Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-07-25
A Warning to Other Cities.


The current issue of the Bureau of
Municipal Research, New York, deals
with the Salem fire. 1t points the les
son and asks questions that other cities
may well consider. It refers to such
as Baltimore, Chelsea, Bangor and Sa-
lem and says: Americans are a care
less people," and I'VE pay large sums
in premiums to insurance companies,
and we maintain expensive freight
ing apparatus; for we have yet to
learn that prevention is better than
cure
"And yet there are those who would
have US go very slowly lest we put
property owners to needless expense"
In Salem-"The immediate cause;
Explosion of chemicals in a leather
plant. Why We're explosive materials
kept in an infammable building?
Were the ordinances adequate and
were they violated? Was there prop
er inspection?
Indirect Causes. Low water pres
sure. Defective water main. made
quate facilities for pumping harbor
water. Inadequate fire apparatus
Wooden houses, close together. Fac
tory buildings of nom fire-resisting
construction.
These conditions are not unique;
most of them could be duplicated in
cities all over the country. All that is
needed is an explosion or an over
turned lamp and a strong wind.
"And yet there are those who would
have us go very slowly when we would
interfere with the right of one man to
jeopardize the property and the lives
of his neighbors!
1.-The Direct Loss: Four persons
killed; scores injured; 10 thousand
homeless-A of the population. Prop
erty swept from a strip of territory 3
miles long and from y to l mile in
width. IL millions of dollars worth
of property destroyed-not a little of
it uninsured Colonial mansions wiped
out-'the finest examples of New Eng
lands great architectural era
THE indirect loss: Several persons
are dead from shock 5000 are out of
work. Workingmen are leaving town
with their families-many never to
return. Some industrial concerns are
certain to locate elsewhere. The tax
burden Will increase. Rents will be
higher. Business will be disturbed
The Gain: Forced recognition of the
necessity of preventive measures-ad-
equate water supply, adequate water
| pressure, proper building code, rig
id inspection of premises.
There are those who will say,
Hero is work for many; here is a
source of new employment for labor;
transferring money from the owners
of property to those who must work
to live
But such is not the case-'A fire
may increase wage payments in GER
tain trades in a particular locality
bbut there are two indirect conse-
quences of the fire which generally
make the apparent advantage to lab
orers worse than illusory In the first
place, the money used to rebuild the
burned house is almost always diver
ted from some other line of expendi-
ture, so that the gain to one group of
workmen is offset by a loss to other
groups. In the second place, this uti-
lization of labor to replace commodi-
ties which have been destroyed, in
stead of producing new ones, means
that the community in the end has
fewer comforts and enjoyments than
it could otherwise have commanded
This scarcity shows itselw in ad-
vanced prices. For a considerable
time after a fire rents will be higher
than they were before. The destruc-
ton of property by the fire does not
represent something taken from the
capitalist and given to the laborer. 1t
represents a loss of comfort in the
community from which as a rule, no
class can wholly exempt itself
President A. T. Hadley, Yale Uni
verslty."