The Socialist and labor star. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1911-1915, 1914-05-22

vas i state official: that the operal-
ion ct' the mine was under his az,
III It hat if miner vas injured by
q fall of slate. bad air. etc, the neg
lieence, if any, was ri:it OF The milne
t, remain" ~ d not the company. There
fore the worker must sue the "nl"c
foreman, who seldom owred more
than tie shirt on his ba"k, One Of tho
first principles Of statutory >nStruct'
ion il that where one stcte a'iolt, i
statute of another state, 1t likewise
a,!Dpts the construction JGt upo!; the
statute by the courts Of the latter. If
this simple principle lad been known
to the promoters Of the new law, an
hey had examined the mining avs
tf Pennsylvania. they would have Sell
the Joker In the same way. some
iokers were slipped into the compen-
Sation law. One OF West Virgin n'S
minor political chamclebns lahnrS tc
his part in putting this law on the
statute books. The "glory" is all his.
Another marked difference between
the Wr>t Virginia law and other com
vcnsatiOn laws is that IL West Fir-
sinia the worker MUST take under
the compensation provisions, Will" in
other states, such rs Ohio, he may
take his choice between bringing q
suit CT taking under the compensate
ion act also the injured worker may
6,%n:: al action at law or take under
tho compensation act, just as he chcos-
az. The British law further allows an
injured worker to haye his compensat
ION under the law, even + his suit
fails No such consideration is shown
by TIC compensation laws of the AM
erican states.
In West Virginia It is optional
whether tho employer vii! cone un-
der the compensation law ~ pay
inc into that fund. In some sites
the employers are compelled 20 pay
into the fund, but rot so in this state.
! The employee has no option IL The
batter. He mist cone under what
ever Jaw the boss chooses. This IS an
other fact that emphasizes the truth
that laws arc made by the masters
for .hc masters benefit. in very lrut::
We have an industrial government OF
wage slaves, by tho ma stcrs, for t!N,
masters.
In Ohio, state with four times the
population Of West Virginia, the Nom
hers of the commissions that atm;niS-
tcrs the compensation law" receive
an annual salary Of five thousand dol
lars. while in this state we pay siH
Thousand dollars. Eat tr.n WrSt NIr
einia has always been regarded an
easy m;lk r1i political pie-ea'er
What is government run fo hut to
give job.; 10 the ward healers and
political l!2nipulators of h" cid n:r''
ties
The Ohio compensation law" pro-
,;do, ih,, vpbora tho commission do
,,.oc tbo ,.;rht or . claimant to com.
pensatioA, he may oriug "n action a
law in the common pleas court End
have right Of trial by jury. No
such right is given tho worker in West
Virginia. If his claim is denied, he
los no o+,,o,. raso,. than r. ,nna.i ~
no c,,n,o,oo 70, ~ If Anno,l. His
,.;o.i,4 e ,,.;,i b,. ;,,,.,. l. ,[u.. do, 10
!, ,,,:, ...,. "a. ,.;a;o.,c ~ cr;,i,
,bo RIGHT If t,.i.I ~, iurr that anci-
cnt RIGHT 80 ,caiousIy Guarded bv the
ord common law. But this is rather
= late day 10 insist upon such (, thing
as Jury trial. With arbitrary in
;,;nc+inn. nnd .,;l;t,r,. cor,n,iss, ms
not t. mention the Frequency with
vhi,.b cornorotion hiasnd iudp.ns t:Lc
cases from tie inrv, insistcnce npon
.he right Of trial hv ir,y would :;,em
10 be rather belatcd.
As TO tire AMOUNT Of "con,pen-
salon." there is q marked difference
between the West Virginia law and
the laws OF other states and countries.
In Ohio an injured worker may get
a. much as $1,000 per week and not
lr.,, Than +. N. In West Virginia he
can not l@cr over $500 per week nor
less than SlO0 In Ohio the compen-
sation may run as long rs SIX