OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS.
THE OHIO WORKMEN'S
COMPENSATION LAW.
BY H. R. MENGERT.
FOREWORD.
Because the Ohio Workmen's Compensation
Law has been
looked upon as the very embodiment of
what Col. Theodore
Roosevelt called "social
justice;" because it is being copied in
other states of the Union; because of
the praise bestowed upon
it by King Albert, of Belgium, who, upon
the occasion of his
visit to Ohio, pronounced it one of the
greatest pieces of legisla-
tion upon the statute books of any
country; because it has im-
mensely improved the relations between
employers and em-
ployees; because the praises of its
authors and friends have been
sung by the injured, and by the widow
and the orphan; and,
finally, because the law itself stands
as a vindication of the great
principle that the plastic instrument of
democratic institutions
can be remoulded to suit changing needs
and conditions, this
contemporary history of the Workmen's
Compensation Law in
Ohio, for the period from 191O to the end of 1919, has been
attempted.
The law is vindicated. Watchfulness over
it, however, is
doubtless yet the concern of those who
desire to see great social
and industrial questions settled in the
American spirit of fair
play. Ohioans must watch to see that it
does not fall the prey
of designing interests, akin to those
who have brought into
question a similar partial experiment in
New York. Eternal
vigilance is the price of other things
than liberty.
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