Fabian Tract No. 8z. 


THE 

Workmen's Compensation Act 


WHAT IT MEANS, AND HOW TO MAKE USE OF IT. 

\VtTH THI·: TEXT o~ THI~ I'IU:\Cli'AL AcT, TH" .:xTF'\SlO:\ AcT 
01' 1900, A:>/]) ~lOST OF THE S HEDlTLES. 

)Ji.\\' EIHTIO:\, l'O:\T.\1'\1:\G TH~: I.ATI<:ST L~.GAL I:-~TEHI'NETA'I'lO:>IS. 


PtTHLISHEIJ A'll SOI.Il ll\' 

THE FABIAN SOCIETY. 

PRICE ONE PENNY. 

LONDON: 

THE FABIA:\ Soc JETY, :-Cl.l, \IENT'., I:s:\, STRAND, Vv.C. 
jUNE1 1901. 


THE WoRKME ·'s Col\IPE!'\SATIO!'\ .AcT, 1897, is now the most important 
law about accidents to workmen. This Tract is written to 
explain it ; if any part is not clear to any reader, or any point is 
omitted on which he wants information, he can write to the Secretary 
of the Fabian Society, 3, Clement's Inn, Strand, London, W.C., who 
will send him a full and clear answer free of charge. 

The Old "Common" Law. 
We must first explain two other older laws, still in force, by which 
an injured workman can sometimes recover damage . 
Before the first day of January, 1881, if a workman were injured 
by an accident when working, he could only bring an action at law 
against his master


(i) where the master employed a servant, knowing that the 
.,. servant was incompetent to do the work ; or 
(ii) where a master used bad machinery or plant which he knew 
was unsafe and dangerous.
But if the master proved (i) that the workman knew the 
machinery or plant was unsafe, or (ii) that the workman was partly 
to blame for the accident, the workman could not win his action. 

The workman could not at this time, therefore, recover compensation 
for injuries caused by a fellow servant, unless he provedthat the employer knew the fellow serYant to be incompetent. 
This is called the Doctrine of Common Employment, and as foremen 
were generally held to be fellow sen·ant , it was very seldom 
that a workman could get any compensation for his injuries. Thi 
was a flagrant inju tice, for which a remedy was badly needed. 

Employers' Liability Act, 188o. 
In 188o, therefore, Parliament pas ed the Employers' Liability 
Act, I 88o, which makes an employer liable to pay damages to a 
workman if he be injured, or to his relatiyes if he be killed, 

(i) by orne defect in the machinery or plant which ought to 
have been put right by the master or his foreman ; 
(ii) by the carelessness of a foreman ; 
(iii) through obeying an order which caused the injury ; 
(iv) through a fellow workman obeying a rule or order of his 
ma,ter, or 
(\') by the carele ne:;s uf a man in charge of any engine, points, 
or signal on a railway. 
But the ma!:tter can e!:tcape liability by pro\·ing that the workman 
injured knew the danger of the bad machinery, or was partly to 
blame for the accident. And if a master dies before the case is 
decided in the County Court, the workman cannot obtain any 
damage~ at all. 


J 

It must be remembered that the Employers' Liability Act, 1il8o, 
is not repealed, :md it is still open to a workman or his relatives to 
bring an action under it. 

The Workmen's Compensation Act, r8g7. 
Trades Included.-The Act applies to all men or women, 
whether manual laborers or not, who are employed in certain places. 
Clerks and apprentices are included. The word "workman" will be 
used in this Tract, in order to saYe space, to mean also workwoman 
and workgirl. The following is a list of the places to which the Act 
applies:


(r) A railway, including a light railway.
(2) A factory, which includes the following places:Print 
works, bleaching and dyeing works, earthenware or china 
works, lucifer match works, percussion cap works, cartridge works, 
paper staining works, fustian cutting works, blast furnaces, copper 
mills, iron mills, iron, copper and brass foundries where more than 
five persons work, metal and indiarubber works, paper mills, glass 
works, tobacco factories, printing works, bookbinding works, flax 
scutch mills. 

Also hat work~, rope works, bakehouses, lace warehou es, shipbuilding 
yards, quarries, and pit banks, if steam, water, or other 
mechanical power i used in aid of the manufacturing process carried 
on there. 

Any premises wherein steam, water, or other mechanical power 
is used to move or work any machinery employed in preparing,
manufacturing, or finishing cotton, wool, hair, silk, flax, hemp, jute, 
tow, china-gra , cocoanut fibre, or other like material, or any fabric 
made thereof. 

Any premises wherein steam, water, or other mechanical power 
i~ used in aid of the manufacturing process carried on there, for the 
making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, or adapting for 
sale of any article. 

Every laundry worked by steam, water, or other mechanical 
power.
The following places are also made "factories" by the Act : 

(i) All docks, wharves, quays and warehouses; 
(ii) All machinery used in the process of loading or unloading to 
or from a dock, wharf, quay or warehouse. 
A workman killed or injured at or close to any of these places or machmes is to 
he considered as having been killed or injured at or close to a factory. 
A workman workina on a ship inside a dock (whether a wet or a dry dock) is not 
comiJered as working ~n or in or ahout the dock. The same is true of a quay or 
warehouse. 
If, howc\er, the 'hip is being loaded or unloaded by machinery on the >ide of the 
dock he is con,iden:d as working about that machinery. although at the time he i · 011 
board the ship.
It is not yet dear whether, if a ship i, being loaded or unloaded by z/s cwn 
machinery, that machinery is within the Act. 

(3) A mine, which include coal mines and every other mine used 
for working minerab. 

