Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-03
The Evil and the Cure.

Attention should not be distracted in the
matter of the latest New Haven rear-end
collision by the fact that the cars COM
prising the telescoped train were fmsy, or
old wooden construction. 1t Is not to the
point that the equipment was frail. but
decidedly to the point that the road was
not provided with a system of automatic
checks making 1t physically impossible
for a locomotive to strike those cars.
Not even steel cars of modern construc-
ton would have withstood the crushing
force of the giant locomotive that came
tearing along into the rear coach. Pos
Eibiy the death LIST might have been
smaller If stouter cars had been in use,
but the measure OF responsibility Is not
governed by the number of dead. To kill
a single passenger through disregard or
failure Of signals is manslaughter, and
the courts should so hold II to be. visit
ing punishment upon the officials guilty Of
persist.ng in maintaining the deadly
methods o. operation. that lead directly to
these disasters.
&c ST.: yesIe:1ag Suggested ,...I :.
President W..so.. ..at. bee.. { 2asse---se:
o.. tie w:e1Xec J:a... CoLod.ess Congress
.woI.G Immediately take cog.-.=a..ce OF tie
&C.. s-..S SS.-.l l..C p.o>SsS .SVt--. .
the, interstate railroads to equip them
selves with automatic devices for the pre-
tvention of such wrecks. AS the case
proved. the President was very close to
being a passenger. He came south over
the line a few hours later. passing and
witnessing the scene. with its burning
coaches and its tangle of metal work
VIII not this narrow escape from a ma
stional calamity, an irreparable loss, stim-
ulate the committees of the House and
: Senate to start work without delay upon
an effective measure?
y. Why wait longer? More rear-end
wrecks will occur from time to time. kill
ing more people. 1t is just as certain as
that the sun will rise tomorrow. Not
even on the best managed railroads.&c.
alone such an obviously mismanaged line
as the New Haven. with its appalling
record of disasters-are these smashes
prevented by the systems of signals and
the practices of operation in vogue. 1t
must be made physically impossible for
engineers to take their trains into al
. ready occupied blocks. That alone will
stop them from taking chances or from
making mistakes. That alone will check
the headlong speeds when trains are be-
hind time and when the atmosphere is
full of fog. That alone will save the lives
OF the people who intrust themselves to
the railroads in the belief that they are
protected by the supposedly careful
operation of the lines.
II is probable that today the directors
of the New Haven road would give half a
million dollars out of the corporations
surplus to have prevented this wreck,
following so closely upon the Stamford
crash and the management troubles.
Why not have spent that sum upon a
system of automatic stops. perhaps twice
or four times that sum? Obviously the
railroads will not move in the matter.
Then 1t is for Congress to make them
move, by passing a bill in somewhat the
following terms:
That from. and after the 1st day of
July. 1914, Ii shall be unlawful to operate
any train for the carriage of passengers
or freight over any interstate railroad
that Is not so equipped by mechanical
device that II Is physically impossible to
advance a train into a section of the
track already occupied by a train. And
that for every such train so moved, In
the absence of such a device, into an al
ready occupied block of track, the cor
poration owning or operating using
offense against this statute, each such
ohense to be punished by a fine of not
less than $1,000 nor more than 5000. or
imprisonment for not less than one year
nor more than five years, each member Of
the board of directors of the offending
. corporation to be deemed equally guilty
In person"
Framed to Withstand the ingenuity of
defending lawyers, a statute such as this,
definitely setting a limit of time for
equipment and positively defining each
train action as violation and prescrib-
ing the persons to be held responsible for
violations, would soon put a stop to the
-rear-end slaughter. Only such legislation
will bring results, for the railroads will
not Of their own initiative adopt the
safety appliances which experience has
90 tragically and extensively proved to
be Necessary.