This verdict is of peculiar interest, according to the well-known Cincinnati law firm which prosecuted the case, because it is the first instance so far as they have been able to ascertain in which there has been a recovery from injuries resulting from the poisonous influence of wood alcohol.
But do not be misled by this rare case. And do not hastily conclude that the new state insurance law in Ohio has rendered justice in such cases more certain, for the contrary is true. A victim of industrial lead poisoning appealed to the state board under that law, and the attorney general, on October 26, 1912, ruled that disability due to lead poisoning was an occupational disease and "not an injury" under the act. Similar decisions have been made by the Washington State Insurance Department.
In fact, with the exception of occasional instances in two or three states, where claims have been paid by employers without protest, the victims of occupational diseases in America are still practically without relief.
[THE SOCIAL AIM IN GOVERNMENT]
SAMUEL McCUNE LINDSAY
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL LEGISLATION, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
"This not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication. Here muster, not the forces of party, but the forces of humanity. Men's hearts wait upon us; men's lives hang in the balance; men's hopes call upon us to say what we will do. Who shall live up to the great trust? Who dares fail to try? I summon all honest men, all patriotic, all forward-looking men to my side. God helping me, I will not fail them, if they will but counsel and sustain me!"
—Thus spoke the President of the United States in his inaugural address. Legislation in nation and state, giving expression to the will of the people and often to their aspirations, is supposed, in theory at least, to emanate from the representatives of the people. In European governments there is usually a privileged initiative on the part of the executive branch of the government or the administrative officers who represent the electoral majority, that is, "the government of the day." Thus the government bills in the British Parliament are the only ones sure of full consideration. In American legislatures a somewhat similar role is played by the President and the governors of the states in their legislative programs as outlined in the messages they send in accordance with constitutional prerogative or command. As party leaders they voice the dominant wishes of the voters and interpret public opinion; as chief executives they exercise great power over the legislatures in compelling compliance with the people's mandates.
A comparison and study of the subject-matter of President Wilson's inaugural and the inaugurals or messages of thirty-five governors opening legislative sessions since January 1 of this year, shows the great influence of the progressive forces of the nation which were victorious in all parties and in all of the states at the polls in November. A more confident note, new in most cases, is struck in all these pronouncements. It is the social spirit and the social conscience in every community that seeks and demands a new adjustment of law and government to human needs, and for the people, a new freedom.