Arizona republican., 1912-07-31
REFERENDUM
 ARGUMENTS
What the Opponents of the So- Called Railroad Bills Will Say to the Voters on the Subject of Them at Coming Election

Opponents of the so-called railroad bills passed by the legislature and concerning which referendum peti- tions have been in circulation for the last two days have prepared the fol- lowing arguments against them which will find a place in the pamphlets to he submitted to the voters.
 House Bill 50: Qualifications of Con
 duetors and Engineers
 This act takes from the hands of re- spOnsible railway officials the power to pass upon the qualifications of the men for whose work the company is responsible. It is a reflection on the intelligence of American manhood. Some of the best railroad men in the country became conductor or engineer with comparative brief experience. Other men, after life time of eX- perience have barely demonstrated their fitness for such positions.
 The law is intended to place wea- pon in the hands of labor unions in case of a strike The railway officials competent to direct the every day work of conductors and engineers. certainly is competent to handle a train or engine in case of emergency, such as a wreck or WashOut or when such conductors or engineers refuse to work, but if he attempts to perform their duty he becomes a criminal; the public being denied transportation service for the time being. even al- though competent men may be avail able to run the trains and engines. It might as well be said that a far mer could not drive his own team until he had ridden three years in q wagon, or slept three years in a stable HOUSE BILL A: FULL CREW LAW
 This act takes from the hands of the responsible railway officials the power to decide how many men can safely operate a train. Experience elsewhere has proven that such laws result in the employment of unneces sary men. Nothing is so demoralizing to discipline on a railway or to cit izenship in a country as idleness and waste. Unnecessary members of train crew get in each others way and retard efficiency by gossiping.
 \ suggestion has been made that safety will be increased by requiring unnecessary trainmen to sit idle in the caboose. rather than confuse by
 
 actually operating the train.
 HOUSE BILL 42: ELECTRIC HEAD
 LIGHTS
 This act requires installation of electric headlights. on which the Pyle company virtually have a monopoly. Experienced engineers and railway of ftcials doubt the wisdom of such cleo tric headlights. Extensive experiments made in Indiana demonstrated con- clusively that such powerful head lights obscured red switch lights. and other warning signals, thus rendering operation more dangerous. The head light so daZZled observers, that train men of other trains could not dis tinguish important classification sig nals which are displayed on locomo- tives. any disregard of which may cause fatal collisions The railroads believe that the Legislature might as we'll attempt to require a farmer to use on wagons patented light that would prevent the driver seeing the horses head. They are convinced that when this question is exposed to the fierce light of public opinion, the pat ented device will be obscured in an eclipse.