ness, or occupation, or which he has contracted to perform, and contracts with any other person (in this section referred to as subcontractor) for the execution by or under the subcontractor of the whole or any part of the work undertaken by such principal contractor, the principal contractor shall be liable to pay to any employee employed in the work any compensation under this act which he would have been liable to pay if the employee had been immediately employed by him; or where compensation is claimed from or proceedings are taken against the principal contractor, then, in the application of this act, reference to the principal contractor shall be substituted for reference to the subcontractor, except that the amount of compensation shall be calculated with reference to the earnings of the employee under the subcontractor by whom he is immediately employed. (b) Where the principal contractor is liable to pay compensation under this section, he shall be entitled to indemnity from any person who will have been liable to pay compensation to the employee independently of this section or from any intermediate contractor, and shall have a cause of action therefor. (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing an employee from recovering compensation under this act from a subcontractor instead of from the principal contractor, but he shall not collect from both. (d) A principal contractor, when sued by an employee of a subcontractor, shall have the right to call in that subcontractor or any intermediate contractor or contractors as defendant or codefendant. SEC. 17. (a) No employer or employee who is subject to the provisions of this act shall exempt himself from the burden or waive the benefit of this act by any contract, agreement, rule, or regulation, and any such contract, agreement, rule, or regulation shall be pro tanto void. No agreement by such employee to pay any portion of the insurance premium paid by such employer shall be valid, and any employer who deducts any portion of such premium from the wages or salary of any employee entitled to the benefits of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $200 for each offense. (b) Nothing herein shall affect any existing contract or policy of employer's liability insurance or the liability of any mutual insurance association, or any arrangement now existing between employers and employees, providing for the payment to such employees, their families, dependents, or representatives of sick, accident, or death benefits in addition to the compensation provided for by this act; but liability for the compensation specified in this act shall not be reduced or affected by any insurance, contribution, or other benefit whatsoever due to or received by the person entitled to such compensation, and the person so entitled shall, irrespective of any such insurance or other contract, have the right to recover compensation directly from the employer. SEC. 18. No claim for compensation under this act shall be assignable, and all compensation and claims therefor shall be exempt from all claims of creditors. SEC. 19. All rights of compensation granted by this act shall have the same preference or priority for the whole thereof against the assets of the employer as is allowed by law for any unpaid wages for labor. SEC. 20. In addition to the compensation hereinafter provided for the employer shall promptly provide for an injured employee such medical, surgical, or other attendance or treatment, nurse and hospital services, medicines, crutches, apparatus, artificial hands, arms, feet, and legs as the nature of the injury may reasonably require. In an emergency or if an employer neglects to provide the same, the injured employee may do so at the expense of the employer. All fees and other charges for such treatment and services shall be subject to regulation by the compensation commissioner and shall be limited to such charges as prevail in the same community for similar treatment of injured persons of a like standard of living. In case death results from the accident as herein provided, reasonable funeral expenses shall also be paid by the employer, not to exceed the sum of $150. The compensation commissioner shall have full power to adopt rules and regulations with respect to furnishing medical, surgical, nurse, and hospital services, and medicine and artificial limbs to injured employees entitled thereto, and for the payment therefor and with respect to the payment of funeral expenses. Instead of treatment by a licensed physician, an injured employee may choose any other remedial treatment lawfully practiced in the District of Columbia, and shall receive compensation for it under the provisions of this act, and need not submit to any other medical or surgical examination except as provided for in section 39 of this act. SEC. 21. No compensation shall be allowed for the first five calendar days of disability resulting from an accident, except the benefits provided in section 20. SEC. 22. Each employee (or in case of death his defendents) entitled to receive compensation under this act shall receive the same in accordance with the following schedule, and except as in this act otherwise provided such payment shall be in lieu of any and all rights of action whatsoever against any person whomsoever. 1. Permanent total disability: In case of total disability adjudged to be permanent, 663 per centum of the average weekly wages shall be paid to the employee during the continuance of such total disability, not to exceed a maximum of $25 per week and not less than a minimum of $7 per week, unless the employee's average weekly wages are less than $7 per week, in which case he shall receive compensation in an amount equal to such wages: Provided, however, That if such disability continues for a longer period than five hundred and twenty weeks the rate of compensation thereafter shall be 50 per centum, in lieu of 66% per centum, of his average weekly wages. Loss or total and permanent loss of use of both hands or both feet or both eyes, or of any two thereof, shall constitute permanent total disability. In all other cases permanent total disability shall be determined in accordance with the facts. 