Cornell University Library 
 HD 7279.U5P42 
 
 Report of Industrial Accidents Cornmissio 
 
 3 1924 001 732 266 
 
THE 
 
 MARTIN P. CATHERWOOD 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL 
 
 OF 
 
 INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR 
 
 RELATIONS 
 
 AT 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 NDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS 
 COMMISSION 
 
 '915 
 
 David A. Reed, Chairman, 
 
 
 Francis Feehan, 
 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 J. B. COLAHAN, Jr., 
 
 
 George C. Hetzel, 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 
 Chester, 
 
 John J. Cushing, 
 
 
 Morris Williams, 
 
 Monessen. 
 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 
 Francis H. Bohlen, 
 
 Secretary, 
 
 34th and Chestnut Streets, 
 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PARE 
 
 Report 1 
 
 Workmen's Compensation Act 11 
 
 Act Regulating Policies of Insurance 31 
 
 Mutual Insurance Associations Act 32 s 
 
 Act Providing for a State Workmen's Insurance Fund 41 i 
 
 Constitutional Amendment §2 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 ALLEN, LANE & SCOTT, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. , 
 
Harrisburg, Pa., 
 January 15, 191 5. 
 
 To His Excellency, John K. Tener, Governor of the 
 Commomuealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Sir: — The Industrial Accidents Commission appointed 
 in pursuance of the provisions of the Act of June 27th, 
 1913, P. L. 650, respectfully makes report to you, for 
 transmission to the General Assembly. 
 
 The present Commission is, in effect, a continuance 
 of the Commission appointed under the Act of June 14th, 
 191 1, which presented its report at the last session of 
 the Legislature. 
 
 Since then Workmen's Compensation Acts have been 
 passed in ten States (Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana, 
 Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, 
 Texas and West Virginia), so that such Acts are now in 
 effect in twenty-three of the forty-eight States in 
 the Union. The only States of considerable industrial im- 
 portance in which compensation is not secured in some 
 form or other to sufferers from industrial accidents are 
 Pennsylvania, Indiana and Missouri. 
 
 When the previous Commission made its report in 
 191 3, it was forced to rely to a large extent upon pre- 
 dictions as to the probable beneficial effects of the legis- 
 lation then proposed, or upon the experience of the many 
 European countries in which similar Acts had been in 
 force for many years. 
 
 Compensation Acts have now been in full force and op- 
 eration in many States for a period of from one and a half 
 to two and a half years. The conditions existing in those 
 States are not appreciably different from those prevailing 
 in our own Commonwealth. 
 
 The Commission has therefore devoted its principal at- 
 tention to a study of the various Acts enacted and proposed 
 throughout the United States ; to a consideration of the ad- 
 vantages and disadvantages of the various forms of Work- 
 men's, Compensation therein provided dPreeedfefj^ated ; the 
 
construction put by the Courts upon the language of the 
 Acts already in effect, and, most of all, upon a scrutiny of 
 the practical effects of the operation of these Acts. 
 
 The experience of these States shows that the expecta- 
 tions of the advocates of the Acts there in force have been 
 more than fulfilled in at least four important ways : — 
 
 1. Litigation between employer and employee has prac- 
 tically disappeared, thus not only saving the waste incident 
 to such litigation, but removing a constant source of fric- 
 tion between employer and employee. 
 
 2. Except in those States where the payment of com- 
 pensation is required to await the action of a Commission, 
 the sufferers from industrial accidents have, within a very 
 short period after the injury has been sustained, received 
 compensation when their distress was most acute, and have 
 not been forced to endure the long delay that disgraces 
 our present system. 
 
 3. Most important of all — the liablity to compensation 
 for industrial accidents has led employers to improve im- 
 mensely the safety conditions of their plants. As a result 
 in Michigan the first year of operation of the Act showed 
 a decrease of over 35% in the number of fatal accidents, 
 a corresponding decrease in the number of accidents entail- 
 ing serious disablement, and a substantial decrease in the 
 number of minor accidents. 
 
 4. The expense to the employer has been surprisingly 
 small. The cost of insurance has shown a constant down- 
 ward tendency as experience has reduced the number of 
 uncertain factors to a minimum. This has been particularly 
 true in those States in which the employer has been given 
 a wide choice between various methods of insurance. The 
 competition thus created has led to a reduction of opera- 
 tion and procurement of new business in the expense and 
 so to a very material lessening in the premium rates. The 
 experience of "TNlassachusetts is particularly instructive. 
 
where the report presented by its Commission shows that 
 the burden put upon the manufacturers of that State and 
 by them transferred to the consumers in the enhanced cost 
 of the product has been exceedingly small, amounting to 
 less than one mill for every dollar thereof. 
 
 An extensive investigation of the Compensation Acts in 
 force in 19 13 was made by a joint committee appointed by 
 the American Federation of Labor and the National Civic 
 Federation. Its report constitutes a most convincing brief 
 in favor of the enactment of a Compensation Act. Per- 
 haps the most striking feature of this report is the over- 
 whelming approval of these Compensation Acts, expressed 
 by the majority of employers of labor, large and small, in 
 answer to a circular letter addressed to them by this com- 
 mittee. While there are a considerable number of sugges- 
 tions made for the amendment of the Acts in force in vari- 
 ous States, your Commission feels great satisfaction in the 
 fact that practically all of these suggested improvements 
 are already contained in the ^ct presented in 19 13. 
 
 The Commission, as in 191 1, believes that a compulsory 
 Act is unquestionably the best. We again submit to you 
 for final passage the Joint Resolution Amending Section 
 21 of Article III of the Constitution of the Commonwealth 
 of Pennsylvania, so as to permit of the enactment of a com- 
 pulsory Workmen's Compensation Act. Until this amend- 
 ment has been adopted by the people of this Commonwealth, 
 the Commission is of the opinion that such an Act would be 
 clearly unconstitutional for. the reasons fully set forth in 
 the report of the Industrial Accidents Commission of 191 1, 
 presented to the General Assembly of 1913. Therefore, 
 the Compensation Act which we now present to you is elec- 
 tive and is similar in plan and substance to that presented 
 by the Commission of 191 1 to the General Assembly at its 
 session of 191 3. 
 
 It begins by enlarging the common law liability of the 
 employer. It then sanctions an • agreement between the 
 employer and employee for the payment of a definite com- 
 pensation for all work accidents, regardless of the fault 
 of either employer or employed, and provides that such 
 
agreement shall exempt the employer from all other liability. 
 This agreement is presumed to have been made by the 
 employer and employee unless it be expressly rejected by 
 either, although it can be terminated by either party, at any 
 time prior to the happening of an acccident, upon sixty 
 days' notice. By this agreement the employer binds himself 
 to pay, and the employee agrees to receive as his sole com- 
 pensation, definite weekly payments. Where the employee's 
 injury completely incapacitates him for labor he is paid 
 one-half of his previous earnings; where his incapacity is 
 partial only, one-half of the loss of earning capacity during 
 his period of disablement. Payments begin at the expiration 
 of fourteen days, no compensation being payable for the 
 first two weeks' incapacity. In such case, the injured em- 
 ployee is entitled to receive only that medical attendance 
 which the employer must provide for every injured em- 
 ployee, to a value not exceeding $25. All payments cease 
 at the expiration of four hundred weeks and in certain 
 classes of permanent injuries, such as the loss of a hand, 
 arm, foot, leg or eye, one-half wages are paid during fixed 
 periods of varying duration. 
 
 In the case of death, the expenses of the last sickness 
 and burial to an amount not exceeding $100 is borne by the 
 employer and compensation is paid to the dependents, if 
 any, of the employee killed, for a period of three hundred 
 weeks, ranging from 15% of such employee's wages, if his 
 only dependents are a brother or a sister, and 25%, if there 
 be a widow or dependent widower and no children, to a 
 maximum of 60% where there' is a widow or dependent 
 widower and five or more children. These percentages of 
 the wages are to be paid at intervals corresponding to those 
 at which the injured workman would have received his 
 wages had he not been injured. Experience has shown that 
 large lump sum payments, either to injured workmen or 
 their dependents, are not only a hardship to the employer 
 but are often wasted and do not afford that continued regular" 
 relief which it is the purpose of such acts to give. There- 
 fore, these periodical payments can only be commuted or 
 redeemed by the payment of a lump sum upon application 
 
made by either party to a court of common pleas, and a 
 finding by it that exceptional conditions exist, which make 
 it clearly to the best interests of the employee that such com- 
 mutation shall be made, or that the employer will thereby be 
 relieved from undue hardship and expense. 
 
 The scale of compensation provided represents about that 
 given in the elective Acts now in force throughout the United 
 States. In an elective Act the scale of compensation is 
 inevitably limited by the necessity of providing a free elec- 
 tion. To insure this it is essential that the cost of com- 
 pensation, and so of insurance against it, shall be, as near 
 as possible, identical with the cost of the enlarged common 
 law liability to which employers^ who reject the Act, are 
 subject by the First Article thereof. The employer is thus 
 left free to choose whichever plan he deems best, uninflu- 
 enced by any pecuniary advantage to be derived by his 
 selection of the one or the other. Any increase in the scale of 
 compensation to a point which would make its cost the 
 greater, would necessarily result in its rejection by many 
 employers, and to that extent the Act would merely enlarge 
 the common law liability of the employer. While this per- 
 haps would be an improvement upon the present state of 
 the law, it would not at all diminish the waste, delay and 
 uncertainty which result from litigation. 
 
 Under the Act which we recommend, no agreement or 
 compromise will be valid if made within fourteen days after 
 the accident, nor if it does not give substantially the com- 
 pensation provided in the Act, and all such agreements are 
 subject to review by the common pleas court having juris- 
 diction of the accident. In the event of the failure of the 
 employer and employee to agree, the procedure provided for 
 the enforcement of the claim for compensation is as fol- 
 lows : A petition is presented to the common pleas court of 
 the county in which the accident has occurred or of the 
 county in which the adverse party resides or has a per- 
 manent place of business. This petition is simple of form 
 and devoid of any technical intricacies. The court, sitting 
 without a jury, hears the witnesses and decides in a sum- 
 mary manner the merits of the controversy. These proceed- 
 
ings have priority over all other civil causes, as do the 
 appeals to the supreme or superior courts, for which a simple 
 procedure is also provided. The prothonotary of each court 
 of common pleas makes a monthly report to the Department 
 of Labor and Industry of the disposition of all such cases 
 brought into that court, thus affording that Department 
 data from which to compile the statistics necessary to show 
 the operation and effect of the Act. 
 
