THE ORIGINS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: STATE THEORY AND LAW
Ian Ton1 C'oneyheer
B.A , Sinion Fraser l~niversity,19S6
THESIS SliBLIIrI'TED IN PARTIAL FI'LFILLXIENT OF THE KEQlrIREAIEDjTS FOR THE DECREE OF
hIXSTER OF ARTS
in the School
of APPRO'VAL
Nanie: Ian Coneybeer
Degree: hlaster of Arts (Criminology)
Title of thesis: The Origins of LVorkrnen's Compensation In
Brilish C!olumbia: Stak Theory and Law
Examining Commit tee:
Chairperson: John Lowman, P11.D
Brian E. Burtch. Ph.D. Assistant Professor Senior S)lpervisor
Charles Singer, Ph.D. Lecturer
---- - Paul Petrie. Director, Labour Program External Examiner Department of Continuing Studies Simon Fraser LTniversity
Date Approved: November 30, 1990 PA4TIAL COPVZIGHT LICENSE
I b,ereky grant to Sinan Frsser UniversiTy tkae right to ler,c my thes~s,pro-!ect or extendea essay !*he title of wk,ich is shcun below) to users of The Simon Fraszr Yniversity Likrary, and to make partial or single co?ies only for sucn bcsrs or in response to a reqbest from the library of any cther university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that perm;ssii: for mult-iple copying of this wCr% for scholarly purposes nay be granted by me or the Sean cf Graduat~S?-ddies. 17 is understood iP,zt copying or publication of ?his work fer financial gain shall not Se allowed without ny written permission.
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The Origins of Workmen's Compensation in British Columbia: State Theory and Law
Ian Coneybeer
November 30. 1990 ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the origins of a specific aspect of the welfare State: the
implementation of workmen's compensation in the province of British Columbia during the
period 1891 - 1916. The thesis examines the social, political, economic and ideological
antecedents to the Pineo Select Committee (1915), struck to investigate compensation
schemes in nine jurisdictions, and to make recommendations for a British Columbia scheme.
The work of the Committee was reflected in the Workmen's Compensation Act (1916).
Central to an understanding of the passage of this legislation are the reasons for, and nature
of, State intewention into an economy that, prior to the 1890's, was essentially laissez-faire.
Primary and secondary data sources are utilized to facilitate the research. Emphasis is
placed upon an examination of archival sources, such as the Journ;rls of the British Co1umbi;r
Legisldtive Assembly and relevant Sessiondl Pdpers of the British Columhi~Legislature.
The findings of the thesis cast doubt upon popular explanations of the rise of
workmen's compensation. Transitional political, economic, and social conditions created new
forms of human dependency that were not dddressed by the existing social network. Royal
Commissions and Select Committees were established to investigate and defuse crises and, in
the Crdmscian sense, to manufacture consent. The Pineo Committee addressed burgeoning
crises of order-maintenance and legitimation that threatened the continued production and
reproduction of capital. The eventual solution, as in many other jurisdictions, incorporated
the recluirernents of a capitalist economy within framework that recognized the political and
industrial struggles of an organized working class. The Committee operated at 'arms-length'
from the State, and was generally seen as legitimate, authoritative and independent by the various interest groups.
Workmen's compensation can be viewed as an instance of intervention by a relatively autonomous State into the labour reproduction process. Workmen's compensation aided order-maintenance, legitimation and reproduction of the capitalist system of social relations, with little real cost to capital. Moreover, the institution of workmen's compensation was successful in shifting investigations of injury and death in the workplace from a legal forum to a welfare State mechanism-the administrative tribunal-that dealt with the crisis through a system of State regulation and mediation. One retired Crowsnest miner recalls that when there was an accident in the mines the rnanagetnent first asked about the horses. "They never asked how the goddamn men was. It took time to train a horse. You COLI~~replace a man anytime them days" (Reasons, et al, 1981: 18).
It is true that labour produces for the rich wonderful things - but for the worker, it produces privation. It produces palace5 - but for the worker, hovels. It produces beauty - but for the worker deformity... (Marx, K. [1964: pgs. 105)-101 The Economic dnd Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844).
Workers build automobiles dnd ride in streetcars. They build mansions in Shaughnessy Heights and live in shacks in the outskirts. They want to know if this is right (F.W. Welsh, Secretary of the Metal Trades Council; Victorid D~ilyColonist, May 2, 1919: 2). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indebted to many individuals and organizations, whom I would like to thank. First, to my senior supervisor, Dr. Brian Burtch, who recognized my flagging interest in traditional street crime at the undergraduate level, and introduced me to critical criminology, and the sociology of law. Second, to Dr. Rob Cordon, who instructed me on the application of various theoretical trajectories to Corporate Crime generally, and violence in the workplace specifically. Third, to Dr. Charles Singer, for the support and assistance he provided. I would like to thank Colin Campbell, for his encouragement and scholarly guidance over the past four years. Invaluable assistance was also rendered by individuals at various institutions and agencies. I am indebted to: Dr. Andrew Yarmie, Cariboo College, Kamloops; Brian Phillips and Emily Sheldon, Simon Fraser University (SFU) Library (reference division); Mary Luebbe at the University of British Columbia (UBC) library (government documents); Barbara Nield (head librarian) and Ramona Wolfe (claims adjudication) dt the Workers' Compensation Board, Richmond, B.C. In Victoria, the following people greatly aided my research: Cordon Yusko (special projects) and Judy Bennett (government documents) at the Legislative Library, Victoria, B.C.; John Bovey (provincial archivist), Brian Young (supervisor of reference services), and Allan Specht (sound and moving images) at the Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. Finally, I dedicate this research to the memory of British Columbia workers, whose collective struggle and personal sacrifice for a safe workplace inspired me to tell their story. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Al)provdl ......
Idblc of (:ontt.nts ...... vii
Chapter I. IN1RODUCT10N: Capital, Stdte and So(-id1 N'elfdre ...... 1
1-c.rminology: (:qitalism, Stdte, L%'orkmen's <:ornl)ensdtion 3
Rrvicw of Relevant rlirory and Rtwdr~h ...... 1 1
. - The State: illttvndtive TJ~eor~tlcdI1-ormulations .,,,...... 18
I.JWand L.t!gal Itleology .!G
Soc:i,~l Welfdre dnd the State: Recent Developments ...... 20
Chapter- II. RFSFARCt-1 IL1FTHOL)S ...... 37
Primary and Secondary Sources: heSpecific Methodology ...... 41
Sccontlaty Sources ...... 47
- The Investigative. Framework 41
vii Data (Lltliering Problems...... 50
Ct 1APl tR Ill Tt it ANTECCDFNTS OF WORKMEN'S (:OMPENSt\TION IN HRIl~IStiCOL.IJR.\KIA ...... iJ
Introduction...... W
I'reludt . to a Crisis: Industridl Death dnd (:l,iss Conflict in R.<...... 56
AI~LIOLISLivt>s: The Miners Respond ...... 58
The 1002 Workmen's Cornl)ensdtion Ac-t ...... 83
The (;dthrxring Stol-m: Revolution Ovtv Reform...... Y.5
~utin the (:old: Rdilrodd [.at)ourtw md I oggers ...... 107
LJnprrdic.tdt)lt. Costs: The Employers Mobilize ...... 118
Ihe Report of the Royal (:ommission . Consiticring the Options: I he St& Responds ...... 131 Summary ...... 1-13 viii CI 1API FR I!'. TtiE PINE0 SFLt:CT COMhll 17 f:F: ...... 146 Introd~~ction...... 146 State 1nsurdnc.e versus (Ids~~alty(:ompdnies ...... 138 . . ... Ind~v~tlualIhabrl~ty ...... 161 Medical Aid ...... 170 Waiting Periods ...... 182 S, ifcty and Accident hevention...... 189 Inspectors. Prose(-utions and Pendlties ...... 103 . . Bo& Cornpos~t~on...... 107 Spwd-LI~...... 201 Improvrd Cdpitdl-[ dbo~~rRelations ...... 203 Right of Appeal ...... 206 Worker Kesistanc-e to the Abrogdtion of Common I.aw Rights ...... 208 Non-resident Alien Dependents...... 10 Excluded Ldbour Classes ...... 214 Sum~nary...... 218 ... I cgltrmatton...... 2.33 Ortier-rnaintt>~ia~i(;c>...... 2-11 ... ILaw ds 50(.1al <.ontroI...... 233 Capitalism Ovcr Capitalists: Implerncntilig State Inscrrance ...... 251 Rry)~-oducingCapit, llistn. The I dt)our Force ...... 250 C.lpitalist kledicine in the Workplace ...... 250 11 Note on the Excluded Classes: Domestic and Fdrrn L, hour...... 2 Domestic L~)~LII-...... 262 F armworkers ...... 268 Summ,iry ...... 171 (:hapter VI . CON(:LIJSIONS AND OHSERVATIONS ...... 273 Introdcrction...... 273 Workmen's Compensation: A Ktforrnulation ...... 27-1 Str~~cturalNco-Marxism: rhr Origins of Lt'orkrnen's Compens,i tion...... 278 Workmen's Cornprnsdtion: ~'LI~LIIT L)ir~'(-tioris For Research...... 286 APPENDIX A: LECIS1.A TION KELAlFD I01-HE WORKPLACE ...... 288 Af'PFNDIX R: L.ECIS1.A TION KEGULMTING WOKKPIACL REIMIIONSHIPS ...... 101 APPt'NLlIX C: Ktl ATED SO(:IAI -\hlt-LFAKE Lt.(;ISI.AI ION...... 292 APPt:NI>IX [I:SkL €(I [- CORKESPONDtNCt ...... 203 tiIHI.IO(;RAflt iY...... 205 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: CAPITAL, STATE, AND SOCIAL WELFARE The emergence of the B C wolhrng class and the devclopmrnt of ~ndustridlcapitalrsrn have bwn the sirbjec ts of extensive dnd ~epeatedstudy IJntil the publ~cationof Ass,,ult On Iht~~~orker' In 1081 howrver the nature of compensdtfon for work-reldted Injuries and the very llrnited usc of the ( r~rn~nalsdnc tlon In response to such Irijurles was given only narrow ( or~slderat~onby < anadldn scholars In ttwns of ( anddim Iabour hlstoy workers ( ompens,lt~on15 ,I rplatlvely lec ent phenomenon L~ttleattent~on has been pdto the way 111 whrc I1 ~vorht>rsdtlalt w~ththe ~roblernof work-related Injury, d~seasrsand death - a ~)ht~nt)menotiProuty hds termed h~stor~cdl dmnesld ' The sparse I~teraturethat does ~~1stIn th~sarea suggests that workers cornl)enhItlon was a bdldnce of Interests betneen caprtal and labor the log~cdloutco~ne of riCgot~at10risbrtween two ecl~rltdbleInterest groups or d clear vic tory for workers rhc present work arg~t~that (ornpensat~onlegislatlon suggests more th,m the tnm~fcstatlonof d be~iw~leritcaring stdtt' or e(l~11valt~11tponer relat~onsamong 1nte1e5tgroups c otnpt~risatioriwas ( learly more than a strategy to defuse \torhrng ( Ids5 rad~cal~srn(Lhyal and Pennell 198 1 I6 1) 1 he notron tli'it workers rompensdt~onlegisldt~on was d (ludl~f~edVI( tory for cdp~talover working people has only recently begun to be seriously enterta~ned' Cornpensdtmn arguably provided more sure and exped~entsystem of 1 Ke;isons, t1t al., (1!f81: 160-(il).Until 1979. there Mere no studies of the> origins of wot~kmrn's compens;ition in (-';~n;itin(Finkcl, 1979: 8%).(;edtiw' i 1986) thesis briefly examines the origins of comyens;~tionin British Columbia, hut neglrcts the cruciiil discourse of the Pirwo ('onarnittcr~ ht>;irings in 19 15. % Prout,y (1985: x\.ii). Prouty directs his criticism at the forest industry for on-going efforts to do~5nplayor ignort. the human price of'the fibre exttxtion process. 3 See, for ex;imple, Friedman and Latiinsky (1967); Wesser (1971). See also, an address by ('ilniitiiiin Mimufacturers Association president .J.L. Thibault ('Wor.kc>rs'('orr~/,cr~scztior~: Facirlg Nr,u, Rrw1itit.s') t,o the Sixth Annual Corpus Workers' ('ompensi~tion Conference at 'roronto. Ontario, Oct. 10-11, 198$3, processing c.lc~itnsfor tlie majority of workcrs. At tlie same time, costs to rtnployers were reduced dnd made more ~mdic-table.Ilie implementation of profitable workplace reform (Piva, 1070: 108) occur-red in conjunc'tion witli tlie ideology of a 'commonality of interests'. Ihis itieology coincidtd witli tlie rise of tlie social ~(elfal-cState, at a time of a burgeoning c-apitalist t~onotiiiccrisis, widespread labour unrest, and failing State legitimdcy. T~heobject of this thesis is approdclicti via two themes. First, an t.xamination of the politic-al, economic and social events that influen(-ed tllcl implementation of tvorkrnen's c-omptwsation in British Columbia. Second, tlie application of a conjunctural theoretical tr,ljectory to this liistoric,il 'puzzle', reflecting i-ontt?mporaryefforts in State theorizing in tht. area of so(-ial welfare generally, and liedltli in specific-. Tliis thesis addresses rationalizations fol- the risk> of social welfare legislation generally, dnd workmt~n'scompensation specifically. I he role and function of the Pincw St3lect Co~nmittee( 10 15) dl~lmintedby tlie Conservative government of British <:olumbia will be clxatninrti, and an identification made of tlie various structural influenct~sthat wtlre ongoing both 1)rior to, and concurrent with, tlie work of tlie Committee. These 'infl~icnces'consist of politic-al, ideologicdl and social factors that operate in concert with the imperatives of a cdpitalist economy. The degree to which the (:ornmittee was successful in defining tlie ~matnetersof tlie debate, while lirniting disc-~urseand options for alterndtives to tlie pro~xxedcompensation scheme, suggests a reformist function analogous to that of "smoother-outers, adjusters ...not revolutionaries" (Hastings and Sauntlers, 1087: 136). This thesis is 'historical' in focus, and seeks to estahlisli a link with c-riminological theory in general and tlie relevant State control literature; espec-idly tliat of a modified-struct~lralist position. heneed for historical appreciation in c:rirnitiology is c.rntl-al to theorizing about the State and the ambit of crirninal law. As C. Wright iLlills ( 1950: 133) has noted, "history is the shank of 4 Schmidt, 1980: 52. See also, (hson, W.G. (1982);('lemrnt (19811: Reasons, rt id. (19811; Doran ( 1986). so(-ial st~rdy." Ari appr-tl(-iation of the development of economic and social institutions is crucial, for "historical change is change of so(-ial strirctirres" (Mills. 1959: 1.50). This thesis also dddresses an appdrent rnability of conventional, ahistorical sociology to locate a toprc- of investigation within d larger range of events. Paying attention to "the facts" without an empirical, tlieoretrcal grounding is unhelpful: If we want to understand tlie dynamic c-lianges in a c-onternporary social str[rctur-e, we must try to discer-n its longer-run tjwelopments, and in terms of thern ask: What dr-t. tlie mechanics by which these trends have occurred, by which the structure of society is ( hanging! It is in questions SLIC~ as tlivse that our concern Lvitli trends cornes to a clirnax. rh'lt clirnm hds to do with the historic-JI tr~nsitionfrotr~ one epoch to .,nother ~t~dwith wh~t we rndy (.,,/I the structure of m cpoc-h (Mills, 1059: 152) (emphasis added). Conventional avenire5 of rnve5trgatron will bt3 replaced by a nco-Marutst researc Ii perspet tive This investigative tt:mplate - a c.onjunctural analysis - isolates politicA, txonomic, ideological and so( ial events at one historic-dl inoment. It is firrnly rooted within the tenets of politic-dl economy. As Clement (l977:7) suggests, p~liticalecoliolny reflects "the connection between d couritry'~~coriorny and social relations viewed with a historical perspective." This investigative technique is ideally suited for an exercise that seeks to determine interac-tions betwrrn state dnd economy In specrfi( time dnd place Gordon ( 1088 561) 5upports the c~tilityof an historical, macro-sociological approach, since this ensures: a full understanding of tlie changes which have occurred. An untangling of the c-omplrx, dialectical interplay between the State, so(-ial contr-ol strategies, law, structural conditions, and human agency can only be accomplished through a rr.trospective analysis since the nature and significance of events are ~rsuallybest understood some time after they have occurred. Trrminology: Capitalism, State dnd Workmen'? Compensation In engaging a topic tliat addresses tlir embedding of social welfare legislation in a capitalist society, it is necessary to define thrre terms tliat are central to tlie discussion. Capitalism is a forrn of economic activity that entails the l~rivateownership of capital by the cdpitalist class, ~vliileescluding the greater majority of the population. In part because the capitalist class derives its power from ownership and control over tlie means of 131-oduction,capitalism is a "structurally contradictory form of society, the reproduction oi which sets up tensions and pressures" (Giddens, 1'981: 234). Thr contr-adictory and conflict- wrought mode of production is the central cause of division between the classes of capital dnd ldbour (Cuneo, 1978: 285; Giddens, 108 1: 109). lhc capitdlist (:lass attempts to manipulate the cyclical nature of capitalism in hopes of oerpetuating the accumulation process. Common strategies in(-lude red~tc-ingprotluction costs while bolstering production, and creating dissension among fractions of the working class, including the reserve army of labour, in ortlcr to facilitate 1)rofit-making. For exdmple, during the late nineteenth and early twmtieth centuries, the working class were expected to adjust to c-hanges in economic ptterns, tlio~tglitheir incomes were restrained from "I-ising I-t3lative to the profit accumulated by capital" (Ciddens, 1981: 2 33). Moreover, in d capitalist workplace, tlie worker LV~Ssubject to direct managerial surveillance. Control was exacted by regulating wages and imposing workplace disc-iplinc. These two spheres of control, both within the labour pro(-ess, constitute the locus of on-going class struggle in capitalist economies (Giddens, 1981: 222- 23). This is not suggest that capitalism is a completely negative form of organizing productive and social relations. Hart ( 1082: 341 argues that capitalist so(-ieties have made genuine progress in the drea of health, wd other spheres of existence. Doyal and Pennell (1'381) argue that health policies are contradictory, and the threats to human health are diverse and complex. While this may be the case, d full examination of contemporary issues in health \vas beyond the scope of this research. Nonetheless, the historical evidenc-e indicates a good deal 5 Bottomore, 1983: 64. This includes pri\.itte ownership of the means whereby commodities are produced for side by consumers, rather than fhr immediate consumption by the producers. of c-ongrurnc-ywith much of the critical contemporary literature upon \vliicli this thesis is based. Second, it is tlie capitalist Statr that is responsible for- ensuring the perpetuation of conditions condttcive to tlie existence of capitalism. The State includes the legal apparatus, which has sole dutliority to exercise 'legitimate' forcr.. Arising at d specific level of intlustrializatioti and division of labour (Vincent, 1087: 221 ), the State: rcguldtes business and commerce, intervenes in the labour market and industrial rclations, conducts relations with other States, provitics infrastructurt. srwic-es such as tl-ansl)ort and cotnmunications, (and) dirrctly produc-(3s gootls and services for sale ((~;ougli, 1070: 40). Ilit3 terminology ustd to tltw ribe the Stcite IS freq~rentlygencralised and &tr,ic t (Vlncent 071). Hiis confusion is a product of a process thit attempts to clarify linkages in a system of relations, structures, institutions and forces which, in intfustrialist~dsociety, at-e vast, c-omplex, tiifferentidted, and as an inevitable result, contradictory at times as \Vt?ll. The 'State' will he defined as dn aggregate combination of "bran(-lie\, apparatuses and this in(-lutles the federal Hocrse of Commons and provincial I~gislatures,tlie respective cxecutivw, the Civil Senlice, tlie judiciary. the military. and tlie various lrvels of regional dnd local government (Cougli, 1979. 63). The State fartlitdtes the overall defense and support of a capitalist c3conorny by encouraging, among other things, tlie (reation and protection of private property rights intrinsic to capitalism (Clement, 1977; Navarro, 1976). It also maintains dn infrastructure conducive to the req~tirementsof capitalism. l'liis includes tlie creation and prrpetudtion of institutions and relations that service productive and reproductive rt3cluirerncnts of the population, s~lchas health needs (Doyal dnd Pennell, 1981). The primary focus of an analysis with Poulantzian roots is on the function of the capitalist State, not its 6 Smith, 1985: 46. The contradictory nature of the State is illustrated by Giddens (1981: 106). He notes that while the State has its origins in the defence ofpri~ateproperty, it has also ser\-etl to inhihit the formation of private proprrty. comoosition. Ihe State is more than a "sptxific network of institutions;" rather, it is a "funt tional inter-relationship" (Ratner, et al, 1087: 0 3). Moreover, tlie State is able to act "in a povt~vefdshion, creating, trdnsforrn~ngand mdking reality" (Pocrlantras, 1980. 30). The neo- Marxist literature upon which this thesis is bdsed suggests the State exhibits a 'relative ciutonorny' - tliat is, acting on behalf of, rather than at the behest of, capital interests (Ratner, et al, 1087). Consequently, the State may over-ride tlie interests of specific capitalist f'lctions, in ordw to serve tlie interests of the cdpitalist class as a whole (Gough, IC179). Consecluently, tlit "c-apitalist cl'iss frequently mistrusts tlie State." As (;iddens (1981: 21s) argues, c-apitalist apprehension c-oincides positively with the l~owerthat the orgiinised working (-lass, in situations of industrial bargaining, in the formation of Idbour or socidlist parties, is able to mobilisc vis-i-vis the State. It 15 tlie exert ISP of li~rrna~idgeri( y u~idtvre11re551Ve (ond~t~ori\- tht' 1t\al17dt1orithat 'human 7 be~ngsfrght back"' - tliat prcwntctl tht. most prewng problem to tht. 5tatc In d provlnce where tlie leg~t~rnat~orifun( t~onwas fa~l~ngb,ldly Workrnrn 2 ( owrns,it~o~i8dt1scrlbt.s the w~dt.spre.id I~~~sldt~ve,so( dl welfare ~ntcrvrnt~onthat took place dcrr~ngthe Iatc 10th and tidy 20th (enturlrs Ac (ord~ngto Flett (Ic)13 5) compensatwn Ieg~sldtron15 haseti upon tlir pol~~epoLzel of tlie State ,ind tlie brodd general pr~nc~plctliat tlie welfare of the State depends upon tlie welfare of the worker ' Workmen s t ompensat~onprov~drtl a per( twtdge of lost wages by rlrg~bleworkers who were rnjured or k~lledIn tlie course of tvnploy~nent Compensat~onfo~ pain and suffering (or non- e( onomlt loss) for wli~(li d~drdshad been made by the courts was ellmlndted by ( ompcnsdtion boards. In Brit~shColllmbld, the Board c-antes out five mdjor functions: claims 7 According to Giddens (1981: 171). hum~mbeings we knowledgeable agents, though they act within historic;~llyspecific grounds of "un;icknowledged conditions and unintended consequences of their acts." Moreo\-er, the "dialertic of control operates in ;ill circumst,itnces where human intlivitlu;ils, howe\.er oppressed they might he, wmnin agents" (Giddens, 1981: 224). 8 While women were included under the B.('. \Vor.krr~cri'sC'orr~pc,r~sntiort .Act i l9lCi), the legislation was entitled "workmen's compensiition." As Ison (1989) notes, workm men'^ compensation" was not renamed "workers' compensation" in W.('. until 1!474. administration dnd adjudic-ation; registration, calculation and assessment of employcv Ievies; tlne prevrntion of injuries and industrial diseases: rehabilitation ot injured workers: and. criminal injury compensation, As the first Annual Report of tlie Workmen's Compensation Roard (1017: 11. KC)) states, the Board exists to ensure that those entitled to compensation "I-eceive(d) exactly tlne amount due them crnder the provisions of the law." Contemporary compensation Acts are rooted in two principles: first, collective liability on the part of t>rnployrrs; anti second, a State-administered system of c.ornpu1sory insurance. Both the Parliament of Canada and the provincial lrgislatclres hdvr the power to enact Idbour It.gislation, but the jutliciary has interpreted sections 91 and 92 of the British North Arneric,~ Act in a manner which gives the provinc:es tlie bulk of jurisdiction and the right to enter into contracts. As labour laws regulate contra(-ts beltween employer and employed, they become intr,~vires the provincial 1r.gislatures (The Cmadian En(-yclopedic Iligest, 1086). In c-ommon law jurisdicti~)~~~,England was relied upon for legal precedent and statute law. blany English statutes governing the regulation of industry, and compensation for injuries suffered as a result of participation in industrial activities. were 'borrowed' and adapted by Canadian ~)rovinc:es(Ruegg, 1010: [ntr-odcrction to the Canadian notes). In the 1-erritoric>s,Workt~s' Compensation Ordinances were enacted with provisions similar to those of the provinces. Overview of Chapters The central question posed by this thesis can be summated as follows: What wet-e tlne social, political, economic and ideological factors influencing tlie introduction of workmen's cotnpensation in British Columbia, and what role did the State play in facilitating this transformation? The transcripts of the Pineo Select Committee (1015) are of crucial importance in understanding why the B.C. State would intervene into tlie provincial economy. The Committee was engaged at a time when tlne economy was beginning to make a transition from a regional, competitive base to a monopoly mode more c-lnardcteristic of continental trading blocs. Ihe degree to which the d~scour5e and re( ommendations of the Committee reflected structural imperatives of a capitalist economy constitutes the second integral part of this p~rzzle. Primary and secondary sources of documentary evidence were reviewed. These inc-luded the statutes of British Colcrrnbia, the /ournal.s of the 1 egisl~tivrr\ssernhly, records from various provinrial and federal Royal (:ornmissions and Selc.ct Committees, Session~l P,?pers,period nrwsl)alxrs, oral histories, journal selections anti textbooks. Doc~~mentary malyc;is was the only viable method of securing a wide variety of information, 'is individuals familiar with events germane to this research dre deceased. rhe theoretical orientation arises from c-onjunc-tural analysis, and reflects recent attempts to understand the conduct of the State in the context of the imperatives of a capitalist economy. This chapter includes a brief review of the key theories and their proponents. An dnalysis of strengths and weaknesses of the dominant perspectives is ~xestwted,followed by a disccrssion outlining the primary tenets of thc chosen theoretical trajectory. An overview of the relevant literature in thr area of social welfare and social control illcrstrates spc'cific- contrq~ts,and providrs a theort~tical~rntierpinning for the thesis. Chapter TWO presents a methodology that cornplernents the macro-sociological theorrbtical orientation outlined in this chapter. Sources of information are identified, and the limitations of documentary analysis are discussed. l~liefocus of Chapter Three is on relevant political, economic, legal and social developments in British Columbia, espec:ially activities of coal and hard-rock miners.') hlore than any other industry, working conditions in the mines provoked wide-scale unrest, and stitncrlated radical politic-al mobilization. Larger industries, such as forestry and railroad 9 Palmer (198.3: 155) argues that railroad workers and coal-minetx comprised the "domin;\nt force" of western class struggle. Both .VcCormack (1985n: 124) and Bercuson (1981: 453-u4) single out the miners as the re~,olutionaryvanguard in British Columbia. Similarly, Seager (1985: 35) argues. "Socialists did not define Inhour's political agenda in turn-of-the-century British Columbia. The miners did." (-onstruc.tion, rtwiewed. A series of irnpdsses, especi,dly in tlie collieries, is analyzed from the 'relat~vrautonomy' pelspec t~veIn order to untlrrstand a state rcsponse that var~ctifrom military rryrrssion to Royal Commission5. 10 In ('hapte~four, disc usslon tulns to tlie procredlngs of the 1915 (P~neo)Cornrndtee of lnvt~st~g~t~onon Workmen's Cornpt>nsc~tlonL,~ws. Wltness test~mony,md the redction of tlie (:ommittce members to their encluirirs on topics scrc-h as lncdical aid, individual liability. (ornpcnsdtlon t)111 tableti e,lrl~er by the govelnmrnt, are discussed A4 tlie transc ripts clearly ~ndlcate, the v~cwsexpressed by orgdn~zetllabour and ( ap~tal>ewe as an ~ndexof class c onfl~ct Thls chapter also addresses the responsr3 of the Cornm~tteeto su~li~ssues as the mr~clianicsof installing c-ompensation Iegisldtion, the rationdk for change, dnd identification of tlie quarte~from wlilc-ti ~)rolmsalsfor ( lidnge ctndndted I vdrnce of t~xtr~rnalpressure be~ng hrouglit to bear upon the I)rov~nc~dcv onolny, a consecpcncr ot the Irnptmt~vesof a greater, the forum of a Select Committee to "advise, consent and warn" (Maxwell, lOb9: 16) IS maly/ed, anti used to suggest tlie vitw that class struggle is shaped by the State.'' 10 During the lat,ter years of the 19th century, the Stat,e appei~redmore willing to utilize the militiii in suppress in^ ldmut unrest. Royal (:ommissions W-eretht' rule, rather than t,he exception, during the prtwompensation years of the early 20th c~ntury.Nonet.heless, t,he State in\.oked the full use of the military and the criminal justice system to ctush ;i 1914 strike by Vancouwr Island coal miners. The uprising was sp;wked by a demand for safer working conditions and union recognition (see, Rat,ner and McMullan. 1989; McMullan and Riitner. 1983). 11 As W;ilters (1983) argues, any indication of labour-capitdist conflict drawn from recorded transcripts should be annlyzrd in light of widespread and systemic global polit,ic;tl and social unrest,. Chapter Five utilizes recent nro-Mat-xist research to extend this analysis of liraltli legislation in the cal~italisteconomy of British Columbia. In view of the historical evidence, it is apparent that for a capitalist system of social relations to c-ontinur, constant attention must be givvn to facilitating tlie produc:tion dnd reproduction of the labour for-ce. [he or-ovision of (~ornpe~isationaddresses specific needs, yet maintains the relations of production, and Iraves intact the grt3ater str~~ct~lralimperatives. Accordingly, workers are pl-wented from escaping tlie relations of wage, property and hicrarcliial authority. Ihe nature of State intervention disguises tlie direct link between tlie process of c-omtnodity 1)rodirction and tlie destruction of liealtli. Tliougli working people dernwtded "imlnunity, not indemnity". '.'the State largely succ:ectletl in denying injured workers ecluality before tlie law through abrogation of workers' common law rights in tavocrr of an administrative tribunal that avoided refel-ence to criminal beliaviour. This thesis follows a perspec-tivtt that arises from disenchantment witli libtlral-pluralist theories of State, on the one hand, and those of determinist. c-ritic-dl theorit..;, such ds rlc-onornism, on the other. The manner in \zrliich the State cicliieved a (.ompensation coup, witli strong support from both capital dnd Idbo~lr,brv-orntts clearer during an application of a rnotiified-str~~cturalistaccount of the capitalist State. Ilir historicdl process in British (:olumbid 1.3 Lrwis. 1909: tj5. Thr English Trades Lnion (longress made c.lt)ar to ;I St'lect ('ommittee in\-estigiiting cornpens;ition in the 1880's that, 'The workmen newt. c;iwtl fbr compensation itheit:, it might ha\-e hen ;inecessity for their social rircumst.;inces, but no ideit of compensation t>\t>rurged them forward to itgitnte for the obtaining of this Act,: it was primarily. I ma) say absolutely, with the desire to protect their lives and limbs so far as human prrcautions could so (Bartrip and But,mm, 1983: 164). Similarly, ,I uorker told the Pineo Committee: ...we don't want the accident, but when we get hurt,, WP nnnt the compensation, hut we don't want to get hurt (\.. 4: 106). Ktwiew of Relevant Theory md Research rllt. links bc.twt.t\n the ristx of \vorkmt)n's c-ornpensdtion anti criminological issucs lit> within thcx ~-e,ilrnof Statc thcory ,md its rel,itionship to v,wious spc'cific- historical events. lliest~ (wants in(-ludt.: I,lbout--so(-ialist industrial md politic-'11 a(-tion, the responses of Koyal Commissions and Select (:otnmittees, State repression dnd State c-ontrol. The rn,mncr dnti dcgrw to which corporate intcw.sts have succeeded in attrihting workplace violcnce to employee negligrnc-t3 or 'accident' c-0rnl)riscs anotht'r important avenue of investigation. An understanding of the dttending ec-onomic system known ds 'cal)it,ilism' is facilitated hy the d1)plication of State theory. State thcory is helpful in revtadling the I-ationale for the removal of \vorkl)lxc> assaults from tlie criminal or civil courts. substituting in their place a welfare State dl)l)aratus. hlclossi ( 1970) postulates that the authority to regulate the workplace (spec-ifically, tlie f,~c-tory)is of utmost irnlmrtanc-e in rwsul-ing the survival of the calitdlist mode of ~)roduction. rhe manner in which the State has enacted '1 non-c-riminal, rrgulatory system that relies on voluntary compliance and mediation to resolve cdses lends itself to an mdlysis considering the rrcluircments of capitdl dccutnulation and legitimation. A preliminal-y theoretical investig. t'ion further rcwcdls thrce explanations of workp1ac:e dssault - individual, organizational, and struc:turdl - that at-e not dltogether mutually exc.lusive (Gordon and Coneybeer, forthcoming; Snider, 1088). The individual Icvcl 'expl,~ins' workplac-e injury dnd death ds d c-onseclirenc-r2 of mdnagers and supervisors learning and rdtionalizing, through a process of differentidl ,md safety. Such ,\c-tivity may not necessarily violate formal l,~,but it does infringe upon a set of rtliical principles (Block, 1083). As Snider (1988) argues, the intcrnaliration of rdtlonal~zat~onsnecessary to overcotne value system does not ashurc that lidrmful behavrour wrll enwe Ihow wrtli tlie power to enforce ~t>gulat~onsor overlooA ~nfractwns dre clearly more vulnerable to br~be\or produt tron pressure than are those In It355 ~nflucnt~alpos~t~ons The \t c ontl perspw t~veorgan~zatronal ~mpcratrves ( ons~dersmatcrral md py(liolog~c dl rt~~ard\for rridlv~dualswlio dllow themselves to be tndnrl)ulatcci In ordcr thdt Jn organ~zdt~onmay dch~eved des~redgodl ((,off dnd Redsons 1'180 Tdtdryn 1070) For example a ( dl( crlatlon of workplac e perfo~mdncr 1s often plotted by dndyz~ngproduc tron levels The mot(. Iabou~IS able to produce tht. grcatu tlie e.cpccttd Itvels of prof~t In what (1082) calls tlie polrtrc al economy of spec.d Br1tr41or1 and tir~llrng(ompan~es have been dllowc~jto c ont~nueunsdfe Idbollr prdc tlce5 offshore that ~o~rldnot hdve been pcrtm~ttcdonshore IIir. f~ridrr~gsof a Koydl ~omrn15~101i~~set 1111 to tiive5trgatt> the Oc r~n K~ngerdrsdster off thc ( oast of Newfounddnd In 1982 ( onfrrrn neglect for the 5afety of the ent~rt.c rcw - 83 Inen - who dled An addltrondl l h5 Irvcs were lost In 1088 \vlien a North 5ea rig - /+per Alph,~- exploded and caught fire the result of rnadecluate ma~ntendnce he O( e,ln R~nger(tlo~~\c 1986) and Plpc>rAIi)hd d~sasters~llustrate tlie effect of rnd~v~duals succ umb~ngto produc t~on(and therefore profit) oblectlvt. Safety con( erns are relegated to a secondary or tert~drystatus Both rnd~v~dualand organ~zatronallevels of expldnat~onare pre-oc cirp~edw~th ~ntilvrdual~stmethodology, wh~cliCough ( 1078 3.1) lids ( liaractenzed a\ 'profoundly un~oclolog~cal ' ('ln5r ~nterestsare ovtdoohrd ( onflrc t and c oerc Ion are d~scountedand the cx~stence and ~nflurxnceof ~d~ologyand are s~tmplyrgnored rb\~IIs(1959 153) 15 According to Kaye (1984: 197),hegemony refers to an ordci. of'stvngglr, ;I locus of constant dispute anti negotiation. This struggle does not entail evolutionary struggle, nor the use of continuous State coercion to maintain sociitl order. argues that it is "intcllec-tually easier (and politic.ally mot-e advisable) to x-knowledge one trentl at a time ... than to makc the effort to set> thrm all togetlirr-." Pierce (1000) maintains tlut the notion of 'c-orporate crime', in particular, is "poorly described or crndt\rstood if we stay within a conceptual framework restricted to interpersonal relations between subjects." I'ltiralist Itw~lsof analysis c-liaracteristic-,dly I-ely ul)on tlir actions of individuals, so that social life is virwed in terms of group response to a ch,inging social env~ronmrnt((;ougIi. 1070: 0). Pluralists suggest that (political) po\zier and influt.nce is impartially distributed, ,lnd ecl~tallyaccessible, to a myriad of competing interest groups who freely choose to assemble among thernselvt~s,and affiliate with, or ol)pos~other groups (Vincent, 1087: 186). Hecause the State is held to be absolutely impartial anti above any intct--group conflict, pluralism holds thai it is desirable to negotiate differrnctls within tlie confines of the State, according to mutually agreed upon 'rules', to reach a c-onstwsus (Katner and McMull,in, 1987). Unlike concc~nsustheory, lo however, which ties law to the codification of widely accepted belief systems, ~)luralistsrccognizr discrcpdncic~sin the interpretation of legal rules. Ho\vevei-, the ~O(.LIS is up011 "skirmishes betwwn pressure groups, rather tlia~ibattles between social (-lasses" ((;ough, 1078: 37). Pluralism also assum?s ,I consensus regarding the "c-rention, implementation and enforcement" of these same rules, toward securing a more efficient and (.galitxian society (Caputo, et al, 1089). Inexplicably, no attention is given the generation of o1)inions dntl values that infl~e~ict:,and in turn are influenced by, rule-making (Gougli, 1078: 37). Critics have arg~trtdthat ~)luralismhas served as "a mystifying apologia for tlie 16 (hnsensus theorists \,irw the emergence of soci;~lpolicy ;IS "the result of 'rational' solutions t,o certain prr-existing social problems." C. Wright Mills (1959: 27) summarizt~sthe position thus: I'wple often share stantlards ;inti expect. one another to stick to them. In so far as they do, their society may be orderly. 