Railroads and the Humane Movement
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Announcements:
(1) Begin reviewing material for the mid-term now.
Recall that last time we discussed the impact of the railroads on the landscape.
Paulinskill Viaduct, Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey
28 miles of cuts and fill
Information taken from John White’s The American Railroad Freight Car (Johns Hopkins, 1993).
White writes:
“[F]ew subjects seem to bore the public more than freight service. The type of equipment used, the volume of traffic, its importance to the economy and the smooth flow of everyday life—all this is of no consequence or interest. It becomes a topic only if the service is interrupted by a strike or a natural catastrophe.”
“There is at least one exception to this general indifference, and that is the controversy over the human shipment of animals by rail, a debate that peaked during the 1880s.”
Problems of animal losses and injuries en route
Economic arguments and human health arguments
Humane groups went to the government when the economic arguments didn’t work:
* In 1869 the state of Illinois passed a state law requiring that livestock be unloaded every twenty eight hours and given a five hour rest.
* Similar legislation was considered in Ohio, and the Massachusetts Railroad Commission considered the same regulation the following year
* By 1872, Federal government got involved and a bill was passed in 1872 that went into effect the following year. It copied the Illinois law almost exactly, and specified fines of anywhere from $100 to $500.
1866: Henry Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
1877: The American Humane Association (AHA)
“The mission of the American Humane Association, as a network of individuals and organizations, is to prevent cruelty, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children and animals and to assure that their interests and well-being are fully, effectively, and humanely guaranteed by an aware and caring society.”
1879: AHA contest to design a humane cattle car wherein animals could rest, feed, and drink.
White writes:
“The long-term effects of the AHA contest are questionable. It certainly elicited a broad public response to a subject of minor general interest. It also stimulated a flurry of patents and the formation of several private stock car companies that emphasized safety and comfort for animals traveling. Efforts to introduce extra-fare cattle cars came just a few years later after the Pullman Company began to use the term palace car to describe its luxury passenger cars. The comfort and well-being of passengers both human and otherwise could be improved, but for a price. These private firms [such as the Pullman Company] invested a great deal of energy and money in creating cars and service, but the effectiveness of their efforts was seriously questioned, e.g. by Angus Sinclair, editor of the journal Locomotive Engineering. In 1892 Sinclair claims to have made a 5,000 mile tour of western railroads and stated that not once did he ever find a palace stock car being serviced. The drinking troughs were never watered, nor were the hay racks ever filled. Sinclair thought them to be a terrible fraud.”
[SLIDES]
Importance of Alonzo C. Mather
