MAIMED TOILERS,
Two Millions Annually Injured In
Industry.
PROBLEM OF COMPENSATION.
United States Behind All Other Civi
lized Nations In Laws For Protection
of Workmen Lack of Safety Devices
Largely Responsible.
.lob n Mitchell, former president of
the mine workers. In a recent address
before the Liability Insurance associa
tion said lu part:
Industrial accidents and compensa
tion for losses caused by them are
subjects In which the worklngmen are
more directly interested than any oth
er group in society. Primarily the
worklngmen are more concerned with
the means of preventing industrial ac
cidents than they are with the subject
of compensation for losses caused by
them. It Is all very well for a work
man to receive $1,000 for the loss of
an eye or the loss of a leg, but it is
much better for the workman, as it is
for society, that the eye or the leg be
not lost. .. .
In the United States the number of
persons killed and Injured is not even
counted, but William Hard credits the
American Institute of Social Service
with the statement that 536.165 work
men, are killed or maimed every year
in American industry, while Dr. Hoff
man has estimated the annual number
of Industrial accidents at approximate
ly 2.000.000. As a matter of fact, how
ever, the death roll of industry is
longer than Is evident from official
figures. It Is a strange commentary
upon our boasted American civilization
that in this country twice or three
times as many persons per thousand
employed are killed and injured in the
course of their employment as in any
other country in the world.
When we observe the contrasts be
tween the number killed and Injured
In the industries of other nations with
that of our own we are led to the con
clusion that if it cost more to kill a
workman in American than to protect
. him, as it does in Europe, the Ameri
can workman would not be killed he
would be protected, and the number
of industrial accidents would be re
duced at least one-half.
As a further means of reducing ac
cidents our iniquitous and antiquated
liability laws should be supplanted by
an automatic system of compensation
to workmen for losses caused by in
dustrial accidents.
The United States is now the only
Industrial nation on earth that main
tains the old system of liability based
upon negligence. We still live under
the common law only slightly modi
fied by statute.
As a rule, an Injured workman has
no remedy at law If his injury were
caused by the act of a fellow work
man or if he contributed in any de
gree to his own injury. In many in
stances he has no remedy at law what
ever, because It has been held by the
courts that the workman In accepting
employment assumes all the risk of
;hls work. The result of all this judge
made law has been that the workman
is practically helpless, the employer is
tinder heavy expenses defending him
self In the courts, and the courts of
the state and nation are burdened be
yond their capacity with litigation that
in every other nation Is eliminated be
cause of the automatic settlement of
such claims.
It may be interesting to consider, the
expenseand the useless waste of mon-
ey which is involved under our present
liability system. Mr. Hard states in
his booklet that in the eleven years
1894-1905 the employers' liability com
panies of America took in $99,959,075 in
premiums from American employers
and that these companies paid out in
the settlement of claims of injured
workmen $43,599,498, or 43 per cent of
the amount they took in. Of the $43,-
599,498 paid in the settlement of
claims of injured workmen I believe it
is safe to say that 35 per cent was ex
pended by the injured workmen in the
payment of attorneys' fees and court, i
expenses, so that in the final analysis !
the Injured workmen received less
than $30,000,000 out of the $100,000,000
paid by employers during this period j
in premiums to liability companies.
In other words, $70,000,000 was wast
edworse than wasted because the
money was used in burdening our
courts with litigation and in delaying
or defeating the settlement of claims,
many of them just claims, when It
should have been used and would be
used under a wise system for the im
mediate relief of the men and their
families who are the victims of the
hazard of industrial pursuits.
I am not prepared to say that even
though the entire $100,000,000 had
been paid directly to the injured work
men it would have been sufficient to
have indemnified them for their loss
es, but I do believe that it. would not
have required very much more to have
compensated them on the basis of the
British workmen's compensation act.
I believe that industry should bear the
burden of the pecuniary loss sustained
by workmen as a result of industrial
accidents, just as it is now required to
repair its machinery and to offset the
loss caused by depreciation in the val
ue of Its plants. The workmen and
those dependent upon them are and
will be under any system required to
bear all the physical pain and mental
suffering. For this they cannot be re
imbursed, but they should be relieved
of the harrowing fear of hunger and
want They should be guaranteed
against the humiliation and degrada
tion of becoming objects of charity.
DEMAND TKE: LABEL
Workers Need Feel No Shame In Ask
ing For Union Made Goods.
There i no occasion for a union man
or woman to blush or hang his or her
head when asking for union , made
goods bearing the union label. This
little emblem of fairness and honesty
on everything you buy tells its story
of honor and trade unionism and as
such should be respected by all who
come in contact with it.
The way some stanch unionists go
about buying union made goods re
minds one of a school child of the kin
dergarten class spending her first pen
ny In the candy store, when she does
not know what she wants and would
'be afraid to ask for It if she did.
There is an absolute lack of neces
sity for any such conduct or bashf ill
ness in Such cases, and the union man
or woman should be proud in asking
for goods bearing the label instead of
seemingly being ashamed of it. When
you purchase the products of your co
workers in the army of labor see that
the label of unionism is on it. and if
It Is not do not invent some excuse for
not buying and sneak out of the store,
but make a bold demand for the label,
and If the storekeeper has not what
you want bearing it tell him frankly
why you cannot deal with him and in
form him when he sells goods bearing
the label you will become his custom
er. You don't blush nor" seem embar
rassed when you receive your union
wages. Why should' you do so when
asking for union labeled goods? You
have earned your money honestly. See
that you spend it honestly.
