazing Statement.
Alden Freeman, who made the re-
| markable statement which follows is
a resident Of East Orange, N. j., who
has been very prominent as an in
dependent worker in reform move
| ments in the state within recent
| years. Freeman's statement, here re-
! printed, was made in August, 1907,
| at which time Chandler W. Riker was
being talked of as a probable Repub-
| lican nominee for governor. A few
days later Riker announced he was
not a candidate. Although F'reeman's
statement aroused great indignation
among the people of New jersey the
! public officials, politicians, lawyers
and newspapers almost unanimously
ignored the serious charges it con-
tanned, and contented themselves
with vehement denunciations Of Free-
man for having told jury room Sc
crets: freeman demanded that the
minutes Of the grand jury be
made public, to prove his charges, but
his demand was refused by the public
prosecutor who had succeeded Riker
! in the office. '''
Freeman's Statement, taken in con-
nectlon with the facts here stated, is
republished because Of the unusual
light it throws on the methods by
which the influence of the railroads
and utility corporations reaches and
affects juries and courts in. state