HOW HE HAS DEALT WITH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The story of the result of Governor Cox's treatment of
industrial issues is told in his parallel of statements from
Thomas J. Donnelly, Secretary of the Ohio Federation of Labor,
and W. S. Thomas, a leading manufacturer.
Statement by Donnelly:
"Before Ohio had a Workmen's Compensation Law, only twenty per
cent of the injured workers, or the widows and children of
deceased workers, were paid any compensation or damages. Eighty
per cent got nothing whatever. When Cox was first elected
governor, about five per cent of the workers of Ohio were
covered under an optional Workmen's Compensation Law. His first
move as governor was to insist upon the passage of a Workmen's
Compensation Law that would benefit all the workers. In this he
met with powerful and bitter opposition. But through his
determined efforts the opposition was overcome and the law was
passed. To-day the Ohio State Insurance Fund is the largest
carrier of workmen's compensation insurance, public or private,
in the world. More than a million dollars a month is being
collected by this fund, all of which is paid out for
compensation and medical treatment for the injured workers or
the dependents of those who are killed in the course of
employment. This law supplied such an urgent need in the state
that the employers and the laboring people of Ohio now look upon
it as an accomplishment that outshines any other achievement in
the state's history.
"The report of the legislative agents of the Ohio State
Federation of Labor show that fifty-six laws in behalf of
laboring people were passed during Cox's three terms as
governor. Among these were laws forbidding the exploitation of
women and children and limiting their hours of labor, providing
for mothers' pensions, providing for safety codes to protect
life, limb and health and numerous other beneficent measures."
Statement by Thomas:
"His strong sense of right and wrong, and the exercise of an
unusual common sense, together with his frankness and courage in
expression, have been the controlling factors in his successful
relationship with the business interests of the state.
"A single example of his wisdom will illustrate this. For years
organized labor and organized capital in Ohio have met during
the sessions of the general assembly in what seemed to be a
necessary antagonism. This was evidenced by the opposition of
each to the proposed measures of the other. The result was ill
feeling and little accomplished for either. It was Governor
Cox's suggestion that these organizations, represented by the
State Federation of Labor and the Ohio Manufacturers'
Association, through their executive officers, should meet
together and discuss pending legislation relating to the
interest of either. Finally this plan was adopted, and it is the
testimony of those participating tat it did much to avoid
misunderstandings, and contributed a great deal towards sane and
safe legislation. There is not known any instance of this plan
being adopted in any other state of the Union. The fruit of this
sensible procedure is that there are no laws in Ohio that hamper
industry, impede business or endanger property interests, and at
the same time the state is foremost in legislation that promotes
social welfare, gives labor its due, and helps the weak and
needy.
"A man who has occupied this position without interruption
during three administrations would be a failure at the very
outstart if he resorted to devious conduct or political
duplicity. He has but one master--the people at large. To reach
this position he had to have courage, be truthful, exercise
sound and practical business judgment, and at the same time have
a vision looking to the betterment of the condition of his
fellow-man."
The cornerstone of the labor legislation is the Workmen's
Compensation Law, the story of which is told in the state
archives, in the messages to the Ohio General Assembly. At the
beginning of his first term as Governor in 1913, Governor Cox
said:
"It would certainly be common bad faith not to pass a compulsory
Workmen's Compensation Law. No subject was discussed during the
last campaign with greater elaboration, and it must be stated to
the credit of our citizenship generally that regardless of the
differences of opinion existing for many years, the justice of
the compulsory feature is now admitted. Much of the criticism of
the courts has been due to the trials of personal injury cases
under the principles of practice which held the fellow-servant
rule, and assumption of risk and contributory negligence to be
grounds of defense. The layman reaches his conclusion with
respect to justice along the lines of common sense, and the
practice in personal injury cases has been so sharply in
conflict with the plain fundamentals of right, that social
unrest has been much contributed to. A second phase of this
whole subject which has been noted in the development of the
great industrialism of the day has been the inevitable animosity
between capital and labor through the ceaseless litigation
growing out of these cases. The individual or the corporation
that employs on a large scale has taken insurance in liability
companies, and, in too many instances, cases which admitted of
little difference of opinion have been carried into the courts.