ThJnJs it over, and the.next time sou
go to buy anything heed its precepts.
The union label stands for the protec
tion of just and honorable employers
from competition by cheap labor rivals,
fair wages for the laborer and better
trade conditions. , It guarantees the
workmen a better living, shorter hours
and more money. Therefore there is
no reason why you should not demand
the union label. Demand the union
label all the time. Streator Gazette.
Labor Opposes Congressmen.
The Connecticut branch of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor, In conven
tion at Daubury recently, took a de:
cided stand against the returning to
congress of Senators Bulkeley and
Brandegee and Congressmen Hill, Til
son, Henry and Higgins. This action,
taken in the form of a resolution, was
unanimously adopted and was to the
effect that the state's representatives
had voted against bills introduced in
the interests of labor. A resolution
was also adopted deploring the recent
dynamiting of the Los Angeles Times
building and resenting the charge that
it was the work of. union men. It also
expressed the hope that the perpetra
tors of 'the outrage would meet with
swift punishment.
AN APPEAL TO WORKERS.
Here is a brief statement of
the demands which organized
labor in the Interest of workers
aye, of all the people of the
country makes upon modern
society:
Higher wages, shorter work
day, better labor conditions, bet
ter homes, better and safer
workshops, factories, mills and
mines in a word, a better, high
er and noble life.
Conscious of the justice, wis
dom and nobility of our cause,
the American Federation of La
bor appeals to all men and wo
men of labor to join with us in
the , great movement for its
achievement. s
More than 2,000.000 wage earn
ers who have reaped the advan
tages of organization and feder
ation appeal to their, brothers
and sisters of toil to unite with
them and participate in the glo
rious movement, with its attend
ant benefits. Samuel Gompers.
Generous and Independent.
In front of a confectioner's shop in
Paris there used to sit a woman with
two wooden legs. She sold pictures
and songs .and played well on the vio
lin. In 1848 she was there, very pretty
and dressed with a good deal of taste,
and when Louis Napoleon, then mere
ly Prince Louis, used to go through
the street nearly every day. be never
passed without giving her-something
She knew him and was also aware
of his pecuniary embarrassments and
bis political ambitions. One evening
she said to him, "Monsieur, I want to
hay a word to you." ,
"Say it, madame."
"They tell me that you are a good
deal cramped just now. I have at my
bouse a comfortable sum which La
earning nothing. Let me offer; it to
you. You will return the favor when
you are emperor. - . - ' -
Prince Louis did not accept the mon
ey, but he did not forget the kindness,
and when be became emperor be offer
ed her a small annuity. The woman
was as independent as she was gener
ous. "Say to the emperor." she replied,
"that it is exceedingly good of him to
remember me, but I cannot accept his
offer. If he had accepted mine I won't
say what might have happened, but
as It Is, no!" ,
Balance of Power.
A thorough organization of la
bor directed by wise and con
servative leadership is the
strongest fortification that can
be established for the conserva
tion of our republican form of
government. It is the strong
est guarantee, that our constitu
tional liberties will be protected
and perpetuated. Without such
an effective balance of nower
we will become a judicial mon-
archy controlled by selfish mon
eyed interests that will lead the
nation back to the oppression
and the tyranny that our fore
fathers fought against and from
which they successfully es
caped. .
EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY.
Chief Importance of Legislation to Pro
tect the Worker.
Edgar A. Bancroft, president of the."'
Illinois State Bar association, in
speaking on the subject of employers'
liability afr a recent meeting of that
body declared that the chief impor
tance of such legislation did not lie in
the legal questions involved nor in a
sure recompense for injured work
men. "It lies." he said, "in the fact that if
a plan is found for insuring every
workman against loss through acci
dents in his employment it will not
only end the personal injury disputes
between employer and employee and
relieve the courts of a very large bur
den, but it will also preserve the inde-1
pendence of the men and their fami-'
lies and at the same time remove en
tirely the wasteful antisocial influence
of such strife and unite, as they
should be united, the employer and
the employees in a common interest
and purpose."
Carpenters Want Old Age Fund.
Over 200 proposed amendments were
acted upon by the carpenters' com
mittee on constitutional changes at
the recent convention in Des Moines,
and its members approved only nine.
Among those approved are that rec-
perannuation benefit fund and that
each district elect its own member of
the executive board.
NO CASE ON RECORD.
How many times has a manu-.
facturers' association ever estab
lished a shorter workday, in
creased the pay or bettered con
ditions in any trade or calling?
.Not! once in a thousand years. T
Only labor organizations do that.
$h. t 't t 'i ?' $ y $
Ohio Labor Statistics.
According to a bulletin just received
from the bureau of labor statistics, a
review of the labor conditions through
out Ohio for the quarter ending July
1, ;1910, reflects a general inc rease in
the demand for labor in all branches
of industry. The supply has shown
an almost corresponding increase, yet
it was not sufficient by a marked per
centage to meet the demand.
Railway to Raise Wages.
Announcement has been made at the
Pennsylvania railroad offices at Har
risburg that an increase of wages for
engine drivers and firemen would be
made on the company's lines in that
part of the state. The Increase will be
about 10 per cent, not including the in
crease of 6 per cent announced in
April, ...-"
