Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-09

~.
perhaps it would be, more accurate to say
!, In steady efforts in many different direc-
! tions, to bring about a condition or AZ
| fairs under which the men who work Win
perintendents, the men who produce 1or
! the market and the men who ma mar
| ket for the articles produced, snail own a
far greater share than at presens or tte re
| invest it in the tools and instruments ny
which all work is carried on. AS 1ar As
ton of the advantages conferred by ma
| chinery organization, and division OF
| labor, accompanied by an EFFORT TO bflnS
| about n larger share in the ownership by
wage-worier of railway, mill, and fac
tory. In farming. this simply means that
| we wish to see the farmer own his oun
ansentsn ;d,ss '' landlords who who farm theri by
tenants. nor yet SO fmall that the fulmer
lie E"pesn savnss bans aoM
d't iation. These are ali capitalists. who
through the he sayirgs hamas oim any
various industries. The more we Increase
their nurlben the more we introduce the
| principles of cooperation into our indus
| try Every increase in the number of
| small stockholders in corporations Is a
good thing for the same reasons; ara
ers .he result is pai ticularly good. Very
much of this movement must oc outside
Of ANYTHING that can hP accomplished by
| legislation; but legislation can do .gond
deal. Postal savings banks Wi! make 1t
easy for he poorest to keep their savings
| in absolute safety. The regulation of the
national highways must be such that they
shall serve all people with equal Justice.
| Corporate finances must be supervised so
as 20 make it far safer than at present
! for the man of small means 10 invest ms
money in stocks. There must be prolihi-
ton of child labor. diminution of woman
| labor. Shortening of hours oil all me
chanical labor; stock watering should en ne
| as is possible discouraged. There snould
be progressive inheritance tax on large
| fortunes. Industrial education should be
tighten the burden Of taxnt!on ON the
small man. We should put a premium
| upon thrift. hard work and business el-
| ergv; but these qualities cease to be the
| main factors in accommodating fortune
| lorg before that fortune reaches polht
where it would be seriolsly affected pv
| any inheritance tax such as ! propose: u
| is -minertly right that the Nation should
| fix the terms upon which the great for
| tunes are inherited They rarely do good
| ana they often do harm to those WHO IN
herit them in their entirety.
Protection for Wageworkers.
The above is the :nerest sketch, hardly
even a sketch in outline, of the reforms $
for which we SHOULD w,rk. Bat there is
| one matter with which the Congress
should deal at this session. There should
no longer be any paltering with the cues
who, under omr present, industrial sys-
ten. become killed, crippled. or worn out
as part of the regular industrial sys-
en- business The majority Of wagework-
ers must have their rights secured for
them by state action; but the National
Government should lcgislate in thorough
for all employees Of the National Gov
ernment. but for all persons engaged IN
interstate commerce. Tie object sought
fob could be achieved TO-, n'easllra pie
degree, as far as those killed or crippled
are concerned. by proper employers lla-
blitv laws. AS far as concerns those
who have been worn out, | call Your at
tention to the fact that definite sters to-
ward providing old-age pensions have
been taken in many Of our private indus
tries. These may he Indefinitely extended
tributorv schemes. or through the agency
oi savings banks, as under the recent
Massachusetts plan. TO strengthen these
practical inca should be our imme-
diate duty; it is not II. present necessary
to consider the larger and more general
governmental schemes that most euro
pean governments Eave found themselves
obliged to adopt.
TEN, works dreadful wrong, and is of
benefit to only one class of peonle-the
lawyers. When a workman IS injured
what he needs is not an expensive and
doubtful lawsuit. but the certainty of
relief through immediate administrative
action. The number Of accidents which
workers, in the Union at large, is simply
appalling: in a very few years IL runs up
a total far in excess of the aGsrcs%te OF
the dead and @ wounded IN any any moner.l .Tranl
dom of contract" or constitutional lib
ertv to contract should be permitted to
interfere with this and siriilar, move
ments. Progress in civilization has ev-
ervwhere meant q limitation and regula-
ton of contract | call your especial at.
tention to the bulletin of the Bureau OF
methods of treating the unemployed IN
European Countries as this is a subject
which in Germany, for instance, is traat-
ed in connection with making provision
for worn out ard crippled wori1men.
Pending a thoroughgoing investigation
and action there is certain LEGISLATION TIC.
which should be enacted ut once. me
law, passed at the last session of the
Congress. granting compensation TO GER
tain classes of employees OF IN" Govern,
ment. should be extended to include az
nmnlovecs of the Government and should
be made more liberal in its terms There
is no good ground for the distlnctlon
made in the law between those engaged IN
hazardous occupations ard those not so
engaged. If q man is in jurcd on Killed IN
anv line Of work. it was hazardous III ms
case Whether 1 per cent. or IN per cent
of those following a given occupation ;ic-
tually suffer injury or death ought not 10
have any bearing on the question of their
receiving compensation. 1t is Il Srnn iOS-
ic which SAYS to an injured employee or
to the dependents of one killed that he or
they are entitled to no compensation be-
cause very few people other than he have
been injured or killed in that occupation
perhapS one of the most striking Onlis-
sions in the law is that it does not en-
brace peace officers and others whose
lives may be sacrificed in enforcing the
laws of tine United States The terms Of
the :ut providing compensation should be
made more liberal than in the present act.
A Years compensation is not adequate for
a wage learners 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 the accident, the family
would only receive as compensation the
euuiva lent of one or two months earn
ings. Ir this respect the generosity of
the United States towards its employees
compares most unfaVorably with that Of
every country in Europe-even the poor
est
The terms of the act are also a hard
ship in prohibiting payment i'll cases
where the accident is in any way due to
the negligence of the employee. 1t is
inevitable. that daily Familiarity with dan
ger will lead men to take chances that
can be construed into negligence. So we'll
is this recognized that in practically all
countries in the civilized world, except
the United States. only a great degree of
negligence acts as a bar to securing COM
pensation. Probably in no other respect