The San Francisco call., 1906-08-18
? NITED STATES VICE CON
Sui GENERAL A. E. IN

L Sui GENERAL A E. IN
- GRAM, at Paris, supplies the
following summary of the scope and
effects of the French employers liza
bility act of April I2, 1906:
"The act of the 18th of April, 1906,
is of considerable moment to all
those engaged in commerce in
France as having a most important
bearing upon the relations Of employ
ers and employed in the event OF
accident, for this new law extends to
all commercial enterprises without ex-
cepting the provisions of the act OF
the 9th of April, 1893, which hitherto
applied only to manufacturers and a
limited number of trades. Prior to
1893, negligence or fault on the part
of the employer had to be proved to
enable workman or his representa-
tives to obtain compensation in case
of accident, and the aim of this act
was to substitute for this regime,
under which the fullest compensation
was awarded in the comparatively
rare cases where such proof was pos
sible, a system of more limited COM
pensation applicable in all and every
case of accident whether due to negli-
gence or TO mere chance. The basis
adopted for the assessment of this
limited compensation was that of an
equal division between employer and
employed of the pecuniary conse-
quences of every accident, and the
following summary of the provisions
of the act of 1893 will illustrate the
application of this principle:
The annuity to the widow or
widower, to be payable during life
and to correspond to 20 per cent of
the annual wages of the deceased,
and annuities to the children to vary
between IS and 40 per cent of the
annual wages, according to the num-
Der of children, payable up to the age
of 10; the annuities to the children
to reach even 90 per cent in the event
of their being left orphans. Should
a widow or a widower remarry the
annuity granted ceases after payment
of a lump sum representing three
years annuity; but the children's an
nuities continue to be paid. !, In the
event of the deceased leaving no
widow, widower or children, an
annuity of 10 to 80 per cent is allowed
to other relatives.
AS an example, workman earn
ing annually 1900 francs $3.50 5o),
killed by an accident, leaves a widow
aged IS and three children under 10
years of age. An annuity of 900
francs (S585o), or 20 per cent, is al
lowed to the widow and an annuity
of SIS francs ($IoI.32), or IS per cent,
to the children. These annuities, capi-
talized, represent about Io,5oo francs
($2o26. .5o).
"In case of total disablement from
work the victim of an accident re-
ceives a life annuity of GO per cent of
his annual wages before the accident,
and in case of partial disablement only
he receives an annuity corresponding
to one-half of the loss of wage-earn-
ing power caused by the accident.
For example, the loss of a leg is
generally estimated by the courts to
be equivalent to 70 per cent loss of
wage-earning power so that after an
accident of this kind a workman
earning 1900 francs ($28o 5o) annually
would receive an annuity of SIS francs
($IoI.32) or IS per cent, which, sup
posing him to be 80 years of age,
represents a capital of about $500
francs ($I833. .so).
For accidents causing temporary
disablement from work the workman
receives half the daily wage he was
earning at the time of the accident
until his complete recovery or until
such time as the temporary disable
ment shall have become permanent