Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-01-22
ATTACKS STATE LAWS AFFECTING
 THE RAILROADS
St. Louis Writer Condemns Statutes Enacted to Pro.
 tect Workers.
(By Clio Harper)

me Curr nt issue Of American Justice, St. Louis monthly publica- ton. contains rather lengthy article from the pen Of D. c. Baker, the ed;- or, in which ha criticizes the 1egis- lative bodies of western states for their unfairness t. railroads. While Arkansas is not mentioned, the whole article appears to apply to this state. as all the laws mention, ar3 on the Arkansas staute books.
 MT. Baker presents some new argu- ments against old laws, many OF hich arc refreshingly original. MT. Baker quote prominent railroad man as favoring Federal regulation without conflicting state legislation a. the intrcduction for his article, and then takes up and discusses the laws which to hi:r appear objection able. He says m st of the siats laws ar2 passed for personal spite, or for the benefit of ccrmunities He classi- fjes the expenditure of the millions of d-llars required under these acts a.. wasteful, and robbery on the part ot the legislators. The first Arkansas law MT. Baker deals with is the act of 1911 lesisla- ture requiring the railroads to re- pair all equipment damaged in Ar kansas within the state. MT. Baker says this is selfish measure to have work done in local shops, in order to provide work fer a greater num- Der of men there, and without regari t. the cost of maintaining a larger number of shops, or the cost of transporting the repair work to them. He says the railroads should be per- mitted to repair their cars where it can be done the cheapest, as the in- div.dual is permitted to do.
 The full crew act comes next, three switchmen being required in switch ing crews. MT. Baker says the third l switchman was provided for public safety, where a watchman, who would draw much less waga, would pro- vide far greater safety.
 Twice a month pay days are at l tackled not cnly because of the addi- t,onal bookkeeping and expense at tached to them, but because employees take day off after pay day, especi- ally the negroes, and among labor CTS it usually means two drunks 3 month instead of one.
 Tho law requiring the railroads to l
 moving responsibility for conribu-
 tory negligence, according to MT.
 Baker. places 9 premium on tres passing. He charges that this law was passed at the instance Of damage
 suit lawyers. and cites instances
 where drunken men have been killed
 on the railroad tracks, even though they had been warned to stay away,
 snd the company had to pay heavy damage to their relatives. In one in-
 stance the widow of one So killed
 had just s'snt him away with the
 statement that she wanted to see him TO more.
 The writer also objects to the Sta
 tute which permits the storing of
 property near the right of way, ana
 if t can be shown that it was started
 by a spark, the company must pay
 Mr. Barnes lays this law at the door of insurance companies, who pay the c.aims and then sue the railroad
 One of the most lengthy para
 graphs Of the article is against the law. which permits personal injury suits being brought in any county oi
 the state, and dismissed when the jury does not look right. with the privilege of being rebrought within d year. The writer pcinta out that the plaintiff in these cases cannot be forced t. give bond for costs, and cases have been known to be brought several times on the same action aud
 even though the railroad was the
 winner, it must pay all the witnesses and court costs.