The Nome nugget., 1927-07-09
ALASKA W0RkMAN'S
 ACT

 Nome Nugget, copy of the Work mems Compensation Act, embody- ing therein the amendments add ed thereto by the last Alaska Les lature, the undersigned suggested it would be 8 public favor if he would print the Act in his paper. My object in doing so was to give the people interested an opportun- ity of having copy and also ex- tend the sphere of knowledge re- lative to- legislation affecting 50 largely the people of this section. Nr. Maynard kindly consented. but asked me for short prologue or introduction, which Is given as .oll- cws:
 Any attempt to explain the sub ject of compensation in the short space accorded by newspaper would be impossible. l will there- for confine myself to the following statement:
 The tendency of the times, with it's phenomenal departures in every sphere of human activity from the old established methods, brings in it's train, human ills, not experien- ced under old time methods of in dus'ry when handwork reigned sup reme, and mechanical devices were in their infancy. Today hand workis relegated to the realm of an cient history. The fierce competi- tion among enlightened nations for industrial supremacy, has placed a premium on inventive genius. With the rapid development of our re- sources under the aegis of highly developed machinery, accidents and injuries to workmen began to in- crease in alarming numbers; not only in this country but in all in- dustrial countries. Within the memory of men of middle age the injured workmen or dependents
  a most precarious method, of ob- taining recompense for his in- jury. That was the tortuous and expensive method of suing in court the employer, which even if succ- essful, with it's long delays, and the cost inevitably piled up; in many cases left the injured workmen and his dependents, if he had any. in a bad plight. With few eXcep- on society and the sad ease of child Ten, brought up uIeducated and impoverished, fed the grist mills of the criminal courts, with all it's graduated classes of offenders. In this connection it has been esta- blished by unbiased inquistors in to crime conditions, including so- ciologists, humanitarians, labor leaders, eclesiatics of all denomina- tions, college professors, and many others; that poverty was one of the fertile recruiting grounds for large quota of the criminal ele- ment. To obviate and cope with this imminent danger to the we'll fare of the working classes and of our American institutions, over a quarter of a century ago in the highly industrialized states, agi- tation, principally conducted by the labor organizations. was initiated for the purpose of coping with this alarming state of human degrada- tfon. It is but foir to state that this had it's inception in England and Germany, two highly indus trfalized countries. Legislatures were petitioned by labor and other influential bodies, setting forth plans, whereby the injured employ ees could be compensated in some measure and society ridden of paup erism and other social ills, by state legislation. Such was the in
 
 form of compensation acts now on the statute books of the states. New York state with it's vast wealth and large population ranking first in fberality and scope of compen- sation. It is cheerful to record that this is middle ground in which employer and employee have harmoniously agreed. as to the in- herent right of society to protect the interest of the citizens engag- ed in gainful labor, from becom- ing public charges, at the same time promoting the social inter- est of the state by insuring to the child it's equality of rights-life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness. And confidently predict