The Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 788, 21 October 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1878.

Has the Oamaru Chamber of Commerce exceeded the bounds of propriety in requesting the Commissioner of Railways to institute a public enquiry into the circumstances that fed to the occurrence of the late railway accident near Palmerston ? We think not. On the morning of the eyeijt the public was appalled. For a whole day they were ignorant of the facts of the case, Those who were expecting friends and relatives from Dunedin were in a state of frenzy, not knowing whether or not some terrible mishap had deprived them of some that were dear to them. At this juncture no tidings of the event were to hand which would either confirm their fears or set their minds at rest, for that pQrtion of the telegraph system which at other times performed its functions moderately well, seemed paralysed. Had a number of souls been suddenlyushered into eternity ? Did this reticence bode evil ? These were tlje thoughts that occupied the minds of those who on the day of the mishap expected friends from Dunedin, and the public, Anyone that looks into the whole circumstances connected lyitli the affair must come to the conclusion that it was brought about by carelessness. Those who are answerable in tlje most remote degree for two trains —one from Oamaru and the other from Dunedin—rushing towards each other on the same line should no longer be retained in positions of so much responsibility as those of railway officials. They should be treated as though the two trains had met, collided, and produced the fearful results of such an event. Xt is nothing in their favor that human life was ifot sacrificed and valuable rolling stock reduced to old iron andfirewood. True, the train from Oamaru was only a goods train, with the usual complement of railway officials, and the train from Dunedin was a passenger train, in which there were fortunately no passengers. But supposing that the Dunedin train had contained even the usual number of passengers, and the goods train had not happened on that particular morning to get oft the line, a mass of mangled bodies intermingled with shattered rolling stock would have been the result. Those who were travelling on the trains in question in all probability escaped a fearful deatli through the defective condition of the line. It is only natural that under the circumstances, the public would like to know the truth, and if they are not immediately interested in knowing it, who j's? A catastrophe too shocking to contemplate without a shiulder averted through a train getting off the line ! Upon what a flimsy thread depended the lives of a number of men as irresponsible for the occurrence as new-born babes. It is to tl.io interest of all that not a tittle of the facts of the case should be withheld from the public. A secret enquiry might result in discharging the wrong man or men. That is bad enough, but it would be worse if the institution of a secret enquiry should fail to satisfy tb.e public that steps have been taken that will effectually prevent the possibility of a similar accident recurring. The affair, viewed by the eye of the uninitiated in railway management, has a stupid appearance. Had our railway /system been complicated, there might be some excuse for the occurrence of a collision ; but, i to our mind, it is so simple that noth- : ing but the greatest amount __ of careless- | ness could precipitate one. VV'e contend that the common-sense view of the matter is that the Railway Department should use every endeavor to assuage public fear. To this end all the facts should be laid bare. No valid reason has been advanced for the adaption of a secret investigation. Mr. Conykrs says in his letter in reply to the request of the Oamaru Chamber of Commerce for a public investigation, that in England railway accidents are investigated "through the medium of the Board of Trade, which deputes an Inspector, an expert, to hold a Court of Enquiry on such occasionsthat, in the absence of a Board of Trade in the Colony, "it is one of the functions of the Copmnssioners <of Railways to investigate such occurrences, and, tljey being experts, their position is on all fours with that of the Inspector of the Board of Trade, with this single difference that the enquiry is a public instead of a private one,' Now, we fail to see that the system of enquiry uplueld by the Commissioner of Railways is on all foyuvs with that which he says is in vogue in England. The most important element is omitted—that of an open Court. We believe that such a man as Mr. Cgnyers is eminently fit to occupy the place ,of the Inspector deputed by the Board of Trade' in England, but we do not think that the alteration made by Mr. Convek.s from the English usage is an improvement. The Oamaru Cliaojberof Commerce only asjis for the nearest approximation to the system of investigation observed in England, which lias been adopted after many years of experience ; and it is complimentary to the Chamber that its ideas 011 the method of conducting railway accident investigations are so closely allied ,to those which prevail in the Old Country. No man, let him be never so wise and impartial, should be permitted to sit in secret judgment in a matter su,ch as that about which we are writing. We have j

every confidence that our present Commissioher of Railways for the Middle Island would mete out justice ; but the precedent ■would be a dangerous one. Apart from the probability that some men might make very, good i managers of railways, but very bad ; all-powerful judges, the system of- secret enquiry is subversive of British custom in these days of enlightenment, and we would fain extend to railway officials the privilege of open investigation enjoyed by others throughout the Britisli Empire, and by their own class in England. The system favored by Mr. Conyers we believe to be gravely at? fault, and we hope that he will use his best endeavors to obtain relief from much responsibility, which under the secret system would devolve upon him, and, proceeding a little further in imitation of the English l railway accident tribunal, seek to have the doors of the enquiry hall opened to the public. Persistency in carrying out the course set forth in his letter to the Chamber will, we fear, be productive of evil.