'The State response to "the misrry and tiegr;id;~tionof life kvrought, by the industrial r~evolution"is conditioned by a need to be "morally correct", in terms of a Christian belief system (Gough, 19711: 30). In British Columbia. the Church insisted that industry hr "humnni~ed.Christiiinizetl"; Victorin Drrilv Colonist. #July 30, 1919: 9. c-oncentration of massive political power in the capitalist class" (Katnt'r md h.\ch.lulldn, 1987 0). I'lcrralism suggt~tsadherence to "the natural lines of authority in the so(-idl order." 17 Pluralism suffers further from imprecision in its usdge of descriptive terminology insofar as tlie State is c-oncernetl (Vincent, 1087: 21 1). 011the nhole, the school fails to address the c-ont~-~itorynature of its c-ldims - that the State serves to "superintend dnd adjust tlie I-t.l,itions betwwn ~I-OLI~Sand individudls" (Vim-ent, 1087: 2 15) in 01-drr-to "l)rotec-t, or 1)romote peace, sec.urity anti justice" (Weiss. 1086: 100) - whrn the groups that coml)rise tht. 1)luralist State are cal)able of resorting to repressive and authoritarian measures. 18 1 unc.tiondlism c-onstitutt's one dttempt to understand so(-id1 proct'ss. F-.;sentially. functionalists vitw so(-ial polic.y js a respollse to non-social forces. Despite history being seen ,is 'pro(-ess' and 'progress', fun(-tiondists ignore. ~1 history of transitosy modes of production, md thus ignor~tlit> impact of "c-lasst.s, class c-onflic-t and rcwolutional-y rupture in human history" ((;ititlens, 1081: 22 3). LVliile fun(-tionalisrn rc3c-ognizcs thc need to protiucc a spec-ific- type of individual, it fails to make the connection bt~tww11this specific type, md the ~ieedf01. those pro(-esses or events... ncct.ss;Iry for tht. reproduction of a social system explains why they occur. 51m1larly funct~ondl~st\dlsregdrd the Importance of a dldlec t~c- 5tructure and agenc y - or what L~ddens(1070) (dlls, tlie dudlrty of \true ture ' CJ~ddenssuggests that structures are rcprodut ed by actlve human subjects Mortwvel, as Conley ( 1088) argues funct~onal I 17 Vincent (1987: 183). This position is undoubtedly one reason why pluralist theory has been ;iccused of distorting class analysis (Ratnet and ILlrhlullan. 1987: 90). 18 Vincent, 1987. Functionalist theorizing rerognizrs tht. utility of n \r-elf;~~x.State to f;~cilitatt>the production and reprodurtion of the population fi~rthe hrnefit of "motirrn industriitl society": hut it is unable to 1 irw this development as specific to capit,iilist society (Cough. 1978: 38). t~xplan'itionsare utterly aliistoric-al, insofar as they "s~~bmergeclass md other conflicts btmeatli ~t IS not the task of tlie soc~altlieorlst to seek to d~stover whether soc~dl(hange IS c d~tsrdby thr thoughts men hold tlir tools they employ or tlie w,~ythey order the~r (v onornrc lwes ~t 1s not what (auses what but ~liatIS related to what that 15 tht. ( OIIC t'rn of tlic 5oc la1 \( ~twtlst(( Iar k IObM 28 1-82) /\ third tlirnc.nsion, and the focal point of this thesis, isolates tlie struc-tural irnperatlve5 of d ca1)italist economy. Thrst~c1iaractt~ristic.s manifest thernselvrs in J distinct, liolistic- above dl, tlie so(.ial scientist is trying to see tlitx stveral ~n,ljortrends together - structurally, rather than as happenings in a scatter of milieus, adding up to nothing nvw, in fact not adding up dt all (Mills, 1050: 154). I~hour,to thost> who o\vn the Incans of prodcrc Ing commotl1tie5. Prof~tscan be irt~l~rcdfor Consec(utwtly, the c-(1st of purchas~ngthe c.omtnotfity by the consumer is greater than tlir motivator of commodity production. fle\ihilit): ~nddur,~hilitr. are further cliarac-ttvistics of c:apitalism. <:dpitalism has survived innumrrablt~global crises, and ?merged rrlativrly unsc atlied At ~msent,the ev~tlrnce sugge5ts that the fountlat~onfor a new rllot Ii - that of globd monopoly cap~tdl~sm- is wrll under way Tlieort~trc~lly,tliert. 1s compet~tronbrtwcen ( dl)~tal~\tfa( tions. However, two for( es of product~on- profit max~mizat~onand cap~tal a(-( ~~tnulatioti- are best accommodated by controlling or eliminating cornpetition. The resc~lt is a strain toward c-onsolidation, .~rn,~lg~rnation,mi monopolir~tion,of which present-day 'take-over\' and mergers, on an unprecedented scale, are clear ~ndicators. As the crisis of a falling rdte of profit assoc ldted w~thlatent ( apitdlism becomes more acute, the nerd to ensure perpetu~lgrowth and eupdnsion becomes rnore pressing. Thr search for cheaper raw materials anti ntw mdrkets is broadened and accelrrated, md methods of reducing costs. inc.lutling those of labour, are formulated. As a system of produc-tive and social relations, capitalism continues to outlast ongoing crises that are themselves prec-ipitated by the mode of produc-tion. Arguably, the so(-ial unrest resulting from agitation for compensation for industrial injuries during the late 10th and early 20th centuries is but one example of a crisis 1 0 that capitalism has tnandged to not Only survive, but to I,rosper from in the long term. f'indlly, the It~gitim,itionfunction involves, in ])art, ~1 perprtuation of the virtues of competition ,inti free enterprise, and 'freedom of choice'. rht. State has at its disposal numerous strategirs to limit the scopr3 of c-ritical discourse, at the sane time that potential crises are being tlefuscd. If prdiminary control me(-hanisms do not succeed, the State may implement 'solutions' that 'ippear to address the source of c-oncern. State intclvention is limited to activities which product. and reproduce the political, economic, social and ideological c-onditions necessary forcapitalism to continue (Bottomot-rt, 108 3; (;ordon and (Ioneybeer, forth(-oming). (:learly, the imperatives of capital accumulation and 1)rofit ~naximizationwill conflict with the responsibility of the employcr to ensure that the interc.sts of rmployees at the workplacr. are fully considerd. As Barnctt ( 1081) and t-ienry (108G) argue, the costs of rngaging in behaviour destructive of the labour force may be outweighed by the econornic- benefits. Consequently, the State is constrained to intervene, act as a mediator in any conflict and, through the provision of a regulatory framework, expedite and ensure the "right" of capital to d( hieve its two primary objectives of capital acc'irtnulation and profit tndximization (Clement, 1977). In terms of explanatory utility regarding corpordte wrongdoing and, more significantly, the advent of workmen's compensation, the individual dnd organizational perspectives are 19 See. De1,ille and Burns (1976-77: 5-46) for a more det,ailed account of how capitalism has survived ;in on-going series of economic, political and social crises. llrn~tcdby tlie~rnear exciusrvc~focus upon hirmdn dgency They dlso drsrt3gard the bro'ltier economic, itleological dnd political components dssocidteci with legislative initiatives rntroduc ed by thr. state to (redte or dmel~ordted set of condrtlons Wli~le~t would be rndc ( urdte to suggest that rntlividuals and organizdtlons have little or no ilnp t 111mti d course of d( t~onpursuvd by tht. state, ~t 1s suggrsted '1 survey of strut tural ( ond~t~onsIn countrrcs (;ordon ( 1988: 197-C)4)argues, Short of dssutnlng tlidt wme m,iglt al and ds yet und~scoverrd roc es5 of Icg~slatrve osmosrs 1s occ urrrng, tlie expldriat~onmust Ire w~thd set of fdc tors tlidt are comrnon to thew governments th~s~ssue 15 'iddressed In part by those mlio foc 11s upon the stru( turd (~rid~trorisdffet trng r~fortnmd the ridture dnd role of the modern captal~st !?tat(' which ~lir~yneither control nor- understand'' (Gicitien.;. 1087: 204). Howwt~r,neo-hl,irxists claim tlie t>xisttwce of d consisterit pattcrn of evolution c-ontrolling tlie human condition (entered (Thompson, F P , 1978), l~berali( anl)bell, 1087) and econornr5t1c State tlirory lids bec7ti dcknowledged by concerned so( 1'11 s( rentists (Vincent, lC)87,Rdtner and Mcillullan. 1987, Bloc k, 1987, ('arnoy, 1984, Panrtc h 1')77), the (ourse of d( twn h,is not dlways been t ledrly dcrndrcdted As Rdtner, Mc~blullanand Hurtch ( 1087. 85) argue, recent theoret~cal work viewed tlie State in terms of either ",ln in\trurnentalist reading of illarx's own uncievt~lopeti dnalysls of the State"; or, d pluralist con( eptlon of Stdte ~nstitutionsds "negotratrve and d~s~nterested" The currt>nt neo-Mdrxist enterprsr hd4, wrtliin tlie pdst century, arrned at prodirc ing increasingly sophisticated theoretical works (Cuneo, 1978: 280). Recent neo- Mdrxlst tlieorlz~nglids sought to crltlc ally understand tlit. ( otnpleu reldt~onsli~psbetween (Ratlie1 mtl McMullan, 1087). For Marx, the source of social (hdnge lay In the rnater~alclrcumst~nces In wli~climtw found thrmselvt~sand how they responded to the~rcnvlronment (C'oll~ns 1982 1) Thc individual, viewed in thr contvxt of his or- her interaction with tlwir- SO(-ialenvironment, is the key fa(-tor in understanding history dnd so(-irty. When isolated 'instmces' are viewed in terms of the big turt3,a kriowleclge based upon '1 "c-oncept~rdlreproduction of social rt'dl~ty"1s created (Watson, 1082 b2). In the tirgelian trdtlrtion, truth is defined as tht. whole (Navdrr-o, l086b: 107). A critical, theoretic-,1lIy-i11forrnedso(-iology (-an become the basis for d c-hallenge of Western ec-onomic- md political systems. Plainly, the ,rcvolutiond~.youtlook' dssoci~ted~vitli c.ritic.,d thcoriiring poses a thre'lt to State and capital ((;o~rgIi, 1979). L'incerit notes (1087: 224) that: to innovate In State thtaory 1s potentrally to (lunge the (hdracter of our socrdl ex~stence Ilicoret~cal ( lunge can alter our pra~t~cr ro thcwr~zeabout the State IS to tli~~~habout and l)otcnt~dlly( lidngt3 the ends of so( ldl ex~stence A t)irrgeon~ngbody of knowledge rspoilslng a pdrtlc ular brand of pol~t~cal onorny (that ot to fu~tlicrbroaden and strengthen the thcoretrt al base of the ('dnd~an( II~I(dl soc~olog~cdl tbnterprist., in the area of State and social ( ontrol The State: /-Ilternative rheoretic-dl Forr-nirlations Four main neo-Marxist theoretica1 derivatives predotninate in the at-ea of State theory (Ratner and Mch.lullan, 1987): tlie instrumrntalist position (bliliband, 1969. 1970); str~rct~rralism,of which Nicos Po~llantzas(1060, 1978) wds a ledding proponent; the class- 20 This work includes: Clement (1975, 1977, 1981); Doyal ~indPennell (1981): Forcese (1975); Fine, et id, (1!,79); Gough (1979); Hollowoy and Picciott,o (1978);Marchak (1981); Miliband (1979); Nnvarro (1986);Poul;mtzas (1968, 1979): R;it,ner and McMullan (eds) (1987): E.P. Thompson ( 1963). conflict or (;rams(-ian orientation ( 1071); arid finally, ca1)ital-logic (Iiolloway and Picciotto, 1078). (:ontdined within cach of these theoretical derivatives, to a greater or lesser degree, is '' dn examination of the conc-epts of accumulation, legitimation and c-oercion, which provides a longitudinal review of developments within liberal, liberal-democratic- and ex(-rptional States. Rdph Miliband's Sl~trmci Cq~it~list Soc-irty (1060) argued thdt the pluralist view of the State was "in all essentials wrong" (Knuttlia. 1087: 107). His evidence indicated that the State was essentially an t3xtrnsion of the capitalist c-1'3s~. The Stat<. was conceptualized as a \ powerful twtity that interacted with capital in a symbiotic- relationship, linked by class position, hen(-e, common educ-ational, personal, working and ideological bac-kgrounds (Quinnry, 11)74; Ratner and McMullan. 1089. 1087). hliliband argucd tl~tthe State and c-al~italwere indistinguishable. The State was a tool of capital, in order to further capitalist objectivrs. ihe Statc was seen as having no autonomy - an 'instrument' of c-aI)ital2' - lien(-r, tlie term 'instrumentalist' was c-oincd. [Iespite instrumental studirs of judic-ial office generating data in support of the position (see, Ratner and M(-Mullan, 1087: 01 ), critics argue instrumentalism is still vulnerable to simple empirical refutation (Riernr, 1970). Perhaps one major wason this state of affairs exists, is a consequence of instrumentalists continuing to view tlie capitalist class as devoid of internal dissent and conflict; in effect, capital is viewed as a monolithic md united opposition, impervious to fractionalizing. While instrumentalism lends itself well to sprcific temporal and geographic junctures (sue-h as instances in late nineteenth and early twentieth cc3ntilry British <:olurnbia, where tlie militia were utilized to crush strikvs), there are many in\tarlc-es of State action that cannot easily be linked to capitalist agency. Instead, the State is one lo(-us of class conflict (Rdtner and Mch.\ullan, 1987). 21 This proposition seems to directly contradict M;irx's obstlr\.;itions (admittedly. in :I micro context) concerning the English Factory Inspectosate in C'czpitnl. Indeed. Mnrx seferred to one inspector ;is having rendered "undying service to the English wosking class. He carrit>d on a life- long rontest, not only with the embittered m;~nufacturrrs,but also with Cabinet" (Mtirx, 1978: 216, footnote #I). One facet of hliliband's thesis was that social reforms, implemented by tlie Stat?, 1 '1 OI~SLII-~~that potentially troublesome so(-ial problems, - "so(-ial dyndmiter"-- could be s,ifely tlt.fusetl and co-opted, and rendered harmless as "social jc~nk."~~In tlie absence of a c-onsistent dnd ut~relentingworking class 121-essureto rnaintdin the implerncnted reforms, it ivds inevitable that these 'victories' would atrophy over timt:." rwo main problems with i~strcrmen~j~i~..l~avt'been isolated by c-ritics such as Block -. (1087: 53). First, tlie "critical role" of maintaining the legitimacy of tlie existent social order is ignored. Second, dn orthodox stance disallows even minimal autonomy that would facilitate . , xting against the interests of ~perific(:apitdlists, in 01-der to serve the long-term interests of c.,ipitalisrn as a whole. The notion of a class-conscious riding class - one tliat is cognizant of tli~nec.essity to rel~roducetlie capitalist economy, and germane to tlie instrumentalist perspective - must necessarily limit State autonomy. Addressing the critic-isms of Nicos ~oulantras,~~Miliband later modified his position. While re-affirming tlie class nature of tht. State, lie also argued a relative autonomy from c.ontrol by dominant capitdl factions (see, Knuttila. 1987: 1 18). ~Vilibandmaintained that liberal-pl~~ralistviews were flawed. Miliband's most reccnt stance, like that of Clemc3nt (1073). dllows for a limited State autonomy for legitimation purpows. lhis autonomy, however, is not 22 Spitzer ( 15175: 642). In t,he context of'this thesis, 'social dynamite' ~~t~fersto it radical working- class mi1it;incy that ensued as ;I result of unsafe working conditions. 23 Ibitf. This term does not imply that iyured workers are worthless. Rather, the term is a meiisure of the level of threat ~n~juredworkers (anti other dispossesseti groups) presented to rstablished institutions subsequent to State intervention. 24 Stevenson, 1983. As Collins (1982: 47) notes, subordin;tte classes can achieve "wal gains by securing beneficial legislation." While some critical theorists choose to view these gains in the sense that they detract only marginally from State control, Ste\,enson (1983) argues that such \.ictories are worth a struggle to preserve. 25 Accotding to Hollown,y and Picciotto (11378: 5), Poulantz;~~was justified in criticizing Miliband for his neglect of the connection between the bourgeoisie and the State: "What makes the State in capitalist society a capitalist State is not the class composition of the personnel of the State ttppimttus but the position occupied by the State in the capiti~listmode of production." swn ~nstrumentalistal)prodc li w~llnot In all likrl~hood,be as adaptable ds d structural approac h, scrc I1 as tliat 1)rq)osrd by Poulantras (Campbell, 1087 167) Pouldntrds' Ievlew of Mrlihdnd's formation employed, in the dternatr a tlieorrtrcal tlrrivat~vrof Altliusseur's struct~~ralism.Argu~ng relatw ,tutonorny thesis, Pouldntlas ( rit~c red iLl~l~t)dndfor his fd~lureto (ornpreliend "soc~al(lasses dnd the State 'is object~vtl strir( tures" (Poularitras, 1079: 242; Vin( cnt, 1987 174) He ~risteddproposed separat~on betwwn (dptal fdctmns and State ~nst~tut~ons,the Stdte he argued served to orgdnlre c ap~tal~stswli~le s~multaneously d~sorgan~nng the working class " As Block (1987 7) notes Poulant/~s~nod~f~ed dn earl~er functionalrst dnalys~sthat viewed Iiumdns ds "mere bearers of strut tures", engdgtd In reproduc~ngstruc tural relat~onsbetween classes, to one that Vinc-ent ( 10117: 17 1) chdrac-tcrires the earlier Podantridn formulation of 'strut-tirralism' ds: a mode of explanation \vIiicli I-atlier than foc-using on human subjec-ts, relies instead fo~explandtion on declp-looted underlying structures. . thk ( 1087 58) ,irguc.s tliat strut tural~sttheory must ,I( (omplisli two rrlatcd object~ves F~rst,~t must demonstrdte tlir (onstramts tlie State faces \\hen dctrng ngd~nstthe interests of individual capitalists. Second, it must possess utility tliat assists in explaining the mmncr through wh~hthe State secures the long-ttvrn interests ot capitalism As recent etnp~r~calwork swms to suggest '8 the 5tate exercises a l~rn~tedor 'rr.lat~ve ,iutonomy in its interaction with the cdpitalist class. This class appears unable to manipulate 26 Block, 1987: 6. Miliband was equally crit,ical of the Poulantzim formulation of 'ohjecti\.e structures' and 'objective relations'. Miliband suggested their utility was probahly limited t,o little more than ;in alternate fbrmulntion of 'ruling classes' (Miliband, 1979: 259). 27 See also, Citrmoy, 1984: 98, 106: Katner. McMullan and Burtch, 1987: 85-125; Vincent. 1987: 173. 28 See, fot ex,tmple, l ouch, 197;) 25-26; Vincent. 1987: 151: ("~rnoy. 1984: 250. the 5tatr at WIII, with the result that the 5t,rte frrclurntly c-hooses a tourw ot actton that c-ontradic-ts the int~restsof select capital frdctions. TIiv welfare St,itcb, and wol-kers' compensation schemes in pd~-ticuldr,illustrate this partidl usurping of capital interests. O'Connor argues that this type of State intervention hCistwo immediate implic-ations for the t apitalist clas5 First, tlicse eupendttures attempt to "reptodcrc c the ec onomlc mode of production and stimulate the rate of profit"; second, these "c,osts Irgitilnate the sdnctity wtf harmony of the social 01-der"(Bierne, 1070: 379). In other words, wliilt capital 'loses' in tlie short term, the long terrn effect is to secure and legitimate the lirgemonic interests of cdpitalism in the 'public interest' tlie 'relative autonomy' issue initiated a IWW era of critical investigdtioti of the> State, and exposcd reigning pluralist 'theories' as empirically unfounded and tlitwt-etically uninformed.3 0 I he Grdtnsc Ian s~liooli\ an attempt to tlevelop d theory that integrates Stdte dnd than an exclusive focus upon tlie determinants of tlie base-superstr~~c:tcrredistinction which is dt the centre of dn econornistic dndlysis, Grarnsci adapted historicdl lnaterialisrn to incorporate autonomous ideas and politicdl activity, in o~-dcl-to explain tlie devr~lopmentof consciousness As one group exetc lses "decisive powel", the value\ of thdt group drc internallzed by 29 According to Appelbaum i 1979: 281, one of the strongrst criticisms of .;tructuralism is "its ,Inti- humanist denial of praxis and history." 30 linuttila, 1987; Skotes, 1979. Other sources have chariicterized the Pou1;intzas-Miliband debate as a "remarkably leaden interchange" (Giddens, 1981: 209), and n "rather infertile rut" that "hiis given rise to itn illusory polarity between the itpproxhrs of these t~oauthors ...;I false polarity which has done much to delimit and impoverish discussion" (Holloway ;tnd Picciotto, 1978: 3). Similarly, Knuttila (1987: 119) believes an 'illusory polarity' has been fabricntctl by observers of the Milibkind-Poulantzas debate. There was itctu;illy n considerable level of congruence in their respective positions subordinate members of that society (Gough, 1078: %7).In tlie event that "~pont~~neocrs consent" from the "great masses" was not forthcoming, State coercive power can be invoked to "legally" enforce discipline upon tlie dissidents (Gramsci, 1971: 11). Significantly, Gratnsci's tlevelopmcnt of the concept of Iirgelnony was accomplished without sacrificing the core assumptions of Mdrxisln (Vincent, 1087: 107). For (;rams(-i, 'stl-uggle' is central to the winning of a c-onscwt nccess'uy to pea(-efully operate a civil so(-iety (Ratner and M(.IL1~1lldn,1087). IJnlikc ,In instrcrmentalist vie\\,, the State is not seen simply as an organ for tlie domination of select (-lasses over all others. Rather, it is the State itself that be(-omes a battleground for competing ideas and explanations among various fractions. As Vincent (1087: l b8) notes, "the war of ideas is as significant as myclass conflict in the factory." The iriiplic-'itions of a model that works not only 'topdown', but dlso 'bottom-up', has tremendous repercussions for capitalist fractions as a wliolt~.To the extent that the State is (1 crucial at-cna of struggle, it maintains a relative autonomy from the economic base (Vincent, ,I 1087: 169). As 1)owerful and as influential '1s the dominant ht~gemonicinstitutions are, boclrgeois ideology is not always passively accepted. rlic existence of organized, cocrnter- / hegernonic forc-0s engaged in penetrating the hegemonic- veil of the dominant classes was ackno~vledgedby Cramsci. 'I The goal, of course. is to neutralize or win tlie allegiance of individuals and groups within the various ~lnsytnpatheticfactions and, in doing so, weaken capital in what is admittedly a lop-sided power struggle for control of the State (Ratner and McMullan, 1987). Other works incorporating the concept of human agency and consciocrsness intrinsic to class struggle include the Wanvick School, tlic two most noted contributors being E.P. 31 As Vincent (1987) argues, Gramsci lwognizet-i the pi\-otnl role of an intelligentsia sympathetic to the proletarian cause in combatting bourgeois hegemony. For example. Marchak has provided empirirnl support - n 'staples theory' - that dismantles libetA assumptions of equal opportunity and freemarket. By examining data on income, pri\.at,e ownership, and laissez-faire 'regulation', the inferences we are led to make are shown to be invalid mdior contradictory. In sum, dominant explanations are dehistoricized, partial and rvcn naive while brushing aside polwty, inequality and 1,egionnl disparity (Watson, 1982: 205). Thompson (107'5, 1063) atid Uouglas Hay ( lCm).Ilieir similar works examine the life of eighteenth century Englmd in an effor-t to illustrate that (ieorgian society wds split dong class lines into th~aristocracy, mcrcantile bourgeoisie, and working class. Law as a liegetnonic institution during this historical period is perhaps tlie main thrust of tlie work. Of tlie issw of hegc.mony, Thompson implies that it is illustrative of class struggle (a consrquenc-e of agency). Ilie dominant ideology is c-ontinually bring clidllrngetl. It is nottwortliy, however, tliat some theorists view GI-amsci's concept of liistoly 'from below' as tlie greatest strength of his formulation. Otlirrs ague tliat it accords too little emphasis on the logic of an ,iutonomous, self-regulating system of capital accumulation, with dn attendant neglect of the dialectic between capital, St'itt. and latmur (Kdtnrr and 8M(-h.l~rllan, 1980). Tlir final tlieoretir-al derivative, cal,ital-logic,-32 attempts integration of the three aforementioned ~)erspectives. The capital-logic- perspective proposes politics, ideology and culture must be seen in terms of stronger connection to the ac:cumulation of capital in an atlvanced (:apitdlist economy. Specificdlly, it is the falling rate of protit and intensified efforts of c-dpital to extr-act surplus vdl~tethat has an impdct upon the nature of the State. The State assumes a central role in produc-tion and accumulation processes. Because tlie State must mirror the cliarac-trristics (including tlie contradictions) of the economic system it facilitates, declining profit levels and renewed attempts to extract increased surplus value result in class struggle (Vincent, 1987: 176). As Ratner and h.lcMullan (1989: 244) note, capital-logic examines tlie nature, func:tions, and forms of tlie capitalist State in I-elation to the dutonomous dynamic of capital. 32 An initial version of capiti~l-logicconcentrated almost exclusivrly upon both fiscal and legal factors central to the production and exchange of commodities. A more recent formulation places greater emphiisis upon exploitation and the role of class struggle in the routine operation of the capitalist system of' social and economic relations (Rtitner, McMull;xn and Burtch, 1987: 96). <'r~t~cal of ~nstrurnentdllst structuralist and (;ramsc~an theoret~cal detwat~vrs,as a wnsecluence of the~rnear-exclusive '( 1x5-theoretic dl' ( oncept~onof tlie 5tate, tiolloway and Picc iotto (1078) argue that tlie three alternate theorc>t~caltrajectories are [lnable to analyze the development of pol~trcalforms secondly they are unable to ,mdly/e systtwdt~callythe Iltnltatlon\ ~mposedon State by the reldtlon of the State to thc process of ( ap~talaccumulat~on (Holloway ,lnd PIC( totto 1078 10) Acco~dingto a cdpltdl-logic perspective, there sliould br something more than an dttempt to slww empirically how the State a(-ts in the interests of capital. Rather, tlie reasons for, and tlie manner In wh~clithe State takes d part~cularcourse of act~on(w~tlio~tt simply attr~but~ngthe outcome to 'class struggle') should be subjects of analysis, in light of a recurring series of fiscal crises of State (Holloway anti Picciotto. 1078). Starting with tlie dominant mode of production, while remaining cognizant of tlie role of tlie State in the "crisis-ridden development of capital" ((;0~1gIi, 1070: 156), the capital-logic- trajectory 'periodizes' tlie drvelopmcnt of tlie capitalist State into three exclusivt~'moments': f~rst,thc. ~)liaseof pr~~n~t~veaccumulation of c-dpital, (Iidrd(ter17edby a State that may behaw in an instrumental mdnner. Statc intervention occurs to prevent c-ornpeting capital interests from destroying each other, while simultaneously facilitating c-onditions c-ondcrcive to maximal extraction of surplus and concomitant profitability. Second, tlie 'liberal' moment, charactenzed by a marked in( rease In tlie frequency dnd extent of State ~nterventronw~th a view toward tlie long term interests of tlie capitalist class. tiere, the State expands tlie infrastructure required to service a burgeoning ('dpital~steconomy The State also facilitates tlie creation and installation of statute law that ostensibly separates political and economic power, codifying rxploitdtion and employing subterfuge through tlie introduction of terms such as 'fairness' and 'equality', in order ti anouflage unequal socio-economic relations Finally, tlie 'contemporary' moment, that of monopoly (apitalistn, characterized by a falling profit rate as a consequence of increased costs of production. In order to counter profit declines, tlie rtnpliasis moves froln a tradition of 'rule of law' and its concomitant lo(-us of power in 'tlernocratically' tk-ted institutions (such as tlie federal tiouse of Commons and provincial 1 egislative Assemblies) to a centralization of po\ver in the executive. I-lit: State is required to cornprornise the separation of economic and 1)olitical powers. A nlonopolistic., lnuiti or trans-ndtional capitalist economy recluiring large infusions of capital investment at any one locale, demands a Stat? with the Imwer to intervene in a coercive manner. In this way, cal)ital antic.ip,~tt>sthat it can survive an t3scalating series of crises associated ~vitlia capitalist economy (Ratner and Mcblullan, 1089, 1987; (;ough, 1973). (:apital-logic is clearly not '1 theoretical panacea, ho\vever. As Ratner and Ah-Mullan (1080, 1987) and Ciddens ( 1081: 2 1.5) obselvr, '1 fun(-tionalist 'needs of capital' account is the only explanation offered for State intervention into the economy. Cough (1979: 157) '11-gues that working-class agency is significant when exercised within a bocrrgeois frarncwork. Mortvver, (;ough ol)poscs the suggestion thclt thtx State is never autonomous enough to represent the long term interests of capital. 1.aw and i~t~galItlrology Since any discussion concerning the implementation of a State compensation sclit~me is necessarily a discussion of law, it is Iielpicrl to address the relation of law and legal ideology to the formation of socidl relations. Shaw (137'): 34-51, argues that ideologies are "world- views which, despite their partial and possibly critical insights, prevent us from understanding the society in which we live and tht possibility of changing it." Bourgeois ideology is a deformation of reality (Abcrcrombie. 1080). Nevertheless, according to Collins (1982: -101, ~Llarxistsare riot necessarily devoted to tlie position that dll ideologies ar-e false. Mdrx, and later, Mannheim addressed the ideology inherent in social and political thought. ivarx, in particular, closely examined inter-locking econornic, political, and ideological factors in order to better understand tlie collec-tive consciousness of societ) dominated by liberal world-views. He also utilized the construct of 'false consciousnes, ' to de5crrbe the extent to wh~ch real-world cxpcrrencc~sfarled to ( orrelate hrth tlorn~nant ~deolog~c\.1 iberal world-v~ewsare rndeed rernarkablc, be( ause they never appear a5 ideology, but rattier, as 'public knowledge'. 3 3 Cordon (1988: 2 15) posits that the nature and role of the capitalist State are modifitd according to the temporal juncture under consideration, the geographic region and type of State, and the constitution of tlie obstacle (confronting it. Acknowledging the inhcrmt tension in law that symbolizes both force and consent is one matter: understanding it is another. A conjunctural analysis allows the incorporation of a dialectical method to understand the relation of ideological conditions to agency at a specific time and place ((:aputo, et dl, 1080). Dialectical analysis aids in understanding the manner in ahich the State 'creates' law in order to r~solveth~ various problems. Specifically, the struggle for workmerl's compensation serves as a prime example of '1 socio-legal probltlm that tiid not readily complement contemporary legdl norms of the period. For ~nstrurnental~\ts,the focus 15 upon the coerclve nature of caprtal~st1,w The- existing legal order i5 seen as a facade to fac-ilitate social structuring for the benefit of ( al)rtal~\tproductrve rt>lat~ori\(Coll~ns, 1082 20) A drsproport~onateamount of effort 15 devoted hy the 5tate to the creat~onof a clrrnate favourablt> to bcrsrnes5 to the detrrment of any accompanying attempt to legitimate the legdl system. As tlie State enjoys no dutonorny frorn the requirement of facilitating measures for the productive process and associated social relat~ons~nstrurnerltalrsts quest~on whether true reform IS possrble (Qurnney 1974, Be~rneand ()urnney, 1082, ('aputo, et al, 1989) 1 < kt'' For structuralists, a relatively-autonornous State facilitates an ideal locale within which to fabricate a 'consensual structure'. The State achieves this relative autonomy by assuming , responsibility for surveillance activities, which enhdnces the ability to implement social control 33 For a more extensive review of the prrvasi\,eness and 'power' of thr tenets of liberal ideology, see Mannheim, 19:16: 125; 255-266; Walzer, 1983. tnt.asure5 ((;Iddens, 198 I 1 GO, 2 18) kcond, tlie state may be sa~dto have a rclatlve autonomy ~nsofaras ~t possesses the rxtlus~ve prerogative to exerclse vlolen~e. 1 lilrtl, the State represents ,t forum wliere fringe groups may secure inroads against tlie wishes of the ruling class (Ratner, et al, 1087: 100). As l'incent (1987: 170) rtweals, the State evolved as a responst3 to disorder, sewing as a lnethanisrn for the resolution of conflict. This role suggests a milieu, where, as Ratner and Mc-Mullan (1970) propose, legitimacy for specific State policy may be fashioned. The law becomes not the imposition of tlir norms and values of J dominant minority, but I-atlier, a systematic (and systtmic) c-onstruct which almost invariably succeeds in usurping collective rights in favour of individual ones. Significantly, the State is able to introduce periodic antl timely 'reforms' that often succeed in reproducing tlie dominant system of capitalist prodcrctive antl social relations. For structuralists, tlie law serves as a cornl~rornisesolution to the problem of class struggle, transformed into political conflic-t within the confines the State. 1~lio~tghtlie degree to which tlie dominant (lasses are able to conduct tlicir respective affairs may be somewhat compromised as a consequence of legal constr~lc-tssuch as tlic. 'rule of law', 'due pro(-ess' and provisions for 'equality' , this seeming inft-ingctnrnt of their legal rights is necessary to defusc unrest and legitimate the State (Ratner and McMullan, 1087). As (Idputo, et a1 (1089: 57) note, the theoretical utility of solne stl-uc:turalist explanations of law and State is lessened by too acute an emphasis upon tlie dichotomy of acc~lrn~~lation-legitimation.to the detriment of exploring State coercion. In contrast to other neo-Marxist positions wliic-Ii examine the ideological functions of law itself, Cramscian theorizing attempts to isolate tlie manner in which legal rules and ~ doctrine appear able to re-formulate in a dynamic process, so that they are in approximate alignment with dominant ideologies (Collins. 1082: .SO). As political struggles are ultimately struggles over ideas (Block, 1987: 18), a neo-Crarnscian-.