The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-02-18
err I4iseussion Il Was .
10 the SENATE TO

The fellow servant law is ut last to be
! abolished. Foo long already has it re
manned on the statute books. 1t has out
Rvefl@ ies5 tise f,alness,s Of Shteeds eit 'eeer
had any. The Senate Judiciary commit
tee Yesterday. sby an almost 1liantnaotls
Ivote,j decided that II must 80, AND VIII tp-
ldhy.so report aaek to thsst~bedy. stIhe
| House has already passed the bin abol-
| ishing 1T.
The meeting of the committee was held
in the, Supreme; oquTt building at = O'clock,
Eaflf there wds L. fluff atfeifdance. Speeches
ENeoer 1nadeGid floor Of tho bids BY J qdse:
lAysrS G X p lacy and Mr. "
4 J! Ptele.l Tt WIS. opposed by Mr. +. II.
} Rushee. s91g6 lIiW / esI~t sii
/ The first person to addFresspthq commit Z
asefj AabeT sshtistjcs 1asld ntelpDer1af THE
] brotherhood Of ,Locemetiye, Engineers.
I1e9 detlaftd sttiat H was right tl1at an
/ empleE& gyy ho7 had lgiyd4T bllgG bestTysaEs
| of his life to q corporation be given, the
| s$fflI rights 10 rec6yeft damages, il hurt,
that other people enjoyed. The fellow
servants law he declared TO be . relic. Of
/ bafbarhs1if already abolished by many Of
the fStp4ese YIngfS9a Mississippi had,- bx3
Ecopstftutional provision, abolished it, and
lin. 1894 iSbutifC aFoFiha]f ad done The same
thing. .Irg[1 leroItGW E.y~ s.
Mr., I@cE then defined the term fellow
| sefyaht s}itielHdiffg all. Who are directly
engaged in accomplishing the ultimate
purpose in view, that is, the running Of
Ahe, rad. @TheN mustalle ,Eegadetlaas enc
| gagged in the same general business.
Those who have been held by the courts
Ito be fellow seryangs Weresthen enumer-
| ated.
| The law as it now stands. he clared to
4 be - gross, an Outrageous Discrimination
| against. the man who toiled and risked
| has life for the road and its profit. A
| stranger-a man riding on a Decent ticket,
could now recover, but the employee could
not. The passenger knewsthe risk as
| well as the employe. Let both be put
| upon the sdThe7 footing. Not prejudice,
| but justice said Mr.. Lacy, demands the
| passage of this bill.
| 1t was putting property rights above
Epersonal rights The soldier enlisted for
| SO per month, but it was just as fair
to class him who barred his. breast to the
Isfoeman with the SO Citeher. That it,.
was absurd to compare men who came in
confaet with the public, and often died
| for them with servants with private COM
| Germs. He said lie was a Democrat from
the sole Of his feet to the top. of has
| head, and it irfitated him to- say it would
run the railroad officials into the Repub-
.lican party; thai If it took Injustice and
| putting money above human rights to
hold the party together, he said in the
name Of 10000 railroad employees, all the
ministers, all the doctors, all the lawyers
| railroad attorneys excluded, without they
were employed in this special case, let
| her go.
| This view of the matter was antago-
nzed by Mr.. +. III. Busbee, who, of
course, represented the railroads, which,
| of course, don't want TO be liable for
| damages to their employees. 1t was soon
| evident that Mr.. Busbee was sparring
for time. While avowedy opposing the
bill, he seemed very solicitors about hay-
i ing it exactly right, so that it might stand
| the test of the courts. Something was
wrong with every section, so he asked the
| committee to throw the whole thing
| away and substitute the Gladstone bill,
now in operation in England Mr.. Bus
bee presented his case in its strongest
| possible phase. 1t was about the best
argument that could be made ON that side
Of the question. But right and justice
was against him and he lost.
Judge Avery next addressed the com
/ mittee in support Of the measure. He
/ said that the bin might be entitled an
| act to give conductors, brakemen and
engineers the same rights and privileges
| that cattle shipped by rail now enjoy lie
said the fellow servant law originated on
farms in England and there was then
| reason for it. Every employee knew his
FELLOW servant and could either force his
/ employer to discharge the negligent SER
1
I ment. This was not true on railroads to-
4 day. There were gigantic corporations
4 extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific
and enc employe knew but a few of his
fellow servants. An engineer or conduc-
tor may, at any hour have to go thou
| sand miles from home and among those
he never saw. He should not be held
| responsible for his fellow-servant's acts.
| ALI that Judge Avery had said was
endorsed by Mr. w. +. Peele who said
he wanted the bill reported and passed
as il stood without amendment. As r.
| other occupations, such as mining and
steamboats, let these be brought in in a
| separate bill. Further, he said, instead
LOT making employees more negligent, it
| would make them more faithful. When
man knows that if he goes down in
death those dependent upon him will be
| taken care of, he will stand to his post
and. take the risk. :
At the close Of Mr.. Peele's remarks,
the law in England was read by Mr.
| Busbee, WHO, denounced the proposed
i bill in the strongest language and de-
clared that it was an outrageous law,
aimed at a special class. He objected to
the provision "by any defect of machin-
/ cry and asked the committee to add the
1 words (which could have been discovered
by ordinary care" -@J
Another objection, he urged, was that
the bill ought to be made applicable to all
dangerous callings lection mills, mines,
steamboats, and the. like. He wanted the
law that was in operation in England to
be passed. The proposed bin, he. said,
i was too drastie5 employees ought to be
hgiyen7 only as much power to recover as
| Isassen gers now-enjoys.
u