 While the majority of the existing American Acts follow 
 the German system in one particular, the creation of com- 
 missions to act as special tribunals for the decision of dis- 
 putes, we earnestly recommend the English plan of vesting 
 jurisdiction of all questions arising under the proposed Act 
 in the existing Courts of law of the Commonwealth. Such 
 a commission, if its functions extend no further, is merely 
 a new Court, with powers essentially judicial, the only dif- 
 ference being that it is a Court comprised of laymen, in- 
 stead of one composed of trained lawyers, experienced in 
 the construction and application of statutes. The experi- 
 ence of England and New Jersey, as compared with that of 
 Germany and those American States which have created 
 new tribunals, shows that the former has resulted in 
 as little if not less litigation and that the payments 
 in contested cases are made as speedily. The prin- 
 cipal argument in favor of a commission is the fear 
 that the Courts will be prejudiced, either against the 
 employee as a class or against the principles and theory 
 upon which the Compensation Acts are based. Not 
 only do we not share the distrust in the Courts of this 
 Commonwealth which this argument implies, but the rul- 
 ings of both the English and New Jersey Courts show that 
 Courts of law do not construe or apply such .Acts in any 
 narrow or over-technical way. Until practical experience 
 proves that our Courts cannot be trusted to give a just and 
 liberal interpretation to such Acts, we should avail ourselves 
 of the services of the sixty-five tribunals already in exist- 
 ence, readily accessible to claimants no matter in what part 
 of the State, they reside , and ought not to create at great 
 expense a new tribunal to which, and to which alone, all 
 
claimants must come from every part of the State to ob- 
 tain the relief provided in the Act. The State of Pennsyl- 
 vania is second to none in the extent and diversity of its 
 industries. It seems scarcely conceivable that any body of 
 seven men — and a larger commission would be unweildy — 
 could adequately cover the territory or speedily deal with 
 the cases submitted for its decision, few as they would be 
 as compared with the present volume of litigation between 
 employer and employed. It is often asserted that Courts 
 are incapable of preventing employers from deceiving or 
 coercing their injured employees intO' unfair compromise 
 agreements and of seeing to it that the injured workmen 
 are not prevented by ignorance of their rights from de- 
 manding that compensation which the Act aims to secure 
 them. We believe that the provisions of our proposed Act, 
 which invalidate all agreements which do not give substan- 
 tially the compensation provided therein, and which give to 
 the Courts the power to review and modify all agreements 
 for the payment of compensation, will effectually deter even 
 the most unscrupulous employer from tricking or forcing 
 his employees into any unfair compromises. If this belief 
 prove unfounded, it may be confidently asserted that the 
 mere transfer of the trial and decision of disputes under 
 the Act from the Courts to a Commission will not give 
 any greater security. The only solution would be to pror 
 hibit, as is done in New York, all agreements betw^een em- 
 ployer and employee, and to require that every claim for 
 compensation, no matter how undisputed, should be passed 
 on by a commission. The magnitude of the task thus 
 thrust upon a commission, if created in Pennsylvania, is 
 obvious. Even such a commission, notwithstanding its 
 enormous expense and its inevitable delay, would not 
 suffice to protect an injured workman from his ignorance 
 of his right to compensation under the Act. To do this 
 the commission must be required to go further and compare 
 the reports of all accidents, resulting in more than fourteen 
 days' liability, with the claims for compensation presented 
 to it, and either to institute proceedings itself on behalf of 
 
8 
 
 the sufferer who has made no claim or to inform him that 
 he has neglected to assert his apparent right to compensa- 
 tion. When one realizes the immense number of accidents 
 reported every day in the Commonwealth, the extent of 
 the duty thus imposed is obvious. And even if its per- 
 formance by any seven men were humanly possible, it would 
 require the commission to act as the guardian, and so as 
 the partisan of one of the parties, and then to act as impar- 
 tial judge in the trial of the very claim it had itself insti- 
 gated, antagonistic functions which we are not prepared to 
 recommend for any body of human beings, however up- 
 right, enthusiastic and able. 
 
 Your Commission would not require, as has been done 
 in some States, notably Michigan, that the employer shall 
 be forced, as a prerequisite to escaping his enlarged com- 
 mon law liability, to insure his liability for compensation. 
 Such a provision tends, as the experience in Michigan has 
 shown, to render the agreements to pay compensation diffi- 
 cult, and so, to that extent, to defeat the main purpose of 
 the Act. While many prophecies have been made that, 
 unless insurance be required, there would be many cases 
 in which the sufferers from industrial accidents would fail 
 to obtain the compensation provided for them by reason of 
 the insolvency of their employers, experience has shown 
 that these fears are unfounded, the number of cases re- 
 ported, where the insolvency of the employer has led to a 
 loss of compensation being altogether negligible. In only 
 one State is there any reason to believe that the payment of 
 compensation is not practically certain. In West Virginia 
 the State Fund, which is answerable for the compensation 
 provided in that Act, will, it seems certain, very shortly, be 
 inadequate to meet the payments. This, however, is not 
 an indictment of the principle of Workmen's Compensation, 
 but rather of the vicious character of the bill itself, which, 
 while providing that the employers in certain specified in- 
 dustries may escape all liability by subscribing to a State 
 insurance fund, fixes the maximum premium which they 
 are to pay at one per cent, of their total payroll. The 
 accuracy of the prediction, made by actuaries when this Act 
 
was enacted, that such premium could not possibly be ade- 
 quate to pay even the modest compensation provided therein, 
 has been fully established by actual experience. 
 
 The Bill now submitted, like that submitted in 191 3, in- 
 cludes all employments. The Commission still believes that 
 no reason exists for excluding any class of employees. The 
 distress caused by the enforced idleness or death of farm 
 laborers and domestic servants is as acute and worthy of 
 relief as that' suffered by industrial workers or their depend- 
 ents. Whatever danger previously existed that farmers and 
 domestic employers could not obtain insurance at a reason- 
 able rate has been eliminated by the provisions of the Act, 
 now submitted, creating a State Insurance Fund, in which 
 it is provided that the premium payable by such employers 
 shall not exceed one per cent, of their payroll. 
 
 While the Commission does not, require insurance as a 
 prerequisite to the acceptance of the Compensation Plan, 
 it provides the widest possible choice from which the em- 
 ployer may select insurance for his liability thereunder. In 
 addition to the Act previously submitted, providing for the 
 creation of employers' mutual associations, we now submit 
 an Act Providing for the Creation of a State Insurance 
 Fund. The experience of States in which such wide field 
 of choice in insurance is given, is that the competition 
 thereby created has materially reduced the premium rates 
 charged in all forms of insurance and this is particularly 
 so where one of the competitors is a State insurance fund. 
 In New York where a similar field of choice is open to the 
 employer, it has been found possible to provide not merely 
 flat rates for the various industries, but individual rates, 
 higher or lower than the ordinary rates, as a particular plant 
 shows good or bad safety conditions. Thus the employer 
 who insures is given the same incentive to improve the 
 safety conditions of his works as one who carries the risk 
 himself without insurance. In this way the most valuable 
 function of Workmen's Compensation, that of accident 
 prevention, is assisted rather than discouraged by insurance. 
 Perhaps the strongest argument against restricting the em- 
 ployer's right of insurance tea State insurance fund is that 
 
lO 
 
 experience, both in Europe and America, has shown that it 
 is in practice exceedingly difficult for such funds, operating 
 without competition, to establish rates which accurately 
 and fairly reflect the actual safety condition in individual 
 plants. 
 
 No one interested in this subject ought for one moment 
 to forget that throughout your term you have shown your 
 earnest belief in the principle of Workmen's Compensation. 
 We ourselves are grateful to your Excellency because you 
 have constantly and emphatically supported our recommen- 
 dations and encouraged our work. We submit this report 
 in the devout belief that your hope, and ours, will be real- 
 ized at the coming session of the Legislature, and that 
 Pennsylvania will now take her right place among those 
 civilized communities who make proper provision for their 
 killed and wounded in the battles of peace. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 J. B. COLAHAN, Jr., 
 JOHN J. GUSHING, 
 GEO. C. HETZEL, 
 MORRIS WILLIAMS, 
 FRANCIS H. BOHLEN, 
 D. A. REED. 
 
II 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 Defining the liability of an employer to pay 
 damages for injuries received by an employee 
 in the course of employment, establishing an 
 elective schedule of compensation and regu- 
 lating procedure for the determination of 
 liability and compensation thereunder. 
 
 Article I. 
 Damages by Action at Law. 
 
 Section i. Be it enacted, etc., That in any action 
 brought to recover damages for personal injury to an em- 
 ployee in the course of his employment, or for death 
 resulting from such injury, it shall not be a defense 
 
 (a.) That the injury was caused in whole or in part by 
 the negligence of a fellow employee, or 
 
 (b.) That the employee had assumed the risk of the 
 injury, or 
 
 (c.) That the injury was caused in any degree by the 
 negligence of such employee, tmless it be established that 
 the injury was caused by such employee's intoxication or 
 by his reckless indifference to danger. The burden of 
 proving such intoxication or reckless indifference to 
 danger shall be upon the defendant, and the question 
 shall be one of fact to be determined by the jury. 
 
 Section 2. The employer shall be liable for the negli- 
 gence of all employees, while acting within the scope 
 of their employment, including engineersr chauffeurs, 
 miners, mine-foremen, fire-bosses, mine superintendents, 
 plumbers, officers of vessels, and all other employees 
 licensed by the State or other governmental authority, 
 if the employer be allowed by law the right of free selection 
 of such employees from the class of persons thus licensed. 
 
 Section 3 . An employer, who permits the entry, upon 
 premises occupied by him or under his control,, of a 
 
12 
 
 laborer or an assistant hired by an employee or contractor 
 for the performance, upon such premises, of a part of the 
 employer's regular business entrusted to such employee 
 or contractor, shall be liable to such laborer or assistant 
 in the same manner and to the same extent as to his own 
 employee. 
 
 Section 4. No agreement, composition or release of 
 damages made before the happening of any accident, ex- 
 cept the agreement defined in Article II of this act, shall 
 be valid or shall bar a claim for damages for the injury- 
 resulting therefrom, and any such agreement, other than 
 that defined in Article II herein, is declared to be against 
 the public policy of this Commonwealth. The receipt of 
 benefits from any association, society or fund to which 
 the employee shall have been a contributor, shall not 
 bar the recovery of damages by action at law nor the 
 recovery of compensation under Article II hereof; and 
 any release executed in consideration of such benefits 
 shall be void. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Elective Compensation. 
 
 Section i. When employer and employee shall by 
 agreement, either express or implied, as hereinafter 
 provided, accept the provisions of Article II of this; act; 
 compensation for personal injury to or for the death of 
 such employee by an accident in the course of his employ- 
 ment shall be made in all cases by the eniployer without 
 regard to negligence, according to the schedtde contained 
 in Sections "S and 6 of this Article; provided that no 
 compensation shall be made when the injury or death be 
 intentionally self-inflicted, but the burden of proof of 
 such fact shall be upon the employer. 
 
 The terms "injury" and "personal injury, " as used in 
 this Article, shall be construed to mean only violence to 
 the physical structure of the body, and such disease or 
 infection as naturally results therefrom; and wherever 
 death is mentioned as a cause for compensation tinder 
 
13 
 
 this Article, it shall mean only death resulting from such 
 violence and its resultant effects and occiu-ring within 
 three hundred weeks after the accident. The term 
 "injury by an accident in the course of his employment, " 
 as used in this Article, shall not include an injury caused 
 by an act of a third person intended to injure the employee 
 because of reasons personal to him and not directed 
 against him as an employee, or because of. his employ- 
 ment, but shall include all other injuries sustained while 
 the employee is actually engaged in the furtherance of 
 the business or affairs of the employer, whether upon the 
 employer's premises or elsewhere, and shall include all 
 injuries caused by the condition of the premises or by 
 the operation of the employer's business or affairs thereon 
 sustained by the employee, who though not so engaged, 
 is injured upon the premises occupied by or under the 
 control of the employer or upon which the employer's 
 business or affairs are being carried on, the employee's 
 presence thereon being required by the nature of his 
 employment. 
 
