Richard H. Curran, Rochester, secretary Molders' Union, Thomas M. Gafney, Syracuse, publisher of Industrial Miss Melinda Scott, New York, president Women's Trade The members of the Council were called together by the Secretary on September 9th and thereafter elected Mr. J. Mayhew Wainwright of Rye, New York, as the Chairman of the Council. The Council has met at least once in each month, has hela special meetings on other occasions, and has advised the Industrial Commission and the Civil Service Commission with respect to the matters submitted to it. The Commission regards it as unfortunate that the Legislature failed to provide for any compensation to members of the Industrial Council, or even for their ordinary traveling expenses. The members of the Council and the Chairman have exhibited a splendid spirit of devotion to the industrial welfare of the state in giving freely of their time, thought and abilities without compensation and even at considerable cost to themselves for traveling expenses. The Commission earnestly hopes that the Legislature will see fit to provide a suitable sum for compensation of the members and Chairman of the Council for each meeting attended by them, and in any case a fund for the payment of the traveling and hotel expenses of the members of the Council when engaged in their official duties. In the business of the Council the representatives of the employers have met with the representatives of the wage earners and all have given thoughtful consideration to the problems before them. Already there is manifested a fine spirit of co-operation and of better understanding between the representatives of these great groups, which too often in the past have mistrusted and distrusted each other. From the beginning already made, it can safely be predicted that capital and labor will be brought closer together and that there will be a more sympathetic recognition of the rights and obligations of each. The Council has organized itself into committees for the consideration of various phases of its work. Each committee is com posed of a representative of the employers and a representative of the employees. The committees are as follows: Legislation: Messrs. Emmons and Holland. Industrial Code: Messrs. Barcalo and Clark. Workmen's Compensation and Accident Prevention: Messrs. Chase and Curran. Civil Service: Messrs. Stofer and Gafney. Mediation and Arbitration: Mr. Bush and Miss Scott. BUREAU OF INSPECTION The Bureau of Inspection, under the law, is under the direct charge of the First Deputy Commissioner. On July 16th, 1915, James L. Gernon was appointed First Deputy Commissioner and placed in charge of the bureau. Mr. Gernon had been in the Department for many years, having entered through the Civil Service, and at the time of his appointment as First Deputy, and for some years prior thereto, had been the Chief Mercantile Inspector of the Department. Mr. Gernon applied himself immediately to the problems of the bureau, particularly with a view to bringing up to a high state of efficiency the two great divisions of factory inspection. The so Some reorganization of the bureau was undertaken. called "Division of Appeals" was abolished and matters of appeal that could not be decided by the Supervising Inspectors and Chief Inspector were referred to the Bureau of Industrial Code to investigate and bring directly before the Commission. In the latter part of 1914 the Fireproofing and Fire-Resisting Codes were adopted by the old Industrial Board, and following the adoption of these codes, many thousands of orders were issued, requiring the enclosure of stairways in factory buildings by partitions of fire-resisting material and requiring additional means of exit. Many of these orders imposed heavy financial burdens upon the owners of the property affected, requiring in some instances an almost complete remodeling and rearrangement of buildings, which at the time of their construction were built in complete conformity to the law as it then existed. The most intense opposition was encountered in seeking to enforce the provisions of the law with regard to factory exits, and for a long time compliances with the orders were relatively few. In hundreds of cases, however, plans for the remodeling and alteration of buildings were filed with the Department for examination and approval. The subdivision of engineering was swamped with plans, and work was held up, awaiting their approval. A vast amount of time was utilized in the making of so-called "compliance visits" to ascertain whether orders issued on particular buildings had been complied with, or whether the work had been started or plans filed. Toward the latter part of the fiscal year, compliances became very much more numerous, and we are now able to report that the work of compelling compliance with the new fire protection laws is progressing rapidly. Owing to the promotion of Mr. Gernon, the former Chief Mercantile Inspector, to be First Deputy Commissioner, a vacancy at the head of the Division of Mercantile Inspection was created. There being no existing eligible list for the position, the Civil Service Commission was requested to hold an examination for Chief Mercantile Inspector, and in the meantime, Mercantile Inspector Frank L. Fisher was assigned as Acting Chief of the Division. The Commission was unable