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HARDWOOD RECORD 



asking that representatives of capital ami labor get together and devise 

 some method by which an injured employe could receive the benefit of the 

 large sums of money which were being wasted in litigation. This action 

 of the lumbermen of our state attracted much attention and the reso- 

 lution was print?d and commented on by every newspaper in the state. 

 A mass meeting was held in Tacoma in June of that year, at which Gov- 

 ernor Hay presided, consisting of men who represented not only the 

 employer and employe, but professional and business men as well. This 

 meeting resulted in our governor appointing a commission to draft a bill 

 on workman's compensation to present to the next legislature. 



This commission was composed of five employers of labor, three lumber- 

 men, a logger and a coal mine operator, and five representatives of 

 labor unions, two coal miners, a carpenter, a printer and a locomotive 

 engineer. 



The act as drawn by the commission was passed by the legislature 

 after the "first aid" feaiiae was eliminated, and became effective on Oct. 

 1, 1911. 



The Washington compensation act is compulsory for hazardous employ- 

 ments and elective for others, and has the state insurance feature. The 

 state pays all the expenses of administering the act through an appro- 

 priation. Industry takes care of its industrial accidents which are sus- 

 tained in the course of employment, unless due to deliberate intention of 

 injured worker. State insurance benefits are covered. 



All injury caused to an employe while in the course of his employ- 

 ment by a third party is covered, providing employe so elects. If he 

 chooses to take action against such third party he can do so, and In case 

 he elects to take the state compensation he assigns his action against 

 the third party to the state. Voluntary plans of employers to care for 

 hospital and first aid to injured employes is permissible. 



If the employer default in the payment of his premiums, injured work- 

 man may maintain action for damages, and defenses of fellow servant 

 rule and assumption of risk are abrogated. 



Payments for death are as follows : Payment of $20 per month to a 

 widow until death or remarriage. A dower of $240 in case of remarriage, 

 but no further payments. The sum of $5 for each child under the age of 

 16, per month, uutil the age of 16 is arrived at, but not more than $15 

 for any one family of children having a widowed mother or father. 

 Orphan children, $10 per month to the amount of $35 per month until 

 16 years of age. For partial di^endents, not to exceed $20 per month. 

 For all death claims the sum of $4,000 is taken from the general fund, 

 invested at interest to procure funds with which to meet the monthly 

 payments. 



For total disability : If unmarried, $20 per month. If married, from 

 $25 to $35, according to family. For total disability not permanent, bene- 

 fits are Increased first six months 50 per cent, providing this sum does not 

 exceed 60 per cent of regular wage. Monthly payments In all cases may 

 be converted in lump sum payments either in whole or in part. In cases 

 where the injury causes a disability which is not total or permanent, such 

 injury is paid for in lump sum and the maximum amount is $1,500. 



Employer is held responsible in case accidents are caused by neglect to 

 comply with safety laws, and must reimburse the insurance fund for half 

 the benefits paid In each case. 



The intent of the act, as set forth In Section 4. is that the fund cre- 

 ated by assessing the industries shall ultimately become neither more nor 

 less than self-supporting. 



In making such assessments the commission grouped each industry in a 

 class which was shown by the employers' liability insurance companies' 

 rating manuals to take the same rate of premium. Each such group pays 

 for its own accidents only, and for none other. There are forty-seven of 

 the groups or classes, covering every industry in our state. In addition, 

 there is the non-hazardous group, which Is elective. 



The premiums charged each group vary from one and one-half per cent 

 to ten per cent, and the levy is made on the yearly payroll of each in- 

 dustry In the group. 



Inasmuch as the intent of the act is to secure only such funds as are 

 necessary to meet the benefits, assessments are made only as needed. If 

 no accidents happen there is nothing to pay, and I cannot conceive of 

 anything that would act as more of an incentive to employers to pro- 

 tect their machinery and use their best efforts to prevent accidents than 

 this provision of the act. Up to date the operation of the act has been 

 highly successful and has been accomplished without cost to the employer. 

 The lumber industry in our state is in a class which requires the pay- 

 ment of a premium of two and one-half per cent on the yearly payroll. 

 In the lumber class the assessment for the first three months after the 

 act went into effect amounted to $167,000. lUp to Apr. 15, 1912, there 

 had been paid out of this fund $60,000 for accidents settled for and $45,- 

 000 was taken from the fund and invested to take care of 17 fatal ac- 

 cidents. At that time (April 15) there were 12 fatal accidents un- 

 settled for. If these 12 fatal accidents call for the same amount of 

 benefits as the 17 which were settled for required, it would make a total 

 paid out and to be paid of $135,000, which represents the sum required to 

 pay the benefits in the lumber class group for six and one-half months — 

 that is, from October 1, 1911, to April 15, 1912. 



