The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-24
How IL Works.

How It Works.
 The evidence as to the practical ef- fectiveness of this kind of legislation is necessarily not so very easy of access, It is significant, however, that the countries and states which seem to have given most study to the subject I nave ceased amending the laws, hold ! ing the employers liable on the ground of negligence, but have undertaken leg 1 isiation in which compensation is pro- vided to employees for injuries result ing in the course of their employment, but limiting the amounts to certain moderate and reasonable sums. It should be said that in the discussion of i this question before your committee, those who seemed to be most familiar with the subject, and whose opinion necessarily had most weight with your committee. said that in their opinion the most advisable legislation in regard to this matter was something in the nature of a Workman's Compensation i Act, In Germany it is said it has not 1 been found burdensome, and as a result of this legislation her industries have ! apparently suffered in competition neither at home nor abroad. In 1894 the assessment upon the employers for all the industries coming within the scope of the Compensation Act was one per cent. of the wages paid. In long re- port as to the facts relative to the Brit ish Workmen's Compensation Act of 1907 tc s,,d nA +e
 cially reported to the committee on this subject appointed in the state of Massachusetts, of which mention has been made, Mir, A. Maurice Low says: l Careful Inquiry made by personal interviews, of employers, employees, and officials of the home office and board of trade, who are charged with the execu-
 ton of the law, justifles the statement
 that the Workmen's Compensation Act
 of 1897 and it's amendment of 1900, ex-
 tending the benefits of the act to agri-
 cultural labor, has given as much sat
 isfaction as can be expected from leg station of that character. It was leg
 islatlon demanded by particular class
 as being in it's interests, 1t was leg
 i3lation resisted by the class whose in-
 terests it was supposed would be in
 jured but who, unable to resist the
 popular sentiment, grudgingly saw the
 law placed on the statute book Wher
 the law was enacted, and before il
 came into operation, employers gen
 orally believed that the compensation
 they would have to pay their Workmer
 for injuries and fatal accidents woulc
 prove such a heavy tax on industry
 that 1t would seriously diminish theiI profits, and put them at the mercy o foreign competition. The work ingman regards the act as serving tht purpose for which it was intended broadly speaking. The law undoubt edly compensates him for injuries re ceived in the course of his employmen and gives him substantial pecuniar, recompense for bodily suffering ant loss of time when unable to pursue hi customary vocation because of an ac 7 cident. So far as employer are concerned, there is warrant fo | saying that they have adjusted them selves to conditions; and the compensa l tion which they are compelled to pa. dOOo llOl DCoI upOu LllSNl SO IlCdNlly d to cut seriously into their pockets, o ) to prove a factor in preventing then from retaining their trade in the fac l of foreign competition. The cost o compensation, find, large employer : regard in the same way as any othe fixed charge incidental to and neces sary in carrying on business. Rent : taxes, insurance and many other item
 of the same character are all charge r which every business man must includ = in his estimate in the cost of produc tion. It is precisely the same with tn } charge entailed by the cost of compen 5 sation, It is a charge incidental to tn 5 carrying on of business which the bus s mess man would be only too pleased t } avoid, but he realizes the impossibili l | ty> of its avoidance"
 . Advantages Claimed.
 5 The principal advantages claimed 0