EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY ACTS AND THE ASSUMPTION OF RISKS IN NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS, INDIANA, ALABAMA, BY FRANK F. DRESSER, A. B., A. M. OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAR ST. PAUL, MINN. KEEFE DAVIDSON COMPANY PREFACE. Master and servant questions impose upon both court and legislature the delicate duty of applying fundamental principles of conduct to new and rapidly changing social and industrial conditions. The material interests of the community are so nearly affected that any rule is certain to be tinged by the unconscious sympathies or point of view of the tribunal. But there are duties on each side to be fairly measured, and one class cannot justly demand protection at the expense of the other. The common-law rule has become unfair to the servant. Many statutes have sought to limit the fellowservant exemption, and of them the Employers' Liability Act is perhaps the most satisfactory. Although founded on no broad theory of responsibility, it has worked substantial justice between the parties. Its interpretation by the English courts was favorable, and during the fifteen years it has been known in the United States the numerous manufacturing cases in Massachusetts and railroad cases of Alabama have definitely settled the construction to be placed upon its terms. The more recent doctrine of the assumption of risk has not as yet received much attention from the legis lature. The court has gone far in passing upon questions of fact arising under this defense, and, especially |