 Section 2. Such agreement shall constitute an accept- 
 ance of all the provisions of Article II of this Act, and 
 shall operate as a surrender by the parties thereto of their 
 rights to any form or amoimt of compensation or damage 
 for any injury or death occiirring in the course of the 
 employment, or to any method of determination thereof, 
 other than as provided in Article II of this Act. Such 
 agreement shall bind the- employer and his personal repre- 
 sentatives and the employee, his or her wife or husband, 
 widow or widower, next of kin and other dependents. 
 
 Section 3. (a.) In every contract of hiring made after 
 December 31, 1915, and in every contract of hiring re- 
 newed or extended by mutual consent, expressed or im- 
 plied, after said date, it shall be conclusively presumed 
 that the parties have accepted the provisions of Article II 
 of this act, and have agreed to be bound thereby, unless 
 there be, at the time of the making, renewal or extension of 
 
14 
 
 such contract, an express statement in writing irom-eithsr 
 party to the other that the provisions of Article II of 
 this act are not intended to apply, and unless a true copy 
 of such written statement, accompanied by proof of 
 service thereof upon the other party setting forth under 
 oath or affirmation the time, place and manner of such 
 service, be filed within ten days after such service in the 
 Department of Labor and Industry of this Common- 
 wealth. Every contract of hiring, oral, written or implied 
 from circumstances, now in operation or made or implied 
 on Or before December 31, 1915, shall be conclusively 
 presumed to continue subject to the provisions of Article 
 II heteof, unless either party shall, on or before said date, 
 in writing have notified the other party to such contract 
 that the provisions of Article II hereof are not intended 
 to apply, and unless there shall be filed in the Department 
 of Labor and Industry a true copy of such notice, together 
 with proof of service, within the time and in the manner 
 hereinabove prescribed; provided, however, that the 
 provisions of this Section shall not be so construed as to 
 impair the obligation of any contract now in force. In 
 the employment of minors. Article II shall be presumed 
 to apply, unless the said written notice be given by or 
 to the parent Or guardian of the minor. It shall not be 
 lawful for ' any officer or agent of this Commonwealth, 
 or for any county, city, borough or township therein, 
 or for any officer or agent thereof, or for any other 
 governmental authority created by the laws of this 
 Commonwealth, to give such notice of rejection of the 
 provisions of this Article to any employee of the State 
 or of such governmental agency. 
 
 (b.) After December 3 1 , 1 9 1 5 , an employer, who permits 
 the entry, upon premises occupied by him or under his 
 control, of a laborer or an assistant hired by an employee 
 or contractor for the performance, upon such premises, 
 of a part of the employer's regular business entrusted to 
 that employee or contractor, shall be conclusively pre- 
 sumed to have agreed to pay to such laborer or assistant 
 compensation in accordance with the provisions of Article 
 
15 
 
 II, unless the employer shall post, in a conspicuous place 
 upon the premises where the laborer's or assistant's work 
 is done, a notice of his intention not to pay such com- 
 pensation, and unless there be filed with the Department 
 of Labor and Industry within ten days thereafter a true 
 copy of such notice, together with proof of the posting 
 of the same, setting forth upon oath or affirmation the 
 time, place and manner of such posting ; and after Decem- 
 ber 31, 1915, any such laborer or assistant who shall enter 
 upon premises occupied by or under the control of such 
 employer for the purpose of doing such work shall be 
 conclusively presumed to have agreed to accept the com- 
 .pensation provided in Article II, in lieu of his right of 
 action at common law or under Article I, unless he shall 
 have given notice in writing to the employer, at the time 
 of entering upon such employer's premises for the pur- 
 pose of doing his work, of his intention not to accept 
 such compensation, and unless, within ten days there- 
 after, there shall have been filed with the Department of 
 Labor and Industry a true copy of such notice accom- 
 panied by proof of service thereof upon such employer, 
 setting forth under oath or affirmation the time, plac^ 
 and manner of such service. And in such cases, where 
 Article II binds such employer and such laborer or assist-^ 
 ant, it shall not be in effect between the intermediate, 
 employer or contractor and such laborer or assistant, 
 unless otherwise expressly agreed. 
 
 Section 4. Any agreement between employer and; 
 employee for the operation or non-operation of the 
 provisions of Article II of this act may be terminated prior, 
 to any accident by either party upon sixty days' notice 
 to the other in writing, if a copy of such notice, with 
 proof of service be filed in the Department of Labor and 
 Industry, as provided in Section 3 of this Article. 
 
 Section 5. The following schedule of compensation 
 
 is hereby established for injuries resulting in disability: 
 
 (a.) For the first four hundred weeks after the four- 
 
i6 
 
 teenth day of total disability, fifty per centum of the 
 wages received at the time of injury, but the compensa- 
 tion shall not be more than ten dollars per week nor less 
 than five dollars per week; provided that, if at the time 
 of injury the employee receives wages of less than five 
 dollars per week, then he shall receive the full amount 
 of such wages per week as compensation. Nothing in 
 this clause shall require the payment of compensation 
 after disability shall cease. Shotdd partial disability 
 be followed by total disability, the period of four hundred 
 weeks mentioned in this clause of this section shall be 
 reduced by the number of weeks during which compensa- 
 tion was paid for such partial disability. 
 
 (6.) For disability partial in character, (except the par- 
 ticular cases mentioned in clause (c.)), fifty per centum 
 of the difference between the wages received at the time 
 of injury and the earning power of the employee there- 
 after; but such compensation shall not be more than ten 
 dollars per week. This compensation shall be paid 
 during the period of such partial disability; not, however, 
 beyond three hundred weeks after the fourteenth day 
 of such disability. Should total disability be followed 
 by partial disability, the period of three hundred weeks 
 mentioned in this clause shall be reduced by the number 
 of weeks during which compensation was paid for such 
 total disability. 
 
 (c.) For all disability resulting from permanent in- 
 juries of the following classes, the compensation shall 
 be exclusively as follows; 
 
 For the loss of a hand, fifty per centum of wages during 
 one hundred and seventy-five weeks. 
 
 For the loss of an arm, fifty per centum of wages during 
 two hundred and fifteen weeks. 
 
 For the loss of a foot, fifty per centum of wages during 
 one hundred and fifty weeks. 
 
 For the loss of a leg, fifty per centum of wages during 
 two hundred and fifteen weeks. 
 
 For the loss of an eye, fifty per centum of wages during 
 one hundred and twenty-five weeks. 
 
17 
 
 For the loss of any two or more 6f such members, not 
 •constituting total disability, fifty per centum of wages 
 •during the aggregate of the periods specified for each. 
 
 The loss of both hands or both arms, or both feet, or 
 'both legs, or both eyes shall constitute total disability, 
 to be compensated according to the provisions of clause 
 (a.). 
 
 Amputation between the elbow and the wrist shall be 
 ■considered as the equivalent of the loss of a hand, and 
 amputation between the knee and ankle shall be con- 
 sidered as the equivalent of the loss of a foot. Amputation 
 ■at or above the elbow shall be considered as the loss of an 
 •arm, and amputation at or above the knee shall be con- 
 sidered as the loss of a leg. Permanent loss of the use 
 ■of a hand, arm, foot, leg or eye shall be considered as the 
 ■equivalent of the loss of such hand, arm, foot, leg or eye. 
 
 This compensation shall not be more than ten dollars 
 per week nor less than five dollars per week; provided 
 that, if at the time of injury the employee receives wages 
 of less, than five dollars per week, then he shall receive 
 the full amount of such wages per week as compensation. 
 
 (d.) No compensation shall be allowed for the first 
 fourteen days after disability begins, except as herein- 
 •after provided in clause (e.) of this Section. 
 
 (e.) During the first fourteen days after disability 
 ■begins the employer shall furnish reasonable surgical, 
 medical and hospital services, medicines and supplies, 
 as and when needed, not to exceed twenty-five dollars 
 in value, unless the employee refuses to allow them to be 
 furnished by the employer. If the employer shall refuse 
 upon application made to him to furnish such services, 
 medicines and supplies the employee may procure the 
 same and shall receive from the employer the reasonable 
 -cost thereof to an amount not exceeding twenty-five 
 • -dollars. 
 
 (/.) Should the employee die as a result of the injury, 
 the period during which compensation shall be payable to 
 his dependents under Section 6 of this Article shall be 
 reduced by the period during which compensation was 
 
i8 
 
 paid to him in his lifetime under this Section of this 
 Article. No reduction shall be made for the amount which, 
 may have been paid for medical and hospital services 
 and medicines nor for the expenses of the last sickness 
 and burial. Should the employee die from some other 
 cause than the injury, the liability for compensation- 
 shall cease. 
 
 Section 6. In case of death, compensation shall be 
 computed on the following basis, and distributed to the 
 following persons : 
 
 1. To the child or children, if there be no widow nor 
 widower entitled to compensation, twenty-five per centtim 
 of wages of deceased^ with ten per centum additional for 
 each child in excess of two with a maximum of sixty per 
 centum, to be paid to their guardian. 
 
 2. To the widow or widower, if there be no children,, 
 twenty-five per centum of wages. 
 
 3. To the widow or widower, if there be one child,, 
 forty per centum of wages. 
 
 4. To the widow or widower, if there be two children,, 
 forty-five per centum of wages. 
 
 5. To the widow or widower, if there be three children,, 
 fifty per centum of wages. 
 
 6. To the widow or widower, if there be four children, 
 fifty-five per centum of wages. 
 
 7. To the widow or widower, if there be five children 
 or more, sixty per centum of wages. 
 
 8. If there be neither widow, widower, nor children,. 
 then to the father and mother, or the survivor of them^ 
 if dependent to any extent upon the employee for sup- 
 port at the time of his death, twenty per centum of wages.. 
 
 9. If there be neither widow, widower, children nor 
 dependent parent, then to the brothers and sisters, if 
 actually dependent to any extent upon the decedent for 
 
19 
 
 support at the time of his death, fifteen per centtim of 
 wages for one brother or sister, and five per centum ad- 
 ditional for each additional brother or sister, with a 
 maximum of twenty-five per centum; such compensation 
 to be paid to their guardian. 
 
 lo. Whether or not there be dependents as aforesaid, 
 the reasonable expenses of last sickness and burial, not 
 exceeding one hundred dollars (without deduction of any 
 amounts theretofore paid for compensation or for medi- 
 cal expenses), payable to the dependents, or if there be 
 no dependents then to the personal representatives of the 
 deceased. 
 
 Compensation shall be payable under this Section to or 
 on account of any child, brother or sister, only if and while 
 such child, brother and sister, is under the age of sixteen. 
 No compensation shall be payable under this Section to a 
 widow, unless she was living with her deceased husband at 
 the time of his death or was then actually dependent upon 
 him for support. No compensation shall be payable un- 
 der this Section to a widower, unless he be incapable of 
 self-support at the time of his wife's death and be at such 
 time dependent upon her for support. The terms 
 "child" and "children" shall include step-children and 
 adopted children if members of decedent's household at 
 the time of his death, and shall include posthumous chil- 
 dren. Should any dependent of a deceased employee 
 die, or should the widow or widower remarry, or should 
 the widower become capable of self-support, the right of 
 such dependent or such widow or widower to compensa- 
 tion under this Section shall cease. If the compensation 
 payable under this Section to any person shall for any 
 cause cease, the compensation to the remaining persons 
 entitled thereunder shall thereafter be the same as would 
 have been payable to them had they been the only per- 
 sons entitled to compensation at the time of the death of 
 the deceased. 
 