under the law to compensate Mr. Fisher in any material way for his many months of patient and painstaking work and the assumption of large responsibility as such Acting Chief. The Commission desires to record, however, its high appreciation of the splendid service rendered by Mr. Fisher while in charge of the division and his loyal devotion to the interests of the Department. BUREAU OF COMPENSATION The Bureau of Compensation, as constituted under the consolidation act, is under the immediate charge of the Second Deputy Commissioner, William C. Archer. Mr. Archer has submitted a comprehensive and detailed report of the operations of this bureau, to which attention is directed, and Mr. F. Spencer Baldwin, Manager of the State Insurance Fund, has also submitted his report of the operations of the State Fund. Both of these reports are submitted herewith and reference is hereby made to them. The bureau has been extraordinarily hardworking and efficient. Practically new, the organization has the work splendidly in hand. Claims are received, examined and put on for hearings in nearly every instance within two weeks after the claim has become compensable. Death cases and cases involving difficulties of proof naturally take somewhat longer. In the Legislature of 1915 bitter controversy arose over the proposal to amend the Compensation Law in respect to direct payments by employers and to permit private agreements to be made between employers and injured workmen for their compensation. Laws providing for both were enacted to take effect April 1, 1915. By the direct payment of claims a tremendous burden of detail work in the matter of making payments has been gradually taken from the Commission and transferred to the shoulders of the employer, or his insurance carrier. Also many thousands of cases of claims for compensation have been settled by direct settlement between the employer and his employee. These agreements have been examined and approved by the Commission. While the law has not been in operation a sufficient time to warrant the drawing of final conclusions based upon ascertained facts, the Commission has not found sufficient evidence of abuses in connection either with private agreements or direct payments to warrant the belief that employees have not or will not receive the full amount of compensation to which they are entitled. The passing of the administration of the Workmen's Compensation Law from the hands of the Workmen's Compensation Commission to the State Industrial Commission, has been effected without friction or any appreciable delay in the handling of claims. In the administration of the Compensation Law, various matters have come to our attention, showing the necessity of amending the law in certain particulars. These matters are taken up under the heading of Legislative Recommendations. STATE INSURANCE FUND The growth and strength of the State Insurance Fund is a matter of much gratification to the Commission. In order that employers, who are compelled to insure their employees under the Compensation Law, may have safe and complete insurance at the bare cost of such insurance, the state was obliged to set up and create a State Fund. The fund is and should be an aggressive competitor for business. The Commission does not believe that the State Fund should be a mere passive agency and dumping ground for bad risks that no company would insure. If it is to be of real service to its policy holders and serve effectively the interests of the people of the state, it must do a sufficiently large business to guarantee its complete safety and to serve as a useful and necessary check upon the rates demanded by the stock companies writing a similar class of business. As a result of its activities, the State Fund has been the object. of a most active campaign against it on the part of various insurance companies. An effort was made in 1915 to separate the State Insurance Fund from the jurisdiction of the Commission, and either to set it up as a separate department, or to place it under the supervision of the Superintendent of Insurance. This effort was not successful and in the consolidation of the Department of Labor and the Workmen's Compensation Commission, the State Fund passed into and became part of the enlarged Department. The Commission believes that it would be a mistake now to separate the State Fund from the other activities of the Commission. The Industrial Commission which exercises oversight over all the activities of the state which are directly related to the welfare of the wage earners, properly should be the administrative head of the State Insurance Fund upon whom thousands of workmen are dependent for the payment of the compensation to which they may be or become entitled. The State Fund is now well beyond the point where it can be regarded as experimental or where any question can be raised as to its safety or the security of its policy holders. As will more fully appear in the report of the Manager of the State Insurance Fund, submitted herewith, the Fund is on a sound and substantial financial basis. The net premium income for the year ended December 31st, 1915, was $1,293,613.15, while the total losses paid during the year amounted to $293,013.83. The amount of loss reserves on December 31st, 1915, was $906,848, while an additional surplus |