The third injustice has been the waste occasioned by the system.
The injured workman or the family deprived of its support by
accident is not so circumstanced that the case can be contested
with the corporation to the court of last resort. The need of
funds compels compromise on a base that is not always equitable.
Human nature many times drives sharp bargains that can hardly be
endorsed by the moral scale. In the final analysis the cost of
attorney fees is so heavy that the amount which finally accrues
in cases of accident is seriously curtailed before it reaches
the beneficiary. These three considerations clearly suggest the
lifting of this whole operation out of the courts and the sphere
of legal disputation. And then there is a broader principle
which must be recognized. There is no characteristic of our
civilization so marked as the element of interdependence as
between social units. We are all dependent upon our fellows in
one way or another. Some occupations, however, are more
hazardous than others and the rule of the past in compelling
those engaged in dangerous activities to bear unaided the burden
of this great risk, is not right. The Workmen's Compensation Law
in this state, which, however, lacks the compulsory feature, has
made steady growth in popularity. The heavy decrease in rates
clearly indicates economy and efficiency in the administration
of the state liability board of awards. The compulsory feature,
however, should at once be added. I respectfully but very
earnestly urge its adoption amendatory of the present law with
such other changes as experience might dictate.
"The objective to be sought is the fullest measure of protection
to those engaged in dangerous occupations with the least burden
of cost to society, because after all the social organization
must pay for it. The ultimate result of this law will be the
reduction in death and accident because not only the
humanitarian but the commercial consideration will suggest the
necessity of installing and maintaining with more vigilance
modern safety devices.
"Government as a science must make its improvement along the
same practical lines which develop system, simplification,
classification of kindred activities, and better administrative
direction in the evolution of business. A private or corporate
enterprise is compelled to promote in the highest degree both
efficiency and economy because its income is subject to the
hazards of business. Government without this spur of necessity
because its revenue is both regular and certain, does not effect
reorganizations and combine common activities so readily. One
reason, of course, is that new legislation is required and that
is not easy at all times. Wherever human energies are now being
directed toward more efficient public service, we find the
consolidation under one administrative unit or bureau of all
departments which deal either in direct or different manner with
the same general subject. Investigation develops many
duplications in both labor and expense in the departments of the
state. No business institution would continue such a policy and
recognizing now the importance of conducting the business of the
commonwealth along the same modern and efficient lines of
private and corporate operations, there is submitted herewith to
your honorable body two recommendations which, in my judgment,
are of tremendous importance, namely, the creation of an
Industrial Commission and a Department of Agriculture. The first
named organization would combine every existing department which
deals with the relation between capital and labor. It is
certainly a logical observation that the department heads
clothed with the responsibility of details will find it
extremely difficult to rise to the moral vision necessary to
construct and conserve policies dealing with big things. Besides
duplication of service is a waste of both human energy and state
funds."
In summing up the results of a single year of Workmen's
Compensation Law, the Governor at the beginning of 1915 said:
"The humane results of the Workmen's compensation Law have been
so widespread and the wisdom of the people in changing the
constitution so as to make this plan compulsory has been so
completely demonstrated that manufacturer and employee now join
in praise of the act. While the liability insurance companies
contend that the State could not administer this trust and that
the cost would run into millions of dollars per year, the
experience of the first twelve months shows the cost of the
administration to be approximately $160,000; and the claims,
running far in excess of 50,000 in number, have been adjudicated
with such promptness as to justify in the fullest measure the
soundness of the State plan. The balance in the fund December
15, 1914, was $2,418,414.07. The number of accidents is
diminishing and the cost to the employer is decreasing; so that
both lower rates and larger compensation seem assured. As one
who passed through the stormy period that led to the passage of
this law, I urge upon you the extreme importance of the highest
manifestations of vigilance, patriotism and humanity in order
that the fundamentals of this beneficent legislation may be
preserved. Under the pretext of improving the law it can be
easily emasculated. Ohio assumed the lead in this legislation,
and if the fundamental principle is maintained here, the plan,
by its demonstrated worth, will be adopted elsewhere. This means
the ultimate loss of ill-gotten millions by potential interests
that have grown rich from the tears, blood and maimed bodies of
our working people. They will not give it up without a continued
struggle. Your duty to humanity and to your State calls for
extreme watchfulness.
