The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-14


 from his burdened desk. now I don't know as I can tell very much about that species of damage suit. The out and-out fake case is rare in our courts. A very small percentage of the damage cases tried here are what I would call fake You know what 1 mean by fake. I mean fake.
 "Yes, have fought them in my day fought all kinds. Been in the business 30 years; that is to say, on the other side. Yet the only very striking flake species T ever had to fight was several years ago in what is known as the Berry wreck.
 sIt was a negro excursion trip-nearly 200 negroes on the train Twenty-eight were killed and large number in ljured. Well, pretty nearly every nigger in Jefferson county claimed to have been | in that wreck.
 .'There was literally no way of determ- lining. who was and who wasn't. Seven Of the suits brought against the South Tern railway by so-called relatives of so- lcalled deceased, turned out to be faked lup cases. I remember I presented one negro alleged to be a dead one, who had been put in hiding at the mines for nearly Ia year, to his bereaved father right in the court room.
 From Grave to Witness Chair "The bereaved father had completely deceived the attorney who had his case, and he became very much more bereaved before we had all done with him. But, as a matter of fact, the fake cases are in the minority here in Birmingham. At Ilanta is worse than we are for this sort | of thing-much worse.
 "The trivial cases, the bolstered up cases? Oh. that's another matter. Plenty of these in Birmingham, and everywhere else. Simply a logical development of | the damage suit business. s | And you want ta go back-a good ways back. How did everything start? In the first place the origin of the damage suit business was of course the happening lof injuries. Now in a district such as, | for instance, the Birmingham district, where the hazards of industry are so great many and many an accident has happened. in the mines and on the raii- roads, involving serious injuries. By seri- ous injuries I do not mean. temporary disablement, anything small-but serious, tragic accidents bearing in their wake a whole train of disastrous consequences. We'll, under the old system, here and else- where, there was actually no compensa- tion for the employe injured or for his family, if he were killed.
 | No Humane Policy | There was, no prompt, or adequate means adopted by the employer to settle with the employe. The method of dispos- | ing of personal injury cases that has maintained here in the past has been. bar barous. Thinking of certain things-it turns me sick to remember
 | But, you know the old rules, the fellow servant rule, contributory negligence as- ,r,fi of rtc technical points relating to master and servant where the servant does not come in for much At least 50 per cent. of accidents | in Birmingham are due to the hazards of industry.
 well, following all this, what was natural result? Simply the institution or lthe damage suit business, necessity in the beginning for the cause of justice and common humanity. Now, in the com petition for legitimate suits what mas happened as time has gone on?
 'sThe damage suit business has under gone a change The competition bred, in itself. another class of lawyers. It bred the shyster lawyer. The speculative feature entered into it. In the old times people never thought for a second Of suing for a temporary disablement or a slight injury. But gradually the chance | of obtaining an excessive amount of money for slight injuries showed itself and then the game began and today they sue for anything
 Good Pay, No Work
 "The spirit to make big damands, to get something for nothing, to get easy money, especially with a large class Of the negro population here, has begun to wax strong in the land. remarkable aptitude to expand facts has developed among A certain class of citizens, and ldexterity in planting the seeds of many a blooming plant in the fruitful soil of a Jefferson county jury!
 s,Yes, it's all turned into a game-a 1game of chance. The just and humane as- pect has been all but lost in this game The legitimate cases have been injured Every party concerned is injured The tendency to magnify and to bolster up the personal injury suit has certainly mini mixed the genuine personal injury suit, there's no question as to that.
 And meanwhile, other conditions are changing. The attitude all over the world lis now to regard business as a CO., Ioperative venture between the employer and the employe; to look upon their la lbors, duties and obligations as a source of mutual interest and of mutual profit The old spirit of antagonlsm-boss and slave business-that does not go any more
 Not today it doesen't. Not in America
 What has been the outcome of this at lttude? It has been the enactment ol flaws for the just compensation of work lers. That is what we should have ir Alabama. Progressive states all over the country are .agitating this question. Who shall be among the first to lead?
 Why not Alabama?
 q notice here that the New York com. Iuensation law has been found unconstitu- ltional.
 Alabama Must Follow Suit
 '"rhe supreme court of Alabama would of necessity. have to decide as the New York court, unless certain amendments are arranged for. But on the other iiand I see that Gov. Woodrow Wilson has re- cently approved workers compensation lact passed by the New Jersey legisla- ture one so framed as to meet that con. lstitutional objection
 We can do 1t here.
 we are coming to this. It Is the one lsolution of the workers problems, the employers problems and the sole means oi 1reforming the damage suit business, as 1.-the damage suit business has now grown Ito be in Birmingham
 "The attitude towards industry is diff lferent in this district. In recent years 1.-the railroads. know. have adopted the policy of prompt investigation and fair lsettlement, fighting only those cases that lwere not meritorious, or where excessive damages were claimed In times past the railroads and companies fought 'em all regardless. But they didn't adhere very long to that. AS to the policy we shal lpursue with the city, we shall, of course texamine into every case and settle where