sation Law of Maryland to Interstate and Foreign Commerce Carriers by Rail or Water."

Mr. Williams: I stand here tonight an unwilling but appreciative victim of the irresistible smile of the President. As he has said, he was kind enough to ask me to read a paper, although I then doubted, and still doubt, very much my ability to properly comply with his request. When he wrote and asked me to prepare à paper for this occasion I declined, but when he came to see me and smiled, I accepted.

The Paper is on a rather technical subject and rather dry, and I am going to get through with it as fast and speedily as I can.

SOME ASPECTS OF THE APPLICABILITY OF THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION LAW OF MARYLAND TO INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE CARRIERS BY RAIL OR WATER.

The General Assembly of Maryland of 1914, by Chapter 800, created a commission known as the State Industrial Accident Commission, for the purpose of affording to employes engaged in extra hazardous employments who might receive personal injuries resulting in partial or total disability or death, compensation according to a fixed schedule, and regardless of the negligence of the employer or the contributory negligence of the injured employe.

The act recited in its preambles various reasons for the proposed legislation, including:

(a) The certainty of personal injuries or death to work

(b) The great and unnecessary cost of litigation borne by employers, employes and tax payers under the common law system.

(c) The burden imposed upon the State and its tax payers in providing for injured workmen and their dependents, and that this burden should be more fairly distributed.

(d) The inconsistency between the common law system and modern industrial conditions due to the fact that personal injuries to employes, formerly occasional and infrequent, have now become frequent and inevitable.

For the reasons stated in the preambles, the character of which has been briefly indicated, the act proceeds as follows:

"Now, THEREFORE, The State of Maryland exercising herein its police and sovereign power, declares that all phases of extra hazardous employments be, and they are hereby withdrawn from private controversy, and sure and certain relief for workmen injured in extra hazardous employments and their families and dependents are hereby provided for, regardless of questions of fault and to the exclusion of every other remedy, except as provided in this act."

Then follow the enacting sections and other sections of the act, sixty-six in number.

I will not attempt to analyze or reproduce all these various sections, but will content myself with the following partial and imperfect synopsis.

The first thirteen sections deal with the personnel, procedure, powers and compensation of the commission.

Section 14 imposes upon every employer subject to the act the duty to pay and provide for the compensation re

employer to secure payment of compensation as provided in the act, then the injured employe or his legal representatives, in case of his death, shall have the option to claim compensation under the act or maintain an action at law for damages, and provides that in such action the defendant cannot plead as a defense the negligence of fellow servants, the contributory negligence of the injured, or assumption of risk.

Sections 15 to 31 deal with insurance, and employers subject to the act are required to insure either in the State Accident Fund or in some stock or mutual insurance company, or if they satisfy the commission of their financial ability they may insure themselves.

Section 32, in its forty-two sub-sections, declares what employments are extra hazardous, and Sub-Section 43 thereof, in addition to the employments set out in the preceding forty-two paragraphs or sub-sections, applies the act to all extra hazardous employments not specifically enumerated therein.

Section 33, among other things, limits the act, so far as employers and employes engaged in both intrastate and interstate or foreign commerce are concerned, which provision will be quoted later.

Section 35 sets forth a schedule of compensation to be paid for various injuries, and it is to be noted that the amounts payable as compensation are based on wages received by the injured.

Section 36 provides that in addition to compensation, the employer shall be required to pay a sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) for medical attention, etc., and to pay funeral expenses not exceeding seventy-five dollars ($75).

The other provisions of the act provide for notice of injury, filing of application with the commission, investi

act, and many other details, including termination of benefits under the act, so far as the widow is concerned if she re-marries, and that no benefits shall be permitted under the act to an employe suffering injury self inflicted or due to his wilful misconduct or intoxication. The act also provides for appeals from the commission to the common law courts.

The subject of this paper requires no discussion of the constitutionality of this act, and we will assume that the act is constitutional and that, broadly speaking, it was intended to cover, to the exclusion of all other remedies, the rights and duties of employers and employes in extra hazardous employments.

Owing to the dual form of our government it is obvious:

First-That the State of Maryland cannot regulate the rights of all who labor or who are employers within its boundaries, if there are any such, who have been constitutionally subjected to the control of the Federal Government.

Second-That as there are many whose employment may be in part subject to Federal regulation and in part subject to State regulation it may be impractical or inexpedient for the State of Maryland to attempt to regulate that portion of the employment of such employes which might be subject to its power.

Probably the best illustration at the present time of employes who live and work in the State of Maryland and are citizens thereof and yet are not subject to its control, so far as certain of their relations with their employers are concerned, are railroad employes who are engaged exclusively in interstate or foreign commerce. Those employes who are engaged partly in interstate or foreign commerce

those who may be subject to both State and Federal legislation, depending, as we shall see, upon several considerations.

The topic of this paper divides itself into two general heads, namely: the application of the Maryland Workmen's Compensation Act first to interstate or foreign commerce carriers by rail, and secondly to carriers of like commerce by water, different considerations governing.

It has been established that under the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution, Congress has the right to provide for and regulate the liability of employers engaged in interstate or foreign commerce to their employes when injured while the latter are assisting in such commerce, but is without authority to regulate the relations of employers and employes not involving such commerce.

The lack of congressional authority just referred to was decided in the Employer's Liability Cases, 207 U. S. 463.

In these cases the act under consideration imposed a liability on all carriers engaged in interstate commerce to any of their employes, and the majority of court held that as the act included all employes of any carrier engaged in such commerce, regardless of whether the injured employe was employed in such commerce, it was broader than Congress had the power to enact. The greater part of this discussion was addressed to the question as to whether the court could save the constitutionality of the act by limiting it by construction to protect only employes of interstate carriers who were injured or killed while engaged in interstate or foreign commerce.

The act referred to being declared void, Congress passed the act of April 22nd, 1908, Chapter 149.

This act, which is known as the Federal Employers' Liability Act, provided that every common carrier by railroad, while engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, shall be