Denver labor bulletin., 1917-08-04

pay as much as $3.50, while the max
imum for the same injury in Colorado
is but $3.50. Again, in Oregon and
Porto Rico cash benefits are paid for
injuries of no matter how brief dura-
ton, whereas in Colorado no cash
benefits are paid for disabilities of less
than three weeks. Further, Washing
ton and Wyoming, at one extreme.
make no provision for medical and sur
gical service, this expense falling en-
tlrely upon the worker, whereas, at
the other extreme, several states. as
Connecticut, Massachusetts and Cali
fornia, may pay for all necessary med
ical and hospital service, without limit
as to time or amount.
The words accident" and injury
have different meanings in different
places. Generally speaking, the prac
tice has been to limit compensation to
accidental injuries in the strict sense.
There is a tendency, however, to
broaden the term so as to take in the
more subtle injury of occupational
diseases, such as lead poisoning, wood
alcohol blindness and anthrax Massa-
chusetts is the only state in which this
has been regularly done and approved
of by both the administering board and
the courts. But the California act was
recently amended so as to include occu-
pational diseases and in certain other
states the commissions have so inter
preted the law only to be overruled
by the courts. The laws of other
states should be amended in like man.
ner to that of California and all new
laws enacted should provide compen-
sation for disability or death result
ing from occupational disease.
In states where workmen's compen-
sation laws are not compulsory trade
union agreements should require en-
ployers to come within the law and
provision should be made to see that
premiums on insurance are promptly
paid.
1t appears, therefore, that practic-
ally all of the state compensation acts
now in force need enlarging and lib
eralizing before they can be regarded
as furnishing adequate protection to
the whole body of wage earners. This,
the bulletin points out, has been a gen.
eral tendency of recent amendments
In no case has compensation system
once introduced been repealed. But
in n number of instances inferior acts
have been superseded by better ones
and in all cases where the courts have
held particular acts unconstitutional
the states affected have proceeded to
enact new laws that would meet the
necessary legal tests and. if no other
way offered, the constitutions have
been amended.
At the beginning of 1917 there were
thirty-five compensation laws in effect
in the United States, including those
of Hawaii, Alaska and Porto Rico, but
not including the new federal act of
1916, which was not yet in operation.
due to delay in the appointment and
confirmation of the commission. OF
the seventeen non-compensation states,
ten are in single group of southern
and south central states-Nirginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor-
gia, Florida. Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee. Arkansas and Missouri.
The other seven are the two Dakotas:
the three mountain states of Idaho,
Utah and New Mexico; Delaware and
the District of Columbia. In several
of these, investigating commissions
are now at work and in some it is
probable that compensation acts will
be adopted at the current sessions of
their legislatures.
In addition to reproducing in full
the text of the American laws now in
force the bulletin summarizes the i'm
portant features of the laws of for
eign countries. 1t also presents COM
prehensive analysis of the decisions of
the courts and of the various admin
istrative commissions.