The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-09

AbH HI baa oNDHlU utdl dk Llil9 0'oHI'l'f There should no longer be any pal.er- Ing with the question of taking care of the wageWorkers who, under our present Industrial system, become klil- cd, crippled, or worn out as part Of the regular incidents Of a given business. The majority of wageworkers must have their rights secured for them by state action, but the national goyerh- ment should legisIate jn thorougheohS and far-reaehiug fashion not only for all employees of the national govern ment, but for all persons engaged m
 interstate commerce. The object sought for could be achieved to a measurable degree, as far as those killed or crlp- pied are concerned by proper employ CTS liability laws. As far as concerns those who have been worn our, ] call your attention to the fact that definite steps toward providing old age pen- sious have been taken in many of our private industries These may be lu- definitely extended through voluntary association and coutributory schemes or through the agency of savings banks, as under the recent Massachn- setts plan TO strengthen these prac- tical measures should be our immediate duty; it is not at present necessary to consider the larger and more general governmental schemes that most Euro pean governments have found them selves obliged to adopt.
 Our present system, or rather no sys- tenn, works dreadful wrong, and Ia of benefit to only one class of people--the lawyers. When a workman is Injured what he needs is not an expensive and doubtful lawsuit, but the certainty Of relief through immediate administra~ tive action The number of accidents which result in the death or crippling of wagoworkers, in the union at large, Is simply appallins in very few years 1t runs up a total far in excess of the aggregate of the dead and wounded in any modern war, No academic theory about freedom of contract or "constitutlonal liberty to contract should be permitted to Inter fere with this and similar movements. bE tGS III AlNillHlllil iltN fNSAg
 where meant a limitation and regula- tion of contract I call your especial attention to the bulletin of the bureau of labor which gives a statement of the methods of treating the unemployed In European countries, as this Is a sub- joct which in Germany, for instance is l treated in connection with making provision for worn out and crippled | workmen
 Pending thoroughsong investlga- ton and action there Is certain legis- lation which should be enacted at once. Tho law, passed at the last session of the congress, granting compensation to certain classes oe employees of the government, should be extended to in clude all employees of the government and should be made more liberal in it's l terms There is no god ground for the ] distinction made in the law between those engaged in hazardous occupations and those not 90 engaged. If q man Is injured or killed in any Inc Of work. l if was hazardous in his case Whether l per cent or 10 per cent of those fol- lowing given occupation actually suffer injury or death ought not to ] have any bearing on tho question of l their receiving compensation It Is a l grim logic which says to an injured I employee or to the dependents of one ! killed that he or they are entitled to no compensation because very few peo, pie other than he have been injured or killed in that occupation Perhaps one of the most striking omissions in the I law is that 1t does not embrace peace officers and others whose lives may be l sacrificed in enforcing the laws of the i United States The terms of the act l providing compensation should he made more liberal than In the present act. A years compensation is not adequate for wage-earner's family In the event of his death by accident in the course of his employment. And In the event of death occurring, say, ten or eleven months after the accident, the family would only receive as compensation I the equivalent of one or two months
 earnings In this respect the generosity Of the United States towards Its em- ployees compares most uufavorably with that of every country in Europe even the poorest.
 The terms of the act are also a hard
 ship in prohibiting payment In cases
 where the accident Is in any way due
 to the negligence of the employee. Ii
 1t inevitable that daily familiarity with
 danger will lead men to take chances
 that can be construed into negligence.
 So well is this recognized that in prac-
 tically all countries in tho civilized
 world, except the United States, only 3
 great degree of negligence acts as a
 bar to securing compensation. Prob
 ably in no other respect is our leglsa-
 tIon, both state and national, so far be-
 hind practically the entire civilized
 world as in the matter of liability and
 compensation for accidents in industry
 It is humiliatlng that at European in tcrnaflonal congresses on accidents the
 United States should he singled out as
 the most bnlated among the nations ir
 respect to employers liability legisla.
 tion This government Is Itself large
 employer of labor, and in It's dealings
 with its employees 1t should set z
 standard in this country which woulc
 place 1t on a par with the most pro eressivo countries in Europe. Tht
 laws of the United States in this re spect and the laws of European coun'
 tries have been summarized in q recen
 bulletin of the bureau of labor and nc American who reads this summary car fail to be struck by the great contras
 between our practices and thelrs-f contrast not in any sense to our credit The congress should without further
 delay pass a model employers liability law for the District of Columbia. Th' employers liability act recently de cared unconstituJoual on account O