Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-31
I8,059 GASES FOR COMPENSATION'
Report of First Year Under the New Act Submitted Gov ernor Baldwin on Wednesday -626 Agreements in This District, of Which 3O7 Were in New London County Improvement in Various Provisions Suggested


 The hrst annual report of the com pensation commissioners of Connecti- cut was submitted to Governor Bald- win on Wednesday. The board com prising Talcott II. Russell of New Haven. chairman Dr. James ]. Dono- of Rocky Hill, Edward T. Buckingham of Bridgeport and Frederick M Will Hams of Waterbury, assumed the du- ties of office on Oct. l, 1918, and thear time was occupied prior to the law went into effect on Jan. 1, 1914, in pre- parii1g the necessary forms for use by persons affected by provisions of the act, in otrtlining a course Of proceed ure. to be followed, and in very many personal interviews with persons de- siE.lpg to know how the statute airect- ed their particular cases. The period of report is for ten months up to Nov. l.
 1s.c5s Accidents Reported.
 The scope of the law is indicated by the fact that 1s.o52 accidents were re- ported to the commissioners in the ten rnontls' period, distributed as Fol- lows: First district 4s691, Second s.22e' Third 3,a2e, Fourth 3,239, Fifth 3.954.
 Of the accidents, a very large num- Der did not incapaeitste the employe from labor at all, or If at all, for pe- riods of less than two weeks.
 The number of agreements entered lEIO fOEQnLAI1ly Ha1Q dPp10NSA tOldAC0 S,444, distributed as follows: First district 1.047, Second 543, Third 5s9, Fourth 6e5, Fifth 56o.
 The number of actual hearings where parties appeared personally or by counsel with witnesses and where la formal finding and award was made totaled 106. distributed aB follows: First district 39, Second 16. Third 32, Fourth l. Fifth IS.
 In completing the report all the de- cisions made m to the time the man uscript goes into the printers hands will be included. These total 19 in ad- dition to the number already given. six in the First district, none in the Second, six in the Third, five in the Fourth and two in the Fifth.
 Four General Bulletins.
 Referring to its organization, the commissioners point out that it felt embarra ssfnent in relation to personal interviews public addresses and pub lieation of articles in the press. The situation was in part solved by issu- ance of four general bulletins during the year, which were generally dis tFibuted among employers and em- ployes, and 30 blanks to meet the re- quireKnents of the law and to facilitate it's operations.
 The commissioners say their work was increased by reason of uncertainty felt as to whether the law applied to employers of less than five persons. This uncertainty led at the outset to a request made upon the attorney gen. eral for an interpretation, and laIs opinion was contained in bulletin No. 1. The commissioners sought to have wide publicity, both by interviews, ad- dresses and newspaper articles, of the fact that it was safer for all persons desiring to be excepted by the law (part B to so state in writing. This resulted in hundreds of refusa1s on tha part Of persons employing less than five and added to the work in detail.
 Many Minor Injuries,
 The report briefly refers to the work of organization of the commission. Then it takes up the operation of the law. ~The number of accidents report ed throws comparatively little light on conditions in any one district for this Feasof,p says the commissioners, that section 20 provides that employers who have accepted Part shall keep rec ord of such injuries sustained by their employees in the course of their occu- patton as result in incapacity for one day or more. Some employers have re- ported large number of trivial in- Jurtes.- For example, one employer in the Fifth district reported probably 100 casualties, of which only one was of sufficient magnitude to result in a claim for compensation. Annotiler em- ployer Feoorted G. and only five were serious enough to claim compensation; another in the Third district reported 207 injuries, and only four were enti- tied to compensation"
 Voluntary Agreements Numerous, The report says that commissioners adopted different methods in actual disposition of claims the variation being due to the character of the in jury and the attitude of the person concerned, For example" says the report. "an employe exhibits his injury to one of us. as is a daily occurrence; he seems fair and honest in his claims, but to have an exaggerated idea of the amount to which he is entitled. Very often a half hours time spent in explanation will result in his en- tertrS into a voluntary agreement and a formal hearing avoided. On the other hand, an employer frequently will bring in a claim for compensation and will indicate that he does not intend to pay any compensation. A careful ex- planattou og the law will often lead the employer to make a fair voluntary agreement"
 Collection of Awards The report points out that the deli cate, part Of the commissioners duties was the collection of awards, the i'm memorial usage of process of attach ment to satisfy possible judgment NNSA DIAt43 e1RGA41@D1E' lAG LIlIGE means provided in section 30 and used to safeguard the collection of an award |: l-Satisfying the commissioner of the solvency of the employer and his lia- bllity to pay direct to the injured ern ploye of hts dependents the awards which may be made. Filling some satisfactory surety or guarantee with tho insurance commissioner, 3-Insur- | ing the full liability.
 The report discusses each feature of this problem. An illustration is given of the matter of soIvency as it relates to insurance. A leading industrial con- cern gave information that statistics Eept for seven years showed that if the law had been in force for that length of time. 1t would have been l called upon. to pay about s7.0OO in 1 compensation; while the cheapest in- suFance rates offered for that period 1 called fo3 an annual premium of ESQ., Certificates of solvency have beer issued toN N352 concerns aside from rec. l ognition N the sofvency Of rnunicipali, ties and #tate institutions, distributed as fo1low& First district, 128. SeconC district s; Third 55; Fourth IT.
 We belisse4he law as it stanss 1T this regard satisfactory," adds thu
 @The worfs of the conanissio,, ha. been attended by harmony and wirt,. 1 out any nlem8er so merging his indi. l vidua1ity as to repder 6 decision Tghicf