The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1912-02-29

OF the liability for the injuries to it,
employees on an insurance basis.
The third objection is that the right
of trial by jury, guaranteed by the
seventh amendment, is denied. As 4
matter of fact, the right is preserved
in this act by permitting jury to
pass on the issue when duty demand.
ed in accordance with the limitation
of the act. sincerely hope that this
act will PASS. I deem 1t one of the
great steps Of progress toward
satisfactory solution Of an i'm.
portant phase Of the controversies
between employer and employees
that has been proposed within
the last two or three decades. The
old rules of liability under the com.
mon law were adapted to different
age and condition and were evidently
drawn by men imbued with the i'm
portance Of preserving the employers
from burdensome or unjust liability.
It was treated as personal matter
of each employee, and the employer
and the employee were put on level
of dealing, which, however, it may
have been in the past. certainly
creates injustice to the employee I'M
der the present conditions.
One of the great objections to the
old common law method of settling
questions of this character was tho
lack of uniformity in the recoveries
made by injured employees and ty
the representatives of those who sui.
fered death. Frequently, meritorious
cases that appealed strongly to every
sense of human justice were shut
out by arbitrary rules limiting the
liability of the employer, on the other
hand, often by perjured evidence and
the undue emotional generosity OF
the jury, recoveries were given fa1
in excess of the real injury, and
sometimes on facts that hardly JUST.
fled recovery at all. Now under this
system the tendency will be to create
as nearly uniform system as can
be devised; there will be recoveries in
every case and they will be limited
by the terms of the law so as to be
reasonable.
The great injustice of the present
system by which recoveries of YER
diets of any size do not result in &C.
tual benefit to the injured persons be-
cause of the heavy expense Of the liti
cation and the fees charged by the
counsel for the plaintiff, will disap-
pear under this new law by which the
fees Of the counsel are limited to a
very reasonable amount. The cases
will be disposed of most expeditiously
under this system and the money will
be distributed for the support of the
injured person over a number of
years so as to make it's benefit great.
er and more secure.
Of course, the great object of this
act is to secure justice to the weaker
party under existing modern condi-
tons, but a result hardly less import
ant will follow from this act that I
can not fail to mention.
The administration of justice today
is clogged in every court by the great
number of suits for damages for per-
sonal injuries. The settlement of
such cases by this system will serve
to reduce the burden of our courts
one-half by taking the cases out of
court and djsposing of them by this
short cut. The remainder of the
business in the courts will thus have
greater attention from the judges and
will be disposed of with much greater
dispatch. In every way, therefore, the
act demands your earnest considera,
ton and l sincerely hope that it may
be passed before the adjournment o!
this session of congress. There &C.
companies the letter of transmittal Of
Senator Sutherland not only the re.
port of the commission, but also the
hearings Of witnesses by the commits.
sion, all of which is herewith sub
mitted.
WILLIAM H. TAFT.