(4) A quarry, which includes every place (not a mine) in which 
persons work in getting slate, stone, coprolites, or other minerals, 
provided it is more than twenty feet ~eep. 
(5) Engineering ~rork, which means any work of construction, 
alteration, or repair of a r::tilroad, harbor, dock, canal, or sewer, and 
includes any other work for the construction, alteration, or repair of 
which , machinery driven by steam, water or other mechanical power 
is used. 
(6) As regards work on buildings, the Act applies only to three 
classes : 
(i) Any building O\'er thirty feet high, \Yhich is either (a) being 
constructed or repaired by means of a scaffolding ; or (b) beingdemolished, even when scaffolding is not used. The building must 
be actu::tlly at least 30 feet high at the time of the accident, the 
height being measured from the original level of the ground, to the 
top of the roof. 
The accident need not be caused by the scaffolding. All that i> necess<Jry is a 
building 30 feet high, which is being constructed or repaired by means of scaffolding. 
Painting such a building is within the ,\ct. And though the brick-work may be finished 
and the building in actual use, yet it is being" constructed" until the scaffoldingis removed. The scaffolding need not be 30 feet high, and may be outside or inside 
the house. Loose boards placed upon moveable trestles are '' scaffolding." So (probably) 
are loose planks laid across two walls or lashed to iron pillars. 

(ii) Any building on which machinery driven by steam, water or 
other mechanical power is being used for the purpose of the construction, 
repair, or demolition of that building ; and 
(iii) Any premises on which machinery worked by steam, water, 
or other mechanical power is temporarily used for the purpose of 
the construction of a building, or any structural work in connection 
with a building. 
(7) By the Act of rgoo, persons mainly employed in agricultureby an employer who habitually employs one or more men are included 
in the Act of 1897 after 3oth June, 1901, and accidents to 
them in the course of their employment, wherever they happen, 
come under the Act. Agriculture includes care of gardens and 
woods, and the tending of live stock. 
As a general rule, the following important trades do not come 
under the Acts: (i) seamen and fishermen; (ii) domestic servants; 

(iii) workshop operatives; (iv) shop assistants; (v) persons engagedin transport services, and in tending horses ; (vi) sailors in the nayyand soldiers in the army. 
·Accidents Included.-When a workman is injured or killed 
by an accident whilst at work, his employer must pay compensationif the workman is prevented from earning full wages for more 
than two weeks, or, if he is killed, to those whom he either 
entirely or partially supported. The accident must happen on, or 
close to, the employer's place of business. Compensation is to be 
paid although the accident is caused by the workman himself or byhis fellow workmen. Every accident, however caused, prO\·ided its 
effects last more than a fortnight, comes under the Acts, excepting 


only when caused by the work man's own '' ;,erious and wilful mi~


conduct.., 

I~ must be remembered that a workman can still, if injured by the 
negligence of the employer himself, or of a foreman, bring an action 
under the Employers' Liability Act or under the Common Law. 

1_'he cases in which a "'orkman will, with some degree of certainty,
obram a larger sum under the old than he will get under the new 
law, are few. Rut. if he does bring an action, either under the Act 
of ~88o, or at Common Law, and the judge who decides the case 
decides that the employer is only liable under the Compensation Act, 
the workman must ask the judge to fix the amount which the employer 
must pay, and so save further costs. 

The following rules determine whether compensation can be 
claimed 


(i) It is not to be paid to a workman who causes the accident byhis "serious and wilful misconduct." But though the workman who 
causes such an accident cannot himself get compensation, his fellow-
servants who are injured at the same time can get it. 
(ii) It i· only payable for those accidents which either kill a 
workman or so z"njttrc lain tlzrrt he zs zt11able to earn full wages for 
more than two weeks. 
(iii) It is only to be paid for a1=cidents which happen at or close 
to the employer's place of busines . There is no difficulty in sayingwhether the accident occurred ''on or in'' a certain place. But the 
Act also uses the word "about.'' The intention of Parliament seems 
to have been that compensation should only be paid for accidents 
which either occur on or in the employer's place of busine s, or so 
near to it as to be practically the same thing. 
. Thus, a carter employed at timber works to which the ,\ct applied. whilst loadinghJS employer's cart was killed by a piece of timber tilting and knocking him off the 
cart. The cart was, at the time of the accident, standing in the street near to the entrance 
of the works. The Court of Appeal therefore said that the carter's widow was 
entitled to compensation. But if a carter employed, for example, by a railway company, 
i injured by an accident which happens when he is on his rounds, collecting 
goods to be taken to the station, compensation cannot be obtained. 

This rule does not apply to agricultural labor. 

(iv) Compmsatz(m is o11l_y to be pa£d for au acczdent which 
/l(lppens wltl'll tlze 1corkman was doz·ug his proper work. 
For example, a railway ticket collector, afle~· taking the tickets, got on to the 
foot-board whilst a train wa, in motion, in order to speak to a young woman of his 
acquaintance. He slipped and was killed. The Court of Appeal aid his relatives 
were not entitled to compen ation, because he was not doing his work at the time of 
the accident. He had finished taking the tickets, which it was his duty to take, :~nd 
g-ot on to the train for his own pleasure. 

Another case, showing what is meant by an ''accident arising out of and in the 
course of his employment," can be gi' en. A boy was employed in pottery works to 
make balls of clay and hand them to a woman who worked at a moulding machine. 
He also had to take the moulded pottery away. But he was not employed to do 
anything to the machine, and was, in fact, forbidden to touch it, it being thefore_man's 
duty to clean it. \\"hilst the "·oman had gone to fetch some clay, the boy tned to 
clean the machine and was injured. The Court of .\ppeal said he was not entitled to 
compensation because the injury was caused not by an accident which arose in the 
course of his' employment, but whilst he wa doing ~omething which he was not 
engaged, and actually forbidden, to do. 


