Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-02-20
COMPENSATION Of
INJURED WORKNEH
S. D. Townsend, Jr. Tells
Business Men of Bill Pend
ing in the Legislature
DELAWARE BEHIND
MOST OF THE STATES


mems compensation bill for the Cham
Der of Commerce, that is now pending
i'm the State Senate at Dover. adj
dressed members of the Chamber of
Commerce at noon today about that
proposed legislation. The bill drawn
by Mr.. Townsend, who has made an
exhaustive study of the subject Of
workmen's compensation and en-
ployers' liability thus far apparently
has brought no serious objection
from the employers or employees, OK
cept that the provision exempting en-
plOyers of five or less wOrkmen from
the operations of the law has brought
objection from some of the labor or
CARNATIONS.
Mr. Townsend. in addition to OK
planning the pending bill, answered
questions about some of its provisions.
In the course of his address he said:
Delaware Far Behind.
Beginning in 1884, practically all
of the European nations and the Ca
madam provinces adopted wOrkmen's
compensation acts, and their lead has
been followed by more than twenty
FIVE states. All of the states between
the Atlantic and Pacific ocean lying
north of tho southerly boundary of
Delaware, with the exception of three,
have workmen's compensation, or
compulsory insurance laws, for en-
ployes.
1.-THE most radical departure in
workmen's compensation acts from
the common law or the previous
L.. De-. nf
pensation in cases OF injuries to
workmen i'm the absence Of any negli-
Cence. actual or imputed. on the part
of the employer. The defenses OF CO
service and assumption OF risk are
entirely abrogated, as is also the de-
Tense of contributory negligence, eX-
cept in cases where the negligence
of the injured servant amounts to a
serious or wilful misconduct. In sup
mort of these advanced steps the in
jury to a workman has frequently
been compared to the breaking Of "a
machine, and as the cost OF repairing
the latter is borne by the industry
so should the burden of injuries to
workmon be considered as an indus
trial expense Of the. business.
"In addition to giving compensa-
ZION nOl lnIuiItns A0i MAAANh tANA .
had been no previous common law
or statutory remedy, the attempt has
also been made to simplify the pro-
cedure so as to make the recovery
quickly, easily and inexpensively OBJ
tainable, thus doing away with the
great delay and expense which so
often attended former actions for
personal injury to employees.
"In considering this subject the
difference between employers liabil-
ity' and 'workmen's compensation
should be borne in mind. The former
means that the employer is liable to
each employe for injuries received
during the course of employment due
TO the fault of the employer, the en-
ploye himself being free Of fault The
latter is the system by which each
employer becomes a limited insurer
of his workmen against economic
consequences of work injuries with
out respect to the fault Of either
marty i'm regard to such injuries.
What the Law Means.
"ITnder the present system. the in
iured worker secures damages only
after long and expensive litigation.
These damages are uncertain in
amount and are lessened by costs
and legal services which system Is
extensive and wasteful both to the
employer and employe. In many cases
the employe cannot recover damages
simply because OF his inability TO
prove the fault of the employer other
employees being reluctant TO TESTIFY
for him for fear of losing their posi-
sitions. The wOrkmen's compensation
acts have been prepared TO remedy
the above defects They do not con
slider the question Of the fault OF the
employer or the employe. They simply
fix a rate OF compensation TO cover all
injuries arising out OF and in the
course OF the employment, and while
this system i'm some particular IN
stances costs the employer more, and
IN other particular instances secures
the employe less, vet I'm the aggregate
IN IS estimated that the body Of EN-
ployers pay less and the body of en-
ployes secure more. and the relation
ship existing between employer and
cmploye becomes decidedly more
cordial. The relief is speedy and Ger
tain. and the injured employe. or his
dependents, are compensated immedi
ately rather than having TO wait tho
determination of expensive and uncer
tain litigation.
ct shall now give some Of the es
sential factors Of a good workmen's
compensation act, and in doing this
shall try to have in mind the inter
ests Of all concerned, that is ON
ployers, employees. the general public
and insurance carriers
Couldn't he Compulsory.
First. The Act should be com
pulsory but. unfortunately. the high
est courts of the State Of New Norl
have declared that such an Act is un
constitutional. and most Of the State'
have therefore made their acts cleo
tive. BY this I mean. that the EN-
ployer Is not required to pay and th'
employee is not required to accept thu
compensation feature unless he elects
10 do so. II the employer elects no
TO pay compensation, he is deprived
Of the defenses of contributory negli
gence. negligence of a fellow servant
and assumption of risk III the en-
ploye refuses. such defenses are re
stored to the employer.
Second. The remedy should b
exclusive of every other remedy. b
this ] mean, that when both the EN-
ployer and employe have elected I
be bound by the compensatory prov
sions, the employee should then be de
prived of any action at law for dam
ages Some of the acts permit III
emplOye to accept compensation o
sue for damages, with the result tina
the employees bring suit where tho