Norwich bulletin., 1913-12-01
ccMPENsATIea FoRMs
 SENT TO TV@N CLERKS They Will Receive Supply for 1s3 Un-
 der the New Act.


 Shipment was made Saturday by the compensation commission to the town clerks of the state of q .upply or the fifteen regular forms Io De used Tn complying with the pr0vi- siohs or the Workmen's compensation act. Ine most important Of hese toFlns Tor immediate purposes ate ne forms No. and No. 8, which will pc widely used by those employers part B of the act, which is the com pensat1on feature Form No 1 is to De served by the employer upon the commissioner of the district in which the employment is carried on, and form No. is to be served by the ployes. It is not expected to fur nish to large employers blanks for each employe, but merely forms to be copied.
 From the information received by the commissioners it is their judg- ment that comparatively few employ CTS or nve or more workmen will take this action, as they are thereby thrown under part A of the act, which deprives them of the three defenses of con- tributory negligence negligence of fel- low servant and assumed risk. It IS the fire
 But practically all employers of less than five persons will probably, sooner or later, embrace this opportunity. as such action on their part throws them out from under the act altogether, and in case they are sued for damages by an injured workman they can plead the old defenses as in the past.
 For the EmpIoye.
 The corresponding forms for use by the employe are forms No. 2 and No. 4, but it is doubtful if many will be used, as the workman who refuses to accept part B of the act comes un- der part A, in which event his em- ployer can plead all of the old de- lenses The commissioners report that it is somewhat difficult to make this distinction clear to those making in quiries at their offices. The key to the situation lies in who makes the refusal to accept part B. If the em- p1oyer makes it, he loses his defenses but, if the employe makes it, his em- ployer retains his defenses.
 Little Call Now for Other Forms.
 The commissioners anticipate little call for the remaining forms until af ter the act goes into effect on Janu- ary l. 1914. Forms No. and No. are to be used by the employer who wishes to withdraw from part after having accepted it; forms No and No. are to be used by the employe
  Form No. is to be used by the em- ploye in serving notice of injury up- on his employer. Form No. 10 is to be used by the legal representative or dependent of a deceased emplOye who wishes to make a claim for com pensation. Form No n is for use in case of settlement by agreement be- tween employer and employe, and form No. 12 is the corresponding form to be used in case of death. Forms No. 13 and No. 14 are to be used respectively by employer and employe in reporting to the com missioner their failure to agree with regard to compensation. Form No. Is is to be used by the employer in making weekly reports of accidents and claims to the commissioner. In the case of those who are under part of the act, this form will take the place of the reports formerly made to the factory inspector.
 Much Work for Commissioners.
 The compensation commissioners are not finding their new jobs any sinecure In addition to the fifteen regular forms prescribed by the act, they have found it necessary to pre- pare nearly as many more for use in ascertaining the solvency and fnan- cial ability of those employers who may elect to carry their own insur- ance under section 3O or part B Of the act They are frank to state that they had hoped against hope that the attorney general might be able to render an opinion that this duty de- volved upon the insurance cOmmis- SiOner.
 Has Taken Much Time and Thought.
 One of the commissioners is quoted as saying: '"The mere skeleton present. ed by these thirty forms might seem at first blush to represent a very sim pie task in preparation. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to prepare forms to cover the various aspects of the administration of an act of this kind without burning a good deal of mid night oil over the meaning of the act itself. Every form touches the stat ute in various places, and each point of contact is apt to be related to some other features of the act. which in turn may open up puzzling questions of interpretation and construction. The physical and mental work of drafting the forms, as such, is negli- gible compared with the amount of study and comparison necessary to get ready to begin drafting"
 Either in committee of the whole or by subcommittee the commissioners have been in session nearly every day since taking office. and on numerous evenings as well.