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But in the case of accidents which injure a workman whilst he is 
assisting in an emergency by doing omething outside his ordinary 
work (as stopping a runaway horse), compensation will be obtained. 

"ContraCl:ing Out."-Under the Act of 188o, an employercould force a workman engaged by him to contract out of the Act and 
to join any scheme or society formed by him. "Contracting out" of 
the Compensation Act is forbidden except under two conditions :


(i) The employer must not force a workman engaged by him to 
join any society formed by him. That is to say, if a workman 
applies for a job the master cannot make it a condition of employment 
that the workman joins the society or scheme. 
(ii) And before any such scheme can exist the employer mu»t 
submit it to the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies. 
If the Registrar, ajLe1' co1zsultz'ug the workmeu as 1£•e/l as the 
employ•er, thinks the men will get as much benefit from it as from 
the new law, he may grant a certificate. But until the certificate is 
granted no scheme or society formed by an employer is legal. The 
certificate lasts for five years ; but if during that time the workmen 
find that (i) they lose by the scheme, or (ii) they are not fairlytreated under it, or (iii) that it is not fully carried out in practice,
they may complain to the Registrar. If after enquiry the Registrar 
thinks the complaint is justified, he may cancel the certificate unless 
the scheme is made satisfactory and the complaint remedied. 

. How to get Compensation.-The employer has to pay it ; 
but who is "the employer" ? He is not of necessity the employer 
py whom the workman is engaged. If an employer undertakes to 
do a job, and contracts with another employer to do part of that job,
the employer who has undertaken the whole job must pay for any 
accident which happens. But this is only the case where both 
employers are engaged in the same trade or branch of trade. If 
they are engaged in different businesses, the employer by whom the 
workman is engaged must pay compensation for any accident which 
occurs. [For the rule in agriculture, see the Act, p::~ge 14.] 

For example, if a railway company employ a contractor to reconstruct one of 
their stations, and one of the men whilst working for the contractor is killed, the 
contractor alone would be liable, and not the railway company; because it is not the 
business of a railway company to erect stations. But if the contractor sub-lets pan of 
the work to another contractor, one of whose men is injured by an accident, the principal 
contractor would be liable, and proceedings would be taken again t him alone 
by the workman. 

Notice of Accident.-In order to claim compensation for an 
injury, notice of the accident must be given to the employer. If 
the workman is killed, the notice must be given by his family.

The notice must be in writing, and give the following informa~
ion : (i) name and address of the injured workman ; (ii) the date of 
the accident; (iii) the cause of the injury.

In giving notice, the following rules must be observed: (i) it 
must be given as soon as possible after the accident ; (ii) and before 
the injured workman ceases of his own accord to work for the employer; 
(iii) only ordinary language is necessary, and the notice 


7 


need not be in any ::.pecial form; (iY) the notice must be accurate, 
and all the information already mentioned given-if not, the workman 
may not be able to claim and get compensation. 

The notice may be sent either (i) by hand or (ii) by registered1etter, to the place of business of the employer, whether the employer 
is a company, a firm, or a ingle master ; and if the workman 
know where his employers or one of them lives, the notice may be 
;,ent to their or his house in the same way. 

The following is an example of notice of accident :\
VORIC\[E~'S CO.\!PE:\'"S.-\TrON, 1897. 
To [1/{ll/zt and address of employ er ]. 


Take notice that [name and address of person injured] was on the da} 
of 190 , injured by an accident 11 hen working for you. The injury was 

-cau,ed by [shortry state the cause]. 
Dated [the da;• on which the notice is sent]. 
Signed [either by the man himsel.f or by someone 011 his behal.f] . 


Claim for Compensation.-Besides giving notice of an accident 
as soon as possible after it has occurred, another step has to be 
taken in order to get compensation. A Claim for Compensation 
must be made within six months from the time of the accident. It 
1s not sufficient that an employer pays a weekly sum equal to half-
wages after the first fortnight. Conclusive evidence must be obtained 
that the employer admits he is liable to pay compensation. The onlysatisfactory way is to get a written agreement from the employer to 
that effect, stating the weekly sum the man is entitled to. A memorandum 
of this agreement must be sent to the Registrar of the CountyCourt of the district where the person entitled to compensation live . 
{A form is giYen in the Rules issued to regulate proceedings under 
the Act.) Then the workman's title to compensation is complete,
and can be enforced by the officials of the Court. 

The above ad\·ice as to getting an agreement from the employer.and registering it must always be followed when the injuries are 
::.erious and lil<ely to last a long time. Where, however, the injuries 
are not Yery severe, and complete recovery can be reasonably expectedwithin six months, it may not be \\'Orth while to obtain an agreement. 
But the claz·m for compeTlsatz(m must nhr•a)•S be sent to tlze employ er 
immediately after the injured man has been away from work entirely, 
Qr unable to earn full wages, for a fortnight, and when it is certain 
that he cannot be quite recovered for some weeks. For then, whatever 
happen , he will always be able to apply in the County Court for 
compensation if there is any dispute. 

It may be u-;eful to give a form of a claim, though no panicular form is nece'>ary: 
\VORKME~'S CO.\!PEX .\TlOX .\CT. 
To [mwu of employer]. 
Take notice that [name and address of person ilyuredJ claims compen,ation for 
inJuries received while work in"' for you, 0\1 in~ to an acc1dent which took place on 
the Jay of , 190 "',and of which yo~ have already had. notice. . . 
The daim is for per week from a fonmght after the acc1dent um" he 1s 

ecQ\·ered. 

