The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-02-11
THE HOUSE.

1t Kills the Liability Bill and Gives Dill
Ion the Normal School.
With about an hour and a half recess for
dinner the house was in session yesterday
from ten o'clock in the morning until
nearly six in the afternoon. just before it
adjourned il killed tho bill making en-
ployets liable for injury to employees either
through defective machinery or the negli-
eence OF other employees, BY knocking out
the enactinR cluse. This was done in com-
mittee of the whole, Lewis in the chair.
After the bill had been read amendments
were offered to at ike out the clause except
ing ordinary domestic and ia III employ
nents from the provision of tho act. These
we're defeased and then Bach moved to
strike out the enacting clause. In support
OF his motion he said if the house saw tit to
protect a big. healthy man from the effects
Of his own carelessness. and then refused
10 p otect the female servants. it would not
be . very manly act. He recognized the
fact that women had no votes while men
had. Judge Bach then went into tho gem
eral provisions of tho bill. There was moth
ing new, he said, in the fight between capi-
tai and labor. He was surprised that there
ever was a tight. The int ests of the one
were the interests of the other. "Since
Adam did something or other and Eve
spun he said. capital has been employ
ing labor, ana always with the full knowl-
edge of the risk it took; and labo has sold
its services to capital with the knowledge
of the risks it took" ''1here is no use nine
ING matte 8 about this BILL" he continued.
1T comes from the largest mining camp in
the world. and if the bill goes through, il
will no Longer be a camp" He declared
that the laboting men were not always wise
in the kind of legislation they asked for.
No bill. he said. had ever been passed on
the Labor question By the votes of the men
who wished to wash their hands in the in
visible water that had secured political sup.
port. hat had done labor any good. A few
years ago they had passed a blacklist law
and before the legislatut Q ' which enacted it
had adjourned, the labor organizations
which asked for it had violated the law by
posting the names of those members of the
house who voted against the eight hour bill.
He then proceeded to argue that the bill
was not needed in the interest of justice to
the wo king clsss. Juries, he said. were
wonderfully just in the matter of damage
suits. and there was not II lawyer but who
would rather appear tor the plaintiff in
such cases than FOR the defend
ant. People who emp Dyed labor took
that risk "a things were now.
If this bill were passed it would take
from them the narrow margin of chance
they now had. Judge Bach then elabo--
ated on the question of liability. He argued
that no matter how ca eful an employe was
he would be held liable, under the bill, for
what one employee might do to another,
though it might be something that he
could not possibly prevent. One man
might PICK at Il piece Of dynamite and ex-
plode 1t and lnjure another. a thing neither
the mine owner nor his superintendent
could prevent, n yet tho mine owner
would be held responsible for il. In con-
%clusion he held that if the bill vent through
it should include women as we'll az men.
A. f. Bray asked Judge Bach at whose
instance he proposed to kill the bill, and
wanted to know if it was TO- the benefit of
of those unfortunate capitalists who were
walking around with sightless eyes or arms
blown off. He said he read the bill in a
different way from the gentleman who was
opposing il. The bill referred to only such
inju les as occurred through defective ma
chinery or the negligence of employers or
employees. He read All extract from a
Denver paper to show that a similar bill
had passed tho Colorado legislature, and
said that the one now pending was only an
act of common justice. He said he had
! listened 10 the able argument made
to show that the laborlng men wore
not able to take care OF themselves.
they had even, he admitted, written the
names of their enemies upon a blackboard.
Capital never did anything like this.'' he
continued. ut only starved the widows
and the orphans OF those who opposed it,"
He ended by declaring that there never had
been q labor bill introduced in the legisla-
ture but that an attempt had been made to
divest it of all that made it most valuable
before it got tn ouRh.
Bach, replying to the question pro.
pounded by B ay in the beginning of his
remarks, said he was not opposing the bill
mt the dictation Of anybody. II don't be-
lieye," he added, that in his heart the
gentleman from Silver Bow has one instinct
more favorable tOthe wotkiugman than |
have in mins." He declared that Bray
would not support the bill himself if his
constituents had not asked it. For him.
self, even if he had not the courage, he al
least had the lride not to be afraid to op-
pose a measure which he believed to be
wronp, even if it lad been passed
fear OF the men the gentleman from
silver Bow misrepresented. He was will
ing to join that list made up for those who
voted against the eight-h@ur bill, provided
Montana did not have the injustice lone
he that this bill would do. Leave the
labor men alone" he said, land I ee from
those who don't labor hut draw from those
who do, and many uch bills would never
reach the legislature. The man with ready
tongue and smooth hand must do some.
thing to show his value or he would not &c,
his pay"
After some further remarks by Truman,
OF Gal!atiu, in opposition, and A. F. Bra,
in support of the bill, the committee di
yided on the question Of striking out the
enacting clause. 1t was stricken out b,
twenty-slx yeas to eight nays. thus killing
the bill. The bill was then ordered uuta
t yofably reported by twenty. five to eight.
5 The Dillon normal school bill came up n,
> the special order at two O'Clock in the after
L noon in tho house, which VEN into COM
3 mittee of the whole for its consideration
=, The fight between Dillon and Twin Bridge,
4 was very short. Metzel, OF Madison pro
posed an amendment substituting 1wi,
B idgea for Dillon, He said win b idqe
= saw in 1887 that the people needed u norma
school and organized the first and only on
| in the state. Madison county was entitle,
TO tho school. 1t was tn mother county @
= the state, and Twin Bridges already had
= first-cless school. with buildings costin
nearly $4,000. 1t had nineteen pnpils tn
first year and this numher had increase,
= to sixty five. In conclusion no said tha
no lace had ever thought of entering tn
/ race till after Twin Bridges had built
. school.
= Fleming. of Beaverhead, conducted tn
= fipht for Dillon. He said Dillon had no
. offered any donations OF land or money
and he did not think it fair to exact any O
. this institution when it had nos been don
with others and mo e important ones. IL
! would say, howeve, that Dillon had a trac
t of ninety o. 100 acres which the citizen
t were ready TO give. lie criticised the Twi
= Is ldges normal school for not having grad
} uatsd any of its pupils.
/ Bach, of Lewis anu Clarke. held that n
. p omise of land. money or building
shout effect the members on a question q
, locating a public building. Whichever wa
sha Yinht - 4pA fHF 81 normal gnhn,l chnn1