Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-07-27
GRAVE LAXITY OF LAW
INSPECTORS BLAMED
Col. Hannah Says Eastland Disaster
Was Due to 0vercrowding.
WARNING OF DANGER GIVEN.
Senator La FOlIette's Secretary Charges
Gambling With Human Lives"
Caused Tragedy.

Great laXity in the Federal inspection
laws and in the regulations of theFed-
eral Steamboat Inspection Service are
held TO be responsible for the Chicago
tragedy in a statement issued yester-
day by Col John Hanna. secretary Of
Senator LaFollete. author of the Sea
mans bill.
Despite repeated warnings that the
steamboat Eastland was a vessel of
limited capacity for excursion traffic
says Colonel Hanna the Government
steamboat inspectors permitted her to
be overloaded. Because OF their share
in the responsibility for the disaster.
the Governments inspectors should
not be permitted to investigate the
causes of the accident. but should be
made TO stand investigation along
With the officials of the company.
BY reason Of his long association
with Senator La Toilette and his work
in collecting information for use by
the Senator in the fight for the Sea
mans bill. Colonel Hannah Is regarder
as an aupthority on the operations of
the inspection service. His statement
was. in part. as follows
1T requires some great calamity
like this one TO drive home the need
of stringent laws to curb the CRED of
men and to safeguard properly human
life. The Chicago tragedy is directly
attributable to the looseness of our
inspection laws and the lax regula-
tions provided by the Steamboat IN
spection Service for the control OF
passenger steamers. especially those
in the excursion business.
at may be that there was culpa
bility upon the part OF the master and
the other officers of the Eastland Tho
investigation has not proceeded far
enough to determine that with GER
tainty. Enough facts are known with
respect to the Eastland to warrant a
condemnation OF the Board of Super-
vising Inspectors and the direction of
thorough inquiry of that bory. The
Eastland was recently built. Under
IT'S new inspection certificate it was
entitled to carry $500 passengers
from May Is to October Is, provided
the boat did not go more than five
miles from shore
I'm the rule which permits so much
elasticity in the certificate Of a vessel
lies the caues of the Chicago tragedy.
The Eastlaad was overloaded. The
tragedy was the result of this over
loading 1t was not an accident. 1t
would not be right to say that the Off
GERS OF the line or the inspection Off
Ger designed and staged such a trag-
edy. But, in truth. the occurrence
cannot be put in the category of acci-
dents. 1t was the direct result of the
policy of gambling with human lives
in order TO make money.
The inspection service can o {
claim that it has not been warned.
Victor Oruander has frequently been
before tie supervising insDector-een
eral and the committees of Congress
representing the Lake Seaman'sUnion
and called attention to the danger OF
| overlooking. He especially directed
attention to the danger Of crowds pIac
ed on boats of the Eastland type. He
pointed out that they were liable tc
tapSize and in such event hundreds
OF lives would be lost. he not only
pleaded with the department to have
the rules changed with respect t.
Lake steamers, but he pointed out in
many ways the laxity of the inspection
service on the Great Lakes.
Presumably because he has repre-.
sented the interests Of the men EN-.
ployed on the vessels his pleas were
discounted and his warnings unheedeC
The Eastland tragedy vindicates Or
lander, but where does it leave the in
spection services?