Dated "1/u day on wh1<h lim nolia JJ stnl].
"igned "h,, the uoori:mrm or .<omeol/f 011 I//\ bth11ij]. 



8 

After notice has been given, a dispute may arise as to whethet· 
the accident is one for which the employer must pay, or whether 
the trade in ''"hich it happened is within the Act, or as to the 
amount of compet~sation. The question is to be settled in one of 
two ways. 

· Fir t, if any committee has been formed by the employer and 
his workmen to settle disputes under the new law, that committee 
must decide the question. But if


(i) The committee does not settle the dispute within three months 
from the day when the claim was made upon the employer, or 
(ii) The committee thinks it would be best to haYe the dispute 
settled by a single person chosen by them, or 
(iii) Either the employer or workman, before the committee 
meet to settle the dispute, sends a written notice objecting to the 
committee deciding the question, 
then, in any of these cases, the dispute must be settled by arbitration 
in the following way :An 
arbitrator is to be appointed by the employer and workman 
if they can agree on a suitable person. 
If they cannot agree, the question is to be settled either by the 
County Court judge, or by an arbitrator appointed by him. 

An arbitrator, whether appointed by the parties themselves ot· 
by the judge, can submit any questions of law which arise to the 
judge. An appeal from the judge's decision on question of Ia\\" 
can be made to the Court of Appeal direct, unless the employer and 
workman have agreed to abide by the County Court judge's decision. 
But on questions of fact, no appeal can be made. 

The judge or arbitrator can order either party to pay the costs, 
which are fixed by the County Court rules. 

' In deciding disputes under the Act, if the leave of the judge or 
arbitrator be obtained, a workman may be represented by a member 
of his family, or" by an officer or member of any society or other 
body of persons, of which the workman is a member, or with which 
he is connected." Thus, an officer of his Trade Union can appear 
for him. But he is not entitled to any fee except travelling expenses. 
A member of the workman's family, however, may get an allo\\'ance 
for loss of time, the amount being fixed by the judge or arbitrator. 

How Much Compensation Must be Paid? 

I.-Cm.IPENSATION FOR DEATH. 
The amount of compensation to be paid depends on whether the 
workman killed leaves (i) relatives who were wholly supported and 
kept by him ; or (ii) relatives who were partly kept by him ; or (iii} 
uo relatives kept by him. 

(i) If the workman leaves a wife, husband, father, mother, grand·
father, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, stepson, 
or stepdaughter 1vhom l1e eutzi'ely supported by his wages, the employer 
must pay at least £I50, but is not liable to pay more than 
£300. The exact sum to be paid depends on the average weeklyearnings of the workman whilst he had worked for his employer. 

9 

[f he had been employed for three years or more, the amount is 
fixed by finding out the ayerage wages per week for the three years 
before the accident. If three years' wages at that average wage per 
week come to more than £ISO, the employer must pay a sum equal 
to them. In other words, the employer must pay I 56 times (that is, 
three years, as there are 52 weeks in the year) the average weekly earnings. 
But if the workman had not worked for the same employer 
during the three years before the accident, his average wages per week 
whilst he had worked for his employer during his last period of continuous 
employment must be found out. When that is done the amount 
to be paid is three years' wages at that rate, that is, I 56 times his 
ayerage wages, but his relatiyes must never get less than £I so. 

(ii) If the relatives were only partly upported by the workman 
killed, the highest amount is also £3oo. But less than £I so maybe awarded if the judge, or arbitrator, or committee think a smaller 
sum will be sufficient compensation.
(iii) If the workman leaves none of the relatives mentioned 
living at his death, the employer must pay reasonable funeral expenses, 
but they must not be more than £10. 
Any dispute as to who is a dependent, or as to the amount to be 
paid to each dependent, is to be settled by arbitration. 

II.-Co~IPE~SATJOX FOR lC'iJURY. 

\Vhen the accident does not kill the workman, compensation can 
only be got if the workman is unable to work for more than two 
weeks afterwards. At the end of these two weeks he may be entirelyunable to work, or he may, though unable to earn full wages, be able 
to do some work. In either case he is entitled to be paid a weekly 
sum by the employer until he has completely recovered. The 
amount depends on his average weekly wages before the accident. 

(i) When a man is entirely unable to work, if he has been employed 
by the master for a year, the sum to be paid is half the average 
weekly wages earned by him during that period. 
If he has not been employed by the master for twelve months, 
the amount payable is half the ayerage weekly wages earned by him 
whilst he has been employed by the employer. Thus, if a workman 
has earned £I a week for forty weeks, and £I 10s. a week for the 
last twelve weeks before an accident, his earnings for the year would 
be £ s8. If, therefore, he is unable to work, he would, after the first 
two weeks, be entitled to a weekly payment of I Is. 2d., that beinghalf of his average weekly earnings, which were 22s. 4d. But in no 
case can the workman get more than £I per week. 

l t has now been decided that a casual laborer, or a man who has worked for less 
than a fortnight, is within the Act, but it is not yet clear how in such a case the 
average weekly wage is to be calculated. 

(ii) \Vhen the injured workman is not entirely prevented from working 
after the accident, he is still entitled to a weekly sum if he cannot 
earn full wages. This sum cannot be more than half his weekly 
wage~ before the accident, or more than the difference between his 
new and his old wages. 

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But it must be remeinbered that the employer has not to payanything for the first two weeks after the accident, and that a lump 
sum cannot in any case be claimed by the workman. 

In fixing the weekly payment, any payment, not being wages,
made by the employer whilst the workman is unable to work, must 
be taken into account. 