-- --- investigation emphasizes the 3.1 However, Vincent (1987: 222) also proffew that the State does not necessarily ;~lw;tysser1.e ;is ti territory for dispute resolution. On the cont,r:iry, the State is entirely capable of creating conflict. formulation of c-ounter-idc>ologirs (such as those propagated by syndic-Aist labour unions; Collins, 1082: 30) and mobilization of dominant institutions of hegemony (si~clias tlie CIiur(-I1 press and educ-ational systems) to counter-act the threat. Marx argued that the conditions of social t>xistence determined collectivc consciousness (Collins, 1082: ,371. As Cordon (1988: 2 17) ~irgues,the (;ramxian perspective views reform as 'i desirable objective, with the condition that it be undert'iken by 'organic intellec-tcrals' - those both sympathetic to the (:aust> 01 the working class, and mot-t3likely to re-c~stablish wol-king-class c-onsciousness. For cal)itdl-logic-, the tbconornic relation5 of capitalism (as articulated by Marx in C,,pit~l)be(-omes the basis for the ideological c-hardcter of law, with the State deriving its 'logic' of operation trom social relations. By disguising in juridical form the class antagonism that drises from the drive to extract incredsctl surplus value, c-apital-logic virws legal ideology as the direct product of class struggle. Instead of a focus upon an at-tificial separation of politics and law from the economy, dcrivationist theory attempts to isolate dominant legal ideologies in conjunction with the identification of the form (or- ~hase)of the appropriation of surplus value (Rdtner and iLI(:M~lllan.1089). Soc-ial Welfare and the State: Recent developlnetlts Workmcn's c-ompensation is a relevant example of State intervention into the Idbour reproduction process and, as social welfare policy analysis, must begin with an examination of the relationship between the State and the dominant social interests. At issue is whether the State simply reflects the interests of dominant interests in society, or whether interests of tlie various dominant factions and the dominated classes are alternately considered (Carnoy, 1084; Vincent, 1987). Workmen's compensation served to humanize the workplace to some degree, and to provide benefits to injured and disabled workers. Nevertheless, the question is whether these reforms are a product of State activity that serves the interests of capital (in oarticular, the ~c:cutnulationprocess) with only indirect benefits to labour, or mhrther workmen's c'ompc:nsation is enacted by the State in the face of oplposition from capital (Doyal and Pennell, 1081; Schmidt, 1080). The manner in which any reforms are implemented are, in part, a consequence of the acccrrnu~dtion~~egitirnationparadox of capitalism. In effect, thc. State must serve the accumulation function, while obscuring links with capital interests ((:lement, 1077; 0'<'onncr,lC)73). According to (;o~~gIi( I 979; 1078: 27), the term '\vt4farc> State' is of comp~ratively recent origin. It refers to the period immediately following the Second \iL1orld War. Ihe depression of the 10 10's exacted a severcl toll on the Canadian cconomy and the western working (-lass (Mrlynk, 1989; Griffin, 1085; White, 1083). This state of affairs resulted in nc3,jr unprrvxdented social anti political instability (Wolfe, 1'184). Ihis lengthy crisis was not solely reslmnsible for the rise atid implementation of social welfare legislation, nor was it the rcscllt of class conflict alone. Uathttr, the dominant mode of protluc-tion (that of industrial capitalism) creates needs that must be addressed, or risk compromising the integrity of the entire economic system as a consequence. <;ougli's ( 1070) andlysis of the origins and strut-ture of the \\/elfare State in a capitalist economy neatly encapsulates many of the issues relevant to a discussion of workel-s c-ompensation, Co~lgli(1979: 3) identifies the welfare State as a "constituent feature of modern capitalist societies." While popularly presumed to have as its r~isonci'ttre nothing less than an irnprovernent of the living standards of the population (as a consequence of the benevolent action of State md capital), a ~nodifie(d-strc~(:tut-alistperspective draws an entir-ely different pictttre. Legislative reforms may create, or improve upon, social welfare provisions. Nevertheless, there is d social control component (Gougli, 1070: 3). The economy is not adapted to the needs of the people; rather, the labour force is adapted to the requirements of a capitalist economy. In or-der for- the e~ploitationof labour to occ-ur, tlvo conditions must he met. First, labour productivity must rxcred a subsistence level, necessary to allow for the production dlid reproduction of tlie pol)ulation and, consequently, the labour force. Second, the owners of the means of production must bt. in a position to expropriate any surplus value produced during tlie operation of the pi-odcrc-tivr. process (<;ougli, 1070: 18). Because the tnodr of production has a substantial impact upon the social structure, any measures that enhance the viability of capital further entrenches the poweriessness dnd alienation of labour in real terms. Benefits may, however, also accrue to the working class, thus legitimating tlie existing system of social and productive relations. <;o~~gli~~rovides an example of the tinglish 10 Hours Act to illustrate the manner in which a struggle for a shorter work day, waged by labour against tlie interests of specific capital factions, was won. Though the legislation was premised upon a 'harmony of interests' (Co~~gli,1079: 66), the 9~i~tol-y'clearly aided the longitudinal imperative of capital accumulation by protecting the labour supply for all capitalists ((;(.)ugh, 1079: 55). The juncture at wlii~litlie Stdte implemented compensation to offset 'industrial progress' and relentless ca1)italist development ((;ough, 1979: 0 I) constitutrs the foc-al point of this thesis. Kolko (196.3) and Block (1077) approached social reform ds intrinsically tied to a blurred distinction between State regulation of business and State regulation for State business. Block (1077) argued that large corporations supported social welfare reforms during tlie early twentieth c-entury due to a desire to stabilize economic conditions, while at the same time allowing for predictable capital accumulation. Kolko ( 1063) argued that only reforms wliic-I1 ultimately met the recluirernents of capital would ever be instituted by the State. Despite the smaller, less powerful capital factions voicing their concerns about tlie concept of compensation, the corporate and financial elite consistently supported minimal reform, while rejecting anything more (Bliss, 1973). Block (1087: 36) later re-formulated his position of 'c.orporatt liberalism', choosing to describe State activity in terms of reform pressure "from below." Finkel (1977) suggests the implementation of so(-id welfare Itlgislation indicates that elite power (-an be reduced, and capitalism controlled, without comprornising the strcrcture of a capitalist economy. The implementation of industrial safety and health legislation (predominantly in factories and mines), a minirncrtn wage, and industrial c-onc.iliation-arbitration measures all suggest an "umpire" or "guardian" I-ole for the State (1077: 3-14), Bliss ( 197-1) notes that while the Canadian Manufacturers Association and its provinc-id1 dffilidtes may have been opposed to specific provisions of social welfare proposals, as the capital accumulation crisis worsened, s~tpportfor the gcntrral principle behind such legislation increased. j5 Finkel (1970: 83) analyzed a series of Canadian social welfare reforms during the 1030's. tie concluded that business initiated, dnd supported, reforms which addressed the immediate conc-erns of the working class. More importantly. these initiatives recognized ,i 1)ressing need to "stabilize a destabilized cconorny." While social inequities appeared to be addressed, in fact, only a tninitnal redistribution of income and powr was realized. <>'Connor ( 1073) postulates that the State det-ives a I-elative dirtonomy from birsintss interests as a result of its accumulation and legitimdtion functions. As Vincent (1087: 177) observes, tlie State must intervene into the economy in order to retain legitimacy. Yet, State intervention must not threaten long-term a(-cum~~lation.Othenvise, the ability of the market system to function might be co~n~,romiscd.i('nised As O'Connor (1973) has argued. tlie :35 Finkel, 1977. Nonetheless, as Collins i 1982: 52) proposes, considerable intra-class conflict occurs within the "lcgislative melee." ("~pitiil interests mere not represented ;ts a monolithic bloc Rather, Stkite intervention served to consolidate disparitte positions. 36 For. De\:ille and Burns (1977-78: 8), an economic system dominated by the imperatiws of capital :iccumulation and profit maximization requirrs th~itefforts be made to address contradictions without jeopardizing either the accumulation imperative or the associated power structure. Hirsch i 1978: 75) posits the existence of a link between the historical process of capitillkt society and the development of the productive fbrces furthered by the accumulation of capital: a development which "continually comes into conflict with the niirron- basis ofcapitidist rel:ttions of production." While so(-ialization of capitdl expenditures necessary to maintain production levels, antl the private appropriation of surplus creates a fiscal crisis in which Statc ttxl~endituresincrease at a pace greater than tlie means of financing them. Malion ( 1977: 165-66) suggests a relative autonomy of the State is ncv?ssary if it is to function as an "organizer of lic>gemony." Moreover, an analysis incorporating an historic a1 aplxoacli allows class struggle to be seen as dynamic-, and influenced by tlie degree of representation acliievtd within tlie various appendages of tlie State. Citing a differential level of powrr among the various classes as a basis for the relativtl acrtonorny of the State. Malion reveal5 an administrative apparatus that is able to "depolitic-ire" dnd "render Inore efficient" the design and iriiplernr~ntationof social welfnre policy. Maintaining the fa(-adc of '1 'c-omrnon interest' ,ind a 'neutral State', the State fa(-ilitates participdtion of mdrgindl groups in any nc3goti'ition that q>pears to aim ,it achieving d cornp pro mist^'. As klahon ( 1077: 17)notes, rhetoric involving 'a more efficient economy' and a 'c-ommonality of interests' is part of the idiom of capitalist ideology, for in the final andlysis, it is tlic Iargrl c-orpor,itions who \z,ield tlir most influence in the optvation of a capitalist economy. Krgardlcss ot the effect the implementation of scrcli reform may have in terms of 'n'inners' or 'losers', it is a capitalist economy that is strtwgtliened. Conseqcrently, capitalist interests are least likely to lose. Doyal ,ind Pennell (1381) attempt to dissect antl analyze tlie links between science as agency, and the Ilrocesses utilized for caring for tlie sick. They sclggcst that there is an intrinsic connection between the manner- in ~vhicha society is struc-tul-ed from a social, economic and political standpoint, and tlie type of medical care that is produced. In partic~~lar,they address tlie nature of capitalism, and the acceptance by many of the popctlation that disease and death is a regrettable, but necessary, price to pay for tlie benefits of economic growt~i.~'However, the appearance of' conflict is disguised, the contradictions persist and, ns Finkel (1977: 1979) asserts, t,he extent of genuine and lasting chimge is limited. ill health cannot ...be attrib~ttedsimply to capitalism in any c-rude sense. On the other hand, we cannot make sense of patterns of health and illness outside the context of thc mode of production in w1iic.h they occur (1081: 27). rhro~~gllan inve5tigation of the effects of ~vorhing(otiditions on health, and the form and (ontent of cap~taltst~ntlustr~al health strateg~cs,Doyal and Pennell rcweal that the ~rnperdt~ves of d cdpitalist economy scts c-lcdr limits 011 \\hat is, and is not, an acceptable form of State intervention. Productivity dnd profitability, dnd not a benevolent (oncern for improvement of living stmddrds, are the key determinants to State i~itcrvent~onin industrial health (Doydl and Pennell, 1081). Produc tron ~rnperat~vestkmand prec cdenc t3 In any d~scusslon of the produt t~ondnd reproduction of the populdtion. In( luding health concerns. rhe State is led by a progression of events to ( ountet on-gang threats to the dom~nantec onomtc system, 38 and tespond ~v~tlithe ~mplementdt~onof var~oushealth sttateg~es Similarly, bialters (108 1) traced the legislative pro(-ecs for an Ontario bill (Bill 70) in the 1070's She found that State ~ntervent~oninto tlie workplace protnoted cap~tala( cumulat~on modified the reprotluc twn of labour pver, and encoitragcd a belicf in tlie legitimacy of thr system By redut 11ig health hdzatds 111 the \vorkpldce the State sought to le55en the dra~non surpl~tsvalue caused by ill-health It 15 thtvefore tiotable th,it v~ct~ms of 1ndu5tr1al'accidents' were the first in almost every country to receive socid security benef~ts(Cough, 1979). Navarro (1070) po~ntsot~t thdt the \velfdre Stdte lids not lessened the class stratification of capitalist society. tie notes the existence of class-based discrepancies in the 37 Nonetheless. ;is Doyal and Pennell (1981: 241 note, left \\inp rhetoric th;tt attributes ,111 disease to capitalism has \-pry little theoretic;il or political content. 38 Swartz (1977: 318) cites two historic;~Ilysignificant figures to buttress his claim. Kaiser Wilhelm I proclaimed that the "cure of social ills" was to be tbund in the "positive advancement of t,he welfare of the working cliisses" (1977: 3151. In 1918, Mackenzie King wrote Social insurance, which in reality is health insurance in one thrm or another, is ;i means employed in most industrial count,ries to bring about ;I wider measure of social justice, without, on the one hand, disturbing the institution of private property and its advantages to the Community, or, on the other, imperiling the thrift and industry of individuals. provlslon of health wrvtces. Moreover, as Renaud ( 1075) found rarl~er,Navarro conf~rmsthat a cla3s \tru( ture, remised upon the dominant mode of production, limits the nature of State intervention into health care. Capitalist industrial growth that produces health needs that are 'treat'hle' by medicine are c:oml)atible \kith a capitalist organization of the economy. rhis is brcdc~secapitalist medicintb has a slrong emphasis upon a power differential that locates its origins in class, gender and ethnicity. It creates and reinforces an unequal relationship between patients and doctors, and tlie imposition of a health care system that buttresses a rttcipient's lack of autonomy and power, means that medical care provides an ideal lnediuln for socialization and social control (Doyal and Pennell, 108 1). State intervention, in the form of bourgeois medicine, c-ornplements capitalist ideology, anti allows an emphasis upon the individual in determining the causr of, and apportioning blame for, disease. Political and economic rxl~lanationsto l~ositionsof insignific-awe, to tlie detriment of the \\,orkforcr. 1.0 do otlienvise would risk defining occupational health issws in a mmner that would tiemand a c-ollec-tive solution. 39 Schatzkin ( 1978) focuses upon the factors that determine the level of health care. tie suggests that human agency (espetially class str~g~lt.)'~)has a marked impact upon tlie l~rovisionof services.' ' It is argued that health is seen as little more than another commodity variable, albeit one upon which tlie capitalist imperatives of capital accumulation and profit maximization are integrally linked. Schatzkin proposes the provision of 'excess' hralth services beyond that required to secure production and reproduction of the labotlr force is considered 39 Nal-arro (1976: 449) notes that the exclusion of alternate ideologies is perhaps the most pre\.;ilent form of State intervention. The destruction of ht.;tlth is an issue of crucial political importance, and an ideological effort to make health an indi\-idual issue, rather than n collective one, itssists the State in maintaining legitimacy ol,er the long run (Doyid and Pennell. 1981: 35). 40 For Schntzkin (1978: 214), class struggle is, in a Gramscian sense, the same as that identified by Navarro (l!lX6a: 149) - a dynamic process, where the working class is able to impact upon t,he "boundaries, means and instruments of dominance." 41 Without working-class agency, capital investment in medical care would occur for no other reason than it desire for an increased rate of wage-labou~,exploitation (Schatzkin, 1978). a '[OSS' to (-dpital. This argument helps explain why some social programs may have d beneficial effect (Iio\vever minimal) on mortality rates (a 'health' indicator), while these same programs lidve a wry significant impact upon flit~dltli'measures that reflect the capacity to work. Accordingly, a preliminary investigation of the conditions leading to the im~~lemetitdtionof workmen's compensation SLI~~PS~Sspw-ific strategies. The interlocking recluirernents of legitimation, order-maintenance, and the production and reproduction of labour and a system of social and tv-onomic relations - buttressed by the presulnrd impartiality of an administrative board - appears to be central to explaining the origins of workmen's coml~ensdtion. With an ernphasis upon human dgency and class struggle,42 and dn allowance for the infusion of an instrumental analysis at relevant junctures or 'periods' in capitalist development, a modified-structuralist th~oreticaltrajectory offers the greatest promise for inquiry in this area. 42 Again, Althusseurian structuralism will not easily accommodate contradiction, change or class struggle, hence the utilization of the Poulantzian variant (E.P. Thompson, 1978: 197). CHAPTER TWO RESEARCH METHODS his thesis is a macro-sociologic-a1 investigation of tlie rise of wol-kmen's compensation in British Columbia, set within the frame-work of the sociology of law. It is a 'c-onjuncturdl' analysis: that is, an examination characterized by temporal (and, in this case, geographic-) spxificity, focussing upon political, economic- and social vari;tbles dt a ~mwieterrnined liiitorical iuncture (Gordon, 1088) The inspiration to engage in work on the topic of workers' c-ompensation derives from a number of sources t~rst,a long-staridtng tnterest by the ac~thor~n worhrng people, espec~allyIn light of the renewed attacks by the New Right' (see Ratner and hlcMullan, 1985) to dismantle protective nglits that took many yeals for tlie n~orking(-lass to achieve. As Kulndr (1900. LOG) argues, tlie ~)reselltstate of labour-ortented dc-ddernrc resealrh IS empirically and theoretically dt3ficient: Tliel-e appears to be little undet-standing of tlie profound changes in the economy, society, demography, labour markcts, technology, and in political ideologies - their nature, form, dimension, and the implications for workers and their organizations. Nor h,ls tliere been much rese~rchon how worket-s and unions in other c-ocrntries have col~edwith economic. change, atid what kind of lessons can be derived from this experience. Personal rxpericnces, in those occurring within tlie British Columbia forest industry, served to liiglilight tlie contradictory nature of orcupational health and safety regulation in dn ec onomy dependent upon twer-~ncreastnglevels of productton In order to secure For examl,le, on one job-\lte where tlic author was employed, there was an implicit ~lnderstandingamong fellow employees that 'safety first' was an on-again, off-again maxim to be followed only ,IS long JS produc-tion quot~swere met. ' In the event of 1 The practices of some unscrupulous emplo>rrs hiiw ~txsultedin some employees interpreting the 'safety first' maxim to mean 'safety first: the firxt to go.' Interview with Mr. W.C. Denault, Ilirector, H.C. C'onstruction Health and Safety C'ouncil, Butmaby. R.C., April Xth, 1988. met tunic al fatlclres or other unforeseen ( Irc umstance~,workers were expec ted to make-up the short-fall in the most expedient manner possible - including, if necessary, calculated risk- taking. T~liouglithis type of betiaviour was officially prohibited by Workers' Compensation Board regulations and company policy, it was nonetheless expected ~ndcondoned by scrpervisors, who made themselves conspicuous by their absence on tlie shop floor tlie moment production resumed. Ironically, if an unwary employee were 'caught' violating safety rules, verbal or written reprimands, and even short suspensions resulted. To refuse to engage in unsafe betiaviour greatly increased tlie likelihood of tlie imposition of a penalty in tlie forln of a posting to a 1r.s~ desirable, and potentially even rnorc dangerous job. Though management would never admit to engaging in such tacit practices, several incidents had occurred so that employees were not only clearly aware of the response expected from them, but also the sanctions for refusing to ronfortn.' Third, work undertaken on 'corporate crime' during my first year of graduate studies raised a question: why are victirns of workplace ~ssacrltdealt with by the Workers' Compensation Board, while victirns of criminal (non-work place) injury and a~s~iulthave retained the right to seek redress through tort action and tlie criminal law? Seminal research has been conducted dealing specifically with the antecedents of ~vorkmen'sco~npensation,~ This area is due for a more detailed investigation of its origins. Historically informed 'instance' studiesJ have been undertaken in vario~~slocales. 111England, Colwill (1987) investigated tlie reform of workers' compensation, in the context of the Beveridge (lorntnissiori in the closing years of the Second h'orld War. In Canada, Tucker 2 Infr;~,pgs. 203-05, for an historical illustration of the '3petdup' phenomenon in the workplace. 3 See, (:;impt)ell (1980);Dori~n (1986); Flett (1913); Grddes (198G); Guest (1985); Pope (1966); Tucker (1984); Reasons, et al ( 1981). 4 'The te~,rn'inst,ance study' indicates the application of a con,juncturnl iinalysis, consisting of the political, economic and ideological, to a specific historical event, or related series of events at a particular moment in history. (1090, 1084) lids ex,mined employers' liability law in late nineteenth century Ontario, while Rrsk (108 1) rrvtewed the h~storrca1 ante( edents of workers c ornpen5atton tn the same province. Waiters (1083) reviewed an instanc e of a 1977 Ontario bill dealing with the right to refuse ~rnsafework, and regirlatton of tox~~substances, among otlier ~lerns hl~Mullanand Kdtner (1983) revrewed tivo instanc es of labour unrest, of ivlitch orit> lnstmcc - that of the 1912- 14 coal-miners stt-ike on Vancocrver Island - 1:011Id be dir-ectly attributed to a refusal by miners to labour under unsafe working conditions (set. also, Rdtner and MciLl~rllan,1080). As Hirst (1085: 69) argues. historical research is a pr-ocess ot 'finding out', a mpasuring of a re5earcli questton aga~nsttlie dvadable evidcwt e. A two-hlarxtst ortentation c learly reflec t5 a continuing refinement of tlie symbiotic relationship between history and theory. it is tlie methodology that brrdges eprsternologrcal assumptions and the concrete researc 11 project The value of research and the answers provrdetl by dat,i andlysr3 varres a( c ordrng to not only tlie person(s) conducting tlie experiment, but tlie methodology eml)loyc.d; for, as iLlills ( 1950: r 11)- argues, "~Cletliodology... seelns to determint. tlie problems." R/\oreover, as Gordon (l988: 566) notes /' 'F-acts' can be 'interrogated' but hot11 the extraction of meaning and its fusiori with tlie rneanings derived from otlier 'interrogations' are inevitably influenced by theoretical and ideological biases. T-lwse infltlenc-cs shape tlie final product and a reader must, at tlie outset, be aware of the colour of the interpretative lens employed by an analyst. L)ue to its historical nature, this thesis rdies almost exclusively upon documentary sources, of which most are necessarily retrospective. These sources include the press, reported cases, jurispr~rdence,and arc-hival materials su(% as subrnissionr and proceedings before Royal Cornmissions (Thompson, P.. 1978: 100). iLlat~ysources, especially Royal Commissions, are treated by researchers as sourres of 'objective knowledge', even though they reflect little more than s~r~erfrcialappedranc e.' As Paul Thompson (1978: 100) notes, 5 Marx, in pi~rticulas,remained cognizmt ofthe danger of epiphenomena, and sought to deri1.e the tictual content of phenomena (V;iilliincout~t,1986: li 1 ). Royal Commissions are founded nearly exclusively upon an interview format, a method lie describes as particularly intimidating... in which tlie lone informant was confronted by the \vIiole committee - just like a widow seeking out-relief \vho faced tlie Board of Guardians. E.P. Pliompson (1978: 211) has constructed an investigative template that provides conc:rt.tt3 guidance to the socio-historical researcher in p~trsuitof "discrete facts": (a) "historical facts" must be scrutinized to detrrmine how, and for what reamti, the informdtion was recorded. (b) analyze the information at the "level of their own appearance" or "apparent self- disclosure", while remaining sensitive to the presence. of attitutlrs or itleologic~s. (c)analyze "value-free rvidences" presented, for example, in tlie form of statistic-al roc-edures, tor evidence of intruding ideological precepts. (d) analyze history in a linear fashion (history as it "actually happened", but "as it can ncvt>r be fctlly known") in order to construct a narrative dcTocl11t. (e) examine the lateral linkdgt. of "soc-id~~ideo~ogi(:a~ieco~io~~~i~~~~)oiticarelations" in order to determine the nature of a "section" of society in the l)ast, in(-luding, for example, market relations, ~owerand domination. (f) analyze tlie facts for "structure-bearing evidence"; that is, seeking evidence which indicates a dialectical relation between human agency, and the at sotne times constraining, and others enabling, nature of the social structirre created by hcrmans. Clearly, a centrd probletnatlt for any rewdrc he1 15 the pro( css of arrlvlng at a determination as to 'why' the document came into being in the first place. rhis aspect of tlie research comprises tlie 'bread and butter of tlie trade" (E P Iliompson, 1978 211) For the most part, tlocutnents are not created by a( cident; ncarly all data have a purpose behind their creation and llresewation. Accr~ledknowledge may limit alternate ideologies or rbxplanations that critique structural contradictions and in(-onsistencies. Llocuments, therefore, may be tlie object of wilful manipulation by their creator(s1 in order to convey a misleading impression, one that may rdtlge from "minor fudging to toulering lies" (Schafer, 1975: 74). (If all - ' doc urnents, perhaps government docctments warrant a critical reading in that they "can, and often do, contain distortion and error... due to bias."' A useful example of this phenomenon 1s prov~dedby P~LIIThompson ( 1078 O/), ~vhoanalyred the rcc ords of an English Colnmlttee of Inrlu~ry(1 830). llie offlc~alreports of the Poor Law ('ornrnls51oners on the Labout Mlgrat~onScheme of the It3 30's can be hwn,through alternative wurccs to have grossly exaggerated the figures for tlie numbers of paupers removed, and to have clurte falsely cla~med that dl of those rctnovetl had found work In order to wggest that the scheme was succerd~ng Conseclurntly, arc-hival data must be handled with the utmost care by a researcher, as it may represent naught but a 'social perception of facts', subject to various c-ontextual pressures. If a distorted observation is treated as 'fact', the object of contributing to a theoretically Primal-y and Secondary Sourc-es: The Specific Methodology Primary Sources Information on workmen's compensation can be secured thl-ocrgli a number of 7 sources.' Both primary and secondary sources of information wet-e incorporated within the thc~sisframc\vork. A review of social science abstracts proved unfruitful. 14 computer search was not undertaken, on the advice of Sirnon hser Univtvsity library staff, due to the recency of the databases, and the obscure and historical nature of the thesis topic. Thus, the chosen methodology was the only available option open. Emphasis @,as placed upon primary documents, silcli as: lourn~lsof the British Columbia Legisl~tiveAssembly; Sessional Papers of the British Columhi~Legislature: St,?tutes of British Columbia; Dominion and provincial Royal Commissions; tlie Cdn,lcla Ldbour Glzette: and British Columbi,~Gazette. In addition, a number of oral histories were incorporated into the research (see below). (1 Sch;rfer ( 1')'i.l: 75). In terms of bi;is, Paul Thompson (1978: 92) notes that "authors of documents, Like histori;ins. tire assumed to be male." According to Rosenth;d (1979: X),an early Giilure to record women's labour history "probably stemmed from a belief that women's struggles were unirnportimt or insignificant in a historical context." 7 Ribliogriiphic references consulted dealt with, among other things, the literature on the welfiwe State and working chss agency. See, bibliography. lourn,~lsof the British Columhi,3 Legi.sl,?tive Assernbly rorty-five consec~rtivevolumes of the lourn~ls8 were reviewed, beginning at 1875 (v. 3) and ending at 1020 (v. 30). They were read with the object of sorting dnd classifying political events, inclcrding economic or so(-ial pressures emanating outside British Columbia or Canada, and government rhetoric.. Government activity was monitorc.d through throne slxeclies, legislative activity and voting records. The 1ourn~l.sc-omprise d complcte record of every bill introduced in the House, and their eventual disposition. This record also proved to be dn invaluable source for petitions sttblnitted by ernplovers anti workers, and was a crseful index for various ministerial reports published in tlie sessional papers. mework of relevant Select Committee investigations were, on occasion, reproduced in their entit-ety in the lourn,jl dpl)endic-es. Session,,/ P,?pers of the British Columbia Legisl~ture Information published in sessiond pipers was most effertive when utilizrd in c- onj junction with tlir lourn~1.sof the kgisl~tiwAssernhly. The sessional paper-s provided d record of all reports presented to tlie 1.egislat~treand 01-dered to be printed, including all of the final reports of the Royal Commissions surveyed for this thesis. The sessiondl papers contained dl1 annual reports of various government departments, inclcrding tlie inspectorates The sessional papers were a fruitfcrl source of related cludntitative information, including graphs, diagrams and photographs. The latter were particularly useful, especially whrti reviewing a report on a catastrophic event, such as a mine disaster. 8 The British Columbia Jorlr.nals of'the Lcgislnticc, Asscmhlv are hereinafter cited as JLA 3 2 Provinc-ial dntf Dominion Royal Commissions J~obertsonto pl.o~.inc'iiiImine inspector Archib~iltlDick, disclosed concrrn iibout n news item dsiiwn from the WirLrlipcgT~~lcgr.cZrn. 'I'he gist of the Tf~l~g1.~2rr~al,ticlt: \\:is that the co;il mines ;it Michel (in the vic.init,y of the (:t~w'sNest P;iss) wt>w unsafe: "Will you be good enough, therefore, to carefully examine into the condit,ion nf thp mines of the ('sous lzjest Piiss ('okil ('ompany iind report ;it the e;wliest, l~o~~ibl~moment. It is nrcessii1.y th;~tsuch ;I srpost. if unfoundtd, should be denied ;is Promptly ;is possil)lt>"; 'Rt.tur.n of ;\I1 seposts on the ('o;il Mines of thr Cro~sNest Coal ('ompiny wide hy Mr. Mc(;rrgt)~., Mine Inspector, ;inti MI,.Dick, Mine Inspector, since the 9th tiny of Nov. 1898, :ind the corrt.spondt>ncc>;ippet.t,;iining tht~srto.'S~ssior,c~l Pnpr.s (190" 2 Ed. 7 ;it p. l:36O. to tlitl tliscrc.tion of (1rnl)loycrs (see /\ppcvtiix H). [-inally, measu~-t~sintroduc-rd that are ( omlArrnentary to Icgislative intervention in tlir work pl,lc.e, are c-ontaincd in tlie fourth category. 1 hrsr State initiative5 c-rt'ated conditions c-onducivr. to the tnaintrnancc dnd reproduc:tion of the labour fol-re (see Ap1)entlix (1). (',lrtd,~I,~hour (;,~zctttx 1 unclctl and put)l~sliedby tlie frcle~algovernment the 1,rhour (Lzette \YJ~r~am~ntd from 11s ~ncrptlonIn 1000, to 1017 Its contcwts wcle s~~rveyed,f~om cluant~t~it~vc. ~nformat~on on ~ndustr~al,i(( dents labour Irg~slat~on(~nc lud~ng rrmplo\e~s Irab~l~ty and \+orhmt.n s ( olnpen5at1on), mtl legal dec Isions Ove~allthe 1,~bourC"~~ettt. proved uscft~l cornpe~ici~u~nof rconomic ,mti legal inlor~nat~on 1-lw Invcstigativt: I-ramcwork Iliis thesis is under-1)inned by nco-itlarxist rescarc-11. It is this 1-1ociy of kno\.vlctigc~tht is tlir key, or core dement, to tlie 'puzzle' of the origins of wol-krncn's cmrnpensation - ,I key th,it K,itner rcm,irks, 15 "the only pt3rspe(trv? that gets to the gut5 of thtl oroblcrn ((',1rnpbc4 1087 101) As mu( I1 of the rn~terdrevrewed for resea( I1 purpows tva5 arc ti~vdl111 riat~~~e documr>ntalyanaly515 was undertaken ds tht2 prrmdry rnvcstlg,ltlvt> rnrthotl W~ththe. rucept~onof ~nforrndt~onsec ured from oral li~storres flits te( ~II~IC~LIC~'15 prc>ferrd srrlcp lti 'T'ht. B.(:. I,t,gisl;itive Li1)r;iry r;itd index pro\ icted ii good st;ilting point for ,i nen.sp;iper re\ it>\\. Howtl\.er, then, ;is t,odiiy, newspapers puhlishrd mow than one edition tinily, which complic;ited thr seiirch. Interrst,ingly, key Iiihour-socialist publications wt.re omitted from thr int1t.x. 17 In cic3w ofthr I;lrge number of unwportctl riises. it is felt that counting ciisrs miiy not pro! idr ii ~'t~pr(~srntiit,i~r numhrr from which to work ,~ndtlriim ronclusions. tlec-isions was reviewed to identify shifts in idenlogicdl under-pinningc. in(-lutfing rt~commendationsfor social (.I>a~igeby pursuing politiral (Iegislativr) solutions. In acltfition to devclol)mt.nts associdtetl directly with workl)lac-t. Itlgisl,ition, a wide vdricty of othcar, rc.l,ited v,~~-i,hlt.swere examined. Bec.dllsc> the rt1senrc.h mt3thotl employed so~~ghtriot to dt>fine 'i~iter-r(~Iatiorisliil~s',I)ut r,itIit.r, to utilize ,I 'c-onjunc-t[~raldnalysis' - thdt is. modern, c-orporatc. c-riminality, especially that dcltlrc3ssing workplac~injcrry and death, was incorporated into sclcct at-(',is of the thesis. rtdevant junctures. (dn be (ons~dercdthe a major strength of an historically ~nformtd so( iology of law (Bailey, 1082: 30 3). lack of mailability; in(-ompleteness; anti possible docutncwt bias. Some tiiffic-~~ltywas provinci,ll arc-hives. Some issues of micro-filmed newspapc.r public.ations, si~cli'1s the so(-ialist Western Cl,~ricm,'mi labour-socialist B.C. ttdcr,~tionist,have been used so extensivrly by Ilbr,lry and arcli~vc,~)atron$ that they are ~llcg~bleIn tlie rn~c~of~lrnreader 1111s ti~fficultyproved writing history from tlie 't)ottom ill)'... to rcscilc the ~'1stanonymous miss of the (.ominon people from tlit. c-ondesc-ension of tlie historian who \vould see thcm only JS inert and rcdc-tive. For instanc-t., d journal maintained by J railway laborer or ,I c-oaI miner may hdve been wol-king conditions at tlic s'lrne coal mitic: or ~-,lil\vayc-onstruc-tion site. This sitr~ationmay 18 As Reasons, t:t a1 (1981: 161) point out, most public covernment documents are not writt,en fiom the perspective of the working chss. 19 McCormack (1985h: 104) cites the memoirs of a rnission;ir,y who commented upon the ethnic heterogeneity of the work rrrws ;it the Grand Trunk Pacific Ritil\vny camps in British ('olumbin. 22 A viiriety of sources wew invt~st,igat,t~ti,including the Provincial Archi\-es: the Vancou\er ;inti Victoria City Archives: the Victoria and Vancouver Hoards of 'I'r;itlt> (the fbrmer no longer in t>xistencc):the (:an;rciinn Mnnufiicturt~~~sAssociation in V;incouvt)r (British (hlumhia tii\,ision)and Toronto; Dr. Bob Miicl)onirld, UBC F;icult.y of History; ;inti Dr. Antirtw Yiirmie, ('ariboo ('allege. Kamloops. Dr. Y;irmir is presently engkigrd in wsc;~rchon B.C. business elites. He found that the C.M.A. w;rs iicti\,e in B.C. during tht? rarly 20th ct>ntury,but i3.C. manufircturers hroke iiwtiy in 1913, app;wently heeiruse their conct3rns wrrr not being iiddtwsetl hy the eiistrrn-based s~rt)sequentrest~arcli effort rndy encounter ~estrlttive ( onditwns. I\ more in-depth research membership. The H.(:.M.A. began publication of theit, omn journd, Irltlrl,st~.inlPr.og~.css arid ('orrtrnc~.cicllRr~o~d in .June, 1913. While an ol,iginal discowry oft.he post-1916 minutes of the (hiitiian M;inuf;lcturt.rs Associ;ition ;it Vancouvcl was made while conducting the thesis wsei~l~ch. the minutes from l!+l:i-l!+l6 could not be loc;ltcd. 23 'The letter wits pennett with ;I sign;iturtb t.h;it iippeii~,sto wad "Drs. Rose Martin" i'.'),hut the ;~t)st.nct.of iiny typed text in the. closing, ,tnd no rt.l;itrtl subject healing in the Irgisl;~t,ivrlibrary or t'ro\.inciiil At~chivesr;ird intltaxes. Ieit\.t~sthe. itlrntity of this intii\.idual in qurstion. CHAPTER THREE THE ANTECEDENTS OF WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA Introduction hc litelaturtt detailing tlw rise of workmen's c-ompcnsation in H.(:. is sparse.. rliere the 1870's (Peth~tk, 1078, 5( ott, 107-l), but tlir ~eldt~onsli~pof thew tr,igtdies to the Idtcr working (-lass str~~gglt'agdinst injury-related injustice and inequities ill tlie workpldcr., is scant. Hriti3h Columbia during the ldte IOtli, anti vdlly 20th (enturit~s.-! clxtensive invcstmrnts to refusc requests madr I.))/ fritwds dncl dssoc-iates. Mor~ovcr,wol-king ...thr emancip;ition of the working class ...the working cliiss will control the miichinery of wealth and production ...by ciipt,uring 1.h~reins ofgo\e~~~ment.It means that the people will he thr government, and id1 nat.ur;il resourres will he controlled by the people ...if you want to obtain the scientific itnalysis of the sithittion, you could procure ;I copy of Karl Mi~rx'sCapitul (Palmer, 19H:3: 163). with tlie Koy~lCotntri~ss~on On L~hourwh~c I1 proposrd the ir-nmed~ate~mplernentat~on of '1 ( ompulso~yState workmen's Insuranc c scheme. By Marc I1 of 10 15, the government ~ntrotlutetid (otnpenSatlon b~llw~th tlie st11)ulatlon that there t)e a one ytat delay to tac ~l~tate trltc>rc.st group ~nput In 5rptember of 101 5 thr. P~nwCotnrn~ttrt. p~cl\~d up wlie~ethe Koy~l Commrsoori on hbour had left off crnhark~ngupon an tlxtens~ve~nvest~gatron of ( ompen\at~onIt>g~\lat~on In eastern ("inada and tlie IJn~tcdStates (see Chapter Four) The wdenc e 1s not at all (lear that the government ~ntt.ndetithere should be a Select ( omln~ttec tleal~ngwth the ( omperisat~onIssue I liough favourably rtce~vedby I,tbour the Pineo Cotrimrttee ult~matt~lyconf~rrnetl tllr vahd~tyof a 5tatetnent made by I lieodore Koosrvelt that 'so( 1a1 reform (15) truly t onservdt~vc (Wrlnsteln 10G7 173) I'rt3lude to a <:risis: Industr-ial [lt.atli and (:lass (:onflict in I<.(:. Tht~c.arliest worker-s' strikes occ:urrcd in 1 tM9-.5O dt lort Kulwrt, and 1855 at Nandimo (Warburton and Coburn, 1088: 160-70; Phillips, 1088: 42). Itnmigr-ant English and Scottish miners were a(-c.~~stomedto c-onsitlcrably safer and morc3 c-o~nfo~-tablr.working c-onditions, hescarcity of labour may havc compdleti liiglicr wages, ' but cqitalists would not tolerate 'in incursion into 'tnan,igetnent 11re1-ogatives',in(-litding working conditions (Mol-ton. 1084: 52). Workers protesttd by striking, weakening tlie eco~iomic-b,~se of the fledgling colony (Scott, 1073). At Fort Rupert, tlie Hudson Hay Cotnpany fort commander responded quic-kly. and placed the rniners in iruns.' This t.arly labour strife was less a c-onsequence of recalcitrant labour, and tnorrt ,it1 rwly 1nanifc3stdtion of ,In omino~~s,5tatist shift in class relations (Palrncar, :1 Stv, Belshaw, 1989-90, fi)r ;idiscussion of the st;intiarti of li~ing of British cod miners on Vancouwr Island. 6 Robert I)unsmuir wiis ;i Fort Rupert mint.1 who t,t.fusrd to strike. His loyalty t,o the company 1,esultrd in the gift of n considrriihle package ofroiil-braring land near Niinaimo (Phillips, 1967: 3). Soon itf'ter, Hudson's Hay (?ompany sailors mut.inirti against working conditions. The miners struck In sympathy, and the company responded with 'dead or ali\,e' wurnnts for the wayward sailors (Scott, 1976; Iklshaw, l!)X!)-90: 37). 1083: 68). Ihe employment of rtyressive tactics to facilitate attainment of production objectives did indccd prove effective, at least over the short ttwn. Ihis practice was owthat was to repeat itself frequently in British (:ol~rrnbia some fifty years later.' Hecacrse British Columbia's economy was resoitrce-based and profit-oriented, key industries, scrcli as forestry anti mining, took an exorbitmt price upon the Iiealth anti safety of the labour force.6 IHie incidence of injury and death ivds so high that capital was ~)eriotlically confronted with labour In c-on(-ert with thcse inherently d,mgerous industries came the added hazard of mechanization (Pro~lty,108.5: 87- 1 37). Improved trchnology anti ,in crnl)hasis upon '~~eed-up'~allowed business to amass extraordinary levels of profits,9 ~uliilcthe victims of 'industridl progress' suffered pliysi~dinj~tries anti ~)rofountifinmc-ial hardship. Ijcnied justice in the c-ourts, worktars turned to industrial action and pulitical 7 f'almer, 1983: l4(i. Thr human carnage prt>cipi~tetihy mining. railroad construction ;inti logging \zas offsrt owr the short term by irnmigtxt,ion policies thirt in\itetl c;iwless and ttcstructi\e troiitmrnt of the labour fbrco. During war-t,ime, mine explosions and the conscription of'I;\bour st~vt.1.t1lycompromised the piductive capability of'the south-e;istcrn metal mining rtyion. By 1916, the fi.der,:\l and pro\.inci:\l go\,ernment,s considered exempting miners from consrription (C'olonist, Nov. 18, 1916: 7). 