Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-02-20

borers are generally excluded. and
from a practical viewpoint. domestic
servants should be excluded for the
reason that the nature of household
employment seldom causes injury of
more than trivial character, and the
employc there has the personal care
OF the employer Furthermore the
wide distribution OF great number Of
such employees includes many house
holds of workmen themselves. and if
they were included within the law.
the cost of the vast amount of admin.
istrative supervision would. be out of
proportion to the good that would be
gained
EXemDts Cer.aiu Employers.
Fourth 10 has been deemed adj
visable i'm the Chamber OF Commerce
act, purely for purposes OF political
eXpediencey and because numerous
other States have done SO. 10 applv
the act only to cmplOyments i'm which
more than certain number OF per-
sons are employed Such q provision
has been held legal by the Supreme
Court Of the United States. Both theo-
retically and practically. this is wrong
If an act can be passed without such
a provision. To deny the benefits OF
the act to employees who work i'm con-
junction with three or less fellow
wOrkmen would be unjust and unfair
to such employees. and I'm addition
would seriously discriminate against
small employees by making it difficult
for them TO secure adequate labor in
competition with employers of a
greater number OF men. IL would also
be difficult TO tell who was an en-
plOyer of such number if he employ
ed four today and five or six next
month and again four or less the fol-
lowing month. The c0ntractional re-
latonship between employer and en-
ploye in such case would be too in
definite
Fifth. What should be the amount
of compensation: The amount of
compensation should not be too great,
and should not exceed half of the
average earnings. A high rate of COM
pcnsation is responsible for malin-
eering, and by malingering I mean
claiming inability to work when, as
matter Of fact, no such inability OK
lists. You will always find people
who would rather remain idle on half
or two-thirds wages than work at fun
pay Furthermore with no fraudu-
! lent intention. the expectancy of part
wages as compensation might natu-
: rally lead many injured employees to
| believe they were unfit for work.
/ sixth Payments should be made
] weekly One of the great objects of
| workmen's compensation acts is to
get speedy relief for the injured en-
ployes, because they are frequently
/ of a class who do not have the means
/ of daily sustenance following an in
jury.
Seventh Adequate guarantees that
! indemnites will be paid: At the
| time the 1913 act was drawn, prac-
! tically none of the States required the
/ insurance of compensation. Practi-
cal experience has demonstrated.
! however. since that time that a
proper workable act should provide
for insurng payment Of compensa-
ton.
Eighth. Industrial Accident Board:
/ 1t has been found particularly in New
Jersey, that abuses are certain TO
| arise, unless there is some active
! supervising board. All OF the States
now make such a provision.
ninth Lump Sum Payments: Pay
ments in full should be allowed only
after careful consideration OF the i'm
dividual case. Widows and other de
pendents are notably easy victims o
confidence and green goods men am
promoters OF wildcat schemes, anC
should therefore be properly pro
tected in the enjoyment of their in
IDENTITIES There are certain case.
to the contrary"
| These are only a few of the essen
tial features. An examination o. the
Chamber Of Commerce bill will show
numerous other provisions that have
llbeen taken care of.