Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-08-24
Traffic Regulation Ignores
the Value of Human Life

To the Editor of The Star:
August / ushered in a financial re-
sponsibility enforcement by which mo-
florists who kill people in the District
of Columbia will have to pay for the
corpseS. What is a corpse worth? Pre-
cisely nothing, if produced by motor
murder in the United States. Wash
ingtons now famous drive for temporary
safety Melted more than 300 arrests
within a single "a hours. That, too,
will pass. For 10 years the National
Conference on Street and Highways
Safety, organized in 1924 by then Sec
rotary of Commerce Hoover, has fought
bitterly against Federal control of a
growing national tragedy which so far
has taken nearly half a million lives.
To this obstructive agency are referred
all suggestions for minimizing highways
slaughter, and anything that suggests
Federal control of automobile manufac-
ture, distribution and operation is dis
carded as opposed to the policy of the
national conference, which is to keep
the issue interstate, deny its interstate
character and dodge Federal RESPONSE
bility for saving the lives of American
citizens. few weeks ago Secretary
Roper testified before a Senate COM
IllIGc Ill Tile HOW ue11dGtO
charges that he and his department are
controlled "by an organic law which
charges me with the duty of fostering
trade and commerce" There was no
qualification such as consistently with
the safety of human life and limb"
The national conference is strictly
Department of Commerce product, now
housed with the United States Chamber
Of Commerce and officered by Cham
Der of Commerce official. And will any
one say that the United States Cham
Der of Commerce cares a Whoop for
human life?
From the beginning the automotive
industry has been developed ON an in
veStment of human life that is appalling,
due entirely to the failure, neglect, Grim
inal collision with political power and
industrial profit of the political Subdi-
visions Of these diSunited States. The
National Conference on Street and
Highways Safety proposes to continue
this totally hopeless State control and
has offered, as the net result of its 10
years of obstructing Federal protection,
a set Of uniform bills which have been
submitted to "A Legislatures this year.
The history of State failure is SO COM
plete that to propose a continuance of
such a system is nothing less than a
complete surrender to motor murder and
its profiteerS States have never done
anything uniformly except under pres
sure in time of war and they never will.
The Lower House of Congress is a fair
example of the best political Subdivi-
sions can produce.
Human life has been horribly cheap
ened by mounting toll of dead. Jug
gernauts have run down pedestrians as
if they were stray cats, hound dogs,
proWling polecatS on a country road.
Nothing effective has been done about
it. Grand jurieS are reluctant to indict
and trial jurieS to convict motor muir
dererS of manSlaughter-perhaps be-
cause so many of the jurors own auto
mobiles and don't know how to drive
them safely, or have become contemp-
tuous of human life themselves. Sur
rendering to this element of unfit jurors,
President Roosevelt on June II signed
a District bill creating compromise
offenSe known as negligent homicide"
with an extreme penalty of one year in
prison or 81 900 fine, or both. If this
law Is intended to beg some sort of con-
viction from reluctant jurors, its net
effect is to cheaper human life to the
extent that intent to kill has to be
proved if crazy motorist mangles my
4-year-old for Straying from the yard
with her little doll. God gave her the
right to use her feet; the accident OF
her escape from bondage is unhappy, but
does that entitle negligent homicide"
motorist to kill her? Is she stray cat?
What a surrender to contempt for life
that District bill is signed by the Presi-
dent as an example to the Statesi
However begot in earnest despair it
may be, the Washington drive against
reckless motorists is a continuation of
established utilities: the work of the
National Conference on Street High
ways and Safety is obstructive and mis-
leading. To conduct a safety drive in
a city which has negligent homicide"
law is a contradiction that negates all
pretense of honest hope for results.
Repeal the negligent homicide" law
and revalue human life. Place the in
dustry under Federal control. but not
under control of the Department OF Com
merce. We have paid enough human
lives for industrial profits. We have
murdered enough babies and old men
and women who dare to use our streets
and walk on the legs God gave them.
Ten per cent of the drivers cause so per
cent of all accidents and they are still
driving That is State politics. Federal
control will eliminate them and reduce
casualties so per cent.
HENRY EDWARD WARNER.