Miller Gould was a constant attendant upon the convention, and her entrance to the hall was a signal for bursts of enthusiasm. Her most recent gift was one of $150,000 for a building for the St. Louis Railroad Association. Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw came from Washington because he "wished to talk to men engaged in a rugged work which makes rugged character." It was recognized in these meetings that the greatest foe of railroad management and of public safety in travel is the saloon, and to take its place the majority of the companies in North America sustain Associations, giving $300,000 last year for their support and equipment, the employees giving nearly as much. The companies are abandoning the reading rooms and club houses, finding that the Association is the kind of a club that beats the saloon. The 212 Associations have 74,000 members, with an attendance of 34,000 men a day, and their rest rooms were used last year 1,144,457 times. In educational and practical railroading classes they had 2,664 students, and in Bible classes 4,183, representing gains of nearly 50 per cent. One short road which, five years ago, made a test of the Association's influence among its men at a terminal point, gave $30,000 last year for its maintenance at every terminal point. The city of Detroit spent $2,000 entertaining the convention. Representative men were on its committees and automobiles were at command upon occasion. A leading hotel, however, did not welcome the delegates, declaring "That is not a paying crowd; they spend no money at the bar or for 'extras.'' The dramatic feature of the convention was the statement of Surgeon-General Suzuki, of the Imperial Japanese Navy, who, being introduced by Col. John J. McCook, chairman of the sessions, said: "I was christened twenty years ago, but I confess that I am not a good Christian." He alluded, with deep feeling and satisfaction, to the conversion and baptism of his wife and six children, and concluded by saying, amid the deep hush of eager attention: What I wish you would do is to send us good men, able to convert our hearts to the real meaning of Christianity." The testimony of this eminent Japanese officer, following the address of Mr. Colton on extending the Railroad Associations abroad, as has been begun in India, and is supported by Railroad Associations in America, had a tremendous effect on this audience of bighearted, sympathetic men. From the first address of the convention by Dr. John Potts, the eloquent Canadian, to the virile messages of John R. Mott, Fred B. Smith, Robert Speer, Allan Stockdale and George Truitt; and of such Christian business men as James G. Cannon and Hon. H. B. F. Macfarland, there was a constant note of dominant Christianity, which lifted the purpose of these militant men, who se riously believe that they are responsible for the moral welfare of their 1,000,000 associates in the railway service. Overwhelmed by Immigrants. If we had an Immigrants' Day, as we have a Labor Day, and if a parade containing all the unnaturalized immigrants, those who have landed within the last five years, should march side by side with all the organized workers in the country, the immigrants would outnumber the unionists by fully a million. Think of what that means! After 75 years of agitation and education, unionism has succeeded in bringing into orderly organization two and a half millions of American workers. It has battled for a rational workday and a fair wage. It has struggled for a decent standard of living and a self-respecting, independent manhood. But in five years, only five years, three and a half millions of unorganized, untrained, un-American toilers have been poured into the country to compete with our workers, to labor long hours for small wages, to degrade our standard of living. and to combat, in every possible way, the great work being done by the unions. Already the coke industry has entirely passed into the hands of the Huns and Slavs. The iron and steel trade has been flooded by men of the same nationalities. The Lake Superior ore mines are being captured by the Finns. In the coal and the clothing trades the unions have conquered only after long and strenuous struggles. Railroad construction is almost completely dominated by the unorganized Italians. Unionism is a great nation-wide factory, taking in the raw material of humanity and making of it intelligent, selfreliant men, fit for citizenship in a selfgoverning country. But the best factory in the world will fail if continually supplied with poor raw material. Doubly will it fail if overstocked, overtaxed, overwhelmed with a supply increasingly be yond its utmost working capacity.—Lydia Kingsmill Commander, in Weekly Bulletin, Clothing Trade. "Yes," said the railroad president, "I've found out how we can make every one of our men live to be a hundred years old."* "Wonderful! How do you do it?” "It is only necessary to pension them off after they get to be sixty or seventy." -Chicago Record-Herald. Legal News Co-Employees or Fellow-Servants. (Continued from November.) In this group of States Texas next appears, having passed an act, approved March 10, 1891, and amended in 1893, which defines the meaning of the terms "vice principal" and "fellow-servant" in the case of railroad companies, changing the common-law rule thereon. Said act is now contained in the following sections of the Revised Statutes of Texas of 1895: SECTION 4560f. All persons engaged in the service of any railway corporation, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, or in the service of a receiver, manager, or of any person controlling or operating such corporation, who are intrusted by such corporation, receiver or person in control thereof, with the authority of superintendence, control, or command of other persons in the employment of such corporation, or receiver, manager, or person in control of such corporation, or with the authority to direct any other employee in the performance of the duty of such employee, are vice principals of such corporation, receiver, manager, or person controlling the same, and are not fellow-servants of such employee. SEC. 4560g. All persons who are engaged in the common service of such railway corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof, and who, while so employed, are in the same grade of employment and are working together at the same time and place, and to