The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-11-14

1 when anything did occur everyone kne
5 the cause and whose fault il was. Me
{ were not then compelled to work
S close proximity to unknown and III
e skilled fellow workmen. Now, note tn
change Beneath the roofs of iron mil
e and furnaces and in the yards appurtt
nant thereto, the daughter OF employe
J is matter of daily occurrence. In som
of the largest of those mills and quar-
, ries the temporary morgue seems to b
, as necessary part of the establish
ment as the stockhouse or the bushes
office, and human life in and about sue
establishments would appear to be tn
cheapest of all raw materials. The su
perintendent who gives orders to tn
foreman, and the foreman to some petit,
bosses, are each and all apparently i'm
bued with the single idea OF having tn
work pushed and rushed to the extrem
limit OF human edurance. An explosion
of gas, slipping of the furnace stock
a tilted ladle, an overturning OF pill
of iron, the breaking of a rotten seat
| ford, the onrush of the unguarded anC
signalless crane. these are some of the
most common of the death-dealing agen.
ces which make human life in and about
our mills, factories and quarries as pre-.
carious as upon battlefield.
| A condition of employment where only
hand tools were used and everybody was
acquainted and all were friends, is far
different from the risk encountered I'M
der our modern system. Workmen who
can neither speak nor understand Eng
lish, who are unaequainted with the du-
ties they will be called upon to perform,
who know nothing of the dangers incl
dent to their employment, are hired by
drones and given over the tender mer-
cies of petty boss, who sets them to
work. They are willing workers, and,
coming from countries where work, rush
and the inordinate desire to get rich
quick are not the only aims in life, and
where the governments have rigid and
just laws to protect employees, they nat
urallv expect, and have right to ex
peet, Of their employers an oversight for
their welfare as BETTING men who
should be guardians, as well as mas
tiers. These men are told of no dan
gers, and when killed or crippled are
put aside to make room for new vic
tins. How any man can reconcile such
want Of care and oversight for those
in his employ with Christian principles
and common humanity, is beyond COM
prehension.
Hazard of occupation" is legal term
which means that every man who works
for another must stand his own loss, il
in the course of his employment he suf
fers an injury, no matter how severe.
At the time Of its adoption as part of
the common law governing the relation
between employer and employe Tor mas
ter and servant, as it is called in lawl
which was some time back in the early
history of gainful employments, its APP
plieation was no doubt fair and reason
able. The risk assumed by the helper in !
the village blacksmith shop. OF BY the |
apprentice, or the carpen
ter's assistant, was practically nothing, |
with most of the mechanical |
of to-day. To uphold. in
this age, the doctrine just considered is
unjustifiable and ridiculous.
So, too, with its close companion, which
Is termed the rule that requires an
employer to exercise ordinary care in
safe places for working. and
which grew ont of the same condition
hat gave us the assumed risk" the
Try.
The legal Interpretation of this rule
$ about as follows: "An employer is 4
Tot bound to furnish for his workmen
he safest machinery, nor to provide
he best methods for its operation, in
rider to save himself from responsible
ty for accidents resulting from its use" {
I the machinery be of ordinary char
cter, and such as can, with reason |
BILE care, be used without danger to |
he employe, it is all that can be re- :,
uired from the employer; this is the
init Of his responsibility and the sum I
otal of his duty. Thus it is seen that i |
nder the rule of assumed risk" which '
nplies that every man who works for $
mother must stand his own loss. if in
he course of his employment he suffers 4
Jury, together with the companion rule i
ist quoted, the courts have steadily a
uilt up for the employers a system b
exemption from liability for their o
egligent acts. until the occasions are
ire indeed in which anything can be
covered against them. :
Under an industrial development with
1t parallel, must it not be admitted
lat the Application OF these ancient
lies as applied to the relation of EN- :
oyer and employe. are altogether be- /
ond the true interests OF society,
hat opportunity, for instance, has the
idge builder or structural ironworker.
know whether the guys and other
,pliances used in the erection of the =
assive structures their occupation calls
EN- TO. are safe. rusted, weakened or
II i reasonable 10 expect
e employees Of the large manufaetur-
z and quarrying industries TO know
neither the derricks. chains and ropes
2 safe or dangerous The hazard of
cupation.- as well as the place Of
safety in which 10 work
: entirely changed. In the light of A
ese facts is il not ridiculously absurd =
insist upon adherence 20 the once u
ssonable. but now brutal. ruies' n
Negligence Of a fellow servant" and -