Norwich bulletin., 1913-12-11
COMPENSATION LAW IN NEW LIGHT
Explained by Morris Penrose of Hartford at Norwich Board of Trade Luncheon-Says It is Misnamed- ed-Cals it WorAnen's Compulsory Accident Insurance Law.

not employers as a class met with op- position every attempt to better social conditions among the workers? A Step in Advance.
 The present step is an advance. It means betterment of working condt- tions infinitely greater than could usu- ally be effected by the sums involved. You are compelled to make a small
 advance in pay, but you control the
 expenditure of this sum and know 1t will be spent only for the relief of the unfortunate.
 The compensation law is wrongly named. It should be called 'The work mems compulsory accident insurance law" Unfortunately we as a nation
 hate the word compulsory" and so
 adopt title which is sugared to OUT taste
 Under the new conditions which have arisen in this country will any one dare to say that it is not a good thing for the state to compel the wage earner dependent upon his daily and hourly wage to carry insurance against loss of time from occupational injury ?
 There is hardly an argument against 1t.
 Insurance Indirectly Carried. We can effect the desirable result of compelling each worker to carry accf- dent insurance against occupational injuries by an indirect method. We can bring pressure to bear on the en- pIoyer. We can collect from him at long intervals a specified percentage of
 his payroll, varying with the hazard of
 the occupation. By doing this we can
 accomplish two things. We can reduce the ultimate cost of the insurance to the community by reducing thc over head costs of collection ana by ap- pealing to the selfish interest of the | ,t-rN duce necessary safeguards, as Dy Sc doing he will obtain business advant- age over his less prevalent competitor. In the final adjustment the cost of the insurance will not fall on the em- ployer, though he may not be able in a moment to adjust himself to new con- ditions Ultimately every employer in will be alike to each. It will either
 be met by slightly increased cost of goods or q slightly decreased pFymtsnt to the worker. Probably it will he passed on to the consumer, as Is every other tax, and careful considera ton of the matter will, believe, lead you U the opinion that it is a legitimate tax.
 Money Value of Life.
 The general theory of compensation insurance is that every industry must ! bear the cost of it's occupational in | J mend it. It is in line with our under lying sense of fair pls.y ;:ni justice. Every life has some sort of money value. It has cost a certain amount of money to produce it. and it has cer- tain earning power Rare indeed has been the case where there has been a recovery for such loss. Both owner and l contractor had defenses which were usually unassailable. Negligence, or the hazard of the calling. The depend
 ents of the dead workers were com
 peIled to beg aid either of their rela- i tions or of the town.
 It is curious to note that among our
 p states which will place laws in force on Jan. 1 some have followed one plan and some another. Washington and Ohio have made laws which prevent casualty companies competing. Washington Law Bad.
 Tn Washington the law has been in force for two years and is not satiS-
 factory. The industries of the state
 are divided into groups Each group
 carries it's own insurance. The state { does not guarantee losses but collects and disburses the funds. The law is a bad law for the reason that many Of the groups are small and in a small group the amount of self insurance
 may be large. In one group, for in stance in 1911 there were 196 em- ployees of which 160 were in one con cern, the remainder scattered among two or three other plants. The large concern therefore had to carry 82 per 1 cent. of it's own insurance and pay 82 per cent of any losses which might occur in the other plants. A bad acci- 1 dent happened by which a number were killed in one of the small plants. | The assessment on the large concern was something over $11,000 The larg- est group in Washington has 42,000 1l-, ,lof- ing that they are not big enough to l get a fair average.
 I go into this with you, gentlemen. because in a day or two you will have 1 to make a choice of methods of insur-
 ance for yourself. Before placing your insurance you should know both the advantages and disadvantages Of any plan which may be submitted to you. Methods of Insurance.
 Now we people who are selling you 1 level premium compensation insurance
 say to you that for certain definite amount or percentage of your payroll we will obligate ourselves to carry out in every detail everything you are called upon to do by our new law. In order to make our word good we put up a large guarantee capital. We are under strongest rules as to eXamina- tons by your Insurance commission CT. We pay a certain percentage of all the premiums we collect to the state as a tax. We appoint the in surance commissioner our attorney SC 1 that in case we fail to carry out any of our contracts made with citizens of the state we can be sued by serving notice on him.
 Methods of Insurance.
 Now let me call your attention to another point about our law The fact that you insure yourself in accordance with the law does not operate as a release from liability. If one of your employees should have the misfortune to be permanently disabled somebody will be obligated To pay him compen- | sation for a period of ten years. If the insurance company has made a
 mistake and does not charge enough premium and so is forced out of bus mess in five or six years you will have to pay the amounts specified by the state. In effect you become the en- dorser on the note of the insurance company to pay these sums and if they fail to pay, the holder of this note the man who is injured, will look to you for payment. His claim is a preferred l claim, too, and will go ahead of any other indebtedness you may have. The Mutual Plan.
 Now let us take a look at the mutual proposition. I know that this sounds