The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-09

evitable that daily familiarity with danger will lead men to take chances that can be construed into negligence. So well is this recognized that in practically all countries in the civilized world, except the United States, only a great degree of negligence acts a bar to securing compensation. Probably in no other re- spect is our legislation, both state and normal, So far behind practically the en- tire civilized world as in the matter Of liability and compensation for accidents in industry It is humilating that at European international congresses on ac- cidents the United States should be singled out as the most belated among the nations in respect to employers liabil- ity legislation. This government is itself a large employer of labor, and in its deal ings with its employees it should set standard in this country which would place it on a par with the most progress sive countries in Europe. The laws of the United States in this respect and the laws of European countries have been summarized in a recent bulletin of the bureau of labor and no American who reads this summary can fail to be struck by the great contrast between our prac- tices and theirs-a contrast not in any sense to our credit.
 The Congress should without further delay pass a model employers liability
 
 employers liability act recently declared unconstitutional, on account of apparently including in it's provisions employees en- gagged in intrastate commerce as well as those engaged in interstate commerce, has been held by the local courts to be still in effect so far as its provisions apply to the District of Columbia. There should be no ambiguity on this point If there is any doubt on the subject, the law should be re-enacted with special refer ence to the District of Columbia. This act, however, applies only to employees of common carriers In all other occu- pations the liability law of the district is the old common law. The severity and injustice of the common law in this mat ter has been in some degree or another modified in the majority of our states, and the only jurisdiction under the ex- elusive control of the Congress should be ahead and not behind the states of the union in this respect comprehensive employers liability law should be passed for the District of Columbia.
 I renew my recommendation made in a previous message that half-hoidays be granted during the summer to all wage workers in government employ
 I also renew my recommendation that the principle of the eight-hour day should as rapidly and as far as practicable be extended to the entire work being carried on by the government; the present law should be amended to embrace contracts on those public works which the present wording of the act seems to exclude. The Courts.
 I most earnestly urge upon the Congress the duty of increasing the totally inade- quate salaries now given to our judges. On the whole there is no body of public servants who do valuable work, nor whose moneyed reward is so inadequate compared to their work Beginning with the supreme court the judges should have their salaries doubled. 1t is not beft- ting the dignity of the nation that its most honored public servants should be paid sums so small compared to what they would earn in private life that the performance of public service by them implies an exceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
 It is earnestly to be desired that some method should be devised for doing away with the long delays which now obtain in the administration of justice, and which operate with peculiar severity against persons of small means and favor only the very criminals whom 1t is most de- sirable to punish. These long delays in the final decisions of cases make in the aggregate a crying evil and remedy should be devised Much of this intol-
 
 paid to technicalities which are a mere hindrance to justice. In some noted re- cent cases this over-regard for techni- calities has resulted in a striking denial of justice, and fragrant wr6sig to the body polite.
 At the last election certain leaders of organized labor made a violent and sweeping attack upon the entire judiciary of the country an attack couched in such terms as to include the most upright, honest and broad-minded judges, no less than those of narrower mind and more re- stricted outlook. It was the kind of at tack admirably fitted to prevent any sue cessfnl attempt to reform abuses of the judiciary, because it gave the champions of the unjust judge their eagerly desired opportunity to shift their ground into a championship of just judges who were unjustly assailed. Last year, before the House committee on the Judiciary, these same labor leaders formulated their de- mands stating they wished the principle of that bill or nothing. They insisted on a provision that in a labor dispute no in- junction should issue except to protect a property right, and specifically provided | that the right to carry on business should not he conetrued a DrOpertV right. and