8 The West.c>rnFrdc1r;ition of Miners (industri~ilunion) condemned piece-work hrr;iuse it rt.sultpti in inc:r,twsed injuries, reduced wages. and heightened unemployment ( Victo~ic~Dcti(v Times, Jan. '22. 1914: 1). 9 Though pro\,incial mines inspect,or Archibald Dick was "not in :I position to knou if t,he mine owners were making profits", he was aware. that the v;\lue of the large collieries on V;incouver Island "uould go up in t,he millions oftloll~it~s"(PARC, (;tl 429, Ihx 2. File 5, 1:359i!12). mobilization to ,iddrt.ss their coneel-ns. Ihe ensuing labour-socialist activity required cml)loyers to rc-tliret t ( ap~tdlthat might li,ivr otlien\f~sehen re-~nvt\sttd or spent. to (ounter Arduous 11~sl lit3 h\lntlrs Krsl)ont'l f3y 1858 s,lw rn~llswere t>st,ibl~slwd ( ar~boogold mlnels demanded t~mber su~tablefor bra( ~ngmlnc sli,ifts (Taylor 1082) I lie vast m~nc~dl,ind ( odl depos~tspesented an oppurtun~tyfor early provlnc la1 ,dmlnstratlons to generdte la~g~anocrnts of ( dp~talover short per~odsof t~me Meascrrcs were taken to cnt our,lge the ~nflcrxof fore~gncapltal In orde~ to rxplo~ttlwse ~n~nvralIrsources Fxl)ans~vrIrnmlgrat~on sc 1iemt.s welt> ~mplementedto 10 Working cliiss iigency in Brit,ish (:oluml)i;i ~viisrlwrribed ;is "the most militant and politiciilly consrious in the country" (Ining, 1987: 1st;). (:apit;il w;~st.epe;it,ctlly forced to organize opposition t.o I;iboul,-socialist Ic.gisl;iti\.e initi;tti\.rs. One attt>mpt by .James H. Hawtholmt,hwaite (Soc. - Niinainio (:ity) and Parker Williams (Sor. - Neuc;ist,le) to pass :imentiments to the Mastcl arm! Srrwrrlts Act (hill 29). ;ind Sltops Kr~gctlntionAc,t (bill 20) precipitated an employer deputation, headed by the Victoria Boi~rdof 'Trxle, to the McBride Conservnti\~ecabinet,. The premier stated th;it H;iwthol~nthw;tit,(~'samendments would be introduced in C'ommittee "to eliminate any bild c!fTects", especiiilly those "prejudiriiil to the public interest." McBride assuaged employer itpprchension by promising "even if the bill (~~eitchrs)the Committee stage, it (will) not emerge without drastic a1trr;ition" (Colonist. M;w. 3, 1906: 1 ): see also. 35 JLA 1906. facilitate rt.sourct3 extraction. By 1875, there were nearly 3000 mincrs in British <:olcrmbid. including 620 CIiine~e.~~ A series of global ttconornic setbac-ks, beginning in 187 3, intensified the daily struggle of the BI-itish Columbia working class to survive. frdrly minvrs, in pdrtic.crlar, led difficult lives. Arduous living dnd working c-onditions evt.ntudly led to the formation of labour unions that f~lelcdworking class solidarity. Attempts ,it political action wrl-r dso entrrtaintd. In partic-ular, mine deaths ' gdlvanizetl labour into ticmantling sdfrr- wet-king conditions. Seriocrs unrest in the coal industry precipitated a strike dt Robert Dunsm~lir-'sWrllington mines (nt.a Nanaimo) in 1877. rht> strike was evc>ntu,dly broken when a Koydl Navy gunboat was tiisp~itclirdto the scene. 14 1:l Subsequent explosions occurred in 1879, 1881, 188.1. 1887, 1888, 1!)01-03, 1904. 1909, 1912, 1915 (x 2), l!)l(i. and 1917. In 1922-23, filr years ~ift~rt,he passage of the 1916 Workmen's ('ompt>ns;ition Act, 51 ('umberliind coal miners \\~IYkilltvl in tuo sep;trat.r r~xplosions. Seiqer ( 1985: 25) not,es that 862 H.('. and Alht.rt;i miner.; died in explosions between 1879 and 1917. 14 Phillips, 1967; Pethick, 1978. Ci JL,A 1877 Mitr. 15: 24, re\.eals "the government consitlercd prutiont, to send the H.M.S. Rocfx't to N;tn;timo at the request. ;inti on the representation of Messrs. Dunsmuir ;inti Digglc, who ;tpprehendetl ;I breach ofthe [)race by th~miners on strike." 'Taxpityet+ paid fhr the co;tl to fire the ship's boilc.rs. ftobrrt Dunsmuit. informed the At,torney-(;t~nt~t~iilthat "we hitve ;ill ;I hard battle to fight": Statr act'ion wets required to :tvt>rt "hlood-shed." Ihnsmuir also suggested the Attorney4;eneral hii\.e the Opposition request ;i fio\.ernrnrnt inquiry to delay the strike, and "take t,he m;itt,rr off your hands" (PAN'. (;R 429. Box 1, File 6. 200177). By April 2Ot,h, 1)unsmuir t,hrt?atenc?d to close his mine for 12 months. "...if the law cannot be cartied out... I hii\e heen put to much t?xpenst. for the want of propet. forc~''(PAM:, (;R 429, Box 1. Filt. ti, 207.'77). Eventually, t,he H.M.S. Grappler and n crew of militia elictcd the miners and their families tiom Dunsmuir's company houses. This junket cost the public $18.000.00: Phillips, l9ti7: 7: Morton, 1984: 52. See also, PAHC (;K. 420. Box 1, Filt. ti, 51/77. 2OtY77: GR -129. Box 1. Filr 11, 21/82. A mine r:xplosiori on May 3, 1887 at the Vdncouver Cod company operdtion at Nanaimo killed 148 miners, lvidowing 50 women antl their families. A coroner's inquest laid the blame on the workers, citing a poorly placed or mis-fired shot as tlie cause of tlie deaths. The jury ,ic.knowledged the dusty antl gaseous nature of the mitie, but the inv~stigationmade no mention of tlie c-ompany allowing produc-tion to contitlcre when such dangerous conditions existed. A good part of tlie workings of the Vancouver Coal c:ornl)dny were submarine, which greatly intrl-eased the I-isk (L)dily Colonist, June 6, 1887: 1). Aplm)xirndtely eight months later, second ex1)losion at L)unsm~~ir'sWellington collit~rykillrtl 77 miners. One yea after the first explosion, the government dpl)ointed d Select Committee (17 /LA I-&. 14, 1888: 10). The government spoke in terms of patriotic rhetoric, intimating that "legisl~tive sdfegudrds" could be thrown dround "our hardy dnti intlcrstrio~rsc-oal-miners" (17 /LA Jan 27, 1888: 1) In tlie interim, tlie tlepcndents of the victims wt.l-e I-rduc-ed to relying upon the 15 charity of Nanaimo residents to sulvive. The 1887 ,ind 1888 explosions led to the formation of miner-operated gas inspection committees, and the Ndnaimo Minc.rs and Mine L~~OLI~~~I-SProtectiw Associ,~tion (Phillips, 1088: 4 %,1067; Ortnsby, 107 1: $06; Schwantes, 1970: 71- 3). 1 hr esplosions killed 215 miners, which constituted d significant redttction in tht. availdbility of a skilled workforc-e for tlit Nanairno mines. According to Moudt ( 1088: 1 1 ), the report fl-om the Minister of Mines showing a 15% reduction in tlie workforce is probably too low, as above-ground workers 15 17 J1,A Jan 27, 1888: 1; Pethick, 1978. Despit.e gowrnment assur;mces that aid was imminent, the evidence is unclear whether proposed "conttihution" from "the public treasury" r\w receiled the blessing of the House. were included in tlie tally. llle rc.rmaining miners rclfusetl to work until their grirwances were recognized. One of the key issues for early labour organlrations wds the underground employmrnt of Cti~newworktvs A Select Comm~ttrelater (onflrrnt3d the (la~mhof wli~tcminers that to employ in rnincs prrcons undblr to speak or understand Lnglisli w'is tldngtvous (see. 17 ]/A 1888 Feb. 14: 19; 17 /LA 1888 Apr. .5: 74). Sensitive to widespread anti-Chinese scntirnent, +,rt>e~nt>nt'and tlie provisions of Hill 35 of the Co~lh4ines Kt>gul,jt~onAc f, both hurriedly drafted by the Irg~sldture(see. 17 liA 1888). The govelnlnt\nt h,id addmdntly refusrd to sanctlon a motron thit would have dmendcd the Act to lndke the t~mploy~ncntof <:litnew underground a vtolatron of tlic law ( 17 //A 1888 Apr 5 7-11 The rnlnlng ( ompanles ororn~wd to prohibit tlie etnploymc~ntof <:hiriesr miners ~tndergr-o~rnd.TI1o~rgli the vxer-cise succ-retlrd (Vanc-ouver and Wellington c-ollieries) soon rtweged, while the 111-incipltof this 'dgrrerntwt' LJnlikt: whites, the (Iliinese could be tliredtenrd with deportation for striking. Ltlhite miners deysed the Chinese for tlie~rstl~he-bredktng mdfol the iidd~tronalr15k they presented to all 16 17 JLA 1888: cvi, ~~vealsthat efforts \vt3t~t>hein:: mdt. ti) stvure the ser\ict>sol'a "fit~t-rliiss mining engineer", with the added stipulation that the engineer hi1j.e the "ronfittcnce of mining c';~pit,;ilistsin Gre;lt l%ritain." Atpt;~bly,his st~pw;I.; necessary to ctt.monstr;ite to potential English in\ t~storsthiit production (and henre. pt.ofit;~bilityinould not be compromised by any further mine t:xplosions, nor would 1;1bour short;igt>s or disruptions occur that might have the samr effect. Similarly, iitter an explosion ;it #2 Extc.nsion mine (near Nanaimo) on Oct. 5, 1909, killing 32 miners. :I "distinguished English mining engint~er"\\;is appointed by the pro!-inrial go\.ernment t,o investigate the matter (Labour Grzzcttt., Nov. 1909: 600). In this disaster, ;is in so mimy others. the company was t.xonet,nted (PABC, (;R 429, Box 17. File 2, 4758i09). li Almost half the labour force were (:hinest. at. (lumhet.land (Mouat. 1988: 13). By 1890, whit.? miners fi.om Nanilimo, Wellington and Comox itgain petitioned the legislat,ure to remove the (Ihinclsr from working undel. ground; 19 JLA 1890: 68: see iilso, 21 JLA 1892 18, 24. untlt.rground workers due to their inability to understand c.omplic,~tedinstrcrctions involving, among other things, the use of explosives (Morton, 1084: 5.1). By 1870, the Victoria Workingmen's Association had taken up tlie anti-Chinese cause, submitting petitions to the legislature dr.manding dn end to Chinese immigration and cmployrnent (see, for example, 8 ]/.A, Mar. 13, 1870: 34). Interestingly, in thrt same year, tlie Icgislature presented a reoort of a Select Committee to invcstigatc the 'Chinese Question' (8 //A April 22, 1870: 60). Clearly, the State c-auld not ignore the strictures of a resource-based econorny anti grant white labour a monopoly. The Chinese continued to bc a c-lieap socrrc-e of expendable labour which dllowed capitalists to maximize profits. IS Moreover, tlie Chinrse willingly oerformed unpleasant jobs that \vhites fo~lndundesirable. Ihr outcry against the Chincsc c-oinc-ided with their cnc-roachmrnt into positions tradition,illy held by whites. he State resoonded to the nuisance of anti-Cliincsr agitation by dttern1)ting to defuse the situation with official c-ondemnation of the Cliinrse, manifested in the form of periodic investigations and the imposition of head taxes. At tlie salnrt timc, a blind eye toward violations of anti-Chinese statutes was maintained. rhr government regularly assisted c.apit,dists who wishrd to import labour for works projtWs. lhe result was that c-apital utilized fractions of labour to divide and rule. Had white labour lnde an effort to organize tilt3 under-... classes, British Col~~tnbialabour history would have hwn wry difftvnt. As it stood, State and capital extracted maximum advantage from the hostilities. Not until thc Steveston fishcwncn's strike at the turn of the 19th century did Asians, indigenous 1)cople dnd whites organize togt~tlivr. As ! ipton (1078: 97) notes, (hadidn Idb~Urwas still in its infancy. Nonetheless, an ~tntleniablepattern of radical working class organization and resistance was beginning to manifest itself in British Columbia. Contemporary ideology strrssed the 'natural' aspects of an 18 W;irhurton and (-'ohurn, 1988: 278-79. The. Chinrse were dso more docile. McCormack i 1985b: 10'2) rew;ils that thr "\.ociferous and violent" wact,ion of Welsh workers imported for r:dway ronstrurtion grent,ly alwmed lxilway exrcuti\t3s anti contractors. rrsponst. to debilitating treatment '~ttlitx hands of employers was immediately perceived by c:al)ital anti State as a threat to the ideal of 'free' individuals 'bargaining' with each other in the market 1)latr. This ideology was later bett-aytd by employers who offered workers ultirnatctms bolstt.rrd by policc and military force. T~OLI~IIAsiatic ex(-lusion from B.C. was a factor in labour planks, there w,ls a growing foc-us on -class dispat-ity. Ilie 1886 plattorm of both the NanAtno ,md Victoria Workingmen's parties tie(-lared tlie existence of ''a t~dsicdivergence of interest btatwrtw tlie 'toiling masses' arid the 'wealthier part of the c.omm~~nity"'(Phillips, lOb7: 15; l oosmore. 1053: 32). I-ven flior~ghtlie strike cnnstitrttd an integral part of so(-ial relations in early British Colrrmbia, I,hour in(-rcasingly viewed politic-,d tnobiliration ,IS a way to a~tg~ncntindustrial action. In this fashion, imtnedidtt3 safety conccr-ns c-ould be ddtirrswi, while providing a vt:hiclr to fasl~iond new social system. Local tragtncntetl organirations failed repeatedly to acliievc tangible Icgislativr wform. Petitions had only a litnittd effect in a Housc dominated by a liostilc gavel-nmcnt. ") Tlir unpalat,hle ~)rospectof leaving tlir issue of legislative reform to a State that had I-epeatedy aligned itself with ec.onomic- el~deavorsover the intrrests of those who c-reateti wr~alt~i,-)~)only served to twinforce tht3 seeds of radical Iaborrt-ism that had been sown carlier. 1:) IL1int.r~ utilistd Iegisl;iti\t>petitions t.o ptws their dt.m;inds, but to littlr effect: see, for example, 17 /LA 1888: 46. 5'2. 58. Anot,her attvmpt by 125 Victoria c;irpt>nt,ers,b;ickd by the Knights of Libour, to secure ;I 9 hour day succoetletl. Ne\.erthc+ss. without the c,ollrcti\.e ability to maintain the victory, t,he employers soon eroded thc apeenlent and the union collapsed (Phillips, 19tjT: 17). 20 Robert Ihnsmui~was elected 14.L.A for Naniiirno in 188%. Intetwtingly, the federal government \\;is petitioned shortly thereafter by the pro~inciallegislature to retain 3 na\;il gunboats in B.C. (1'2 /LA ,Jan 25, 1883: 3). The pro~incialmilitia wiis strengthened with t,ht. addition of'new artillery, ammunition st,orxge areas, and drill sheds, inc.lutling one in Vi~ncou\.er(PABC. GR 429, Box 4, Fik 4, 1577,'W). New regiments were established at N;inaimo. Yale and Kootenay districts (16 JLA 21 Fcb. 1887: 2%). These three districts were populated largely with coal and metal miners. The go\.ermment ostensibly justified the expenditure on the pretext that England would soon he at war. However, a more lik(.ly explanation were bothersome native rebellions (13 /LA Dec. 3. 1883: 2; 18 /LA ,Jan. 31, 1889: I), kind the proximity of I;it.ge numbers of miners and itinewnt Iat)our.ers in t,hrst? districts of key wonomic signific;ince. In ( ontrast to the tradt~-or~c.ntcdVan( ouver unlons the Mrners anti M~neLabourers !'rote( trve Assoc~atronwas dn rndustrd unlon and organ~zedqurt kly for tlie 1890 election In order to press for the statuto~y~XCILI~IOII of the Clirnese from underground work in the mintas (Moirdt 10138 1 3) The tactrcs of etnployers, suc I1 ds the [>unsmurr alrendted cap~tal lrmn labour ((Irrnsby 1071 %06) Kepedted efforts were rnadr by the work for( e to ()?ls~ldd? the legrsl,iture of the unnec essdry nsks d single-rn~ndedfoc us upon proftt-mal\r~~g12~1s liav~ng upon rrnployees lames Dunsrnurr had ~nsrstcxd for example that the Incomrng shrft were to be at wak dt the coal fdce beforc the out-gorng shrft wtlrr ,~llowcdto enter tlie lrft for the rrtle to tlie surfat e In tlie event of an explosron, tlie workers ,waltrng tlie l~ftwere )) unnet rssdrrly pld~edat rrsA -- 21 With the death of Robert Dunsmuil in 1889 IPAB(:, (;R 429, Box 2, File 2, 271,89), James Dunsmuir inht!l,itctd t,he family coal empire. The Ltrholcr (;trzrttc (Dw. 1901: 344-45) illustr;~tes;in rntiu1,ing prohlem of itutocratir bt.haviour of the part of capitiil in a re\ iew of ;I conciliation process ;tt Alt:xitndt,iit Mines ;~tSouth Wellinzton. Prior to ti strike \.ate being taken. the manager ofthe mine had refused to entertain ;I miners' deputation seeking to resol\.e the dispute. 22 Loosmore, 1954. Miners believed that ;in R Hour Law would protect them tiom such production- related practices. The appeal ofthe 8 hour resolution (and those of Chinese exclusion, weekly payment of wages ;ind employers liability) were re-affirmed as early ;is 1880. during an attempt to organize a provincial federation of labour (Phillips, 1967: 21). rllo~n,ls~clth~ and Iliolnas Forster '' Slio~tlythereaft~r, both were clected to thc leg~sl~it~vr assembly (Phillips, 1967). Unfortundtely, Keith and Fosstrr were not nl~vny~~ttiited in tlwtr oppos~tionIn tlie tiouse " On Inole than one occ asion, Kelt11 and Forster can( elled wch other's vote in the Irgislaturc (Loosmore, 105.1. 59) Nonetlicles5, Forster did serve as nn advoratc for tlie urban wo~h~ngc lass Ills ~nclu~r~esIn the tioirse rrve,ilcd that ~eprated ~xwnittdernploylntwt of more workels witli~nthe mlne during exploratory ~torkthan were d~~owt~dunder set t~on28 of the CO,I/Mlnrs Rrgu/,~t~onAct Thc Min~sterof M~neslate1 acknowledged that c ompl~ancewith safety regulations would occur only when ~t bet ane eronom~callyfeas~ble to do so Until then, vannnces from the rcgulat~ons\voultl be granted a5 a matter of roctt~ne(see, for example, Lh /LA Apr. 0, 1897 110. Stle dso, Appendix U) Nevertheless, by 1891, a burgeonrng labout polltic dl prt.Fenc e, bolstered by the elec-t~onof '1,ibour' representat~ves,was ~nstrurnentalrn prodding the I ~brral,rdrnrn~rttattot~ of John Kobson into passing the first significant piece of legislation specifically directed at industrial 24 Keith was origin;illy fiom Uelfast, and hi~dmined in J~,el;lnti(L,oosmow, 1954: 50). Acutely aware ot'the class struggle, Keith w;ilmed workerx during the 1890 election: "Do not belie1.e the) ciipit;ilist will ad\r;ince your int,erests and wants. 'The only man who will do this is the \\orking miin ..." (Xlouat., 1988: 28). 25 Forstel h;iiled from Northumbria, working in the Nanairno pits prior to becoming ;i farmt>r in the New West,minster ;ux3a (Loosmore. 1954: 501. 26 L'anitch (1977: 20) notes that farmers were fiquently self-contained ,~ndself-.;upporting despite the 1-;i,u;iriesof ti c;~pit,alisttvxnomy. ('onsequ~ntly,fm.rner.s were insuliited from the harsher t,eiilities confronting the urhan. industrial wol.kt>r. 27 At t,he opening of the 18!)0 session, the Lieutt.n:int-Governor indic;ited the government intended t,o present 1t~gisl;ltiont,o t,he House. Bill :3 (.An Act to SCC(LWCorr~pcr~safior~ For Pcr~sor~alIrlj~~ries su/ji~r.ctl Worhrrtr~r~in Ccrfnin C'nscs). However. it was not introduretl until tJan. 20, 1891, by Theodore D;~\.ie. Little information regarding Bill 3 was provided by the Lieutcnmt-Go~ernor ("Legisli~tionwill be submittrti to you defining the law, regulating thtl liability of employers for personal injuries to workmen...") before he launched into an optimistic diatribe concerning coal p~.ospecting.The bill negoti:~tedthree readings with a minimum of difficulty (it passed third rending on ,Jan. 27t,h, only sevrn d;iys after its introduction; 20 JLA 1891: I:)), and was given roy:11 assent (20 cJLA 1891 ). According t,o Ruegg (1910: 43-44), English employers hati 1 iewed employers' Workers in British (:olurnbid had great difficulty in obtaining recompense for their injuries and lost income. T~heonly avenue of redress anounted to tort action through tlie c-ommon law, with the burden of proof upon the plaintiff to substantiate d claim of ernployer negligence. English legal prtv-edents were based upon pre-industrial cases, w1iic.h entailed personal employer sul)ervision on a small sc-ale (Weinstt.iti, IOO~:15;; Incfustri~lProgrc.ss 2nd C'ornrnerc~i~lRecord, April 101 5: Lh4). lht3knglish initially utilired intorma1 systems of c-oml)c.nsating victims of pr-e-industrial inciticnth, whereupon tlie dependents of tlie deceased were compensated according to the valu~of the object that had wrought the damage upon an individu,d. Iliese deoti~ncls,paid to delwndents upon tlie dtlatli of a labourel-, were not difficult to wcure when the item in clcrrstion w,is wooden cask, worth perhaps 10 pounds sterling. tiowever, as industrial technology became more pretlominant, cases of individuals being killttd by a steam lo(-otnotive worth 2000 pounds sterling presented consitierahle problems for capital, \vho clearly c-o~tltlnot twdurt. such losses. In a very short period of timr, capitalists lobbitd tlie governtnt>nt to change tlie law, demanding the substitution of a statutory mechanism for the deodand. lke c-ourts orovided tlie solution. rllc common law began to manifr3st an orientation toward 'negligence', dnd an apportioning of blame fol- work place injut-): or death (Doran. 1086). Prior to the ,1837 prec-edent of Priestly v. ~owler,~~the English common law provided a master was responsible for tlir acts of his servants. With Priestly, tlie English courts created the 'fellow servant rule', effectively installing tlie first of three ernployer legal 'defences'. According to Ruegg (10 10: IS), the fellow st>rvant rule is expressed as follows: li;ihility 1tyisl;ition aith "somrt,hing like tt~rror",ti.;iring a "re~:olutionarytendency as likely to seriously disturb the tradc of the country." Si,onific.nntly,these fears "wrre idways groundless, and (were) ne\.er realised." 28 3 M. cY: W. 1; M.cY: H. :305: 7 L.cJ. Ex. -12; 1 .Jur. 987. Decided by the English Exchequer Court, the Priestly precedc.nt w;is not recognized by the Hous~of Lords until 1858, during an appeal from the Scottish cou~ts;F3nrtonshill Co~il1.. Reid :i Macq. H.L. (:;is. 2Bfi; (B.C. Fr~tlt~rntiorzist.July 31. 1914: 1; Tucker, 1984: 217). If the person oc:casioning and the pcrsoll suff~ringinjury are fellow wol-kmen engagtd in a common t~rnploylnentand having a common master, such master is not reslm~isiblefor tlie consequences of the injury. Also called 'common etnploytnmt', the fellow sewatit rule was tlic most serious impediment to recovery by an injured worker. Ihe cour-ts adhered to an individualist philosophy, so that by assuming employment, the worker voluntarily contrdctrd to 'issitme any risks, and could therefore guard himself against the negligence of a fellow servant jcrst 'is ddecluately as could the employer. In particular, tliir defence assumcd notoriety because of the double standard it rrpresented. As Ruegg (1010: 16-71 argues, if the principle of respondedt superior (let the lndster answer) was to be excluded from a contract that assumes a knc~wletlgcof risk, then logically, passengers upon railways and public transport should also have been excluded, as thcy 'voluntarily' subjec-ted themselves to the ordinary dangers of street traffic. However, this W~Snot thc case. Injured workers were trcated differently by the courts, compared to other, non-industrial petitioners (Arab. 10.38: 20). Ihr second employer defence, nssum~tionof risk (volenfi non fit injuri,~), was equally offensive. This notion of implied c-onsent w'is based upon the liberal tenets of 'frtydorn of contract' (Ihran, 1086: 6$7), and dss~lmedthat a wot-krr undertaking to perfor-m a t,lsk possesst~dboth knowledge of, and consent towdrd, exposure to a specific- task hazard. his meant that if a tnachine was not guarded or in a state of disrepair, and an employee worked at that machine without coml>laint and was later injured, the court WOLI~~hold that the worker lidd voluntarily assumed the risk of being injured, dnd thus must personally bear any loss. In the event employer negligence was undeniable, the third defence of contributory negligence providd that any additional negligence of an rmployce, no matter how trifling the dc-tion, would serve to free tlie t:tnployer from It.gal liability (At-ab. 1q38: 10). Clearly, my measure of legal 111-obdbilitywas situated scluarely in the favour of employers (Tucker, 1984: 217-19), and ignored tlie vulnerable status of wage-dependent workers. A~gitably,tht. ludic lary was cogn~fantof the netd for a market-economy, pletn15t.d crpo~i( ommodity produt tion, to operate w~thrnin~mal outs~de ~nterference. To hold cdptal lldble for workplace Injury or death was clrldrly clnwlse In ec onomlc terms Moreover it was unnec essary espec~allywhen an dbundmt supply of labocr~was dvalldble Ilnt~ltheir erosion by suksecluent leg~slat~veand jud~cda( tmn, ,111 three employrr defences rema~nedmajor obstacles to rtv ove~yof damages by aorkers (ILKker 1083 217 hsk 108 3 410-23) for many oc cupatlons esptv ~dllythose where \wtntlsses to the Injuly were fe\\ rntvt~ngIcgal rrclcr~remrntsand ( ontcndlng u~ththe adversdr~alndtute of common-law act~ons proved to he a protrac trd and arduous procc.ss "j Though (ou~tawards could t)e large for workers to succeed t3rnployers had to breach statutory duty 01 a( tual personal employer negl~gt>ncehad to be proved W~thmcclian~rat~on and ~ncreasedproductton came the need to tielegate autlior~ty In 1860 F ngl15li dtwslons reflec ted th~s~equ~remcnt, so that even In cases wlirre a worker w,ls entrusted w~thso mu( h acrthor~tythat he or she could be fa~rly tcr~neda 'VI( c-lnaster , the prlnc ~pleof common employment st111 protected the ma5tcr (Intlustr~~~lProgress ,~nt/Cornrnerc~~l Rt~c ord Dec 101 5 1 %?-3 3) lor the westeln ('dnadldll ~volkertht' leallty of th? WOI~envlrontnent was ,dtogethrr differvnt I he hd/drdo~ls~idturt> of ~tsoc~r(e extractloll In Hl~t~sh('oIulnbld's staple ~ndustr~es often (ondut ted In areas remote from tnedlcdl (ale p~oduttd shoc k~ngInjurIe5 (Eornc.rs, 1053) '51rn1ldrto earl~erscrnes rtlc ortled by tngtls ( 19GO 192) In Man( hester tngland, ~nd~~nedand d~sabled ~~orkets were h~ghlyv~s~blc, arouslng mcrt h sympathy ftom the labouring anti rcform-or~entedquartcis of a cldss-\tldtlfled so( ~ety I ~nployeeswere scrbjtt t to a per~od 29 Injuries on the riiilroids were often severe in nature. For example, one plaintiff lost one leg abo\.e the knw, the other below the knee. anti three fingrrs of one hand. The negligence of ;i fellow servant (common employment) precluded recovery; Hall v. Canadian Pacific Railway Company (1914) 20 B.C.R. 293; Ltrhou, Gazcttc. April 1915: 1239. In Wood v. (lan;itiian Pacific Railway Company i 1899) Ci B.C.R. 561: 30 S.C.R. 110, the pl;tint,iff faild at both trial and appellate le\.els. The court held that "The workman on his part, takes the risk of his employment and is remunerated accordin~ly"(Ruegg. 1910: 52). Though court decisions wew often less than favour;ible, without strong labour unions, workers could newr haw cont,est,ed liability (Phillips, 1967; Schmidt, 1980). of ruthless compet~tlvent.ss that proved mole destrut tlve of Idbour than at dny pleccdlng period of h~story(Sorners, 1954). Workers were also confronted w~than unresponsive and ~nflex~blrlegal doc t~~nednd jud~c]dry that, on average, dcr~~edre( overy In 70",, to UOo0 of The 180 1 trr~ployers'! i,~h~lity Ac t sought to prov~decornpensdtroti for persondl injuries suffered by workmen in certain cases by reduc-ing specific cffects of the "~~nlioly rr~nity"(l>oran, 1086: 023; Weinstein, IC)b7. 157-581, or three common law defences. Tht. Act was ostens~blythe statutory mdnifestat~onof a ~nordobl~gdt~on on the. part of t3mployers Kdther, it modified the rornmon Idw, limiting thcl sc:opc of the fellow sewant rule. Thc Act tiisallowt~drml)loyer drfences based upon dr.fct tivc. works or equipment, the nogligrnc r ot worker acting in the c-apdcity of wpervisor, and the negligence of '1 fellow-scrvant, or injury 5 1 lesult~ngfrom the response of d fellow-servant to a d~rrctolder of a superv~so~ 30 When the common lam tlefrnces wrw finally eliminated with thp passage of the 1910' Workmen's ('ompensation Art, the government ;irguetl that "...taking ;iw;iy t.mployc>r defences may appear unjust. but (it is) based upon the principle of doing good for the many ..." (('olor~isf,Apt.. 27, 1910': 1) Schmidt (l!)XO: 52) argues that to discuss a progre~siveweakening of the common law in terms of 'surrentieting' employt.~,legal right,s is incorrertL Rather, it is better described as "giving up what one was not entitled to in the first place." 31 S. :3( 1-4), En~ploy~~~sI,itrhilit,y Act (1891! c. 10. In ii direct reference to ('hinese norkers, many of whom served as domestic ;ind Lirm labour, the Act strrngtht.ned anti extended ti patt,rvn of'r;icial discrimination to 1rgisl;ition dealing with n.orkpl;ice in,jury and death. The 1891 Act stipulated in s. 2(3) that "The expression 'workm;in'. docs not include a domestic or menial ser.~.;int..." (huc;isinns performing "menial or domest,ic" duties were also excluded from t~ecovery;In Re Lv\vis and (;ranti Trunk Riiilwi~yComgnny 18 B.(:.R. 329: Dail,y Piwincc~,Mar. 4, 1!11:1: 23. This provision is entirely consistent with the opening midress of t'he I,ieut,enant-(;o\,ernot. in J;inuuy of 1879: "Although your legisliition on the Chinese question has been considered unconstitutional, this circumstance should not deter you from adopting every legitimate means of attainment of the end your late shtute had in view"; 8 JLA Jan. 29, 1879: 2. Essenti;illy the same de\eloprnents occurred in New South Wales legislation (Ci~ss.1983: 32). 32 Section 8, Errtp1o.ycr.s Liclbi1it.y Act. rontracting out of the 1891 Act has also not t.ntirely prohibited. It provided that no agreement entered int,o by the workman would bt. considt~red;I bar Unfortunately, little rrlformatwn is dvallable ( on( erntng tl~eforces bch~ndthe 189 1 Act. 1 lie legislation strictly lim~tedemployer liability by reclui~~ngdirect employer negligt.nce. The (ourts wer? glwn w~deinterpretive powers, and det~ntdemployers' negl~gence(on( 13ely md narrowly. As Piva (1975) argues, 'justice' under employers liability legislation was intermittent cons~de~hlenumber of worhe~selther lost rn court, or had judgc>ments In thr~rfaour redut ed or eliminated As one ernployw remarked, "tiappily, our judges, as d rule, t& an unbiased view of cluestions of this kind, and justice is donc (for) both prt~esconcertied' At least ~nltldlly,the courts were, of1 lhr \vhole, unsyrnpathctrc- to the plight of the ~nju~etiworker. Tlir c oults rq~11redonly that employers twgagr in "rcawnable" safety ~tleolog~cs,especrally the need to rnlnltnlze any ~nterference\wth the d( curnulat~onpro( ess and won. The court later refused to htw a further ,lpl)eal by tlic pl'iintiff, on the ground3 that to rrcovery, unless by entering into the iigreement.. the employee was gi5t.n some consideration other t,hiin that of being given employment: and in the opinion of the court, such consideration was iidequate and the agreement bvas just and reiisonable. '("ontracting out' became a \,ol;itile issue in txilrond construction. 'Station-men' (hired hy sub-contriictot.~to occupy a 100 foot place or 'station' on the rocid) bvcre denied compensiition under both c.mp1o.y-er's liability and romprnsation Acts; see. for exittnple, Dclif,y Prooincc, I>cc. 18, 191%:21. 34 McDonald v. Canadian Pacific Exploriit,ions ('o., Ltd. 7 B.C.R. 39. Later on, State compensation hoards were expected to assist in the de\.elopment of "reasonable" safety sti~ndiirds;D0if.y Timcs, ,Jan. 2, 1917: 11. the l~la~ntiffcould not support Ill\ allrgdt~onsof c h~rnThe ,lrguments of tlie defendant rel~ed hc'wily upon the lower court ruling of Scott v. B.C. Milling Co. (1803) 3 B.C.R. 221, before justice Drake: If every workman was ttntitled to rctcover damages for injuries sustained in doing work which lic knew was I-isky, '1 Idrge ni~mberof mills wo~iltlliavr to close. No Inan is compelled to work at dangt>rous task ... 5 ott relied upon Sexton v. Hawkcswortb I6 L.1. 85 1 If d servant enter5 ~ntoemploytnent, knowng that tlie~e1s ddngt.r, md 15 satlsf~edto take the risk, it btv-omes part of tlie ( onttdc t between hlm and 111s employer that the servant shall ~x~l,oseh1m5elf to silt 11 t~sksas lie knows ale (ons~stcntw~tli tlie ernployrncwt ' In tiastings v. 1.e Roi, No. 2, Ltd., 10 B.C.K. 0; 33 S.C.R. 177, the high coirrt rejected assumption of risk, but accepted thr fellow-sfvrvant defence. Tlic defendant was acquitted. In tlarr~ganv. (;ranby Consol~ddtedM~n~ng, 5rnrlt1ng and Power ('ompany, Ltd. 13 H.C.R. 89, the plarnt~ffwas refused damages allslng from dn In( !dent where a 1n14understandlngon tlie part of thr. worker had oc( crrred In somc ( dsrs, tlie ( ourts found tli'it dn injury was attributable 30 solttly to the "st>rious ,ind wilful misc-onduc-t or serious neglcc t" of ,I \ro~-kcr. f~~bilityAc-t of 1801, ~z,hertxthe plaintrff died as consequence of rnjuty, legdl re( oilrse was terminated Multiplr fatalitie5 meant workrr-wittwsws \vho m~ghthaw aidrci tlie recovery (H.C. Itder,~tionisf, July 31, 10 13: 1 ) 35 Ruegg, 1910: 2%;-27. See ;~lso,Repinn 1,. Union (_'olliery Company ( 1900) 8 B.C.R. 247; Hosking \.. T,e Roi No. 2, Limited i 1!)0:j) 9 B.C.R. 55 I. 36 Socialist tJ.H. McVetq appeared before the 1912-14 Ro,jtrl rornrnission Or2 LnDo~rr,charging the pro\-ision with being offensive and an affront to all workers (PABC. (;R 684. Box 2, Vol. 3, File 1, pg. 349). See, Hill and another v. Granby ('onsolidntrd Mines 12 B.C.R. 118: 1 Butt,. W.C.C. 4%; Granick v. B.C. Sugar Refinery Co. 14 B.C.R. 251; 15 B.(I.R. 198; 2 Butt. W.C.C. 511: ,Jamieson v. Adams Rives Lumber Co. (not reported: 1,clbour Gc~it,ttr,Mar.. 1913: 1029). See also. Lahoc~r. (~(zzcft~~April, 191 1: 117:j; B,['. F~cl~rntior~ist,M:ir. I!).1915: 1.. In <:madldn Pactfir Railway v Hryre 13 H C R. 336, the pldintlff died after an action had heen commenced, but before a judgement could be rendered. Under common law, the death of the plaintiff terminated any Ivgal action. Ironically, employers escaped the sane restllc tion Sec tion 2 of tlie Employers' I1db111tykt def~nrd represrntatlvrs of d deceased employer ds dn employer. The plobletn of excluding those left without scrbsistenc t3 subscvluent to a worker's death was resolved with tlie introduction of a statuttb - dttached to the trnp10yer.s' Li,~hilityAct - that facilitated the continuation of a lawsuit. '' 'lord C,irnpbells Act', as it VV~\known In England, wtailed tlie following: given the wrongful act 111 tespe( t of W~I(I1 tlic deceased, had he Iivc.d, would have had a t~ghtof xt~onthe statute ~nttwds,in the case of death to rnakt. tlie wrongdorl Itable to damages to those \vho ~rrespectiveof ldce or revdence, stood to tlir dtceascd In any of the relationships tnentloned In the (1002 Workmen's ( ornpensdtton) Act 38 While employers may have had the initid1 uppel hdnd, many trials werv held betore jurlrs Jirrtes rn'ty have Iwedrd a burgeoning ant!-business wntlment wtliin the wotktng-class dnd a reformist flac tion of tlie ~ntddle-class While the common law sdnctloned the right of employers to have workers Idt~ourIn unsdfe c oridittons tlmploycr common-ldw tlefenc es failed to prrs~tademany j~1ro1.s of their legitimacy (Tucker, 1083: 276). Jurors \vt.re not inscrl;itrtl from fedings of animosity toward business intent upon arc-umulation of vast wealth, no m,ittel tlic human costs. In order for thr. jctdiciary to succeed in limiting employer liability, common law doctrines were utilized to rnakc a low standard of care and a high burden of proof the ydrdstic-k by whic:li volatile cases wre prevented from reaching d jury (Tucker, 1983: 3.Risk ( 1083) found that Ontario jut-ies frequently found for tlie !)laintiff. This trend appeared even in cases where negligence or liability on tlie part of tlie drfendant was 37 Art Act fi)r. ('orrtpcr~sntirlgthc Fn~rtilicsof'P~rxor~s killctl fty Accitlcnts (Forriilics ('ompcnscztinri Act) R.S.B.C. 1897, C. 58;Color~ist, June 8, 1898: 8. '38 v.,\iexick . .' v. British Columbia Copper To.. 12 B.C.R. 286. In Green v. The British Columbia Electric R;~ilw;ty,and Edwiird Cook, 12 B.C.H. 199, the court disregarded ;I statute limitittions in ;I private Act that had been draughted expressly for the purpose of evading liability. Loid Cnrr~~fwll's Act was held to create n "speciitl cause of action." Coml~any,Limited (IC104)11 B.(:.K. 01, tlie jury awarded a workman $1330.00 damages dnd costs, evt.n though the court held that "th~findings redd dlontt did not establish any legdl trrnti of jury sympdtliy toward plantiff, is ( lear Now, myone who watc-lies c.lost.ly the ,ic-tion of juries. when asked to decide questions of this ~iaturcbetween d company and dn individual knows... tlieil- decisions oftrn run along the line of: '~~l(-htht. c.om[jdny; they are better able to stdnd it than tht. individual...' (Provinc-t., rLl,lv 8 1002: 2). LJnfol-tcrnatt:ly for injured ~vorktr-s,some trial judges w>reopenly instrilmrntal in fasli~oningthe law to fit tlie~rla~swr-fare ( onvlc tlons (Tut krr 1084 275) It wds not unc ommon for jirtige, to allow jur~csto makt1 a finding, then d1sm15stlie cdse should d 39 'I'uck~r,l!lX4: 223. In Shearer v. C;in;idi;in ('ollieries (Dunsrnuir) Limit,ed (1914) 19 B.C.R. 281: L,~hortr(;r~rc,ttcl. May I!) 14: 1:lli 1-62. the jury took tht> prurogati\ tl of exercising what, it interprettd to be ;in in\-itation from t,he court to diswg;ird the questions put to them fbr dtaliheration. 'They found damiigw in f;~\.out,of the plaintiff for J7.500.00. When the hench inquired ithout the quest,ions they nc're t,o consider, the fbrcman replied "Wr did not bring them in. wc tore them up." In Stamel. v. H;iII Mines (18%)) 6 B.C.R. 579, the jury was willing to find nrglig~nceon the pitrt of the employer (a tinding o\rrturnrd by the trial judge), notwithstanding that it was only able to conjerture how t,he injury occurred. In Latham v. Heaps 'Timber ('ompany (1912) 17 H.C.R. 21 1, the jury awarded the plaintiff $:3,000.00. Lpon appeal, the court over-turned the decision by finding ~ontributol,~negligence. and chastised the jury for being unnblr to do likemise. 