Though he suffered defeat for re-election in 1914, neither the
Industrial Commission Law nor the Workmen's compensation Law nor
any other major piece of social legislation was disturbed by his
successor. In reviewing four years of the history of the law at
his re-accession to power in 1917, he said:
"Since the adoption of the law there have been 300,000
industrial accidents and only seventeen suits have been brought
against employers who paid into the state insurance fund. There
was but one single verdict rendered by the court against the
employer in the list of seventeen and that was for $2000. Five
cases were settled out of court, four were decided in favor of
the employer, one was dismissed by the employee, one was
dismissed by the court and four are still pending. More than one
thousand firms carry their own insurance under state consent,
and against these institutions but five suits have been brought.
Against the employers who have reinsured with the liability
insurance companies, eight suits have been instituted, making a
total of thirty law suits from all sources. These figures are
procured from the official records of the Industrial
Commission."
Two years later, in 1919, a further chapter is given:
"The experience of our state with the Compulsory Workmen's
Compensation Law bears so vitally on the industrial life of our
people that it is deemed proper to report the outstanding
features of the situation. The amount of money in the fund held
by the State as trustee for the injured workmen and their
dependents, as of date, January 2, 1919, was $15,401,429.74.
So carefully measured has been the cost of human justice that
employers pay a smaller premium-rate in Ohio than elsewhere, and
the injured workmen and their dependents are given larger
compensation. A dramatic circumstance which bears eloquent
testimony in behalf of this law is here recited: Not long since
a workman was injured in a factory through which runs the
boundary line between Ohio and Pennsylvania. The accident
occurred a few feet east of our state, but the poor fellow
crawled back onto the soil of Ohio because he knew the
difference between our law and the law in Pennsylvania. As a
further evidence of the basic soundness of the law and the
character of its administration, I have directed the Industrial
Commission to have an actuarial audit of the fund in its charge,
with the imposed condition that the Ohio Federation of Labor,
the Ohio Manufacturers' Association and the State Auditor be
consulted in the employment of the most competent actuary,
obtainable outside the state service, to do the work."
This, then, is the story, but not all of it. Having its genesis
in the meetings between labor and capital, there has been worked
out by the two an elaborate code of safety rules which have been
officially promulgated by the commission and have the binding
effect of law. To-day capital and labor will demand of his
successor that his heart and mind be in accord with the program
carried to fruition in his six years as Governor. There are
other points in his service, briefly covered here, in these
lists:
Laws Pertaining to Business
A public utilities law providing property re-valuation as a
basis for rate making.
Provision for court appear from the utilities commission
decision to the court of final jurisdiction, preventing delay
and loss.
Prohibition against injunction on rate hearing without court
investigation.
A uniform accounting system applied to utilities.
A state banking code with close co-operation with the federal
reserve system, bringing all private banks under state
supervision.
State expenditure on a budget system to reduce cost of
government and lessen taxation.
A blue-sky act to encourage proper investment and protect
against fraudulent securities.
Labor Legislation
A State Industrial Commission with powers to handle all
questions affecting capital and labor, with a state mediator as
the keystone.
Complete survey of occupational diseases with recommendation for
health and occupational insurance.
Full switching crew in all railroad yards.
Strengthening the user in the state of railroad safety
appliances.
A full crew law.
Twenty-four foot caboose.
Reduction of consecutive hours of employment for electric
railroad workers.
Obstruction of fixed signals prohibited.
Safeguarding of accidents in mines by proper illumination.
Extra provision for dependents of men killed in mines.
Increased facilities for mine inspector operation.
Protection of miners working toward abandoned mines.
Elimination of sweatshop labor.
Provision for minimum time pay day.
Prohibition of contract labor in workhouses.
Provision for minimum wage and nine-hour working day for women.
Eight-hour working day on all public contracts.
Codification of child laws with establishment of child welfare
department.
Compulsory provision for mothers' pensions.
Verdict by three-fourths jury in civil cases.