Speech 34
SAFETY   APPLIANCES   ON   RAILWAYS

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE AT THE OPENING OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FIFTY EIGHT CONGRESS, DECEMBER 7, 1903

IN my last annual Message the attention of the Congress was called to the necessity of enlarging the safety appliance law, and it is gratifying to note that this law was amended in important respects.  With the increasing railway mileage of the country, the greater number of men employed, and the use of larger and heavier equipment, the urgency for renewed effort to prevent the loss of life and limb upon the railroads of the country, particularly to employees, is apparent.  For the inspection of water craft and the Life Saving Service upon the water the Congress has built up an elaborate body of protective legislation and a thorough method of inspection and is annually spending large sums of money.  It is encouraging to observe that the Congress is alive to the interests of those who are employed upon our wonderful arteries of commerce — the railroads — who so safely transport millions of passengers and billions of tons of freight.  The Federal inspection of safety appliances, for which the Congress is now making appropriations, is a service analogous to that which the Government has upheld for generations in regard to vessels, and it is believed will prove of great practical benefit, both to railroad employees and the traveling public.  As the greater part of commerce is interstate and exclusively under the control of the Congress the needed safety and uniformity must be secured by national legislation.