40 Piv;r ( 1975: .I:',).'rhough E'iva'.; argument focusrs upon events in C)nt;irio, similar cases occurred in B.C. In C1ii1.k v. Caniitiian Pacific Riiiluay (1111 1) 17 B.C.R. 311; Labolcr. Gazettr,. June 1912: l%Oti,the jury awarded the plnintiff'$:3000.00, hut the trial judge set aside the verdict. The action of the trial judge wiis upheld upon npprk~lby the plaintiff. The LnDorrr. Gazcttc (Sept. 1900: :38-:39) repo~teti;inother case heard under the Errl~>lo,vo..sLiability .Act. A miner suffering ii serious and permanent head injury had :3 trials. The jury awarded $:1000.00 during the third trial. Nevertheless, the triill judge disagreed xith the jury, and dismissed the action: "I ;im unable to agree with the verdict of the jury, which I think was influenced by sympathy for the unfortunate man who wits injured." A fourth and final action, initiated by the miner. resulted in securing an awiitd of only $500; Pender I. War E;igle ('onsolitiated Mining and Dewlopment Co., Limited ( 1899) 7 H.(?.R. 16%. The rnerr fa( t that tli~judge who trwd the (asc \wth d jury mould have dcclcied tlie other way IS 110 sufflc lent reason for granting a ntw trial It tlierc. 1s a clcrestlon of fact left to thr jury, and they have reasonably answered rt therr verdr~trannot be d15turbed rnglrsh prrctdent dl(-tatetl the amb~gcroustest of the 'redsonable man bt. crsetl to tktr'rmine \vlir.tlier or not darnages were 'too large' In Praetl v Graham 24 (2.R D. 5 3, 101d Tsht.1 argued: if damdgcs are so Iargt3 that no redson,lbltb mdn o~~ghtto lidvt> give11 them ds darndgrs, 3 1 the court ought to interfere gcwernment from pressure o~rtrrtleof the tlouse A birrgeonlng (rlsls of Irgltlrnatlon began to manifest itself in direct opposition to the State that installed employers liability legislation, anti thc judrt iary that rnforc ed it (Rtlasons r\t al, 1981). t3e( JLIW workers managed to \wn so fe\b so(:idI system that profited from their labocrrs. wtiilt~rt>fusing to make labouring s'lfrr and renrgirig or1 the promise of c-ornprns,rtion \vIien injury did The failure of an 1891 miners' strike dt Wttllington, followed shortly thereafter by yet dnothcr economic- drlmssion, 4 3 drarnatired tlie dt:rnarcation of class 1int.s. 41 Kuegg, 1910: 20.1. In Farmer v. The British Columbia Electric Railway Company, Limited (1910) lti B.(:.R. 42:], the jury ;\warded $9000.00 to the plaintiff. The employer itppealetl. The court found the initial award not only ignored the "weight of the e\ idence, the plgiintiff had also failed to pro1.r negligence on the part of the defendant,." See also, Lnbol~r.Gczzctt~. Aug. 1910: 275; Farquhnrson v. British (:olumhi:i Electric Ridway. (:o. 14 Western L.R. 91. A,jury aw;ird of $1 1,500.00 wits ovel~turnetiby the Supreme ('ourt: Lahow. Gnzc,ttt., Sept. 1910: :3(i7. 42 As Doran (1986: 625) observes, the English legislation of 1880, upon which the R.C. Act of 1891 was based, did not abandon the common law. Rather, it only yewed to further chrify "exact,ly who was to constitute ii miister." 13 Phillips, 1967. An event indicative of the elel,-widening rift between capital, labour. and strikr- breakers employed by ooal-mining capital occurreti in 1891. As a consequence of deflation, ciipitiil had begun to employ (,he wage-cut in o~derto heightt>n the expropriation of surplus value (Palmer, 1983: 98). This measure, in concert with hazaidous working conditions, pro\-oketl strikes. Labour M.L.A. Keith had called fbr a Select Committee to investigate t,he ciiuse and circumstances surrounding the Wellington strike, including the rending of the Riot Act to a pcwcrnble assembly of Althougli Phillips (1067) suggests that Keith met with limited success in the ~e~isldt~~re."lie succeeded in making labour's voice head in n public fot-~rn,~~and provided miners (PABC, GR 429, Box 2, File 4, :38:3/91). and use of the militia (20 JLA 1891: 9). 'The govc.tmmt.nt pl;iced ti higher priority on an investigation of an attack against n funeral proression of a st,rike-breiiker killed in ;I gas explosion at the Wellington colliery (see 19 44 In the ;iftt.rmath of the Isl;inti mine explosions. the State had responded with the creation of the ('otrl Afirtcs Rcgr~ltrtior~Act (B.C. copied the English Irgisliition, but remo\.ed substantial sections that might have compromised production; see, 5 JLA 1876; 6 JLA 1877: 2; 7 ?/LA 1878: 12 JLA 1883. Keith failed to amend the Act on four differrnt occasions: Bill 67 (1891);Bill 10 (1892); Rill 22 (1893); Bill 18, 23 JLA 29 tJ:m. 1894: 15. Yot ;I review of the scope and pro\.isions of'the 1897 Coal Mirws K~guf(~tiortAct, see the Labortr (.;azcttc (Feb. 190 1 : 297-3041, 45 The Opposition continually attempted to secure iind co-opt the Labour politicians by introducing bills and resolutions sympathetic to liibour. See, for example. 20 JLA ,Jan 23, 1891: 8: 21 JLA Feb. 8,1892: 14. See ;ilso, Loosmore ( 1954: 56-58). d vrliic Ie for compla~ntsand ( on( ems of workers "' Nontlthdess the sheer slze of the 4 7 government majority made it almost impossible for labour initiatives to become law. Another major hurdle for labour was the relationship between c:apital and State dt this particular juncture. This relationship cocrld hest be desc-ribed as symbiotic during the latter half of the nineteenth century.48 V~~~OLIS(.osts of pursuing a ~.epressionistpolicy were heginning to mount, and the government seemed to begin to ackno\zkdge that the pervasive dnd bitter industrial conflict threatened to erupt in to full-blown socialism (Jamieson, 1062: Palmer, 198 3: 164). <:onsecluently, the Liberal aitninistt-ation of T11eodore DavieJ9 introduced 46 A Lit~ourprescncr in the Housr meant thnt the working class had direct access to tht. 1egisl;iture. Keith ptyspnted numerous minrr's petitions (ser. 21 JL1 Feb 17, 1892: IS), chaired thr Select Commit,tee on the Wellington Strike (20 JL.4 1891: cccxli), anti pro\-idrd :I \rhirle for miner's concprns 01-er the non-rnforcemc.nt of the anti-C'hintw sections of the ('oc21 Mir~csRc,qrtlntiorz Act Arrwrdrrwr~tAct (18!10), numerous pro\-isions of' which were ostensibly created to pre\.ent untlt:rground employment of ('hinese (see, 22 JL.4 Frb. (i.1894: "0'1. Responding to Keith's concerns, premier D;\vit. admitted t,h:it section 4 of the Act \\;is unenforceable: 'The ;imentlment of 1890... aims simply to exclude ('hinamrn uit,hout ;~nyt,hingmore. itwspectivr whether they miiy he ;t sourrr. of tianger or not. Whilst it is clearly within the compt!tencr of the legisl;iture to exclude diingr.t,ous persons generally from the minrs, it is t>ntirelyn tiifferrnt thing to exclude ;t man simply 1)rcitusc he is a Chinaman. It is the intention of the go\.rrnrnent to int~wiucc!;I measure ;it this session mow effectuitlly prohibiting thc employment in coid minw of persons who. on iiccount of ignorance and incapacity, would occasion danger. Ironic:\lly, when the go\.ernmrnt took steps to arnenti the ('on1 !llincs Rr*grlltrtion Act in such ;i manner on .Jan. 21, 1895, 772 miners signed t,heir niimes to ;I petition opposing bill 64. Enforcrment, of bill 64 may have excluded (:nucasian miners who did not h;i\e a command of \\ritten English. Nonetht~lrss,royal ;issent was secured (see, 24 JLA Jan. 21. 1895: dl, and 31, 1895: 31). 47 Keith w;is tlenird ti btilance of powel. in the House thilt Sori;ilists James Hurst Hnwt,hornthwaitr, Pilrker Williams and Ralph Place later t.xploitetl to secure labour-sympathetic 1egisl;ition; see, for example, 20 JLA 1891: I43 (Kt>ithlost 15-14 during ;in attempt to amend the ('oal illirws R~prtlatior~Act). 48 R/Iou:it,'s (1988: 4) work suggests ;i high tit.gree of int,rr-lock between State anti capital with his re\.ctlation that one cabinet minister was Dunsmuir's ltimyer. Another who hiid previously served in thnt capacity later became the attorney-generkil. Other gowrnment M.P.P.'s included Robert Dunsmuirs son-in-law, ;ind the superintendent of the Dunsmuir-owned Esquirnnlt and Nanaimo railway. Workers were thus confronted with an alliance of employer and State. Industrial disput,es became political warfare which both sides int,erpreted in class terms. 49 Davie htid been the ;\ttorney-general during tht, hitter 1890-1891 strike ;it Wellington This legislation proved to be J failure. rht. ( onservdtive press called I abour bureducrdc:ies a "fraud", ds they dedlt with "1)olitical exigencies" over those of "industrial conditions" (Colonist, April 24, 1903: 3). As Atherton ( 1076-77: 07) notes, elnldoyers refused to negotiate the terms arid conditions of the workplace contra(-t, because to do so would have strengt1ient.d the workrrs' position. Not surprisingly, premiers Jd~nesDunsmuir dnd Richard McBride, both of whom had interests in the profitdbility of the mining sector, defended a refusal to introduce compulsory arbitration of labour disputes ( 30 /LA 190 1: 27; 34 /LA 1005: 21). Accordingly, any State-orchestratctl shift in the relationship between ldbour and c-q~italcan be viewed in tlie context of production imperatives. Ilie illusory nature of 'conciliation' legislation quickly became appdrent dt tlir momt3nt tlie ostensibly 'mediatory' fun(-tion of tlie State failed to resolve tlie dispuftl. At that point, repressive tactics, including the use of militia dnd the 'speedy trial', could be expecttd. lierefusal of employers to relincluisli their 'right' to makt decisions that not only lidti grave impact upon tlie welfare of their employrw, but also of the locdl economy, wds largely responsible for tlie inte~vcntionof a later (100 3) dominion Royal Commission to investigate "serious labour unrest." Tlie Colonist believed the "selfish interests" of the miners \wre responsible for the "numerous business failures" suffered during strikes. Thirty pcrcent of tlw Wellington payroll supported Victoria merchants. Tlie aggregate loss to trdde during labour disputes routinely totalled $250,000.00 monthly. Uunsmuir did llot bclieve that the possession of immense wealth imposed a measure of accountability upon him. On tlie (-ontrary, he drgued lie possessed ,in "equal, absolute right to administcr his property as he pleased." If so inclined, tlie mines \vould remain closed. If tlie State was concerned dbout 50 See, 21 JLA 1893: 8, An Act to Pr.o~:i(lcFor. tlw Esfn6lis1~rncr1tofn Burmu of'L~~t)o~~r.Statisti~~. (11111also of'Cortrwils of Concilintion and Arbitration fiw the Sc~ttlcrr~cntof'Ir~dustrial Disputes. The dominion government drafted ;I Conciliation Act, which was given royal assent on July 18, 1900; LuDor~r.Gclzttc (Sept. 1900: 40). See also, Lahtcr Gnrcttr (Dec. 1900: 192-93) for a review of' the English statute upon which the Canadian Act was hiisetl. business failures '1s a conseqirrnce of strike activity, Ihnsmuir argued "tlie government could... make him a proposition to sell" (Colonist. May 24, 1'303: 2. See also, PABC, GR 329, Box 1, file 6, 2Oh/77). Dunsrn~~irhad the audacity to argue that '111s' workers were 'free' under 111s control. The alternative was 'enslavement' under the control of a union extn~t~ve Thc 1003 tiuntc.r Cornrniss~ondealt w~tliISSII~~ tli'it ~erna~nedunresolved froin earlier i~n~est ( ornmittct.~(Colonist, May 23, 100 3 0) Po\verful dggregat~onsof finance ( aprtal, suth ds tht3 Victoria Hoard of Trade, solicited assistance from the Canadian Man~rfact~rrersAssociation to cornbat proposed reforms, such as a dominion right hour labour law: ...wc had better draft a resolution to the effect that in the opinion of the Board, the fixing of the hours of labour is a rndttrr for employer-s and employees and not for the govtvntntwt to decide (Colonist, Mdr. 15, 1007: 5). The miners, for their part, were desirous of some form of State intervention in the form of rornpulsory arbitration. Repeated str~keact~ons h,\d produt ed a dra~n~ngeffec t upon trnlon dt)rlrty to represent the ~ntercstsof its rnrrnbers (Bercuson 1081 470) As early as 1000 ~t was ( lear new legislation was needed to replace both the or~grnalAct and tlie to accomplish such 1)urposes as expressed in title, and in consideration of labour disputes occurring repeatedly, \vhicIi immediately ought to be settled for the public good... this House urges the necessity of sircli provision ...( "3 /LA 1900 Aug. 3: 115). ('lea~ly, state strategy sugge5ts there \%ere efforts to ~nst~lltlie [Inage of an ~rnpart~al arbiter, which might thr:n allow easier dissemination of "value free knowledge."51 The ( on( ~lratoryI~ntl w,ls pursued in hopes of drnel~orat~ngthe extenswe damage done to the economy by strikes and, eq~~ally~mportantly buttress~ng State leg~t~tnac-y,wh~c I1 w,is almost noti-existtwt c~rnorigtlie worh~ng-class " Trst~rnonydelivered by a mirier before the 1903 51 Doriin (1986: 648). The press aided in this task. Employer-controlled newspapers, such as the Rosslnrd Ewnir~gWorld, propagated the ideology of 'common;llity of interests' (('olor~ist,May 13, 1903: 3). In t,he United States, the employer-controlled Steel Trust purchased el,ery newspaper read hy steel workers (Colonist,May 2, 190%:8). Ifunter Royal Commission indicated ,in a(.ut~working-class suspicion of the judiciary. Onc worker demanded they be barred from any tribunal, as "their upbringing" and "education" would "create sympathy for the capitalist classes", while "their social environment would alienate tlie judiciary from the working cldss", and lndke them "dmenable to bribes." Bec-austt the judiciary were "nearly all the sons of rich men", workers could not trust them to "act fairly toward the working cldsses" (Vancouver Province, June I.!, 100 3 5) State efforts directed toward countering d burgeoning working-class consciousness must have been seriously c omprornised by revelations In the legislature that tertarn regulatory statute4 such as the Cod h41nes Regul,lf~on Act, (1800) were unenforceable (23 ]LA 1803 20) In 1890, the B C' courts held that wctlon 3 of the Co~l,bl~nes Rt.gul,~t~on Act p~olirbrtrtig t.mployment of Chinese below ground was within the constitutional power of the legislature as being d regulation of co,d mines, dnd is not ultr,? vires as in interference with the subject of dliens (In Re The Coal Mines Regulation Amendment Act (1800) 5 B.C.R. 306). Court decisions were anything but consistent. Mining c-ompanic>s ignored tlie IJ\z,, aid BrytlrnbJ lauticlietj an unsuccessful prosecution against Ounsm~lir'sUnion Colliery in 1809 fur employing Chinese undergro~r~id.~Though tlie courts had affirmed the right of the Provincial 52 Sw, the address of the Lic3utcnant-(;o~.tl~~norat the opening of the 1893 swsion. The go~elxment hoped to end conflict between capital and liibour "by dis~~minatinga knowledge of their mutual needs"; 21 tJLA .Jiin. 26: 2 and Apr. 12: 132, 1893. 53 in spec to^ f31,yden had been manager of Dunsmuir'.; Wc.llington mine ;it the time of the 1887 mine explosion (Pethick, 1978: 86), was married to one of Robert Dunsmuir's daughters, and was ;i partner in thr Union Colliery at Cumherl;ind (Mouiit.. 1988: 27). 54 Bryden \.. IJnion Colliery (lo. (1899) A.C. 580; 1 M.M.C. 337; PABC, GR 429, Box 4, File 4. 1703i9!3. In this decision, the court re1,ersed its 1890 ruling, determining that section 4 of the Coal ililincs Rcgulntion Act w;is not intrn cirm the Pro\.incinl legislat,ure by \.irt,ue of section 92 of the B.N.A. Act. Rather, section 4 was a simply a measure to exclude aliens 01, naturdized subjects from underground employment. Ironically, attempts by mine inspectors t'o prosecute employers aided a hegemony of neutrality that, in England, was pi\otal in creating an emphasis upon compensation for injuries, instead of abolition of injuries (Dorm, 1986: 571). Legr\ldture to draft md ens( t "interndl polic e reg~rlatrons"addressing danger or risk to tlie public, the work-site was excluded trorn securing legal protection. Soon dfter- the 1830 decision, premier John Kobson realized a policy of Asidtic exclusion would only strengthen the cconomic position of white miners, and encourage strikes (Victorid D~ilyTimes, April 15, (o~rrtre-dffirrned that unsafe working conditions were "matter ...not ... affecting tlie p~rblicor likcly to affect the public ..." The Attorney-General drgued lie so~rphtan ~~ijcrrictiorito prohibit the employment of (:hinc.se below ground, "Becd~rseof tlie non-respect and non-observance of this defcnddnt Company of tlie law of the Idnd." On Septetnber 1G. 1003, Mr. justice That is not a protectron to tlie publrc, it 15 tle\!gned for tlie prevention of ac c [dent and the protection of those prrsons nrho go down to \$orb there I do not tlirnk any ('ourt rn the world would hten to all ernployee of d company dskrng for dn rnjunctron to restrain tlie <'ornpany from workrng their ( oal \\it11 Clirnamcn h ~nswerto ((he cod1 miners) woulcl be, if you (io n~fIikt' to in( ur the ri5k, you need not go there, you h'lve got no r~ghtnor .Ire you cornpelleti to go there (1) 301) (rtnphdsr5 added) I-he dwision was of even more signific-ance bt~d~rsrof tlie cmpliasis it plactd upon State non-rntrrferenre in 1)rivate profit-making a( tivities: In granting injunctions, espec-i,llly where there is ,I going con(-ern, such '1s ,I c-olliery, the Court h~sto proceed carefully. It is a very st.rious matter to interfere with ,Iny prrson'.~businr ss... This Court tloes not grant ,In injunction for the purpose of enforcing moral ohlig~tions,nor for keeping people without the range of tlie criminal law. There usu,~lly must he some right - ,I right of property, or some right at any rate - infringed or likely to be infringed. rht. miner who is emploveci in th~tmine h,~sno r- right to come here ,~nd.jsk for ,In injunction, hec,~use he h,~sno right of property. )') According to Morton ( 1983: 13), ec-onornlc power was us~rdllys~rfficierit to secure short-term capitalist objectives. As the press and reported cases make clear, in tlie event vast wealth was insufficient to win the day, the cocrrts proved to be dependdble business allies, by facrlitating a 4Iiift of entrepreneurial risk away fran employers and onto tlie work force. As 55 (pgs. 40:_i-04:emphasis kidded). Acquittals kind the quashing of colliery convictions followed this decision (PABC, GR 429, Box 10. File 3, 2456103; Box 10, File 4, 3229103: Box 11. File 1, 911i04). See also. :3:1 JLA 1903: 9, Gaz~tfe,Nov. 1903: 483. cdpitalists. Consequently, the State paid little or no dttention to workers' concerns. Despite Keith's sctback at amending the Co'jl Mines Kegul,~fionAct, the miners were optimistic that Concilidtion-Arbitration legislation would secure for their cause what industrial militance had failed to do: fcrlfill the third demand of the 1800 Workingmen's platform by pi-otecting the health and safety of workers in industry (Loosmort~,10.54: 7 1 ). British Columbia's economy s r- mines in the province. " The latter was won tlirough the t'ffot-ts of socialist-based unions such as the Western lederation of Minrrs. rtlilitant frontier unionism found fertile ground in the Kootenays, as the working class were subjected to unpledsdnt and hdzardous living and working c:~nditionc.~~l.ike coal-mining, injuries occurring in British Columbia's metal mines were frecluent and dt>bilitating(PAHC, CR 42[), Box 8, File 4, 1084i0.l; Box 14, File 1, 3.50107). The courts frecluently exonerated the mining c-ompanies, instcdti blaming injuries and dedths upon "careless" or "unauthorized" employee behdviour. An dlternate ex1)lanation was the '~nc~void,lbleaccident': 56 Received royal assent M;iy 8th, 1897. ,.llrr.sir~rtrrdSc~r[;crnt Act, R.S.(1897),C'. 131. The Act t2mpowered ;i .Justice of the Peace to command a master to iippear ;ind answer ;I complaint of a worker, and to order rrst,itut,ion to the m-orker not exceeding $50.00. Signific;mtly, the Justicr coultl ;ilw fiicilitate the implementat,ion of;] 'profit-.;haring' plan designed to establish "common grounds of interest between these classes in rrgatd to iictunl interest, \r.elfiiw and surct~ss."There was two stated objectives: Libour peace, and "an inrreastd (lewl of? intlustri:il and commercial del.elopment, (in) the pro!-ince" (C'olonist, .June 8th. 18!)8: ti). 58 Phillips, 1976. See :ilso, ;I resolution of June 10. 1899, by the Silverton Miners Union, maniksting a militant class consciousness; PAHr. GR 429, Box 5. Pile 1, 324399. If (tlie incident I-esulting in injury) was not (caused by ernploye~negligence), then it was orre of tliose accidents wliitli happen despite all reasonable care and foresigIit.li0 By 1895, tlie Western Frderation of Miners had established d foothold at Rossland (Morton, 1084: 56). More than any other reason, tlie rapid growth of tlie union in the metal mining regions was fueled by dissatisfaction with unconsciondbk working conditions, and a refusal of employers to observe tlie prov~sionsof legisldtion providing for dn eight hour ddy (Atherton, 1076-77: 101). tiere, as elsewhere in British Colurnbia, labour unrest was beginning to dssurne an ominous pattern. Curiously, a provision of tlie 18T1 I-rnployers Li~bilityA(-f (s. 6) limiting the employer defense of dssumption of risk was not utilized by tlie courts until 1804. In Scott v. B.C. Milling Co. (1894) 3 B.C.R. 221; 2.1 S.C.R. 702. the plaintiff appealed an crnfavourable loiver court dr'c-ision. The high c-ourt overturned tlw trial court, stipulating d need for ,I "direct and positive finding that the plaintiff voluntdrily incurred thc risk ...there was no such finding." The To support the defence of c:ontribcrtory negligence, it is necessary that there sliocrld be a direct and ~msitivr.finding of the facts nee-essary to c-onstitcrte it. lhc rrduction In the scope and effect of employer defences MVLII~have negative rmpiications for employers JS labour unrest cont~nued,and British Columbid entered the twentieth century. 59 Labortr. Gnzcttc, Oct. 1900: 8:3-4. See iilso. Loboclr Gc~z~ttc,June 1912: 1206. As Doran i 1986: 570) argues, the 'un:i\.oidable accident' aided making a compensation scheme appear as the only natural solution to the issue of workplace health and safety. See also, the Massachusetts case of -Farwell (Lewis. 1909: 57). fiO K;ilph Smith (Nixnaimo),R.E. McKechnie, and R.Macpherson (V;incouver). 61 Macpherson, McKechnie and Carter-('otton secured a wide iariety of amendments to labour le,nislation. Most importantly, the labour presence in the legisli~turepro\,ed to be the c:~talystfor n House vote that resulted in an eight hour law in the metal mines. The mining companies refused to obey the statute, and organized to resist it (see. 28 JLA 1899). (12 28 JLA 22 Frb. 1899. Smith found t,hnt the dispute over hours and wages could have been :i\,oided h;id the miiniigement discussed u-ith employees their wish for a split shift prior to its implementation; srr dso, 28 ?/LA 1899: lfi. resolve '' ('apital~sts were clearly worr~edthat workers refused to drsc ard the idra of dn elglit hour day: The worhng hours are ds short as ~)oss~bleIn wI~ILI~an werage miner can make d dec ent wage dt present lates If the earnlng power of the miner 1s redcrc cd then the demand for an rncre'ised sc dle of pay would bt) a t~aturdlrcsult (/'AH(-, (;K 329 Box 12, Frle 1 824105) [lesl)~tethe best efforts of mine owners, the law te~na~~ied~ntact ("3 /LA ALI~30 1000 102) f vents dt the legislature betwren 1898 to I001 ~ii~rroredtlie growrng disc old on thr ~ntlustr~alfront " Orthodox trades union movements had beer1 rngdglng In ~ndustnal,I( tiv~ty that was intended to improve irnrnediate concerns suc-I1 as wages and wol-king c-onditions. Industrial a( tron was able to extract only lirn~tetlcon( essions and reforms to irnprove the lot of e~nployees. A provincial (onstable at the mining town of Phor.n~x advrsed the Attornty- (Jraneral of "tlie condition (that injured men) find tlietnselves in": 63 ('oloni,st. May 23. 1!)00: 4; 29 JLA 17 ,Jan 1900: 1:i. 'I'hr mine owners proclaimed ignorance of the miners desire thiit their hours of I;~bourbe regulat,ed. ('apital belie\wi there had been "reason to congratulate thernseljes upon the pleasant. and profit;iblt>"work t.nvironment. Moreo\-er, they tlesirrd that "nothing should occur to disturb the harmony and peace existing" in the tx~lationship. Any State attempt to do so would constitute infringement upon tieetlom of contract (29JLA 1900: li). The Kaslo Hoard of Trade suppotted the mine owners, attacking the Westrrm Frtlet.at,ion of Miners and the "tfictator.ship of'tl~sUnions" (emphasis added). Howel-el, el-en the Board admitted that "8 hours is entirely too long Sor men to remain in the workings where the ;\it, is foul." Instead, they called fbr increased inspection and entbrcement of the existing laws (pp. liii - lvi). LIany Kootrnny merchants (p. xxxi). rrsident,~of Greenwood ip. I\.ii) and organized l;~boursupported the law. The Vancouver 'Trades and Labour Council argued that the dispute was "fomented bj- men who have no regard for humanity. and whose only object is to amass n tbrtune at the rspense ofthe workingmen" (p. Ixvii). The miners dettnded themselves with correspondence to Premier Joseph Martin (PABC, GR 429. Box 5, File 4, 918,OO) and petitions to the legislature condemning employer- generated mis-truths as: ...un,just ...unf~~i~',..m~~licious and mis-leiding ti~lsehoods,and a slur and slander on the intelligence of Canadian labour and not calculated in any sense to assist the Go~ernment Such statements are used and put forth with the ulterior motive of prejudicing the public mind against organized labour (29 Jl,A 1900: xlvii). 64 Three different political administrations enjoyed fleeting power during this period. (:hdes Augustus Semlin ((lonservative; 1898-1900) miiintained power until a split in a coalition government occiisioned the Speaker of the House to ask Liberal Joseph Martin (1900) to form the government. Martin Sailed at his task, and .I;~meslhnsmuir (('onsrrvative: 1000-1902) succeetled him. They are not able to make a Irvrng for thernwlvt3\ mdrf not taken care of In some wciy WIII be a cliargc. on the publ~c It will natur'dly fdll to the pxt of the govtlrnmcnt to take care of them (PABC, CR 420. Box 8 F11e 4 1084 02) Constable Donnaugh suggested a tax upon workers and employers to cxe for disabled employtws. Workers, however, had different ideas. A Socialist movement had now emerged tli'it saw the salv'1tion of the working class not in ~retortn,but rather, in the installation of an alternative economic system.65 As (;rantham (1042: 15) notes, tlie return of "determined" socialists from Nanaimo area ridings to tlie provincial legislature was pivotal in tlie for-rnation of the 131-itisliCol~lmbia Socialist Party in 1902, followed by tlie Revolutionary Soc-ialist Party of Canada in 1904. I developments confirmrd that I~~OLII-CII~I-~S~ was not going to Soon after, the fedc>ral government began monthly pcrblication of tlie C,jn,jcl~ hhour C,jrette. This journal was a brilliant conciliatory measure introduced by William Lyon Mackenzie King. Clearly, tlie Cxette's message to \vot-kcrs \vas reinforcement of the State as impartial, brnevolent arbiter.67 65 Bennett, 1937. The consrrvitt,i\-epress had been decidedly hostile to the Ii~hourmo\.ement. Nevertheless, the sudden threitt of socialism led one editor to recant his pre\.ious stitntl, and arglle that labout candidi~teswere acceptable only .';IS long as he is not n Socialist seeking to o\.rrturn existing institutions and try experiments in legislation." 'I'hr existrnce of a 'commonality of interests' was utilized to support the claim that "nothing ...can be enacted in statute t,h;tt will make the working men any better off than they we now"; Colonist. ,June 13, 1900: 4. See also. Lipton (1967: 87-97) for parallels in the de\:elopment of consert-ati\r eastern Canadian socidism. 66 The Kooteniiy metal minprs were especially militant at this time. Their attempts to unionize (PAB(:. (;R 429, Box 5, File 2. 54:32/99) occasioned capitalist demands for "protection" (GR 429, Box 5. File :I, 2:]7/00), resulting in the ;lrri\,;il of police and Pinkerton in\,estigators (GR 429. Box 5. File 2, 5481199;Box 5, File :3, 45:3:00; Box 5, File 4, X4:3/00: Box 5, File 5, 2144/00). See also, 'The Coming Struggle', I'olonist. May 24, 1899: 4; 'Anarchy in Slocun'. Colonist. No\. 4. 1899: 7. Repeated military intenention into labour disputes (29JLA Aug. 2, 1900: 113) angered the socialist press in British Columbia. The editor of the Lnrd~nuEagle confidently predicted that in Citnada, "British Columbia will br the first to feel the chaos" (Z/lcCormxk, 1974: 12). See also, Colonist, April 24, 190:3: 4 (industrial unrest epidemic in North America); Colonist. Oct. 27. 1901: 9 (strikers in Fr;lnce threatened by state with death penalty); Colonist, April 6, 1902: 10 (company police thre;tten union organizers with deat,h in ('olorndo); 40 JLA 1911: 27 (the ,Japanese go\,ernment executes soci;~lists);B.C. Fctic~mtionist,Feb. 27, 1914: 3 (Australian socidist orators are ;~ss;iultedand locked to street Limp-posts). At the same time, important legislative concessions were being won by working class po~itic-ians.~~The worst fears of the c-onservative element within British Columbia were realized with the election (by a(-clamation) of radical labourite James 11~1rst ~awthtliorntl~waite.~'('The 190 1 and 1002 sessions saw a dramatic- increase in legislative dctivity as labour and socialist M.1-.A's repeatedly exploited a prec-arious balmce of power within the legislature. Perhaps twartenrd by the prospect that the working class might at last be approaching a position of influence within the legislature, liawthorntliwaite obselved, "We 0 dl.? out for class legislation, and we dre not going to be cluiet until wr get it."'- 67 ('raven. 1!180. In ,i letter of August 17th. 1!)00, to the Attorney-(;t.net,i~l, Miickenzie King requested "t~eportsor public;ttions, contilining f'acts, figuws, or other information on subjects of interest to workmen, or the industrial classes generally" (f'AH(2. (;R 429, Box B. File 1, 291fj1OO). The (';in;idi;in Manufilcturer's Associ;ition protested the publication of t,he Laboli~.Gazcttc, fearing it would hccomr "a 1,ehicle for labour pt.opngiindi~." As Pivii ( 1!)79: 100j re\x?iils, these fears prxvetl gl,oundless. similar, more comprehensi\,e legislation proposed by Ii~bouradvocates %-asdefeated: fbr example: Bill 9. Arl Act Hclatirt~qto Lnhocc~.(a more suhstant~iid\,ersion of MePhillips Bill 53) and Art Act Rcspcctir~~Dr,ccptior~ in P~.occtr.ingLt'orkrr~c,rt crrd Err~pl(~yr.r~s(Bill 40) 2') /LA 1900; see illso, V(rr1couccr. Plyxirtcc, July 27th. 1900: 2; August 8th, 1900: 3. ti!) Ser, :?,O ,JLA Frb. "dt. 1901: :3. Chosen by accl;imation to represent the Nanaimo City riding (1901-19 11, 1918-1920), Hawthornthwtiite's background was unique. Familiar with the Island political situ;ttion ;is ii consequence of aiding tbrmer labour Y1.L.A. Ralph Smit,h. Hawthornthwaite had been employed at the United States consulate in Victoriii, and seneti as n consular agent at Nanaimo. After stint5 in real estate and ;i mining miichinery 1-enture in San Francisco, Hawthornthwaite rr.t,urned to Nanaimo, where he was a night u-at,chm;in at the New Vancouver Coal Comp;lny. He later became w clerk in the company's land department (Loosmore, 1954: 1-19), As R:ilph Smith moved fiom labour to liberal-labour, becoming ever more intimate with capital (the superintendent ofthe New Vancouver ('oiil ('ompany hitd said "I am proud the New Vancouver Coal (:omp;~ny...p roduceti such a man ... Mr. Dunsmuir is also on record as haling perfect confidence in him"; N(~r~(~irr~oFIY~PIT'SS, Oct. 25th. 1000: 2) the rift t)otween he and Hawthornthwnite widened, until the latt,er's political activities culminiited in his firing from the colliery. Citing a lack of autonomy for labour cnndid;ites from the Liheri~lmachine. Hawthornthwaite e1,olved toward the left, and in Januaty of 1!902, joined the Re1.olutionm.y Socialist Party (Nannirrto He~ald.Jan 21, 1902: 1). 70 Intlcpr,r~tient.Sept,. 26. 1903: 1. See rspeciiilly, '(ll~ssWiir In Local House'. Ct'cst~mCln~ior~, ,Jan. 1%.1907: 1.4. I lie lC)02Workmen's C'ompt~n,~t~onAc t \V~S( rc~tcd,iro~lnd the \heltxtdl framework of the 1 ngl~\hAct of 1897,~',~nd Inc luded tlie itlentlc al ,mount5 of colnprnsat~onpydblc to 'in 74 Soriiilist ,J.H. McL'rty ;rcknowledged that while the British ('olumbia Irgislnt,ion was patterned iift~rt,he English Act. "miiny of the hetter points wtw omitted" t)y the McBride (lonsrr\nti\-e mi:jorit,y. honetholess, McVrt,y wrotr, "('redit is tlur. t,o Jiimrs Hi~wthornthu-;\itt?fhr securing its Piissiige, uns;~tisfiic!tory as its provisions were to him" (H.('. Fctlc~rntior~ist,Aug. 7, 1914: I). hnging fbr t.he 'final tupturr', socialists helirvtd it to he "only ii matter of time when it (the bill) or mow radic;rl meiisurr, will hwome law, if not t)y this govermmt~nt,then by some other..." (Doily Pt.ooirm, May 8,1902: 2). benrfit those in whose interc.st.s it is propostd ...(it will) miiteriall,y twluce the employment of I;lOoul~...r~c~t,;tl~tlthe investment ofc;~pit,i~L.imd hinder the rstiiblishmrnt. of new intiustrirs. surh as the pulp mills ... (PAM:. (;K 429, Box 8, File 5, 10840fl). ti^ ourqrng wotkers from pursuing potcntr,dly more rcmcrnerat~vestatutes tiowcver taml)loyers 1iat)ility Icgislation wcrr seen in terms of an ",I(:(-ident"; thdt is, tlie tvnployer could 78 In t,h~first c;rsc h~ilrdunder t,hr 1902 CVo~.lr'rrlc~r~'~('orr~p~r~sczfiorl .Act, the tlepttndents of'n drcrased wo~kertiii1t.d t,o secure damages under common law becnusr there was no fault fbund f'ither with the c;rr, equipment, or company. 'I'ht. court also ti(~trrrninedthat the \.ictim hid been neither negligent nor t>npigtdin wilful miscontiurt. Thv plaintiffs \vt>re ;~wiuded620.00 a rnont,h for the three yekit. period provideti ('or hy thtl Act; Ekins v. British Co1umbi;i Elt.ctrie R;iilway (hmp;iny (not rt>porttd;('olor~ist, D~T. 12. 1902: 2). I ho~~gli( overage was extendrti to the rndjority of work inlur~es,tlie Act lirnitt~l compt.nscit~on,dependent upon thc nature and sevcr~tyof an Inlury, to a sprc~fitdschedule 79 ('olor,ist, 1)ec. 12, 1!10:3: 2. A lumber wot.ker raised the ire of defense counscl ['or procwdin:: by wily oftht. potttnt,i;illy mot.(> rernunt>r;iti\.eErr~~)lo.wrs 1,inhility r\c,t, instcnd ofthtl 1902 CIioi~1:rr~~r~'s ('onl/)r~r~,scl/ior)A(,/. 'The deti.nse tltlscribed the pl:iintitf;inti his M itnesses in ;I most, dispiirnging miinner, dclscribing their. rvidence ;IS "perjured" Inillings 1.. (;rit)t)lt. anti Skeene 1,umbes ('ompany; not reported); ('olonist, ,Jan. 19, 1908: 7; Dtrilv Tirrws. tJan. 17. 1908: 2 ;id*J;tn. 18, 1908: 2. 'Thtl 1!10% Act, did not pt~clutlethe injured wol.kct from proceeding under the common 1;1w or employers' liability legislation if the worker or his or her couns~lfelt the. ch;~ncasof wro\,rry to he good. Because the recompense allowed under the 1902 Act \\as ;~ct,udlyless thi~nthat of the I891 Act. thre may have. htyn n tendency for tmployers to try to prorrcd under. thr common Ia\v or employers 1i;ibility Irgisl;ition where possit)le, in thtl hopes of srcuring ;i 1;irgcr st>ttlemcnt than ot,herwist> uould h;l~(lbeen re;ilistic. Indeed, somt. 1;ibour opposition tie~rlopetlto the concept of ;I compensation Act, beciiuse it wils bt>lie\ed t,h;it a further wrakening of employer drGnces woultl protlucc~r\-t1n more court victories ;mi higher ;iw;irds th;in a compt.nsntion scheme>could provide (Weinstein, 1967: 15!1). H;iwt,hornthw;iitr's c.ompens;ition hill. Thtl deputation ob,jecttd t,o "heing put undt:r the possibility of being cont,inu;illy in iitigiition with t,mployetv who may h;ippen to he injusrti." (p.1) The srct~t~tnl.y-treasurt~rof' tho (';tn;idi;in Pitrilic I,umt)t.s ('ornpitny argued that "No mow tli~ngerous legislittion roul(i t)e pl;~c,rdon the statutt's 01' this province." In a cleiis svference to t.he growing tide of sociitlism, he suggested the wosking cl;iss should "tl(~nouncct htl band of'politic;il ,igit;itoss who. to further. tht)ir own ends... ;is(. tsying to cse;ttc> discord ht't\$tvn Iiibos and capititl ...the man M ho creiitt.~the feeling ...t,hiit Rsitish ('olumhi;i is ;i good place in which not to invest money. is an nrch- rnemy t,o his pro\.inc.t>." Tht. editor of thtl lat)our,-sympilthetic Ir~tic-prrdcntiidopttd ;i psescient position, stilting simply "1,ifi. is more \,;ilui~hlrt,h;in the almighty dollar." Nonrthelws, ewn he ('xpressed tlouht that H;iwthornthw;iite would get his hill through the House "without it heing so mutil;it,eti t.h;tt. it will not he ~wognimhle"tp.2). drbrtrdtor for a IICW dtv rslon \~~tho~rtregard to the Lords 13~yAc t Grdnt agarn refused to consiticr the facts because lie belitwed Sunday labo~rrwas c-leal-ly ultr,? vires the provincial judrciary antl IeglsLiture (Industr~~lProgress themselvrs in. rhtt Koy,il Corr1rni.ssion On L,~bourfound: 85 Sc~ssioncxlPaprr.s, 1914 ;it M15. Miners f;tced t.x;irtly t,he s;\me hypocrisy. The death of a miner working on ii Sundiry, and the subsequent refusirl of cornpens;ition to his tit>pentient,s, t~sultcdin imm(1diatr politic:;il rnot)iliz;it,ion; Victoricx D(ril.1 Tirrcc.~,.Jan. 2'2, 1914: 1. 86 (14 B.(:.R. :385; It; H.C.R. 120; 1912. A.('. 5!)0). There was some confusion owr 1.h~spelling of the plaintiffs sur.n;tme. In I;rw reports and newsp;ipers, it. \,iiried from Kraus, Kruz, Kt.usz, to Kruze. 87 Kruz \.. Crows Nest Piiss (loal Companyt I,imit,ed ( 191 1) lti H.C.K. 120: Vonco~cr~c~rWor.ld. M~iy1. 1911: 8. In Brown v. I3ritish (:olumbia Electric Railway (1910) 1:) R.(I.R. :350, the B.(:.E.K. ;\cknowled~tdli;ibility under the 1902 con1prns;ition Act, but sirniliir to &, disputed tht. right of' from twery mrrnt~erIn older to fight future actions. 88 89 1)r;iwing iin ;initlogy to gaming, the R.('. b'cvlcrntior~ist notcad that M hen employrrs piiid their premiums to their 1i;ibilit.y compiiny, theit twponsihility to their t.mp1oyet.s ceased. In rtf'ect, the Insuri~nct.cornp;inies mi& ;i bet with the rmployt>rthat they nil1 be iible to scttle a11 claims during the year for less th;in the iimount of the premium, otht.twist1 t,hert>cannot bc ;i di\-itit>ntltitvI;itwi for the shart?hol(lrt,s... the lrss they pity, tht' highc.1. the didend (R.C.Fctfcrationist, June 25. 19 15: 4). X) Disourdi v. Sullivan (iroup Mining (hmpiiny And 1Lliit~yl;~nd(~iisuiilty ('ompimy 14 B.C.R. 241: (No. 2) (1909) 14 B.