The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-01-04
was not an unanimous one.
En1p.~yers' Liabilities.

EniEaO SGfS LiapiIitieS.
In February. 1907, the general as.
sembN also appointed special com.
| mittee of three to recommend such leg.
islation as they might think proper to
regulate the liability of employers for
accidents to employees. The chairman
of the committee was an experienced
| LAWYER and of the other members one
was an employer Of labor and the
other prominently connected with 10
Dor organizations.
The constitution of this state and the
fourteenth amendment to the cOnsti
| tuition of the United States make /;
difficult, if not impossible to work ou
here as efficient a system of regula
ton as has been given in some for
! eign countries by statutes known as
workingmen's compensation acts
Every person with us is guaranteed
the right Of trial by jury if he makes
Or if he defends against claim OF
liability Tor damages due to accident
or to any other cause Our courts are
to be kept open to all, and no ones
property can be taken without due
process of lava phrase implying al
least conformity to the maxim that
every one OF whom redress is demand
ed under authority of law is entitled
to his "day in court"
But as respects employments involv-
ing great and special hazards to the
employees it is my opinion that stat.
ute casting certain new Liabilities in
the future on the employer would not
be invalidated by any of these consti-
tutiOnal guarantees. 1t may be that ii
would be supported if even as regards
certain lines of employment 1t limited
the right of trial by jury.
| In drafting any project for such a
statute, if made compulsory upon
those whom it concerns, it would be
necessary to IKE great care to include
no kinds of employment not in fact
| involving great and special hazards.
It would also be indispensable to guard
the interests of both employer and
employee as respects a trial by jury
| before the determination of the fact
| and measure of the employers liabil-
ity could be finally concluded. Such
right to jury trial, however, could
be waived, and it may be that its
| waiver could be exacted by the gen.
eral assembly from both employer and
employee as condition precedent to
| their engaging or continuing In the
| prosecution of a kind of work that is
( specially hazardous.
| The special committee in this state
| to which this subject was referred by
| two previous general assemblies found
| the difficulties to which / have called
| your attention so. serious that they
did not report what could be deemed
a wOrkingmens compensation act, but
only a bill making certain modifica-
lions with respect TO certain industries
in our present lawsas to an employers
| liability These notifications, how
ever, are such as, should the bill so
reported become law, would add essen
| tally TO the rights of employees to In
| demnity from their employers for ac-
| cidents occurring in course Of the en-
| p1oyment. 1t has been framed with
| care by competent men on full consid-
| Grafton. To me it seems as far as 1t
| goes a fair and reasonable measure
and recommend its enactment.
Governments can regulate dangerous
! trades so as to make them less dan
gerouss So, if in the pursuit Of such
trade, accidents occur, whereby q
workingman engaged in following 1t
receives personal injuries, I think the
state can treat the compensation (not
| unrea sonably great for such injuries,
as a proper burden to throw on the
employer, either in whole or part;
thus treating it as part Of the operat-
| ing cost of the business. In SO doing
carelessness on the part of the work
man (unless, perhaps, when so gross
as to be wilfuD would be disregarded
his injuries being regarded as a ma
tural incident of his engaging in SO
hazardous an occupation; and on the
other hand. the compensation being
fixed at a certain sum or made de-
| terminable by. certain fixed rules, the
| employer could form some approx
mate estimate, before engaging in the
| business or setting a price on his pro-
| ducts, of the liability thus thrown
upon him.
Most civilized nations, during the last
forty years, have adopted statutes
| looking to this general end.
| That all these considerations be
| weighed with care is Of particular ne
cessity in a state like ours which is
dependent for it's prosperity on man
ufacturing industries and railroad ia
| cilities, and On the sale of the bulk
1 VI Ilc pIOQuClS
! of it's own borders. We could not af-
| ford to throw a burden on our manu-
| facturers, SO heavy as to render them
unable to compete with those of 9TH
| er states, nor on our railroads so
| heavy. as to justify an increase Of
| freight charges, which would tend to
| the same result.
| The problems involved in this SUBJ
| ject have been investigated by spe-
cial commissions appointed by sew
eral of the states and by several VOL
untary organizations, both of a phil
anthropic and legal character. The
literature on the subject is already
extensive. on both sides of the Allan
| tic That of foreign authorship is,
however. of comparatively little value
to us, on account OF the radical diff
ferences between the forms of consti-
tutional government and the prevail
ing principles of social organizations,
in Europe and the United States.
It may be thought proper to proceed
farther, in the course of the session,
in the direction of framing a working
mems compensation act, but that the
bill so reported to the General As
sembly in 1909 should receive your APP
proval at the earliest practicable mo-
ment, seems to me demanded by the
public interest.
The $1,000 Limit For Death Damages.
In the early days of the colony of
Connecticut, by statute copied from
one in Massachusetts, if death resulted