St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1913-10-31

NOJ lOl uldlly years udS Jllt
Oregon Legislature passed a bill
of such vital Importance as the
Workmen's Compensation Act
which is to be submitted to the
people for their approval or re.
lection on November 4th. 1t is
not designed for the special ben.
eft of any class or clique, as is
frequently the case, but will ben.
eft all the people regardless OF
their condition or station i'm life.
1t provides automatic and Ger.
tain compensation for the men
who are crushed and broken on
the wheel of industry, and
stands between grim want and
the stricken widow and helpless
children. If there are any
special benefciaries of the com.
pensation principle they are the
dependents of the men who are
marked for death in the great
industrial army which is ever on
the march, which never retreats
and which must ever add new
names to its already long roll Of
dead. wounded and missing.
In Oregon, with its Industrial
development scarcely started,
one man is killed evory other day
and thousands are crippled in
the course of the year. Statis-
tics show that more than half of
all industrial accidents are in
herent in the business nobody
10 blame hence nobody can
recover. The modern refine
ments of certain moss-grown
common law doctrines have re-
duced the number of actionable
accidents TO one out of eight.
What becomes of the widows
and orphans of the other seven?
They go, not always to school
where they belong. but to the
factory, To the store, To the
street frequently to the devil
and society pays the bills. The
adoption of the Compensation
Act will change all this. When
a man is killed or injured. there
will be no lawsuit. no attorney
with his exorbitant fees. no
trouble between the employer
and the injured workman: no
poverty and pinching: no await.
ing the outcome of motions. de-
murrers. appeals and other
moves of the ponderous machin-
cry of the law. Simply a report
or two to show that the man
didn't commit suicide, then the
payment of certain sum per
month. according TO the extent
of the injury. II doesn't make |
any difference whose fault il
was. the claim is paid just the |
same. Isn't this better plan |
than we now have, with class |
feeling kept at fever heat by at !
tempts TO fix the responsibility |
for accidents that may not have !
been anyone's fault; with women |
and children suffering while we
wrangle about some fine point |
of assumption of risk?
And IL doesn't cost any more
in the long run. Now the EN-.
ployer passes on 10 the consumer
the burden of carrying the liabil-
ity insurance, which doesn't
always protect the employer. and |
which pays the workman only
one dollar out four paid by the
for protection. Under
the new plan the employer pays
his money TO the State and the
State pays it every dollar of il
10 the injured workman. That
cuts out the liability insurance
man and the personal injury law
yer. And now welcome To the
referendum.
Who paid for obtaining the
names necessary To refer this
bill? The insurance people,
without doubt, il Is said. Who
iiled the petition? A lawyer
named Farrell who has "A person
Al injury practice of about $l0.- h
lO0 year No one else appears
% want the bill defeated, which. ! /
llone, is reason enough why we
should lend our support to this
measure which stands between /
want and misery ON the one hand |
md justice and aid for widows
md orphans on the other. Be I
'ause of this We shall vote 1903 /
Yes" on November 4th, and |
lope and expect to see il carry. II