11. Percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work, who were killed (2,343), to the whole number of employees reported killed (3,632), was 64 per cent.
12. The percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work who were injured (32,345) to the whole number of employees injured (67,067) was 48 per cent.
An examination of the statistics published by the Commission also shows that the number of accidents depends not so much on the actual length of track of a railroad in miles, but upon the density of its traffic and of the population of the territory through which it runs, for illustration take one division on a system that runs through a thickly settled country, that has five per cent of the actual mileage of the system and fifteen per cent of the train mileage, and another division in the same system that runs through a sparsely settled country, that has ten per cent of the actual mileage of the system and five per cent of the train mileage, and it is a well-known fact that the percentage of accidents on the former will be many times that on the latter;
That the heavier the traffic the greater need there is of more care being taken in employing and educating the right kind of men to operate the trains; and
That with denser traffic there should come more and better supervision to insure observance of the rules adopted for the safe operation of trains and that the increase in quantity and quality of that supervision should at least equal in ratio the increase in traffic. Indeed, I believe that when this is done many of the troubles and difficulties the railroads now labor under will pass away, and that the additional expense caused by such increase will be saved many times over by a general reduction in operating expenses, especially in waste and damage.
Accidents should be divided into four classes:
First. Unavoidable accidents, or those caused by the act of God, the public enemy, or by some miscreant who takes up a rail, misplaces a switch, or puts an obstruction on the track.
Second. Accidents to passengers, outsiders trespassing or not trespassing, caused by the carelessness or wantonness of the injured or some other person for whose act the railroad is not liable, or by the failure on the part of the State or municipality to make and enforce proper laws and ordinances to prevent stoning trains and trespassing on the premises and cars of the companies.
Third. Those caused by the want of care, foresight, or supervision on the part of the management of the company.
Fourth. Those caused by the carelessness, thoughtlessness, or neglect of employees.