The Colorado statesman., 1910-09-10

was not passed since tneh tne "
paniss In fault have os,entauousy ,-,,h
the objectionable conditions. nope so,
nut whether they have or not. law
should be passed In stringent form 10 pre-
vent any possible backsliding.
So Il IL in the matter OF injuries 70 IN
niovee. In what Is called employer
liability legislation other Industrial ooun-
tries have accepted the principle tnat .ne
industry must bear the monetary ourue"
of its human sacrifices, and that tne en-
pioyee who is injured shall have n.eu .eu
and sefinite sum The United States sui
proceeds on an outworn and curiousy I'm,
proper principle, in accordance with . whisn
IL has too often been held by the couI.s
that the frghtfui burden OF the scoioens
shall be borne in its entirety by the very
person least able TO bear II. Fortunately,
in a number OF states-in Wisconsin Ano
in New York, for instance-these oeiees
in our Industrial life are either peihs s
remedied or else are being mace suDy
of intelligent study with view 10 theiI
remedy. In New York bill emoodyins
moderate compensation for accidents mas
already been passed Other sthtes VII
undoubtedly follow In the same pain m ~
Federal government has. so iaI -
first to recognise and put into shape TINS
principie However. this pioneer law was
not made comprehensive enousni uo'
not cover all the employees OF the ~
eral government that ought TO come o.
in its provisions, and the amount paiu ior
permanent disability or death h enureiy
inadeuuats Nevertheless, It was greas
step in advance TO nave this principie .,
workingmsn compensation accepteu ~
embodied in the Federal statutes, anu .o
recent action Of congress in providing for
a commission to study and report upon
the subject gives promise that the same
principle will soon be applied to private
firms that come within the Jurisdiction OF
the Federal government
Federation Planks Approved
Women and children should. beyond
all question, be protected; and In their
cases there can be no question that tho
states should act. They should De par
ticular objects OF our solicitude; ana tney
should be guarded in an effective tashioh
against the demands of a too greedy com
mercialism On my recent trip In the
neighborhood of Scranton and Wilkes-
barre every one I spoke to agreed as 10
the immense improvement that hao oeeh
wrought by the effective enforcement oi
the laws prohibiting children under the
age of fourteen years from working, ana
prohibiting women from working more
than ten hours a day. Personally. think
ten hours too long; but, be this as II may
ten hours day was great advance.
Among the planks in the PLATFORM OF
the American Federation of Labor there
are some to which I very strongly sub
scribe. They are:
/ Free schools; free TEXTBOOKS; ana
compulsory education.
A work-day Of not more than eight
hours.
8. Release from employment one day in
seven.
T. The abolition of the sweat-shop sys-
tenn.
8. Sanitary inspection of factory. work
shop. mine. and home.
g. Liability OF employers for injury to
body or less OF life.
Il regard the demand in this form as In
adequate What we need Is an automat-
cally hved compensation for all injuries
received by the employee in the course OF
his duty. this being infinitely better for
the employee and more Just to the en-
ployer The only sufferers will be law
yers of that undesirable class which exists
chiefly by carrying lawsuits of this
nature)
I. The passage and enforcement Of rigid
anti-child labor laws which will cover
every portion of this country
8. Suitable and plentiful Fairgrounds
for children in all the cities.
Inasmuch as prevention is always best
especial attention should be paid to the
prevention of Industrial accidents by pass
ing laws requiring tho use of safety de-
vices. At present the loss of life and
limb among the industrial workers of the
United States Is simply appalling. and
every year equals in magnitude the killed
and wounded in a fair-sized war. Most
OF tneSe Cdbuhlues dfe pftNeHtduics dhu
our legislative policy should be shaped
accordingly. 1t would be a good idea
to establish in every city a museum of
safety devices, from which the workers
could get drawings of them and informa-
tion to how they could be obtained and
used.
The matter of compensation for in
juries to employees is. perhaps, more i'm
mediately vital than any other. The re-
port of the commission which has be-
gun to look into this matter on behalf of
the New York legislature is well worth
reading. The bill presented by the Fed
Grafton of Labor in Wisconsin on this
subject seems excellent. In all dangerous
trades the employer should be forced to
share the burden of the accident. that
the shock may be borne by the commu-
nifty as a whole. This would be a meas
ure of justice in itself, and would do
away with a fruitful source of antagon-
ism between employer and employed.
Our ideal should a rate of wages
sufficiently high to enable workmen to
live in a manner conformable to American
ideals and standards. to educate their
children, and to provide for sickness and
old age; the abolition OF - child labor;
safety device legislation to prevent In
dustrial accidents; and automatic COM
pensation for losses caused by these in
dustrial accidents.