The Price of a Life on the Rails

C. B. Navarre, the railroad engineer who was killed a few days ago through the negligence of a Jap section man, was the sole support of his mother. He was a single boy, and so his mother will not receive a cent of damages for her son’s death unless the company should voluntarily aid her. The law giving the dependents of a single man the right to recover does not go into effect until June 11. This tardy justice from the late legislature will not give back to the broken-hearted mother her son nor will it support her in her declining years. This particular instance does show how unjust the law formerly was and this one legislative enactment is recompense for the tireless work done at the legislature by labor’s representatives. The Jap whose negligence caused Navarre's death could neither speak nor understand the English language. Yet he was put in a place with responsibility enough attached to it that his error resulted in a man's death. There is no occupation so perilous as railroad service, and there should be no place in the service filled by ignorant foreigners with no knowledge of our tongue.