 The wages upon which death compensation shall be 
 based shall not in any case be taken to exceed twenty 
 dollars per week nor to be less than ten dollars per week. 
 
20 
 
 This compensation shall be paid during three hundred 
 weeks, and in the case of children entitled to compensa- 
 tion under Clause i of this Section the compensation of 
 each child shall (if the other parent be dead or have 
 abandoned such child) continue after said period of 
 three hundred weeks until such child reach the age of 
 sixteen, at the rate of fifteen per centum of wages 
 if there be but one child, with ten per centum additional 
 for each additional child, with a maximum of fifty per 
 centum. 
 
 Section 7. Except as hereinafter provided, all com- 
 pensation payable under this article shall be payable in 
 periodical installments, as the wages of the employee 
 were payable before the accident. 
 
 Wherever in this article the term "wages" is used, it 
 shall be construed to mean the money rate at which the 
 service rendered is recompensed under the contract of 
 hiring in force at the time of the accident, and shall not 
 include gratuities received from the employer or others, 
 nor shall it include board, lodging or similar advantages 
 received from the employer, unless the money value of 
 such advantages shall have been fixed by the parties at 
 the time of hiring. In occupations involving seasonal 
 employment or employments dependent upon the weather, 
 the employee's weekly wages shall be taken to be one- 
 fiftieth of the total wages which he has earned from 
 all occupations during the year immediately preceding 
 the accident, unless it be shown that during such year, by 
 reason of exceptional causes, such method of computation 
 does not ascertain fairly the earnings of the employee, in 
 which case the period for calculation shall be extended so 
 far as to give a basis for the fair ascertainment of his 
 average weekly earnings. In continuous employments, if 
 immediately prior to the accident the rate of wages was 
 fixed by the day or hour, or by the output of the em- 
 ployee, his weekly wages shall be taken to be five and one- 
 half times his average earnings at such rate for a working 
 day of ordinary length, excluding earnings from over 
 time and using as the basis of calculation his earn- 
 
21 
 
 ings during so much of the preceding six months as he 
 worked for the same employer. Where the employee 
 is working under concurrent contracts with two or more 
 employers, his wages from all employers shall be consid- 
 ered as if earned from the employer liable for compensa- 
 tion. 
 
 Section 8. Compensation under this article to alien 
 dependent widows, children and parents, not residents of 
 the United States, shall be the same in amount as is pro- 
 vided in each case for residents, except that, at any time 
 within one year after the death of the injured employee, 
 the employer may, at his option, commute all future in- 
 stallments of compensation to be paid to alien dependents 
 not residents of the United States by paying to such 
 alien dependents two-thirds of the total amount of such 
 future installments of compensation. Alien widowers, 
 brothers and sisters not residents of the United States 
 shall not be entitled to any compensation. 
 
 Non-resident alien dependents may be officially rep- 
 resented by the Consular officers of the nation of which 
 such alien or aliens may be citizens or subjects, and in 
 such cases the Consular officers shall have the right to 
 receive for distribution to such non-resident aHen de- 
 pendents, all compensation awarded hereimder, and the 
 receipt of such Consular officers shall be a full discharge 
 of all sums paid or received by him. 
 
 Section 9. Unless the employer shall have actual 
 knowledge of the occurrence of the injury, or unless the 
 employee or some one on his behalf, or some of the 
 dependents or some one on their behalf, shall give notice 
 thereof to the employer within fourteen days after the 
 accident, no compensation shall be due until such notice 
 be given or knowledge obtained. If notice be given or 
 the knowledge obtained after fourteen days but within 
 thirty days after the accident, the delay shall not bar com- 
 pensation unless the employer shall show that he was 
 prejudiced thereby, and then only to the extent of such 
 prejudice. If the notice be given or the knowledge ob- 
 
22 
 
 tained after thirty days but within ninety days after the 
 accident, and if the employee or other beneficiary shall 
 show that his delay in giving notice was due to his mistake 
 or ignorance of fact or of law, or to his physical or mental 
 inability, or to fraud, misrepresentation or deceit 
 or to any other reasonable cause or excuse, then com- 
 pensation shall be allowed, except to the extent that the 
 employer shall show that he was prejudiced by such delay. 
 Unless knowledge be obtained or notice given within 
 ninety days after the accident, no compensation shall be 
 allowed. 
 
 Section io. The notice referred to in Section 9 hereof 
 shall be substantially in the following form: 
 
 To (name of employer) 
 
 You are hereby notified that an injury of the 
 following character ( ) 
 
 was received by (name of employee injured), 
 who was in your employment at (place) while 
 engaged as (kind of employment) on 
 
 or about the ( ) day of ( ) A. D. 
 
 ( ), and that compensation will be claimed 
 therefor. 
 Date: Signed ( :) 
 
 but no variation from this form shall be material if the 
 notice be sufficient to inform the employer that a certain 
 employee, by name, received an injury, the character of 
 which is described in ordinary language, in the course 
 of his employment on or about a time specified and at or 
 near a place specified. 
 
 Section ii. The notices referred to in Section 3 and 
 Section 9 hereof may be served personally upon the em- 
 ployer, or upon the manager or superintendent in charge 
 of the works or business in which the accident occurred, 
 or by sending them through the registered mail to the 
 employer at his or its last known residence or place of 
 business, or if the employer be a corporation, either for- 
 eign or domestic, then upon the president, vice-president, 
 secretary or treasurer thereof. Knowledge of the occur- 
 
23 
 
 rence of the injury on the part of any of said agents 
 shall be the knowledge of the employer. 
 
 Section 12. After an injury, the employee, if so re- 
 quested by his employer, must submit himself for exam- 
 ination at some reasonable time and place, and as often 
 as may be reasonably requested, to a physician or physi- 
 cians legally authorized to practice under the laws of 
 such place, who shall be selected and paid by the em- 
 ployer. If the employee requests, he shall be entitled 
 to have a physician or physicians of his own selection, to 
 be paid by him, present to participate in such examina- 
 tion. For all examinations, after the first, the employer 
 shall pay the reasonable traveling expenses and loss of 
 wages incurred by the employee in order to submit to 
 such examination. The refusal of the employee to sub- 
 mit to such examination shall deprive him of the right 
 to compensation under this Article during the continu- 
 ance of such refusal and the period of such refusal shall be 
 deducted from the period during which compensation 
 would otherwise be payable. 
 
 Section 13. In case of a failure to agree upon a claim 
 for compensation under this Article between the em- 
 ployer and employee, or the dependents of the employee, 
 either party may submit the claim, as to questions of fact, 
 the nature and effect of the injuries and the amount of 
 compensation due therefor according to this Article, to 
 the court of common pleas of the county in which the 
 accident occurred, or of the county in which the adverse 
 party resides or has a permanent place of business, or by 
 agreement of the parties to the court of common pleas 
 of any other county, which courts shall hear and determine 
 such disputes in a summary manner, and their decisions 
 as to all questions of fact shall_be conclusive. 
 
 Section 14. In case of personal injury, all claims for 
 compensation shall be forever barred unless, within 
 one year after the accident, the parties shall have agreed 
 upon the compensation payable imder this Article, or 
 unless, within one year after the accident, one of the 
 
24 
 
 parties shall have filed a petition as provided in Section 
 1 5 hereof. In cases of death, all claims for compensation 
 shall be forever barred unless, within one year after the 
 death, the parties shall have agreed upon the compensa- 
 tion under this Article, or unless within one year after 
 the death, one of the parties shall have filed a petition as 
 provided in Section 15 hereof. Where, however, pay- 
 ments of compensation have been made in any case, said 
 limitation shall not take effect until the expiration of one 
 year from the time of the making of the last payment. 
 
 Section 15. Procedure in case of dispute shall be as 
 follows : 
 
 Either party may present a petition to said court or 
 any judge thereof setting forth the names and residences 
 of the parties and the facts relating to employment at 
 the time of the accident, the extent and character of the 
 injury, the amount of wages received at the time of the 
 accident, the knowledge of the employer or notice of the 
 occurrence of the injury, and such other facts as may be 
 necessary and proper for the information of the said 
 court, and shall state the matter or matters in dispute 
 and the contention of the petitioner with reference 
 thereto. This petition shall be verified by the oath or 
 affirmation of the petitioner. 
 
 Upon the presentation of such petition, the same shall 
 be filed with the prothonotary of the court of common 
 pleas, and the court shall fix a time and place for the 
 hearing thereof not less than three weeks after the date 
 of the filing of said petition. A copy of said petition 
 and order shall be served upon the adverse party as a 
 summons in a civil action may be served. Within seven 
 days after the service of such notice (unless the time be 
 extended by the court for cause shown), the adverse 
 party shall file an answer to said petition, which shall 
 admit or deny the substantial averments thereof, and 
 shall state the contention of the answering party with 
 reference to the matters in dispute. The answer shall 
 be verified in like manner as the petition. If no answer be 
 filed as aforesaid, evidence shall be offered at the hearing 
 
25 
 
 by the petitioner onh'. The court shall in every case 
 have authority to allow amendments of the petition or 
 answer, and to suspend the proceedings during the refusal 
 of the employee to submit to the examination required by 
 Section 12 hereof. 
 
 At the time fixed for hearing or any adjournment 
 thereof, the said court or any judge thereof shall hear the 
 witnesses, and in a summary manner decide the merits of 
 the controversy. This decision, called an award, shall be 
 in writing and filed with the prothonotary of the court of 
 common pleas, and shall contain a brief statement of the 
 facts as determined by said court. Costs may be awarded 
 by said court in its discretion, and when so awarded, the 
 same costs shall be allowed, taxed and collected as are 
 allowed, taxed and collected for like services in the same 
 court. After petition filed, the court of common pleas 
 may, in its discretion, upon motion of either party, or 
 of its own motion, appoint one or more impartial physi- 
 cians or surgeons to examine the injuries of the claimant 
 and to report thereon to the court. Said court shall have 
 power to fix the compensation of such physicians or 
 surgeons, and to tax the same as a part of the costs 
 of the proceedings. The report of any physicians or 
 surgeons appointed by the court as aforesaid shall be 
 filed with the prothonotary and shall be a part of the 
 record and shall be open to inspection by both parties. 
 Such report shall not be conclusive of the facts therein 
 stated, but shall be advisory only. Appeals may be taken 
 from the award of the court of common pleas to the Su- 
 preme or Superior Courts in such manner and upon such 
 terms as the Supreme Court shall by rule prescribe, but 
 no appeal shall operate as a supersedeas unless allowed 
 by the trial or appellate court, except where the compen- 
 sation shall have been commuted as provided in Section 
 16 of this Article. Cases arising under this act shall have 
 precedence, both in the courts of common pleas and in the 
 appellate courts, over all other civil cases. 
 
 Section 16. The compensation contemplated by this 
 Article may at any time be commuted by said court of 
 
26 
 
 common pleas, at its then value when discounted at six 
 per cent, interest, with annual rests, disregarding the 
 probability of the beneficiary's death, upon application of 
 either party, with due notice to the other, if it appear that 
 such commutation will be for the best interest of the 
 employee or the dependents of the deceased employee, 
 or that it will avoid undue expense or undue hardship 
 to either party, or that such employee or dependent has 
 removed or is about to remove from the United States, 
 or that the employer has sold or otherwise disposed of 
 the whole or the greater part of his business or assets. 
 Except as provided in Section 8 hereof and in this Sec- 
 tion, no commutation of compensation shall be made. 
 
