richms:
If you split the pairs and put DC on it, then that will be across any magnetics that the cable is plugged into and ruin them, whereas there is no DC path between pairs so plugging one in when wired on entire pairs will not cause any current flow thru the device that you mis-connect.
@richms are you talking about if I had an RJ45 on the end and mistakenly plugged it into a network device?