New-York tribune., 1922-11-19
Fne Prevention F allure
Need TOR Local Board With Supreme Authority
lnadequacy of Present Bureaus
TO the Editor Of The Tribune.

10 the Editor of The Tribune.
oir: The serious condition in this
CITY and elsewhere throughout the
state whereby there have lately oc.
CURED heavy losses of life and prop.
erty through disastrous confIacrations
the origin of which is in doubt. the IL.
cfeasing toll Of death and physical in.
jury esacted by traffic accidents and
accidents in industrial life and the
growing losses through hold una aud
pafgiaries leads me to suggest a rem
| edy.
ihe dlhcnlty at the present time is
mat preventive measures, affecting
losses OF all kinds, rarely go beyond the
stage OF investigation and recommends
uoh' Ihere are many bureaus estab-
iished Tor this purpose which do con-
sciehtious and painstaking work and, in
SO faf as their insufficient resources
permit, attempt educational propa-
ganda.
But the conclusions Of none 6f 4hese
bureaus are final. None of them has
Che means or authority to enforce its
hndings, and no real penalty is at
tached where these findings are
ignored, even though. lives, may be in
jeopardy Furthermore, the steps
taken by the authorities usually follow
and seldom precede a disastrous f7re ,r
other accident.
ih's is in spite Of the fact that the
various bureaus supported by the in.
surance companies and the n,unicipaI
and state departments charged with
the protection Of life and property
have in nearly every instance the facts
and data before them which indicate
unsafe conditions.
we Will take, for example, the fire
which occurred the other day in the
new Utrecht High School, of Brooklvn.
Twelve hundred children were in the
building at the time. The structure is
an old frame building, and three fires
nave occurred in 1t within less than
three years. Should these twelve hun.
ored children, In the light of these
FACTS, be submitted to such danger, and
why were not the causes removed after
the first OF even the second FIRE?
lake the case of the fire during the
summer at Arverne, and where s2,.
ooo,Oe0 loss was sustained, DESPITE the
TACT that less than year previous. in
the same section of the Rockawava :.
million-dollar loss was sustained fol.
lowing which all the facts as to insuf.
nclent water pressure and the tvpe ~
the construction of the buildings. in
cluding shingle roofs, were reco.nixed,
Yet this experience was In no way ut;l-
lied to preven. the subsequent fire.
now, what is the remedy and what
are the concrete suggestions I have to
offer?
l. The creation of a body with
supreme authority to compel preven-
tive measures In the interests of safe
guarding life and property.
2 This body to be composed of s.
local board on which shall be repre-
sented the heads Of the city and state
departments having in charge the en-
forcement Of protective laws and ordi-
nances, the heads Of the principal in
surance companies and representative
taxpayers and property owners, acting
IN behalf Of the public at large.
9. This board to have at its disposal
the results Of the Investigations as to
particular hazards, together with the
specific suggestions of the boards Of
fire underwriters and other bodies
having statistical and other informa-
ton.
4. The duty of the board to be that
where its attention is called to any
specific hazard or hazardous condi-
eIons in any particular ncighborhood or
due to any particular cause the board
shall point out the causes contribute
ing to these conditions and shall have
the authority to order without recourse
to litigation the measures to be taken
to remove such causes.
5. That efforts be made to secure
such additional legislation as may be
necessary to bring about these ends.
6. That 1t shall be the further fumes
tion of the board to carry on a con-
tfnuous campaign Of public education