Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-06-11
RAILROAD MEN WIN
Employers Liability Bill Fore
ed Thru Congress After
Years of Vain Effort
POWER is REDUCED
Degree of contributory Negligence
Will be Settled by Jury, Not the
Judge, Hereafter - Relief Associa-
ton Docs Not Dcbar Railroad En-
ployes for Recovering for Injuries.

ou1Sc, I1CIGdlkSt ENSilCI TNooNN'o
ton Docs Not Dcbar Railroad EN-
poyes for Recovering for Injuries.
Washington, juno 11.-Arter twenty
years OF effort, the railroad employees
of the country have finally forced thru
congress an employers liability hill.
The effect of the measure is to make a
railroad in interstate com mcrce liable
to any of its employees for all damages
resulting from negligence or any de-
feet of nsutfciency in cars, engines or
appliances of the road generally
Uuder the system that has prevailed
the courts have not allowed damages
to railroad employe injured thru the
negligence of Il co-empoye. 1t does
not matter whether the enploye in
jured has been In. position in which
he could know nothing that his fellow
empioye was negligent.
Under the Abinger decision in I1ng-
land in 1897, it was held that the sei.v-
ant could not collect damages from his
master for injuries sustained thru the
negligence Of his fellow servant. This
precedent has been followed by the
federal courts In this country, altho
the railroad employees organizations
nave succeeded in getting employers
liability laws enacted in q majority of
the states.
II was in the Fifty seventh congress-
that the railway employees organiza-
tons first took up the fight for new
law on this subject vigorously. Since
then they have been necessarily actlVe
The American Federation of Labor has
Joined In the contest. OF the railroad
employees alone there are 100000 who
are interested i'm employers liability
egIslation and the influence they have
had with congress has been CONSIDER
able Even with the backing OF the
American Federation OF Labor, now
ever they We're on the verge OF get
ting beaten again in this session OF
congress. The bill had passed the
house and after long delay was finally
taken up by the senate interstate conn
merce committee and reported out so
amended that it amounted to worse
than nothing from the railroad en-
ployes standpoint. Senator Latol-
ette's aid was invoked and as the re-
suit of his efforts the bill was made
even stronger than the house had it,,
and was passed. Even when passed,
Senator Daniel, Of Virginia, filed
motion to reconsider it, and it was not
out of the woods until few days later,
when the motion to reconsider was ta-
bled Assurances were promptly given
III. r. Fuller. representing the railroad
employees organizations in matters of
cur in the senate amendments and that
the bill would become law.
Not only does the new measure make
an important change as regards the
right of a railroad employee to recover
for damages resulting from the negli-
gence 'of the co-employe, but 1t makes
another important change in the pres
ent practice in the federal courts in
recurring that the degree of contribu-
tory negligence shall be settled by the
jury, not by the judge. Judges in
state and federal courts have held in
many cases recently that the question
of the degree of contributory negli-
gence was a law question for the judge
to decide.
Under the present law. a railroad
employee who is injured il guilty OF
contributory negligence in any degree
cannot recover even if the employer is
guilty of gross negligence. Under the
new measure, if the employe injured is
guilty of slight and the employer of
nj iS NOT
barred from recovery in the proper
ton in which the negligence was that
of the employer.
The new measure also provides that
the acceptance of relief Dement'S from
the relief associations some of the
roads conduct, or the signing OF con-
tracts relative to such benefits, shall
NOT constitute bar to recover for per-
sonal injuries or death. Such roads as
the Pennsylvania, the B. & O., the
Burlington and others operate relief
departments, the principal part OF the
funds thereof being contributed by en-
ployes. The testimony before the
house judiciary committee brought out
that the roads got all the employees
possible to join these relief depaft-
ments or organizations and sign WalV-
ers of claims for damages for lnJur-
les. The new law will operate to pre-
vent this practice.
In the states in which employers
liability legislation has been enacted
If is asserted it does not tend partlc-
ularly to increase recoveries for dam
ages but that it does operate to re-
ouire greater care on the part OF rail-
roads to prevent accidents to employees
thus resulting in greater caution and
more efficient service.
The employers liability bill is the
only measure of Importance affecting
labor that seems likely to go thru this
session. The anti-injunction bills are
dead for the session and so is the Dill
to fix the hours of labor of railroad
employees The eight hour bill is not
expected to pass this session.
Iowa at Washington.
Washington, d. c.. June ll--Patents
have been granted as follows:
r.. c. DeLaHunt of Cedar Rapids,