The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-04-25

IL is only Dy nOlQlng the employees 10
a strict degree of accountability and
care that injury to others can be pre-
vented by the use of these dangerous
instrumentalities.
Under the law, as it now is, an en-
ployer must furnish his employe with
safe and suitable tools, and a safe
place to work and if the employe is
injured through the negligence of his
employer, he is now entitled to re-
cover damages for such injury.
The proposed bills, however, pro-
pose. nevertheless, these established
doctrines, based upon every reason
of common sense and justice, that
they shall be abrogated and eliminat-
ed, and that the employe can be ever
so careless and ever so negligent, and
yet he can recover damages from his
employer, the jury to be permitted to
apportion the negligence attributable
to either of the parties and find dam
ages accordingly. And, inasmuch as,
under the decisions of our supreme
court, all questions of fact are submit
ted to the jury, and juries being prone
always to give damages, the effect OF
the proposed bills, if enacted into law,
would be to make the employer an alb
solute insurer for the safety of his
employees. 1t is a wrong theory, and
the people, in time, will see that it is.
The trains of railroad companies
are in the hands of employees. The
number of employees engaged in oper-
ating these trains as compared to the
people that ride on the trains, and as
compared to the people generally
with whom these trains are liable to
come in contact is infnitesimal. Only
thousands of employees operate trains,
whereas, millions and millions of peo-
pie travel. The passengers can only
be protected when the employees OPP
Grating the trains exercise the high
est degree of care, and it is right and
proper for the protection of the pub
| lie that the law should be so that they
must be held to a strict accountable
/ ity. so far as care is concerned. Let
employees know that they can recover
from the employer whether they eX-
ercise due care or not, whether they
are negligent or not, and you will see
the effect that this will have upon the
operation of trains and the handling
of other dangerous instrumentalities.
The two street railway systems of
this city, of which | am vice presi-
dent, carry about thirty thousand
fares through the streets where there
is multitude of pedestrians, people
in automobiles and in vehicles These
tmotormen should know that if they
suffer any injury they cannot recover
from their employer unless they eX-
ercise all due care. Permit them to
know that they can recover from
their employer for injuries received,
no matter how careless or negligent
they may be, and you may be sure
they will not exercise that high de-
gree of care in the operation Of these
cars as they do now.
The employer can only operate cars
through employees, and he can only
protect passengers and the public
through these employees. The pass
age, therefore, of these proposed bills,
as applied to the street railway sys-
TENS of this city, would be the enact
ment OF a law for the benefit Of about
ninety motormen and to the detr-
ment Of possibly sixty thousand PEG
pie. And this about the same ratio
Of benefit and detriment as applied
to all employers and employees Of this
country.
It is true that congress, in 1908,
passed the employer and employees
liability bill, as applied to railroad
companies; but l cannot conceive that
the members. of congress passed it on
it's merits. l can only think that they
did so because they were afraid Of
the labor unions of this country, and
did not have the nerve to vote ac-
cording to their honest convictions,
but voted purely and entirely as
mater of supposed political expedien-
cy. And this legislation has proven a
mistake, because for more than year
now joint committee of railroad en-
ployers and employees are undertake
ing to have passed through congress
general law affecting this situation,
but along entirely different lines
Wrong as the proposed legislation
is, however, if any of the proposed
bills are to be enacted into law. the
bill affecting all employers alike
should be passed; because it is only
when bin affects all alike that the
drastic and disastrous effects of it
can be ascertained and known by the
poonIa an whom IL iS found tn be