The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-12-16

| the depths Of the woods and In tht
lditches and caves Of the contractor
engaged in the building Of mammoth
4 industrial projects and the homes o
business and the people. The hear
of the law beats for the woman who
stands at the month Of burning
mine wherein lies the Sill and for
/, ever silent form Of her partner ID
life; for the little child that knows
from the tears OF its mother that the
home. Is desolated; for the man whosf
last dollar has gone from his pocket
and stands a cripple, at theAdoor Of
toll he may not enter more because
OF the loss OF a leg Or an arm or the
sightless socket oEjblighted. vision
1t Is even more; 1t Is already the pic
ture Of the widow whose future II
is to be the gift of happy days on
little plot of ground, allotted her
through the bounty Of the state and
the corporation in whose service her
husband went to his death; 1t is
modest bank account against the
wolf al the door. the sudden call for
J the doctor in the night. And II
were 1ojbe accused of sentiment in
this painting of things as they are,
can only answer with an invita-
ton to walk into the rooms OF the
public service commission devoted to
/ this branch of that department Of
state, there to glance over the neatly
! filed recommendation for funds 60
ing out to do Just what I have writ
F; ten are done, day by day.
Gives Good Advice.
Standing before crowd OF farm
ers and miners and timbermen and
stockgrowers at the Fayette fair Gov
ernor Hatfield sounded the rally to
all the commonwealth in these
/ words:
I'VE are a free people; we make
! our own laws, and II the citizenship
OF commonwealth will stand by me
for the next four years, we will reg
ulate many inequalities of ,oppres,
| slohs that now exist, and exert Our
utmost efforts to place every citizen
upon an equal footing. We can pro
tect ourselves, and beg Of every cit
F, izen to see that the law is enforced.
! We may think that some Of our stat
utes are unfair; II they are, let us
respect them and adhere strictly ia
their mandates and enforce them in
letter and spirit. BY so doing we
will eliminate the bad features more
speedily than we could by allowing
, them to remain on the statute books
with no reverence for their mandates
until some emergency develops, and
then use the disregarded statute
merely as a pretense, not because 1t
had been adhered to by the one who
raises and develops its principles,
but merely to protect an emergency
that has developed, which applica-
tion will inure to his particular ben
eft.
Aids Widow and Orphan.
"The workmen's compensation
law, which becomes effective October
/, is a God-send TO the widow and
the orphan. 1t was my greatest am
bition to see that this law was en-
acted. The laboring men can now
be assured, with practically no OK
pense to himself, that II fate over
takes him there is protection for his
wife and children, and that the state
will be their protector and guardian
in the administration of this fund"
The West Virginia workmens
compensation law was passed last
February. was approved by the gov
ernor February %, and went into ef
| feet 90 days after its passage, Febru'
airy 81, 1918.
The interest of Governor Hatfield
in the law is such that he has watch
ed results from day to day. The
first quarter OF rs operation is not
yet completed. but figures relating
to all its provisions, income, disburse-
ments, number of deaths and acct
dents and recommendation for pa
rents, widows and orphans, are con-
stantly carried TO the governors
desk, that he may keep in close
touch with the operation of the law
in which he has conferred large
amount of his tireless energy.
Il From a pile of correspondence, he
looked up to give me facts and Gg-
lures, on this newest and most adj
ISancedaof West Virgipia's achieve
fnents,E From an up!toAthe-hour re-
port he gave the following:
What Has Been Done.
"tThe rate set In the bill for the
law is limited to one dollar on the
hundred dollars OF income for the
year, of which percentage the en-
ployer pays 80 pr cent and the en-
ploye 10 per cent. No less than l.
465 employers have subscribed to
the fund. OF these 4O1 are coal COM
panies, PIG lumber companies, 80
food product manufacturing compa-
MES, 2l3 contracting companies ,and
contractors. 80 mining companies
J other than coal companies, these In
Guiding clay and other minerals and
metals, and the balance corporations
and individuals engaged in the man
ufacture of explosives, paper, chem
icals, warehouses and other enter