 An agreement or award of compensation may be modi- 
 fied at any time by a subsequent agreement, or may be 
 reviewed by said court upon the application of either 
 party on the ground that the incapacity of the injured 
 employee has subsequently increased or diminished or 
 that the status of the dependent has changed. In such 
 case, the provisions of Sections 12 and 15 of this Article 
 with reference to medical examination shall apply. 
 
 At any time after the entry of the award, a sum equal 
 to all future installments of compensation may, (where 
 death or the nature of the injury renders the amount of 
 future payments certain) by leave of court, be paid by the 
 employer to any savings bank, trust company or life 
 insurance company in good standing and authorized to 
 do business in this State and having an office in the county 
 in which the award was entered, and such sum, together 
 with all interest thereon, shall thereafter be held in trust 
 for the employee or the dependents of the employee, who 
 shall have no further recourse against the employer. 
 The payment of such sum by the employer, evidenced 
 by the receipt of the trustee noted upon the prothono- 
 tary's docket, shall operate as a satisfaction of said award 
 as to the employer. Payments from said fund shall be 
 made by the trustee in the same amounts and at the same 
 periods as are herein required of the employer until said 
 fund and interest shall be exhausted. In the appoint- 
 ment of the trustee, preference shall be given, in the 
 
21 
 
 discretion of the court, to the choice of the employee or 
 the dependents of the deceased employee. Should how- 
 ever there remain any unexpended balance of any fund 
 after the payment of all sums due under this Act such 
 balance shall be repaid to the employer who made the 
 original payment or to his legal representatives. 
 
 Section 17. The right of compensation granted by this 
 Article of this act shall have the same preference (with- 
 out limit of amount) against the assets of the employer 
 as is now or may hereafter be allowed by law for a claim 
 for unpaid wages for labor: Provided, however, that no 
 claim for compensation shall have priority over any 
 mortgage or conveyance of land recorded prior to the 
 filing of the petition or agreement as to compensation 
 in the ofifice of the prothonotary of the county in which 
 the land is situated. Claims or payments due under this 
 Article of this act shall not be assignable, and (except 
 as provided in Section 3 of Article III hereof) shall be 
 exempt from all claims of creditors and from levy, execu- 
 tion or attachment, which exemption may not be waived. 
 
 Section 18. Where the employer and the employee, or 
 the dependents of the employee, shall, after any accident, 
 agree upon the compensation payable hereunder for such 
 accident, a memorandum of such agreement, signed by 
 the parties, may be filed with the prothonotary of said 
 court of common pleas. The costs of the prothonotary 
 for such service shall be allowed, taxed and collected as 
 heretofore upon a confession of judgment. When thus 
 filed, such agreement shall have the same effect as if it 
 were an award of the court, as provided in Section 15 
 hereof, but shall be subject to review by the court for 
 fraud, mistake or other cause shown; provided, how- 
 ever, that nothing in this Section shall be construed 
 to permit a commutation of payments, except as pro- 
 vided in Sections 8 and 16 hereof; and provided further 
 that no agreement relating to compensation shall be valid 
 if made within fourteen days of the accident nor shall 
 any such agreement be valid if it vary the percentage of 
 wages payable as compensation or the period during 
 
28 
 
 which compensation is to be paid, as stated in Sections 
 5 and 6 hereof. 
 
 Section 19. If default shall be made by the employer 
 for thirty days after demand, in the payment of any 
 amount due tmder any of the provisions of this Article, 
 then upon petition of any person interested, and after 
 ten days' notice thereof to the employer served in the 
 same manner in which a summons may be served, the 
 court or any judge thereof shall, if the default still exists, 
 enter judgment thereon for the amount or amounts due, 
 together with interest thereon and costs. Upon such 
 judgment, no stay of execution shall be allowed, except 
 in the discretion of the court. 
 
 Section 20. It shall be the duty of the prothonotary 
 of each court of common pleas to make report monthly 
 to the Department of Labor and Industry of all pro- 
 ceedings begun in such court under this Article of this 
 act, classifying such report in such manner as to show 
 whether the proceedings are brought for the settlement of 
 a dispute as to liability for compensation, for a modifica- 
 tion thereof, for a commutation of payments, for a 
 judgment in default of payment, or for fixing of counsel 
 fees; and such report shall state the number and term 
 of each proceeding, but neither names nor further detail 
 need be given unless required by the Department of 
 Labor and Industry. 
 
 Section 21. Where a third person is liable to the em- 
 ployee or the dependents for the injury or death, the em- 
 ployer shall be subrogated to the right of the employee 
 or the dependents against such third person, but only 
 to the extent of the compensation payable under this 
 Article by the employer. Any recovery against such 
 third person in excess of the compensation theretofore 
 paid by the employer shall be paid forthwith to the 
 employee or to the dependents, and shall be treated as 
 an advance payment by the employer on account of 
 any future installments of compensation. 
 
29 
 
 Article III. 
 General Provisions. 
 
 Section i. This act shall apply to all accidents 
 occurring within this Commonwealth irrespective of the 
 place where the contract of hiring was made, renewed 
 or extended and shall not apply to any accident occurring 
 outside of the Commonwealth. 
 
 Section 2. Wherever in this act the singular is used, 
 the plural shall be included; where the masctdine gender 
 is used, the feminine and neuter shall be included. 
 
 Employer is declared to be synonymous with master 
 and include natural persons, partnerships, joint stock 
 companies, corporations for profit, corporations not for 
 profit, municipal corporations, the Commonwealth and 
 all governmental agencies created by it. Employee is 
 synonymous with servant, and includes all natural 
 persons who perform service for another for a valuable 
 consideration, exclusive of persons whose employment is 
 casual in character and not in the regular course of the 
 business of the employer, and exclusive of persons to 
 whom articles or materials are given out to be made up, 
 cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished or re- 
 paired or adapted for sale in the worker's own home or 
 on other premises not under the control or management 
 of the employer. 
 
 The term "contractor" as used in Article I, Section 3, 
 and Article II, Section 3 (60 shall not include a contractor 
 engaged in an independent business, other than that of 
 supplying laborers or assistants, in which he serves 
 persons other than the employer in whose service the 
 accident occurs, but shall include a sub-contractor to 
 whom a principal contractor has sublet any part of the 
 work which such principal contractor has undertaken. 
 
 The exercise and performance of the powers and duties 
 of a local or other public authority shall, for the purposes 
 of this act, be treated as the trade or business of the 
 authority. 
 
30 
 
 Section 3. No claim or agreement for legal services or 
 disbursements in support of any demand made or suit 
 brought under the provisions of any Article of this act 
 shall be an enforceable lien against the amoimt to be paid 
 as damages or compensation or be valid or binding in any 
 other respect, unless the same be approved in writing 
 by the judge presiding at the trial, or, in case of settle- 
 ment without trial, by a judge of the common pleas court 
 of the county in which the accident occurred. After 
 such approval, if notice in writing be given to the employer 
 of such claim or agreement for legal services and dis- 
 bursements, the same shall be a lien against any amount 
 thereafter to be paid as damages or compensation; 
 Provided, however, that where the employee's com- 
 pensation is payable by the employer in periodical in- 
 stallments, the court shall fix, at the time of approval, 
 the proportion of each installment to be paid on account 
 of legal services and disbursements. 
 
 Section 4. If any provision of this act shall be held by 
 any court to be unconstitutional, such judgment shall 
 not affect any other Section or provision of this act, except 
 that Articles I and II are hereby declared to be in- 
 separable and as one legislative thought, and if either 
 Article be declared by such cotirt void or ^operative 
 in an essential part, so that the whole of such Article 
 must fall, the other Article shall fall with it and not 
 stand alone. 
 
 Section 5. Nothing in this act shall affect or impair 
 any right of action which shall have accrued before this 
 act shall take effect. 
 
 Section 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with 
 the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 7. This act shall not apply in the case of an 
 accident occurring prior to the first day of January next 
 succeeding its passage and approval, and shall be known 
 as the "Workmen's Compensation Law of 1915." 
 
31 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 Regulating policies of Insurance against liability 
 arising under article ii op the workmen's com- 
 PENSATION Law of 1915. 
 
 Section i. Be it enacted, &c., That no policy of insur- 
 ance against liability arising under Article II of The 
 Workmen's Compensation Law of 1915 shall be made 
 ■unless the same shall contain the agreement of the in- 
 surer that, in the event of the failure of the insured 
 promptly to pay any installment of compensation in- 
 sured against, the insurer will forthwith make such pay- 
 ments to the injured employee, or the dependents of the 
 deceased employee, and that the obligation shall not be 
 affected by any default of the insured, after the accident, 
 in the payment of premiums or in the giving of any 
 notices required by such policy or otherwise. Such 
 agreement shall be construed to be a direct promise to 
 ■such injured employee and to such dependents, enforce- 
 able by action brought in the name of such injured em- 
 ployee or in the name of such dependents. 
 
 Section 2 . No suit shall be maintained for the collec- 
 tion of premiums upon any such policy of insurance, un- 
 less said covenant is contained in said policy. 
 
 Section 3. No policy of insurance against liability 
 arising imder said Article of said law shall contain any 
 limitation of, the liability of the insiurer to an amount 
 less than that payable by the insured under said Article 
 of said Law, nor shall any such policy contain any limita- 
 tion of the total liability of the insurer because of in- 
 juries to two or more persons in a single accident; nor 
 shall any action be maintained for the collection of 
 premiums on any policy violating this section. 
 
 Section 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent 
 herewith are hereby repealed. 
 
32 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 To Provide for the Incorporation and Regula- 
 tion OF Employers' Mutual Liability Insurance 
 Associations. 
 
 Section i. Be it enacted, etc., That any twenty or 
 more employers, who have in the aggregate not less than 
 five thousand employees in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 and who have accepted the provisions of Article II of 
 the Workmen's Compensation Law of 1915, may form an 
 incorporated employers' mutual liability insurance asso- 
 ciation for the purpose of insuring themselves and such 
 other employers as may become subscribers to the asso 
 elation, against liability for the compensation payable 
 under the terms of Article II of such Act: Provided, 
 however, that in the case of associations engaged only 
 in insurance of employers engaged in agriculture the 
 minimum number of employers shall be two hundred 
 and the minimum number of employees shall be five 
 hundred. 
 
 Section 2. The articles of association thereof shall 
 state : — 
 
 (a.) The name of the association. 
 
 (fc.) The place of its principal office. 
 
 (c.) The duration of the association. 
 
 (d.) The name and address of its treasurer. 
 
 Any name not in use by an existing association may be 
 adopted, but must clearly designate the object and pur- 
 pose of the association. 
 
 Section 3. The subscribers to said articles of agree- 
 ment shall acknowledge the same before some person 
 empowered to take acknowledgments of deeds, and for- 
 ward the same in duplicate to the Commissioner of In- 
 surance, who shall certify in duplicate to the Governor 
 whether all of the requirements hereof have been com- 
 
33 
 
 plied with. Whereupon the Governor shall, in case he 
 approves the appHcation, endorse his approval thereon 
 in duplicate, and cause letters patent to issue creating 
 the subscribers and their associates a body corporate, 
 under the name designated in said articles, but such asso- 
 ciation shall not engage in business until the further 
 provisions of this act have been complied with. 
 