(:.K. 256, 2 Butt. W.C.C. 508, 514. Ldwr~r(Azzcdtc.. St3pt. 1909: 402; (No. 5) 14 B.C.R. 273; Disourtli v. Sulli\,;in Group Mining ('ompiiny and il1;irylitnd Ciisui~lty!'ompnny 15 E3.C.R. :305. for(ctl to contend w~thfraudulent beli~v~o~rrby those In positions of trust (I1 Ihis ~4iolly he (;,itlitvlng 5to1m Kevolutron over Krform in vww of tht. short( olnlngs of tht, 1002 Act (or Inorra ,ic c c~rdtrly bet aust3 of them) the I,ibour-sot tallst ~nov~~~ntvit~ntt~ns~f~~d 11s strugglr fo~'1 just dnd Iiurndnt~( ornprns,tt~on sc heme I urtd by tlir prolnlse of ,I better Ilfc Immlglant I,iboirr was met ~nsteatiw~tli dangt.1 ous anti unr cwdrd~ngoc ( i~l~t~orisRcdtjy to wo~h had ,inti M( r ~f~ce, \to1 hers \verc3 bloc ktd not by ptlrsondl fd~l~r~rsbut by 'in t.xplolt~vesystem (Brrc~~son1081 1; 1) liidustr~,d ft3uddl~srnprovlded fe~tlleground for men sir( h 'is lames t Idwtliorntli\t,a~te,ind Parht~r W~llutns Tlwr populdr~tywas rndr~~festdt~onof burgron~ng,tssoctdt~on bet\vrrn ,t 92 So acute did the unscrupulous (y~tprofitnblc) practice by insurance cornpanic.~of'stiit~ing claimiints into submission become, thiit the courts hrgan to quash releases signed by ~vorkcrsundt.1, (~U~PSS.In their pliice, the jutiiciiiry ;~wiilded"damages in ;ic.coldiince with the merits (ofthe rase), rnerrly deducting t,he iimount, piiiti for the rt'lease by t,he insurance company" (B.('. b'r'tlcr.cztior~ist, *June3, 1915: 4; .June 5, 1914: 1). 93 Sre, Vtbt,i.,uh ( 1!)88). l'he H.('. E'r~tlpr~trtionistslammrd the ('ompensiltion Act, ;is ti "cost,ly fiil.ct>" and ;i "stupid, t>xpensi\e and inefficient" pit>c.t>of' labour legislation (Feb. 19, 1915: 1). Another writer c.ompliiined thiit British (:olumbiii's Act was "about ;is obsolet,e ;I measure as there is in force in any of the 42 countries which have alreiidy piissed legislation bi~setlon the s;ime principle" (Aug. 7, 1914: 1). Partirul;irly contentious niis the exclusion of'loggers. 'station-men', farm and domt>stic 1;ibour. For workrrs, the Act fell fi~rshort of their t.xpect,ation that industry should bear the cost of'maint,rnance for its mtiimeti, in,jured and killed (April 17. 15) 14: 1). 94 A self-tiiught soc.i;ilist (I;it,c>r,in 191 1. to bccome ;I sociiil-tlt~nioct,iit;inti, by 1916 ii liberiil), Williiims w;is born in Wales in 1873. He workrd the Welsh collit.ries, in addition to t,hose of Alhert;i and Washington sti~te.Willitims ;ilso logged in Ontario anti British Columbia. Although he did not, win ;i seat until 190:3 at Nt~wciistle(near Niin;iimo), hy 1902. Williams nonetheless notion of (-lass politic-a1 '~ction(Co/onist, Nov. 3, 1001: 9). Williams .articulated his philosophy succinctly in late 1002: In 100 3, work~ngc lass cffolts culm~natedIn the elei t~onof Kevol~rt~onary5oc ~al~stParty over 1 100 votes apiece (f',dmer, 108 3: 10 %) !Hi Mc('ormnck i 1985;l: 124) iirgues the miners wew thr w\~olutionary cingui~rdin British (hlumbi;~.Simil;irly. Senger (198.5: 35) notes "Socialists did not tietine Iabour's politio;il agenda in turn-of-the-cent,ury B.(:. The miners did." Revolutionary srntiment manifested itself in an industrial union movement that sought to ;ichit.\.e economic iind political change through incorporation of the general strike. In ('iin;itl;i, t)ot\\een 18!)1-11120, thew were :NO8 strikes. ln\.ol\ing 829.000 workcrs (('ruickshank and Keiilty, 1987: 86). In British ('olurnhin, bt~tween 190 1- 1917, there were :327 strikes, idling 94,140 workers, thr a com0ined total of :3.28:3.00O lost person-(lays ((:ruicksh:ink iind Kealey. 1987: 138). A lengthy general strike of (;lm\vs Nest Pass coiil miners iind construct,ion workers in 191 1 1;lsttd 8 months ;ind in\.ol\ed '7000 workrrs. This strikt., like most others fought in the pro! inw. \\;is filught o1t.r union t.ec,ognition. working contiit,ions, and wages. C'on1;ick ( 19X5) notes that of 14 m;ijor strike actions in C;innti;l between 1!)01 ;inti 19 13, six orculx~tdin Hritish ('olumhi;i, prompt'ing Ralph Smit,h. Mnckenzie King's 1iit)our advisor, t,o tiescribe the Pacific mist ;is bring di\.ititd into two wmed rilmps (I,e\;int, 1977). Smith's st:it,ement was pc~h;ips;in unwitting rontirmiit.ion of the looming 'social war' prophesied by Marx: a result of a burgeoning working class political consciousnrss. Endemic unrest was instrumental in the appointment of t,he Hunter fi~l(~iilRoyal ('ommission i 1!103), without consultat,ion with, or the appro~;ilof, tht. tlritish ('olumbia go\,ernment. See iilso, H.C'. I'c,tlc,r.ntiorzist, May 8. 1914: (i. 97 Nunczirr~oHcraltl, Dec. ti 1902: 2. Unfottun;itely, the SP(' did not fully capitalize upon Increasing 1iit)our militancy. hy shifting the cmphiisis tivm Party t.o labour unions, unt,il 1918 (Friewn, 1976: 14:3). workers to my longer Ignote the '~nlierentlyantdgon~\t~c" nature of (apital and Iaboitr 00 xgultig it was "well known that some indc15tries Iixi the effect of intiut Ing n c ertaln c of workers per yrx. This dt.bilitating illness was c-ontrdc-tcd in H.C. factories dnd woi-ksliops wht.n t,he f:,rct,ory whistle blous it. dot.s not c;rll us to \$ot.k as 11ishmt.n. (;t>rmans. Americans. Russi;ins. (;reeks, Poles. Nrgrot.s, or Mexic:~ns. It calls us to work as \\age- workers, regardless of the country in \\ hich we were born or the colour of our skins. Why not, get togethrr, t,ht.n ...as w;rg~-wot.ket~s.,justas we art' compelltd to do in the shop (McCormack, 1985;~:11 1). As Motton ( 1984: 96) irrgues, th~I.W.W. wirs the first organization to oprnly wrlcomt. 0rirnt;xl members. The union clearly "defendtd men's dignities move ;uieclu;it,ely than the ri\,nl hostels of the Sdvation Army." 99 Ikrcuson, 1!)81: 45:3; Vtzncotrt~c~rPrm,irtc.c., J~lnt.10. 190:i: 1. The N'c~stc~t.rz('l(~r.iort argued that c;~pit,;ilistI;iw was t,hr expression of "p~dxiblyt.he meanest class in history." (';ipital began t,o resort, to law to prevent I;~bourfrom striking their industries, anti to secure recompense tbr pecuni;iry losses as ;L result of a strike. It was it st,rategy with which capital initially succeeded; set., for ex;rmple, I,e Koi Mining ('ompany, I,imit,eti \.. Kosslnnd Minc>rs Union, No. 38. Western Federation of Miners, et al. (1901) 8 B.L'.R. 370; PAB(' GR 429, Box 7, File 1. 1722i01; Box 7. File 5, :3:3:38101. 100 The LAZ~OILI.GZZC~~C c;xlled the May 22, 1902 explosion at the Crows Nest Pass Cod Company mine at ('oal Creek "one of the most disastmus accidents in the history of coal mining in C;inadii." of 1.50 minrrs on shifl at thc time of the rxplosion, 125 were killed; Sr.s.siona1 Ptrpr,rx, 1903: HL'73. Kcturns for (o~rrspondencc between the M~n~stcrof Mne5 md two nww ~nspecto~swere requested md Fmvnted,lO' and a ('ommission struck to ~nvestigatethe matter,lo2 w~thtlie flrst s~tt~ngdt Fernie on 5eptember 8th, 1902. t-ldwthornthwdltetiorritlia~tt(alltd for a return of the results ( 32 /LA 1903 Apr~l17 26, 13 /LA 1904 rcb 8 10 I), ,inti m,i~ntd~ncd( ont~n~rous [)lthssureupon the govrrnmt)nt by rt-fus~ngto Irt the matttl~tile on thc tloor of the tlouse 103 l lie findings of tho Commission confirmed that vtlntil,ition, lo' use of explosives. 105 (see. PAU(:. GK. 429, Box 9, File 1, 2189102 for the findings of the coroners jury). The Gc~icttc(,June, 1902: 750-52) rtw)tdt~Iwidespremf public sympat,hy, but noted "the effect of the t~xplosionwill not long ti(~li~ythtl re-commencemt3ntofo~)t~t~;itions ...'I'hr loc;il prices of'coi~l\till not be iifictrti ..." A conciliatory message was communicated by t,he Houst. on Miiy 26. 1902 (31 Jl,A: l2tj). When the Iegislntivt? scssion was prorogued on the 231.d of ?June, the Lieutenant-(;o\,t>t~norexpressed remorse iit the "lnmenti~ble;iccitlent", and requested the House direct its "earnest attention to the hest means of preventing the recurrence of .;imil;ir caliimities" (p. 2 13). 103 31 JLA 1902 ?June I!): 187. (:iting the dangerous nat,ure ofcon\:entional explosi\.es in dusty and gast.ous British ('o1umbi;i mines, Hawthornthwaite demanctrti Ity$sl;ition be drafted to enforce the use of t1;imt~lesst1xplosi\es, locking safety lamps anti s;ik tamping m;~teri;ils. Hnwthornthwaite's tlt>m;intls were later r,eplicated by t,hr 19O2 Royal Cornmission on coal mines explosions. 104 Adequate ventilation w;is ossrntiiil t,o exhaust explosi\,r gas rele;ised when the coal w;is disturbed (p. H287). 105 Testimony revealed t,hat t>xplosivtls with fluctuating qudit,y ;inti potency were tvutinely sold to miners by the company. Miners were forced to handle explosi\w in the mines that hati been exposed to wide fluctuation in t,emper;iture and humidity, making the explosi\w extremely unstable. Explosions at mines near. Lillooet anti Port Alberni were both attributed to unstable dynamite; PABC. GR 429, Box 6, File 5, 22W01; Hox 7, File 1, lliti8!01. See also. Lilja v. The c;riinby Consolidated Mining, Smelting ,ranti Power Company, Ltd. (19151 21 B.C.R. :384. 106 The ('ommission acknowledged that production was the 01-er-riding concern. Nonetheless, it recommended a routine protiuct,ion lapse between shifts in order to clear the mine of gas :iccumul;itt4 through disturbing the coid tlrposits from the previous shift iH292). This 107 'I'ht. ('ommission brlie\rd miners would question being p~.osc~utc~lfi)r bring caught nith smoking pnriiphrtmtili;~or opening tht.ir lamps underground. while mine officials were permittcd to oprn tht?ir sakty lamps t,o light shot fuscas (HWO). In ;I It1t,t,er datctl Mar. 2(i 1902, from inspector Archit);ilti Dick to E.(;.Prior, h1inistc.r of IL1int.s. IXck ~wluest,etlthiit carqing tobacco and matches into ,i mint. hv rn;itit. ,in offence: 108 I)itt,ii from Bt,itish ('olumbiil, F3rit;iin ;inti Ptlnnsyl\,iniii showed that fils t~e1.ymillion t,ons of coiil protiuccvi, minrt tlriit,hs hy tlxplosion equalled 6.61, .ti24 anti .415, twpecti\eIy. For coal mining tiriiths from ot,ht.r c:iusrs. the figuws \rc>rt. lO.titi, :l.:i2 and 4.63. The ('ommission clc;irIy helitvtd that intiust,ri;il death was unfi)l.tunat,t~.but nrctwiiry. E\.t>nthough ;\ggrrg;ite tieiiths for ;ill t,hrt\ejuristlict,ions fi)r thrw proximiitt> 10 yt'm pt.riods totnlleti 15.000, the Commission opined thiit "t>ven were all preciiutions ;irtl t,;iktxn it is doubtful if we ran ever hecome entirely free from explosions ..." 'I'hc s\impt,oms of industriiil nct,i\ ity were iiciciressrd with the lwommt~ndationthat mine rescue equipment be ;icquirtd, but any discussion of ;in economic syst,tm th;it relrgat.td humtin life secondary t,o production w;is ignored: Scssiorzal P(rpcr.s (1903) Ed. 7 :it H29.l. As Mc(?orm;~ck( 198.5;~: 120) iiques. "lkath literally btlcame part of' lift. in cod towns." 100 In ;i c!le;ir t,t?ft?renreto the Chinese, tht? Clommission opined t,h;it ";in intelligent class of labour is in t.\,ery way prefer;ible ..." It twommentied ti 1901 amendment to the ('o(11Mirzc~s Kcgrtlniiorl Ad he furthr,~iimendeti to require that miners IK~iil)I~' to untlerst;inti English (p. H29:i) (see iilso, 30 JLA 1901). Hawthot,nthu;iitt> had introduceti ;i stringent hill (#20) in 1901 in t,his regard, but withdl~p~..it when McBride tissulyd he int,t>ndedto pass similar le~islation. During the 1900 session (29 J1,A 1900: 45). one government memht>r questioned t,he utility of continuing to bar persons unahle to reiid English from the mines, suggesting that such legislation \voulti "not be of ,iny benefici;il eff(.ct in inhihiting the employment of Orit~ntalInhour." On the contrary, it was feared such legisliition ''woultl r~sultin the dismiss;\l of. and the> loss oft~mploymentto hundreds of miners in this province, thoroughly c;ipahle ;is miners. but who are not able to reid E:nglish." The miners were ;ipprehensi\e of any ;ittempt t,o bar persons uniihlt~to read mine rules posted in English. A petition was quickly circulated and signed hy 406 miners ;it Wellington opposing t,he iimendmrnt, and ycnt t,o Victoria (1900 JLA: Ixix). Cdpitdl inttvests relied ~tpo11a ready and expenddble supply of immigrmt Idbour, not only to completed, sc:ttlc these worket.s dong the line to "do the rwugh operating \\ark ot'the system" ( Vancorcr:r~r.Pr.o~'incr~, FeO. 1, 1907: 1). 11 1 The C.P.R. imported 6000 (:hinese tbr railwiiy construction in the 1870's btlcause of their propensity for iiccepting condit,ions other workers refustd (How-ay, 1928: 262). Simil;lrly, capital witnwses ;it ii Victorin Ho;itd of 'I'ratle Inquiry struck to in\tlstigate ;I I;il)out, shortage within B.(' wt>t.t>unequivocal in t,hc>ir.belief that "whit,e labourers (were) too independent to 1)r usef'ul": I,et,'s get more men into the countr,y, thrn those who are here won't be so independent ...l'w iilways found thiit whenevet. there is :I shortage of Inhour, the workmen will miinage to get up to trouble of some sort... (('olorlist. April 17. 1907: 9). ('h?i~rly.Ii11)our short,ages iillo\.rtvl workers to tiemiintl incre;~sedwages anti impro~wiconditions. The only priicticiil solut,ion fol capital was to secure increased itnmigixtion. Chinese domestic ~-0rkersexploited I;ihour .;hort;iges; Vnncor~r:c~r.S~cr~,May 18. 1917: 12: (.'olor~ist,Feb. 21, 1907: 1 See also, PAW, GK 429, Rox 7, File 4, 2X63101: ('olonist, Aug. 27. 1907: 5. Morcwvrr, Dunsmuir had not wlthheld consent, but tather, had only 'rewrved it for tlie Kings ~)lc~asure."Ihrrefort~, the I-icliltenant-Governor hdd acted in the public, not pr-ivate interest. ",md it wo~~ldtherefore be highly improper to impute motives" ( 37 /LA 1008 Jan. LO: L 1). 1 tit. ensuing scandal forced Mc-Hritk to public-ly disclaim (cabinet responsibility for tlie br~havioi~rof tlie l~ic3~1tenant-(;overnor(37 //.A lC108Jan. LO: LO). Ic'iving little option but to rall a Royal 113 Commission to investigate tlie charges. A good portion of the 1002 Commission's work foc-used upol~tlw Chinese. I I5 Revelations in the tiousr that the Chinese wrrr hing employtd undcrgro~nd'~~)in violation 114 37 JI,A 1908 Feh. 21: 63. Atlditioniil opposition tit3miinds \vt>rc. registt~retito in\-estigate price- fixing iind ;% disregiirti for si~fety~,rgul;itions in the coal intlust,ry. C'learly, the Dunsmuir crises left thr govt~rnment,in a conciliatory position. Go\ t.tmmt>nt support fijr safety concerns, however fleeting, suddenly brg;in to mnt,et~i;ilize(:17 JLA 1908: Frh. 10: 41-42). 115 An 189!) petition from 1421 miners t1ern;inrled "stringent lty$sl;iti\.tt cnartmrnt" to pwvent risk t,o life. Mint.rs t)elir\,eti a reduction in t,he numhrt of injuries and tlriiths recorded roultl be ";it,tt~ihut,rtlt,o thr f;wt t,hiit no (:hinest. haw been employed in the Nanaimo and Wellington (hllieries during tth;it pt>riod": Sr~ssionczlPapr.s ( 1!)00) 5:1 Vict. ;it 39:l. By 1901, the situation had detrriori~ted.The I,rzborct. (h~rttr(Mar. 1901: 3.12) reported "The ;ircitlents ilt Extension (mine) haw been so numerous of lnt,e ...that t,he miners t.mployet1 thrrt>Lire circuliiting a petition 1.0 the Provinci;il I,egisl;~turepr;iying t,he government to prohibit the employment underground of tiny one who cannot read and understand the Mining Regulations in English or Ftvnch." The extent t,o which the Ir,nislnturr wits prepxed to support such extreme (and arguably, unfounded) demands is pt'rhaps ht.st illust.r;ited wit,h bill :i9 (254 VJLA 1!300: 48). An '4ct to Hr~grclntcthc Lcr~gthof'Htrir. thczt ml,v hc too~nby Ernplt!vcr~s in h.l<~tnlli/i~roct.s(2nd othcr rrzir1c7s. Minc11.s also professed concrtm thiit their wages iind working conditions were bound to regress to an inferio~,lewl due to Oriental Inbout,: "...(Orientals) ;ire not employtvi hec;iuw they ;ire Orientiils, but hecause they ;ire cheap" (B.C. Frtirrationist, cJuly 13, 1912: 1). 116 Forster wits nssurtd by thtl governmt3nt (27 JLA 1898: 104) that the inspector of mines had been instructed "to see that the reguInt,ions fbr t,he Coal Minrs Regulation Act prohibiting the employment of Chinilmen in the mines" wet^. to bts enforced. In it later session (32 JLA 1903 Ikc. 2: 91, the government ;ig;iin insisted the law wab being t.nforced ;it Cumberland. 142 counts of violating the Coal Mincs Kc~grclationAct were hid against three mine managers, anti convictions secured. resulting in a fine of $2500 ;md $2.50 costs in each case (PAB(:, GR 429. Box 10, File 3, 245610:l; 33 J1,A 1!304 tJan 12: 39). The legislation was later ruled unconstitutioniil by the Supremt. Court, ;inti over-turned the con\ictions. While mining companies were relatively immune from Penal sanction, (,he mintlrs wet.t> not. ILline inspt~ct.orsbrlieved imprisonment had a "salut;lry cff'rct" of tlic COJ/Mines Rogu/dtion Act, in conjunction with safety rr.gulations in metal mines being ol~rnlyflaunted,' sewed to strengthen the rewlve of unions in tlie metal mining regions (see, for t~xarnplr~,27 11 11 1808 32) and at Vdncouvei Island Tht~deteliordtlng situation in the cod mincs1I8 ,tnd mc3tal mines110 ( ontinued to detnmd mu( li attention in the House owr the next drcade as miners frecluc.ntly iesortcd to intlu\trial a( tion to prote5t the intrdctabie 1m51tionof c.rnployt.rs In tltldling with issues such '35 mine wfrty union re( ognition and w~tges. heextent to which working conditions ,it thc <:rows Nest Pass coal (-olnl)aiiy mines were J serious c~n(-ernto the miners is clear, given the appointment of a 1004 Royal <:ommission into tlie cond~ic-tof mine inspec-tor Arc-Iiihald [lick. T~lit. miners ~CCLIS~~[lick of rrt (.wing ( ash bribes from thc ( oml~iyI hr. singlc ( ommissioner ruonerated [)ich in a single page report ' '0 118 For ex;impIe. 34 JLA 1905 Fpb. 13: 9 (H;l\vthornth\\-ait>demands ,I rwrgani~ationof the inspection syst,cm in t,he f'acr of "the iippalling pet.cc3ntilEr of nccitirnts"; 3-1 JLA 1905 Feb. 14: 14 (Wi1li;ims enquires as to "Mongolians" holding miners cert,ificates): 34 JLA Feb. 21: 26 and Feb. 22: 30 (demand th;it McHride entbrcc the pro\.isions ofthe C'oc~lhlir~c-s Kc~gill(ztior~ .4c.f ;it the ('ro\vsnest pi is^). 119 See, for example, :36 JLA 1907 Mat.. 13: 10 (nurnbet anti description of injuries in metalliferous mines for 1906). 120 In thc Mattcr of'tltc "Pilblic Irqrtirics Act" arid in thr, rrmttcr. of'tlw conduct of"41~chibnltlDicl: as lnspcctor of'hfinc3s (1904). Appointed Oct,ober 24, 1904, Commissione~,W.W. Spinks (County court judge, Yiile assize) rxont'txted Dick of suspicion of receiving bribes. either directly or indirectly, from t,he Crows Nest Pass (hill Company. The one page finding was delivered on December 31, 1904. At Vic tor~a,tIdwthornthwa~te (ont~nued to plrss for enfo~cementof a 190 3-04 121 37 JLA 1908 Feb. 10:31. H;~~vthot.nt.h\viiitesingled out the Union ('ol1ier.y ns the worst violator of the ('on1 .4lirws R~g~~IationAct. 1" See. for exiimple, 36 JLA 1907 Mar. 21: 29. By 1908, H;iwthnrnthwaite rhnracteriztd the 1902 Workrrwn's Cornpr~rlsatior~Act as ii "dt.ati letter" in the coal mines. "since any man claiming its benefits uiis certain that he would soon he out of employment shoulti he recover" (Daily Prm:incc. e I, 101). At the later Ro,yal C'ornrr~ission On I~zhour..workers voiced their fear of rumpany intimidiition. 'black-balling', and unemployment its a constyuence of demanding fair .id equitable (!ompttnsiition st~t,t,lements(PAUC, GK 68.1, Box 2, Vol. 5, File 3, pg. 319: see also. Boxes 1-41. ...tlit. cow-lusions arrivcd at after careful investigdtion of thc Royal <:ommission on...lLdmirr will no doubt gredtly ,~ssistthr Icgislature in its consideration in the rwdr futurc of these all-important intrrests (43 /LA 1014 Mar. 4: 1 38). A govelnmwt member rntroduc rd a t~ctone5,-kt, ~vliic11 was rronrc-ally amendrtl so as to l~lnrtthe power of the rnspec toratc ( 37 /LA 1008 hlar 0. 120-2 1 ). ~c~hrllrpssrc urtd a ntw section (s. (1 I) that red: ~)olrce rcguldtron" ( 37 //A 1008 Feb. 18. 56-7) At the same tlmr, Coc ral~stParker W~llrams\\as cleft~dttd26-12 in dn attempt to dmcnd thr. Act with '1 provlsron that \roirld rnahc. lt an offcnt e previous year As Atherton (1076-77) notes, factory Itlg~sldtionleaned more toward 124 36 JLA 1907 Art Act For Protwtion of'Pr~rwrtsErrlploytl In Fnctorics. I25 (38 JLA 1909 Feb. 10: 38). Forsey ( 1947: 580-83) ttxced the development of Dominion f;~ctory legislation during the 1880's. He fbund that mmufiicturing concerns played a significant role in the tirirfting and implementation of factory 1egisl;ition. Re\isions clearly in the interests of manufacturers were made t,o the bill, prompting the Opposition to charge that "the alterations ...are not impro\.ements in any shape or way." I!nciouht;ihly, this is why British Columbia, with strong employer t,epresent,;ition ;it the legislature. fiiled t,o proclaim a E.'clctor;v Act unt,il 1908. See also, (:ole (1947: 220); Lahor~i(hzcttc (November. 1000: 104-12; +July 1902: 3:i): B.('. Fcdcr.cztior~i.st.AUK. 21. 1914: 4; Lipton ( 1978: 74); Morton ( 1984: 84). the root cause5 of ill health anti unrest. The consetvatwe pess ~~d~culedthe efforts of Idbour-so( ~al~stpol~t~c~dns to Improve the welfare of working people llie C'olonist argued that "m undying dffcction for the workingman" wds rndking a "good c-ause ridiculous": Nonetheless, during the p~votalyears leading LIO to thc Vmc ouver Island ('odl Stlike so( 1,111stoppos~t~on (ont~nurd to attempt ~ntroduttron and amendment of numerous otlie~ pie( es of Idbour Ieg~slat~on,'~~'yet larely won scrbstdnt~alconcessions Tlie increasingly I26 Sw, for cxmnplc, ;37 JLA 1908 M;it,. kj: 121. Hiiwthornthwaite attempted to limit the hours of I;ihour iirountl high-speed, sttliim powtwd Iiiunt1l-j rquipmtant: In ;ill cities or. IIIIXI districts whtw laundries iir~t.st;lblishrd ;inti being operated t)y steam or ot.het mec.h;inical power, to prohibit the work bring c.;irried on in any Iauntlry befbre the hour of7 ;i.m. and after the hour of 5 p.m. The motion \v;is nt?gati\.ctj by the (lonser~.;it,i\erniyority (set). W.C'. b'r&i~trfiot~ist,Feb. 26, 1915: 1, for ii graphic description of the destructiw potential of ;i 'powe~,1;iundry'). In iiddition to the numerous attempts t,o amend the Worl~rrtr~rz's('Iorr~pcrts(ztion Act (l!fO2), H;i\vthol.nth\\te and Williiims tiemantied rleven ;xmendments to the ('or11 Afirtcs Rt~g~~lc~tionAct. They included: r~st,rictionson boys under 18 working in areas of the mine where Eas h;id been found within the past 12 months; ;i posting of inspection notices at conspicuous pl;ices uit.hin the mines; ti daily patrol of t,he mine by an indil-idual nominated by the miners (;is opposed to the monthly inspection cillowtd under the C'ocrl hfincs Kcgd(~tiorz.Act); and other amendments th'it would ha1.e giwn miners ii ret titer. degrtw of control o\er t,heir own s;lfi?ty and \veil king. Only one of the 11 amendments W;\S ci~rriedby t,he m:i,jorit,y of the House 140 tJLA 191 1 FP~.23: 73-75), Hawt,hornthw;lite also pliiced 7 hills t)tfow the House during the 1910 session. including an :\ttc.mpt to amend the 1W2 compensation Act (39 cJLA 1910). The other six bills were: an initiiiti1.e to enact a maximum eight hour day, six day week; an ;imendmc.nt of the Hcnlth .Act pmviding for inspection of all logging, railwiiy, lumtwr, mining and sawmill camps, especially their water supplies; an ;xmendment to the 1,clOorcr. K~~gr~latiorc.-kt to protect smclter workers from "smoke, fumes, dust or heat iirising from the smelt'ing or refining opelxtions" (see also, smrlter \.vorker petitions at 35 JLA 1906: 45, 47, 56. 61; CVestrrx ('Inr.ion, Nov. 13, 1909: no page); an timendment to the Mctallifi~r.olisMirws Irtspc>ctiorz Act: a fifth hill sought numerous amendments to the Shops Rcgrllntiort Act; finally. An Ac.t to Pr.cvc,r~tDiscrirninntion Against Tr.trtit7 Unionists was intended to make unl;iwful employers forcing employees into reneging their affiliation with a 1;ihoul~ union in order to secure or maintain employment. The bill also sought to prohibit, employers seeking to discover whether prospective or rurwnt employees sere memhers of, or desired to join. ;I polarized class reldtions suc-ce~dctiin reinforc-ing in the minds of working people the seeming futility of trying to acliievt. change within the confines of thr dominant social system, a realization that mirrored the decision of a 1000 Trades and 1.dbour Congress convention to discard traditional labour organizations for th,it of so(-ialisrn.'" The interminable efforts of capitdists to ~naximizethe expropriation of s~lrplusvalue by minimizing the (costs associated with tnaintaining and protecting the labour force was c-lc>arly a factor in the dggrcssive growth of militant labour. Out In thc Cold: Railroad Labouters and l oggers Mdny ~ndustr~t.\exac trd a stlvt're toll up011 the workfort e, bi~tfew ~ntlictecl traumatlt Injuries to rwal those endured by rd~lroddlabourers ,mti loggels Indeed, m~litantindustnal un~onismwas later to be the forte of predo~ntnmtly~mlniglant railway c onstrut tion labourer3 d turn of events largely due to unplea5ant wotklng conditions Known ns Wobblies (for those associdted with the 'Itid~~strialWorkers of the World') or 'bhktlt-stiffs' (for thtir habit of trrkhng from job to job wth ,111 thew worldlv possessions ~olledcrl) In a blankt.t ul)on tlic~r 128 The. ill-t~.r;itmentof r;iilro;~dconstruction workers on the ('.P.R. line in the (h~owsnestregion of i-\lbtht.t:i ;inti H.C. prompted one business publication to "damn the railroad" for its "grossly hrut:il anti inhumiin treiitment of the men" (Bliss, 1974: kit<). % Roy;il ('ommissions ensued ;is ii consequence. The fil.st in\clstig;~tedcomp1;iints from mrn who hiid been employed by the contracto~s:(:an;id;i. To thf Hottsc, of'('ornrr~onsof'thc Rcpor~of'tl~c, Con~rr~issiorlr.~.~ Appoirlteti to Irlclctir.c into cornpltzir~tsr.cspr~ctirt,g the, trwztrncr~tof 1ai1ortr~r.sor1 the ('rnwsncst Pass Rrzilrc.n~,.Rftt~1.n. Ottawa: April 30, 1898. 61 Victoria Scssionc~lPnpcrs (No. 90A). See also, Athert,on. 1977-78: 100. 'rhe scvmnti Royal Commission was held only two months after the report of the first Commission was received. It in1,e:;tigated the deaths of two workers: Canatin. Rr,po~.tof'illr.. R.('. ('lcctc or1 thr, corr~rnissiorlto crlrlrtir.r~into thf d~atl~oj'hlncDorlc11tl trrlti Fr.rz.so or1 the Cr~occsrlr,stPnss Rai1rc'n.v. Rctctrn. kj2 Victoria Scssiorml Pnp~rs(No. 70);see also, ('olor~ist.June 12. 1898: 2. By 191 1. conditions hid improved lit,tle. Board for "bunkhouse iiccommodiition" consumed nearly 50"c of the average Iiibourer's earnings (41 JIA 1912: !I, 22). back), these 1,ibourers rndured (in 'a( c~tjent'rate (har,~cterirtxi as noth~ngless than "~em,irkablecarnage" while work~ngon the grade, or In the woods 120 Nurnerous fa( tors were respons~bltlfor a burgeon~ngb~tterness w~th~n the workforce over tlie h~ghInjury and death rate attendant w~thrallrodd constru~tionwork L~hethe coal-m~nrt>uplo\~on\ of the late 19th (t3ntury, non-labour pol~t~cIans were w~ll~ngto dr'ift messages ot condolence express~ng "derp sorrow" md "lieartfelt syrnpatliy" In the aftt.rrn'~tli of ,In intluitr~nldisaste~ hlorr subst,intive fo~msof assistanc t., ho\vcvtv, werr rarely fortlit oming. Tlie courts were c-onsistclntly punitive in dealing \\lit11 railroad labourers. The result was oftcri a rnt~~lidn~~al1nterprt3tation and ,idrii~n~strat~onof legal rules In terms of both legal ( ourts tmployed ( onvolutd It.gal rr.dsonlng to re~nforcr tlie provision Ihe In( [dent oc c ur~etl at <:anatlian Northtm Pacific Kdilway camp near Yale. Like the miners, r-ailroad ~vorkerstvere forced to (ontend w~tlid lack of proptv stot'lge facilit~esfor dynamite. \uh~cIit~t~dtd to [)re( Iudd from covrragc under the 1002 Act as lit1 n,~s111 the relat~onof a sub-contrat tor 129 McCormack (1985b: 105). Twenty-two .Japanese workers were killed in No\-embet, of 1!)0!) when tht.ir work tr;iin plunged off n wiwhed-out bridge in Burnaby (PAR('. GR 129. 13ox 17. File 3. 548:31'09). A railroad construction labourers' "miraculous escape from death" was recorded by tht? Victor.in Daily Tirrws 1:3, 191%:3). The premature explosion of (iti sticks of dyniimite ;it ,i ('.N.K. cttmy maimed thc worker's hand. 130 See, for example, :j!I ?/LA 1910: 91. 64 railrontl workers were killed on Mar. 1, 1910 when, while clearing one snow-slide in the Rogers Pass, they were tlngulfed by mother (Orchard, 1969). Rather than secure a measure ofjustice tbr the dependents of the vict,ims "killed or in,jured in the dt>ploriible accident", the House iivoidrd conflict with railroad capital by engaging in the symbolic gesture of publishing n copy of its resolution in the Jor~r.rtczls. 131 The Fesnie coroner reported the deat,h of a railroati labourer engaged in thawing dynamite o\w a wood stove, in a rough citbin that already contained ;i half case of explosi~e(PABC. GR 429, Box 12, Filr 2, 1466105). Be(-ause tlie 1902 kt \til)ulatecl that "anyone engaged in an employment, under a contract of service, apprentic:esliip 01- othelwise" was eligible to claim under the Act, its scope was c-learly wide enough to incluc-le 'station-men', or railroad sub-contractors (V,~nc-ouverProvince, Dec. 18, 10 12: 21). Nonetheless, the plaintiff lost. Tlic court decided that by sub-contracting, all 'station-men' bec:atnt> contractors themselves, aid therefore ceased to be classed as (~mployees,1s defined by the 1002 Workmen's Cornpen.s,~tionAct (V,jncouvrr Province, Dec. LO, IO1L: 37). The judiciary interpreted the provision in sit(-I1 a way as to ensure tlie interests of employers were served (V~nc-ou~~erProvinc-t., May 8, 1002: 2; LLlhour Gjrette, Jan. 1913: 801). Ironically, the sub-contracting provision in the 1002 Act was termed "objectionable" by employers prior to tlie bill rrc-oiving assent. Social-Detnoc-rat 1. r. Place attempted unsucce\sfully to eliminate tlie 'sub-contracting' loophole in 1014 (43 I/.,-\ 1914: 1 31; V,lnc-ouvcr World, Ftab. 27, 1914: 1 ). Railroad c-dpit,il atid workers also enforced '1 rigid stratification of labour. Immigrants with tiit> Iowc>\t status 1x1-fortnctlmenial md dangerous jobs, while whites were r-elatively \ec.urc. with more 111-estigiousand often less hamdous tasks. '' t lowever, onre injured, workers w3re treated in a (.aIIous and inhumane manner. l3 ?I Social-Dernoc-ratic opposition 13:3 One ~.;iilro;idworker, injured kvhile loding he;i\.y rock onto it riiil c;ir, w;is released tht. following d;iy t,o w;ilk 20 miles itlong the g~xt-leto the hosyititl. Thr ~ourneytook 12 hours (V(~r~corlr:ct.Pr.or.ir~cc, June 19, 1914: I!)). Anot,ht.r \\orkt.r, ( hdrge 'med~calfees' for an inddecluatr st3rvlce with unt~a~nedperson~i~l. Only r\leven "medrcal prdc troners' were reta~nedby tlie company for ~tsextensrvt> operat~onson Van( ouver Isldnd and the ma~nland Two of thew practront.rs Lvcrt. not sanct~onedby the Br~t~sli( olumb~a Medrc dl Assoc ratlon 34 The de'itli of ra~livdyIdmurer In 101 5 ~t a Cdnddlan Nortlit.rn project In the ( owclidn region of Vdnco~lvcrIsland served to ~llustrdtetlie cl~ialrtyof ~ned~cdlsewlces tlie 1,11lway ~ns~stedrt w,ls provdrng A serlous wound hdd (aused severe hrmorrlidg~ng,but there had been no meth dl ,~ppl~ances dt the ( amp nor any doctor at tht. ra~lwayliosp~tal rhe sole nurse was for( ed to trdnspor t tlie v~ct~~n 2 3 ~nrles by boat on the ('owrchdn Ldke Tlit uorker later d~edAn ~nvrst~gatronrevclaled that on tlie 83 rnrlcs of rarlrodd In questton thelt3 wd5 but one doctor two slnall Iio\prtdls dnd no erntYgent y med~cdl supplres dt myof the ( dlnps tor the 700 to 800 men In that 84 rnrle gr~dewho pird llier~$1 00 per rnontli for rned~ca1 servlces the ( ornpany Ii~rtdJ doc tor of cluesttonable Ieputr ~2.110was pdrd less than $100 00 per month As tlie 1),11ly Prov~nct'revealed workers have enough to clut~~ytlie books of the contractor nert3 ~rn~ned~ntelyfrrd " [lie mt~rnbt~rsof the 1014 Lcjbour Comrn~sslonnere forced to dc kno~letfgrd pos~tlvr ( orreldt~onbetween tlie organlllng ab~l~tyof tlie Industrrdl Worker3 of thr h'orlti and the ~)LI~IVPtredtment IJ~OLIIhad re( elved at tlie hands of employer5 The c omrnlssloners brl~evedthat organlzatlons of such 'pernlclous pr~nc~ples(could) f~ndfew ddhrrents except dmong ~mm~grantswhere the economic (ondltlons die dnd hdve been deplordble' (\t.ss~ondlPqers 1014 MI) llie manner In nh~(I1 employers treated labour made olgdnrrrng 134 (41 JLA 1912: 26). Onr tioll;~per month was dtductetl from each pay packet, regardless of'thr numbel of' days worked. Clearly, 'first aid' schemw implt.mentrd by railway contr;ictors were less a benevolent response to the rigors of railroml construction than they were a strategy to fraudulently revover wages. This unsnwry state of affairs led the Vnncolcvcr. Sltrl to characterize medical aid schemes as "fi~rcicalgrafts" (Mar. 9, 1912: 6). 135 L)nil.y Pr.ovincp Feb. 10, 1915: 2, See ~ilso,14 JIA 1915: 17, 31; Wilson 1.. Miickenzie imd Mackenzie (not reported; LtrOorcr. Gtrzcttc, Frh. 1915: 1004). easy l lit> prosptv t~vetnt~~nt)t~~ needrd only swear alleg~ance to tlie work~ngc lass (MrCor~nac-k,1085b: 110). heCornmission ut~lvedthe exdmplc> of immigrant labour at 'In point (Se.s.sion,~lP,lpers, 10 13: M23). t {ere, li~~ntlrttdsof Russian miners rxisted in sclualor. rht. ~,ulroadrcfuscd to ( ons~der( leaning pllvle5 and ( ollec t~nggarbage more frequently than tw~ceannually. Corl)or,ite goals centered dlound the drw to rnax~~n~reprohtdb~lrty result~ng excc.ssive. '' I i~wtliornthwaitehad attempted to menti thc Hedlth Act to prevent 5uch 1 0 1 i 3-75 I~~terestingly,the M~nisterof Health ~ntroduccda b~llfor tlie ~nspectlon ot logg~nganti rdll~oadconstru( t~oncamps subseclurnt to tlic defeat of tiawtliornthwa~tcs initiative (30 /LA I9 1 1: Vic-tori,~I)~i/y Times, Ian. 27, 10 1 1: I.!). Clearly, work~ng( ond~t~onsfueled unrest Workers wsented be~ngtredted worse than "swint:" (Mc(:c>rmack, 1085b: 113). According to Brrc-uson (1081: 3G5), railroad construction hdd undesirable etfects. As one itinerant railroad I,lbourer remarked: . after tlie experlent e I hdve had for the past three weeks (in a PJ( I~ICGreat Lastern Rd~lroad( onstruc t~on(dmp) I wdnt to dnnounct> myst31f as a (ancl~datefor any wrec k~ng( rrw that's golng I had heard a good deal of the rough stuff that \vas p~~lledoff In tlie ra~lway~on5truc t~on (amps of tli~sprovince but now I speak flow an experlencp by the Gods of I aboc11 I ve h'id Inore reason to m,\ke a mdn turn anarcli~stor dynam~tcrthan evcr fell to my lot In my I~febefore 1 <7 1:37 El.('. Fctlc~rntior~ist,August 1. 1913: 1. Hit,ter rrsentment of \vorking conditions \v;ls expressrd in other ways as well. One Hrit,ish Columbia txilro;d labourer wrote: The lifi. that Goti creatrtl Is mangled torn and hurt. By thost. who in their grrrd have rxted Humanity t.o ht1 ;is chray ;is dirt Williatn Bowser that tlie I.W.W. was a violent anti drstructivc Ihor organization (V~ncouvrr Province, Mar. 4, 1014: I). Workcr dissdtisfaction with primitive living and working conditions eventually c-ulminatctd in 7,000 I.W.W. mrvnbcrs striking the (lmatlian National Raihvay constr-uction camps between Kdmloops and tiope in R.ldrc.li of 1012. It was tl~eIqest hlobbly action ever in Canada. rho <:onst~n/dtivr~government. '1s it h,id done so many tilncs before, utilized the State apparatus to ~ssistcapital. Provinc-ial 'ht~dlthinspc3c-tors' c-losed tlir striker's camps, ostensibly because they \vtal.e 'unsdnitary', while tlie provinc.i,il polic-e xrt'sted tht' strikers as they ~)rdcrablyvacated tlie amps. [-lie govcrnmt>nt suc-c-essfully broke the back of tlie Ironically, the I.\/t'.W. cdmps (-omplied more c-losely \vitli tlir provisions of the t lt.,llth Act than tliosr of tlie c-ontr,-lctors. I ike tlie mint. owners, railroad contra(-tors enjoyed wlative immunity from prose(-ution (Mc-Cormack, 1085b). IIie 1.W.W. w,ls SLIC(-~~SS~LIIin organizing more than just rail workers, however. The "gruesome" ni~mberof fatdlities in the \vootis \vas so rxc-essive that no one company was hl~to track down the next-of-kin of tlic yotrng, single men \zho wcrt. dying on their opct-dtions. lhc> c-ompdnies l~referredto hire tlit~cindividuals, as it lessentd tlie possibility that logging vic-tims would leC~veany dependents twliind (Procrty, ION',). Miners at Kossland petitioned tlie legislature in 10 12 to prohibit tlie offensive practice of c-ompanies discriminating against workers with fd1nilit.s in order to r-eci~lc-epotential liability. Though loggers were equally dffected, only the miners had rnoirgh political (-lout to draft and submit a And ever the ones who ;rrr toiling Die hard fi)~,the ones that t~st; 'I'he \.ictims of ;r hellish spoiling Of it system that stands ;rcc>urst. (McCot~m;~c.k.)85b: 105). 138 As Norris (l!)XO: li8) trrgues, [.he strike firilcti brc;\usr the rank and file had underrstimatrd the shn~thof'the police. government, and local M.P.P.'s (V~nc-ouverSun, Oct. 23, 1912: 10; B.C. Feder~tionist,0c.t Unlike the Iqor mining opt.rations, wliic-h were more likely to be locattd proximate to tlie st3ats of economic- and politic,il power, loggers, like rail~vay~rorkt.rs, had to fend for w're docked pdy for fa~l~ngto (omplete sh~ft As I ~nd( 1078 68) observes rnjurrd loggers h,ld to w,i~ttrrit~l the elid of tlie sh~ftlo be rettrrntd to (amp Even t1ir.n thp suffer~ngm~glit not cntf One logger re( died the death of 1115 fr1c1nc-l ...we got him to tlie hospital ... dnd they wouldn't t,ke hi m...we c-aught the five o'clock hat to Vancouver, and got in at ciglit ... that night, he's dead ...but in the meantime, lit. kvpt hollering out, 'hit Int' with a Iidrnrnt3r' ...(Jot. Muir: V,lnc-ouvrr 1.s1,~nt-l1-oggrr, 1902-1944). 1:I!) 'The Var~iwrtcc~.Pronir~i.c (.M;iy 19. 1903: 1) related ;I t~portof n Japanese logger "rrushed bt>twren two big logs" at n Howe Sound logging camp. Wit,hout medical help, fellow loggers ttxnsported him to hospital, br;~~.ingrough seas at night in ii row-boat. They rr;tc\hrd L';~ncou\-erin the early morning. Well-organized miners owned and financed theit. own hospitiils (see, L;.B.C Specid C'ollections, B,vln~csczrul Slwtch of'Sczrltlon Mir1c1.s' Union Hospital: Sandon, n.d.). Minps uithout unions, such as the Brit;~nni:imines, were poorly quipped (VIitcpherson. 