Middletown transcript., 1908-01-11
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|ity decision, as In any way affect
| ing the justice, the need or th'
constitutionality OF installing tht
doctrine of the employers liabil
| ity as q fixed part of our nationa
polity,
I'VE need no better proof o
our contention than the fact tina
within forty -eighe hours aftel
the reading Of the decision 81
clear. headed unconstitutional law
yer as Senator Knox had pre-
pared and introduced a bill
slightly narrowed in It's pro
visions, yet in. his belief meeting
every objection raised by tht
Supreme Court.
aNow in our estimation there
rises an opportunity for organ
lied labor throughout thecountry
more fruitful of good results
than any wage or hour demands
The unions should lead ina move
ment in which all thoughtful and
right minded Americans will
sympathize aud follow. The de
mand for life-saving Legislation
should be enforced upon Con
gress first and afterward upor
every Legislature sitting in 9
state capitol.
THE annual mortality lists o1
every European nation shame
this country. The truth cannot
be told too often that by com
parison we are a nation of indus,
trial murderers.
"Of the 5000, 900 workers in
this country, one is killed or in
iured every minute of every
working day. In a notable ar.
ticle in Everybody's Magazine
recently Arthur Reeve computed
that in every year more thar
half q million men, women and
children are killed or crippled as
a direct result Of the occupations
in which they are engaged.
Hazards of daily work that
could be prevented kill ten per
sons every day in New York city
and six in Chicago. But it il
with regret that we note that the
bad eminence of leadership il
waste of life is held by Allegheny
county, in this state, with IL, ,00(
Industrial deaths and serious in
furious annually. Concerning
these, the coroner of that county
has said
/" Conditions are such that the
life Of a foreigner employed in the
mills is given less consideration
than is the life of a horse OF
mule. . And the Hungarian con
sui protests: "Ifeven the present
laws were enforced, conditions
would not be so bad.
"What is the cost in money u
this system that the incomplete
and therefore underestimated
totals of the census showed re-
sponsible for the slaughter Of
81, 800 persons in 1900? Who pays
the bill when SO, 191 railroad men
and 1886 miners are killed and
injured in one years time?
"The half million killed and
MANNED into helplessness each
year are producers, contributors
to the nations wealth; the great
majorit skilled toilers. From
productiveness The hurt are
shifted TO dependence; the killed
leave those whom they had sup
ported charges upon the public.
"The industrial insurance com
panies put the conservative esti.
mate of s400 upon the net eco.
nomic gain of the average
worker. Based on this produc.
tive power, Mr.. Reeve put the
annual loss in dollars and cents
At $50, 600, 900.
"But this is inadequate. For
It does not take into considera-
tion anything but accidents. II
does not include the tuberculosis
breeding sweatshops, the unsan-
itary factories, the places where
workers are poisoned by lead or
the fumes of chemicals or the fV.
ing particles from filings.
Yet in all these cases the bur
den falls upon the community,
and in most instances by the EN-.
ployer's violation of law or his
sordid refusal to install safety
appliances and sanitary improve
menfs.
preaching and teaching to
corporations are slow methods of
progress. The only thing to do
is to make man killing bad busi
ness; to make industrial murder
unprofitable.
THE employers, corporate and
alherwiSa. must ha fa1Oht as IN