2. Temporary total disability: In case of temporary total disability, 66% per centum of the average weekly wages shall be paid to the employee during the continuance thereof, but not to exceed a maximum of $25 per week and not less than a minimum of $7 per week, unless the employee's average weekly wages are less than $7 per week at the time of the injury, in which event he shall receive compensation equal to his full wages; but in no case to continue more than six years from the date of the accident. 3. Permanent partial disability: In case of disability, partial in character, but permanent in quality, the compensation shall be 66% per centum of the average weekly wages, in no case to exceed $25 per week and not less than a minimum of $7 per week, unless the employee's average weekly wages are less than $7 per week at the time of the accident, in which event he shall receive compensation equal to his full wages, and shall be paid to the employees for the period named in the schedule, as follows: Thumb.-For the loss of a thumb, sixty weeks. First finger.-For the loss of a first finger, commonly called the index finger, forty-six weeks. Second finger. For the loss of a second finger, thirty weeks. Fourth finger. For the loss of a fourth finger, commonly called the little finger, fifteen weeks. The loss of the second, or distal, phalange of the thumb shall be considered to be equal to the loss of one-half of such thumb; the loss of more than onehalf of such thumb shall be considered to be equal to the loss of the whole thumb; the loss of the third, or distal, phalange of any finger shall be considered to be equal to the loss of one-third of such finger. The loss of the middle, or second, phalange of any finger shall be considered to be equal to the loss of two-thirds of such finger. The loss of more than the middle and distal phalange of any finger shall be considered to be equal to the loss of the whole of such finger. Great toe. For the loss of a great toe, thirty-eight weeks. Other toes. For the loss of one of the toes, other than the great toe, sixteen weeks. Hand.-For the loss of a hand, two hundred and forty-four weeks. Leg. For the loss of a leg, two hundred and eighty-eight weeks. Loss of use.-Permanent loss of use of a hand, arm, foot, leg, or eye shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of such hand, arm, foot, leg, or eye, and for the loss of the fractional part of the vision of either one or both eyes, the injured employee shall be compensated in like proportion to the compensation for total loss of vision, and in arriving at the fractional part of vision lost regard shall not be had for the effect that correcting lens or lenses may have upon the eye or eyes. Amputations.-Amputation between the elbow and the wrist shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of a hand. Amputation between the knee and the ankle shall be considered as the equivalent of the loss of a foot. Amputation at or above the elbow shall be considered as the loss of an arm. Amputation at or above the knee shall be considered as the loss of the leg. The compensation for the foregoing specific injuries shall be cumulative and shall be paid in addition to, and consecutively with, the compensation herein before provided in subsection 2 of this section: Provided, however, That compensation under this subsection shall not be payable beyond ten years from the date of the accident. If an employee dies, the right to any compensation payable under this subsection unpaid at the date of his death shall survive to and vest in his personal representatives. Other cases. In all other cases in this class of disability the compensation shall be 66% per centum of the difference between his average weekly wages and his wage-earning capacity thereafter in the same employment or otherwise, if less than before the accident (but not to exceed $25 per week), payable during the continuance of such partial disability, but for not more than ten years from the date of the accident, and subject to reconsideration of the degree of such impairment by the compensation commissioner on his own motion or upon application of any party in interest. Disfigurements. For serious facial or head disfigurements, not hereinbefore provided for, compensation shall be allowed for not less than ten weeks nor more than one hundred weeks, as the commissioner may fix, in each case having due regard to the character of the disfigurement. 4. Temporary partial disability: In case of temporary partial disability an injured employee shall receive 66% per centum of the difference between his average weekly wages and his wage-earning capacity thereafter in the same employment or otherwise, if less than before the accident, but not to exceed $25 per week during the continuance of such partial disability, but for not more than six years from the date of the accident. 