The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-09-06
LABOR LAUDED
BY JAS. DUNCAN
Continued from arst page.

Continued from hrst page.
facturers Is TO charge unions with max
ing rules limiting output. Fools rusi
IN where angels fear TO tread The trade
agreement representing collective bar
gaining provides for a minimum wag'
rate. The ordinary workman Is paid ths
minimum wage rate. and the extra
skilled or expert workman IS paid a high.
er rate, according 20 his extra earning
capacity. II the worker Is employed
BY the piece system, he earns what ht
can BY scale This shows that union.
cannot be charged with limitation Of out
put. In fact, the charge is only made
70 prejudice the public mind against
organized workmen.
"But IL Is a fact that employers too
often make the minimum wage rate
mentioned in the trade agreement the
maximum wage rate OF their pay roll,
and because the agreement does not ar
bitrarily designate the value OF the
earning power Of the extra skilled, such
employers endeavor to pay the better
skilled workmen the minimum rate and
then they complain about having To pay
the ordinary workmen the minimum
rate. II Is a daring and unjust scheme,
but the injustice cannot be charged to
the unions.
"0n the other hand, books could be
written about limitation Of output by
many employers, especially by the great
corporations, to keep up prices. Bulle-
tins issued by the department Of labor
in Washington show. for instance, that
in coal mining the mine owners do not
permit the miners 20 average over 2l0
working days a year, and in some in
stances as low as 1856 days, This Illus
tration Is given because Of the access
to definite statistics What Is true in
this instance may be applied to many
other industries, but Kirby ct al con-
slider such conduct simply shrewd bust
ness tactics In the textile industry it
is common occurrence for mills to be
shut down for weeks, in order to hold
or to force up the price Of manufactured
fabrics In the rubber trade, in which
Mr.. Aldrich of Rhode Island is quite
interested the same custom is openly
practiced. With such an array OF trade
facts available, the average citizen would
think Mr. Kirby ct al. would blush vita
shame in charging the unions with limit
ing output.
~Ihe labor movemerA il conducting an
active campaign for the enactment Of
practical laws ON workmen's compensa-
ton in case Of injury while at work.
The old idea still remains law in many
states that no compensation is due
where an accident can directly or indi
rectly be attributed to the act or rnisnap
OF a co-employe. In our time, IL IS not
encouraging to witness the array Of
legal talent that is put up to oppose
the efforts Of organized labor when an
Is made 70 modernize those acts
Ike United States Is the only civilized
country that still retains the old rela-
between employer and employe
In matters Of this kind. Every other
civilized nation has In some measure
enacted q new system, tnat IS more
equitable and more prohibtive Of aeci-
dents. AT the time when the employer
and the employee, worked side BY side
and each in part shared the risks and
Of the other, there may
have been an appearance Of justice in
the so-called co.employe act, but in our
time II is out Of date.
"The legislation desired on this sub
iect puts workmen's compensation for
injury on the industry III which they
are employed and names specific sums
for injuries 10 be paid direct to the
injured worker, on To bis family If lie
were killed, instead Of through lengthy
in court. In this proposed
organized workmen are
charged with endeavoring to place the
cost Of relief on the employer The
charge is not wen founded If a man
il employed in a certain industry and is
killed or an accident occurs which rem
ders him unable to follow his employ
ment for months where should compen-
sation be placed, excepting on the indus
try III which he was engaged9 This is
80 clear that a supporting argument
would be tiresome
Gas far as the amount involved in
cold cash is concerned, it il not clear
that even if workmens compensation |
were directly charged to employers by
law that injustice would be done them
Under the present system where com
pensation Of any kind is possible, en-
Dloyers protect themselves by paying |
INTO liability companies for insurance |
against accidents to workmen. Stats
lies show that about $l00,000,000 per
lnnum are paid by employers in the |
United States for this purpose. Out Of |
hat sum about S4.o00,000 are paid to
in the settlement Of compen-
iation for injuries and about half Of /
INIT sum has to be paid BY the injured /
men to attorneys for services and ex-
,enses. The remaining S56,000000 are
absorbed by liability companies to pay 1
he cost of administration, litigation and /
general incidental expenses. If the
mount. Sl00000000, were put into a
lireet fund. from which. with well-de-
ined sums for the different kinds of 1
INJURIES, the injured workman or his
amily would directly receive compensa
ion. the amount to the injured would