The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-08-28

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.srted. and other changes to be made
hs,ore the law attains anything like a
ia Of perfection. Those who draft
q the law thought that they had at
..,ned the highest degree Of perfec-
sor n vorkmen's compensation acts,
.hen these provisions were inserted
!. the Iowa law. The act 80 far has
h.en held to be constitutional and has
h.en sustained, but as q matter Of
oct It contains two provisions, both
:, which are contrary to public policy.
EmpIoye With Infirmltiss.
IN the hrst place, we will assume
.hat YOU are the manager Of a large
factory or industry; that you have
presented your application to carry
,our own insurance. and have shown
- the industrial commissioner and
The state insurance department that
YOU are solvent and you get a certif-
cate permitting you to carry your
own insurance.
AS soon as you return you sit down
and think the situation " and you
conclude that yonder is an employe,
Who is faithful, q good worker. but
ba has in some previous accident,
lost an eye. What II he should lose
the other eye in some accident grow
ing out OF his line Of duty and while
in your employ? That would mean
that your business would have to pay
him for total disability. 1t would
mean q payment At q specified sum,
which is one-half Of his weekly
wages, but not exceeding SO per
week, for 400 weeks54,0O0. What If
one Of your employees should lose an
eye That would mean half Of his
wages, not exceeding SO a week, for
100 weeks-just one-fourth. There
fore. II you continue the employment
OF this man who has only one eye.
Won stand q chance to lose $4,000 be-
cause you have employed him. You,
therefore, conclude that you can dis
pense with his services and secure an
employe with two good eyes to take
his place. This you do.
Placing q Handicap.
Therefore, the law has placed a
handicap upon those who have only
one eye. 1t is made much more diff
cult for them to secure employment.
They cannot secure employment un-
less there is a dearth of laborers.
So It is with all other physical in
firmities. II you have an employee
who has a cork leg. although he may
be as efficient as II both legs we're
sound, yet if he should receive an In
Jury to the other leg, 1t would cost
you much more than II he were
physically sound. You GO. over your
entire plant, and you pick out all
your employees who are physically i'm
perfect, and n by one you let them
90 and substitute In their places 9TH
ers who do not have the physical
i~railties. This, I shy, il, against pub
lie policy because the state has
passed a law that imposes a burden
upon 4 class Of its citizens making it
more difficult for th{m to secure en-
ployment.
Affecting o. Man.
You go back to you plant and look
It over and zee a larg3 number Of old
men. Now you conclAde that If these
old men were to reSSive an injury,
their recovery would lot be 50 rapid.
Their time Of disability would be
greater. Some Of them might not re-
cover from the injury, which If they
were to receive whfie younger in
years, a recovery would be speedy.
Therefore. you again come to the
conclusion that you a4 handicapping
Yourself in competition with others
Engaged in the same business If you
continue in your employment these
old men, and you, therefore, drop
them one by n and substitute in
their places other employees who are
younger.
Therefore, the tendency Of the law
Is to make 1t very difficult for old
men to secure employment, and the
state has imposed a handicap upon a
goodly number Of its citizens by max
Ing 1t difficult for them to secure en-
ployment. It has made it more diff
INC AA0A WIZ CduS 10 AohNA
capped with age to come into compe-
ution with younger men. The handf-
cap OF age has grown. So, the old
man is carrying a heavier weight than
ne ever carried before. This, I say.
10 contrary to public policy. 1t is
wrong.
lnsurins Does Not Remedy II
On the other hand, let us assume
that you have taken the other alterna-
i've and have insured your liability.
You, therefore, who have read the
foregoing and who r in charge OF
employees have come to the conclusion
that you are not interested in that
question. You are free from that be-
cause you have insured your liability.
Let us see.
The representative Of the insur-