Because of the hazardous circumstances of night work In our mills In 

 winter I l)elievc that the accidents in the lumber class for the six and 

 one-half winter months were greater than they will average for the other 

 months of the year : but, suppose they represent the average, then the 

 total cost to Ihe lumber class would be some $270,000 for the year. 



Using $167,000 as two one-half per cent of the lumber class payroll for 

 three months makes a total payroll for the lumber industry of $27,000,- 

 000 for the year. In order to raise $270,000 by taxing $27,000,000 it re- 

 quires one per cent, and that is exactly what the cost to the lumber in- 

 dustry figures up to the time of the closing ot the Industrial Commis- 

 sion's books on April 25, 1912. 



Something like $20,000,000 was paid by the employers to the em- 

 plo.yers' liability companies in 1911 throughout the United States. Near- 

 ly $10,000,000 in judgments was rendered in personal damage cases. Id 

 most of these cases the lawyer received one-halt of the judgment, which 

 left $5,000,000 for the injured workman. 



Under the Washington compensation act it costs the employer con- 

 siderably less than it did under the old system, and every injured employe 

 is paid and tvery cent collected from any industry goes directly to the 

 injured employe. Furthermore the lumber industry makes the poorest 

 showing of any group which comes under the act. 



A. T. Gerrans on behalf of the railroad committee presented a 

 memorial to the Interstate Commerce Commission which was a 

 duplicate of the enactment made by the National Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association at its recent Louisville convention, seeking 

 standardizing of estimated weights on lumber and demanding that 

 shippers have a right to verified weights of carloads of lumber, 

 and in default of such authentic weights that the estimated weights 

 should prevail as a basis for freight charges. 



M. B. Nelson of Kansas City, chairman of the classification com- 

 mittee, made a comprehensive report on the subject of the work 

 that had been done with the railroads towards securing a special 

 classification for goods packed in wooden containers, and stated 

 that the wooden box and other interests hertofore had carried on 

 this campaign largely at their own cost, and suggested that it waa 

 a matter that should be financed by lumbermen. He recommended 

 that the box manufacturers' association be paid the deficit of 

 about five thousand dollars to cover its cost for the work done to 

 date, and that in the future work to secure this end be financed by 

 the lumber industry. 



TUESDAY ATTEENOON SESSION 

 On invitation of President Griggs, AV. E. DeLaney, president of 

 the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, made a brief and inter- 

 esting address on the subject of "The Association I Eepresent." 

 This forceful address is here reproduced in full. 



Address of W. E. DeLaney 



If I burden you for a fi-w moments with a story with which you are 

 all familiar — it is for the purpose of refreshing your memory, that I 

 may show why our association was formed and will be maintained. 



It has frequently been stated, and never to my knowledge disproved, 

 that the manufacturers of the South as a whole have made no money 

 in the manufacture of hardwoods. It is true that some have shown 

 profits, but they have been made on the enhancement of stumpage 

 values rather than in the manufacture of lumber. I have heard it stated 

 often that If a timber holder had sufficient time In which to dispose of 

 his holdings, he could realize more from Its sale than from its man- 

 ufacture into lumber. With this condition prevailing, it is easy to under- 

 stand what the manufacturer Is up against in the purchase of his raw 

 material. After the timber is purchased he begins to figure the cost of 

 getting the timber into logs and delivered to his mill. I want to ask 

 if there is any manufacturer in the South present here today who has 

 ever been able to install and operate his equipment for less than his 

 original estimate. As soon as he starts his operation — trouble begins ; 

 it is a fight from the time the whistle blows In the morning until the 

 whistle at night. Fortunate is the one who does not continue the 

 fight after the closing signal. 



If operating in the mountains he is dealing with the most Independent 

 labor in the entire country. If the boss happens to come on the Job 

 a little out of humor in the morning he is likely to lose half his crew 

 by night. If the work of a laborer Is criticised he takes his gun and 

 goes squirrel hunting,- which Is much easier than "ballhooting" logs out 

 of the mountain, if the operator Is In the flat country of the South be 

 is up against climatic conditions that make it difficult for him to pro- 

 cure satisfactory labor. He will work diligently for a day correcting 

 some leak in the operation, go to bed at night feeling that the following 

 day will run smoothly, but he no sooner gets on the job the next 

 morning then he finds another leak, usually more serious than the one 

 with which he has just battled. 



He usually figures the cost of his railroad at $2,000 a mile. Formerly 

 he was surprised when it ran to $5,000, but now has become so ac- 

 customed to it that be takes it as a matter of course. He must keep 

 a careful eye on every step in his operation. The woods-man may 

 either cut too much timber, permitting it to damage, or he will not have 

 enough to meet requirements. If he happens to want IG' lengths he will 

 discover that his cutters found it impossible to get other thau 12' and 14'. 

 He finds the condition reversed If he wants 12 and 14'. He finally gets 

 his logs to the railroad, though this does not mean delivery. Numerous 