The case where a man, though not entirely disabled from working 
after an accident, yet is unable to earn the same wages as before, 
require some consideration. They are chiefly cases of small but 
permanent injuries, as, for example, the loss of a finger or an eye. 
Such injuries, comparatively simple from a medical point of view, 
render the workman less efficient-often to a very serious extent. 
In fact, a return to the same sort of work is sometimes impossible, 
and thus a skilled man may haYe to go back to less skilled work, and, 
consequently, earn less wages. In such cases, therefore, compensation 
must be obtained at once. It is not enough that the employer 
continues to employ the man at the same wages as before, thoughreally unable to do the same work. For, in such a case, if no claim 
is made within the six months, the \YOrkman could be dismissed at 
any time, and on seeking employment elsewhere, would earn less 
wages, and yet be unable to obtain compensation. In many cases, 
so long as the employer were aliYe, the man would be safe enough.
But if the employer died, the workman would be without any 
security against the successors in the bu:,iness. The proper course to 
take is to obtain a declaration that the employer is liable, and register 
it in the County Court. Then, even though the man is kept on at 
the same wages, he is in a position, when dismissed or on leaving his 
employment, to apply in the County Court to have the amount of 
compensation fixed. 

The question remains, 11·ho is to say whether the workman can 
or c:mnot go to work ? 

After a workman has given notice of an accident, the employer 
can send a doctor to examine him ; and during the time a workman 
is getting a weekly payment from his ma~ter he must, if the employerwishes it, allow a doctor to examine him. Unless he allows the 
doctor to do so, he can get no compensation. But if the workman 
is not satisfied with the doctor, or with any report the doctor makes, 
he can be examined hy another doctor. This doctor must be one 
specially appointed to report under the new law ; he can charge the 
workman a reasonable fee, which the arbitrator lllfl)' order the master 
to repay. 

Vvhen a weekly payment has been made for six months, the employer 
may pay a lump sum in full settlement of future weekly payments. 
The amount of the sum must be fixed bv the Court, or the 
arbitrator, unless it i settled by agreement. · 

But at any time while a workman is getting a weekly paymentbecause of the accident preventing him from earning full wages, or 
from working at all, the workman or employer may want it to be 
altered. The workman may lind that hi:, accident was more serious 


1 l 

than he thought, and that he cannot earn as much as he thought be 

could. The employer may wish to pay les , or to stop the weekly 

payment altogether, because the workman is better in health and can 

earn more than was expected. Tn either case, unless they can agree, 

the question must be settled by the Court or by arbitration. The 

workman in such a case should see that his payment is not stopped 

altogether. If he is still suffering in the least degree from the effects 

of the accident, he is entitled to an order for at any rate Id. a week. 

This keeps his right alive ; and later, if necessary, he can get the Jd. 

a week increased. 

The weekly payment awarded to an injured workman, or a lump 

sum paid instead of a weekly payment (after six months) cannot be 

taken for debts. 

Memorandum of the Amount of Compensation 

Obtained. 

\Vhen an accident has happened, and the amount of compensation 
has been fixed, either by agreement, or the committee, or the 
County Court judge, or the arbitrator, a memorandum must be sent 
to the Registrar of the County Court for the district in which the 
person getting compensation li\'es. It must contain the decision or 
agreement arrived at, and will be entered in a special register without 
any fee. When registered, the memorandum can be enforced 
like a County Court judgment, that is, by execution against the 
goods of the person liable. It must be signed by the arbitrator, or 
by the chairman and secretary of the committee, or by both parties, 
according as the case was decided. If not thus registered it cannot 
be so easily enforced. 

Other Regulations. 

\Vhen a \\'Orkman who is killed by an accident has made a will, 
the compensation must be paid by the employer to the executor of 
the will. If there is no will, it will be paid to the administrator of 
the workman's property. 

The relati\'t~1> to whom compensation is payable under the new 
law are entitled to administration in the following order : (i) vVife 
or husband ; (ii) child; (iii) grandchild; (i,·) father; (,·) mother ; 

(vi) brothers or sister~. or grandfather or grandmother. 
The committee or arbitrator, when they tind that an employer 
must pay compensation, may order the money to' be invested in the 
Po t Office Savings Bank. It would then be entered in the name 
of the Registrar of the County Court within whose district the 
deceased workman li,·ed. 

The money may be im·ested in the purcha~t of an anlluity from 
the National Debt Commi!:sioners ; or it may be paid into the Post 
Office Savings Bank. although the ~urn is larger than the amount 
u ually allowed in the Bank. 

\Vhen the money is invested in the Post Office Sa\'ings Bank, it 
c.annot be paid out tmles~ the County Court judge or the Treasurys1gn a form authorizing 1t to be paid out. 


I 2 

Although a person who is entitled to money paid a~ compensation 
has already an account at the Savings Bank, another account 
may be opened in order to pay in the compensation money.

If an employer dies before a workman has obtained compensation, 
his executors or administrators must pay it out of his estate. 

In case the employer becomes bankrupt before payment of the 
compensation awarded, and has insured himself against the Act, the 
insurers must pay the amount to the workman or his relatives. 

This applies also where the employer makes any arrangement 
with his creditors, and to a company which is being wound up. 

•Which Act to Choose. 
The Employers' Liability Act applies to manual laborers only, 
whereas the Compensation Act applies to all persons engaged in 
certain trades, whether as manual laborers or otherwise. 

