overcome by showing that the employer and his agents used all the care that the law required and all the modern appliances for the protection of human life and limb; and so it appears to me that this decision in the Ives case is going to be more or less of an obstacle to all legislation upon the subject if it is followed generally by the courts. It is to be hoped, however, that the employers will recognize the great necessity there is for legislation that will give to the employe adequate compensation for industrial accidents, and that the employer and employe may get together and agree upon a uniform law for every State in the Union. This is one subject upon which the laws should be uniform, that the employers of one State might not have an advantage over the employers of other States.

Practically all the civilized countries of Europe have adopted the insurance plan against industrial accidents, and in adopting the compulsory principle have been careful that compensation shall be proportioned to actual financial loss to the injured. It is based upon the actual current earnings of the workingman, and fixed at a percentage in cases of total disability on concurrent wages varying from fifty in Great Britain to as high as seventy per cent in Holland.

The German system has given the most general satisfaction. It is conducted entirely by mutual association of employers, supervised by the state. Every employer contributes yearly in accordance with the risk of his establishment and his pay-roll, the risk being determined by means of a classified tariff of rates drawn up by the association. The law confers on them the privilege of prescribing preventive rules and regulations that have the force of law and must be complied with. The association may send inspectors to any factory or establishment at any time, and in case of negligence the employer may be fined or given a higher rate for a higher risk. In case of flagrant neglect the factory may be closed. Workingmen are also subject to regulation on the part of the association.

This subject received consideration in Germany as early as 1838, in the recognition of the new principle of liability by employers to provide compensation for industrial accidents. Το check the force of discontent after the Franco-Prussian war,

Bismarck, one of the greatest statesmen of his or any other age, in 1881 presented a plan of compulsory insurance of workingmen. In commenting upon this in the work entitled "Workingmen's Insurance in Europe", by Frankel and Dawson, the author says:

"In the short period of nine years, 1881-1889, every detail of this comprehensive scheme was put into operation. Legislation so far-reaching in its consequences had never before been attempted. Though at the time regarded as revolutionary in character, it has served the country better than its great author dreamed possible. Now at the close of a period of twentyfive years, it is recognized as the most effective instrument for the protection of the great body of people in the important exigencies of life; and its merits are warmly appreciated by all who have the welfare of the nation at heart."'

Bismarck's compulsory insurance bill presented to the Reichstag in 1881 received the approval of that body, but it refused to vote financial support and also desired to substitute separate departments for the kingdom, which amendments were rejected by the government, whereupon Emperor William sent a message to the Reichstag, as follows:

"We consider it Our Imperial duty to impress upon the Reichstag the necessity of furthering the welfare of the working people. We should review with increased satisfaction the manifold successes with which the Lord has blessed Our reign, could We carry with Us to the grave the consciousness of leaving Our country an additional and lasting assurance of internal peace, and the conviction that We have rendered the needy that assistance to which they are justly entitled. Our efforts in this direction are certain of the approval of all the Federate Governments, and We confidently rely on the support of the Reichstag, without distinction of parties. In order to realize these views, a Bill for the Insurance of Workmen against Industrial Accidents will first of all be laid before you; after which a supplementary measure will be submitted, providing for a general organization of industrial Sick Relief Insurance. Likewise, those who are disabled in consequence of Old Age or Invalidity possess a well-founded claim to more ample relief on the part of the State than they have hitherto enjoyed. To devise the fittest ways and means for making such provision, however difficult, is one of the highest obligations of every community, based on the moral principles of Christianity. A more intimate acquaintance with the actual capabilities of the people, and a mode of turning these to account in corporate associations, under the patronage and with the aid of the State, will, We trust, develop a scheme to solve which the State alone would prove unequal.''

This humane and patriotic appeal resulted in the passage of the first compulsory insurance law in Germany, under which the same authority claims:

"The most striking fact in the remarkable industrial advance made by Germany during the last half century is the improved condition of the great body of its working people. On all sides are evidences of greater effectiveness, contentment, and prosperity. Many causes have undoubtedly contributed to this end, but perhaps the most important has been the fostering care of the government. It has met the requirements of its people in an orderly and businesslike manner, looking upon their occupations as both social and individual in character. . . . . The wide scope of this branch of workingmen's insurance is evident from the fact that at the close of 1907 more than 21,000,000 working people, employed in nearly 5,500,000 separate establishments, were directly insured under the provisions of the law. Notwithstanding great improvements in safety appliances and other means of prevention, the number of accidents, with the single exception of those resulting in complete permanent disablement, has increased rapidly per thousand insured. The average duration of disability has also increased, doubtless partly due to the broadening of the statutes. The same condition has been observed in all other countries where liability laws have been liberalized. The increase is also ascribed to simulation and to malingering, as it is certain that some workmen take advantage of the slightest accident to claim compensation. But the chief cause of increase in the number of accidents in Germany is unquestionably the greater complication of industry, the greater hazard necessarily resulting therefrom and intensity of pressure upon workingmen. With the strong tendency to migrate from the country to industrial cities, thousands of men enter factories who are not by training prepared for the complex machinery they must handle. These factors augment the number and the seriousness of accidents.

