Leslie W. Rue

“RESISTANCE TO CHANGE?
“The canal system of this country is being threatened by the
spread of a new form of transportation known as ’railroads’
and the federal government must preserve the canals. . . . If
canal boats are supplanted by ’railroads,’ serious unemployment will result. Captains, cooks, drivers, hostlers, repairmen,
and lock tenders will be left without means of livelihood, not
to mention the numerous farmers now employed growing hay
for the horses. . . . As you may well know, Mr. President, ’railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles
per hour by ’engines’ which, in addition to endanging life and
limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the
countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and
frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly
never intended that people should travel at such breakneck
speed.”
The above communication was from Martin Van Buren,
then governor of New York, to President Andrew Jackson on
January 21, 1829. In 1832 Van Buren was elected vice president of the United States under Andrew Jackson’s second
term. In 1836 Van Buren was elected president of the United
States. It is also interesting that the first railroad into
Washington, DC, was completed in time to bring visitors from
Philadelphia and New York to Van Buren’s inauguration.
Sources: Janet E. Lapp, “Ride the Horse in the Direction It’s Going,”
American Salesman, October 1998, pp. 26–29; and The World Book
Encyclopedia, Volume 20 (Chicago: World Book—Childcraft International, Inc.), 1979, p. 214.
2”
― Leslie W. Rue, Supervision: Key Link to Productivity