1976. PrtOlic Hfalth: Dl.. .A.M. .bff>r~~i~s).Luggers \wre t'\.t'n less fottunate. AS Prouty (1985: 88) rt.\.e;ils, :In unusu;tl logging fiitidity wits one that occurred after recei~ing hospital c;tre. 140 After the death of' tive workers in one incident, one cowt camp w;is shut down: ... (it witsn't that the boss wits soft-hearted)... it was because t,hey bvere short of men, clnd the steamer wiisn't due with a new crew for ten days... (Orchiid, 1958 ('.hat.l~s0. MCII.,S~O~I: b'or.c~stc~r.Irt R.C. ). The fdlllng man (I~sapp~artdamong thc tree tops It was a long \tay tio~tnto the t~ottomof the (myon 1\11 tl~ttco~rltl btx Iwmi wds thr, breaking of tlic hrancIie5 tle wa\ a goner for sure The ( rew wdw't allowed to clurt wor k for resc ue oprratlon\ of a (lead man An hour I,iter the man cllmbtd up tiit. 51deof the (myon and went back to work [lie tree branches had broken 111s fall txc ept for a few bruises he was feeling just flne rompensation Act to rxc-lirde the oc-cupation in that it did not c-onstitute a 'fac-tory or ,in cnginwring work'. 1-his judic-ial policy rtwltetl in mu(-li hat-dship and suffering in the years prior to thc 1016 Ac I. t drly on, the I.W.W. I-cc-ognircdthe potential in the forest indcrstry for militant industrial unionism. Shortly after the wobt)lies hegm their orgmizing drive in 1007 tlowtwrr, this effort was shor-t-livtd. I lit. remote ndt~rrt'of most logging operations, in at the lwst of t~rnc\ Clearly, loggers m-l othrr worktlr\ ongagtd c learing land wcrc ~iriableto 141 In Mitchell I-. Rat Portage 1,umbt.r Company (1911; not reported: see. Vczr~corlr'c7r.Pr.or:ir~c.r,, Feb. 8, 191 1: 8; IJt~h~)(l~.(;(z;ptt~, .Jan. 1912: 710), ;I suit iiction for $15,000.00 for the loss of an arm hinged upon the question of log chutes. Sawn logs hurtlrd down mountain-sides in ~vater-filled chutes at t,t~c.mc~ntious\.elocities into ;u!jiic.t'nt booming ~1x)untis.A sunivor of many years labouring around log ,rhutc.s testified of t,he "cont,inuous u-orry" the safe operation of the chute presented for the worker responsible for clearing obstructions. When tiskcd by tieknse counsel whether the first duty ofthc m;in ;it the foot of the chute \\as not to keep the passage clear, the logger replied in the negative: "Then what is it'.'" 'isketi counsel. "To t;ike c;iw of himself', replied the witnrss. l4:i Or;11 histories confirm pool li\ing ;inti uorking conditions. Impl~o\.crnc~nt,s,such ;IS linrn sheets inste;\d of straw brtis, did not orcut, until 1919. whfln the Onr Big lJnion organized northern V;incou\ rr 1sl;ind (Thomas tiocscr: .4 foggr~rin 0rc:qon crnti H.('.. 1.900-1Y:IO). Brt,gren ( 19tj6: 29) t'rliites that rel;iti~-eto the time period of 19 1% many European countries ;illo\vcti union atlvoc;itt.s t,o talk openly ;il)out their con\ictions. In Canada, howe\rr, ,myhotly seeking to or~;inizeloggers wiis "immediately ejected ;inti blacklisted from working in the industry." 144 For the enti1.e text of his speech, see, B.('. f.'ctir,~.ationist,Feb. 25, 1916: :1-4 145 While the term 'hazardous employment' conjures up images of f;tlling trees, breaking cables anti steam donkey explosions (all of which were e\,eryti:iy dangers for ;i turn-of-the century logger) there wctre ot,her, less ob\,ious dangers as well. The R.C. Fcdcrntionist repotted t,he disappearance of one (:;impbell River logger whose rem;iins \v~~IY.later reco\.rrrd fi\.emiles from u.het~>he hiid Inst hrrn seen. 'l'he logger u-as n \-ictim of ;in iinimal iitt;ick. "his bones and clothing strewn around the bush" (No\.. 12. 1915: 1). 146 'High-lead' anti 'sky-lint.' logging systems m:itle skidding logs over the ground obsolete. A combination of spar-trees and steel c;ible allowed logs to 'fly' through the air ;it high speed without f'\.e~. contacting t,htl ground. Loggers rarely challenged ,in ernfavour-able arbitration decision or sued in c-ourt. 1.1-lost3 that did rnrt wth sporadic succ ess. 1171s state of affars led the edrtor of the Vdncouvcv Sun to cluestion ttir. motives of a government that had not m,dc the sl~glitesteffort to render (the 1002 Act) more eff~cwrit, or to remove some of ~tsnnomdl~es or extvncl its prclct~ral benef~ts Indeed, the writer ( ontin~letl, tirwdstat~ngfor loggrr's dt>l)entients than they wr31e for other workers In one rase, a loggel Lvas killcd while 'falling' near Iatiysrnith. 1 he c-ourt action failed. llie decision elic-itetl cries ( onditions Island minrrs are organizing to 1)rotect aga~nst": Probably one of the strongest dlgelments (onflrlnlng the neress~tyof men engaged In thrl t~rnber~ndustry orgdnrzlng thtmselves into d trddc ernlon, IS prewntetl th~sweek In 130 a judgcmrnt rendered by Jertige illrlnn~s 148 Hill v. The Virtoriti Lumber ('0. (191:l: not reported). 'The plaintiff attemptd ;i no\.el argument th;it logging oprrations utilizing miichinery were engineering opttriitions as defined by the 1902 (:ompensiition Act, and ;tlso part of the m;inufiicturing process of con\,erting a resource (timber) to ti finished product (lumber). The action fiiilrtl; set., Ynr~c.oclc,r,r.Pt.oc~incc. Oct. 10. 191:l: 14, and Ort. 16, 19 111: 22; L(Z/IO~LI.Gnzettc, No\.. 1913: tj:l8: Indr~str.it~1Pr.ogr~ess (11111 ('~rnrrwr.(,inlRCCOI.~, Sept. 1913: 19; Oct. 191:l: 23. See also, Whitc' \.. The Victoria 1,umbrr ('o. (1910; not reported; Lnbor~r. (;nz~ttc,Jiin. 19 10: 834). 149 B.C. Fc&r.atior2ist, Oct. 17, 1913: 1. The 1ntern;itioniil Woodworkers of America (('aniida) was not fbrmed until 1937, ctt which time the mt.mbership wert. immediately confionted with ;I draining strike at, Rlubher Bay (see, McMullnn ;ind Ratnrr, 1983). There was no further union expansion until loggers org;~nizedon Vancouver Island anti the Queen ('h;u.lottes between 1940-42 (Lembcke. 1W0: 115). benevolent concern for the worker Rather, thcy atlvoc ated any 'measures be taken to Improve tlie cornpensatron law, a5 mil( 11 tri( t~onhad ar1~11"bc.twtwi employer and ernployt~d Many of the same (on( crns were later heard 'it a Vanc ocrvcr Hoard of rrade meeting IltM In 1'1nirary of 1015 (V,~ncouverProvince. Jan. 1 3, 10 15: 2). In 1908, a gathering of the V,m-o~rver- liability for workcr injuries. Indrrcl, the> common hv,Inti its two ,mending stat~1tr.s - the b\oreover, sircce5sful a( tlons by employees jeopdrdired tlie findrit rdl health of hcrs~ness. Frnployers began to view exrstrng leg~slat~onas a soirrt e of pcr~l 5omr. frrms werp actually corisidering "retiring from business in order to avoid possible lidbility." " ' ('lcdrly, employers had rrxon to fear the less predictable nature of the j~ldicidry,dnd 15:3 C'crlcrrtist, lI,~r.22, 1908: 14: srr ;ilso, Vtrrttror~ccr.P~m:incc>. Mar. 20. 1908: 1: Labol~r.Gczzcxtfc, .July 1911: 43. At the Ko,\,nl Corr~missionon Irai)o111..New Westminster businessman D. Turnhull ;\rgued that employers could he "dr;iggeti into ;i lawsuit and prnctically ruined" (PABC, (;R 68.1. Box 2, Vol. :I, File 2, pg. 147. See also, Box 3. Vol. 7, File 3, pg. 37%). 154 In Rramish v. Whitewater Mines, Limited (1900) 8 B.C.R. 261, the court determined that unlimited damages could he sought by plaintiffs in county court. Employers hiid reason to fear ~uries,as well. In Lilja v. The Grimby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company. Limited (1915) 21 B.C.R. 384, (19ltj) 23 B.C.R. 147. the jury found the employer negligent, not~vithstanding the juror's in;ihilit,y to identify a deftxtivp oprmting syskrn. In Aaronson \.s. ('adin, Moore and lnjurics Act. Though the Ontario legislation was little mol-t?than an employer's liability statute that modifit~dthe c-ommon law. it nonetht4ess rescrlted in an incr-eased number of workers winning their coir~tact~on (Risk, 1083: 420; Tucker, 1983: 252). In Hr~tishChlirmbid, tlie judiciary c.mulated their Ontario peers, and begdn to exhibit dn intermittent atte tern of thinking divorced from tht3 forrndl r~11t.sof (ommon law. Thr ideological armour that had for so long protected the ~nterestsof employers was weakcxn~ng,a fact of \vIi~(I1 ( ap~talw,i5 a( utrly await. In Roylancc v. Canadian Pacific K,iiltvay Corn~xiny,the jc~dgeresisted the suggestion of defense c.ounse1 that $300.00 constitilted an "ample" award: You have a difft.rent idea from mine as to the effect of the loss of a thumb i~potia mm's earning pmver... lindcr the Workmen's Compensation Act I +ink tlie loss of a...thu~nbof the right hdnd of a working mm is worth %1,500.00.15" tmploycrs respontied dec-isively to suc-h decisions, and kc.gdn to mobilizing to lay the ~n'ittcv111 some form befole tho Ihrn~n~onand Provlnc~algovernments and c.ntleavot to Iidve the Idw so ~nod~f~etlthat ~t m~glitbe less tlmgerous to ve5tcd ~nte~cstsI5G tfeslrdble tlilng for (the) provltit c' , based upon a ( oncept of J. MOI kmdn wdiv~ng111s common SLIT( ess where such laws are 111 effec t" (VLlncoubrr Sun, Dtv- 16, 1913 no page See dlso, Industr/,~lProgress ~ndCornrnerc 1'11 Rec old Ian 10 1 5 10 {) -Pethick (not reported: Victo~.iczDaily Tirrlr,s, Mat.. 19, 1912: 7: h1ar. 20. 1912: 14) ii I ictim of;] blasting ;;~ccident was untiwssed and exhibited t,o t,he jury. The plaintifr sought $25,000.00. 155 (1908) 14 B.C.R. 21. In F~~kkemmav. Brooks. Scnnlan iind O'Brien (1910) 15 B.C.R. 462, the court denied the defendants the defences of ft>llow-servant and i~ssumptionof risk. 156 ('olor~ist.M~LI.. 22. l!)OX: 14. Employers sent rxtensiit: co~wspondenceto thr Attornt)--(kne~.nl voicing their concerns over the compensation issue; PAHC, GR 429. Reel 2111. Worker Insurrec-ti=: Strikes and Explosions schrme, to~rted,is "a radical depdrture from the establrslied policy and systcm" (V'lnc-owrr Prov~nce,Apr. 21, 101 <: 11) were still years away, when a catdstl~ph~(expioslon at Extrnsron ~vorkrng-class interests would soon be ~dlectedin stdt~rte,~~~the deaths servt'd to rrmrntl miners that employers were willing to sacrifice workers to maximize prolitability. The ~xplos~onhad occ-~rrredbt~c,iuse tlie company llad ins~\tedupon using ol)en flame lir,id-lamps (as opposed to .i more expenslvt', sealed safety-lamp), cles1)rtr knowledge of tlie I)resrnce of (b'.C. Fecler,,tioni.st, June 25, 10 1.5: 1). 159 As the El.('. Fctlpryttit,r~ist(July 13, 1012: 1) notes, thest. c~ircumstitnceswpeatetl thernsel\t~sin 1.912, after fJames Dunsmuir's mine had passeti in ownership to Mxken~ieanti Mann (owners of thtx C;inildi;~nNationtil R;tilw;ty). Mines inspector Newton had declittd thtj mint. unsafe ;tfier detecting gas. The company was ordered to cease usin:: naked lights, and safe'ty lamps Rere to be made ;ivi~iliibleto workers. The company refused to comply. 'I'hr V(X~ICOILI,('I.WtwJtL (DPc. 17. 1010: 4) published a damning indictment of the citllous itttit.udt' of coal-mining citpitnl. The paper cha~xcterizedthe "mass;icr.e of miners" fb~."corporate profit" as "brutal": ...lives (we)not lost because of (a)lack of knowledge ...an rxplosion in n mine is not an i~ccitlent;it is a brutal crime ...the fact remains ...that the managers and directors of the coal company in question will not be punished for t,he crime, even though they hale dipped t,heir hands in the blood of the coitl diggers. See itlso, Bercuson (1978: 2%1),for an account of the Relle\ue explosion; Lcrhoctr. Gtrz~ttc,.July l!)ld: 10:3; Daily Pr.o~'ir~c~,,June 19, 1914: 1; cJune '20. 1!)14: 4. concelns, d~dnotli~ng to Icssrn tht' destruc tlve effects of the pro( ess upon the workforce 1 GO In British Columbia, 'scientific management' \vas endorsed as '4 me(-lianisrn to facilitate greater production, encourage hdlmony between c dpitdl and labour, and counter Bolshrvist activity (C'olori~st,[kc. 10, 1019 15) Kedky (1985) notes that the work~ngclass ~evstrdproduct~on ~nitiativesthat ignored dangerous working ( onditions md tlir unpleasant ( onscquenc e3 of su(:Ii ~onditionsfor workers. In Vancouver, a 'Worktncn's Alliance', \\!it11 an l.W.W.t~sc~~~t~ platform, was formed w~thtlie expless purpose of wcullng J new ( ompensat~onAct e~glit hour Ieg~slation,elec tordl franrhrse for women, frcvtlom of ~el~g~on,speech, and polit~c-al bt4it.fs: wd, a union of all working people (Vc~ncouverProvince, Nov. lb, 1000: 15). discipline what was fast becoming 'in unmanagrable \\orkforce, lb' Indivitluds suc-I1 as Ginger (;oodw~n, J soc~dl~stanti g~ft~dorator, were (entrdl to working-class pol~tlcaland ~ndustrd pool Th~stac tic was ,t but a s~nglrexmpltx of tlie symb~ot~cnature ot State ,lnd cap~tdl ttlmporar~ly I his Iat)ou~was effect~velyut~l~red to bre,ik str~kes,and (ompensate for labour shol-tages ,IS ,I consrclcrence of high mortality rates, especially in resource extraction industries 160 'I"iylor believtd wol.krrs were not unlike "an intelli~entgorilln". "stupid and phlegmiitic ...(~,taquit,ing training) by a man rnot,t> intelligt'nt than himself" (Nightengale, 1982: 41). 161 Encoded telegrams were used by the Attorney-Gent.r;il to relay strike information. The ('rows Nest Pass ('oal (hmpiiny refused to open t,hrit mint..; with strike-breakers until the go\,ernment agreed to provide "genuine mounted police" to ef'fect order (PABC, GR 429. Box I:], File 4. 27752;OB). Other mine opet,;~torsrrquost,ed similar iissi~t~inceto crush unrest (PABC, GR 429. Box 14, File 4. 407tii0$). At Victori;~..J.H. H;iwthornthwaite wiis tlt>nied thc floor by the Conservative majority. Without the protwtion of parliamentary immunity, he hshed out at Dunsmuir, calling him a "brute", "human hyran;t" anti "champion union smi~shcr."H;iwthornthw;~ite also accused Dunsmuir of violating "every liitmur Inw in the province" i~this mines (1Inil.y Prur:incr~.Feb. 3, 1908: 1; 8.1'. Fdcrntionist, .July 13, 1912: 1). Hawthornth\\-iiite's statemt.nts did not escape. the notice of the Vkincouver Chief Constable. He enclosed the Unily t'rwirlcc's coverage of the speech in colwspondence to the Attorney-(;eneral, ;in11ofktwl to make "further enquiries in the matter" (PABC, GR 429, Box 15, File 1, 580i08). employer interests to increase the immigration of persons deemed 'desirable' for dornestrc and farm labour. As rally '15 1007, Hawtliorntliwaite and Williams had dem,~ndetlhit immigrants brought to British Columbia by tlie Salvation Arrny "by misreprt.sentatit,n and false statemtlnts, md...in destit~rte(.oridition" be stol)ped (3b /LA 1007: 100; st^ also. R.C. Feri,r,,tionist, April '{, 1014: 1). Williams discovered provincial dgriccrltcrral interests had expressed an "urgent" demand for large immigration increasrs in farm and dnrnestic the 'Iddies' considered Chinese servants "most suitable for- farm and dornestic p~lrposes." tl tlierr servrces [lie 'ladle>' wt3rc not amuwtl. ...We want servants, and tlie only way to obtain them ... is by '~IlowingCliincsr to come into tlic countr-y in 1argt.r tiumbers than licrctofore (Colonist, Feb. 22, 1907: 10). crucial iml)ort,~nce in understanding their later exclusion fl-om c-ornpensation coverage under the B.C. Act. Sirice 1')10, the cost of living had brtv rising dramatically. Lvith some employers receptive to the notion that "in the long run, strike> would be cheaper tlim wage 162 (35 JLA 1!)07: 65). A t,egisterrd demand existed for 1246 f'armhimds and 1092 domestic sel,vant,s: :3ti ,/LA 1907: 50. incr-edsrs." 16" Foreign ownerrhip of 131-ovincialservices such ,IS the BI-itish (:olumbia hlrctric- 163 Similar mnniigement philosophicbs contributed to ti ~worti490.72ti person-days lost in 1912 due to strikes. (Ile;irly, strikes Lve1.e t~ecoming"bigger, mow bittr~rand longer" (Phillips, lW7: 51). Any illusions thak worlte~s\vere not to br t;ikt>n sc>riously \\;is sh;ittrrwl with the rc\-elation that Lenin wiis bt3ing published in the R.('. E'c~tic~rcttiorlist(Roy. 1!)72-73: 15). Employers \\ere cogni~~intof t,he feeling iimong employees that ";i good time is coming f'or them and tl~tt,hey iirc going to halt' much mow their o\vn way thiin in t,he piist" (Roy, 1972-7:i: 1:j). (1910) 15 H.C.K. :150; (:;irty 1.. British ('olumhia Elertric tkdwiiy (hmpiiny, Limited ! 1911) 16 B.C.R. 3; McDoniild \. British ('olumbiit Elrctric Railway ('ompany. Limited ! 191 1) ltj B.('.R. 38G. 165 B.C. Frdcr.ntiorli,st (Urc. 9, 1911: 1). Org;inizeti It~bourwas ,icutrly aware ofthe regulatory nature of legislation tiffecting t)usiness, and the punitite nature of laws afftcting st,reet crimini~ls. (:iimin:ils were imprisoned or executed. (Iorporiithns were ;ihle to "kill passengers ;ind employers and esc;ipe with the payment of such nominal diimnges ;IS the appeal court may decide to be just md proper." Htiwthornthwaite ;ittempted to introduce a bill to protect employees and passengers on t.~,amways,but was defeated by a Conservati\-e majority (:35 JLA 1906: 128). 166 (15 B.C.R. 391). The miner remained completely incapacitated, and was forced to contest the company action. The Supreme Court ruled in the plitintiffs fi~~our:an ;irbitr;itor appointed by the court had the s;imr powers as n judge in ;i ci\il action. and tlie appeal ( ourt when, due to '3 tn~sunderstandrngbetween hrb and 111s doc tor a00~1tthe plaintiff lost his eyesight tliro~~glihis ow11 negligence (I'owell v. Thtt Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company, 1-imitcd (l015) LL B.C.R. 514: Vmc-ouver Province, luly 13. 1015: 10). h(11 unjcrst dec~s~ons,inti tlie ensulng labour crnre5t clearly had \om(. Ilnpac t on thv govc3rnment dec isron to appornt I dbour Commission In 101 L In 18W, mine Inspec tor Arc Ii~bdtl[>lck reported that Inlnets at tlie Well~ngtonand Union mines did not "takt. tlie on( e ,I mot~tli.Ih7 M,lndge~ncnt clearly intimidated tht. miners to such a degree that none Irt eptive to organ~rationby tlie Ilnited Mint> Workers of Americd. I oc-als were quickly 167 Scssionczl Prrpct.,s ( 1895: 769). Intrl~stingly,the courts did not support the miner's ;ittempts to protect themselves. A 1903 tjt.cision (Leadbeater. et A. \. ('row'.; Nest Pass ('oiil ('ompany. I,imit,td, No. 2; 2 M.M.('. 145, 10 13.('.R. 206. -104) held thiit ;I gas committee electetl ;it ;I union meeting urre not "persons employed in ;I mintr", even though the court admitted that the miijority of miners were union members. 168 Ben Horbry, Hoc~~icSmith ('011~cfior~.'rh~ IA~O~L~. (;(~if'tt~(Mar. 1901: 34 1 - 342) called the explosion "a tlisast,rous one" in which the No. 6 shat% ("known as ;i \.cry fiery one") ;it tht. Union Mine, Cumberland, claimed ti5 li\,es. For ;i more complete account of the Union mine explosion, see Lc~hoctrGclzctt~ (Mar. 190 1: 354-55). company position: If you had a grievance, you couldn't state your grievant-e. If the company didn't like it they could ttxll you to get! So you just st-udded dong... in them days, the c-ompdny had the only say. (lirn Galloway, Howir Smith Collection). On June I5tli. 1012 at I xtensron, two mrners ~n~itlvertcntlyprovrded thr ( atalyst for one of the most bitter and protracted strikes in British (:olutnbia history. Miners lssdc entlorstd to make monthly mrne rnsl)t3ctrons. The c-ornpmies refused to ran(-tion the gas committees, as this activity interterrd \villi protluc tion, and cwourageti rollectrvc actron on the part of tlw rnrrit>rs Tlitb Department of support to the miners in their gas-detection ilfforts. ''(' Wllt.11 Portrty .inti i\.\ottisliaw drscovrred gds, they frled a rcport wrth tlie Department of Mrnes, md tlicrr frndrng was confirmed by an inspector. klottishaw was fired fr-om Extension dlmost immrrlidtely. Thr. situation did not sit well with the mining c-ornmunity: rI1t.y cocdtl tell rnen to do a thrng lrke rtyort that gas ant1 tht. mrnute they reported rt thry Lwre frretl' W~llthdt ua\ enough to \ho~mr just t1it.n that somethrng \\as wrong There must be somethrng urong whtw a cornrnrttt'e I> hrrecl to rcport sornethrng dnd whtw they report rt they fire these men There must be somethrng wrong wrth the bosses srde merstn t there, (t Ilen Crtvnmell tiow~eSrnlfh Collet flon) hbttishaw tlepdrted to set+ employment at Canadian Collieries (Ilcrnsmuir) Ccrtnberldnd r-ninc. When tlie miner's namt3 was recognired by tht> mine superintcndetit, h\ottishaw was again frred, then bldc klrstcd frorn securing employmcwt rrl my othrr mrnr (f'hillips, lOb7). rlw 169 For ;i re\.iew of the e\.ents surrounding the Niinairno ;11iners strike of 1914-16, see McMullnn and Ratner (1983); Ratnet and Mc,Mullan ( 19R9); PABC. Howir Smith Collcction. 170 In a public address, I'arker Willitims accused the Departmt~ntof Mines of being more intetwtctl in "sell(in,o) mines and break(ing) strikes" than "wfepuard(in,o) the life ;inti limb of the worker" (B.C'.Fdcrntionist, June 25, 1915: 1). 'lioliday' on 5eptemt)er 16, 191.! In ortiel to d~srussmine ,afety ( oncerns A mlnt>r5 deputation wa5 dispdtclitd fortliwltli to mdnagement, but the ldtter rcfir5ed to negot~dte. Reporting to work tlic next day, the miners disc-overed (hnadidn Colliwies had demanded cadi miner renege their union affiliation, and submit to intlividudl two year c-ontracts that did not dddrcss working conditions. Portrey remained crnployed at the Extension rnil~euntil Sept. 18, 1012, when a sympathy strike was called in support of <:umberland mine \vorkt>rs. The dispute escalated with the introduc.tion of strike-heakrrs. Ry May 1st 101 3, tlie cirbcision was made by tlic IJnited Mine Workers exerutivr to call a gcbneral strike of all Island mines (B.C. Fec.l~,r,ltionistOct. 5, 1012: 1; Phillips, 1007: 57-58). he miners were all too dwdrta of the horrific t1ffec:ts of d gds explosion in a mine, '" and stood by their decision to have both miners reinstated, and genuine prott'c-tion from tiit> State for miners who reported gas to their employers. As the events in Natiairno took on an incrttasingly adversarial ~~dti~re,SO too did the political clamour for an end to tlir strife brcome more frequent. TIit3 mi~it.rsreceived c-ontinuous support from Soc-ial-Lkmoc-rats Parkcr Willialns and john Thomas Place. The two r\\.P.P.'s wrrr not only the sole labo~~r~-c~~)resentativt~s; they ,dso rtlmaintd tlic only offic-ial 171 The strike hnltpti p~wiurtionfix ;I .;hart period. Houewr. ('anadian ('ollieries (Dunsmuir) soon revived production back to two-thirds of' normal by importing strikebreakers from England, and utilizing Chinese Ii~bour.The mining companies, intent upon exterminating the unions, told ;I f'ederxl government ronriliiitot. thtit "there (LV~IS) not,hing to nrhitriitc. ...(Phillips, I!)(i7: 58. [ronici~ll~,Robert Dunsmuir made an identical threat in 1877 (P.AR(', GR 429. Box 1. File 6, 206'177). The McBritfe ;itlminist,ri~tion\\as concerned less with the reiisons for the lock-out than it &;is with t,he fear that ptduction might. he interrupted: 4:3 JIA 1914 ,J;in. 15: 2. 17% In the 28 years prior to the 191htrike, 373 miners died on Vancouver Island as consequence of as explosions. (Nnniiirno = 180; Wellington = 83; ('umherl;\nti = 69: Ext,rnsion = 50). 190% pi'ovrd to be ti ciitnstrophic year. 139 deaths ocr:urretl :it Brit,ish Columbia mines, in addition to 121 other injuries classified as 'serious': Sr,ssiorml Papers (1903) 3 Ed. 7 ;it H279. 17.3 Williams and ,John Thomas Place placed several motions before the House demanding the government end the economic damage being done to indi\.idual miners at (hmberlitnd and Ladysmith, and the provincial economy as ;I N hole. Moreover, they enjoined McBride to address the unsafe w-orkinp conditions that were largely responsible for the initial protest and subsequent hkout. See, 42 JLA 1913 Jan. 31: 23; Feb. 5: 29 (Williitms and Place call fbr a Select Committee to determine "whet,her the questions ;it issue between (lanatiian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd., ;ire (luestions ;is to the siit'ety of'the lives of'the mine workers"); 43 JLA 1913 Feh. 28: 114. C)pposition to the ('onserv,itive govwnment. Over the course of tlw strike, thc miners also registered strong support from the ~x~lpit and the public. ' 70 Despite tnilitxy ~nterwntionon the I$land,17' the 5peaker of tlie House ~efusctlto intervene on the grounds that aff~r~ningOppovt~on mot~ons would ~nvolve' an expend~tureof public moneys by the govc.rnrne~it" (42 //A 101 3 Jan 21: 2 3; J 3 /I,\ 101 5 i rb. 5. "9). Mc Bride ptwonally refused to end tlie ti~spute,~mplying that stnkers were seehng to rnfr~ngeupon 'management ~~glits' Frb 1 3 36), (llarg~n~Mc Hr~dew~th mak~ng ' 174 Williiims and Pliicc were the sole Opposition in the Houst~.;inti ;ippc~;iledto the government on tno different occiisions t,o modif:y House Rule 110. Rult. 110 proded t,htit th~result,~ of ii House iote \vtlre not to bt. entered upon the Journ;ils of thtl I,t$sl:iti\t. ..\ssc.mbly unless demanded by thwe M.P.P.'s. The o~.prwhelmingC'onscr.\-:iti\r m;(jority ntlgati\wl tht. motion, thus t>nsur,ingthiit their habit of conducting public business in a st1crx:tiw manner would continut, unobstructcvi. The wte fictively denicy1 the Opposition the ability- to wciw and ~wtrrtlt,he will ofthc House. ;inti to communic,ate 1-oting piitterns to the itorking cl;\ss. See, 42 JI,.4 191:i .J;tn. '24: 15; ;ind 4:i ,]LA 1914 ,Jan. 19: 7. 176; A t.eport, written by ;I militia captain sent to crush the stlike not,ed: The Regiment had ii rather mixed reception in marching through the streets (of Viincouve~. tlnroute to tht' docks. ant1 hence, the Island). ,i good dt\;il of hostility being shown by a srction of the crmu-d ... (Roy, 1979: 83). Thr militiii uas scnt fi.om V;incou\.er ,inti wh;it ii timt. they hiiti in Vi~ncou\.er!Tht. people was down at the boats ci~llingtht.m everything the) could call them ... ! (Ellen Green~vell.Howic Smith roiicction ). 177 'Rowser Declares hrtiiil Law on i.;incou\er Isliind: Hundretls of special police rush to nit1 of' coal comp;lnies to intimidate strikers into suhrnission': (R.('.E'cdcvcztiortist No\. 22, 1912:l) Norris (1980: 71) argues quite ri~htlythat the assertion by U.M.W.A leader Robert Foster that martial law had effectively been declared "showed remarkiible ignorance of loc;il law ..." Nonetheless, a ~'eviewof the strike in :in iiccount >vritten by ;I militia captain (see: Roy, 1979), details "the great morale effect" (p. 84) of the machine gun on the strikr~l~s,in addition to other actions such as arrests, searches anti disluptions of peaceful union meetings without any 'legal' grounds whatsoever. (Ilcarly, ci\.il Ia~vand pt~octdureitert. abrogated in ;in t>xceedingly ~~epressivemanner. dnd the welfdre of tlie p~~bl~(to tlie exlgenc les of ,I group of f~nanc~aladventu~ers ' Th~s In~t~dt~vewas ( rushed by tlie Consetvat~vemajor~ty on I rbruary 10th 10 I3 The miners responded to m~lltaryrepression \v~tIivor~ferous resrstance The response of the State to a challenge of the establ~shedso( 1d1 order \\as sw~ftdnd sute A total of 256 rnlners wet(. drrc>sted and lieltl fo~tr~al 170 The d~t)~itesIn the Joorn~lrof the Lt'gi\i,~tfie Assernhly make ~t clear that the 5tate cmployed orgdnlretl tli~~gs(sircli as P~nkerton detect~ves')to spy upon dnd ~nst~gdteworker unrcst In order to j~rst~fvlater represswe d( tmri 11s PI~IIII~s(1067) notc.5 the mlners stnhe of lC~l2-1Jlrft an ~ndel~blemark on the (ollec tlve cons( lousness of tlie affcv tetl mlners As Issac Po~t~cywas bt>~rigreleascd from the New Wcstm~nstergaol In Fcb of 10 13 he oped that the 'trrdtment of tlie prisoners mould In the txnd rndkc them stronger adherents of thelr Llnlon than ~nytlilngelse ( o~rld~)oss~bly have done ,, 1 11 1 When the st~~kt.f~rially rritled IH1thr rnlnrls had \\on tlw r~glitto belong to the IJn~tcdMnc Workers of Arnerrc a, and the ( ompany as boirnd not to d~scr~rn~ridtt~ds a 178 tirllough, et d.(1980: 254-55) argues it positi\,tl correlittion btlt\\een the st'rtus of legitimacy the State possesses in ;I societ'y, and the amount of dissent thitt ~vill;rccotdingly t)c irIIo~.ed.When :I "politiciil emergency" occ:u~,s,such ;IS the Illiners Stt,ike ot' 1!)14. the 'criminirl' 1,thel is t.mployed to identify "sociiil dissent as crime", and soci;il acti\ists as "cr~iminals." Invoking the criminiil law in crisis situiitions serves two functions: rrushing sociiil dissent, and tlixrctliting the rchellion, thereby p;u.tially or completely defusing the crisis. 180 (37 JI,A 1908: 8; 43 JLA 1914: 16. 19. :iO: 45 JLA 1916: 151). At,t,ot~ney-(;t~ner:~IHowstlt. met petxon;illy with one Pinkrrton operati\.e on August 20. 1913. He directed the spy to "mingle \\ith the tt,ouhle-m;rkct.s... obtirining all possible ;rd\.itnct. information t,eg;~tdingimpending plans ofthe strik~>rs"(PA13('. GK 429, Box 19. File 1, 752!)11Ci). 181 B.(.'. Frdcr.ntior~istFeb. 13, 1914: 1. The litst imprisoned coal miner (an organizer of the llnitrd Mine Workers of America) was released on Sept. 25, 1914: R.C. Fctlcrationist, Sept. 25 1914: 1. 182 The two-ye;ir strike ended with a vote of 1030 to 36.3 in fii\.our of the McRride deitl that stipulateti the rompnnies were t,o bring in no new miners until all previous employees were taken hack to work. tcvic~r,~t~on~sf,Aug 21, 1913 1) By November of 1013 tlie c odl companies had b~okentlir~r prornrrps. Orrman and Austrldn wolkets were retalnrd, and the rest of thr workforce was "told to go to War" (B.C. Ftdcr~tionist.Nov. 1 3, 1') 13: 1). Norris ( 1080: 7 I) scrggests the strike occurred ...,it a time when the clirnatt. of opinion in the labouring forcr was changing clt~ickly from resentful a(-( c'ptdnc-c of the economic Iielotl-y in wllicli cotnpmirs held them to violrnt rebtlllion against the cornpar-tit~sand the social order they rrpr-cst.nted ... (:lt:arly, the strike M'~Sa harsh defeat for- the labour. Yet, as Palmer ( 108 3: 157) drguw, it also witntlssed moments of working class initiative drid solidarity ,111 tlie more impressive t)tv.ac~seof the range and divrl-sity of monopoly c-,ipital's opposition. tc-onornic- c-hmge, thr transformation of the I,ibour process in spec-ific sectors, tlie I-ise of the interventionist State, dnd tlie flooding of thr labour market with new workers, forced (hadian labour to fight back as never before. The stage ~vasset for a serles of rnlnlng disasters that would \hatter what little letnd~nedof State legitim,icy in the eyes of the working-class (:rows Nest Pass Co,il Ccilnpany. M'hen the explosion oc-c-crrred, no miners were working manager bdlk~rlgdt temporarily sxllng the tnllit' entranc e to sctffocatr fires burning ~vitli~nthe maintain protfuction. 184 Another indent on f el) 0, 10 15 \I'd5 Inore serlous Twenty Vancouver Island miners tfrownttd \vhen the flooded worklngs of an adjat ent mine ,~bdndonedearlier, bloke through a 183 Nonethrless, 4 miners gathered at the mine entrxnw readying themsel\,es for maintenance dutitls were injured, one se~wely;set>, 2 S~ssior~czlf'npcr~s (191(i)O' Geo. 5 ;it K:32:3. 184 A party of four descended the mine. incluciin~the superintendent, t\vo supervisors (ont. of which &-askilled) and a mine inspector. An inquiry \\-;is called on Mar. 29. 1915 at Fetnie. See, 44 JLA 1915 Feb. 15: 21. cod1 warn drid poiirc~dinto the a( trve Inrnt3 18' Worhr'rs \t,cre outraged to discover tliat tlie routinrly used by tlie coal companres (t3.C Ftderdhon~stMay 2 1 10 15 1 ). In the last werks prror to tlie flood~ng,water seepng into tlir twtnlnt. wds so foul that Inlricars vom~tedd\ they worked nt their plac-es (8.C. Fetft~r~tionistMay 28, 10.1 5: 1 ; Vdm-ouvrr Provinct., f'eb. 10, I9l 5 1) f'hrnly, the fear of losing therr job owl-rode any c onct>rn for personal sdfrty tour yedrs earlier, In 19 1 1. tid\vthorntlwaite and Willidrns had dtternptetl to amend tlit. work~ngs,but were ( rushed by tlie C'onscrvdt~vt. rnajollty (40 )LA 191 1 Feb 23 74) At tlie incluest into the dentlis, (:hief 1nspecto1-of Mines Tliomas (;raham agreed with the principle of The miner\ tIiem\elves would have averted tli~sd~sdster ~f tlir government had adopted their 5iiggcstion of tnakrng ~t legdl for the mlners to elect thew own rnslxc tors Instead Inspector 01aham (was dppo~nted) under tlie thumb of tlie government \vIirt I1 W~Stlie grovrllmg slave of thc ( onl-owners Onlcs\ Attorney- (;enr~,ilRowser wants to Imvr that there 1s onc Iau for the II( I1 ,ind one for tlie poor ht. nil1 ,~ton( r ( ommt'nt e pro( cethngs agdnst the ('li~ef Insl)ector of R.\~nej(R C f eder~t~on~stMay 2 I, 19 15 1 ) 'Wellington Relief Committee', scrvtd to infhrne tht' situdtion furtht'r. An investigation by tht. handful of anti-union workers. The monry was king funnelled into n Wt~llingtonColliery 185 2 Spssionnl Papr.s (191tj)6 (;eo. 5 at K:3%d;LA(~Dorcr. (Gtrzettc, Mar. 1915: 1018. Retiwtl miners ilrgued t,h;lt Dunsmuir h;ld closed ;lnd floodrd the minr mow than 20 years e;irlier brcause he h;ld delihrr~itelyexceeded the bounds of his co;d su~.ve,y.The mine was tloodd when it was belie\.c.d ii State in\,estig~itioninto the allegations was imminent; B.('. Fctlc~rationist,Feb. 1%: 1915: 1. 186 Inspector Graham admitted at the inquwt that he knew the coroner's jury had been misled with regard to the sur\e,y scales of the two mines. Labour agitated for charges of' criminal negligence. and the immediate dismissal of Gsaham, ''Sot, the benefit of humanity and the sn\ ing of lives of men in the mining industry" (R.C.Fd~rntiortist May 28, 1915: 1). possible (H. C. Frtferc~tioni~f,Mar. 1 5. 19 15: 1). Latw 'consideration' of the inquiry testimony resulted in c-hargcs being laid against Apl)roxirndtely three months idtrr, on b\ay 27, 1'11 5 the tiny colnmunlty of Wdllngton was delivered another blow when 22 rnlnels dwd In dn euplo\ion (See, N.C. f rtft~r~t~on~stk\a) 0,191 5. I, I~hourG,lrette, j~lne101 5 1 37 1) I he Reserve mlne, operated by the Western Fuel Compdny, had been in produc-tion for f~vemonths, but tiad aileady developed 't notorious reputation for gas. 18' A two-day Coroners inquest, begun at Nanaimo on lune lbth, revealed thdt gas 'outburct' was lespons~biefor the explo\~on I11 clepdrtule from many previous inqursts, no blame was attdched to thc 1ninc.r~ for the c~xplosion.1 0 0 187 Mr. .Justice Murphy fbund (;raham ~uiltyof omitting to act \vhet.o action \2-;is ci~lledfor. Tonkin Itas singled out as the culprit who had iiuthori~eclthe t,etno\,al of tht) 100 foot biivrier wall sepmxting the flooded and new mine wol,kings, "fully iikti1t.t' ... th;it etml meant death in ;ill human probability to many miners ..." (B.('. Fotlr~r~ntiorlist,Srpt. 10. 1915: 1). E\en ;IS 1;ibour \\-ere c;iut,iously optimistic thiit justice would be scnetl against Tonkin iind Gt,;iham, :in e;irlirr inritient. ir~\ol\.ingTonkin ;is m;in;lger ofthe C~wwsNrst (_'olliery t.rmiiined unresol2-ed. Warrants For the arrtlst. of Tonkin (a tot,nl of fi1.t. informiit,ions) hiid bren issued lo) the .Attot.nt.y-(;enr:r;~l, but they were not executed. and 1atc.r \\ithtiriiwn. The Crows Neqt Pass ('oiil ('ompany had ;id!-ised the ALt,ot,ney-(;enet,:il t,h;it "justice h;id brrn cionr" simply hy Iiiying the informations, and ~~tv~uestetithr w:irxints, inf'ormntions and planned proceedings be withdrawn and annulled, a request to bvhich Attorney-General Howser accedtd; see, 39 JLA 1910 Feb. 7: 27. 188 Lnsppctor (;rah;~m's report on the incident cites se\.er,il 'outbu~.sts'of gas during t'he tiel-rlopment of t,he mine: ...the largest of these occurred at the rxtreme bottom of No. 1 shiift. 1,068 feet in depth ...'rhe outbur,st... occu~,t.ed without much wiirning; it displiiced from 25 to :3O tons of coal, the wor,kmen narrowly escaping bring buried ... Despite the operation of ;I fan with ;i capacity of 10000 cubic feet a minute, the mine remained ~.xplosi\-eti\-e and a half hours ;&el, the initial giis release; see, 2 Sr~ssiortczlPnpcr.s i 1916) at K:3:35. 189 Inspector Gr;ih;un surmised that the sudden outburst at the face of the mine was enough to trap the tirst victim, knocking the miner to a half-sitting position and inst,antly breaking both his ankles. As his 'safety-lamp' broke, the flame ignited the gas, blowing out 231 tons of'co;ll, in turn releasing more methane gas, which mixed wit,h coal dust to create a secondary explosion of tremendous force; 2 Scssiorml Pnpcr.s (1916) ;it K:34:3. 190 2 Scssiontal Pnpc,r.s [1916] tj Geo.5 at K:343. Only 15 years rarlirr, workers were blamed for disiisters on a routine basis. See, fat. examplt~,the commrnt,~of 'Thomiis Morgan, inspector of mines Notietlielr~ss,IJ M W A. pres~tientRobert Foster argued that rcgcrlatory statutes wrre "violated In such a flagrant fash~onthat those rcspons~blefor ~t could not ~)oss~blyplead they d~dnot real17e what they were do~ng10 l 51gn1f1caritly,tlir Restwe rnrners d~dnot hav~gas Inspec t~on(omrn~ttrrs lo' Iri vlc>\\ of the events scrrrocrnd~ngtlie 101 2-13 str~ke Foster btlllrvetl 'tlic tnlncr5 would sooner r~sh tlwrr Iwes than tlie~rjobs ' Ilir Pro~incesufifit>\td that anv rnlrlcl c lear~nga mine for pri)d~r(tlon would subject I1 .~lfto 'sneers of a ( clta~nsrli t~onof 111s fellow worhtv-s \\ho belwvc lit>1s iullylng fdvo1111~1th tlic ~nandgc~nt~nt' Nonetht~less the 1,lhour Cornrnis<~on later re( om~nendrdInlners for tlie job because they ~rntlcrstootlthe ( ontl~t~onsand have a personal ~nterest11.1 clear mines ' 1 lit. ( ommlsslon rrc ommended gas cornrn~tteesbt electcd from mine rmployees (Provlnt r, Mar 3 10 13 I) ('onslticrdblt> ~LI~PI(Ion ex~stedamong tnrnrrs that the ( ompany and Inslwc tordtr wrre In rollc~sronw~th one another lo' The Wcstc3rn Fuel ( ornpany i~rculated a prtltwn that reclu~redtlie mlners al,I>rove of tlie performanc e of govt3rnment rnlnr ~nspectorsds they t arr~rdout tlie~rdut~es at flit' mine The vdlldlt\ of the rut>rc Ise was clearly open to cjuest~on at Vancou\,et, Island ("...in neiirly e\et.b- instimw they occutwtl through want of thought and c;we on the part of the workman; [ha\-ingmostly] h~,oughtthe trouble upon themsel\-es..." 1; Scssior~czl Papr.s (1901) 1 Ed. 7 at 953; see also, the comments of two srpnratr coroners jury foremen: Scssiorml Pnpm (1903) 3 Ed. 7 ;it H2B8. 