Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-15
PLANTSFAVOR
DISEASE MOVE
Will Welcome any Legislation
if Properly Presented, DR..
Ramsay Declares
0CCUPATl0NAL DISEASES
Conference Held Here Views
of all Those Affected as
Given at Session
OCCUPATlONAL DISEASES

That the plants of Perth Ambcy
will welcome any legislation tending
to compensate victims of occupa-
tional diseases, provided the legisla-
ton is properly presented, was
brought out by DR.. William e. Ram
say, and the various officials of
plants in this vicinity yesterday, at
a meeting of the New Jersey Com
mission held at the city hall.
The purpose of the meeting yes
terday was to get the views of the
manufacturers, labor organizations
and others interested in the matter
of occupational diseases, to deter
mine whether bill could be pre-
sented whereby both employer and
employee could be protected in the
case of the disease in their plants.
This commission is holding public
meetings in various parts of the
state for the purpose during this
month, after which they will recon-
mend a bill to the incoming legis-
/ lative bodies.
DR.. Rector, secretary of the Con-
| ference Board of Physicians and In
dustry, of New York City, was the
first to speak yesterday and talked
of the difficulty in discriminating
between an occupational disease and
accidental injury. He also spoke of
the protection an employer should
receive, in the preparation of the
bill, and stated q probable instance
where a workman would contract a
disease in one plant and then move
to another or several other where
the disease would be enabled to
grow. He said that in this case the
last employer should not be made to
bear the the full consequence.
In concluding his talk DR.. Rector
said that a definition of an occupa-
ton disease could not be given in
hard and fast terms, as some dis
eases are contracted by workers
while away from their employment.
DIR. Ramsay was the next speaker
to give his views on the matter and,
| In reading over the list of diseases
outlined by the commission that
might be contracted by employees in
the plants here, said that the only
oceupational disease at all prevalent
| in this city is that of lead poisoning.
He added that lead poison was also
fading away and few cases have been
reported III the last SeNcid SSal .
Continuing along the lines 10 the
rare case of lead poison, DR.. Ram
| say told the commissioners that he
| had been a plant physician for
twenty years in this city and
! in all that time there had never been
n death resulting from lead poison
He said that in the early days of the
plants here many cases of the dis
ease would come to light, but few
days after the discovery the victim
would be in fit shape again to take
/ up his duties again.
! DIR Ramsay told of the precau-
tions being taken by the employers
/ of the various plants in this citS
! in the protection of their employees
and cited instances where it was
I many times the fault of the mer
! themselves if they contracted this
! lead poisons. In closing DR.. Ramsay
said that the employees of th'
| plants and factories here will no
oppose any legislation that tends tC
! compensate the employees in tht
contrac ction of disease while at worl
unless the law is misused by the
| employee himself.