Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-10

dents will become automatic instead of be-
ing a matter for a lawsuit. Workmen
should receive certain definite and limited
compensation for all accidents in industry.
irrespective of negligence. When the en-
ployer, the agent of the public, on his own
responsibility and for his own profit, in
the business Of serving the public, starts
in motion agencies which create risks for
others, he should take all the ordinary and
extraordinary risks involved; and though
the burden will at the moment be his. it
will ultimately be assumed, as it ought
to be, by the general public Only in this
way can the shock of the accident be
diffused, for 1t will be transferred from
employer to consumer. for whose benefit
all Industries are carried on. From every
standpoint the change would be benefit.
The community at large should share the
burden as well as the benefits of industry.
Employers would thereby gain a desirable
certainty of obligation and get rid of It'll
cation to determine it. The workman and
the workman's family would be relieved
from a crushing load.
The national government should be a
model employer. 1t should demand the
highest quality Of service from its en-
ployes and should care for them properly
in return Congress should adopt legis-
lation providing limited but definite COM
pensation for accidents to all workmen
within the scope Of the federal power,
arsenals. Similar legislation should fol-
low throughout the, state. The old and
inadequate remedy of suit for negligence
would then gradually disappear.
Will Not Hamper.
Such policy would mean that with
increased responsibility of the employer
would come increased care and accidents
would be reduced in number The tenn
porary burden involved will not hammer
our industries Long experience of COM
pehSatlon laws in other countries has dem
onstrated their benefit. What we advocato
10 ohls simple measure of Justice only
one step toward the goal of securny 90
far as human wisdom can secure fair "a
equitable treatment for each and everr
one or our people
AS corollary to the above LET me- noin+
companies in fighting the constitu,ionaIity
VI the national employers liability law NJ
Jaw is more emphatically needed. and ~
must pc kept on the statute books in dras-
are prompt to demand the interference and
10 cialm the protection of the federal courts
~ LINES oi riot and disorder, and in turn
ne ieueral government should see to #
'iidl lHey are not permitted successfuIIv IN
plead that they are under the fe6eraI ,
when thereby their own rights can no nro.
tected' but outside of 1t when 1t is invoked
against them In behalf of the rights of 9TH
ers. III IL 1s proper for the federal courts
10 issue fn1unctions in behalf of railroads n |
is proper that railroads should be held TO a
strict liability for accidents occurring n |
the1r employees. There should be the plain
est ana most unequivocabe additional !
statement, by enactment Of Congress IN tho |
effect that railroad employees are entitled 70 |
receive damages for any accident that
comes to them as an incident of the ner
Torrance of their duties and the law should |
be such that 1t will be impossible for the |
railroads. successfully to fight it without |
merely FORGETTING all right to the protec-
ton of the federal government under any
circumstances. In the same way there
should be rigid federal legislation to MIMI
mize all railway accidents.
A Common Possession.
In closing, friends and fellow citizens of
Georgia, let me say one word suggested
by the recent ceremonies. In which you have
just taken part, In connection with your
gift to the noble battleshp named after
your state. Our battleships and great or
mored cruisers, fighting craft, are
named after the states of our Union. and
this symbolizes the fact that the navy Is
a common possession of all of u.s. and that
its honor and its triumphs are as dear to
the heart of a true American who dwells
anywhere inland as to a true American
who dwells anywhere on the seacoast The
navy Is our surest guaranty for peace and
If war should ever come 1t will be the great
est safeguard for our honor and our In
terest AS Is likewise true Of our army It Is
manned by volunteer force; for IT must
never be forgotten that all our soldiers
and sailors, whether regular or not, are
volunteers. Every encouragement should
be given to our navy, and no public servant
should be pardoned for failing to do every
thing in him to see that we have the best
type of ships and of guns. and that the off,
GERS and enlisted men are held to the strict
est accountability for so practicing with
the ships and guns that no navy afioat
shall, ship for ship squadron for squadron,
be our superior. If the officers and enlisted
men do their duty-and 1 am thankful to
say that in our navy the cases where thew
do not do their duty are relatively few
in number-they put US all under a deep
obligation to them. and we should give
them all the reward and encouragement In
our power. The higher a man is in the
service, the greater should be our insist