a common purpose, neither of such persons being intrusted by such corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof, with any superintendence or control over their fellow employees, or with the authority to direct any other employee in the performance of any duty of such employee, are fellow-servants with each other: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make employees of such corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof, fellow-servants with other employees engaged in any other department or service of such corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof. Employees who do not come within the provisions of this section shall not be considered fellow-servants. SEC. 4560h. No contract made between the employer and employee, based upon the contingency of death or injury of the employee, limiting the liability of the employer under this act, or fixing damages to be recovered, shall be valid and binding. The supreme court of Texas has affirmed the constitutionality of this statute. It decided that the original act did not include the employees of a receiver of a railroad, but the amendment of 1893, approved May 4, 1893, provided that it should so apply. In decisions rendered in 1895 and 1896 the court held that the act did not include street railways within its provisions, and in 1897, by an act approved June 18, of that year, the legislature enacted a law very similar to the above, but applying to street railways as well as to trunk lines. Said act being chapter 6 of the acts of 1897, is as follows: SECTION 1. Every person, receiver or corporation operating a railroad or street railway the line of which shall be situated in whole or in part in this State, shall be liable for all damages sustained by any servant or employee thereof while engaged in the work of operating the cars, locomotives, or trains of such person, receiver, or corporation, by reason of the negligence of any other servant or employee of such person, receiver or corporation, and the fact that such servants or employees were fellow-servants with each other shall not impair or destroy such liability. SEC. 2. All persons engaged in the service of any person, receiver, or corporation, controlling or operating a railroad or street railway the line of which shall be situated in whole or in part in this State, who are intrusted by such person, receiver, or corporation with the authority of superintendence, control, or command of other servants or employees of such person, receiver, or corporation, or with the authority to direct any other employee in the performance of any duty of such employee, are vice principals of such person, receiver, or corporation, and are not fellow-servants with their co-employees. SEC. 3. All persons who are engaged in the common service of such person, receiver, or corporation, controlling or operating a railroad or street railway, and who while so employed are in the same grade of employment and are doing the same character of work or service and are working together at the same time and place and at the same piece of work and to a common purpose, are fellow-servants with each other. Employees who do not come within the provisions of this section shall not be considered fellow-servants. SEC. 4. No contract made between the employer and employee based upon the contingency of death or injury of the employee and limiting the liabil ity of the employer under this act of fixing damages to be recovered shall be valid or binding. SEC. 5. Nothing in this act shall be held to impair or diminish the defense of contributory negligence when the injury of the servant or employee is caused proximately by his own contributory negligence. SEC. 6. The short duration of the special session of the legislature, and the fact that the existing fellow-servant law is inadequate to accomplish its purposes, and the fact that a large portion of our citizens have no adequate remedy for personal injuries sustained, create an emergency, and an imperative public necessity exists, that the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be, and the same is, hereby suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted. This act would appear to practically supersede the older law, but as it contains no repealing clause, either general or special, the older law must be considered, in theory at least, still in force. NEW MEXICO. The next law of this character was passed by the Territory of New Mexico and was approved February 17, 1893. It is now contained in the three following sections of the Compiled Laws of New Mexico of 1897: SECTION 3216. Every corporation operating a railway in this Territory shall be liable in a sum sufficient to compensate such employee for all damages sustained by any employee of such corporation, the person injured or damaged being without fault on his or her part, occurring or sustained in consequence of any mismanagement, carelessness, neglect, default or wrongful act of any agent or employee of such corporation, while in the exercise of their several duties, when such mismanagement, carelessness, neglect, default or wrongful act of such employee or agent could have been avoided by such corporation through the exercise of reasonable care or diligence in the selection of competent employees, or agents, or by not overworking said employees or requiring or allowing them to work an unusual or unreasonable number of hours; and any contract restricting such liability shall be deemed to be contrary to the public policy of this Territory and therefore void. SEC. 3217. It shall be unlawful for any such corporation knowingly and willfully to use or operate any car or locomotive that is defective, or any car or locomotive upon which the machinery or attachments thereto belonging are in any manner defective, or shops or machinery and attachments thereof which are in any manner defective, which defects might have been previously ascertained by ordinary care and diligence by said corporation. If the employee of any such corporation shall receive any injury by reason of such defect in any car or locomotive or machinery or attachments thereto belonging, or shops or machinery and attachments thereof, owned and operated, or being run and operated by such corporation, through no fault of his own, such corporation shall be liable for such injury, and upon proof of the same in an action brought by such employee or his legal