§ 254. Nature and scope of act-The New Jersey act is divided into two sections Compmatione by action at law and elective compensation The set pramate an election by either of the parties and allows a team ination of the agreement after c'ection on sirly days notice in writing prior to any accom Who the ele tion is made the elect

case of injury or dealt without regard by me my you of the employer unless t

ally self-inflicted or is que by the antipas Playe Whether the injury gi bas

ter canser is a question of th

established by the empha

fenses of flow

asumpor of tor Me 2 P

cept cesta are covere

heid dieetyy laa

ided in the ser

the acciden ப

automatically without the intervention of commissions and boards of award.1

Note by Commissioner of Labor-This act automatically places every contract of employment under the compensation section, but permits either party to elect not to be subject to its provisions, to have recourse to action at law for compensation.

$255. Text of New Jersey workmen's compensation act. The act is entitled an act prescribing the liability of an employer to make compensation for injuries received by an employé in the course of employment, establishing an elective schedule of compensation, and regulating procedure for the determination of liability and compensation thereunder. It became effective July 4, 1911. It provides:

SECTION I. COMPENSATION BY ACTION AT LAW.

1. When personal injury is caused to an employé by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, of which the actual or lawfully imputed negligence of the employer is the natural and proximate cause, he shall receive compensation therefor from his employer, provided the employé was himself not wilfully negligent at the time of receiving such injury, and the question of whether the employé was wilfully negligent shall be one of fact to be submitted to the jury, subject to the usual superintending powers of a court to set aside a verdict rendered contrary to the evidence.

2. The right to compensation as provided by section I of this act shall not be defeated upon the ground that the injury was caused in any degree by the negligence of a fellow employé; or that the injured employé assumed the risks inherent in or incidental to or arising out of his employment or arising from the failure of the

1The act has not been construed by the Supreme Court at the time this is written. It has been upheld in the court of Common Pleas of Essex county in a most instructive opinion by Justice Martin in the case of Sexton v. Newark Dist. Tel. Co. reported in 34 N. J. Law Journal, p. 368, and 35 N. J. Law Journal, p. 8.

employer to provide and maintain safe premises and suitable appliances; which said grounds of defense are hereby abolished.

3. If an employer enters into a contract, written or verbal, with an independent contractor to do part of such employer's work, or if such contractor enters into a contract, written or verbal, with a subcontractor to do all or any part of such work comprised in such contractor's contract with the employer, such contract or subcontract shall not bar the liability of the employer under this act for injury caused to an employé of such contractor or subcontractor by any defect in the condition of the ways, works, machinery or plant if the defect arose or had not been discovered and remedied through the negligence of the employer or some one entrusted by him with the duty of seing that they were in proper condition. This paragraph shall apply only to actions arising under section one.

4. The provisions of paragraphs one, two and three shall apply to any claim for the death of an employé arising under an act entitled "An act to provide for the recovery of damages in cases where the death of a person is caused by wrongful act, neglect or default," approved March third, eighteen hundred and fortyeight, and the amendments thereof and supplements thereto.

5. In all actions at law brought pursuant to section I of this act, the burden of proof to establish wilful negligence in the injured employé shall be upon the defend

ant.

6. No claim for legal services or disbursements pertaining to any demand made or suit brought under the 'provisions of this act shall be an enforceable lien against the amount paid as compensation, unless the same be approved in writing by the judge or justice presiding at the trial, or in case of settlement without trial, by the judge of the circuit court of the district in which

such issue arose; provided, that if notice in writing be given the defendant of such claim for legal services or disbursements, the same shall be a lien against the amount paid as compensation, subject to determination of the amount and approval hereinbefore provided.

SECTION II. ELECTIVE COMPENSATION.

7. When employer and employé shall by agreement, either express or implied, as hereinafter provided, accept the provisions of section II of this act, compensation for personal injuries to or for the death of such employé by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment shall be made by the employer without regard to the negligence of the employer, according to the schedule contained in paragraph eleven, in all cases except when the injury or death is intentionally selfinflicted, or when intoxication is the natural and proximate cause of injury, and the burden of proof of such fact shall be upon the employer.

8. Such agreement shall be a surrender by the parties thereto of their rights to any other method, form or amount of compensation or determination thereof than as provided in section II of this act, and an acceptance of all the provisions of section II of this act, and shall bind the employé himself and for compensation for his death shall bind his personal representatives, his widow and next of kin, as well as the employer, and those conducting his business during bankruptcy or insolvency.

9. Every contract of hiring made subsequent to the time provided for this act to take effect shall be presumed to have been made with reference to the pro-, visions of section II of this act, and unless there be as a part of such contract an express statement in writing, prior to any accident, either in the contract itself or by written notice from either party to the other, that the provisions of section II of this act are not in

tended to apply, then it shall be presumed that the parties have accepted the provisions of section II of this act and have agreed to be bound thereby. In the employment of minors, section II shall be presumed to apply unless the notice be given by or to the parent or guardian of the minor.

10. The contract for the operation of the provisions of section II of this act may be terminated by either party upon sixty days' notice in writing prior to any accident.

11. Following is the schedule of compensation:

(a) For injury producing temporary disability, fifty per centum of the wages received at the time of injury, subject to a maximum compensation of ten dollars per week and a minimum of five dollars per week; provided, that if at the time of injury the employé receives wages of less than five dollars per week, then he shall receive the full amount of such wages per week. This compensation shall be paid during the period of such disability, not, however, beyond three hundred weeks.

(b) For disability total in character and permanent in quality, fifty per centum of the wages received at the time of injury, subject to a maximum compensation of ten dollars per week and a minimum of five dollars per week; provided, that if at the time of injury the employé receives wages of less than five dollars per week, then he shall receive the full amount of wages per week. This compensation shall be paid during the period of such disability, not, however, beyond four hundred weeks.

(c) For disability partial in character but permanent in quality, the compensation shall be based upon the extent of such disability. In cases included by the following schedule the compensation shall be that named in the schedule, to wit:

For the loss of a thumb, fifty per centum of daily wages during sixty weeks.

For the loss of a first finger, commonly called index