The daily sentinel., 1908-01-28
RAILROAD MEN WILL
BENEFIT BY THIS BILL
Congress Asked to Pass a Law Max
ing a Railroad Liable for Injury
Incurred In Accident
on Road.

= states that bill CT tremendous =
+ Importance to hundreds of rail- +
+ way employees throughout the +
I. United States has been intro +
+ duced in the national senate by +
I. Senator Knox, and is now un- +
+ der consideration by the judic- +
+ larry committee of that body. =
+ The bill is designed to take the +
!. place of the employers liability +
+ bill. which was declared uncon- +
+ stitutional by the supreme court +
+ of the United States. =
s++++ ++++ +
The Knox bill makes all railroa Is
engaged in Interstate commerce
liable to their employees for injury
incurred in service. and to their heirs
in the event of fatal accident. The
fellow servant doctrine is overturned
by the Knox bill and the rule of con
tributory negligence is greatly modi-
fled. Under its terms the mere fact
that an employe is injured or killed
through the negligence of another
employe does not relieve the cm-
ployer from responsibility. Nor
does contrlbutory negligence bar an
injured employe from claiming dam
ages. 1t merely lessons the amount
of damages in proportion to the per
Under the terms of this bill, no
contract of employment insurance.
render benefit, etc, can constitute a
bar or defense to any action brought
to recover damages for personal in
juries or death Mr. Knox is looked
upon as one of the great lawyers of
the country, and it is believed that
his bill has met all of the objections
raised to the former law by the SUI
preme court. He believes that the
railroad men deserve this greater
consideration from their employers
and he has stated that he proposes to
urge this bill to a vote at the earliest
feasible time.
Il have drawn this bill with a view
to meeting the objections of the su-
preme court to the former law" Sem
ator Knox said. Congress will be
the men employed upon the railroads
are entitled to more humane law
than that now in effect. The bill
have drawn will, l believe, prove eff
fective. but | am aot irrevocably COM
mitted to its phraseology. Person
ally. | will welcome all suggestions
bearing upon the subject, and 1 feel
sure from this and other bills that
will be offered to the judiciary COM
mittee the committee will be able to
report a bill entirely satisfactory and
that will stand the test of the
courts
Edward A. Mosely, secretary of the
Interstate Commerce commission, is
very much in favor of the Knox bill.
"By lawyers who heard the decision
of the supreme court this bill of SEN
ator Knox is said to completely cure
the fault that was found in the law
that was declared unconstitutional"
he said 1.-The Knox bill is in line
with the senator's action heretofore.
He has always been heartily in sym
pathy with eforts to ameliorate con-
ditions surrounding labor. While at
torney general he introduced an in
novation by which the United States
was allowed to intervene in a private
suit to sustain the validity of a
statute.
"That case was what is known as
the johnson case and the action of
the department of justice, of which
Senator Knox was then the head, re-
suited in having the statute declared
valid and practically revived. His
action then resulted in the enforce
ment. of the safety appliance act and
recent statistics show that thereby
deaths and injuries to employees in
train service and coupling cars have
not increased, while other accidents
have largely increased"