The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1916-12-06
STATE INSURANCE FOR
injured WORkOlEN
Will be IN Force In Minnesota Soon
Opposed by tho Liability
Companies
BY Richard Jones

VOUp0Oo0S
BY Richard Jones
State insurance covering industrial
accidents will be an established fact
in Minnesota before very long.
Workingmen are almost unanimous
in support of it. Employers are
coming to see that it is the only
method by which substantial justice
can be done between the employer
and injured employe.
The greatest opposition comes
from the liability companies. They
don't like state assurances. Nor can
we blame them. Neither does the
personal injury lawyer like it. We
can't blame him. 1t puts them both
out of business. The liability insur-
ance companies will fight any real
amendment to the present compen-
sation law. Not that it hurts them
particularly, but because such a.
mendments may necessitate higher
insurance rates, which finally must
be charged up to the employer.
The heads of the liability insur-
ance companies are first-class poll
ticians. They know that if the in
surance rates keep on going up,
soon the burden will become too
heavy for the employers to bear and
the employers will look about for
some other system for taking care
of injured employees. They know
that this brings the employer closer
to the state insurance plan.
The State Federation of Labor is
solidly behind state insurance. The
forces were divided two years ago,
when the writer introduced his
State Insurance measure, modelled
after the Ohio law.
This bill made provision for a
state commission, and sought to levy
specific tax on employers, such tax
to be based, Of course, on the haz-
ard of each industry. The commits
sion would have the power to re-
adjust rates every six months,
which would seem that in case en-
ployers installed safety appliances
and make work in their plants less
hazardous, the commission could
take these facts into consideration
and lower the rate in that particu-
lar industry.
Under the present system there is
tremendous economic waste. The
injured employe gets barely 30 per
cent of the amount paid by the en-
ployers of Minnesota to the liability
companies. The balance goes to the
insurance compnies to pay for ad-
vertising, soliciting, profits, etc.
With the state insurance plan they
would get all of what the employers
pay into the state fund, less an a.
mount sufficient to create reserve
fund plus the cost of administra-
ton.
Under the Minnesota law injured
employees receive fifty per cent of
their wages for limited time. In
Ohio, with state insurance, they re-
ceive 66 2/3 per cent. No compensa-
ton is paid for the first two weeks
in Minnesota. 1t is paid after the
first week in Ohio.
More than that, the rate charged
by liability companies to employers
in Minnesota is very much higher
than the rate charged Ohio employ
ers by the state.
In September, 1913, committee
was appointed by the Government
Of British Columbia for the purpose
of investigating "the operation of
modern systems of workmen's COM
pensation laws" in the United
States.
The committee was unanimous in
it's recommendation for an exclusive
State-administered fund. "Such a
system would in our opinion not only
save the employers of this Province
an immense amount of money, but
would contribute greatly to the sue
cess of the act as whole by elm
mating many undesirable features
usually attendant on the COMPETE
tive company system"
@,0,1-. 100 1885, ----