"In general, accidents increase in number as workmen become older. Thus, in the industrial, building, and marine associations of employers, the rate per annum was 3.6 per 1000 insured for those between the ages of eighteen and twenty, 5.4 for those between twenty and thirty years, 9.2 for those between thirty and forty, 12.3 for those between forty and fifty, and 13.8 for those between fifty and sixty years. More accidents occur in the summer months when the activity in certain occupations is greatest and when more men are at work; and Monday and Saturday are accountable for a heavier toll than the remaining week days. The large number of accidents occurring on Saturdays is doubtless caused by the strain of the week's work, while those of Monday are very likely the result of Sunday's jollification. "The four classes of accidents, taken together, have almost doubled in frequency in the last twenty years, while those resulting in temporary injuries only, but exceeding thirteen weeks in duration, have increased fivefold in the same period. The one striking exception is the constant re

duction in the number of completely disabled and killed. This is very likely due to the care which the mutual associations of employers exercise in dealing with cases of serious injury.

"The operation of the law has, on the whole, been satisfactory to the German people. There has been much improvement in the efficiency of workmen, and employers have indirectly reaped returns for their compulsory outlay. It may be true, as is sometimes claimed, that the law has had some tendency to decrease the sense of personal responsibility on the part of workmen and to tempt them to secure compensation for the slightest injury; but they, on their part, have never been content with the arrangement that placed the adjustment of compensation in the first instance in the hands of the employers' associations. As a result of this dissatisfaction these adjustments are constantly challenged. Appeals from the awards of the associations of employers as well as those of the arbitration board are only too common, the more so because litigation is free."

It appears from this report that while compulsory insurance in Germany is generally satisfactory, that it is not free from objection and it is very far from perfect. A commission appointed by the English government will make its report on the English law the last of this month. This will no doubt give us much valuable information upon that law. We are living in a progressive age and we must meet and solve this economic problem in accordance with the spirit of the age. More depends upon the employer and employe than on any other class. If they can in some way be brought closer together, as they were when the employer and employe worked side by side as friends and co-workers, the problem will be solved.

J. H. MCCONLOGUE: I take great pleasure in moving a vote of thanks by this Association to Governor Burke, for his able address delivered this afternoon, and that we express to him the fact that the Iowa Bar Association is proud of the honor that has been conferred upon him so lavishly by the State of North Dakota.

The motion was duly seconded and unanimously adopted by a rising vote.

THE PRESIDENT: The next is the report of the Executive Committee.

THE SECRETARY: The report of the Executive Committee is as follows: The place of meeting for next year was first decided

upon as Jefferson, Iowa. This action was later reconsidered and the selection of a place for the holding of the next meeting was left to a committee consisting of Senator C. G. Saunders of Council Bluffs, and Judge H. M. Remley of Anamosa.

The time for the next meeting was fixed as the last Thursday and Friday in June, 1912, that is, June 27 and 28.

The following Committees were named:

Legal Education and Admission to the Bar: S. M. Ladd, of Des Moines; E. B. Evans, of Des Moines; Ralph Otto, of Iowa City; H. J. Wilson, of Burlington; J. C. France, of Tipton.

Legal Biography: C. J. Wilson, of Washington; W. R. Lewis, of Montezuma.

Law Reform: E. B. Evans, of Des Moines; J. J. Clark, of Mason City; M. A. Roberts, of Ottumwa; C. H. Van Law, of Marshalltown; E. W. Weeks, of Guthrie Center; Carroll Wright, of Des Moines; A. N. Hobson, of West Union.

Membership: (Chairman to be appointed); Frank S. Dunshee, of Des Moines; James A. Devitt, of Oskaloosa.

Grievances: J. B. Weaver, Jr., of Des Moines; T. S. Stevens, of Hamburg; John McCoy, of Oskaloosa.

Delegate to American Bar Association: H. C. Horack, of Iowa City.

Program: C. G. Saunders, of Council Bluffs; H. E. Deemer, of Red Oak.

The President was authorized to fill the vacancy in the Membership Committee, and to fill any other vacancies that may

occur.

Upon motion duly made the report of the committee was adopted.

JUDGE M. J. WADE: In the discussion this morning, I was on the minority side. I want to be fair with the other side. Since adjournment I think the Secretary has received a letter from one of the members of the Association upon that subject, which he intended to have read here, and I think it ought to be added to the record.