none for the injured workman and none for the dependents who, in most of such cases, must be supported by the community in which they live. This leads us to the second fundamental conclusion of primary evidence in our problem. The table shows that the element of the causes of accidents which were attributable to the workingmen's own negligence (taking the workmen of a State or Nation as a whole) is on the average: 1/3 (26.56 per cent+ 29.74 per cent+28.89 per cent)=28.39 per cent. The effect on dependents is just the same whether the cause of the injury was due to the negligence of the employé, to that of the employer, or to the natural hazard of the business. The common law in theory denies the injured workman relief in all of these cases, to-wit, 28.39 per cent, and, further, there is no cause of action at all in the 53.41 per cent of the cases due to the natural hazard. Or in the combination of the two elements, natural hazard and negligence of the workmen, that is, in 81.80 per cent of the cases of injury the common law does not presume to furnish any compensation either to the workman or his dependents. The third conclusion of primary evidence in our problem relating to the economic insecurity of the workingman under the modern wage system in the United States is: That the per cent of cases of injuries to workingmen, the causes of which are attributable to the negligence of the employer, is on the average but 18.20 per cent of the cases. It is susceptible of proof that the foregoing elements of negligence of employer, employé, and natural hazard are practically the same in the United States as they are in Germany. It will be hereafter shown in presenting the "Statistical experience of workingmen under the common law and liability laws in the United States," that while in theory the common-law remedy furnishes compensation in 18.20 per cent. of cases of injuries to workingmen, that, however, in practice that compensation in any amount is paid in less than 6 per cent. to less than 121⁄2 per cent. of the cases, and then only in amounts about one-fifth of adequate compensation. § 37. Experience in New York.-During the years. 1906, 1907 and 1908, ten insurance companies, which keep employers' liability records, doing business in New York, received in premiums from— Employers Paid to injured employés‒‒‒‒‒ Waste $23,524,000 8,560.000 $14,964,000 Nothing could more strikingly set forth the waste of the present system. Only 36.34 per cent of what employers pay in premiums for liability insurance is paid in settlement of claims and suits. Thus, for every $100 paid out by employers for protection against liability to their injured workmen, less than $37 is paid to those workmen; $63 goes to pay the salaries of attorneys and claim agents whose business it is to defeat the claims of the injured, to the cost of soliciting business, to the cost of administration, to court costs, and to profit. Out of this 36.34 per cent the injured employé must pay his attorney. The same report shows that the attorney gets 26.13 per cent of what is paid to the injured employé. This investigation covers 46 cases where the recovery was above $1,500 each. In small recoveries the attorney fees take a larger proportion. This report shows that not more than somewhere between 20 and 25 per cent of the money paid by the employing class goes 7 First report of the Employers' Liability Commission, New York, p. 31. actually into the pockets of injured workmen for their dependent families in death cases. § 38. The Pittsburgh survey." The investigation recently conducted in Allegheny county, Pa., under the direction of the Pittsburgh survey showed that out of 355 cases of men killed in industrial accidents, all of whom were contributing to the support of others and two-thirds of whom were married, 89 of the families left received not more than $100, and 61 families received something more than this $100. In other words, 57 per cent. of these families were left by their employers to bear the entire burden of income loss and granting that all unknown claims would be decided for the plaintiffs, then only 26 per cent. received in compensation for the death of a regular income provided more than $500, a sum which would approximate one year's income of the lowest paid of the workers killed. The proportion of the loss borne by employers in injury cases does not differ greatly from that in death cases. Thus, out of 288 injury cases, of the married men alone, 56 per cent received no compensation; of single men contributing to the support of others, 69 per cent received no compensation; of single men without dependents, 80 per cent received no compensation. § 39. The Wisconsin bureau of statistics.-The great financial losses borne by the workmen are set forth by the Wisconsin bureau of labor and statistics in the following report of 306 non-fatal cases of injuries: Cases. Per cent. Received nothing from employer---- 72 23.5 99 32.4 15 4.9 29.7 29 9.5 Total 306 100.0 7 In Work Accidents and their Cost by Crystal Eastman, Chari ties and the Commons, March, 1909. In other words, we may say that in two-thirds of the cases part or all of the doctor bills were paid, but in less than one-third was anything more paid, and in about one-fourth of the cases nothing whatever was paid. Of 131 non-fatal cases in Wisconsin, concerning which reports were secured by factory inspectors, the following disposition was made: § 40. The report of the Illinois commission.-The employers' liability commission of the State of Illinois has recently made a report of its investigation of industrial accidents and employers' liability at a cost of $10,000.8 More than 5,000 individual accidents were investigated and recorded, together with comparative figures and analysis. A few words as to what the report shows may be of value: Six hundred and fourteen fatal accidents are recorded. The families of 214 of these workers received nothing in return for the loss of the bread-winner. One hundred and eleven damage suits are pending in court. Twenty-four cases have been settled through court proceedings. Two hundred and eighty-one families settled direct with the employer. Skilled railroad employés, in settlement for death S The summary which follows, is taken from statistics prepared by Edwin R. Wright, Secretary of the Commission. claims, averaged about $1,000; steel workers, $874; railroad laborers, $617; skilled building tradesmen, $348; skilled electric railway employés, $310; unclassified workmen, $311; miscellaneous trades, $292; packinghouse employés, $234; general laborers, $154; mine workers, $155; electric railway laborers, $75; teamsters, none; building laborers, none. A further summary may be offered. Of every 100 industrial accidents, 15 go to court-7 are lost and 8 are won. Ninety-two injuries out of every one hundred receive no compensation. This includes both fatal and non-fatal accidents. Another interesting feature is this: A thorough search through the record reveals 53 fatal cases of recent date. In fatal cases the usual defenses of the employer-the fellow-servant doctrine, assumption of the risk, etc.did not apply or there would not have been a recovery at all. For these the very pick of industrial cases-the average recovery for death was only $1,877.36. Of this an average amount of $750.95 was paid to attorneys or expended in court fees, etc., leaving an actual payment of $1,126.41 to the family of the dead worker. Thirtyfour widows were compelled to seek employment and 65 children left school to help keep the wolf from the door. § 41. Ohio statistics.-The following table shows the results of investigations of the economic effects of industrial accidents on workingmen and their dependents, for the period of 1905-1910, in Cuyahoga county (Cleveland), Ohio, prepared under the direction of the author for the Ohio legislature.9 9 See Report of the Employers' Liability Commission of Ohio, Pt. I. pp. XXXV-XLIV. |