Confessions of a Railroad SignalmanFagan, James O. (James Octavius)
History
Confessions of a Railroad Signalman
Fagan, James O. (James Octavius)
Railroad accidents; Railroads; Railroads -- United States -- Employees
This injunction is quite as significant and important to-day, both
to individuals and to public officials, as it was a thousand years
ago. Then, as now, the interests of the community were the first and
paramount consideration. But in discussing questions relating to these
interests, such as, for instance, those which have arisen between labor
and management on our railroads, public opinion, as represented by the
press and the laws, should insist upon a fair field, no favor, and
absolutely open play on all sides.
We need only glance at the safety problem on American railroads to
appreciate it thoroughly. During 1907, on a single well-known railroad,
thirty passengers were killed and 1596 injured; 572 trespassers killed
and 526 injured; 72 people were killed at grade crossings and 518
injured; twelve contractor’s men were killed and ten injured; the
total killed numbered 686, and the injured 2650. These figures are
not inclusive of employees. The biggest single item of the year’s
disaster for personal injuries fell under the head of collisions, 76
of them resulting in 456 claims, to the account of which the charge
was $145,748. The total was 876 claims for personal injuries, costing
$746,075, still leaving 2345 unsettled cases at the expiration of the
year.
Some time ago, in the Chicago “Record-Herald,” E. P. Ripley, president
of the Santa Fé system, was quoted as follows: “One of the most serious
conditions which this country is facing to-day is the indifference and
disregard which the employee has for the interests of the employer.”
“The Santa Fé,” continued Mr. Ripley, “hopes to establish a better
_esprit de corps_ among its employees, and expects that a liberal
pension system will have that tendency. We have on this system as much
loyalty as most railroads enjoy, if not more, but it is not what it
should be. The lack of loyalty among employees is a condition from
which all corporations are now suffering, and it presents a most
serious problem.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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