 Section 4. Such association shall not begin to issue 
 policies until a list of the subscribers, with the number 
 of employees of each, together with such other informa- 
 tion as the Commissioner of Insurance may require, 
 shall have been filed at the Insurance Department, nor 
 until the President and Secretary of the association shall 
 have certified under oath that every subscription in the 
 list so filed is genuine and made with an agreement of all 
 the subscribers that they will take the policies subscribed 
 for within thirty days of the granting of a license by the 
 Commissioner of Insurance. 
 
 Section 5. Upon the filing of the certificate provided 
 for in the preceding section, the Commissioner of In- 
 surance shall make such investigations as he may deem 
 proper and, if his findings warrant it, grant a license to 
 the association to issue policies. 
 
 Section 6. Charters under this act may be perpetual, 
 or limited in time, as the articles of agreement shall 
 specify. 
 
 Section 7. Such association shall have the power to 
 make by-laws for the government of its officers and the 
 conduct of its affairs, and the same to alter and amend; 
 and adopt a common seal. 
 
 Section 8. The annual meeting for the election of 
 directors shall be held at such time in the month of 
 January as the by-laws of the association may direct. 
 
34 
 
 Of the time and place of said meeting at least thirty 
 days' previous written or printed notice shall be given 
 to the subscribers, or such notice may be given by pub- 
 lication not less than three times in at least two daily 
 or weekly newspapers, published in the city or county 
 wherein the association has its principal office, and in 
 the legal periodical, if any, designated by the rules of 
 court of the proper county for the publication of legal 
 notices. Subscribers who, during the preceding calen- 
 dar year, have paid into the treasury of the association, . 
 premiums amounting to more than one-half of the total 
 premiums received by it during that year, shall con- 
 stitute a quorum. At such annual meeting the sub- 
 scribers shall elect, by ballot, from their own ntunber, 
 not less than five directors, a majority of whom shall be 
 residents of this Commonwealth, to serve for at least 
 one year and until their successors are duly chosen: 
 Provided, however, that such association may provide in 
 its by-laws for the division of its Board of Directors into 
 two, three or four classes, and for the election thereof, 
 at its annual meetings, in such manner that the members 
 of one class only shall retire and their successors be 
 chosen each year. Vacancies may be filled by election 
 by the Board until the next annual meeting. In the 
 choice of directors and in all meetings of the association, 
 each subscriber shall be entitled to one vote for every 
 one hundred dollars or any fraction thereof paid by 
 him in premiums into the treasury of the association 
 during the preceding calendar year. Subscribers may 
 vote by proxy, and the record of all votes shall be made 
 by the Secretary, and shall show whether the same were 
 cast in person or by proxy and shall be evidence of all 
 such elections. Not less than three directors shall con- 
 stitute a quorum. The directors shall annually choose, 
 by ballot, a President, who shall be a member of the 
 Board; a Secretary; a Treasurer; who may also be 
 either the President or Secretary; and such other offi- 
 cers as the by-laws may provide; and they shall fix the 
 salaries of the President and Secretary, as well as the 
 
35 
 
 salaries or compensation of such other officers and agents 
 as the by-laws prescribe. Vacancies in any office may 
 be filled by the directors or by the subscribers, as the 
 by-laws shall prescribe. 
 
 Section 9. Policies of insurance issued by any such 
 association may be made either with or without the seal 
 thereof, and they shall be signed by the President, or 
 such other officers as may be designated by the directors 
 for that purpose, and attested by the Secretary. 
 
 Section 10. If at any time the number of subscribers 
 or the number of the subscribers' employees within the 
 State falls below the minimum stated in Section i hereof, 
 no further policies shall be issued until the total number 
 of subscribers and the total number of employers whose 
 employees within the State are not less than such mini- 
 mums. 
 
 Section ii. The Board of Directors shall be entitled 
 to inspect the plant, work-room, shop, farm or preniises 
 of any subscriber, and for such purpose to appoint in- 
 spectors, who shall have free access to all such premises 
 during the regular working hours, and the Board of 
 Directors shall likewise from time to time be entitled ta 
 examine by their auditor or other agent, the books, 
 records and payrolls of any subscriber, for the purpose 
 of determining the amount of premium chargeable to 
 such subscriber. 
 
 The Board of Directors shall make reasonable rules 
 and regulations for the prevention of injuries upon the 
 premises of subscribers; and they may refuse to insure 
 or may terminate the insurance of any subscriber whO' 
 refuses to permit such examinations or disregards such 
 rules or regulations, and forfeit one half of the unearned 
 premiums previously paid by him, but such termination 
 of the insurance of any subscriber shall not release him 
 from liability for the payment of assessments then or 
 thereafter made by the Board of Directors to make up 
 deficiencies existing at the termination of his insurance. 
 
36 
 
 Section 12. Every subscriber to such association shall 
 be under a contingent mutual liability for the payment 
 of losses and expenses in excess of the cash funds of the 
 association to an amount equal to the premium paid by 
 him during the current year. 
 
 Section 13. The Board of Directors shall determine 
 the amount of the premiums which the subscribers of 
 the association shall pay for their insurance, in accord- 
 ance with the nature of the business in which such sub- 
 scribers are engaged, and the probable risk of injury to 
 their employees under existing conditions, and they 
 shall fix premiums at such amounts as in their judgment, 
 subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Insur- 
 ance, shall be sufficient to enable the association to 
 ■create and maintain the surplus provided in Section 14 
 of the act and to pay to its subscribers all sums which 
 may become due and payable to their employees under 
 the provisions of Article II of the Workmen's Com- 
 pensation Law of 1915, and also the expenses of con- 
 ducting the business of the association. In fixing the 
 premium payable by any subscriber, the Board of 
 Directors may take into account the condition of the 
 plant, work-room, shop, farm or premises of such 
 subscriber in respect to the safety of those employed 
 therein, as shown by the report of any inspector 
 appointed by such Board, and they may from time to 
 time change the amount of premiiims payable by any 
 of the subscribers as circumstances may require, and 
 the condition of the plant, work-room, shop, farm, or 
 premises of such subscriber in respect to the safety 
 of their employees may justify, and they may increase 
 the premiums of any subscriber neglecting to provide 
 ■safety devices required by law, or disobeying the rules 
 ■or .regtdations made by the Board of Directors in 
 accordance with the provisions of Section 11 of this 
 Act. No policy of insurance issued to any subscriber 
 shall be effective until he shall have paid in cash the 
 premium so fixed and determined. 
 
37 
 
 Section 14. The Board may set aside five per cent, of 
 all premiums collected for the creation of a surplus to 
 cover the catastrophe hazard of all the subscribers to 
 such fund and to guarantee the solvency of the fund. 
 
 Section 15. If the association be not possessed of 
 cash funds, over and above its unearned premiums, on 
 undetermined risks, sufficient for the payment of in- 
 curred losses and expenses, it shall make an assessment 
 for the amount needed to pay such losses and expenses 
 upon the subscribers liable to assessment therefor, in 
 proportion to their several liabilities. 
 
 Section 16. The Board of Directors may from time 
 to time fix and determine the amount . to be paid as 
 dividends upon policies expiring each year after retaining 
 the unearned premiums upon undetermined risks and 
 sufficient sums to pay all the compensation then payable, 
 or which may become payable on accotmt of injuries 
 theretofore received by employees of the subscribers and 
 to pay the expenses incurred in the operation of the 
 business of the association, and such percentage of the 
 premiums as have been paid or are payable to create 
 and maintain the surplus provided in Section 13. 
 
 Section 17. The Board of Directors may divide the 
 subscribers into groups in accordance with the nature 
 of their business and the probable risk of injury therein. 
 In such case they shall fix all premiums for each business 
 in such group and for the various classes of employments 
 therein in accordance with the probable risk of injury to 
 the employees in such business and in each class of em- 
 ployment therein, and they shall make all assessments, 
 and determine and pay all dividends by and for each 
 group in accordance with the experience thereof, but 
 all funds of the association and the contingent liability 
 of all the subscribers shall be available for the payment 
 of any claim against the association: Provided, however, 
 that (as between the association and its subscribers), 
 until the whole of the contingent liability of the mem- 
 
38 
 
 bers of any group shall be exhausted, the general funds 
 of the association and the contingent liability of the 
 members of other groups shall not be available for the 
 payment of losses and expenses incurred by such group 
 in excess of the earned premiums paid by the members 
 thereof. 
 
 Section i8. A statement of any proposed premium, 
 assessment, dividend or distribution of subscribers into 
 groups, shall be filed with the Insurance Department and 
 shall not take effect until approved by the Commissioner 
 of Insurance. 
 
 Section 19. If any officer of the association shall 
 falsely make oath to any certificate required to be filed 
 with the Commissioner of Insurance, he shall be guilty 
 of perjury. 
 
 Section 20. Any subscriber of the association who 
 has complied with all its rules and regulations, may 
 withdraw therefrom by written notice to that effect, 
 sent by such subscriber by registered mail to the asso- 
 ciation, and such withdrawal shall become effective on 
 the first day of the month immediately following the 
 tenth day after the receipt of such notice, but such with- 
 drawal shall not release such subscriber from liability 
 for the payment of assessments thereafter made by the 
 Board of Directors to make up deficiencies existing at 
 the date of his withdrawal, and such subscriber shall be 
 entitled to his share of any dividends earned at the date 
 of his withdrawal. 
 
 Section 21. If the Commissioner of Insurance shall 
 find that more than fifty per centum of the contingent 
 liability of all the subscribers is required to pay accrued 
 losses, after charging against the funds in hand the un- 
 earned premiums on undetermined risks, no further in- 
 surance shall be issued until the subscribers have made 
 good such deficiency. 
 
 Section 22. Such association shall invest and keep 
 invested all its funds of every description, excepting such 
 
39 
 
 cash as may be required in the transaction of its business, 
 as follows: — 
 
 First — In such real estate as it is authorized to hold 
 by Section 22 of this Act. 
 
 Second. — In bonds of the United States or the District 
 of Columbia, or of any State or territory of the United 
 States. 
 
 Third. — In the legally authorized bonds or notes of 
 any city, county, township, municipality, school or water 
 district of this Commonwealth, or of any other State or 
 territory of the United States or Canada. 
 
 Fourth. — In the bonds or notes of any solvent railroad 
 or street railway corporation, upon which no default in 
 interest has been made. 
 
 Fifth. — In loans upon improved and unincumbered 
 real estate; provided, that no loan on such real estate 
 shall exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per centum of the 
 fair market value thereof at the time of making such loan. 
 
 Section 23. No such association shall purchase, hold, 
 or convey real estate, except for the purpose and in the 
 manner herein set forth, to wit, — 
 
 First. — Such as shall be requisite for its convenient 
 accommodation in the transaction of its business. 
 
 Second. — Such as shall have been mortgaged to it to 
 secure loans previously contracted or for moneys due. 
 
 Third. — Such as shall have been conveyed to it in 
 satisfaction of debts. 
 
 Fourth.-^SvLch. as shall have been purchased at sales, 
 upon judgments, decrees, or mortgages obtained or made 
 for debts due the association, or for debts due other per- 
 sons, where said association may have liens or incum- 
 brances on the same. 
 
 Any real estate purchased under the second, third or 
 fourth paragraphs of this Section, which has been held 
 
40 
 
 for a period of more than five years from the date of its 
 purchase, shall be sold and disposed of within a period 
 of six months after notice to the association from the 
 Insurance Commissioner to sell and convey the same: 
 Provided, however, that the Commissioner may extend 
 the time for such disposition if he believes the interest 
 of the association will suffer materially by a forced sale. 
 
