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WORKMEN'S NOTES. .

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WORKMEN'S NOTES. AMENDMENTS TO COMPEN- SATION ACT. By WILLIAM BRACE. EVice-Prrsident of the South Wales Miners' Federation.] Shortly after the Workmen's Compensa- tion Act was put into operation it became evident that it would require a good deal of amendment to make it a measure upon the lines intended by those who intro- duced it and those who consistently sup- ported it through the various stages in Parliament. Tins opinion gained in force year by year until the Government felt it necessary to hold an investigation, and to this end a Departmental Committee was empanelled, and one Labour member was placed upon it, in the person of Mr. G. N. Barnes, the very capable general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, one of the oldest and most successful labour organisations in the world, but which, unhappily, is not at present affiliated to the Trades Union Congress. The report and recommenda- tions of this Committee have now been made public, and, presumably, the Government will introduco during the next session of Parliament an amending Bill embodying all or part of the Com- mittee's recommended amendments. All parties interested in the working of the Compensation Act should give careful attention to the report, so that they may be in readiness to have their views placed before the House during the discussions. Choice of Remedy—Time Limit. At present an injured person can take proceedings under common law, the Employers' Liability Act, or the Work- men's Compensation Act. This option the Committee proposes should be abolished by giving power to the employer to mov« for a stay of proceedings until the county-court judge shall certify that the workman has not an adequate remedy under the Compensation Act. I cannot conceive the reason for the Committee's recommendation in connection with this clause. It surely is a mischievous, if not dangerous, amendment to suggest, so far as the workpeople are concerned. If the Act as at present drafted has given cause for more litigation than was anticipated, assuredly this proposal is not likely to curtail it. If I do not misread the proba- bilities, should Parliament accept such an amendment litigation must increase in- stead of diminish or the workman must depend solely upon the Compensation Act. I confess to the belief that the! employers have quite as much protection as they need in this direction under the present Act without making it more stringent, so I trust this recommendation will not be listened to. With the idea of a time limit, in which notice of accident and claim must be given, I am in sympathy, conditionally that it would not debar a man's claim should he be able to offer a reasonable excuse for delaying giving notice and the employers are not prejudiced by the delay. On the whole, the present Act has fairly met this point; but it would do no harm if the Commit- tee's recommendation was added (not sub- stituted). so that it might read, "Notice of accident to be given in six days and notice cf claim within three months, pro- vided that when a defect in giving notice was occa-sioned by mistake or other reason- able cause 'it should be no bar to the maintenance of proceedings." Aged Workers Prejudiced. The workmen employed in the building trade will gladly welcome the recom- mendation that the 30ft. limit clause! should be deleted. In the first instance, this limitation was a ridiculous one, and ought never to have been adopted by Parliament. The workmen employed about the docks will heartily .support the proposal that all accidents about a dock, quay, or wharf, whether on a ship or otherwise, are to 00 treated as accidents within the meaning of the Compensation Act. The extension of the dependent clause, which in the case of a fatal accident is to include brothers end sisters, is an important and much- needed amendment. Some of the saddest moments of my life have been expe- rienced when I have informed young •brothers and sisters, whose sole support and breadwinner was a brother, that they possessed no right to compensation under the Compensation Act for the irreparable loss they had sustained. Why penalise our aged workmen? is the ques- tion I have put to myself, and which I put to the Departmental Committee. What wrong have they done that they should only receive 5s. per week com- pensation in case of accident and depen- dents only £25 in case of death when over 60 years of age? Is this the manner in which we are to reward our soldiers of industry after a lifetime of toil, at the end of which they have been unfortunate enough to bo broken and mangled. To put it mildly, such a pro-I position is rank callousness, and must be resisted to the end. The same rate of compensation is to prevail in cases of infirm workmen. Infirm workmen, indeed! What a nightmare to every workman of whatever age who has the slightest physical defect! 'Truly, in con- nection. with compensation the Depart- mental Committee have catalogued men as they would chattels or goods, horses or engines. This proposal must and will be opposed at all costs. Why this invidious distinction between workmen ? Surely, the aggregate saving to any firm if this recommendation is accepted will not be worth it. By what amount would it reduce the insurance company's pre- mium? Very little, I imagine. Prospective Losses of Young Persons. Clause 24 suggests the fixing of com- pensation at a higher basis than 50 per cent. of the actual earnings of a young person who is injured by accident. I support this as a much-needed reform. I especially support that section that takes into consideration accidents that lay young people idle for over twelve months, after which the case can be reviewed and the basis of compensation fixed upon what probably would have been their earnings had they not been injured. Under the present Act pros- pective loss is not recognised, the result of which is that, no matter how seriously ,a young person has been injured, he willi upon recovery secure no compensation for loss of earning capacity, which he would do were he a man. For instance, a lad thirteen or fourteen years of age is partially permanently incapacitated by accident. His wages were 10s. a week on the average, which upon the basis of 50 per cent. would mean .5s. a week com- pensation. He may be idle for a year or two. but ultimately is able to do some work. With but few exceptions, such persons will upon re-commencing work be able to earn 10s. a week wages, which under the present Act precludes them from securing further compensation, although the injuries may have reduced the earn- ing power by one-half. Recommendation 24 is designed to remove that injustice by providing for the law to take into calculation prospective loss when fixing the compensation payments. b Benefits of Organisation. With the following observations of the Committee I am in complete agree- ment :—' Speaking generally, the injured work- man can obtain, at all events if he belongs to a Trades Cnion, without any expense or risk, compensation to a larger amount than would be possible under the Employers' Liability Act. The evidence leaves on our minds the impression that it is where the organisa- tion of the associations, both of employers and workmen, is most complete that there is the least amount of litigation and the greatest satisfaction with the settlements reached. Far greater difficulties appear to arise where there is no trade organisation. The workman who has no organisation to resort to for advice and assistance in such matters is comparatively helpless, or has to call in legal assistance. Costs are at once incurred, and the dangers above pointed out attending litigation are much more likely to occur. There is reason to believe that cases not unfrequently occur where the benefits of the Compensation Act are greatly cur- tailed."

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