The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-20

NO engineer WHO mas l6SS C0an one years roster record as an engineer shall be allowed to run a through pas senger train
 That was apparently az far as they wanted to go at that time and since that was a step in the right direction and we were just getting our service on it's feet, I said would accept that. although it was not entirely what I expected and wanted to get.
 ~'When came with the property, the forces were in many respects dis organized. The train service was bad and things generally were out of gear. I went to the lodge rooms of the en- gfneer5 to talk over all the things we had in mind. We urged them to exer- else every care to make the operation of the railway safe. We met the men in Harlem River and in Providence. discussed 1t with the general commit tees of the conductors and trainmen, and with the engineers A week ago last Sunday called in all the division superintendents and we spent the en-. tire day in discussing this question of safety and getting the men impressed with the fact that the question of train operation gEAS g. serious one and we wanted and must have as a first consideration the question of safety. On the following day had an ap- pointment with the general committee of engineers and we discussed again this subject the whole afternoon in an effort to find if we could what had crept in that was contributing to this unsatisfactory condition.
 Up to the last year and a, half the service on this road from the stand point of safety could be compared to any road and was at a loss to un- derstand the change.
 Ninety or 95 per cent. of our men are just as good men as you will find in any road in this country. and think they feel as keen1y as the re- proach. It Is unfortunate that the thing should have taken the phase 1t has. We had the right to expect-and still believe-that Doherty is a, com petent man. I am satisfied now that his Judgment was bad, unjustihab1y. bad I cannot conceive how an en- gineer in charge of a train following the first section and practically on the time of that train could approach place where he knew he was to stop and knew the other train was to be ahead of him, and could float down there and wait until he got within 300 feet of the distance signal before he took the necessary steps to stop. cannot conceive how any man in his right mind could do a thing like that. CT believe the trouble to 8 large de- gree has been brought about by two things I don't think the organiza- tions generally have attempted to en- force by the powers at their command the rules necessary to preserve the safety of the service. They have been encouraged a good many times by these milk and water Investigations that we get. The public has come in from the other side &o that in the ma 1ority of cases think it's true Of the New England roads today they haven't much left except their corporate tden- tity.
 "The general manager should have the right to say that which is right and that which .+ is wrong, and he should have the right to enforce what he says. He can't have that power if the organization is going to have the power to point a pistol at him every time. he does or says what he thinks is the right thing to do.
 ''Itfs time that the public understood that this question of safety is one in which they. are vtta1Iy tnterested,' he continued
 ''It is the little percentage of men, he continued, ito a very large degree that contributes or creates all of the unpleasant things which take place in connection with the dealings of an or ganization and it's employees. Ninety per cent. of the men mean to do what is right It's the 10 per cent. that cause the trouble. The criticism which this road has passed under during the last year and a half is enough to break down the discipline and esprit de corps of any organization that ever lived. This criticism reaches down into the ranks. It is coming to result in dis loyalty and insubord1natfon and many things which go to break down it's rules There is no use ta1king-When a man sees that the man he is work ing for is criticised, his feeling of loy- atty is shaken.
 ''The time has come when, if we are going to provide proper protection on these roads the public has got to take a hand in it. The men must under stand that they are working for the public and not for the railroads.
 T have eveny confidence in the men on the New Haven road, but we have got to do something No man gan have discipline if he can't enforce it, and make it last, ,zand make the labor organizations and the men represent ing the labor organizations understand that the time has arrived that such a. thing has come to stay. A man has