The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1917-01-12

not give them full prot, ction, while
with the liabiit companies
lid. This theory was ba d upon the
provision That suit
could be brought against ne employer
Of labor, either by the injured or the
dependent, if the accident resulted
from the willful act of the employer,
or the violation of the safety laws
Of the state.
Now let US analyze that feature:
Every consideration of public policy
that no one shall be insured
against the consequences of an un.
lawful act. No man whose conscience
tells him the difference between right
and wrong will contend differently
That is the moral view Of it, at least
What the legal and constitutional as /
pect is, the Supreme Court will decide.
If it should hold that tile practice is |
not offensive to the constitution, 1T is
reasonable certainty that public de-
sire and insistence will lead to an
amendment to the constitution. / have
no hesitation in expressing the belief
that the ultimate policy, established,
if need be, by constitutional change,
will bar any system, either through
insurance or otherwise, from protect
ing man, or corporation, that commits
an act, declared plainly by statute to
be illegal. Therefore, in my judgment
at least, it is safe to assume that the
state plan of insurance will give the
maximum protection under the con-
stitution, and no one can do more.
In order to ascertain whether this will
contribute to more than very sporadic
litigation, or justifies any alarm by
the employer, we need not speculate
as to the future. The answer is found
from the exerience of the past. Since
the adoption of the law, there have
been 100000 industrial accidents, and
only seventeen suits have been
brought against employers who paid
into the state insurance fund. Exclu-
sive of the McWeeney case, which oc-
Cured under what is now an abro-
gated law, there was but one single
verdict rendered by the court against
the employer in the list of seventeen,
and that was for two thousand dol
lars. Five cases were settled out of
court, four were decided in favor of
the employer, one was dismissed by
the employe, one was dismissed by
the court, and four are still pending.
More than one thousand firms carry
their own insurance under state con-
sent, and against these institutions
but five suits have been brought.
Against the employers who have re-
insured with the liability insurance
companies, eight suits have been in
stituted, making total of thirty law
suits from all sources. These figures
are procured from the official records
of the Industrial Commission.
Having been associated with the
drafting of the compulsory act in
Ohio, and with it's initial adminstra-
ton, I know full well that the first
objective in mind were, guaranteed
compensation, prevention as far as
possible of all legal contention be-
tween labor and capital, and such CO.
ordination in the administration OF
this law and the safety laws as would
bring about a decrease in the number
of accidents. In order to discourage
litigation, it was not only provided
that the employe lost his right under
the compensation law if he went tt
the courts, under the common law
but in the event of his so doing, the
employer had restored to him two o1
the old common law defenses. In this
precaution, we went just as far as the
constitution permitted, and no one
will deny that the limitations in tha
organic instrument are justified. /
the initiated amendment is adopted
then the employers of labor mus
either come under the state fund, o.
avail themselves of the provisions O.
section twenty-three and carry theil
own insurance, after giving satisfac
tory bond that accidents will be re
ported as they occur, and that pay
ments will be made under the sched
u'ns prescribed. They will have nj
right, however, to re-insure with liza
bility companies. Section twenty-five
was carried into the law with the full
knowledge and consent Of every in
terest friendly to it. A number o
large corporations which maintain
their own hospitals and give first al,
to the injured workman asked tha
this personal relation not be disturbe
1t was so obviously calculated to pro
: mote better feeling between labor an
, capital that it was accepted.
Reports from the industrial com
mission show that the liability com
panies now insure barely five per cen
of the workmen Of the state. Ever
year the percentage runs agains
them in such measure as to indicat
that practically all employers who d
not desire to carry their own insul
once prefer to come in under the stat
: fund.
Experience thoroughly disprove
: that and you need not be reminde
that an attempt has been made I
y carry this sacred function of govern
ment into the political activities {