Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-03
PROGRESS OF SAFETY
FIRST"

Darwin P. Kingsley, president of the
national body Of the Safety First Fed
Grafton of America, has an interesting
article in the Sunday edition Of the
New York Times on the widening of
| the Safety first movement. He sees in
the organization other possibilities
than that of preventing accidents. He
I says that in the factory equipped with
safety devices the employe who gets
through his days work without losing
only beneficiary of the system. The
employer himself is better off, not
only in the matter of damage suits
and money compensation for injuries,
but because of the new spirit in which
he conducts his business. ut is an
excellent thing" says Mr.. Kingsley,
mot to want to hurt somebody for the
person who has the power to hurt"
He continues:
"The very center of the doctrine OF
this society and its allied organiza-
lions is the value of human life, its
motto, Safety First means that there
is something in society vastly more i'm
portant than success, more desirable
than efficiency If human life is to be
Ijeopardized by haste, don't hurry. If
human life is to be sacrificed by speed
ing up efficiency, be less efficient. If
the human body is to be manned or
destroyed in order to secure speed or
power, get along with less speed and
less power. This doctrine is not mere
lily sentimental It is more than re
Election Of the woe and the heart
break that follow the cruel strokes of
traffic and industry.
"On business considerations alone it
is to be rated among the soundest and
sanest movements started in our
: time. We have long been responding
to the impulse that lies back of the
] safety first idea, but have been work
r ing at the wrong end of the problem.
5 Consider what we do constantly when
: appeal is made on behalf of the inef-
, fcient. We tax ourselves both pri-
f vately and publicly, through estab-
e lished authority, in order to preserve
: and protect lives that have always
been useless, or through some indus
trial stroke or accident have become
!, useless. We tax ourselves to take
=, care of the insane, and in a sort of
: haphazard way, we look after the
= criminal classes. But when We face
= the conflict of life we change our
: whole point of view. Our goal is a
fine thing, but in the eagerness to get
it we strike right and left, and if we
trample somebody else or cripple our
, selves we usually find it out when II
= is too late. Through haste, through
= following the fighting instinct, through
utter concentration Of our work
we probably destroy, needlessly and
unintentionally, more value in the
y process of production than we restore
. afterward by all our public and pri-
. Vate charities"
That the safety first movement is
growing is shown by the fact that
. since the parent society was formed
two years ago $4,000 members have
= been enrolled and all are now working
!, for uniform laws Throughout the coun-
= try. One of the reforms that the So
. ciety is trying to bring about in New
-, York is the transfer of automobile reg
=. ulation from the jurisdiction of the
- secretary of state to the highway de-
o partment. 1t has also attempted to
secure a traffic commission in that
, state, the members of which would
9 serve without pay, but Governor Whit
q man has opposed the proposition The
purpose Of such a commission is to
make thorough investigation of the
present traffic conditions with a view
Of securing uniformity in traffic regu-
st lations. The commission would also
a investigate the grade crossing situa-
Ie ton and consider ways and means for
ID reducing grade crossing accidents.
Is Speaking of the work of the safety
i first organization in New York, Mr.
% Kingsley says:
h But In spite of delays and politics
1t at Albany we have accomplished much
J. in the two years Of safety first work
8 In New York. I will mention just one
1t Of the reforms, credit for which be.
lie longs to this society-the near side
Is stop ordinance for street cars. In the
s. year before that law went into effect
II there were 1856 accidents incidenta
lie to getting off or on cars. In the veal
At after the adoption of the ordinance
Is there were only 30,249 such accidents
y decrease Of more than IT per cent.