United labor bulletin., 1909-11-26

rhine disasters and other large industrial
accidents would be materially alleviated.
Make it cheaper to protect people than
it is to mangle and kill them and they
will be protected.
If the widows and orphans of those
who were killed in the st. Paul mine
should bring suit against the mine own
ers and allege and prove that the owners
did not have proper ventilation. that the
mine was not equipped with proper fan
ming devices and that the escapement
shafts provided by statute had not been
supplied. the defense OF the coal mining
company will be. "Of course. we violated
the criminal statutes of Illinois in all
these particulars and had we not violated
those criminal statutes. there would have
been no disaster. We admit that our
criminal conduct has murdered nearly
four hundred men and produced untold
misery for their widows and families, but
1t is our defense that those who are now
dead might have avoided the injury after
they discovered our wrong. Therefore.
they assumed the risk and the living can
not recover damages" This is the de
fense known as the assumption of risk.
Is IL not as If | should point a loaded
rifle at a child and tell him that | was
about to shoot at the place now occupied
by his head and then pull the trigger
Ought any court to listen in such case
to the defense. that the boy knew l was
going TO shoot in his direction and.
knowing that. ought to have gotten out
OF the way?
In 1894 Great Britain declared by an
act of Parliament that such defense
was a disgrace TO modern civllizatio'
/ She declared that industrial accidents
are risks of the business which must be
borne by the business. Similar statuts
were promptly passed by other leading
nations OF the world. 1t will be HAPPY
day for America when public sentimeu,
becomes sufficiently enlightened in this
country to pass law OF that kind. l
have repeatedly urged that such a law
would care for the living and thus
decrease vice and crime. bu, would
largely reduce the number of industrial
accidents.
]
tistics According to the government re
port Of Great Britain. synopsis OF which
any interested reader may find in Bulle.
tin No. So. of the Bureau of Labor of
the United States Government. on page
i3s. the total number of railroad acci-
dents in Great Britain for the year 1905
comprised 81 fatal accidents and i37
%
published by the Interstate Commerce
Commission OF the United States on page
I. states that for three months. ending
on June the 30th, 1909. railroad trains in
America killed SIS persons and injured
5.307. The same proportion exists be-
Britain in other lines OF employment.
Mining accidents in Great Britain. Aus
tralia, Germany and other countries
adopting the British system have become
exceedingly rare. Suppose that the ter
rible calamity at Cherry, Illinois. were
unavoidable. still II would be n risk of
the business and should be borne by the
business. OF course. we do not concede
that the calamity was unavoidable. on
the contrary the evidence submitted by
the Associated Press reports indicates
that 1t would have been easily avoided
However the capitalistic press has al
ready begun apologizing for the op-
orators. An editorial in recent issue
OF a Denver morning paper contains the
, following language: Every operator
does all he can to prevent those acci-
dents which cost so much. II he were
not the most heartless wretch in all the
world. yet would he have n care for his
precious pocketbook and the source of
his income. 1t is TO be accepted as true
appeals to him necessary to protect his
property and the lives of his men,"
The foregoing quotation is fair H.
lustration of the daily newspapers OF the
land. Even sentimental ministers have
already began characterizing the Cherry
Illinois. crime as visitation OF God. 1t
is high time that the American people
should stop resting the responsibility of
industrial accidents upon the shoulders
of the Almighty and do little some
thing to put the responsibility on the
shoulders of the employers. who set in
motion the dangerous agencies which
produce the accidents. II is high time
that we legislate for men, women and
children a little more and for the pro-
lection II property little less. do not
blame the courts very much: | do not
blame American legislatures very much.
because both courts and legislatures re-
(Coptjnued on paoe AN