Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-23
aMAN IN THE STREET"
SAYS AMERICANS DO
NOT THINK ENOUGH
mhis Opinion Is Expressed
by Laborer, Who Says
Native Toilers Do Not
Pay Sufficient Attention
to Social Problems.
Aliens Prove More Alive to
Questions of Efficiency,
Safety and Education.
Need for Workmen's Com
pensation Law Urged.


"
-Four bull-necked. free, untrammeled
eplzens of the United States of America
walked out Of the Broad street entrance
30 4he Baldwin Locomotive Works at
noon today. Behind them came man
mainly an alien. Each was n giant and
,he face Of each was blackened with the
crime of toll Each was as hard as the
ron on which he worked.
curious reporter stopped the Amer
leans, one after the other. He wanted
70 know something about workmen's
eompensation, employers liability and
,,n,,Iar social legislation from the view
noiut of the man who lahors. Each man
hesitated somewhat in his lurching stride,
,s,ened with open suspicion and an
swered;
.pon't know anything about it."
Than the fifth man. the allen, was
questioned Apparently he had not been
iong in the country. Old World custom
stiil olung to him. Smiling, he removed
Me nat and, towering foot or more
over his auestioner, replied:
..Eet is a good thing. what you ask.
The foreigner shrugged his shoulders
y rhs other men the freeborn Americans
had moved on. lie pointed to them.
.,ynu asked them" he said, land they
Aid not know. They will never know
e. n is that these things are delayed.
m. men who do the work do not know.
dbov do not care AN in the game is
What they. say when something breaks
and a man dies. He is taken away ana
they forget It..
r. DeCamp, of 1926 F street. an ex-
trnN "
nressed almost identical views to the
ruestioner an hour or two later. DeCamp
,as looking for work. He had gone to
thc limited States Employment Bureau,
is5 South I'd street, in the hope OF md
ing Il Hard times have cut into the
jobbng business he has been trying 10
bulld up for the last few years and he
Snds II necessary to become a Journey
man again.
TOO MUCH COMPLACENCY.
"Tbe reason why the progress Of reme-
dal legislation is so SLOW" he said rs
because too many worlSmen know moth
;ne about 1t and care less But they are
iearning. and workmen's compensation
laws similar to that of Massachusetts are
coming.
"The first thing that will be noticed
IN Pennsylvania when we get coed
compensation law" he continued, VIII
be- decrease in the number of acci-
dents provided the law is right one.
The law won't be worth anything unless
II has a clause, or Is accompanied py
some statute providing penalty Tor
employers who permit the removal OF
safety devices from their machines
MUST ENFORCE Law.
Safety devices do little good now In
many shops, because, after h FaVing them
installed. the manufacturers make no ef-
A1.ak orr
two workmen on two buzz saws. One OIL
them. a new man, perhaps, anxious to
hold his job pulls off the safety fende'
and throws IL on the floor. Without 1t
he can work more rapidly. Also, he
stands the chance of losing some hnsers
or a hand if something distracts his at
tention for moment.
''The man on the adjoining saw sees
the ether fellow turning out more work
He also throws away the safety guard
One of the first lessons to be learned by
advocates of workmen's compensation Is
that safety devices on the floor are use
less.
"Of course, II a good law is passed.
the insurance companies who VIII take
over the liability will see to 1t that ap-
pliances are kept where they should be-
hut there still will be violations, unless
a penalty is provided for them."
The five men who were spoken TO at
Baldwln's would not give their names.
The fifth, the alien, said he was a stu
dent of such problems. About dozen
others were asked about worlNmen's conf
pensation before DeCamp was met -Four
Of them were iron workers, seen just
outside the Widener Building, now in
course of construction at Juniper ana
Chestnut streets.
DeCamp believes there ought to be a
school somewhere of industrial problems;
but he inclnes to the belief that 1t VIII
be difficult to get pupils from among the
class of workers who most need pro-
, teetlon. the men employed in precarious
occupations and whose work Is hard
SKILLED. BETTER STUDENTS.
Mechanics, skilled and more inclined TO
be careful, are better students of condi-
tions, he thinks. His idea of the instruc-
tion that will amount to anything Is that
which will be given I'm large Industrial
plants. For such institutions there must,
or course, be cooperation on the part OF
tne employer, he said, and where the em-
poyer has not learned that II is cheaper
% keep workman alive and protect MIN
than to let him get killed in the shop the
school In the factory is impossible.
another reason for Industrial accidents
vas put forth by man who is foreman
N large machine shop and did not want
ms name used. He said foreigners, in
9N AhSAaHcesi MAKE the bebt WoIhlhSii
not because the Americans lack intelli-
esnee, but because they will not use IT,
a. Their attitude toward a job" he said,
Z That 1t Is a meal ticket. something
temporary. You listen to a gang OF men
snatung over their luncheon. One of
mem Will be telling how he expects 10
81 into something soft next week
mere Will always be two or three discon-
snted. The aliens josh each other and
tpotset all about the shop In leisure hours.