An action under the Employers' Liability Act, r 88o, can only 
be maintained: 

(i) If the workman is engaged in manual labor at an employment 
to which the Act applies ; 
(ii) If the workman is injured or killed in any of the five ways 
mentioned in the Act of r88o (seep. 2).
(iii) If notice has been given within the proper time. 
As the workman or his relatives will be certain in most cases of 
some compensation under the Act of r 897, actions under the Act of 
r88o should be avoided except in cases of very serious injuries, and 
very clear liability of the employer. The reasons for this are


(i) The difficulty of getting workmen to give e\·idence against 
their employer is great ; 
(ii) The expenses are considerable, as the costs of the employer 
may have to be paid by the workman if he loses his case ; 
(iii) The amount of the damages which the judge or jury will 
award is uncertain ; 
(iv) The employer is not liable if the workman was partly to 
blame for the accident, or knew of the dangerous state of the 
machinery or plant. And an action cannot be brought for injuries 
caused by a fellow servant. 
But as the highest amount of compensation which a workman's 
relatives can get under the Compensation Act is only £300-and 
this is only where they were entirely kept by the workman killed-
it may sometimes be well to claim under the Act of I 88o. 

It will be remembered that although the case should be lost, yetif the judge finds that the employer is liable to pay compensationunder the Act of 1897, he may fix the amount to be paid. He can 
only do so when asked by the injured person or his relatives, who 
should, to save further trouble and expense, always ask for it. The 
expenses of the employer, or part of them, may have to be pa1d bythe relatives if their case is not successful. 

In what cases ought such an action to be started ? 
Now, ;{3oo, the highest amount of compensation under the _-\ct 
of 1897, means that the workman was earning on the average ;{2 a 


1.' 

week at the time ot hi~ death. The highe!>t amount uDder the Act 
of 18ilo is three years' a\·erage wages of a worker in the same trade, 
grade, and di trict, as the worker killed. Therefore, an action under 
the Act of 18/lo hould only be started if the workman's wage wert 
at least ;{2 10s. a week; and even then, :1 the full amount of thretJ 
~·ears' wage~, viz.. [3qo, may not be obtained, it is only when the 
employer or his foreman i clearly and senously to blame, that the 
expense and uncertainty of such an action should be risked. 

\Vhere the workmai1 is injun·d he can, under the Compen~atiun 
.-\ct, only get at most a weekly amount of [r. Thi i liable to 
alteration, and after six months the employer may pay a lump sum 
instead of continuing the weekly payment. .l\0\\'1 [r a week i~ 
only to be paid if the injured workman' wages are at least ;{2It may, therefore, be said that actions under the .-\ct of r81\o fnr 
injurie!> should only be started


(i) if the workman's wage::, were [z ro . a week; 
(ii) if the action is almost certain to be successful became of th 
employer or hi foreman being clearly and seriously to blame; and 
(iii) if the workman's injuries are ,·ery serious and likely to 
continue for some considerable period or for life. 
The e conditions are, of cour e, arbitrary; but probably a judge 
and jury would be influenced Yery much by calculating what a man 
could get under the new law. But, if a counter prejudice, caused 
by the injuries and the circumstances of the accident, can be raised 
in their minds, they may be inclined to penalize the employer. 

If (ii) and (iii) are not present in the facts, the limit of wage, 
in (i) should be raised to [3· 

General Advice. 

The Trade Union ecretary and members of a workman's family 
may now appear at an arbitration under the Act, as has been mentioned 
on p. 8. They should, therefore, obtain the names and addresse 
, at least, of those present at an accident. If tho e person;, 
would write down a short account of what they recollect of the 
matter it would be very valuable in the event of subsequent proceedings, 
whether under the Compensation Act or otherwi e. 

In cases of permanent injury, such as the los of an eye, or a 
hand or leg, where compensation will be required for life, it will 
generally be wi::,e to employ a solicitor. 

TEXT OF THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1900. 

(\\'hich extend< the principal Act to Agricultural L:lborer-.) 

1.-(I) From e~nd after the commencement of this Act, the \\'orkmen's Compen,ation 
.\ct, 1897, shall apply to the employment of workmen in agriculture by any 
~mployer \\ho habitually employs one or more \\Orkmen in such employmen_t.

(2) \\'here any such employer agrees \\ith a contractor for the execuuon by or 
under that contractor of any \\Orkin agriculture, section four of the \Vorkmen's Compensation 
Act, I~9i, ,hall apply in respect of any workman employed in then work " 
if th.lt employer \\ere an undertaker within the meaning of that Act. 

Provided that, where the contractor provides and uses machinery dri l'en by mechanical 
power for the purpose of threshing, ploughing, or other agricultural work, 
he, and he alone, shall be liable under this Act to pay compensation 10 any workman 
employed by him on such work. 

(3) Where any work man is employed by the same employer mainly in agricultural 
but partly or occasionally in other work, this Act shall apply also to the employmentof the workmen in such other work. 
The expression •· agriculture" includes horticulture, forestry, and the use of land 
for any purpose of husbandry, inclusive of the keeping or breeding of live stock, 
poultry, or bees, and the growth of fruit and vegetables. 

2.-This Act may be cited as the Workmen's Compensation Act, rgoo, and sln ll 
be read as one with the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897, and that t\ct and this 
Act may be cited together as the ·workmen's Compensation Acts, 1897 and 1900. 

3 .-This Act shall come into operation on the first day of July One Thousand 
Nine Hundred and One. 

TEXT OF THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, 1897. 

1.-(r.) If in any employment to which this Act applies personal injury by 
accident arising out of and in the course of the employment is caused to a workman, 
his employer shall, subject as hereinafter mentioned, be liable to pay compensation in 
accordance with the First Schedule to this Act. 

