Economic Aspects of the Law of Master and Servant, in its Relation to Industrial Accidents

We hear it said frequently that the relations between master and servant have completely altered during the past century and that, due to the introduction of machinery, workmen are much more frequently and more seriously injured than formerly. In fact, these statements have become trite. It takes an article, such as that written by Arthur B. Reeve, in the February, 1907, number of Charities and the Commons, entitled The Death Roll of Industry, to bring to our minds what these statements actually mean; to impress us with the seriousness of present conditions. Although statistics upon the matter are not as satisfactory as Mr. Reeve would wish, yet the conclusions at which he arrives seem to be conservative, viz., that, during the year 190 out of a total of l,382,196 employees upon the railroads of the country, there were either killed or injured a total of 70,194; in other words, substantially one out of every twenty railroad employees was either killed or maimed. Also, that, in the aggregate, more than half a million workmen have been killed or injured during the year 1905 in other words, that some servant, as a result of his employment, is either killed or injured every minute of time, counting nights and Sundays