The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1913-12-26
WoRkMEN's COMPENSATION YER
SUS LIABILITY LAW

1t will be readily acknowledged that
during the last five years profound
sentiment has been crystalized in fav-
or of workingmen's compensation, OPP
Grating under State supervision aimed
to give average justice promptly to
those men injured in extra hazardous
works or to their neceSSitous depend
ents where injury has resulted IN
death. Not only does this feeling
exist among employers who believe
that moneys taken out of industry, for
their own so-called protection, as
against the rightful consideration of
the men MANNED or dismembered who
may have played an important part in
making the business of his employer
a success but who, because of the in
terposition of the third party, known
as the Casualty Insurance Agency, did
not get the humane consideration that
was his due because of the pernici-
Gus system operated and controlled by
men whose sole consideration was one
of dollars and cents; but, also by pro-
gressive thinkers in the ranks of la
Dor who feel that since industry has
been compelled to pay for protection
out of the earnings OF those who pro-
duce and the prices charged to those
who consume, its protection should
be given in a substantial way where
the benefits accruing would be equally
satisfactory to employer and employee
Two things, however, must be con-
sidered in this subject of vital i'm
portance, to those engaged in indus
trial operations First, accident pre-
vention, which is more desirable than
any monetary consideration and with
out which the best compensation law
ever enacted must be a failure; sec
ond, substantial compensation for
those accidents which are non-pre-
ventable. In this connection, let me
add, that after careful study of the
various systems of compensation laws
now in operation throughout the
United States, we are of the opinion
that state insurance as embodied in
the Washington law in conjunction
with strict safety regulations gives
the character of protection most de-
sirable to employer and employe alike.
The State OF Oregon, our immediate
neighbOr to the south, enacted a Com
pensation Law during the last legisla-
ture which eXcels, in many respects,
the best legislation of its kind yet en-
acted by any sister state and were it
compulsory instead of optional, there
is very little its critics could say
against it. 1t is safe to say, nor could
the statement be successfully and
truthfully cOntradicted, that more
money will reach those injured while
in the course of employment, under
the new righteous system than could
be hoped for under the best liability
law ever written into the statutes of
the state and while we are free to
confess that in exceptional cases,
large verdicts have been rendered in
favor of those injured in extra hazard
Gus works, our experience compels us
to the belief that where one substan-
tiaI verdict was rendered, in favor OF
the injured workman a large percent
age of which went to fill the Golfers
of his attorney, the large majority OF
men equally incapacitated were left
penniless to fight life's battles in their
crippled condition as best they could
In order to understand the merits OF
the new system as compared with the
old, it may be necessary to quote facts
and figures showing the relative diff
ference in amounts received by in
jured wOrkmen in the State of Wash
ington for the two years previous to
the enactment Of the Workmen's Com.
pensation Law and for a relative
period since the law became effective
During the years 1909-1910, one and
one-half million dollars were paid by
employers OF labor to casualty iusur.
ance companies for protection against
personal injury litigation, Of this
amount less than $3.50 reached the