Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-08-01
THOSE FARCICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Uncle Samuel as we'll as the officials of the states has
great deal of curiosity. When such things as the ter
ribe explosion at New York Sunday morning occur he
along with the state county and city officials at once puts
his specs and investigates IN an effort to learn VINO IS
to blame and why it happened A ship is permitted to
go to without proper life saving apparatus and When
an accident happens and number OF persons lose their
lives board of shipping and custom house officials
whose duty to prevent it, investigate The steam
er Bear runs the rocks and this gang gets busy
and investigates.
Munitions factories go up with bang and the
wsacres get busy and investigate to if they can find
where it has gone to. Fire sweeps through tenement
house and dozen or hundred lives are lost and the
necessary investigation at follows. 1t matters not
that never one of these Investigations discovers
anything fixes the blame any The coroner gets
busy and the higher ups gather look wise and conclude
that while to blame is Impossible to discover
who and so it is pronounced unavoidable accident ana
the matter is allowed to drop.
peculiar feature of it is that Investigations where
the blame might easily be fixed never result in anything
1t is only in such where foresight cannot be used
and where paid officials not to blame that results
come from investigation Such cases for instance as
the bomb tragedy in San Francisco not long ago. There
was official to blame for that and the lnVestgatlon
promises to develop something.
In the great explosion at New York it is known that
explosives were handled where they should not have been
that there left in cars hundreds OF tons OF smbeng
DEATH that was to the lives and property OF
thousands of citizens Already as result Of the prem
mary investigation three four arrests have been made
of persons claimed to be responsible for placing explosives
where these were placed, and against the provisions Oh
the law The attempt is being made to punish the per-
sons violating the law instead of getting after the Of
cias whose duty it is to that such laws are not
violated The port officials those in charge fo the ship
ping of the port the responsible parties The persons
who violated the law and caused the death of the victims
of the explosion should be indicted for murder that is
plain What should be done with the officials who were
accessories before the fact and who allowed them to
violate the law and endanger life and property, even
though the explosion had not taken place?
The trouble with the American system OF handling
such is that the Investigators supply themselves
with several buckets of whtewash before tacklng the
job fellow official is never blamed 1t would not be
professional courtesy On the principle we should
punish the burglar who enters and robs house. but find
nothing wrong with the policeman who stands guard
after presenting the burglar the key to the house. and
warns him if danger approaches The persons who left
those explosives where they were would not and could
not have done without the knowledge of the officials
whose duty it to prevent them openly and delber
ately violating the law Who should be punished the
more severely?