The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-25


 has come for the federal government to compel the safeguarding of traffic over the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and other lines which have failed to adopt the recon mendations of the Interstate Commerce Commission Is intimated in the com missions report on the North Haven wreck September 2, in which twenty one persons were killed and t11irty-dve injured
 Man fai1ure,'' from officials and di- rectors of the railroad down to it's trainmen, is held to have been the cause of the wreck.
 In it's report, just made public, the commission planes the crews of the wrecked trains for lapses- and cen sures officers and directors for t'inef- f1ciency of management.''
 c. c. McChord, a member of the commission, who hastened to the scene of the disaster and there conducted the governments investigation, is the author of the report. His arraignment Of the New Haven road does not spare any part of the organization, but strikes specially at those Thigh up in official authority"
 'sThe Congress- the report says, 'thas made it the duty of this com
 mission to investigate and report upon railway. accidents and to make such reconmendat tions circumstances may require, put there mas been no legislation by which such recommend ations may be enforced.
 ''The safety problem of this road is primarily a question for itself If gov ernment interference and action isg called for, it results from the inaction of the corporation itself. The govern ment, through the enactment of Iegis- lation by Congress, has the power, if the railroad will not itself exercise it's own authority in the premises, to com pei the safeguarding of traffic over this 1ine.''
 MT. McCnord's recommendations which however, were made only by inference struck a responsive chord in Congress. Representative William C. Adamson, Of Georgia, chairman of the House Committee on Interstate and For etgn Commerce, makes this state ment:
 "A subcommittee of which MT Ste vens, of New Hampshire, is chairman, will make a report probably at the next session on Sthe recommendations of the commission as well as upon many other matters affecting the safe ty of railroad transportation.
 Man failure in this case" says Commissioner c. c. McChord, who prepared the report after a personal investigation of the accident, .began high up in official authority, and it was not an unnatural sequence that 1t reached COWn, 10 those III pOS4L1OAS ! lower in official rank. but still weight | ed with great responsibility.
 Tn use at the time of the disa aster, | the report says. were tsantiquated sig na4s. cendemned- by. y.,the. locomotive en- ginemen as well as by the Public Ser vice Commission of Connecffcdt and old wooden cars unsuited by construc-. tion for such traffic as they were ex- pected to accommodate. These were held to be- contributory reasons for the excessive number of casualties.
 ''The direct cause of this accident Flagman Murray properly to protect his train, the failure of Engineman Miller properly to control the speed or his train in order that he could bring it to stop before. passing automatic signal No 23, and the failure of Con ductor Adams to make certain that his train was properly protected.
 While this accident was directly due to failure of employees properly to perform their duties, the signal sys- tenn in use was entirely tnadequatet safely to direct and govern the move ment of the large volume of traffic over this line, and there was a deplor- able lack of supervision on the part of operating officers. On this account the ondftions which led up to this ac- cident were possible
 'tOn this roads directorate were and are men whom the confiding public as magicians in the art of f finance and wizards in the construc- ton, operation and consolidation Of great systems of railroads.
 +fIn view of the focusing of public attention upon the question of safety in the operation of this railroad, it would seem as if the directors them selves would feel called upon to turn from the consideration of the finan- cial questions in which this road is involved and for time, at least, give the benefit of their consideration and ludgm ent to the question of safety.
 f'Dereliction of duty by those who are charged with the making and with the enforcement of safety regu- ations cannot fail to weaken respect for all rules and to render negatory to a large extent all efforts to main tain effective discipline. Rules that are not, intended to be enforced have no proper place in a railroad com oany's code of regulations, and when he operating officers of a railroad permit rules which have been estab- ished to secure safety to be violated with i1npunity they cannot reasonably expect to escape responsibility for the of such violations.
 Continuing his enumeration of ;aults of the New Haven manage nent. Commissioner McChord, says
 Discipline was weak and sineffec-' i've, certainly a, fault of the manage nent-
 Rules were inefficient, fault of he higher officials stEt 3sf:s ll
 Rules were inadeQuately enforced, he blame for which must. be charged 70 the officials.
 The proper spacing of the trains vas a matter for which not the train am DIoves5 but the nnanagement of the