Editing SS Eastland (section)

==== Inquiry and indictments ====
A [[grand jury]] indicted the president and three other officers of the steamship company for [[manslaughter]], and the ship's captain and engineer for [[criminal negligence|criminal carelessness]], and found that the disaster was caused by "conditions of instability" caused by overloading of passengers, mishandling of water ballast and the ship's faulty construction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 August 1915 |title=Six Are Indicted for Eastland Loss – President of the Company, Captain, and Engineer Among Those Held for Disaster |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E7DC1138E633A25751C1A96E9C946496D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305052413/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E7DC1138E633A25751C1A96E9C946496D6CF |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

During hearings regarding the extradition of the men to Illinois for trial, principal witness Sidney Jenks, president of the company that built ''Eastland'', testified that her first owners wanted a fast ship to transport fruit, and he designed one capable of reaching {{convert|20|mph|abbr=on}} and carrying 500 passengers. Defense counsel [[Clarence Darrow]] asked whether Jenks had ever concerned himself with the potential conversion of the ship into a passenger steamer with a capacity of 2,500 or more passengers. Jenks replied, "I had no way of knowing the quantity of its business after it left our yards ... No, I did not worry about the ''Eastland''." Jenks testified that a stability test of the ship was never performed, and stated that after tilting to an angle of 45° at launching, "it righted itself as straight as a church, satisfactorily demonstrating its stability."<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 January 1916 |title=Eastland Never Tested – Builder of Ill-Fated Ship Says She Was Designed to Carry 500 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E04E6DF1439E233A25750C2A9679C946796D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305062720/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E04E6DF1439E233A25750C2A9679C946796D6CF |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

The court refused extradition, holding that the evidence was too weak, with "barely a scintilla of proof" to establish probable cause to find the six guilty. The court reasoned that the four company officers were not aboard the ship, and that every act charged against the captain and engineer was performed in the ordinary course of business, "more consistent with innocence than with guilt." The court also reasoned that ''Eastland'' "was operated for years and carried thousands safely", and therefore the accused were justified in believing the ship to be seaworthy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 February 1916 |title=Nation Loses Point in Eastland Case; Court Refuses Application for Removal of Indicted Persons to Jurisdiction of Illinois. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02EFDD1F38E633A2575AC1A9649C946796D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105055841/https://www.nytimes.com/1916/02/19/archives/nation-loses-point-in-eastland-case-court-refuses-application-for.html |archive-date=5 January 2024 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>