Omaha daily bee., 1911-01-15

accidents on the railroads were due to de-
fective materials. broken rails car wheels.
axel trees. drawbacks. links pins. etc.
but the chemist and metallurgist have
eliminated nearly all Of these causes and
now il is the fallibnity Of the humand mind
that causes uine-tenths Of the accidents
and loss Of life. 80 we must come TO mill
tary discipline military cxactness and mill
itary training 20 avoid constant murder by
automobile drivers. electric motormen and
the like Long before the days of Napoleon
the armies Of the world eliminated the
word excuse from their military vocabu-
larry. Because a soldier who did his duty
and obeyed orders had no use for it. So
did Loyoa This has made the Jesuits as
educators. the wonder Of the world for
800 years
sulSing after corrective advice is con-
sidered by these officers and educators as
reprehensible. You very seldom hear Of a
locomotive engineer on one OF the great
roads OF the country, who goes through
a crucial test and is approved by the ex-
perienced men, ever causing an accident
by the fallbility OF his mind. but some
switchman, or man Of the lower class, who
is not trained leaves a switch open and
causes the death Of the engineer.
When / returned to rairoadng after the
civil war ! honestly thought that a man
who wound make a mistake, causing the
loss Of life. ought to be shot. Mexico
adopted the NapOleonic code after It broke
loose from the yoke Of Spain. That code
provides that a man who kills another &C
cidentally is treated just as same as though
he killed him Intentionally. This seems
harsh, almost brutal but what Is the diff
ference to you or to your family, which
way you are killed, accidentally or inten-
tionally; you are killed just the same. They
scarcely ever run over anyone In Mexico
with automobiles. They have more deer In
Mexico than we have up here, but they
don't kill men for deer by mistake in Mex
leo, although forty or fifty are killed here
each year in that way.
Self-preservation is the basis Of all
natural law-the first law Of nature-and
/ since every man has a duty to preserve his
own life, II necessarily follows that he has
a strict right to all the means conducive
/ to this end.
| Any man who trespssses against the
| speed laws fails in his duty to his fellow
man by disregarding the latter's rights
Hence 1t follows that the airbrake of tn,
law should be applied to such individuals
At the Base of safety.
About twenty-four years ago l was ap
pointed general manager OF the MontanG
Central railroad. now part OF the Grea
Northern. My headquarters were il
| Helena. The road was new and raj
through a mountainous country. Like al
new roads we were troubled with slide
OF earth and rock on the tracks. 1 mad
friends with the section foremen, talked en-
couragngly to them, and they all becam
faithful, proud and important One Of thes
section foremen, by the name of Patric
Moriarity, called at my office one day wit
his wife and said he wanted to get a DC
sition as office boy for his son, who wa
a clever lad. He thought II he commence
with me in my office he could sweep GU
the office and after a while he might 81
a position as a minor clerk, finally becom
ing chief clerk. Then, after he Shove
himself to be a man Of clever ability, Nj
James J. Hill might put him in my plac
when l would be away Ny vanity wa
hurt. ] wrthed for a moment and said:
Mr.. Moriarity. how would 1t do for yo
to appoint the boy yourself as water bos
He might grow to be a section man an
then. after he showed his ability, whic
he no doubt has inherited from yoursel
the roadmaster might put him in YOU
place" He said: Me and my old woma
have talked that over manys the time, br
We both concluded that he didn't hay
head enough for that She said that wa
the base OF all safety
These remarks caused me a great de-
Of serious thought He felt his important
and that is Just what is required Of a
men in the position of safety to lives. Me
like Moriarity never forget their duty.
over half of the millions OF passenge
never give a thought to these men that al
the base of all safety.
The Montana Central never killed or Il
jured passenger during my cOnnectiC
with It, although It crosses two vast moul
tain ranges-the main range of the RoclIi
and the Boulder range, the latter havir
no place in the anatomy OF nature, but Il
grades we're the same on, both.