The Employee's Criticism.-1. A large share of industrial accidents are entirely uncompensated and the economic loss resulting from them must be borne by the workman or his dependents. Figures collected by the New York Employers' Liability Commission show that, of 114 fatal industrial accidents occurring in Erie County during the years 1907 and 1908, 33.3% were entirely uncompensated; and of 67 fatal cases in the Borough of Manhattan during 1908, 26.9% were not compensated.1 In Wisconsin no compensation was paid in 72 out of a total of 306 non-fatal cases, or 23.5%2

A study of conditions in Pittsburgh showed that no payment of compensation was made in 59 out of 235 cases of married men killed in industry, a percentage of 25.1.3

Nine insurance companies doing business in New York reported that payments were made to employees under policies assuming the employers' liability risk in only one case for every eight notices of accident. Investigations in other states have shown similar conditions to exist.

2. Where compensation is obtained it bears no true relation to economic need. The table on page 60 shows the complete results of the Erie County study mentioned above, the amount of compensation recovered being:

1

1 Report to the Legislature of the State of N. Y., 1910, p. 20. "Reports of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, V. 13, p. 54.

4

Eastman, "Work Accidents and the Law," p. 121.

* Report to the Legislature of the State of N. Y., 1910, p. 25.

Seventy-eight and six-tenths per cent of the families where decisions had been rendered received $500 or less as the entire compensation to pay funeral expenses and replace the earnings of the workman. The Labor Department of New York investigated ten cases in which accidents had left the workmen in a totally helpless condition for the remainder of life; in one of these the suit was still pending and, in the other nine, three received nothing, while none of the six remaining received over $500. The records of the Wayne Circuit Court of Michigan show that, of twenty-two men partially disabled for life, twelve received no compensation, while the remaining ten were awarded amounts varying from $200 to $5,750.5 In her study of accidents in the Pittsburgh district Miss Eastman found that "for the death of 53 per cent of the married men, and 65 per cent of the single men contributing to the support of others, no compensation above reasonable funeral expense was made; in the injury cases, 56 per cent of the married men, 66 per cent of the single contributing men, and 69 per cent of

Report of the Employers' Liability and Workmen's Compensation Commission, 1911.

the non-contributing men received nothing to make up for lost income." After an extensive comparison of economic loss to workmen and receipts from employers the New York Commission says that their figures strengthen the conclusion "that the bulk of the accident loss is borne by the injured workmen and their families. They [the figures] emphasize also the fact that the results of the present law are arbitrary and unequal, that a few of the injured get large verdicts while many get nothing. Thus, in the temporary disability cases a comparison of totals shows that employers paid nearly one-third of the loss, but yet in 44 per cent of these cases they paid nothing. In permanent partial disability cases, payments from employers averaged one-third of the loss until return to work, and yet over one-third of these disabled men received nothing. In the III fatal cases compensation averages 17.1 per cent of the first three years' loss, but nearly half of the dependents got nothing.'

Commenting further, the same body says, "From our detailed investigation, borne out as it is by the results of similar studies in states where the same general law prevails, and strengthened by testimony given before us, we are brought to the conclusion that under our employers' liability laws a large proportion over 50 per cent) of the workmen injured by accidents of employment and the dependents of those killed get nothing or next to nothing, and that

6

"Work Accidents and the Law," p. 127.

"Report to the Legislature of the State of New York, 1910,

only a very small proportion recover an amount that is in any way commensurate with their loss.” 8

3. In order to recover damages it is necessary for the plaintiff to sacrifice a considerable portion of the gross amount in lawyer's fees and costs. The Labor Department of New York found that in 151 accident cases, 97 of which were settled directly between the parties, "the total amount of plaintiffs' fees and costs amounted to 22.7 per cent of the total gross receipts from employers." The contingent fee system, under which a lawyer agrees to prosecute a case in return for a percentage of whatever damages he may recover, is a large factor in increasing legal costs. Agreements of this type are common in employers' liability cases since the workman is usually unable to employ an attorney on any other basis and since "ambulance chasers," the crooks of the legal profession, actually solicit this kind of business. In New York the following results were obtained in an investigation of 51 cases.

10

Report to the Legislature of the State of New York, 1910,

p. 26.

'The workman is, of course, at a great disadvantage in being obliged usually to employ an inferior attorney.

10

P. 31.

Report to the Legislature of the State of New York, 1910,

And these conditions are in no way peculiar to New York.

4. Compensation is frequently received only after long delay spent in litigation. The courts are so overloaded with work that delays of two years in bringing cases to trial are not uncommon and when it becomes necessary to follow a case through a succession of appeals it may take eight years or more before a final verdict is reached. During all this time the workman or his dependents are receiving no compensation and may be undergoing additional expense for medical treatment or court costs.

The Employer's Criticism.-1. The employer has been forced by the system to pay out large sums of money for the defense of claims and in satisfaction of verdicts, much of which has failed to reach his injured men. If he employs an insurance company to fight claims a half or more of his premiums goes to pay the salaries of officers, the commissions of agents, and the expenses of conducting the insurance business. If he maintains a claim department of his own he must employ expert lawyers, bear the court costs in litigated cases, and satisfy claims which are compromised or in which an adverse verdict is rendered by the

courts.

2. Friction between employer and employed often arises out of claims for damages whether or not they reach the stage of law-suits. The workman feels that he should get compensation for injuries incurred in the course of employment while the employer is inclined to think that any aid he may give is a matter of generosity rather than of duty. If the question