(-2.) 
Provided that :


(a.) 
The employer shall not be liable under this Act in respect of any injurywhich does not disable the workman for a period of at least two weeks 
from earning full wages at the work at which he was employed ; 

(6.) 
When the injury was caused by the personal negligence or wilful act of 
the employer, or of some person for whose act or default the employer is 
responsible, nothing in this Act shall affect any civil liability of the employer, 
but in that case the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation 
under this Act, or take the same proceedings as were open to 
him before the commencement of this Act; but the employer shall not be 
liable to pay compensation for injury to a workman by accident arising 
out of and in the course of the employment both independently of and 
also under this Act, and shall not be liable to any proceedings independently 
of this Act, except in case of such personal negligence or wilful 
act as aforesaid ; 

(c.) 
If it is pro\·ed that the injury to a workman is attributable to the serious 
and wilful misconduct of that workman, any compensation claimed in 
respect of that injury shall be disallowed. 

(3.) If any question arises in any proceedings under this Act as to the liability to 
pay compensation under this Act (including any question as to whether the employment 
is one to which this Act applies), or as to the amount or duration of compensation 
under this Act, the question, if not settled by agreement, shall, subject to the 
provisions of the First Schedule to this Act, be settled by arbitration, in accordance 
with the Second Schedule to this Act. 

(4.) If, within the time hereinafter in this Act limited for taking proceedings, an 
action is brought to recover damages independently of this Act for injury caused by 
any accident, and it is determined in such action that the injury is one for which the 
employer is not liable in such action, but that he would have been liable to pay compensation 
under the provisions of this Act, the action shall be dismissed ; but the 
court in which the action is tried shall, if the plaintiff shall so choose, proceed to 
assess such compensation, and shall be at liberty to deduct from such compensation 
all the costs whtch, in its judgment, have been caused by the plaintiff bringing the 
action instead of proceeding under this Act. 

. ~n any proceeding under this sub-section, when the Court assesses the compensation 
1~ shall give 01 certificat~ of the compensation it has awarded and the directions i; 
has gtven as to the deduction for costs, and such certificate shall have the force and 
<>ffect of an award under this Act. 


1 ~ 

(5.) Nothing in this Act shall affect any proceeding for a fine under the enact 
ments relating to mines or factories, or the application of any such fine, but if anysuch fine, or any part thereof, has been applied for the benefit of the person injured, 
the amount so applied shall be taken into account in estimating the co!llpensation 
under this Act. 

2.-(r.) Proceedings for the recovery under this Act of compensation for an 
injury shall not be maintainable unless notice of the accident has been given as soon 
as practicable after the happening thereof and before the workman has voluntarily left 
the employment in which he was injured, and unless the claim for compensation with 
respect to such accident has been made within six months from the occurrence of the 
accident causing the injury, or, in case of death, within six months from the time of 
death. Provided always that the want of or any defect or inaccuracy in such notice 
shall not be a bar to the maintenance of such proceedings, if it is found in the proceedings 
for settling the claim that the employer is not prejudiced in his defence bythe want, defect, inaccuracy, or that such want, defect, or inaccuracy was occasioned 
by mistake or other reasonable cause. 

(2.) Notice in respect of an injury under this Act shall give the name and address 
of the person injured, and shall state in ordinary language the cause of the injuryand the date at which it was sustained, and shall be served on the empioyer, or, if 
there is more than one employer, upon one of such employers. 

(3.) The notice may be served by delivering the same to or at the residence or 
place of business of the person on whom it is to be served. 

(4.) The notice may also be served by post l:y a registered letter addressed to the 
person on whom it is to be served at his last known place of business, and if served 
by post shall be deemed to have been served at the time when the letter containing the 
same would have been delivered in the ordinary course of post, and in proving the 
service of such notice it shall be sufficient to prove that the notice was properlyaddressed and registered. 

(5.) Where the employer is a body of persons corporate or unincorporate, the 
notiee may also be served by delivering t:lt: same at, or by sending it by post in a 
1"egistered letter addressed to the employer at the office, or, if there be more than one 
office, any one of the offices of such body. 

3.-(r.) If the Registrar of Friendly Societies, after taking steps to ascertain the 
views of the employer and workmen, certifies that any scheme of compensation, 
benefit, or insurance for the workmen of an employer in any employment, whether or 
not such scheme includes other employers and their workmen, is on the whole not less 
favorable to the general body of workmen and their dependants than the provisionsof this Act, the employer may, until the certificate is revoked. contract with any of 
those workmen that the provisions of the scheme shall be substituted for the provisions 
of this Act, and thereupon the employer shall be liable only in accordance with 
the scheme, but, save as aforesaid, this Act shall apply notwithstanding any contract 
to the contrary made after the commencement of this Act. 

(2.) The registrar may give a certificate to expire at the end of a limited period 
'Dot less than five years. 
(3.) No scheme shall be so certified which contains an obligation upon the workmen 
to join the scheme as a condition of their hiring. 

(4.) If complaint is made to the Registrar of Friendly Societies by or on behalf 
of the workmen of any employer that the provisions of any scheme are no longer on 
the whole so favorable to the general body of workmen of such employer and their 
dependants as the provisions of this Act, or that the provisions of such scheme are 
being violated, or that the scheme is not being fairly administered, or that satisfactory 
reason exists for revoking the certif1cate, the Registrar shall examine into the complaint, 
and, if satisfied that good cause exists for such complaint, shall, unless the 
-aLuse of complaint is removed, revoke the certificate. 

(5.) When a certificate is revoked or expires any moneys or securities held for the 
purpose of the scheme shall be distributed as may be arranged between the employer 
.and workmen, or as may be determined by the Registrar of Friendly Societies in the 
-event of a difference of opinion. 


