The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1912-08-30
TO THE WAGE FARMERS OF
WASHINGTON.

tho union have already enacted or are
preparing to pass such laws. Washing
ton so far has the only compulsory leg
islation; all the other states have
"elective,' OF optional acts. In Wash
iugton, Ohio and Massachusetts,, work
accident victims are paid out of a com
mon fund to which the employers con
tribute In other states, the individual
employer or plant pays for each acct
dent from 80 to SO per cent. of wages
of the injured for limited periods-in-
Guiding medical treatment cost, or most
Of it.
The Washington State Insurance sys.
TEN has succeeded beyond the best hopes
of its friends and sponsors. In this act,
one of The youngest states is giving the
older commemorative another example
Of wise and progressive law. The
states control over public utility cor
porations giving the suffrage to women,
cight-hour laws for underground miners
and women wage earners, full crew law
for railways, and other laws enacted
during the past four years in the in
terest of labor deserve full praise and
should not be forgotten in the triumph
Of our compensation act.
Up to August l employers in the Al
compulsory classes or groups had paid
S79l 1887 into the accident fund, from
which in ten months $503,l44.6S had
been taken for cash accident awards
and reserves to guarantee pensions of
widows and orphans One hundred and
fifteen deaths had been reported, 60
requiring no pensions, there being no
dependents. Nine thousand two hun
dred and twelve accidents were formal
ly reported to the industrial insurance
commission in the same period, October
!, 1911, to August l, 1912.
The compensation act has thus usher
ed in an area Of publicity regarding the
appalling manning. Remembering and
killing Of working men in the mines,
mills and workshops Of our state. The
great question must now become not
what we can give to pay for pain and
suffering and even death. but how can
we best safeguard those who toll This
will be real progress; compensation must
ever be mere apology,
Concerned as We have been as to how
the little home flock could be kept to-
gether when the breadwinner was
stricken down in his endeavor to make
an honest living. and thinking in terms
Of dollars and cents how much it would
take to keep the wolf from the door
during these times Of industrial disaster.
We may have overlooked the fact Tor
was it because we were not familiar
with it'1 that, according to the best
authorities who have made accident pre-
vention a scientific study for a number
Of years. - to 80 per cent. of the acct
dents that occur are preventable.
If this is true, my fellow workmen,
what are the steps necessary to be
taken I sha. not attempt to enum.
crate the many things that might be
done which would reduce these casual
tiesi but one or two which ! believe are
practical and for which l trust you will
lend your aid, seem to me at this time
necessary
First: Each ,tate. with the exception
Of Washington, has incorporated in its
compensation laws what I will term
first aid. treatment Of the injured
worFnen This First air" consists not
only Of surgical treatment for the vie
tim Immediately after the injury, but
continuous treatment until he is again
restored To the best possible condition
by the best possible medical ingenuity
and skill The amount OF such treat
ment given varies in the different states
from 300 to 5000. being borne entirely
by th" employer in whose employ the
workman was hurt. The Washington
compensation act should have such a
provision
Second. Legislation looking to the
merging OF the bureau Of labor with that
q the industrial insurance commission,
as recommended by Governor Hay, so
mat every accident deemed prevent
able and every plant proven extra