Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-01-31
OUR LETTER BOX.
Editor State Herald.

Editor State Herald.
A bill is pending before the legislature
amending sections 2590 and 259l of the
code, which is the statute called the
employers liability act Under those
sections of the code an employer whether
he be an individual or body corporate,
is made liable to pay compensatory dam
ages to one servant for injuries recelv-
ed by reason of the negligence OF his fel-
low servant And under the construction
which has been placed Upon sections 1880
and 1851 of the code, only compensation
for the pecuniary loss which is suffered
by them can be recovered by an admin
istrator of a servant who is Killed, Tor
the benefit of his widow and children.
No damages, by way of punishment to
the employer, can be awarded as the
law now stands; and 1t is but right that
punitive sometimes called vindictive)
damages should not be awarded against
an employer in favor of one servant
whose injuries are caused by the negli-
gence of another servant. The injustice
of awarding such damages in such a case
appeals to the natural sense of justice
in us all. To punish one man for the
wrongful act of another is revolving to
all right thinking men, To illustrate,
suppose contractor is engaged in build
ing house and has two carpenters hired,
one suffers an injury causing death, by
the fall of a scaffold, which has been
carefully and negligently constructed
nothing himself to bring about the ac
cident, when he hired the two carpenters
he was Informed that both were compe-
tent and careful Who will say that the
contractor should be punished, that is,
made to pay punitive damages to the
administrator of the carpenter who is
killed by the carelessness of his fellow
workman?
And yet that is just what the bill
amending sections 259O-2591 proposes to
do.
The bill amending these sections con-
ta,ns the following provision
That in all actions under this section
the plaintiff shall not be limited to the
recovery of damages compensatory to
the estate the next of kin or dependents
of deceased, or to the estimated actual
money value of the life destroyed, and
may recover such damages as the jury
may assess compensatory to the estate,
the next of kin, CIR DEFENDANTS of de-
ceased and punitive damages, one or
both as the jury. in their discretion, upon
consideration of all the evidence, MAY de-
termine whether the negligence or wrong
causing the injury was wanton, inten-
tional or otherwise"
It, Is difficult to reconcile 1t. with JUS
tice that one man should ever be made
to pecuniarily compensate one servant
for the wrong or injury Inflicted by a fel-
low servant. But it is simply abhorrent
to talk about Furnishing one man for what
another Goes
The am endment above quoted, If adopt
ed. simply places all employees at the un-
bridled mercy of juries, by their verdicts
to punish. the employer who has been
careful in selecting his employees, Tor
their negligeHc nee, not his.
A more vicious piece of legislation, and
one more calculated to drive men out of
the business of using their capital in
establishing industries to give. employ
| mont to labor in Alabama could NOT De
conceived. JAMES II. WEBB.