St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-02-25
Workmen,s Compensation.

The public hearing given by the
special state commission investigat-
ing the subject of a Workmen's Com
pensation Act for Vermont presented
a subject of much interest locally.
1t will doubtless call out a variety
of suggestions and we wish to offer
a few. The basic purpose of the bill
will be to provide some compensa-
ton for any workman earning limited
wages who suffers an injury. No mat
ter whether his injury is the result
of carelessness on his own part, care
lessness on the part of fellow en-
ploye or whether he accepts employ
ment with full knowledge of its haZ-
ard. he is to be compensated for any
serious injury he may receive. The
assumption is that the employer
shall furnish such compensation even
if he is in no way responsible for
the accident. Statistics show that
the employee is directly responsible
for a very large percentage of in
dustrial accidents and yet the law
would hold the employer financially
responsible for the compensation for
the same.
This seems hardly fair to us. That
compensation should be provided for
injured workmen seems to us wise
and Just. But if the Workman is
responsible for a large part of the
injuries he receives why should
the employer bear the whole
expense for them? There is
another beneficiary under the pro-
posed law and that is the public. A
workman who is barely able to pro-
vide for himself and family while
actively employed becomes a public
charge wherever disabled by accident
and in this way the public must pay
a part or all of the expense caused
by such accident. The proposed
plan would to considerable extent
relieve the public of this burden and
shift it on the employer. This seems
hardly just.
When laws have been passed
throwing this burden on the employ
er he has generally protected himself
by insuring with liability companies.
These companies do this business
in a way that makes the en-
ploye sure of compensation and
themselves certain of a good profit
after all the claims for the workmen
have been paid. This makes the en-
ployer's expense of insurance too
great
Granting that the workman is en-
titled to & reasonable compensation
for any accident he may suffer, that
the general public would be relieved
to a large extent from the expenses
of pauperism under the proposed
law, that the employer is responsible
for only part of the accidents that
occur in his plant and that insurance
by liability companies is too expen-
in the following proposition. Let
state fund for compensation for &C
cidents be formed, one third to be
provided by state taxation, one third
to be provided by a per capita tax on
laborers and the other third assess
ed upon the employers in proportion
to the hazard Of their particular line
of business. In this way the work
men bears a share Of the expense of
the carelessness of himself and fell
low laborers, the employer the ex-
pense of his own carelessness and |
the public pays only a part of what
it now does for the misfortunes of
the working man. When the burden
is thus equitably distributed let every |
form of industry and labor De
brought under its regulations and a
nearer approach to industrial justice
secured.