The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-12-11
making provision for worn out and

making provision for worn out and
crippled WOrkmen.
Pending a thoroughgoing investi-
CATION and action there is certain leg
%islation which should be enacted at
once. The law, passed at the last ses-
sion Of the congress-, granting compen-
sation to certain classes of employees
Of the government, should be extended
to include all employees of the govern
ment and should be made more liberal
in It's terms. There is no good ground
for the distinction made in the law be-
tween those engaged in hazardous &C.
equations n those not so engaged.
If a man is injured or killed in any
line OF work, it was hazardous in his
case. Whether l per cent Or 10 per
cent OF those following a given occu-
patton actually suffer injury or death
ought not to have any bearing on the
question Of their receiving cOmpensa-
ton. 1t Is a grim logic which says t"
an injured employee or to the depend
ents of n killed. that he or they are
entitled to no compensation, because
very few people other h he have
been injured or killed in that occupa-
ton. Perhaps one of the most strik-
ing omissions in the law is that it
does not embrace peace officers and
others whose lives may be sacrificed
in enforcing the laws of the United
States. The terms of the act pro
vidins compensation should be made
more liberal than in the present act.
A ears compensation is not adequate
for a 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 TIL" accident,
the family would only receive as COM
penSatlon the equivalent of one or two
months earnings. In this respect, the
generosity of the United States
towards its employees compares most
unfavorably with that of every coun-
try 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 emplOye. 1t
is inevitable hat daily familiarity with
danger Will lead men to AXE chances
hat can be construed into negligence.
So well is this recognized that in prac-
tically all countries In the civilized
world, except the United States. only
a great degree of negligence acts as
a bar to securing compensation. Prob
ably in no other respect is our }Nglsla-
ton, both state and national. so far
behind practically the entire civilized
world as in the matter of liability and
compensation for accidents in lndus-
try. 1t is humiliating that at Euro
pean international congresses on ac-
cidents the United States should be
singled out as the most belated among
the nations in respect to employers IL
ability legislation. This government Is
itself a large employer of labor. and
in it's dealings with its employees it
should set a standard in this COUNTRY
which would place 1t on a 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. and no American h reads
this summary can fail to be struck by
the great contrast between our prac-
tees and theirs-a contrast not i'll any
sense to our credit.
The congress should without further
delay PASS a model employers liabil-
ity law for the District of Columbia.
The employers liability act recently
declared unconstitutional, on account
of apparently including in it's provi-
sions employees engaged in intrastate
as well as those engaged in
interstate commerce, has been held by
the local courts to be still In effect SO
far as it's provisions apply to the Dis
trirt OF Columbia. There should be no
ambiguity on this point II there is
any doubt on the subject, the law
should be re-enacted with special ref
erence to the District of Columbia.
This act, however, applies only to en-
ployes OF ommon carriers. In all
other occupations the liability law OF
the District is the old common law.
The severity and injustice of the coln-
mon law in this matter has been in
some degree or another modified in
the majority of our states, and the
only jurisdiction under the exclusive
control Of the congress should be
ahead and not behind the states of the
| nIH i N This nGran =, rvn hA,
sive employers liability law should be
passed for the District of Columbia.
l renew my recommendation made
in a previous message that half-holi
days be granted during summer to all
Wage-Worker in government employ.
/ 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 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 of increasing the to-
tally inadequate salaries now given to
our Judges. On the whole there is no
body Of public servants who do as val
liable work. nor whose moneyed re-
"dlu 10 81 iilducQudle ~lpd TO
their work. Beginning with the SUI
preme court he judges should have
their salaries doubled. 1t is not beft-
ting the dignity of the nation that it's
most honored public servant 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.
1t is earnestly to be desired that
some method should be devised for
doing AVA with the long delays which
now obtain in the administration of
justice. and which operate with pc
culiar severity against persons Of small
means. and favor only the very Grim
inals whom it is most desira BILE to pun
ish. These long delays in the final
decisions OF cases MAKE in the aggre-
gate a crying evil. and a remedy should
be devised Much Of this intolerable
delay is due to improper regard paid
to technicalities which are a mere
hindrance to justice. In some noted
recent cases this over-regard for tech
nicalities has resulted in a striking
denial of justice. and fragrant wrong
to the body polite.
At the last election certain leaders
J ~ nrro p,i0nl Ia hnr ,paln =, 49,. -,