representatives, in any court of proper jurisdiction, against such railroad corporation for damages on account of such injury so received, shall be entitled to recover against such corporation any sum commensurate with the injuries sustained: Provided, That it shall be the duty of all the employees of railroad corporations to promptly report all defects coming to their knowledge in any such car or locomotive or shops or machinery and attachments thereof to the proper officer or agent of such corporation and after such report the doctrine of contributory negligence shall not apply to such employee. SEC 3218. Whenever the death of an employee shall be caused under circumstances from which a cause of action would have accrued under the provisions of the two preceding sections, if death had not ensued, an action therefor shall be brought in the manner provided by section 2310 of the Compiled Laws of New Mexico, as amended by chapter XLIX of the Session Laws of 1891 of New Mexico, and any sum recovered therein shall be subject to all the provisions of said section 2310 as so amended. This act differs in form from most of those preceding, and apparently does not wholly do away with the common law fellow-servant rule, but only holds the railroad corporation liable when the negligence of the employee on account of which the injury was incurred could have been avoided by the use of reasonable care and difigence by the corporation. It also makes it unlawful for the corporation to use defective cars or locomotives, defective machinery and attachments thereto, and to operate defective shops or machinery and attachments thereof, and makes the corporation liable for injuries incurred by employees which were due to such use and operation, providing the defects might have been ascertained by the corporation by the use of ordinary care and diligence. No decisions of the supreme court of the Territory bearing upon this statute can be found. ARKANSAS. By act approved February 28, 1893, the State of Arkansas next fell in line and removed railroad employees from the operation of the fellow-servant rule of the common law. This statute was practically a copy of the original Texas statute of 1891, above referred to, and is now to be found in the three following sections of the Digest of Arkansas of 1904: SECTION 6248. All persons engaged in the sertice of any railway corporations, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, who are intrusted by such corporation with the authority of superintendence, control or command of other persons in the employ or service of such corporation, or with the authority to direct any other employee, in the performance of any duty of such employee, are vice principals of such corporation, and are not fellow-servants with such employee. SEC. 6249. All persons who are engaged in the common service of such railway corporations, and who, while so engaged, are working together to a common purpose, of same grade, ueither of such persons being intrusted by such corporations with any superintendence or control over their fellowemployees, are fellow-servants with each other; Provided, Nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make employees of such corporation in the service of such corporation fellowservants with other employees of such corporation engaged in any other department or service of such corporation. Employees who do not come within the provisions of this section shall not be considered fellow-servants. SEC. 6250. No contract made between the employer and the employee based upon the contingency of the injury or death of the employee limiting the liability of the employer under this act, or fixing damages to be recovered, shall be valid and binding. In three recent cases the supreme court of the State has held that under this statute if neither of two employees of a railroad company has superintendence over the other they are fellow-servants, and the corporation is not liable for an injury to one caused by the negligence of the other, but if By section 15 of article 9 of its present constitution, ratified Dec. 4, 1895, South Carolina seems to have made her first departure from the common law rule, and provided that railroad companies should be liable for the injuries of their employees when, in any particular case, the injury resulted from the negligence of (1) a superior agent or officer, (2) a person having the right to control or direct the services of the injured party, or (3) a fellow-servant engaged in another department of labor from that of the party injured, or engaged on another train of cars or about another piece of work. This statute appears in full below. SECTION 15. Every employee of any railroad corporation shall have the same rights and reme dies for any injuries suffered by him from the acts or omissions of said corporation or its employees as are allowed by law to other persons not employees, when the injury results from the negli gence of a superior agent or officer, or of a person having a right to control or direct the services of a party injured, and also when the injury results from the negligence of a fellow-servant engaged in another department of labor from that of the party injured, or of a fellow-servant on another train of cars, or one engaged about a different piece of work. Knowledge by any employee injured of the defective or unsafe character or condition of any machinery, ways or appliances shall be no defense to an action for injury caused thereby, except as to conductors or engineers in charge of dangerous or unsafe cars or engines voluntarily operated by them. When death ensues from any injury to employees, the legal or personal representatives of the person injured shall have the same right and remedies as are allowed by law to such representatives of other persons. Any contract or agreement, expressed or implied, made by any employee to waive the benefit of this section shall be null and void; and this section shall not be construed to deprive any employee of a corporation, or his legal or personal representative, of any remedy or right that he now has by the law of the land. The general assembly may extend the remedies herein provided for to any other class of employees. MISSOURI. Next in order of passage in this class of laws is the statute of Missouri, to be found on page 96 of the acts of 1897, and approved February 9, 1897. The last three sections of this act are