The Legal World Workmen's Compensation
The Illinois Workmen's Compensa tion Act went into force May 1, when all employers who did not file their re jection of the act with the State Bureau of Labor Statistics came under the act. Colin C. H. Fyffe, general counsel of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association has been requested to raise the question before the Supreme Court of Illinois of the constitutionality of the statute. After many years of agitation the Senate passed the employers' liability and workmen's compensation bill, on May 7, by a vote of 64 to 15. The meas ure is regarded as the most important legislation of the session. The bill is the product of a special commission au thorized under the administration of President Roosevelt. Senator George Sutherland of Utah is the chairman and Senator Chamberlin of Oregon, W. C. Brown, Congresssman Moon, and Con gressman Brantley were other members. The bill is intended, according to its title, "to provide an exclusive remedy and compensation for accidental injuries resulting in disability or death to em ployees of common carriers by railroads engaged in interstate or foreign com merce or in the District of Columbia." The third section of the bill makes the remedy exclusive by providing that "except as provided herein no such em ployer shall be civilly liable for any personal injury to or death of any such employee resulting from any such acci dent." Miscellaneous
The movement for the amendment of the Constitution so as to provide for the popular election of United States Senators reached an important stage of development May 13, when the na tional House accepted the Bristow amendment to its own resolution, put
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ting the control of Senatorial elections into the hands of Congress, just as now the Constitution places the election of representatives. This put the two branches of Congress in harmony upon this matter and disposed of a point of controversy that had kept them apart for some time. The long delayed trial of the Govern ment's suit in equity for the dissolu tion of the American Sugar Refining Company and its subsidiaries, known as the Sugar Trust, began May 14 in New York before Wilson B. Brice as special examiner. In appointing Mr. Brice the judges of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, who under the expedi tion act will pass directly upon the case on the testimony gathered before Mr. Brice, allowed sixty days to the Govern ment for the introduction of its evi dence, one hundred and five days to the defense for answering testimony, and thirty days each for rebuttal. Following a meeting of the Execu tive Council of the Department of Reg ulation of Interstate and Municipal Utilities of the National Civic Federa tion, it was announced that R. H. Whitten, librarian-statistician of the New York Public Service Commission for the first distirct, had been secured for ap proximately four months' special inves tigating work into the matter of public service corporations in England. Mr. Whitten has gone to London, and in his investigation particular emphasis will be given to the questitions of profitsharing, the sliding scale and control of capitalization. Mr. Whitten is the author of a number of volumes on pub lic utilities questions, his latest work being "Valuation of Public Service Corporations." President Taft sent a special message to Congress May 11 asking for legisla
