Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-02-29
TNFTFAV0RS LIABILITY ACT
RECOMMENDS FINDING OF COM.
MISSION ON COMPENSATION.
Would Cost Railroads Is Per Cent
More Than Under Present Sys-
TEN, to Benefit of Injured.

tenn, to Benefit of Injured.
Washington, Feb. 2O.-Presidenr
Taft transmitted to congress a spe-
cial message Oh the report of q board
appointed two years ago to investi-
gate the subject of employers lia-
bility and workmen's compensation.
The message follows:
To the Senate and House OF Representa-
tives:
l have the honor to transmit herewith
the report Of the Employers Liability
Resolution No. Al, approved June 20,
1910, ''To make a thorough investigation
of the subject Of employers liability and
compensation, and to- submit
a report through the President to the
Congress of the United States"
The commission recommends a care
fully-drawn bill. entitled. "A bill to pro-
vide an exclusive remedy and compensa-
ton for accidental injuries resulting in
disability or death, to employees of COM
mon carriers by railroads engaged in in
terstate or foreign or in the
District of Columbia, and for other pur-
poses"
This bill works out in detail a compen-
sation for accidental injuries to en-
ployees of common carriers in interstate
railroad business, ON the theory Of insur-
ing each employee against the results OF
injury received in the course OF the en-
ployment. without reference to his con-
tributory negligence, n without any of
the rules obtaining in the common law
limiting the liability Of the employer in
such case. The only case in which no
compensation is to be allowed by the act
IS where the injury or death OF the en-
ployee is occasioned by his wilful inten-
ton to bring about the injury or death of
himself or of another, or when the in
jury results from his intoxication while
on duty.
1t is unnecessary to got into the de-
tails of the bill, They are, however,
most admirably worked out. They pro-
vide for a medical and hospital service
for the injured man, for a notice OF the
injury to the employees. where such no
tice is not obviously given by the acci-
dent itself; for the fixing of the recovery
by agreement; If not by agreement. by
an official adiuster, to be confirmed by
the court, and. if a jury is demanded, to
be passed on by a jury. The amount of
recovery is regulated in proportion to the
wages received and the more or less Sc
rious character of the injury where death
does not ensue. specific provision beihg
made for particular injuries, in so far
as they can be specified. The compen-
sation is to be made in the form of an
nual payments for a number of years or
for life. The fees to be paid to attor-
neys are specifically limited by the act.
The remedies offered are exclusive OF
any other remedies.
The statistical investigation seems to
show that under this act the cost TO the
railroads would be perhaps % per cent
more than the total cost which they now
incur.
The report of the commission has been
very able and satisfactory. The investi-
cations have been most thorough, and
the discussion of the constitutional ques-
tons which have arisen in respect to the
validity Of the bill is of the highest merit.
Three objections to the validity of the
bill, of course, occur. In the first place.
the question arises whether under the
provisions Of the commerce clause, the
bill could be considered to be a regulation
of interstate and foreign commerce. That
seems to be already settled by the decis-
ion of the Supreme Court in the employ
ers' liability case. The second question
is whether the making of those remedies
exclusive and the compelling of the rail-
road companies to meet obligations aris-
ing from injuries. for which the railroad
would not be liable under the common
law. is a denial of the due process of law
which is enjoined upon congress by the
fifth amendment to the Constitution in
dealing with the property rights. This
question the report takes up, and In an
exhaustive review of the authorities,
makes clear, as it seems to me, the va
lidity of the act, This is the question
which in the Court of Appeals of the
, State of New York was decided adversely
: to the validity of the compensation act
r adopted by the legislature of that state
l sincerely hope hat this act VIII pass
Z l deem 1t one of the great steps Of prog
0 ress toward a satisfactory solution Of al
important phase of the controversies be
tween employer and employee that ha!
D been proposed within the last two ol
a three decades. The old rules of liability
under the common law were adapted Il
, a different age and condition and were
, evidently drawn by men imbued with the
Importance of preserving the employers
{ from burdensome or unjust liability. II
. was treated as a personal matter OF each
employee, and the employer and the en-
= -1aryAa ylNt on a laval Of dealing
: which, however, it may have been in the
past. certainly creates injustice to the
employee, under the present conditions
One Of the great objections to the old
9 common law method of settling questions
l of this character was he lack of uni
formity in the ~recoveries made by In
] jured employees. and by the representa-
l tives of those who suffered death. Ere.
uuently, meritorious cases that appealed
strongly to every sense of human justice
were shut out by arbitrary rules limiting
the liability of the employer. on thu
other hand, often by per1ured evldenc'
and the undue emotional generosity o
the jury, recoveries were given faf II
excess of the real injury. and sometimes
on facts that hardly justified recovery a
g all. Now, under this system the ten
dency will be to create as nearly a uni
form system as can be devised. Their
Il viii be recoveries in every case, and the!
S will be limited by the terms OF the law
so as to be reasonable. The great in
] vi LlAV IN1NAA ~ "'NNAN - -'-@-
j, recoveries of verdicts of any size do no
result in actual benefit to the injured
person because of the heavy expense o
e the litigation and the fees charged b,
the counsel for the plaintiff, will dis
= appear under this new law by which tn
L. fees of the counsel are limited to a yer,
reasonable amount. The cases will b
. disposed of most expeditiously under thi
IS system, and the money will be dttrib
a uted for the support of the injured per
son over q number of years so as I
make its benefit greater and more sc
sure. OF course, the great object OF TIL
- act is to secure justice to the weake
70 party under existing modern conditions
T. but a result hardly less important wi
follow from this act that ! can not IA
d to mention. The administration Of jus
D. tice today is clogged in every court b
/. the great number Of suits for damage
T. for personal injury. The settlement {
L. such cases by this system will serve I
reduce the burden of our courts one-ha
by taking the cases out OF court and dis
posing of them by this short cut. II
remainder of the business in the court
III the Judges and will be disposed of wit
n much greater dispatch. In every wa,
W. therefore,, the act demands your earne'
lie consideration, and / sincerely hope tn;
II may be passed before the adjournmel
of this session of congress.
There accompanies the letter of tram
initial of Senator Sutherland not only IL
report of the commission, but also II
az hearings Of witnesses by the commission
ir all of which is herewith submitted.
WIN. H. TAFT.
The Silent Father.