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CONTENTS.

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XV. Injuries covered..

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INTRODUCTION.

Lack of uniformity in State laws upon the subject and the necessity of securing facts to assist employers, workmen, and legislators to decide rightfully when promoting new legislation caused the National Civic Federation, through its department on compensation for industrial accidents and their prevention, to form a commission to study the operation of State workmen's compensation acts.

The American Federation of Labor was invited to cooperate, and the executive council of that body named two of its members to act upon the commission.

It was the belief that such an investigation would be of benefit not only to States which have not yet enacted compensation legislation but also to those in which laws have been passed; that by bringing out the respective merits and demerits of the various laws there would be afforded a clearer understanding of the difficulties involved and a more definite and exact knowledge of the benefits to be derived from this great reform; and that the inquiry would assist in further development along just and sound economic lines, tend toward securing uniformity of legislation in the different States, and aid in bringing about a better feeling of cooperation between employer and workman.

PLAN AND SCOPE OF INQUIRY.

The purpose of the commission was to ascertain the facts with regard to the operation of workmen's compensation laws, rather than to report upon theories or to make recommendations. The intent was the use of the information by the Civic Federation in drafting a new model workmen's compensation law.

The scope of the inquiry was comprehensive and involved personal conferences and hearings in the States having had the most experience and typifying different schemes or plans of compensation. There were included various types of elective acts and compulsory State insurance laws.

Some of the questions upon which information was secured were: "Degree of satisfaction given by compensation as against liability laws;" "The value of elective versus compulsory compensation laws; "Reasons for accepting or rejecting elective acts;" "The amount of compensation;" "Contributions by employees;" "Methods of insuring," "Cost of compensation;" "Exclusiveness of compensation remedy;" "Employers' defenses abrogated under elective acts;' "Employments covered;" "Nonresident alien dependents;" "Contractors liable to employees of subcontractors;" "Length of waiting period;" ;" "Medical and surgical aid;""Effect on prevention of accidents;" "Litigation under compensation acts;" "Methods of administration;" and "Effect upon relations of employer and workman.”

The commission covered a sufficient area to represent in effect all interests in the entire country. Members of the commission visited various cities in 8 of the 22 States having compensation laws, all the way from Massachusetts and New Jersey in the East, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin in the Central West, to California and Washington on the Pacific Coast. Conferences were had with State commissions or accident boards charged with administering the laws, representatives of both the employer and the employed, and of insurance companies. Nevada, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were covered by correspondence.

The labor viewpoint as to the benefits derived from workmen's compensation legislation was especially sought.

Letters of inquiry and questionnaires were sent approximately to 25,000 employers in the 12 States having had sufficient experience to provide data of value, and to the secretaries of all State and city branches of the American Federation of Labor in those States. The answers received covered these branches and employers representing a pay roll of $358,640,383.

ATTITUDE OF EMPLOYERS AND WORKMEN AND INTEREST SHOWN.

The compensation statutes having been in operation in any of the States but a short time, neither official nor general experience under the law was as complete as desirable. Consequently information was frequently limited to particular phases of the problem. In fact, those whom the commission met were in many cases seeking information, and realized the necessity for their own education on the subject. As a rule, the person testifying saw the question under discussion from his own viewpoint or experience, which resulted at times in one employer at a conference combating the arguments presented by another.

One of the obvious facts educed was the apparent honesty of purpose with which those conferring with the commission approached the subject. A reasonable inference is that employers and employees in general throughout the country are viewing the compensation problem with a desire to be fair and just. Differences in attitude may safely be attributed either to a misunderstanding of the subject or to the effect of seeing it from a limited viewpoint, sources of error to be remedied by experience. The employer who complains of the law because it requires him to pay compensation for an accident in which he is clearly not to blame, or which possibly may be due to the fault of the injured person, will get a broader view of the law when later he is relieved from a liability suit with full damages in a case in which he has been wholly at fault. Likewise the employee who receives no compensation, for the reason that his injury incapacitates him for a time shorter than the legal waiting period, will get a different and a better idea of the law later when he or some fellow worker meets with a permanent injury, and receives compensation promptly without controversy.

Throughout the inquiry it was found that employers, workmen, public officials, and insurance agents were keen in their desire to aid the commission. So great was the interest that officials of employers' associations and labor organizations were able to obtain from among their members an attendance at conferences in immediate

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