Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1908-12-10

making provision for worn out andy
crippled workmen.
Pending acknowledging invcs,i
CATION and action there is certain leg
islation which should be- enacted at
once The law. passed at the last
sion NJ the congress, granting coinpcn |
sation to certain classes of employees
OF the government. should he extended |
To include all employees of the govern
ment and should he made more liberal {
In its terms There Is no good ground |
for the distinction made i'm the law he |
tween those engaged in hazardous oc
equations and those not so engaged. !
II IA man is injured ar killed in amy
line of work. IL was hazardous in his I
case. Whether I per cent or 10 per I
cent az those following "A given oocu ,
patton actually suffer injury or death |
nuNht not to- have amy bearing on the /
question OF their srccsiving compensa
tion. II Is "a grim logic which says 10
an injured employe or To the depend
ents OF one killed. that he or they are
entitled to no compensation. h.caus.
very few people other than he have
been injured or killed in that occupa
tion. Perhaps one of the most strk
ing omissions in the law is that II
Goes not embrace peace officers and
others whose lives MAY he sacrificed
in enforcing the laws al the l'nitcd
vtding compensation should be made
more liberal than In the present act.
Years compensation ts not adequate
for ii wage earner's family. in thc
event of hts death by accident in the
course OF his employment. And In
the event of death occurring. say, ten
or eleven months after IN. accident.
the family would only receive as com
pensntion the equivalent nj on. or two
months earnings In this respect, the
generosity of the United States
towards its employees compares most
unfavorahly with that nf every c"ul-
try i'll Eurnpe--even the poorest,
The terms Of the act are also u hard
ship In prohibiting payment III eases
where the accident Is in amy way due
to the negligence of the cmpi"yc. u
is Inevitable that daily familiarity with
danger will lead men to take chances
that can he construed into negligence
So we'll Is this recognized that in prtc-
/ tically all countries In the civilized
/ world. except the United States. only
IA great degree Of negligence acts as
"A bar to- securing compensation. Prob
ably In NO other respect Is our lcgisla
ton, both state and national. x" far
behind practically the entire civilized
world as In the matter of liability and
compensation for accidents in indus
| try IL ts hlmilinttnH that al Euro
penn international congresses ON ac-
ctdentx the United States should he
singled out as the most helatcd among
the nations In respect to employers II
ability legislation. This government ~
itself MrRe employer of labor and
In its dealings with Its employees II
should set "a standard In this country
which would place u on par with
the most progressive countries IN
Europe. The laws OF the United States
In this respect. and the laws Of Euro
pean countries have been summarized
In a recent bulletin of the bureau of
labor. ana no American who reads
this summary can fail to he struck by
the great contrast between our prac
tices and theirsa contrast not in amy
sense To our credit.
The congress, should without further
delay pass model employers liabll-
ity law for the District of Columbia.
declared unconstitutional on account
of apparently including I'm IT'S provi-
siOns employees engaged In intrastat,
: commerce as we'll IA those engaged "
a Interstate commerce. has been held b
!. the local courts to be stll I'm effect =
4 tar an lts provtsionn apply To the Dt,
Az tstct OF C0lumNiA. There should he
4. anhs.NNx on ~. point: " there
3. =, should b. re-enacted with special -
:. erence to the Dtstrtut Of COlumbt
- This act however. applies only to en-
!. plOyes Of common carriers. In al
y other occupations the liability law a
!. the District il the old common law
: The severity and injustice Of the com
mon law In this matter has been u
some degree or another modified 10
the majority Of our states. and ths
only Jurisdiction under the exclusive
ahead and not behind the states Of the
Union In this respect a c,'.nprehen
sive employers liability law should be
passed for the District Of columbia.
renew iny recommendation made
In previous message that half hOli :
days be granted during summer to all
wage workers In government employ.
also renew my recommendation
that the principle Of the eight hour
day should as rapidly and AS far AZ
practicable he extended to the entire
work being carried on by the govern
ment; the present law should be
amended to embrace contracts ON those
public works which THE present word
Ing OF the act seems to exclude.
The Courts.
most earnestly urge upon the con-
gress the duty Ut increasing the to-
tally Inadequate salaries nov given to
our Judges. On the whole there In no
body Of public xervants who do AZ val
liable work, nor whose moneyed re-
their work beginning with the su-
preme court the Judges should have
their salaries doubled II Is not beftt-
ting the dignity Of the nation that it's
u most hOnored public servants should
be paid sums so small compared To
what they would earn In private ifo
that the performance OF public service
by them implies nm exceedingly heavy
pecunihry sacrinc"
II ~ earncstly 10 ne des'rsd that
some method should be Devised Tor
doing away WIN .he l"he d"iaSs "hicn
now OBTAIN W. we aainin's'ra.'oh OF
Juss.iee. ana WnIen op'rae WIN pc
c"Iiar s''veinv aeaihs' persons OF small