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Show :J SENATOR REED I CONDEMNS BILL I OF SUTHERLAND Workmen's Compensation Wgm Act, Now Pending in Sen-Hill Sen-Hill ate, Declared to Be Vicious MM v Piece of Legislation. 81 CHARGES ARE MADE HB IN DIRECT MANNER HI Ufah Man Accused of Acting H in Collusion With New HI - York Central President flpf and a Claim Agent Hgf BY JAMES A. REED MB (Senator from Missouri.) RBfl Sv Intnmatlonal News Service. JWM yASHlNGTON. Way 4. The work- ISI A mon'B compensation act, now IHB V beta the United Statea nenate, I I is the most vicious piece of leg- RBfl Islatlon that lias come under IHh my observation since I have been a mcm- ujB ber of that body. nH It deprives employees of common car- ffln rlcrs of every right they havo enjoyed StHBB under common law and tho employers' lla- yfflBj bllity act of 1908. Its provisions degrade nBK them as men. The bill was framed under the sugges- iMBM Hon and direction, to a largo extent, of HH W. C. Brown, president of the Now Yorlc HHfl Central railroad, and Frank V. Whiting, HBHj one of tho New York Central's claim BjH agents. BHwffl Its sponsor In tho senate Is Senator SHM Oeorgo Sutherland of Utah, whose legal tfflHnj talents, before he look the seat ho now BjEflr occupies, were devoted to the great rail- HUH road interests of the west. I Says Bill Is Loaded. Senator Sutherland and Presldont Brown were tho most noted corporate figures on the employers' liability committee. com-mittee. I charge that this bill has been deliberately nnd intentionally loaded by the railroad Interests. While the employers' liability act of 1908 and the amendment adopted In 1910 may not be all that could be hoped for, WMM it preserves to the injured employee his (HH rights under the common law and gives htm an opportunity to securo equitable HH damages for Injuries received. BBB The present, bill' abolished all this. It HBI compels all damage trials, In the event HH claims go that far, to be tried in the HI United States courts. It leaves the in- HHfl Jurcd man's Interests to the tender mor- HM ces of the presiding officer of a United Stales court. This featuro of the bill Is sufficiently suspicious of Itself. Compensation Is listed in an usjuBtl-HH usjuBtl-HH (luble scale of payments. It Is to be WM paid monthly Instead of In a lump sum. HI In no Instance does this scale of pay- ments permit a recovery of more than W . one-half of tho workman's valnry. H Limit Is $100 a Month. HI One hundred dollars a month is arbl-trarily arbl-trarily fixed as the largest sum an em-ployee em-ployee can be regarded as muklnar at the time of his Injury when compensation Is considered. This Is, in turn, cut in i KB aJf before the preliminaries for a set-1 H tlcment are under way. Under tho pro-1 IH i'irtionn ot ,bl11 an onglncor making MH '200 a month is regarded as making oHM J100 If he la Injured and attempts re-Bfl re-Bfl covery for his injuries. This $100 Ib cut jmm in half and the compensation allowed to mj "m ,f no accepts the adjusters ruling, H la Paid to him at the rate of $60 a month. HEM , 1 an engineer loses his leg above the H "poe and Is willing to accept the pro-mi pro-mi visions of the bill, ho will receive $3300, H payable to him In Installments of S5C a nj month. A fireman, or train hand, mnk-Hn mnk-Hn lng $50 a month, if he loses a leg above BOB the knee, would receive $1650, payable Hfl ?. .EUmB S:10? xrom $25 to $50 a month. MM This is a total disability in fac:. After jfl tho payments are made tha injured enjrl-HJPJ enjrl-HJPJ ncer Is left to shift for himself WM Provision for Widows. WBM t an employee Is killed, his widow re- celves, for a limited length ot time, 40 HI Pr cent of her husband's earnings. Tho JBJ widow of an engineer making 5200 a mm month would receive $38-10 In monthly ln- staJIments of $50. If she has several Mm children sho would receive $4800, pay-H pay-H able In tho same fashion. The limit for HOB compensation to an employee's chlldron a Is void, under the terms of the bill, after mm they reach 16 years of ago. unlcs5 thoy mm be dependent through mental or physical MB Incapacity. HI DuEf,nF U? sefs'ons of the commission, which Senator Sutherland was chalr- HH Wh,t,nff Waa a constant attendant. mm The minutes of the committee are filled with his suggestions and figures. There MM 'l,110.1 ' railroad In the country that mm objects to the prenent bill, nor Is there HH claim agenU Railroad liability to ln- mM employees probably reaches $15.- Bf COO.OOO under the present law. If the bill MM HBei?H? Jlenat0J t,iklis its Place. this liability can bo reduced to any fltr- Mm ure tl,e railroads see fit to make. |