191 Br;itticrs were a centr;il feiiture of iiny coal mine. They consisted of ;i ternpor;~t.yfence erected at each place to channel air pumped from the .;uiface directly to the most h;u;~r~dous;uea - the face - whrrr gas was most. often tx?lcased as a constquencr of disturbing the coal. Foster charged that at Reserve, hrattices were as far back as 20 ket from the coal face due to a rapid protluction pace. Moreover, the miners were forced t,o consider why the mine was running :l consecutive 8 hour shifts, :I far more dangrrous pt.i~ct,irrthan 2 shifts. e.;pecially in a mine that was known to release large quantities of gas: B.C'. Fcdcrntionist ,Junt>25, 1!)15: 1. 192 B.C. Fcticrntiortist, June 25, 1915: 1. The ('on1 h1ir~c.sKc,qlllirtiorl Act provided that if the miners did not select ;I gas committee themsel\.es, the inspector was bound to appoint two workers. No such commit,t,ee rxisttd at Reser1.e. See also, SPSS~O~L(L~Pt2pcr.s [l880] 53 Vict. at 301 fi~r;I review of miners gas commit,tees and the en;ibling provisions of the Coal :Ilir~r,sRcgrtlntiorl Act. 193 Prociirtct., Mtir. 4, 1914: 1. Counsel for the miner.; i~tthe inquiry prrceived ;I distinct '',tmpression of symp;tt,het,ic understanding between m;inngement and inspectors." The signatures ...are easily obtained because they know enough to realize they must t.xpt~tto be disc-hat-ged on some excuse or other ...it (is) c-harac.tc.~-istic-of the c-ompany that, when trouble (comes) along, it should sho\r suc-I1 a totrching desire to consult tlie m6.n with respect to the mine in spec to^-s ...( B.C. ft~iler,~tionist,junc 25, 1 TI 5: 'I ). 27, 10 1.1: 1) was occ-111-ringon Vancouver Island: the 1012- 14 strike \z,,~s at it's height. The rcport noted tli~tthe "\vorking-class" ~verertyonding to "industridl conditions" and the "disappearance of all lwrsonal relations" with militant collttc-tive action, a strategy viewed by \vorkt.~s as "the best means of ameliorating (these) condttmns' (1) bt2) Iklegates attending mt.asurcs langlng from d general strike, to street rcbell~onto 'ol~en~nu~dcr. ' As the Vicfori~ D,~ily7irnt.s noted, delegates rclmaincd in favour of orgdniring for the ballot box, but workers wrre ~villingto resort to the bayonet against capitdl, in the event dolninmt 1)olitical institutions (ontinuetl to fil them: Ihe six labour ~ornrnlssioners~~~~euamined 3 10 wltncsses, ,ind visrted a varlet" of industricls, including logging dnd raihdy construction carnl)s, and retail shops. The rcport 195 The B.C. Fcder.ntior~ist(No\.. 1:3, 1914: 2) noted that a proposal to arm 250 Vi~ncouverpolice with rifles, ostensibly for the purpose of quelling 'alien' dist,urhances, did not fbol mimy people - "Thoughtful folk are connecting it with the exceptionid number of unemployrd u-orkmen who ;ire now in Vancouver ..." 196 The past record and polit,ical sympathies of each labour commissioner were scrutinized by the R.C. Fc&mtionist (Dec. 13, 1912: 1). Labour demands t,o he represented on the Commission were ignored; B.C. Fttitiatior~ist,Dec. tj. 1912: 1. revii.wed the Iiedtli and sanitary provisions of carnps and sliol)s, tlie statutory provisions for "Protection of Life", lo' atid (-ompe~isationfor industrial injuries. The Cornmission also recommended the crclation of a \vorkr~--atlrninisteredfirst-aid scheme to he implemented in remote industrial carnps. When tabled, the final report w,is "noticeablr throughout by its sympdthetic attitude toward labour" (Province, hlar. 3, 1013: 1). In total, 15 unanimous and comparatively progressive re(-omtnendations \vr.re tabled. "I8including tlhat of a c-ornpulsory State compensation scheme to be administered by an administt-ativtl bo,lt-d. In tlie years since tlie introduction of the 1902 Act, tlie ,~ttitudesof employers had undergone ;I marked transformation, Accor-ding to the L,I!IOLI~ (;,?7rtfe (April 191 3: 1 105), compensation was one issue that elicited unanimity bet\wen the represt'ntatives of cal)ital ,~nd labour at the hearings. Building contractor lames tHrndtw)n believed no-fault insurance wo~ild ...be a splendid idea. I think this employers liability Act is dn aivful hard thing on a Inan rmploying men (PABC, (;R 68-1, Box 2. 1'01. 6. tilt. I, 1)g. 0.1). to br free of lihility" (PAB<', C;R 083, Box 3. 1'01. 7, File 3, 1). 335; Box 1, Vol. 2, File 3, 1). 438). Worker advo( ate J.H.MtVety believed: (an injured worker) should receive cornpensation no tnattcr what itfay the injury ,~riscs...asurc paylnt.nt, even if smaller, and wittiout tiit> ~iecessityof pro(-eedings of law on the part of the injured one would be a more \atisfactory arrangement than my legislation \ve Ii,ivc existing now in t3ritish Columbia (PABC, CR 683, Box !, Vol. 3, File $, pg. 363). 197 S~~ssiormlPnpcrs ( 1914: $1 11-12). The Commission re\+\vrd txyulntions concerning tiefective scaffoldings and deaths to electrical workers, and recommended the appointment of additional inspectors. 198 Nonetheless, the Commission also recommended: leajing the issue of an eight hour day to the dominion government: no minimum wage; no change in method of' appointing gas committees in mines: a cont,inuation of the Asintic exclusion policy: assisted immigration to be confined to farm and domestic help only: and white women prohibited from employment by Asiatics (Procincc. Mar. 4, 191-1: 1; Vnr~cor~ccr.Sun, June 25, 1913: 11). The ('ommisnionels wele espec~ally( oncerncd about th~fr~(t~~n C~LI~P~by lengthy I~tigat~on and the interferenct. of Inscrlance companlcs It was recognr~edthat few workers managed to obtd~n~ornprnsat~on, yet money was being wasted upon cxcrsslve over-head costs 1 0 shareholder dividends, and litigation fees. The ('omrni\sion was c r~tical of ( ommon law and the operation of the 180 1 Frnployer,' Li~hility t bec,luse of tlie need to prove etnploycl ncgl~gente illoreover the to rerovtv, for( Ing excludeti worktvs to resort to ( ommon law and ernploye~sl~ab~l~ty legishition For those able to proceed utidt~rtlie 1901 Ac t, the c ost of arbitrat~onw,is often The (:ommission re-affirmed the "basic- principle" of the 1002 ktthat "industry should bear the buldt>n of a( cidents as part of the cost of 1)toduc-tmn." The benefits and defenc es wele wt.iglied It was drtermlned that even though 'each class su~rendt>rsto the Stdttl rcrtain rights, it is in the public interest that this should be so": The rmployet- in submitting to thtl levy of taxes ill)on his industry receives tile t~encfit of protection from rxperisive litigdtion, thc workman in return, thro~~glilit1 loses ttit~ precarious right to sue in tort for damages. receives in rt.turn a stipulated amount based upon his economic position in the community. Both (parties), as well as tlie State as a whole, benefit from the t4irnination of tlie friction and loss \\hi(-I1... attends ,111 litigation (Srssion~lP~pers, 19 14: MI 3). To ameliorate the "limitations and injustic es" of the 1002 ( ompensation Act, tlie Cornrnrssroners re( ornmendtd modelling new Br~tisliColumbia Iegislat~onafter tlir 1!N L;lwyes's fers a~eriigedbetween $200.00 to $500.00 dolliirs per case, so that on<.-thisd to one- half of an award was consumed for the srniw. If repeated appeals were necessary, the plaintiff lost the iiction, or the ;iwiwd was less than expected. MOI.~PI.S frequently went bankrupt (Vnncor~cci~ Proc'ir2cp, Dee. 19, 1914: 19). When compimirs became insolvent due t,o court actions, bvorkess or their dependents could be forced to "recei\.e a few iirticles of neitr and household goods from the company store"; Sessional Papers (1914) at M13; see ~ilso,B.C. Fccic~rntionist,Mar. 26, 1915: 1). 200 The report criticized the "settlrd practice" of charging woskers $100.00 fees at cwbitration hearings: "To an applicant for arbitration, in neasly all cases a poor man, this i.; n consideriible burden"; Scssiorml Papers (19 14: MI?). Wdshington Act of 1011, and the Ontario and Oregon bills then under development option: ...it is unnecessary to make recom~nenddtionsfor the amendment of (tlit. 1002) Act. The proper rvmedy, in our opinion, should not be in amending existing legisldtion, but in the intl-oduction of ,l system of c-ompulsor-y State insur-,mc-r..201 A prominent member of the insirran(-t3business, AS. h\attIiew, Iaunched scathing attack on this key recornmendation, cliaracteriring it as " 28). A letter, penned under tlie pseudonym of "A Manufdctcrrer". promptly ,~ppealtdthe next con( t~irtitlidt "the ('Iia~rmm (of tht. Labour C'ommlsslon) 1s ,I frlend of thc wr~ter's.' tic then dtlvanc cdhis argument for support of ,i State scheme. The eml>loyers liability companies doing bcrsiness in tlie ~)rovinceare not oileratin:: from pliilantlirolic standpoint: they are in it for \vIiat it is ~vortliin dividends and as doubtlrss ')OU;, of tlic. stoc-k is held o~rtsidt.Hritisli Colutnt)i,~,the money "made in H.C." to help pay those dividends, goes out of tlie province and stays out. 3, 1013 Tlie government promlsed the re( ommcndatlons of tlie Cornmlsslon would "no doubt greatly asstst the Ieglsldture" In dedllng ~'lth'all-lmpoltant' labour ~nterests(43 /LA capitalist enterprise. 201 Scssiorcul I'apc7r.s ( 19 14: hI 12). Howe\.er, thc ('ommissioners only extrnded c.ompensation t,o those employed in "dangerous jobs." Other industries c.ould ,nilin entry only at an employer's request: Dai1v Prrwir~c,e,Mar. 4, 19 14: 1. 202 May, 1914: 11, 29. 4.S. Matthew responded in n suhsrquent issue; .June, 1914: 10. 5orne ldbo~lrcrlt~( 5 argued thra L,lhour Cornmission had bcen 'c ostly dnd unnecessdry' and that thc work slio~rldhave been done In the Hour? under 'ord~nary rout~nrbuslness "V~ncouver World Aug 28, 10 16 0 '()' Nonetheless the Comm1s51onre- dff~rtnedthe demdnti$ organ~zedlabout had been attet-npt~ngto extract from the McB~rtk government 5lnc e 1912 ('on\~der~ngthe Opttons Ihr State Responds If there had bern mycluest~on dbout the p~slt~oriof the judlc~aryon the (ompensdt~on~ssc~e pllor to 1013 the confusron Wd5 cl~rn~ndtrdby at) ,~dd~essdel~vt~red by ( h~efJusttee Hunter tlut~ngthe trd of Ward v C dnddldn l',lc~f~cKallwal ( olnpdny In May of 1013 203 The V(~r~cy~ctcc~,.S(171 ((,kt. 27, l!ll5: 4i presented ii sc'ithing rt~~~iewof the "hypocrisy iind wiiste" iissociiited with Royal Commissions ";it a time \\hen the itwtxgr Ciiniitiian is squeezing (?I t.1~cent and cutting out the frills to keep down expenses." 204 Delegates to the 1912 B.C. Federation of Labour conIention debated the compensat,ion issue t>xtensi~,~l~.Seven resolutions were ri~tifird.iind later modified. X Iitbour deputation delivered the resolutions to Richard McBride: see, ('olor~isf.Jim. 27. 1912: 10; Frb. 14, 1!)14: 2; R.C. Fdcmtior~ist, Feb. 20. 1914: 1. I think it is a reproach to our jurisprudence that men who arc injured in these industrial occ:upitions should be forced to resort to questionablt, actions against employers ... The eml)loyer ...must protect himself against these Iawwits, whicli in many cases dre cluestionablr, and adding the cost to the pric-es of his goods, and on the other hand, the ~rnfortunateplaintiff if he does succeed has to CLI~LIP a large share of the proceeds with his solicitor ...the State should make provision fol these industrial accidents, just as it does for the deaf, dumb and blind... in the long run, the cost c-omos out of the community, and surely it is not beyond our capacity to de~'{lse a simple procedure by which these unfortunate men who dre injured ran get propt.r indemnity from the State...20S tiuntet's symp,ithies wcle thus clt3arly al~gneti~v~th capital. A hanism had to be dev~sedto Chit~ilustice Willia~nMertdith was wre5tling with the wne issue: (T-he worker) is the vic-tim of parasites ...l.,~wyers and inscrranct. colnpanirs are as inst'parable as the Siatnese twins and about as useless... Why bother cutting their t,iils, Jn inch at a time! Why not start dt the head dntf cut it oif at once! (B.C. I'td~r~tionist,]unt: 25 1013: 4). Work~rswrve le5s vlctilns of parasitic-dl lawytv5 md Insurance companies, than they \vt3re vic-tlms of a mode of product~on Mwed~tliwas ( Irally unablc (and unw~lllng)to racf~callyalter the structurt of cap~talisni,but he able to offset some of the tiebrlitat~ngaspec ts by re- drranging legal and financial relationships within thclt structure. The Canadian Manufacturers Assoc-iation \\,as able to support Meretlith's solution for this wason. Ilespite initid "fcr~nhling in the d'wk" for a policy, the oowerful financial aggregation of the C.M.A. eventually concluded that "compensation could \volk to the benrfit of bu5iness" (Piva, 1075: 35; Idhour AS Weinstein (1967: 170) relattxs, the judiciary ( omprised the redrguard of the cotprate and polit~calelite who were being pressed into developing a progresswe welfare State ideology. Court decisions unfavourable to labour barred "the path of social reform" and thus strengthened the Socialist movement. As in other global jurisdictions, the British Colcrmbid courts did eventually respond to external pressure. In B C., Chief Justice Hunter 205 Warti v. Cnn;~dianPacific Railway Company (not tqwrted); Chncor~r:c,rSur~, Miiy 26, 1914: 11; B.C. Fdc~.ntionist,May 29, 1914: 1. rccogni~rdthat workrrs were winning more frequently at arbitration, trial and appellate levels - d (onv~ctionthat is substant~atcdthrough a review of the repo~tedrases.206 After years of cotnplacency on the t ompensdtlon issue, the H.('. government bcgm to \tlr. Six months after Ch~rfJu5t1c e Hunter's le~tureIn Wad, W J Bowsrr attended the l~bour strong-hold of Fern~e He del~vt~eda speech attac king the Insurance (ompanles for produt Ing ~njuretl( Ia1mdnt5 who were "depressed and discouraged", and ~nt~matedthe 206 ftrymrttd cases intlic;iti\.e of' ;I greiitt3r. willingness on the p;~rtof the jutlici;lry t,o decide in f;i\.our of the plaintiff include: llrKel\ey \. IJe Roi Mining ('o., Lttl. (1901) 9 B.C.R. 62; Gunn v. Le Roi Mining (?o.? Ltd. i 1903) 10 B.('.R. 59 (duty of superintendent to giw warnings and instructions): I,o\.e \.. New Fiiirview ('orpor,ition ( 1904) 10 H.('.R. 3:30 it3\en if ;i statut,e imposes a penalty upon t.he c.mployt.~ for a bre;ic>h of statute [i.c.. the Fnctoric.~&tl. ~houldthe marker suffer as ;I consequenre of the breach, the workrt. mity initiate ,In iiction ;it either the common Inw or at, 207 Bow-ser was adamant that a solution he found that was "fait. to ;ill sides and all classes." Nonetheless, he feared "extreme union men throughout British Columbia would declare that the government had not gone far enough. while ...investors and employers would cry out that it would hinder industry" (Prvcince, Dec. 15, 1914: 3). year penod of (onsideration was In( lutied In ordw to 5olleit inlput on tlic bill from ~nterested parties In tlirs way, Bowser belltwtd thr. "Ac t, a5 frndllv pt5sed would bc as neaily perf~ctas possible" (Ddily Province, [kc. 15, 1014: 3) t lowever, Bowsc~rqualified his announcement by suggesting a world findnc-id crisis had created an "inopportune time to burdcn rmployers ~vitliworkmans' (ompensation." He believed Opposition attempts to introduce compcnsdtmn blllr had "entirely overlooked the interests of the r.mployer": (there are) two sides to every question... it is the eml)loyer that has to pay tlie bill ...and he must bc used in such '3 way that hr does 11ot think this bill will he prohibitive, and that he ~villhave to close down his works, for if tlie works cIosr> down there will not be myrmployment foi- the workrnm, anti \W want to be fair (f3.C:. f'rderdtionist, June 4, 1015: I). For Bowser, wotktnen's compensation was ( learly an "economic problem" (Vic tori,] I),~ily rimes, Apr. 1 1, 1015: 7; Colonist, April 1 .I, 191 5: 3). Workmen's compensation had the been the foc~lsof a tremendous anount of Iegislatiw a(-tivity in other jurisdictions, partic-ularly the IJnitcti States in an dtteml~tto address working (lass concern5 and facilitate ~)ledictable compensation costs Between 191 1 and 1013 23 states passed cornpens,~tlon Ac t5 (N (3 Feclerdtionist, Feb. 26, 1013: 5). The press responded to Bowser's plan by a(-c-using tlie government of delaying tactics until the flagging fortunes of the Conscrvativr government On h/\arch 6th. 1015, the Lieutenant-(;overnor ~ntroduted a compensation bill (Bill 36),200 at wliicIi titme it received first reading. The timing of the introduction at tlie conclusion of the Iegislative session is strategically significant, ds it precluded any ol~portunity 208 Victor.in Dczil. Tirr~cs,tJan. 18, 1915: 4. McBride tentatively set an election for April 10, 1915 to hoIst,er party unity subsequent to a railway financing sciindnl. Party insiders forced him to delay. In the me;~ntime,the government introductd a \vide variety of 1egisl;itive reform to prop up its i~ilingsupport; see, 44 JL.4 1915: 45 JLA 1916. for t.xamination within the legislature. When an mticipatetf spring tblection was not hcld after the dissolution of the legislature on March 8th. 1015 (Colonist, Mar. 7, 101.5: I), the attorney- general embarked upon a program of sptw-hes to labour autiirnces in ,in attempt to garner support.210 'Public. meetings' were held under tlie auspices of the Trades ~ntlLdbour Congresses in Vanc-ouver and Victoria. Accol-ding to thr Victoria [),lily Times (Oct. 27, 1915: -I), the meetings afforded Rower little more than "a grand o1)portunity for posing as tlie friend of Idbo~~r." t3owser's bill was severcly criticized by t lawthorntli\vaite. He Lvas c-on(-rrned that no protest had been registered by tlie B.C. hlanufacturer's Association, which confirmed his susl~icionthat tlie bill had been engineered to lighten the burden of the rmldoyer.-!l tiawtliornthwaite also c-liararterized as "vicious" the neglect of farm labo~rrcrs,domestic sewants, the creation of conditions wliic-h would enc-ourage sweated industries,"' ~ndthe provision for a single c-ommissioner- drawn from the ranks of ~ndnagetnent(ll~ily Times, Apr. 1 3. 101 5: 7; Indu.stri,~/Progress cjl~~dCo1~11rlt~rcidl R~c-ord, May. 10 15: 286). L dbour ddvocatt's organized provinc-r-wide meetings to study Bo\\w~'sI~gislation, atid rtwssured workers that immunity from injury LVOLII~take priority over securing compensation (Colonist, hlar. 7.191 5: 1 ). 210 Victoria Dail,v Tirr~c,sOct. 27, 1915: 4. Rowser clrarly had a monumental task to accomplish. A Pro\ incial Election Manifesto adopted by the Vancouver Trades :ind Li~bourCouncil made thr piissage of :I fa\.ourable compensation Act n first priority. The ('onser~.ativehill \r-;\*dismissed as a scheme to "secure the working class vote": R.C. Fctfcr.ntioriist, May 28, 1915: 4. 211 A B.('. Fctfcmtionist editoriiil (Aug 21, 1914: 4) warned workers that t,he Ciinatiian Manuf'acturers Associat,ion was a "powc~rfuliiggregat,ion of Candixn finance capital" that would twist the implementation of ;my compensation qchrme fa\,our;ible to labout interrsts o\.er those of capital. Indeed, the C.M.A. had made ,I number of wpresentations to bomds of trade and lahour organizations, seeking to w-in favour fot the less comprrhensi\.e Ontario Act (Labour. Gazc9ttr. cJuly 1915: 91). 2 12 Victoria D(zi1.y Tirncs Apr. 13, 19 15: 7: B.r. Fcdclationist, Apr. 16, 19 15: 1. The B.C. Frd(,r.rztior~ist(July 24, 1914: 1) undertook to describe what must ha1.e been one of Vancouver's more notorious sweat-shops. 111 tlie meantime, organized labour \lad not been resting on its oars. On luly ~Jtli, 19 13 a "Spec-ial Committee" was appointed by labour to "carry on agitation and (an) and cornpensation expert FI-cd Bancroft arrived in British Columbia, "fresh from the suc:cessful fight" in <>ntdrio.'" In lune of 1915, the 'Workers Compensation Cornmittre' presented it's criticlue of the draft Act. 1-hr vet-did was crnequivocal: the /2( t is 50 lilnitrd rn rts sco~cthat it 15 to all rntent~.itid ourpows ~twless,inti seems to be ratliei an Act to define who shall not be paid co~npensationthan one to powde for tlir paytntwt of it 'Ir; ( ongratulated Howser for not ~)iofc'ssingto draft the compensation bill "out of love for the working class": 213 ?'he Committee. consisted of'.J;imes 5lcVety and A.S. kVclls of LT;tncou\.er,.and Willi;~mY;ites of Nebr Westminst,er; H.C. Fctic~).crtior~ist,.June 4, 1915: 1. Tht>formation of the committee was reported in t,he July :',I.1914: 1 issue ofthc l3.C'. F~d~mtionist.The inform~itioncnmp;lign was undertaken to educate ~vorkersand "the public" !.Jan. 5).1915: 2) about the proposed legislation. Various inst;illment,s comp;lring compensation legislation in other jurisdictions were puhli~hedto f~icilitate;in informed rhoict.; B.C. Fccic~.tztionist.Dw. 26,1913: :3: April 24, 1914: 3: AUK.7, 1914: 1; Aug. 14, 1914: 1; Aug, 21, 1914: 1: Dec. 25, 1914: 4; .Jan. 1, 1915: 1; Jan 8, 1!115: 1: .Jan. 15. 1.015: 1: Jan. 22, 1915: 1: Feb. 5, 1915: 1; Feb. 26. 1.015: 5. In addition, the B.C. Fctlc~ntior~ist undertook to publish the entire B.C. d~,iif%.kt; see, 11;~.19. 1915: 3. 4; Mar. 26. 1915: 3, 4: April 2. 1915: :3. 4. Fini~lly,Jixmes McVety critiqued the bill in a half-page ;irticle; l3.C'. F~tic'~.ntio~list.April 30. 1915: 1. See also. ,!)(lib C'olonist, April 18. 1916: ti. 214 Bnncroft was clearly oriented to amelio~xtingwor,kers' immediate concerns, and ad\.ised them to discard the revolutionary notion of"some future hettern~entof things"; Dail,y Prr,r.inc.~,July 4. 1914: 27; Dailv Tirn~s.July 20, 1914: 13: *July 21. 1014: l(i. 215 B.C. F~tlcrntior~ist,June 4, 1915: 1. Bower's inclusion of contributory negligence in the drxft Act riled labour. Wells argued Any one ...at all convers;mt with contributory ne~ligencewill ... knon how this works. It is an easy matter fbt the employer to find some hook to hang the fault upon, and in this case it would be the injured. as it would be cheaper for the employer ... (B.C.F~tlc~.trtiorlist .June 4, 1915: 1). ... 1-his medsure, like others of its kind. (is) merely (a) response to a desire of the ext;cutive of the employing class to lessen the burden of the employers by giving them a cheaper form of protection than could be obtained from private inscrrdnce companies.. . 216 Bowser was evwtually forced to honour his promise that all classes bt: given an oppottun~tyto suggest amendments to the cornpensatlon b~ll(I~I~oLI~ Cc~zette, Oct 101 5. 3G7) It is ~~nclr,~rwhether the attorney-generdl hdd a St3lec t Colnrn~tteeIn m~ndwhen he elcc torate half-wdy' on the matte1 Delay wab ( ledfly dvdntageous to ~ndrvldudlssuc h ds cabiwt member Pricc Ellison. ~vliohad interests in the insuranc-r husiness.'18 Liberal c-ritic John Oliver drgued, What kind of an insurance (compt3nsdtion) bill (will) htt possible, when d minister (is) (:onnecteti with an insurance concern? The passage of a stringent bill (will mean) robbing tht. pockets of tlic minister (VL~nc'ouverCYorltJ. Dcc. 1, 1014: 15). Shortly thereafter, Avdrd H. Pineo, British Colurnbid'., dcputy attorney-generd, wds 216 B.('. Fctlc~~~cztionist..June 4, 1915: 1. That 1600 people at,tended the meeting. mith hundreds mow turned ilwny Sot. lack of room. attests to the impo~,t,inceofthe romprnsiition issue to Vnncou\.er workers. See ;tlso. Dnil~C'olonist. Apr. 11, 19 15: 1; Daily Proc'incc. tJune 4, 1915: 1. 217 A ypecial convention of the B.C. Federation of Labour ralled to discuss the Island miners strike and related social concerns pledged to do ";ill in its powel to defeat the McBride-Bowser ;idministration at the next provincial election." An intense "~duc;~tional"campaign was drafted to "strike ;in effective blow at those who have pr~\edthemsel\es to be the enemies of organized Labour" (B.C.Frdcrrztior~ist, tJuly 16, 1914: 4). 218 The first Report of the Superintendent of Insurance (Sf~ssior~nlPapcrx [ 19141 4 Gee. 5 at T7) followrd the proclamation of the Insrlrtrric~Act on (kt. 1, 191:3. The report reveals that 30 companies operated in lift? insurance. 26 in xcident insur;tnce, and 26 in sickness insurance. A report filed by the British Columbia Accident and Employers Liability Insurance ('o.. Ltd. (p. T6X) identifies the Hon. Price Ellison ;is president and director. Ellison was a cabinet minister (Finance 219 Bowser was inundated with correspondenw from employers requesting Pineo be chosen as the State r~rpresentativeon the Committee IPABC, GR 429, Reel 211 1, File 4988). Udvrtl Kot~ertwn.wa\ s~Ic(ttd hy proviri( ial employers to represent their ~nterests. lames ti McVety, president of the British (:olumhia f-ederation of l.abour, was elected by tlie Vancouver convention of tlie Trades and lhbour Congress of Canada, to represent labour interests.-- I0 The committee was officially appointed on Sept. 27. 19 15, and visitcld seven American states dnd threcl provinc-es, including British Columbid. Altogether, tho Committee was rcceivt3ti at 14 citirs, examined 72 tvitnesses, and amassed 1658 typtwritten pages of testimony.--"I Returning to B.C. apl)roximdtrly three months later, the Committee Iwld hearings in Vancouver with labour groups and rrprrxsentatives of industry, the mt>dical profession and insurance companies (6.C. Ft&r,~tionisf, Dec. 3. 19 15: 1 ). the p~tternof the tnghsti experrrnce. Working \vas often unpleasant anti unsafe. lhe (11aractc.r of the worhrng class a'ds rontfrtroned by both tlie tlorn~nmtrnodr of protiuc tion. / ~msituthe experiwct. of the wrstern Canadian working (-lass, in particular those of Hritish Columbia workers, was singularly unique. The cornpressed time frame and acceleration of tlevelopment (in coml~arisonto Furopean or even eastern Canadian jurisdictions) greatly aided > 11 the formation of a working-class conscio~rcness.~~~LZ.'orkplacr realities served to traumatize, J 220 B.('. Fdc~utionist,Feb. 11, 1916: 1-4: I,c~hortr&zcttc, No!-. 1915: 5.32. The attorney-general r,ecei~ttdcorrespondence rtquesting McVety he appointed to the Committee: PABC, GR 429, Reel 2 111, document -4962. 221 Scssionnl Papers (1916) 6 Geo. 5 ;it 5. The work of the Committee was bound into four volumes. Vol. 1: C;diforni;i, Nex York, 4lnssachusetts, md Wisconsin. Voi. 2: Ontario and No\;\ Scotin. Voi. 3: Washington. C'ol. 4: Orrgon, the Vancou\.rr hearings, and appendices. 222 A businessman arri~.ingin Phoenix, R.C. lamented. "the Mayor, members of the City Council. City ronstable and all the business men of the place helong to the Union and are in entire sympathy with the mo~ement"(PABC, GK 429, Box ti. File 5, 2201'01). Strikebreakers and non-union workers at the mining town of Sandon. it miners' union stronghold, were routinely refused service at hotels, bars, restaurants and stores (GR 429, Box 7,File 1, 1710/01). Irate employers characterized such rlass solidarity in terms of "union espionage and terrorism" (29 JLA 1900: li). CHAPTER FOUR THE PINE0 SELECT COMMIlTEE Ilic~xy"of ( ornl)c~ns,ltion.l' simihr to lli,ll ,itiol)tt3t-l I)y Ont'tr-io ,inti IJnitt.ti States juristiic-tioris wit11 St<~t(>i~i\t~t-~~~i(~c, l)~.ovid(~d'I ( (~11tr~111)oit)t of ~-~fvrv~)(.(~tot- tli(~ l),~~-ti(~ip~i~its ~t '111 lo( ,II(\S visitcxtl hy tI)(. ('olnlnittw. 1'ilic.o I~,i(ist,~ltd "LZ.'t. ,II-~.going to t,~kvc-ontrol of tlit' ( o~iti~tio~~I I ~niist~ ittlogl ti Sti' v. I: 0). 1ht3 ('oliiliiittt3t~ht~licw~tl St tlit.il- c~~iil)loyt~t~s",,111(1 f,1( ilit,~tt>,I "( ot)st,1111,~nd (lil-cv I (ON (\'' ill Ill(>work I~A((\ tIi,rt \vot~I(i irnl)rovt' "~)c.rso~l~~lr(\Litiol~s". c r(\,~tt'"t)t'tt(lr \vorkilig c onditions" '~ndIW~LI( t> "ol)l)ol-t~~liitit's for ,I( ( i(J(>t)t." 22 I/110,s I 'or1 loI I! I i:I-: J~ri. I! I: I- 1 In Hrit ish ('olurnhi;~,st.c.t,ions 25. 2Ci ,ind 28 of tht. tir~iiff ,\ct pro\ itirbti lh(l ;itirninist.r~;~ti~t~c,osts ol'c.ornpt~ns;~tion to t)tl p;lici out of t ht. c~onsoliti;~ttdrx3\t~nut~ ol' tho pro\ inw. :1 1 In NPM.York, cwni~);inic~sht,n(.fittinc If'lwln 'st~lI-insu~.;inc~t~'includtd t ht. Arnt.~,ic,in.\/l;inuf.;~c~turiric ('onip;iri,y. tht. Inlt~rm;\tion;il1';ipt.r ('onip;in,y. ;tnd tht, St;~nd;~ldOil ('omp;in> (1. 1: 2:lkii. lidhility) gavr3 tlic railrod th(~benefit of ,I "grc,it relief" in luving "llicir mcn h~ntllcti"by ,i 44 (v. 2: 161). (:onc-t>t,nw;is t.xp~wstdo\er minot. in.iurics (such ;is hlootl poisoning) th;it dt~t.lopt4 into fiit;tlititxs ift,h(h vic,t.in~wtuimtd to work loo quickly. Ilnmcviii~tenwdic;~l ;Ittention w;ls t;~\our~td lhr minor ~ountisth;~t h;ld not tw:t~i\~cdiittcntion (\. 1: '4:i:i). r.c>sol.tjngt,n ;~mput;itionof'liml~s, in ortJ~1.to t~lj~~iirl;itc~;in,y "t'\ it1c~nc.t~"of' unsound mtdic;il trcBiittnt>nt on thrir pirt (\.. 3: I!)"). th(. doc-tor when it came to ,*n ,I(-tion." (:ommissiont~rMc-L't.ty c-liosc to tirstribe this state of 5:j Ir~tfr~slr.ic~lf'rqqr.r~ss czr~ti ('crrr~rr~r~r~citrl fircord. Ort.. I!) 15: 80. Tht. ,itti ~ss~rcPincxo notrd that tlitx Wd\Iittigtoti, 0ntcitromd Nova 5( ott'~Act\ la( Led tned~c'11 ,itd (:omt.nittt~c~. 1 Iw (:otntnittc'tl WAS 1101 ~)t~'l)ast\dto ( otn1)romisc. ,I mcdic-,11 ,lid ,~gt-rt.rnt.nt,the f,ic t\ts of tht, f~n,~l( oriil)t.nsat~on pi( LI~V tlit. \trugglc over \zlaltlng ~)r~rodsrrfltv trd a t)i~s~nc.\s\tr,~tc.gy to rnrnrlnr/c' ttic hurnari (05t of orotlw tlon IIw \z,irtlng pt.r~oci (on\t~tutrdJ ft~rtlic~r'c ontr~b~~t~on on tht3 IMI t of worht~r\111 ortltx~to ~tduct. tht. t,ix t~wdtwc11)011 lntiustq In ( al~fo~n~,]somt. ty)loyt3r\hc~lrtvcd th,it ,i ttt,irt~ng~wrrotl W,I\ d '( ontl~butlonof worhriit>r1to tiit' totdl (051 (v 1 117-22) I dhoul h,id 'ittclnpttd to rt3du(P tht> ltwgth of tljt> LL~~I~II~~l)t>110(1from two wcvh\ to OIIP wt.t.h hut tlw I,it)oi~rtt~prc~wit,itrvt. or1 tlw Ir~h~trrdl tliv ( o\t of Inlurlt3\ thty ,~ttrrbuttdto ( a~t'lcswt.\s dtunhc>nnt.\s mcl "many otlwr c ,iust.s that ,111, ot~tof tlit. ( ontrol of tlml)loyt~rj In New York state, tlic rliainndn of the Industrial Insurat~c-e<:ommission suggrstrd ,I ILVO wtvk w'iiting l)t>~-iodwas tht> "riglit thing to do" so that worker-, while rtxrt'iving "c~ml)h,~tic.,~llyol)l,oscd to ,i wditing 1)t'riod" (v. 1: $80). Ontario t)~tsinessmt~nfound this infor-m,~tionpartic-~rl,irly difficult to digest. Orit: intlividiral qued: I o this, Mc Vvty rcltortrd: 71 S~Y.fi)r t3x;implr. \,. :3: 217. In Ontiirio. ('ommissionrl Mwtdith rxprrssrd the opinion that ;i I;iilurt~t,o includr ii waiting period would "c.nol~rnously incl~;ist~the labour and t~xpt~nses"iissoci;it,td with thcx iitiministr;it,ion of ii cornpt.ns;ition Act (I. 2: 161). W.M. Alt.x;intirr of (;rnrriil I.:lcctl.ic \r ;is mow blunt,: 75 iv. 1: ?!)I ). In Wiishington st.athr, one hrmployt3r tiisiigtwd thiit 61kr cliiims would btl prot)lt~miitic: ...is (the in,juwti workt,r) not hettt.1 i~hlt.to stiind ;I trifling in~urywhich is only a m;ittt.r of' ;I fbw diiys disii0ility u-hen ht? is iiblt. to go on and tliit.n wiighrs, pro\-iding hhr hiis medical ;it.tcntiiincr proviticd t,o him Slw during that time ...'.' 78 (1,. '4: 2!)!)). An t.rnployrr tcstifying hefi)w tht> 1912 I governmt3tit '1s rt>l)resrntc~trvcof tht3 spec rfrc ~ntcrt.slsof the ( ompdny Mc Vt3ty ( li~llr~ngrclWcstwn 1 uel ( otnpdny ( ounsrl t M Y,invood on the reawns Ill\ ( Irt.nt lidd for rnsrstrng upon Irngtlirer w,~rtrngptvrod Tlir~rreuc hangtx rllustrates tlir ,iutoc latrc dttrt~rdc~s( odl rnrnrng (q)rtaI lid1 bourd ,~gdr~i\trnrrirr~g Idbo~~r Ym\ood ,i(knowl(~tlgcd tIi,it tnrnt>dc (dents often rtls~rltcviIn ,i rnrrit~rt)t'rrig 'hurt 1)r~tt)bCidly' anti rnc ,I~,I(rtatt~l for LII) to a rnonth Yxwood \\,is uriAIt~lo rtv on( [It>thrs nrtli 111s t)rIrt>f tli'lt rnrnt.rs would Iiur~yt)d( h to 12~1h' rf two \wt\l\ wdrtrrlg ~)t'rrodmas 1rn1)ostd LIIIOI~ thtm (v The (:ornmittee clearly favourtd rule-making prcxmised upon ",~tivisoryc-ommittct~s" the favo~l~ibleatt~tc~de \wtIi whrc I1 ~ulesframed In th~sway dre rtv eweti by tht. gener~l hody of tvnl)loyt>rs and workmcn kc11 rules ale looked ,it not as twtng ~moosedon tlic ~ntiustryby sotme body on tht3 outs~de but '1s Iiwng been framed In a mt3,isurt3 11 1 by the c.tnploycrs and worhmrn tIit~mst'lvc3s111 the311 own rntc>~t.sts I lit. ( ,111f01ti1d( om~n~ss~orisupported h-pd~t~te(rn,in,igt.lnrnt 'inti cm1)loyee) fotrni~l~it~unof ,I( ( ~dt.nt ~)rc~vt'nt~o~irulels Ac ( ord~ngto ontl ( omrnlsslonct thc. t)r ~a~stdfor d~scusilon .it 1att.1 ~)ut)l~cIicar~ngs '" On( t3 W~sconsin t~mployets~t>'hretl '1 Statt. ( olnprnsat~onschemt. w'is ~ncwithlrIn tlir~rstate thc safety movemwt st1( uted 'i "trelnrtdocrs ~mpetusdl drounci tmployers rnot)~l~zcdto stnlrt' comprtent tnrn for the hatd and \\t>rc tew,trdtd ~z~tlithr. stcite ..~II(, [ln\,lf(>111,111 i\ th(1 wol-\t kinci 01 l1,1/,1r(1 111,11 yo11 ( ,111 I1m1\, ,111d tl11> \'lit> 111~111i\ tlrc. /)(,\I \,ltc,gu,rlcl 111~1( ,111 ,1(iol)t(\(1 ill .rliy ill(l~~\ll.y(v. 1: 50). I~~~ovtivt I t IIV~IIIII( I tio I or01((1 t~.It II(V (>\\<11-y,viol~1tio11\ ~(l\t~It(~l it1 NY)I-~PI-\ l)(\ing tirt>(i. I IIV \( II~%III(>ott(x1-(,(1 "\l)l(~11(1i(iw\~~lt\" I)(>( ( OII~Ioll(~1 111~ wol-ky)l c,.~l)it;~l.rtici I.tl)our rilc~rnl)c~~.son ;I l)o;r~~cl,\\it11 ,I tIiil.cl rnt~~iil)c~lt,uc,ludtvi t'rom .tlfili,ttion with (~itht~l. glwtl~l(\. ,I: i{!j7), k'.W I'(~t(~1.sOI~tll(~ (..I' I<. (\ ,I: :::lo), I1 I{ l~ol~t~l~t\l~llol'~'~lll;L~li,lll ~'Olllt~l It,\ I\. 1. I I I I(yssinosis (or 'I)lv\vn lung') is ,I li)rni 01'~~nc~nr1r1lori0~~01iiosisc.;i~rhcvi II? tht. inh;il,ition of'cwtton tirlst. X1,in.y toxtil~~~rork(lr,s I;tl)ou~~c~d ;it 1101nc'. 'l'hc~(I(~I).it(~ c,c.ntc>rcvi ,rl)out \\ 11c.t h(31.t~~nl)lo!cv~~ \\(,I t5 ~x~spo~isil)l(~Ii)r tt)(,i~, o\\n lio~iltliil'thvy ~i(~(~(~~)t(~I'IILI~-\\OI,~' ~~OII~I~;I(~~S to ~)t~l~ti)l~r~i lCil)our ,it ~.tIi;~n tli:~t of';i f';icto~~,y01. stlop (sotb.hr, o\;i~ill)Io,\. ;<: 1-21, 01it~lt~ioI;il)ou~~ ,~ti\o(~;it(~ I.'~,(vi I{,~n(,rx)f't;II,~LI(V~ ttiiit ~~III~Io~(~I~spl~~~fi~lw(i ot~t-\\o~~ko~~s, 1~,1tl1(~1~ tl1;111 ~n I)cv;~usc~ol' t ti(, (w)nornlc ;id\ ;int;tgv it ;ilfi~~.ticvlt hctln (1. 2: :iT,.l i. I lfi /hl;/\~'/';,lll~,s, *l;\t1.2, I!) 17: I I; l)llil\~ ('l~/Ol/~~/~.l \t~'ll~It5l Ill. CHAPTER FIVE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION: THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS I.'inlit%l,1!17!): 2. 'l'hc, St.1tt. r~;ru~Ijc~onstr~;tincd c~,rpil,llisl c~ntc~r~l)r.iv~ \\it11 I.o;~I,~~oI I(yl';lcltion 111.1 t tlltl not ;Ikklk( ()I(' .~(~(~llllllll;lt I011 [)1'0('('S\. l"O1' 0~~lllll)l~'.t h(' I{.( '. St('~1!,1/ioi/c.r.,s /,i,\i,r,t I;,,,, ..\,.f \\;IS o\lon\il)lj tlr.;lf'fc~(lin o~.tle~~~t h,rt l St;lI(~lllli!hl I c,sl)on.;il)tt, li)r out in(, in1)oc.t ic)n. .rnti t ht. cbx;~rnin;rtion ;inti lic~c)llsingof'c~nginc~c~~~s. ;\c~c~ol'ci~n~ to I.I~)~uI' (.rit ics. tho ;\(,I (lit1 Iitt It) morx) t h.rn ,)IY)\ itlrb "fir,.;( (,l;lss (~hcx;il)tc~rhnir,~l ;\(I\ to t he. I)\\ nctr\ 01' ztcx.r~nI)oil(,lx ,rntl cln~.~nc).;."I'IIo ;\(,I W;IS "not intcantltyl to 1~.ol';~nj I)c~nc~fit to \\or~k(~~.s".;IS 'inspoc~torc' ditl littltl morel th;~ncLn\ur,o sttt;im I)oilol "o\\I~~.I..;(wc~rc~) not c~s~)osc~clto .rnj ti,~nct'~~.;oI'h,i\ in:: to [),I) d.~rn.~~c>,th~.ouzh I)oilt~r ,~xl)losi~)~is'~(/j.('. /.',~~/c*~.,~tior~;s/,XI)\. I!). l!112: (;I. (111 th(b h1)1(,. stc~t(,III~~~I~\~~II~~I)I~ toneitvi to ,r,\i5t t tit, ;ic.c.r~rnul;~t iorl I)I.o(~o.;~, not l1111(It~r~it th(b ('l)~r,rn~.;si~)nrn.iI,c~s (.I(>,II., it \\;IS I)c~lic~\cvl;I sc,h(lmcl oI'St.1tc1 li(~.~Itliin\u~.\nc.c~ \\ouI(i tio rn11c.h to I~IIIII~I,,(~so(.1;11 ~1111.ost. Siniil;~~.I\. o\ ('1.1 l.('lislt'll(.('s ('I.(' II~.II~('to t II(' ~\I('I,.I~ion 01' t I)('~.OIII~(~II\.II ion ;\,,t, \\ ,111 t ti(% I,I+,~III Ii,it t lit, I~~IILIII~(~I~~(~I~~S01' i~ld~~tri~~l (~,ik)it~~Iis~ii \\t>lxs not 01 v~~look(vl,oitlit~~~. I!) Y.I~,IIIYI, 1!)7(;: .I,I5. 'l'ho m:ln;\pl ot'ontb inhu~..rnc~ocornlhin? tolti .I I.~houl..iutlit~nc~c~ th,~t "(hi. (I~I~>S~~OIIII~'S~#I~I) ~I~SUI.;III(Y~ is pt~tx,lj ;I ~~ISI~(WI~~IPS~IOII 'ip114 ,ilto~t,thvt, 1'1~0nipolit~h" ill.('. I/1,1.1. I!5: I ;\ccwl,tlin:: to (;i~ld(,nsi I!)>; 1 : 12s). th~,notion 01' tho c.(,onomic Iic.inc w~~)~II#tt~,1'10111 tll(s ~101iti1~;tIis (,los(,l~Iitik~d to tho 1i11,tnoI' ( ol~til~t~,~lili(io( tl-illt~lioli OII Ih(1 I)(~li(\lit\01 tl~(>il-~)I :{5 N;i\;it~o.1!j7ii. &17. In It.('.. mcll.il mincll.s ~x)utinol)c,mploycvl .I i.oc.k-til.ill tli(,> (..illtvl ,I "\\iclo\\- m,ikc~l.."'l'hl. 1.oc.k tiust ~)i.otiuc.otil)j its opo~~,rtion\\.is im~)lic..itcvlin c,li~,onic~.c,s~)i~.,rtoi.j ti~st,.~s(n.;. ~o(,li;IS rniti(~ixl~liilliis~s. I)riil O~I(~I~;I~OI~S\\OI.O ~~(~spir,itoi~s:(~I(~,II~I?. 'I 'solutioii' iIicit ,i(lqii)t(~(l uot~kc~t.sto I htl c~uigc~nc~ic~.;of' ~)ix)ti ~t.1 ion: Iii ?I/,:\ I!) 1 7: 205. :;51)0,y;i1 ;in11 I'c~nnc~ll.I!rHl: 150. In cmntr.;ist to tb;ii.lj ii(~\(~1oprnt~ntsto t.~Ity~it(~ \vorncxn to tiit' horn(, in Ilritish ('olr~rnk)~,~,1;11(~1, c~;ipit;ilisrn hlwd b\ornon 1);ic.k into lh(1 l;ihour li)rc,c>. ('h;~~..ic.l(~~~istic~,il~\. I hc~il.c~ontril)ution in tlomc~stic~I;~t)our, ~)owc,l' \\;is no Iongc,r ,it)l(>to I);~l;inw011'1nll;ition ,ind inc,r.(b;~s~ngI('\ (31s of' unvrnploj mt3nt. %lotxv)\(,I.. momcbn tit tht, clc~rii,~ncifi)v lo\\ ~);lttlc'lt~l.ic~.il. \.III>S ,ind <(,I,\ I(~I,\\OI~I 5 5 1 I!I, 1 4: 10U'illi;~rns .11so suppol.ttvl thv ~nclusionof' ~;~I~~II\\oI.~~~I~sin thv ~~orn~)~~ris;~tiotihill: /j.(', /*'i~(/i,~.(~/iot~i.st.h1,1) 5, I!) lti: 1. CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS OIII Iiitioi o lorit I trs. H(.c ,lust. ilitltrstri,il ( ,il)it,disrn tl(~ln,~r-tds,I APPENDIX A: A CHRONOLOGY OF LEGISLATION RELATED TO THE WORK PLACE, 1878- 1919: sl,~l~llvc'nlitl(d the ~)cmon,~lI(.g,~l rc~l)rc~sc~l~t,~tiv(~\ oI thc vic-tiln to h,lvt> tht. s,imc. triglit oi ( o~?ll)('ll\,ilioti,111(i ~(\l~ityii('s,lg,linsl tli(' ('~ii~)Ioy('r,I\ it tht1 WOI-~II~~~I~li,id llot ~W(\II,I \~'o~-k~ndli of, nor ill tllc. wrvic (. of 111~. t~lnl)loye~r,rior c.ng,igtvi ill his work. Ill(>i\(.t I)itttr(~s(dIll(> ( OIH e'1)t of Ill(. ~iucIv,~r f,i~mily t)y ~)r(~vt~litirig,I \vom,in from \(ling in ( ,~\c>s\vht\t-t\ Ill(. I1ctsk)arid livc.cl o~~lsidt.th(. Ilornc., or \vh(\r(' sI1v Iw(1 (omniittcd d~rlt(\ry(K~t(>gg, I0 10: 181- I0 3). I11 lliO7, I OIM~(~'1m1)t)t~Il's /\(.I w,~s ill( o~l)ot,it(~iillto the> I nil)Ioyt~~-sI ic~t)ility i\(.t. APPENDIX B: A CHRONOLOGY OF LEGISLATION REGULATING WORK PLACE RELATIONSHIPS, 1888- 191 1: APPENDIX C: RELATED SOCIAL WELFARE LEGISLATION APPENDIX D: Correspondence between Minister of Mines Richard McBride and the coal mine inspectorate, on the subject of the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company mines (Scs.sional Papers, 1902, pgs 1329-60). BIBLIOGRAPHY