Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Transportation Building Dedication Addresses [PAGE 108]

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supervision, if we are to obtain the full benefit of such great institutions as we have dedicated here today. There must bo vocational eduoation of those who are to continue at the throttle; who decide in a flaeh questions of safety; those who oarry the great responsibilities of the conductor, brakeman or switchman, must be given opportunities to advance in mentality as such responsibilities grow. The agents and operators must not They

be confined to the dull routine of their duties*

have time to acquire knowledge, and they have capaolty for increased responsibilities; they are hungry for information. The men in the shops and on the track carrying heavy responsibilities of safety and economy desire to learn andJadvance, and should be assisted and encouraged* When we recall how difficult it is at times to obtain certain information with all the advantages of a great city or college, we should have some conception, vague though it may be, of the conditions surrounding an operator, towerman or section-foreman isolated almost as if on a lonely island, by the environments of his occupation. We have, on the Illinois Central, taken oognizanoe of these conditions* That there is much eager de-

mand for greater knowledge of their chosen professions through such avenues, is evidenced by the thousands who are availing themselves of the opportunities presented by the Educational Bureau* That it raises the plane of

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