The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-09-09


 less enabled to explain the law, and the public began to grasp 1t more full ly after a short whi1es but even at the present time it is surprising the num- Der of people who are unfamiliar with the operations of the law, especially among the smaller employers who may have accidents only occasi onally, probably once in six nOz1LnS, III which case a man may familiarize himself with the necessary details in connec- ton with @ compensation case, but in the event of his not having another accident for some time. he practically forgetS how to again proceed The larger corporations, and acting for them of course the insurance compan- ies who carry their compensation in surance, conduct the business rather satisfactorily, from the fact that they have men who make it a business of going around and handling the claims and adjusting the agreements, al- though there is occasionally an insur- ance company which becomes lax and needs a great deal of stimulating be- fore it seems to be able to handle its business in this line with the dispatch with which it should be handled.
 Hearings.
 .1of course when this law went into effect. on first impression one might imagine that we had a law which would almost work automatically, and that it would resolve itself into noth- ing but a simple mathematical ques- | tfon. That might be true to a cer- tain extent, but there are continually arising new complications, and new circumstances and conditions in con nection with injuries which have to l be dealt with, each as an individual case, and of course there are bound to be two sides to every question, and until such time as the Act has built up around itself a set of decisions and I rulings on these possibilities which I are bound to occur, there will arise necessity at times for hearings. While 1 the number of hearings in my own district has not been. large, consider ing the number of claims which have. been settled, still there has been an almost unlimited number of confer ences by means of which a hearing l has been avoided by suggesting to the
 which might ultimately have resulted in a dispute. Up to the first of Sep I tember, in my district which covers 4 the eastern section of the state, we l have had thirteen formal hearings in t which a decision had to be rendered. There has been one appeal to the I Court from my ruling, but the decis-s ion as rendered was sustained by the I Superior Court, and the Courts have I now decided that they shall hear ap ' peals from the decisions of the Com I rnissioners upon questions of law only and not of fact, unless itNcan be prov I en that there is gross error of fact. #i The hearings in most cases have been I held in places. which were most ac- j cessible to the parties in question, al4 I though it is desirable to hold them in I the office of the Commissioner if pos l sfbIe. l Y In the conduct of a hearing we are l not bound by any of the rulings Of I evidence, and the Commissioner may I seek the facts in any manner which
 appears to him the most feasible in order to get at the real truth; and. in- cidentally, I might add that there are no costs which go with the hearings, but each party must furnish his own witnesses, and if he should desire a. Isten9graphic record of the proceed
 ings he can be provided with same at cost.
 What to do in Case of Injury.
 A question which is. being. continu- ally asked by the employer is: What
 should I do in case of an injury?'' Of
 course the first thing for the enlploy4 , 1 CT to do is to send a notice of the in T jury to the office of the Comnnission- CT. for his district for any injury which ! ]incapacitates any of his employees for I one day Or more, It is, however, sur T pristng how frequently we find tem-
 pIoyers who seem to be absolutely at a loss to know what to do in case of an injury to an employee. The em- Il ployee, on the other hand, when he is
 
 and then it leaves no opportunity to
 have his claim invalidated, for it fre- lquently occurs that an employee is sI Injured and makes no note of the in- i jury until some time afterwards, pos
 sibIy several weeks, as we have had in Il some instances, and then of course l there is a question whether or not he I received the injury in the course of
 his employment, so that it is well for the employee to give immediate notice . of any injury received. While the s] law is well guarded in that particular,
 as it states that "no want, defect or
 inaccuracy shall be a bar to the main
 tenance of proeeedings,f still if notice
 is given to the employer it will often
 times. avert a possible dispute
 Claims and Agreements.
 After the employee has notified
 his employer it is expected that the
 employer, even though no claim is
 made by the employee, as there has
 been none in a large percentage of
 the eases which have reached the II stage of agreement, it is expected
 that the employer will see that a filed with the Comrni ssi oner, and the
 matter properly adjusted, as soon af- J ter the waiting period as circumstan- | ces will allow In case of failure of
 the employer to attend to these duties
 the employee should make his claim
 on the employer; and h he may, in case
 of failure to agree, call for hearing,
 which may be assigned by the Com
 nissi oner, giving each party the or dinary ten-day notice; but forum ate | ly, both on account of expediency anu
 advantage to the employee in getting
 his compensation, we havI been fore ed to call very few formal hearings Proofs of SoIvency.
 Probably the one thing which gave
 the Commissioners as much concern as anything, in the, early operation of the law, was the question of Proof of Solvency. Of course, it, is one thing to award compensation, and it is an
 other thing to see that there is some il thing to pay for it with after it has been awarded, and for that reason the Commission spent a great deal sot in