The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-11-25

ducton of the dangers and the risk in
cident to modern ndustrialism itself
In other words. what the laboring man
is interesed in is not in recovering
damages, but in securing safety; and
) what the wives and children of those
| certain right of action for the loss of
, their protector, but in having the pro
; tector come back to his home and fam
lily at the end of each day of labor safe
and sound As when he went away in
the morning.
1t is reflection upon the capacity
of the American people for self-govern-
ment that here in this great, free coun
try of ours we are clinging to archaic
and almost barbaric system of COM
pensating those who are injured in the
modern system of industry after al
most every civilized country on the face
of the earth has abandoned it. Not
withstanding all these laws for the in
spection of factories, for he prevention
of child labor. for the improvement and
safety of mines and other dangerous
occupations, the toll that modern in
dustrialism still eXacts from those who
conduct it presents tragedy unequal
ed in the history of civilization.
1t is unnecessary, I take it, to tell
you that the deaths incident to modern
industrialism are greater than the
deaths resulting from war in which
two great armies would be constantly
engaged. From statistics obtained from
newspapers recently | learn that he
deaths on railroads during the year
ending June 3, 1910, amounted to al
most 1000, an increase of 1000 over
the last preceding year, and what It
had been practically for number of
years prior to that time, and the people
injured in the conduct of the railways
of the country numbered nearly 10000
1t has been estimated that if the pres
ent rate continues, in the next fifteen
years 100000 railroad employees will
be either killed or injured in the CON
duet of the railroads of this country.
Statistics show that something like
10000 miners lose their lives each year
in this country This is unnecessary.
and to a certain extent is due to our
present inadequate system of compen-
| ca in in hn of
modern industry. This is shown by the
fact that scarcely one fourth as many
are injured or killed in certain foreign
countries as are injured and killed in
this country in the operation of under
ground mines.
"While the two occupations | have
named are the most dangerous, yet
there was exhibited recently in the city
of Boston a miniature guillotin which
arose and fell ten times every minute.
indicating the number of lives sacrificed
in this country in the conduct of mod
ern industry, and light flickered and
went out twice each minute to indicate
the deaths due to tuberculosis, a disease
that often results from unhealthy en-.
ployment and insanitary conditions in
modern industry has eXacted from the
laboring men of this country. The
economic laws of these human lives
present Il figure that almost staggers
comprehension, presents an amount of
actual loss and injuries to this country
that makes other economic questions
seem insignificant in comparisons. And
yet, Notwithstanding this great loss,
we still adhere to the old system of
saying to man who is hurt in the
conduct of modern industry, You can
only recover damages if you can prove
it was due to the negligence of your
employer, that it was not contributed
to by your own negligence or the neg
ligence of fellow servant The only
compensation for yourself in case of
injury, or for your family in case of
your death, must rest upon preponder
ance of testimony before a jury that
the injury or death was due to the
negligence of the employer and was
not risk incident to the employment
or contributed to by your own negli-
gence or the negligence of an employe.
statistics from our courts show that
of those injured by modern Industrial
ism not over fifteen per cent have a
cause of action under our present sys-
, tenn for the injuries they have received
because not over fifteen per cent OF
, those injured according to tine decisions
of the courts, are due TO the negligence
, of the employers About fifteen pei
cent are due to the negligence of fel
low servants, and the balance fall il
i Continued on page 81