"Color at the Bar" Civic Federation and the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The committee had carefully examined many of the compensation laws adopted or proposed in the various states, but was not prepared to recommend any particular form for the ap proval of the Association. The consensus of opinion was that uniform laws for compensa tion for industrial accidents should be enacted by all the states and by the United States within its jurisdiction, and such a law should be based on the following principles: 1. It should be compulsory and exclusive of other remedies for injuries sustained in course of industrial employment. 2. It should apply to all industrial operations or at least to all industrial organizations above a certain limit of size. 3. It should apply to all accidents occurring in the course of industrial operations, regardless of the fault of any one, self-inflicted injuries not being counted as accidents. 4. The compensation should be adjudicated by a prompt, simple and inexpensive procedure. 5. The compensation should be paid in regular instalments, continuing during the dis ability, or in case of death, during dependent period of beneficiaries.
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6. The compensation should be properly proportioned to the wages received before injury. 7. The compensation should be paid with as nearly absolute certainty as possible, in the most convenient manner, and there should be adequate security for deferred payments. The committee reported that it was not pre pared to say to what extent the state should "control or participate in, insure and adjust liability for industrial accidents." It would be "better prepared to report on this branch of the subject after some of the laws have been enacted, and those which have been enacted shall have been more fully tested." Finally, the committee expressed the opinion that a very important branch of the subject was the prevention of industrial accidents, and that every effort should be made to procure the adoption of uniform laws for the proper safeguarding of industrial employees from accident. This element should always be considered in con nection with any scheme for compensation for in dustrial accidents. The Uniform State Laws Conference also considered the subject, tentatively approving the draft of a compulsory act, with certain amendments, in preference to an elective one.
Newspaper Comment on "Color at the Bar' ^ I AHE controversy which unfortunately arose in the American Bar Association with regard to the exclusion of colored members provoked comment in the press throughout the country. The New York papers for example showed unanimity in their criticisms. The Tribune called the action of the Bar Association "unworthy of a body of such fine purpose and personnel. The Times called it an exhibition of narrowness that will harm the association. The Mail thought it "not very civilized." It was termed "a sneaking settlement" by the Globe. The Evening Post considered that, while the association had harmed itself, it had "rendered a positive service to the cause of democracy" by calling forth such vigorous expressions of protest. Other typical opinions are as follows: — New York Sun Is it in this way that prosperous lawyers,
many of them having enjoyed every advantage of birth and education and social environment, many of them having worked their way against every obstacle of iron fortune, except the indelible and unpardonable matter of pigment — is it thus that they encourage a race to rise? Thus, when there is much distrust of their profession, does it prove its broad sympathies, its humane and popular instincts, its freedom from prejudice, snobbery and "class" feeling? Boston Herald As regards Mr. Lewis, the deeper question is whether membership in the American Bar As sociation shall be restricted to lily-whites or extended to men. Chicago Tribune The effect of the association's action is to raise the color bar. No quibbling can obscure that. The association thereby is placed in a different light. The social element of all or-
