The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-04-03
Workn,en's Conversation

~
i wv before the legislature for discussion ant
possible amendment il IS interesting to note that
the Investigators of the federal government recog.
nze the fact that the Hawaiian statute equals the
best in the Unior. and surpasses all the legislation
except in one. State in some particulars A bull
letin of the bureau of labor statistics OF the de-
partment Of labor, issued under date Of March "a
an advance copy of which has reached The Adyer.
tiser points out this fact as Melllas giving much
information concerning general compensation leg
islation on the mainland This is OF particular
benefit to the Legislators at this time
i In the rapid spread OF workmen's compensation
Legislation in this country the fact is often over
looked that many Of the laws adopted are far less
comprehensive than their mere titles would indi-
cate. Because thirty-fve States and Territories
with some seventy-fve per cent of the employed
population have adopted such laws it is frequently
assumed that similar proportion of the wage
workers of the country are now fully and properly
insured against the loss and suffering of industrial
] accidents That this is not true is emphasized
/ in this Bulletin, entitled "Workmen's Compensa-
ton in the United States and Foreign Countries
The Bulletin presents detailed comparison OF
the principal features Of the various State com
4 pensation laws. The comparison brings out most
striking differences particularly as regards the
i proportion Of workers covered and the scale ,of
| compensation benefits. No State compensation
act covers all employees In the first place most
of the acts are elective. Employers who do not
accept penaized but in spite of this there are
/ always number who refuse to elect. In the sec
ond place, all of the acts purposely exclude certain
classes of employees. Thus, agricultural workers,
domestic servants and casual employees are almost
j everywhere excluded. Also there is an important
/ group OF acts which apply only to list of en-
poyments declared to be especially hazardous, al
] though in practise they may be no more hazardous
than others not included. Again, considerable
/ number Of acts apply only to employers having
less than certain number of employees, the mini
mum being in one case as high as eleven ..
| The result of these limitations and exclusions is
to restrict the benefits of compensation very often
to only rather small fraction of the total number
lof workers The. Bulletin makes a rough estimate
of the proportion covered in each State, the esti-
mate being based on the liberal assumption that
election has been made by all employers affected
in States having elective laws In only two in
stances, New Jersey and Hawaii, do the acts in
lclude at best as many as ninety per cent of the
total workers and only seven States cover eighty
lper cent or over. i&lG. 1" ~.
Similarly striking are the differences between
the several acts regards the benefits paid in
| of injury. A few extreme instances may be cited
Thus, in the of fatal injury occurring in the
State of Oregon the widow and children may re-
ceive in total as much as $l3480, whereas in VerI
mont the maximum would be $3.50 and under the
Oklahoma act no benefits at all are paid in case
of death. For loss of hand the Alaska act may
pay as much as 5000, while the maximum 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 duration, whereas
in Colorado no cash benefits are paid for disabil-
tiles Of less than three weeks, Further, Washing
ton and Wyoming, at one extreme, make no proyi-
sion for medical service this expense falling en-
| trely on the worker, whereas, at the other ex-
treme several States, as Connecticut, Massachu-
sets and California may pay for all necessary
medical and hospital service, without limit as to
| time or amount.
The words accident and INJURY" have differ
ent meanings in different places. Generally speak
| ing, the practise has been to limit compensation
to accidental injuries in the strict sense. There
| is tendency, however, to broaden the term so as
to take in the more subtle injury OF occupational
disease such as lead poisoning wood alcohol blind
ness and anthrax Massachusetts is the only State
in which this has been regularly done and APP
proved of by both the administering board and
the courts But the California act was recently
amended so as to include occupatonal diseases
and in certain other States the commissions have
so interpreted the law only to be overrued by the
courts. SIN ,."..
1t appears, therefore, that practically all of the
State compensation acts now in force need en-
lareing and beralizing before they can be regard
ed as furnishing adequate protection to the whole
body Of wage earners. This, the Bulletin points
out, has been general tendency of recent amend
ments In no case has compensation system
once introduced been repealed. But in a number
of instances inferior acts have been superseded by
better ones and in all where the courts have
held particular acts unconstitutional the States
affected have proceeded to enact new laws that