The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-17
THEY AVOID THE COURTS
Railroads Settle Their Damage Claims
Whenever They Can.

They Prefer That Course for Fconomy's
Sake to Trusting to the sympathies of
a Jury and to Incurring Possible
Heavy Expense Through Litigation.
From the frequency with which dam
age suits against railroads and other cor
porations are reported in the newspapers,
it will be difficult to believe that less than
one-fourth of those who are injured while
in the employ of such institutions or
through the negligence of some of their
employees ever claim damages in the
courts. Such is fact, however. and in
most Of the cases where damages could
be claimed by those injured, the railroads
generally manage to reach some settle
ment, and nearly always on better terms
than they would get from a jury, if they
allowed the injured party to bring suit
If a railroad is responsible through the
negligence of any of its employees for the
injury to any person, rather than have a
jury pass on the case, it will settle on the
best terms its agents can make with the
claimant. and four times out of five the
party suffering the injury is willing to
agree to some settlement rather than so to
the expense of a suit, take the chances of a
verdict and have a long wait for results.
which are often reversed in the supreme
court.
Sometime ago one of the street railways
had a collision in which five persons were
injured. The collision was clearly the
result of the carelessness of one of the
companies agents in charge of the car.
Negotiations were entered into at once
with those injured. and with four of
them settlements were made. The one re-
naming had been injured less than any of
the others, yet he went into court and
recovered more than had been paid all the
others together in settlement of their
claims.
The verdict of a petit jury is one of
those uncertain things which few people
/ like to deal with, consequently the plain
/ tiff and defendant in damage suit are
! both ready to settle if they can reach a
| satisfactory basis of agreement. The in
| jured party is often ready to take much
| less than he believes he could recover
| in court, and if the railroad is al fault, ii
will stretch point to avoid going before
jury, where certainly the costs of court
and the attorneys fees, in addition to an
almost certain verdict for the plaintiff,
are visions that are almost sure to crys-
I
! tallize into facts. Especially will a rail-
! road company avoid if possible, the trial
! of a case in which the sympathy of
/ jury is likely to be brought into play. In
the case of widows, children who are the
support of aged parents and others of
! this class who are injured, a settlement
/ will be made within almost any bounds
| that are reasonable, provided there is
probability Of the companys negligence
| being established in case the matter got
! into court.
! A case is told of where an old lady was
| injured not far from Savannah through the
| carelessness of a railroad companys en-
! ployes so that she was laid up for some
! time. She was offered so in settlement
| of her claim, which was accepted, al
! though she might have been given ten
! times the amount with the sympathieS of
| a jury enlisted in her cause. 1t is true
! that juries are expected to decide with i'm
! Partially between plaintiff and defendant,
! but where great sufferings are entailed
| on the injured party, both physical and
! pecuniary, especially if it be a woman or
a child upon whose support a woman is
| dependent, it is practically impossible
! for being with human instincts to elm
| mate sympathy from the consideration
| of the case.
The supreme court however, is the
! friend of the defendant in cases where
| sympathy cuts a figure with the jury in
! the lower court. Nothing but the bare
| facts, the evidence as it appears in cold
! type, goes before this highest tribunal of
| justice; and the appearance and condition
| of the parties suing does not come before
it's judicial eye, hence sympathy is an ele-
ment which rarely or never enters into it's
| consideration of cases.
A great many railroad corporations
! are insured against losses by damage
/ suits, and the companies which carry
| such insurance for these corporations have
oh Of he If oil
/ providing for their defense in court. This
class of insurance, however, is very cost
| ly, as the basis for it is rather an uncer-
! tain one, and many companies after hav-
| ing tried it for a while have given it up,
| preferring to carry their own insurance
| SKIS hey therefore make a provision in
their JT'set or exrensc account so to
| speak, or III such losses, and they can
often succeed in making better terms than
! could an insurance company