The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-01-21

signed for the doctrine, it is too well es-
tablished and its limits in so far as the
question before us is concerned too well
defined to permit us to entrcnch upon it.
opinions of this court and by the great,
weight of authority elsewhere, to hold
that the employees who were operating
the train which caused the injury in this
case wereth fellow servants of the plain
tiff. If we could hold it an open question
our ruling might be otherwise, but
we consider the doctrine too firmly estab-
lished to be changed except by the action
of the legislature"
Following his suggestion that if the doc
trine be upheld it should at least be
confined to those servants whose duties
bring them into such relationship that one
would be enabled to observe the negli-
gence of his fellows, the legislature in
1891 and 1893 sought to relieve it of its
severity. Under the construction placed
upon the statute by the supremt court, it
has failed in its larger purpose, and we
are obliged to enact such legislation as
will attain this object and protect en-
ployes of railway and other corporations
in their lives and against injury" 1t is
not clear from the opinion of the court in
the Warner case, but it seems the act
of 1893, now in force and Incorporated in
the Revised Statutes, would be improved
and would authorize the recovery of dam
ages for negligence in cases now denied
if the legislative Interpretation of the
term grade were omitted and the matter
RENTED to the courts. But the settle
ment of the question should not be left
to Il statutory definition of fellow servants.
The real purpose of the acts of the legis-
lature was to overturn the doctrine of
fellow servants 1t is illogical: it is not
grounded in any wholesale public policy;
and under it thousands of employees and
their families have been denied redress
for personal injuries or death resulting
from corporate negligence. The true
remedy, the one which will afford the re-
| lief demanded is to denounce and abrO-
gate the doctrine by express law. 1t will
also do justice to railway employees to
| compel railroad companies to provide, au-
| tomato car couplers on all trains, as is
done by the act of congress approved
March 2. 1893 applicable to interstate
commerce. and guard against accidents
and injuries to brakemen in switching by
suitable appliances. In the adpotion of
| measures for the gradual abolition of the
| convict lease system difficulties will ap-
pear. In the management of the peni-
| tentiaries the system OF labor authorized
under existing law is the state account
system, where employment for convicts is
| furnished directly by the state, and the
| contract system, where the cOnvicts are
| hired to individuals or corporations. With
| the exception of limited number of con-
| victs employed on railroads and under
| other contracts the system in operation is
| the state account system which embraces
| employment within the walls in various
| industries and outside on state farms.
Pledged to abolish the cruel and inhuman
| lease system and labor being necessary to
| the health and morals of the cOnvicts as
| well as to make them self-sustaining, the
inquiry goes to the best method of en-
| ployment on state account. The prison
| population is rapidly increasing, the in
crease exceeds 1900 since 1890 and to
work them within the walls will neces-
state making additional room for the
convicts and the establishment of new in
| dustries at enormous cost for the utiliZa-
| ton of their labor. If this be done it will
inevitable result in forcing further COM
| petition of free labor with convict labor.
| If they be worked on farms owned or
| leased by the state the labor is more re-
munerative, competition with free labor
is minmized and the cruelties of the lease
system greatly abridged. That the sys-
TEN is feasible and has operated salts
factOriy is shown by the fact that each
year since the Harlem state farm was
purchased it has yielded a heavy net
! profit, that for the years 1895 and 1896
being SOL 900. Except for this farm and
those leased by the state the penitentiary
system would not support itself. They
keep the hands of the penitentiares out
| of the state treasury. Recognizing these
results and seeking to avoid increased
general expenses under present financial
conditions, an amendment to the con-
stitution was proposed at the late election