 Section 24. Any money of such association, over 
 and above the unearned premiums on undetermined 
 risks and such sums as are required to pay all accrued 
 losses, may be invested in the securities above enumerated 
 or loaned upon the security of the same; or in the stock 
 or other evidence of indebtedness of any solvent, dividend- 
 paying corporation, created under the laws of this Com- 
 monwealth or of any other State of the United States or 
 loaned upon the pledge of the same, except its own stock 
 or the stock of any other insurance company : Provided, 
 the current market value of such security shall be at 
 least twenty per centum more than the sum loaned 
 thereon. But no such association shall invest any of 
 its funds in any unincorporated business or enterprise, 
 nor in the stocks or evidence of indebtedness of any 
 corporation the owners or holders of which stock or 
 evidence of indebtedness may in any event be or become 
 liable on account thereof of any assessment, except for 
 taxes; not more than one-fifth of its capital shall be in- 
 vested in a single mortgage, nor shall any of its funds be 
 loaned on personal security alone. No such association 
 shall invest in, acquire or hold, directly or indirectly 
 more than ten per centum of the securities of any single 
 company, nor shall more than ten per centtmi of its 
 assets be invested in the stock of a single company. No 
 such association shall enter into an agreement to with- 
 hold from sale of any of its property; but the disposition 
 of its property shall be at all times within the control 
 of its Board of Directors. If any investrnent or loan 
 is made in a manner not authorized by this Act, the 
 officers and directors making or authorizing the same 
 shall be personally liable for any loss occasioned thereby. 
 
41 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 Providing for the Creation and Administration 
 OF A State Fund for the Insurance of Compensa- 
 tion FOR Injuries to Employees of Subscribers 
 thereto. 
 
 Section i. The State Workmen's Insurance Board 
 is hereby created, consisting of the Commissioner of 
 Labor and Industry, the Insurance Commissioner, and 
 the State Treasurer, 
 
 Section 2. Certain sums to be paid by employers, 
 as hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a fund, 
 to be Icnown as "The State Workmen's Insurance Ftmd, " 
 for the purpose of insuring such employers against 
 liability under Article II of the Workmen's Compensation 
 Act of 1915 and of asstuing the payment of the compensa- 
 tion therein provided. Such fund shall be administered 
 by the State Workmen's Insurance Board without 
 liability on the part of the State beyond the amount 
 thereof and shall be applied to the payment of such 
 compensation and for the expenses of the administration 
 of said fund as hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 3. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian 
 of the State Workmen's Insurance Fund; and all dis- 
 bursements therefrom shall be paid by him upon vouchers 
 authorized by the Board and signed by any two members 
 thereof. He may deposit any portion thereof not needed 
 for immediate use, as other State funds are lawfully 
 deposited and the interest thereon shall be collected by 
 him and placed to the credit of the fund. 
 
 Section 4. On or before the first day of October, in 
 each year the said Board shall prepare and publish 
 a schedule of premiums or rates of insurance for employers 
 who shall have accepted Article II of the Workmen's 
 
42 
 
 Compensation Law of 1915, which said schedule shall 
 be printed and distributed free of charge to such employers 
 as shall make application therefor, and any such employer 
 may at his option as hereinafter provided, pay to the 
 State Treasurer the amount of the premium appropriate 
 to his business or domestic affairs, and upon payment 
 thereof shall thereafter be considered a subscriber to 
 said State Workmen's Insurance Fund and shall be 
 insured as hereinafter provided for the calendar year 
 for which such premium is paid, and such insurance shall 
 cover all payments becoming due in any year because 
 of accidents occurring during the year for which said 
 premium is paid. 
 
 Section 5. The said Board shall deterpiine the amount 
 of premiums which the subscribers to the fiuid shall pay 
 and shall fix the premiums for insurance, in accordance 
 with the nature of their business and of the various 
 employments of their employees and the probable risk 
 of injury to their employees therein. And they shall fix 
 the premiums at such an amount as shall be adequate 
 to enable them to pay all sums which may become due 
 and payable to the employees of such subscribers under 
 the provisions of Article II of the Workmen's Compen- 
 sation Act of 191 5 and to create and maintain the 
 surplus provided in Section 7 of this Act and to 
 provide an adequate reserve sufficient to carry all poli- 
 cies to maturity and after January ist, 191 8, to pay the 
 expenses of the collection and administration of the fund. 
 In fixing the premium payable by any subscriber, the 
 Board may take into account the condition of the plant, 
 work-room, shop, farm or premises of such subscriber 
 in respect to the safety of those employed therein, as 
 shown by the report of any inspector appointed by the 
 Board or by the Department of Labor and Industry, 
 and they may from time to time change the amount of 
 premiums payable by any of the subscribers as circum- 
 stances may require, and the condition of the plant, 
 work-room, shop, farm or premises of such subscribers 
 
43 
 
 in respect to the safety of their employees may justify 
 and they may increase the premiums of any subscriber 
 neglecting to provide safety devices required by law, or 
 disobeying the rules or regulations made by the Board 
 in accordance with the provisions of Section ii of this 
 Act. All premiums shall be fixed with the object that 
 such fund shall be self -supporting; provided, however, 
 that the annual rate of premium charged on account of 
 an employee engaged solely in domestic service or engaged 
 solely in agriculture, wherein neither explosives nor 
 such machinery as is not ordinarily employed in farming 
 is used, shall not exceed one per cent, of the money wages 
 of such employee. The insurance of any subscriber 
 shall not be effective until he shall have paid in cash the 
 premium so fixed and determined. 
 
 Section 6. The expenses of the organization and ad- 
 ministration of the State Workmen's Insurance Fund shall 
 be paid until January ist, 191 8, by the State out of funds 
 hereinafter appropriated therefor; thereafter the expenses 
 of the administration shall be paid out of the premiums 
 collected from the subscribers to the said Fund. 
 
 Section 7. The Board shall set aside five per cent, 
 of all premiums collected for the creation of a surplus, 
 until such surplus shall amount to $100,000, and there- 
 after they may set apart such percentage, not exceeding 
 five per cent., as in their discretion they may determine 
 to be necessary to maintain such surplus sufficiently 
 large to cover the catastrophe hazard of all the sub- 
 scribers to such Fund and to guarantee the solvency of 
 the Fund. 
 
 Section 8. The said Board shall divide the subscribers 
 into groups in accordance with the natiure of the business 
 of such subscribers and the probable risk of injury therein, 
 and they shall fix all premiums for each group in accord- 
 ance with the experience thereof. Where the employees 
 in any business are engaged in various employments in 
 
44 
 
 which the risk of injury is substantially different, the 
 Board shall subdivide the employments into classes and 
 shall fix the premium for each in accordance therewith. 
 The said Board shall maintain a separate and adequate 
 reserve for each group. The compensation payable for in- 
 juries to employees of subscribers in each group shall be 
 paid primarily out of the premiums paid by such 
 subscribers and the reserve maintained for such group, 
 But if there shall be a deficiency it shall be met out 
 of the general funds of the State Workmen's Insurance 
 Fund and shall be repaid out of the funds thereafter 
 collected from such group. The Board shall keep an 
 accurate account of the money paid in premiums by 
 the subscribers in each group and the disbursements 
 on account of injiuies to employees therein and if at the 
 expiration of any year, there shall be a balance remain- 
 ing after deducting such disbursements, the unearned 
 premiums on undetermined risks, the percentage of 
 premiums paid or payable to create or maintain the sur- 
 plus provided in Section 7 of this Act and the pro- 
 portionate share of such group of the expenses incurred 
 in the operation of the business of the fund during the 
 preceding year (if such expenses are payable by said 
 fund) and after setting aside an adequate reserve for 
 such group, such balance shall be distributed among the 
 subscribers to such groups in proportion to the premiums 
 paid by them and the proportionate share of such sub- 
 scribers as shall remain subscribers to the fund shall be 
 credited to the installment of premium next due by them 
 and the proportionate share of such subscribers as shall 
 have ceased to be subscribers in such fund shall be re- 
 funded to them out of the State Fund in the manner 
 hereafter provided. 
 
 Section 9. The said Board may invest any of the 
 surplus or reserve funds belonging to the State Workmen's 
 Insurance Fund in such securities and investments as 
 are authorized for investment by savings banks. All 
 such securities or evidence of indebtedness shall be 
 
45 
 
 placed in the hands of the State Treasurer, who shall be 
 the custodian thereof; he shall collect the principal and 
 interest thereof when due and pay the same into the 
 State Insurance Fund. The State Treasiurer shall pay 
 all vouchers drawn on the State Insurance Fund for the 
 making of such investments when signed by two members 
 of the Board, upon delivery of such securities or evidences 
 of indebtedness to him, when there is attached to such 
 vouchers a certified copy of the resolution of the Board 
 authorizing the investment. The said Board may, upon 
 like resolution, sell any of such securities. 
 
 Section io. The said Board shall have the power to 
 make all contracts necessary for • supplying medical, 
 hospital and surgical services as provided in Section 5, 
 Sub-section (e.), Article II of the Workmen's Compensa- 
 tion Law of 1915. 
 
 Section ii. The said -Board shall have the power to re- 
 insure any risk which they may deem necessary. 
 
 Section 12. The said Board shall be entitled to in- 
 spect the plant, work-room, shop, farm or premises of 
 any subscriber, and shall be entitled to examine from 
 time to time the books, records and payrolls of any 
 subscriber or intending subscriber for the purpose of 
 determining the amount of the premitun payable to such 
 subscriber or intending subscriber, and they shall have 
 the power to appoint such inspectors and auditors as may 
 be necessary to carry out the powers given in this Section 
 or, they may, with the consent of the Department of 
 Labor and Industry and Commissioner of Insurance, 
 cause such inspection and examination to be made by the 
 inspectors of the said Department of Labor and Industry 
 and the auditors of the State Insurance Department and 
 such inspectors and auditors shall have free access to all 
 such premises, books, records and payrolls during the 
 regular working and office hours. 
 
 The said Board shall make reasonable rules and regu- 
 lations for the prevention of injuries upon the premises 
 
46 
 
 of the subscribers ; and they may refuse to insure or may 
 terminate the insurance of any subscriber who refuses 
 to permit such examinations or disregards such rules or 
 regulations and may forfeit one-half of the unearned 
 premiums previously paid by him. 
 
 Section 13. Any employer who shall have accepted 
 the provisions of Article II of the Workmen's Compen- 
 sation Act of 1915, and who shall desire to become a sub- 
 scriber to the said Fund for the purpose of insuring 
 therein his liability to those of his employees, or any class 
 thereof, who have accepted the said provisions, shall 
 make a written application for such insurance to the 
 said Board in which-application the applicant shall state, 
 under oath or affirmation (a) the nature of the business 
 or domestic affairs in which insurance is desired ; (b) the 
 average number of employees expected to be employed in 
 such business during the year for which insurance is 
 sought, and the average number of employees, if any, 
 engaged in such business during the previous calendar 
 year; (c) the approximate money wages expected to be 
 paid during the year for which insurance is sought, and 
 the money wages paid to such ernployees during the 
 preceding year; (d) the place where such business is to 
 be transacted; (e) the place where the employer's pay- 
 roll and books of accounts are kept, and where the em- 
 ployees are customarily paid. And when the employ- 
 ments are subdivided into classes as provided in Section 
 7 of the Act, the applicant shall further state {f) the 
 number of employees of each. class expected to be em- 
 ployed or previously employed as aforesaid; (g) the ap- 
 proximate money wages expected to be paid or previously 
 paid as aforesaid to employees of each class for which 
 insurance is sought. Thereupon, the Board shall make 
 such investigations as they may deem necessary and 
 within thirty days after such application, shall issue a 
 certificate slaowing the classification or group in which 
 they find such applicant entitled to be placed and the 
 amount of premium payable by such appHcant for the 
 
47 
 
 calendar year or the remainder of the calendar year for 
 which insurance is sought. No insurance shall be issued 
 for a longer period than a single calendar year. 
 
