Excerpt from Conservation of Men Address to the Operating Men of the Chicago North: Address to the Operating Men of the Chicago North Western Railway on the Prevention of Accidents

Think of it! Every third day some employe is killed on the North Western Railroad, and every fifty minutes one of you men are injured, not pass engers, not outsiders, but you employes. Now isn't it high time that you men who are paying this awful toll, remember it isn't the company, it isn't the officers, it isn't the passengers or the people whoare crossing our tracks that are paying this toll, it is you people, you employes of the road. It is not a question of dollars and cents, it is just a question of saving human life, the most valuable thing in the world, and when once it is gone can never be brought back. It is trying to save men from losing their legs or their arms that can never be put back, trying to save making widows and orphans, trying to save destitution and misery. The officers can't do this, the laws can not do it, there is no one to do it but just you, and if you will, you can do it by turning over your hand.

To me these awful figures of death and calamity put together are appalling. Even I, who have been in this business all my life, didn't realize how bad it was, and all of these bad things come to me you know, and have been coming to me for the last quarter of a century.

The figures are made up by the Interstate Com merce Commission down in Washington from re ports given them by every railroad in the country. We are required by law to report all personal inju ries, and all accidents, and you can depend upon it that no personal injuries or accidents are reported to the Interstate Commerce Commission that do not occur. None of us care to make our record worse than it is, and God knows it is bad enough.

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