quite similar to the acts previously discussed, of Texas and Arkansas defining vice principals and fellowservants, and the first section resembles the laws of Iowa and Minnesota already referred to. Said act reads as follows: SECTION 1. Every railroad corporation owning or operating a railroad in this State shall be liable for all damages sustained by any agent or servant therof while engaged in the work of operating such railroad by reason of the negligence of any other agent or servant thereof; Provided, That it may be shown in defense that the person injured was guilty of negligence contributing as a proximate cause to produce the injury. SEC. 2. All persons engaged in the service of any railroad corporation doing business in this State, who are intrusted by such corporation with the authority of superintendenee, control or command of other persons in the employ or service of such corporation, or with the authority to direct any other servant in the performance of any duty of such servant, or with the duty of inspection or other duty owing by the master to the servant, are vice principals of such corporation, and are not fellow-servants with such employees. SEC. 3. All persons who are engaged in the common service of such railroad corporation, and who, while so engaged, are working together at the same time and place, to a common purpose of same grade, neither of such persons being intrusted by such corporation with any superintendence or control over their fellow-employees, are fellow-servants with each other: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make any agent or servant of such corporation in the service of such corporation a fellow-servant with any other agent or servant of such corporation engaged in any other department or service of such corporation. SEC. 4. No contract made between any railroad corporation and any of its agents or servants. based upon the contingency of the injury or death of any agent or servant, limiting the liability of such railroad corporation for any damages under the provisions of this act, shall be valid or binding, but all such contracts or agreements shall be null and void. The reporters as yet contain no decisions of the supreme court of Missouri which interpret or construe this statute. English Law a Century Ago. George Brewer and Michael Doyle were tried for assaulting Jeremiah Haragan on the King's highway, and robbing him of a silver watch and a handkerchief, were found guilty and given sentence of death. John Chester, for stealing a mare, was found guilty and the death penalty fixed. John McNeal, an elderly man of very respectable appearance, was tried for burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of William Ridgeway, and stealing therein several articles of men's clothing and of plate. *** It being doubtful whether the offense was committed in the daytime or at night, the jury found the prisoner guilty of stealing in a dwelling house to the value of 40s., which made it death.-London Times. THE United States supreme court has decided that a railroad company is not liable for damages to a passenger riding on a pass. This decision was given in the case of Louise H. Adams, et al., vs. Northern Pacific Railroad Co. Correspondence. All contributions to Our Correspondence columns must be in not later than the 10th of the month to insure insertion. Articles must be written on one side of the paper only. Noms de plume may be used, but every article must be signed with full name and address of the writer as a guarantee of good faith, and to insure insertion. While the Editor does not assume responsibility for opinions expressed by contributors to this department, he is held responsible in both law and moral ethics for admitting that which will injure or create ill feeling. Hence all communications are subject to revision and rejection if the Editor deems it necessary. C. H. SALMONS, Editor and Manager. Likes and Dislikes. I love an off-hand manly chap, If rich or poor, or gay or lorn, One just the same at fight or morn, Whose brain has got some common sense, I do not care a picayune, If he's an animated ruin, If his old duds are tattered rags, The seed of manhood, then the rest A railroad aristocracy, Shall much too soon around us be; Her husband's head's expanded bad, When we tossed blocks together; now, It isn't right to soar so high, SHANDY MAGUIRE. Letter From a Practical Railroad Official to His Son. FT. WAYNE, IND., Oct. 24, 1905MY DEAR SON: I am in receipt of your letter of recent date informing me that you have finished your course of studies at the mechanical institute, also that you are to be at home in a few days, at which time you will be ready to "jump right into the railroad business." It pleases me to learn that you have finished your studies with creditable standing, and that you are soon to be at home, for I know they are all lonesome for you there; but about your "jumping right into the railroad business," that is a matter for more extended comment. Your desire to jump right in" is all right enough, is even commendable, but your way of stating it suggests to me a rather hazy understanding of what you are going up against. My manner of expressing the situation may not be just according to the most approved form as taught in any modern theoretical school, and it may not be to your liking, but it will prepare you for your entrance into that great practical institution of learning, namely, the Railroad World. When you say you want to jump right into the railroad business it sounds much the same to me as to hear a six-year-old child talk of butting into the grammar school. There is no such thing as getting into the middle of the railroad game with any hope of succeeding, if we measure success by efficient service, which is the only true gauge of merit. Of course I, as General Manager of the Central, could "place" you somewhere and keep you there, however unfit you might be for the position, but I would not be doing the right thing by the company, nor by you, nor by myself. The stockholder could stand it, and I could tolerate you possibly if I tried, but you would represent to me a broken link in a long chain of efficient employees-a chain that I have labored long to construct, and in which I take no little pride, and I would dislike very much to weaken it by "placing" you where you would fit like a round plug in a square hole, even were you to be benefited there |