The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-07
JUDGE WILKINSON SEEKS TOENF FORCE
 PAYMENT IN FULL
Jurist Files Protest Against Alleged Practices In Pay ment of Compensation
 Awards

COHlIulSSlOlltI O1 lIlSuI duCS, dI Montgomery, Judge Horace c. Wilkinson of the circuit court of Jefferson county yesterday entered a protest against al- lowing concerns to do business in Alabama that take the at titude of requiring dependents to come to their office each week to collect the compensa- tion, unless the dependent will agree to take a sum less than he is entitled to under the workmen's compensation law.
 He asks the commissioner to make 1 an investigation to ascertain whethes this is the policy of the company, or merely the private attitude of some employe. If it is the attitude of the company, Judge Wilkinson suggests that the matter be taken up with the attorney generals department and see if some way cannot be devised to can eel it's permit to do business in Ala bama.
 In speaking of this matter, Judge Wilkinson said: When a man is killed, the workman's compensation law fixes the exact amount his dependents are entitled to. There is no guess work about it. If they are partially depen- dent, they are paid so much, and if wholly dependent, they are paid so all woa ha was receiving al the time of his death. AMOUNT PAID
 "The amount may be paid in weekly installments of so much per week for a given period of time or in the discre- tion of the court may be ordered paid in a lump sum. depending on the cir cumstances.
 ''The attitude of some industrial concerns, netting through the fnsur- , ance company that carries their inc surance seems to he, thnt they will require the dependent to come to 1 their office each wck to collect the
 compensation, unless the dependent will agree to take sum less than the dependent is entitled to. NO settlement can be made except 1 the same be approved by the court and | where a party is a resident the l expense of collecting the installments | weekly is prohibitive. Many parties 1 are ignorant of the right of the court to require a lump sum payment, and l therefore ask permission to settle for amounts less than they are entitled to-
 WILKINSON'S LETTER 1 The letter of Judge Wilkinson to the i comm iSSioner of insurance follows: November 6, 1920. Hon. A. W. Briscoe Commissioner of
 Insurance, Montgomery Ala. l Dear Sir: Inclosed you will find two l letters. one from firm of local at | torneys to a local industrial concern seeking to settle a claim for the death of an employe under the workman's compensation act, the other reply from the claim agent of the insurance company carrying liability insurance cn the employees. I am sending you the original In order that you may have the data before you for future ac- tion
 You will observe that in the letter from the attorneys to the company they state that they were duly appointed by the court to represent the mother of the deceased. This was fact, and they were therefore under the law au- thorized to handle this matter. In the letter from the insurance company they take the position that this woman must call at their office at the ore mines i'll this district each week and receive the allowance provided for by the workmans compensation act This woman is a. resident
 residing in Mississippi. Her son
 cnme to work here and was killed.
 There is apparently no dispute
 about the amount due her, but
 what this concern is evidently att
 tempting to do is to make the col
 lection of this just claim so bur
 b~ In
 terial reduction of what the law
 allows her in order to get the mat
 ter settled at once.
 DECLINED TO APPROVE
 Now here is what happened: She pre- scented me with a petition asking this court to approve settlement of $500 when she was legally entitled to ap- proximately S1.500. I declined to ap- prove the settlement. The matter was again taken up with the company ani the woman amended her petition by all lcging that she was only partially" dependent on the "deceased, which changed her rate of compensation and at her earnest insistence l approve l tte settlement for $500 on the theory that she was partial dependent." am satisfied that this amendment was induced by the attitude of the ccmpanv insisting that she come from Mississippi each week to collect her p.tiful allowance under this act.
 This morning attornevs representing q woman with six children living in Georgia applied to me to approve a | settlement of $500 where the hus- band and father had been killed while Y orking here. The same concern was involved. Investigation showed that she and her children were entitled to approximately $3.700 and that there was no dispute about the amount due. The company, however. adopted the at titude that she could take the s1,500 or come to their office each week and receive her allowance admittedly due her unde~ 4ba low.
 PRIVATE ATTITUDE | am giving you these facts in order tFat you may make an investigation ard ascertain whether or not this is the policy of the company, or is mere lY the private attitude of some en- ploye. If it is the attitude of the company then I respectfully suggest that you take the matter up with the attorney generals department and see if some way cannot be devised to can- eel it's permit to do business in Ala bama.
 As a public official and private citi- zen I desire to register my protest aqainst allowing any company to dc brsiness in Alabama that takes the attitude that the widows and orphans and dependent mothers of deceased