5. Fatal cases: In case death results from the accident as hereafter provided, the benefits shall be in the amounts and to the persons following: If there be no dependents, the disbursements shall be limited to the expense provided for in sections 20 and 24 hereof. If there are wholly dependent persons at the time of death, the compensation shall be 66% per centum of the average weekly wages, not to exceed, however, a maximum of $25 per week and not less than a minimum of $7 per week, unless the deceased employee's established weekly wages were less than $7 per week at the time of accident, in which event the compensation shall be an amount equal to the average weekly wages, and to continue for the remainder of the period between the date of death and four hundred and sixteen weeks after the date of the accident, but in no case to amount to less than a minimum of $1,000. If there are no wholly dependent persons at the time of the death, but are partly dependent persons, those partly dependent shall receive compensation as follows: The weekly payments to such dependents shall be in an amount not exceeding 66% per centum of the average weekly wages, or $25 per week, but may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be for a less amount per week and to continue for all or such portion of four hundred and sixteen weeks after the date of the accident, as the commissioner in each case may determine, and not to amount to more than a maximum of $3,000. a The following persons shall be presumed to be wholly dependent for support upon a decreased employee: A wife or invalid husband ("invalid " meaning one physically or mentally incapacitated from earning), and child or children under the age of eighteen years (or over said age if physically or mentally incapacitated from earning) living with the deceased or whom the deceased was under legal obligation to support at the time of the accident. But a husband or wife of an injured employee who was not married to said employee at the time of the accident or his death, who has deserted said employee for more than one year prior to the time of the accident or subsequently shall not be deemed a dependent or entitled to any benefits under this Act. In all cases other than of a child or children questions of dependency, in whole or in part, shall be determined in accordance with the facts in each particular case existing at the t'me of the accident resulting in death of such employee; and no person shall be considered as dependent unless such person be a wife, husband, lineal descendent, ancestor, brother, or sister. The terms "child" and "children' shall include posthumous children and illegitimate children, whether members of the deceased employee's household at the time of his accident or not, and shall also include stepchildren, adopted children, and other children. if such stepchildren, adopted children, and other children were members of the household of the decedent at the time of the accident or had received contributions toward their support from such deceased employee during any part of the year immediately preceding the accident. The right to any compensation payable to any dependent and unpaid at the date of his death shall survive to and be vested in the surviving dependents, if there be such surviving dependents, and if there be none such, then the compensation shall cease. The compensation in case of death shall be paid to such one or more of the dependents, for the benefit of all the dependents, as the commissioner may determine and order. Payments pursuant to such an order of the commissioner shall protect the employer and insurance carrier against other claims therefor. Compensation under this act to aliens not residents of the United States or Canada shall be in the same amount as provided for residents, except that dependents in any foreign country shall be limited to surviving wife and child or children, or, if there be no surviving wife or child or children, to surviving father or mother whom the employee has supported, either wholly or in part, for the period of one year prior to the date of the accident, and except that the commissioner may, in his discretion, or upon the application of the employer, or, if the employer is insured, the insurance carrier shall commute all future installments of compensation to be paid to such aliens, by paying or causing to be paid to them three-fourths of the commuted amount of such future installments of compensation as determined by the commissioner. Nonresident alien dependents may be officially represented by the consular officers of the nation of which such alien or aliens may be citizens or subjects, and in such cases the consular officers shall have the right to receive for distribution to such nonresident alien dependents all compensation awarded hereunder, and the receipt of such consular officers shall be a full discharge of all sums paid to and received by them. In case of the remarriage of a dependent widow of a deceased employee, without dependent children at the time of the remarriage, she shall receive compensation for one year after the date of her remarriage, provided there is so much of the compensation previously awarded her outstanding. 6. Where an injury to an employee is caused by the intentional failure of the employer to comply with any statute or lawful public ordinance, rule, regulation, or order relating to the safety of employees, the compensation for which the employer would otherwise be liable under this act shall be increased 15 per centum in the amount of each payment. Where the injury is caused by the intentional failure of the injured employee to use any safety appliance furnished by the employer or to obey any lawful public ordinance, rule, regulation, or order relating to the safety of employees, the compensation for which the employer would otherwise be liable for under this act shall be decreased 15 per centum in the amount of each payment. SEC. 23. The benefits in case of death shall be paid to such one or more of the dependents of the decedent for the benefit of all the dependents as may be determined by the compensation commissioner, who may apportion the benefits among the dependents in such manner as he may deem just and equitable. The dependent or persons to whom benefits are paid shall apply