 Section 14. All premiums shall be payable to the State 
 Treasurer, who shall issue an appropriate receipt there- 
 for, and such receipt, together with the certificate of the 
 Board specified in Section 1 2 hereof, shall be the evidence 
 that the applicant has become a subscriber to said fund 
 and is insured therein. 
 
 Section 15. On or before the first day of February 
 of each year after 1916 each subscriber to said fund shall, 
 under oath or affirmation, render a written statement to 
 the said Board setting forth the maximum, average and 
 minimum number of employees insured in the said fund, 
 that such subscriber had employed during the preceding 
 year and the actual amount of the money payroll of 
 such employees for such year, and, when the Board has 
 subdivided the employments in any group into classes as 
 provided in Section 7 of the Act setting forth the num- 
 ber and actual amounts of the money payroll of such 
 employes of each of such classes, and thereupon, within 
 thirty days, the said Board shall state the account of 
 such subscriber for such calendar year, based on the 
 facts thus proven, and shall render a copy of such state- 
 ment to the subscriber and a duplicate copy thereof to 
 the Board, and, if the amount of the premium thereto- 
 fore paid by such subscriber shall exceed the amount 
 due according to such stated account, then the excess 
 shall be forthwith refunded to the subscriber by pay- 
 ment out of said fund in the manner hereinafter pro- 
 vided, and, if the amount shown by said statement 
 exceed the amount of the premium theretofore paid 
 by such subscriber, the excess shall be forthwith due 
 and payable by the subscriber into such fund, and 
 until paid shall be a lien as other state taxes are a lien 
 upon the real and personal property of the subscriber, 
 and, if unpaid, shall be collectible as state taxes are now 
 
48 
 
 collectible, with interest at the rate of twelve per cent, 
 per annum, commencing thirty days after the settlement 
 of said account. 
 
 Section i6. Any person who shall falsely make oath 
 or affirmation to any certificate, application or statement 
 herein required shall be guilty of perjury; and any 
 subscriber who shall, after notice from the said Board, 
 neglect or refuse to file the statement mentioned in 
 Section 14 hereof within ten days after such notice, 
 shall be liable to pay to the fund a penalty of ten dollars 
 for each day that such neglect or refusal shall continue, 
 to be recovered at the suit of the said Fund. 
 
 Section 17. Any subscriber to said fund who shall, 
 within seven days after knowledge or notice of an acci- 
 dent to an employee in the course of his employment, 
 as required by Section 9 of Article II of the Workmen's 
 Compensation Law of 1915, have filed with the Board 
 a true statement of such knowledge or a true copy of 
 said notice, shall be and hereby is relieved of all liability 
 for the payment of compensation for the personal injury 
 or death of such employee by such accident, and all such 
 compensation due therefor under Article II of the Work- 
 men's Compensation Law of 191 5 shall be paid out of 
 said State Workmen's Insurance Fund; Provided, how- 
 ever, that the report of such accident required by the 
 Act entitled "An Act Requiring Employers to Make 
 Report to the Department of Labor and Industry of 
 Accidents to Employees and Prescribing a Penalty for 
 Non-Compliance Therewith," approved the nineteenth 
 day of July, 19 13, shall be sufficient compliance with 
 this Section, if such report be made within said period of 
 seven days and shall state that the employer making the 
 same is a subscriber to said fund. 
 
 Section 1$. In every case where a claim is made 
 against said Fund, the said Fund shall be entitled to 
 every defense against such claim that would have been 
 
49 
 
 open to the employer and shall be subrogated to every 
 right of the employer arising out of such accident against 
 the employee, the dependents and against third persons; 
 and in any such case the said Fund may in the name of 
 "The State Workmen's Insurance Fund" sue and be 
 sued in any county in this Commonwealth in which 
 action may be brought by or against said employer^ 
 
 Section 19. Upon receipt of a notice or statement 
 of knowledge of an accident to an employee of a sub- 
 scriber occurring in the course of his employment, the said 
 Board shall, if it deemed necessary; cause an investi- 
 gation to be made by an inspector appointed by it or 
 an inspector of the Department of Labor and Industry, 
 who shall forthwith report the facts as found by him to 
 said Board, which shall thereupon determine what, if any, 
 compensation is payable thereon and shall issue a cer- 
 tificate stating their findings. If they find that the 
 employee or the dependents of a deceased employee is 
 entitled to compensation, the certificate shall state the 
 sums payable, the length of time during which they are 
 payable and the persons to whom such sums are payable. 
 Such certificate shall be sent to the attorriey of the 
 Department of Labor and Industry in the county in which 
 the accident occurred and a copy shall be sent to the 
 injured employee or his dependents. If the injured 
 employee or his dependents agree to accept the compensa- 
 tion as fixed by said certificate then the said attorney 
 shall, together with the injured employee or his de- 
 pendents, sign the memorandum of such agreement as 
 provided for in Section 18 of Article II of the Work- 
 men's Compensation Law of 1915 and may file the 
 same with the prothonotary of the said county as therein 
 provided. This agreement or a copy thereof certified 
 by the said prothonotary shall be filed with the Board 
 who shall thereupon issue a warrant to such employee or 
 dependents which warrant shall be signed by two members 
 of the Board and shall be delivered to the person or 
 persons entitled to compensation under the terms of 
 
5(i 
 
 the said certificate and agreement. If the injured 
 employee or the dependents of a deceased employee 
 do not accept the compensation fixed in the said 
 certificate or shall claim compensation where the 
 certificate is to the effect that no compensation is 
 payable, the attorney of the said Fund or of ■ the 
 Department of Labor and Industry shall represent 
 the State Workmen's Insurance Fund in any litigation 
 instituted by such employee or dependent thereof in 
 accordance with the provisions of the Workmen's Com- 
 pensation Law of 1915, and if upon such litigation the 
 Court shall award compensation the said attorney shall 
 file with the Board a certified copy of said award upon 
 which the Board shall in like manner issue a warrant 
 upon the State Treasurer for the compensation therein 
 awarded. The Board may from time to time cause 
 its inspectors to report upon the physical condition 
 of any employee receiving compensation or the status 
 and dependency of any person receiving compensation 
 as a dependent and upon such report the Board may 
 in like manner make a subsequent agreement modi- 
 fying the agreement or award as provided in Section 15 
 of Part II of the Workmen's Compensation Law of 
 1915, or may apply through the attorney of the Depart- 
 ment of Labor and Industry in the county in which the 
 agreement is filed to the Court therein for a modification 
 of the said agreement or award. 
 
 Section 20. All payments to employees, dependents 
 of deceased employees, physicians, attorneys, investi- 
 gators and others entitled to be paid out of the said fund 
 shall be made by the State Treasurer on a warrant of the 
 board as aforesaid, which warrant shall be delivered to 
 the person entitled thereto by the said attorney for the 
 Department of Labor and Industry. But where period- 
 ical installments are required to be paid, under Article II 
 of said Workmen's Compensation Law of 1915, a single 
 warrant shall be sufficient to authorize such periodical 
 payments. But in the modification of any agreement 
 
SI 
 
 or award of the court or in accordance with the provisions 
 of Section i6 of the Workmen's Compensation Law of 
 1915, upon review by the court the Board shall issue a 
 further warrant in accordance with such subsequent 
 agreement or such modification and such warrant when 
 issued shall supersede and cancel the previous warrant. 
 
 Section 21. The Board may employ deputies, attor- 
 neys, assistants and clerks as may be necessary and as 
 may be approved by the Governor for the proper admin- 
 istration of said fund and the performance of the duties 
 imposed upon them by the provisions of this Act, 
 with such compensation as may be fixed by it, with the 
 approval of the Governor, which compensation shall be 
 paid out of said fund, as aforesaid. The State Treasurer 
 and the Commissioner of Labor and Industry shall in- 
 clude in their annual reports full and complete statements 
 of the administration of said fund, showing its financial 
 status and the outstanding obligations and claims, and the 
 amount paid on each claim, claims not paid, claims con- 
 tested and the reason for contest, and the general statis- 
 tics with respect to all business and affairs germane to 
 this act. 
 
 Section 22. The sum of dollars or so 
 
 much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated 
 for the expenses of the organization and administration 
 of the said Fund. 
 
 Section 23. ThisActshall take effect on July ist, 191 5. 
 
52 
 
 The following Constitutional Amendment was recommended by the 
 Industrial Accidents Commission of 1911, and was passed by the Legis- 
 lature at its last session and comes up again before the Legislature of 191 S 
 for the second passage required for its submission to the people of the State. 
 
 A JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMEND- 
 MENT TO SECTION TWENTY-ONE OF AR- 
 TICLE THREE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Section i. Be it resolved by the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
 vania in General Assembly met, That the following 
 amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of 
 Pennsylvania be and the same is hereby proposed in ac- 
 cordance with the eighteenth Article thereof: — 
 
 Amend Section Twenty-one, Article Three, of the 
 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
 which reads as follows: 
 
 "No act of the General Assembly shall limit the 
 amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in 
 death, or for injuries to persons or property; and, 
 in case of death from such injuries, the right of 
 action shall survive, and the General Assembly shall 
 prescribe for whose benefit such actions shall be 
 prosecuted. No act shall prescribe any limitations 
 of time within which suits may be brought against 
 corporations for injuries to persons or property, or 
 for other causes, different from those fixed by gen- 
 eral laws regulating actions against natural persons, 
 and stfch acts now existing are avoided;" 
 
 so that it shall read as follows : 
 
 "The General Assembly may enact laws requiring 
 the payment by employers, or employers and em- 
 ployees jointly, of reasonable compensation for in- 
 juries to employees arising in the course of their 
 employment and for occupational diseases of em- 
 ployees, whether or not such injuries or diseases 
 
53 
 
 result in death, and regardless of fault of employer 
 or employee, and fixing the basis of ascertainment of 
 such compensation and the maximum and minimum 
 limits thereof, and providing special or general 
 remedies for the collection thereof; but in no other 
 eases shall the General Assembly limit the amount to 
 be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for 
 injuries to persons or property ; and, in case of death 
 from such injuries, the right of action shall survive, 
 and the General Assembly shall prescribe for whose 
 benefit such actions shall be proaecijted. No act 
 shall prescribe any limitations of time within which 
 suits may be brought against corporations ior in- 
 juries to persons or property, or for other causes, 
 different from those fixed by general laws regulating 
 actions against natural persons, and such acts now 
 existing are avoided. " 
 

 DATE DUE 
 
 
 Intefffibrv Dia 
 
 'I 
 
 
 ^\m S ' 
 
 9»i m 
 
 
 
 
 ai^-y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CAVLORD 
 
 
 
 PRINTED IMO.B. A 
 
 HD7279.U5P42""'"""'"-""'"^ 
 "'uMwili™'!.™' Accidents Commissio 
 
 3 1924 001 732 266