The Sentinel=record., 1913-09-25
INTERSTATE COMMERCE coMMIS- SION FIXES RESPONSIBILITY
 FOR TRAIN WRECK.
INEffICIENCY IS CHARGED
Trainmen Blamed for WaIiIngtord Wreck and Officials Blamed for Permitting lnfraetion of Safety Rules.

Washington. Sept 24--''Man fall.
 llre' all along the line from officials
 and directors of the New Haven raii.
 road down 10 its trainmen, & neld by
 the Interstate Commerce commission
 to have been the cause of the Wall
 ingford wreck. September 9 in which
 2l were killed and 35 injured, In it's report made public today the commits sion planes the crews of the wrecked trains for lapses and scores officers and directors for 'inefficiency Of management"
 Operating officials of the New
 Haven and the officers and directors of the system are grilled scathlngiy for promulgation of regulations that were permitted to become practically dead letters," and for not seeing to it personally that operating condi- tions were what they had directed them to be.
 Man failure in this case" said Commissioner McChord, who prepared the report after an exhaustive per sonal investigation of the accident began high up in official authority, and it was natural sequence that it reached down to those in positions lower in official rank but still weight ed with great responsibility"
 In use at the time of this disaster, the report points out, were "ailtI- quated signals condemned by the loco motive enginemen as well as by the public service commission of Connect icut," and old wooden cars unsuteds by construction for such traffic as they were expected to accommodate. These were held to be contribntory reasons for the excessive number Of casualties Commissioner .scSaord indicates the results Of similar re- cent accident at Tyrone, Pa, in which the equipment was all steel and in wlich none of the passengers was killed as an object lesson in favor of the use of modern equipment The commission demands of the New t4a- ven road the immediate adoption of an adequate system of superintend- ence and supervision which will give those in authority definite and posi- tive information as to whether or not the safety rules of the road are ob- served
 After giving a list of executive of- ficers and directors of the New Ha- ven, Commissioner McChord con tinues:
 ~On this directorate were and ar. men whom the confiding public re- sards as magicians in the art of finance and wizards in the operation md consolidation of great systems of railroads. The public therefore rested secure that with the knowledge of the railroad art possessed by such men, Investments and travel should be sare Experience has shown that this reli- lnce of the public was not justified as o either finance or safety.
 In view of the focusing of public attention upon the safety in the op- aratiou of this road, and in view or he frequent governmental inquiries, both national and state, as to the causes and remedies for the frequent destructive accidents, 1t would seem as if the directors themselves would feel called upon 10 turn from the con. sideration Of the financial questions m which this road is involved and for a time at least, give the benefit Of their consideration and judgment to the question of safety"
 The report points out that at meet ines of directors of the New Haven after disasters at Bridgeport and Westport, a resolution was adopted directing President Mellen, then at the head of the system, to leave nothing undone which in the judg- ment of himself and his associates, will conduee to greater safety in the AF hn there shall be no limitation placed upon the installation of signals. safety appliances, or anything else which will improve the safety of passenger travel upon this company's lines There the directors stopped,
 the report says. They did no. see to it that their resolution was car
 ried on to effect
 This typifies the whole situation" declared Commissioner AIcChord. They assumed the vote was self enforcing. And when he operating officers of road permit rules which have been established to secure safety to be violated with impunity
 they cannot reasonably expect to es- cape responsibility for the conse- quences of such violations" The report contains no recommen-
 dations excep. by inference. and no
 orders, as the interstate commerce. commission is without authority to control or supervise the operation of trains. It is suggested, however, that he forthcoming annual report of the commission will recommend to con- gress the enactment of laws confer
 ring specific authority upon the com mission to regulate train operations.