the same to the use of the several dependents according to their respective claims upon the decedent for support, in compliance with the findings and direction of the commissioner. SEC. 24. The fact that an employee has suffered previous disability or received compensation therefor shall not preclude him from compensation for a later injury nor preclude compensation for death resulting therefrom; but in determining compensation for the later injury or death his average weekly wages shall be such sum as will reasonably represent his earning capacity at the time of the later injury: Provided, That an employee who is suffering from a previous disability shall not receive compensation for a later injury in excess of the compensation allowed for such injury when considered by itself and not in conjunction with the previous disability: Provided further, That if an employee who has previously incurred permanent partial disability through the loss of one hand, one arm, one foot, one leg, or one eye, incurs permanent total disability through the loss of another such member or organ, he shall be paid, in addition to the compensation for permanent partial disability provided in this section and after the cessation of the payments for the prescribed period of weeks, special additional compensation for the remainder of his life to the amount of 66% per centum of the average weekly wage earned by him at the time the total permanent disability was incurred. Such additional compensation shall be paid out of a special fund created for such purpose in the following manner: The employer or insurance carrier shall pay to the superintendent of insurance of the District of Columbia for every case of injury causing death in which there are no persons entitled to compensation the sum of $500. The superintendent of insurance shall be the custodian of this special fund and as compensation commissioner shall direct the distribution thereof. The compensation commissioner shall cooperate with the Federal Board for Vocational Education to restore the injured to industry. An employee who as a result of an injury subject to this act is or may be expected to be totally or partially incapacitated for a remunerative occupation and who, under the direc tion of the commissioner or other legally authorized direction, is being rendered fit to engage in a remunerative occupation shall receive additional compensation for his maintenance, not to exceed $10 a week. The expense of such additional compensation and of such rehabilitation shall be paid out of a special fund created for such purpose in the following manner: The employer or insurance carrier shall pay to the superintendent of insurance of the District of Columbia for every case of injury causing death in which there are no persons entitled to compensation the sum of $500. The superintendent of insurance shall be the custodian of this special fund and the compensation commission shall direct the distribution thereof. SEC. 25. The compensation in this act provided for shall be payable weekly; but the compensation commissioner, upon application of either party, may, in his discretion, having regard to the welfare of the employee and the convenience of the employer or insurer, authorize compensation to be paid monthly or quarterly instead of weekly. SEC. 26. Whenever any periodical payment has been continued for not less than twenty-six weeks, the liability therefor may, in unusual cases, where the parties agree and the compensation commissioner deems it to be to the best interests of the employee or his dependents, or where it will prevent undue hardships on the employer or his insurance carrier, without prejudicing the interests of the employee or his dependents, be redeemed, in whole or in part, by the payment by the employer or insurance carrier of a lump sum which shall be fixed by the commissioner, but in no case to exceed the commutable value of the future installments which may be due under this act. The commissioner, however, in his discretion, may at any time in the case of a minor who has received permanently disabling injuries, either partial or total, provide that he be compensated in whole or in part by the payment of a lump sum, the amount of which shall be fixed by the commissioner, but in no case to exceed the commutable value of the future installments which may be due under this act. SEC. 27. Whenever the compensation commissioner deems it expedient any lump sum, subject to the provisions of the foregoing section, shall be paid by the employer or insurance carrier to some suitable person or corporation appointed by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia as trustee, to administer the same for the benefit of the person entitled thereto in the manner ordered by the commissioner. The receipt of such trustee for the amount so paid shall discharge the employer or any one else who is liable therefor. SEC. 28. If a dependent shall remove out of the United tSates and shall have been such nonres dent for a period of one year the commissioner may, in his discretion, with the consent of the employer, or the insurance carrier if the employer is insured, convert any payments thereafter to become due to such dependent into a lump-sum payment, not in any case to exceed $2,400, by paying a sum equal to three-fourths of the then value of such payments. SEC. 29 (a) Whenever payment of compensation is made to a widow or widower for her or his use, or for her or his use and the use of the child or children, the written receipt thereof of such widow or widower shall acquit the employer. (b) Whenever payment is made to any person eighteen years of age or over the written receipt of such person shall acquit the employer. In case where an infant or minor under the age of eighteen years shall be entitled |