The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1927-04-01

even under a compulsory State i'll
surance law. friction would always
exist The present law. he asserted.
has lots of teeth in il and under it
workmen generally are assured of
compensation for injuries.
Workers Generally Covered
Anaiyzng the local situation. he
showed thai the great majority Of
workers in the mining industry are
we'll looked after by the larger com.
panies which provide insurance
against injury and sickness. furnish
hospitals and doctors. and that bnt
small minority could possibly be
affected by the enactment of new
law. Out of total of l.713 men
| employed il the quartz mines as
| shown by the latest report Of the
| Labor Commissioner. l2G4 We're en-
ployed by the four larger mines OF
the Territory and are we'll taken
care OF. In the placer mining in.
dustry the same authority showed
loo men out of total of 2,S00
were employed by TIE Hammond and
Fairbanks Exploration Company in
terests steadily employed for the
most part with the remainder in
part time employment
Experience under the present law.
he declared. bad shown that the
/ larger companies settled all claims
promptly and literally. These com
panies. he said. carry their own in
surance at IA much smaller cost thar
would be possible under The pro.
posed law.
Bill Most Drastic
The bill. he characterized. as be
ing most drastic, providing rates
away above those OF the western
mining States. II WAS considerably
higher in its rates than the Federal
Act and was exceeded almost alono
by the North Dakota Act II wa
possible for permanently disabled
employees under it to obtain IA lump
sum settlement for $4,000 and to
get as high as S53 900 under the
monthly payment plan. The life ex-
pectancy plan proposed, he said was
twice as liberal as the New York
system which is based ON tha Su
vivership Anngitants Table of Nor
tality, which is far different Sfrom
the American Table Of Mortality in
the bill for purposes of computation
Result in High Rates
Inevitably, he argued. such a Sys-
tenn would result in high premium
rates assessed against the basic in
dustres Of the Territory. Such rates
could not help w result in retar1.
naturally followed that new capital
would be slow to invest where il
would be subjected to exorbitant in
surance rates.
Litigation under the present laws,
he said is not heavy. He cited fig
ures for the Kennecott Company and
allied interests showing almost no
suits brought during the past five
years.
H quoted the costs of insurance
to the larger mining companies Of
the Territory. all of whom carry
their own risks These rates ranged
from $2.75 to So for each hundred
dollars of payroll. He compared this
to the California mining industry
state rate of $S.04
Fall on Big Mines
The principal cost, he said, would
fall en- large operators. employers
of labor in quantities. The employees
of men or companies unable or fail
ing for some other reason to pay
insurance premiums would not have
any more protection than Is ai
fordad by the present law.
The present system works with a
minimum of expense and each in
dustry nor the. public at large being
taxed for the losses of other indus
tries.
H. J.. Faulkner explained why
there was more or less litigation
under the present law and why such
cases would necessarily arise under
the proposed law. 1t is not always
possible to determine the amount of
injury, whether permanent or tenn
porary disability is involved, and
various other questions involved in
settlement of compensation. When
such issues arise, he said suits will
result whether there is a State fund
or whether compensation is covered
by private insurance companies.
He pointed out that the present law
provided that costs of litigation shall
be borne by the unsuccessful party,
and that where there is delay in
settlement interest is chargeable
from the date of injury, thus afford
ing as complete protection as is
possible to all parties concerned.
Mr.. Hellenthal cited operating re-
turns from the Alaska Juneau opera
tons TO prove that the local com
pany was not in position to bear the
burden of such law as is proposed.
Gaffney Questions Witnesses
Prefacing his questions with o
humorous remark that the most of
the House members, who We're alb
sent. had apparently yielded to bland
ishments of Juneau. Chairman Gaff-
nev directed many questions to wit
nesses appearing before the Com
mittee on almost every phase of the
compensation question. He question
ed lawyers closely on the reasons
for litigation under the present sta
tute and got specific information.
He queried them regarding medical
treatment and disqualification, about
polices of settlement, reasons why
various employers of labor had re-
iected the provisions OF the local
| Act.
Much information was brought by
his questioning which was, to large