Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-12-04

model employer. 1t should demand
the highest quality of service from /
each of its employ ees, and it should I
care for all Of them properly In re-
turn Congress should adopt legisla-
ton providing limited but definite
compensation fer accidents to all
worknen within the scope of the fed
Eeral power. including employees of |
navy yards and arsenals. In other
words, a model employers liability act,
far reaching and thorough going, should
be enacted which should apply to all
positions, public and private, over
which the national government has
jurisdiction The number Of accidents
to wageWorkers. including those that
are preventable and those that are
| not, has become appalling in the me-
chanical, manufacturing and transpor-
4 tation operations of the day. It works
grim hardship to the ordinary wage
worker and his family to have the eff
4 feet of such an accident fall solely up-
on him, and. on the other hand, there
] list only BY melting men who may Or
may not have been wronged to under
/ take suits for negligence. As q matter.
i Of fact, a suit for negligence is gem
orally an inadequate remedy for the
4 person injured, while it often causes.
4 altogether disproportion annoyance
4 to the employer. The law should be
made such that the payment for acct
i dents by the employer would be auto
4 matte instead Of being a matter for
4 lawsuits. Workmen should receive
4 certain and definite compensation for
4 all accidents In industry irrespective
n of negligence. The employer is the
q agent of the public, and on his own
Il responsibility and for his. own profit he
a serves the public. When he starts in
q motion agencies which create risks for
others She should take all the ordinary
Il and extraordinary risks involved, and
r the risk he thus at the moment as
& sumes will ultimately be assumed, as
q lat ought to be, by the general public.
4 Only in this way can the shock of the
q accident be diffused, instead of falling
Il upon the man or woman least able to
I bear it, as is now the case. The com
l dens as well as the benefits Of indus
. try. BY the proposed law employers
, would gain a desirable certainty Of
i obligation and get rid of litigation Il
3 determine it, while the workman ant
/ his family would be relieved from |
4 crushing load. With such a polio,
would come increased care, and acct
darts xx,a,,Jd In YndI10od iy, "a, tor frT1,
Il national laws providing for employers
i liability on railroads engaged in inter
ai state commerce and for safety appli
4 ances, as well as for diminishing th
I hours any employee of a railroa
should be permitted to work, shout
: all be strengthe wherever in actua
practice they have shown weakness
: They should be kept on the statut
II books in: theroug hgoing form.
o The constitut ionality of the employ
8 ers' liability act passed by the precet
= ing congress has been. carried befor
d. the courts. In two jurisdictions th
f 4 law has been declared unconstitutioI
8 al, and in three jurisdictions it's cor
6 stitutionality has been affirmed Th
il question has been carried to the 81
e preme court, the case has been hear
= by that tribunal, and a decision is e,
i. pected at an early date. In the ever
i that the court should affirm the const
ii nationality Of the act. urge furthe
q legislation along the lines advocate
: in my message to the preceding col
j gress. The practice of putting the Ell
,f tire burden of loss to life or limb upo
3 the victim or the victims family is
If form of social injustice In which th
.tl United States stands in unenViabl
I. our state legislation we have, with fe'
Ie, exceptions, scarcely gone further tina
le the repeal Of the fellow servant prll
II eiple of the old law of liza bi1ity, and
e. some of our states even this sligl
d, modification of completely outgrow
s. principle has not yet been secures
10 The legislation of the rest of the indu
trial world stands out in striking col
Is trast to our back hardness in this +
q speet. Since 1885 practically ever
b. country Of Europe, together with Gre:
4. Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Bri
ID ish Columbia and the Cape Of Goo
al i Hope, has enacted legislation embed
"a ing ia one form or another the cor
ts Eplete recognition OF the principle Whie
al places upon the employer the enti
ae trade risk In the various lines Of i
III dustry / urge upon the congress Il
in enactment Of a law which will at Il
IS same time bring federal legislation i
se to the standard already established
e- all the European countries and Whit
is will serve as stimulus to the warrior
e.. states to perfect their legislation
IT, this regard.
n Eight Hour Law.
40 The congress should consider the e
# tension Of the eight hour law. The co
IS stitutionality Of the present law hi
sf recently been called into question, al
ne the supreme court has decided that t
d existing legislation is unquestionab
Oh within the powers of the congres
Is The principle Of the. eight hour d'
70 should as rapidly and as far as prs
mt II