Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-27

tain extent. They are not under the dl-
rect charge of any boss or superintcnd-
cnt. They work perhaps by themselves
Or in segregated groups, each man for
himself The same perhaps applies To
men working on the drive, they may
bc scattered along the stream or river
and oe put into a certain place, but
they work. not i'll the presence of dan
gerous machinery, moving belts or 9TH
or implements of death but they are
their own bosses, They take the i'm
Elements given them and use them in
the way that seems best to them
sclves.
So that the Iumbcrmcn thought that
pcrhaps it was wise that they should
no exempted from this Workmcn s com
pensation act.
Mr. MuILIKEN of Aroostool: Mi.
Chairman. want to say to begin with
that the numbering concerns | have to
do with. directly or indirectly, cut from
so ooo, ooo to S0,O0O000 of logs a year
ana manufacture them into lumber.
speak of that to show that | probably
have not any prejudice against manu-
facturcrs of lumber.
think there is 4 great deal of force
in the suggestion that the senator from
Pcnobscot has so clearly expressed, and
that has, as | understand it, prompted
the request that this amer dmcnt be
adopted cxempting from the provisions
of this act IaborerS in the woods and
on the drive.
II is true, as the senator said, that
they work under conditions more nearly
analogous to those of farm laborers than
men in the mills and factories work.
At the same time | believe ii is true
that under the provisions of this act the
operator in the woods, the men running
crews in the woods may. by declining
to be an asserting employer, escape
from any serious harm from the pro
visions of this bill, because if he Dr.
clines to be an asserting employer he
will be liable for no injuries on the
drive unless il is shown that there was
negligence on his part. In other words
there will not be the same compelling
reason for a man in the woods or run
ming a camp to accept the provisions of
this act that would exist in the case of
a man running a mill or factory where
there is The hazard Of dangerous ma
chincry SO that I do not believe the
welfare of those engaged in the bust
ness in which l am engaged,
If | did believe the adoption of the
bin without the amendment would be
more serious than it does seem to me
t" be. should not feel justified in adj
Vocating the amendment. was sent
here not by the people who manufacture
lumber In ArooStook county but by all
the people of that county. The con-
Germs who cut lumber are entitled tc
consideration at my hands just the Same
as all of the other constituents ! rep
resent are entitled to that consideration
and TO no greater extent
! do not propose TO take the position
here that | ann in favor of a workman's
compensation act for everybody else and
ask for exemption that concerns bust.
ness in which l am engaged, even If
believed the exemption were much more
needed than | do believe it to be needed.
I Will say that ] do not believe that
ii is serious enough one way or tho
other to imperil the usefulness of tho
bill. if the amendment was added in
tho House and II was necessary to con.
ccde something in the committee of COLI
ference.
Every time you make an exemption
you weaken your bill. not only by re.
moving from its provisions certain
workmen included, but you are also in
Guiding the probability of requests com
ing from other Industries more or less
nearly allied to these asking To be
exempted.
SO that. Mr.. Chairman, hope this
woods will not be adopted. but thar the
bill will he passed in that respect as
reported by the committee.
Mr. JERSEY of Aroostook: Mr. Chair
man, like my colleague. the President of
the Senate, come from county that
employs great many lumbcrmen en-
Ployes working in the lumber woods and
ON the river drives.
For thirty years | have practiced law
in that county, working during that time
Tor clients who were men who laborcd
with their hands in the woods and on the
drive, and also for men who employed
labor. And there are very few cases in
all these years where men working i'll
the woods on the drive had any ac-
ton whatever against their employers,
growing out of any negligence where
they could recover And il this bill
should pass. Mr.. Chairman, and become
Il law of this State ! apprehend that
the cases would be very rare in which
laborers on the drive and in the lumber
woods would recover, unless the en-
ployef of labor, the lumberman or the
river driver, would come under the pro-
visions of this act voluntarily and be-
come asserting employers. 1t is certain
ly true that outside the provisions OF
this act a man employing labor either
on the drive or im the woods can insure
himself against liability if necessary,
not under this bill but under general
insurance, and all that lie meets under
this bill whatever is that the common
law defences are removed, and those
common law defences still leave the de-
fence for him that the one suing him
must show that lie was negligent. | can
see how in the western and middle por-
tons of the State of Maine there are
men employing great many laborers in
the factories, in the mills, in the manu-
factories, employing thousands and
thousands of men and women, with dan
gerous machinery that we do not meet
in my county at ALL more dangerous