(6.) Whenever a scheme has been certifted as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the 
employer to answer all such inqniries and to furni h all such accounts in regard to 
the scheme as may be made or required by the Rcaistmr of Friendly Societies. 

(7.) The Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies shall include in his annual reportthe particulars of the proceedings of the Registrar under this Act. 

4;.-Where, in an employment to which this Act applies the undertakers as hereinafter 
defined contract with any person for the exe ution by or under such contractor 
of any work, and the undertakers would, if such work were executed by workmen immediately 
employed by them, be liable to pay compemation under this Act to those 
workmen in respect of any accident arising out of and in the course of their employment, 
the undertakers shall be liable to pay to any workman employed in the 
execution of the work any compensation which is payable to the workman (whetherunder this Act or in respect of personal negligence or wilful act independently of this 
Act) by su h contractor, or would be so payable if such contractor were an employer 
to whom this.\ t applies. 

Pro1·ided that the undertakers shall be entitled to be indemnified by any other 
person who would have been liable independently of this section. 

This section shall not apply to any contract with any person for the execution by 
or under such contractor of any work which is merely ancillary or incidental to, and is 
no part of, or process in, the trade or business carried on by such undertakers respectively. 


5. (r.) Where any employer becomes liable under this Act to pay compensationin respect of any accident, and is entitled to any sum from insurers in respect of the 
amount clue to a workman under such liability, then in the event of the employerbecoming bankrupt, or making a composition or arran«ement with his creditors, or if 
the employer is a company of the company having commenced to be wound up, such 
workman shall have a first charge uron the sum afore>aid for the amount so due, and 
the judge of the ounty court may direct the insurers to pay such sum into the Post 
Office !::lavings 13arrk in the name of the registrar of such court, and order the same to 
be invested or applied in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule hereto 
with reference to the irwestrnent in the Post Office Savings Bank of any sum allotted 
as compensation, and tho e provisions shall apply accordingly. 
(2.) In the application of this section to Scotland, the words" have a first charge 
upon" shall mean "be preferentially entitled to." 

6 .-Where the injury for which compen,ation is payable under this Act was 
c.'lused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than the 
employer to pay any damage in respect thereof, the workman may, at his option,proceed 
either at law against that person to rectwer damages, or against his employer, for compensation 
under this Act, but not against both, and if compensation be paid under 
this Act, the employer shall be entitled to be indemnifted by the said other person. 

7.-(1.) This Act shall apply only to employment by the undertakers as herein 
after defined, on or in any way about a railway, factory, mine, quarry, or engineeringwork and to emplo) ment by the undertakers as hereinafter defined on, in or about anybuilding which exceeds thirty feet in height, and is either being constructed or 
repaired by means of a scaflolding, or being demolished, or on which machinerydriven by steam, water, or other mechanical power, is being used for the purpose of 
the construction, repair, or demolition thereof. 

(1.) In this ,\ct 


Railway" means the railway of any railway company to which the Regulation 
of R:~ilways Act, 1873, applies, and includes a light railway made 
under the Light Railways /\ct, 1896; and "railway" and "railwayrornp.my" h,tve the same meaning as in the said Acts of 1873 and 1896: 

" Factory " ha' the >a me meaning as in the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 
to 1 ~<) r, and also includes any dock, wharf, quay, warehouse, machinery, 
or pl.tnt, to 11 hich any provision of the Factory Acts is applied by the 
Fartt•ry and \Vorbhop Act, 1895, and every laundry worked by steam, 
water, or other mechanical p011er: 


"Mine " means a mine to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, or the 
Metalliferous Mines Regulation .\ct, 1872, applies: 

"Quarry" means a quarry under the Quarries Act, 1894. 

" Engineering work " means any work of construction or alteration or repair of 
a railroad, harbor, dock, canal, or sewer, and includes any other work for 
the construction, alteration of repair of which machinery dri\•en by steam, 
water, or other mechanical power is used : 

"Undertakers" in the case of a railway means the railway comp:my; in the 
case of a factory, quarry, or laundry, means the occupier thereof, within the 
meaning of the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 to 1895 ; in the case 
of a mine means the owner thereof within the meaning of the Coal .\lines 
Regulation Act, 1887, or the 1ctalliferous .\lines Regulation Act. 1872, as 
the case may be, and in the case of an engineering work means the person 
undertaking the construction, alteration or repo ir ; and in the c:1se of a 
building means the persons undertaking the construction, repair, or 
demolition : 

"Employer" includes any body of persons, corporate or unincorpot ate and the 
legal personal representative of a deceased em pioyer : 

"'Vorkman" mcludes every person who is engaged in an employment to which 
this Act applies, whether by way of manu tl labor or otherwise, and 
whether hi agreement is one of service or apprenticeship or other~~ i'e and 
is expre"ed or implied, is oro! or in writing. Any reference to a workmen 
wha has been injured shall, where the workman is dead include a reference 
to his legal personal representatives or to his dependants, or other person 
to whom compensation is payable : 

"Dependants " means(
a.) in England and Ireland, such members of the workman's family specified 
in the Fatal Accidents Act, 18+6, as were wholly or in part 
dependent upon the earnings of the workman at the time of his 
death; and 
(b.) in Scotland, such of the persons entitled according to the bw of Scotland 
to sue the employer for damages or solatium in respect of the 
death of the workman, as were wholly or in part dependent upon the 
earnings of the workman at the time of his death. 

(3.) A \\Orkman employed in a factory which is a shipbuilding yard shall not be 
exduded from this Act by reason only that the accident arose outside the yard in the 
course or his work upon a vessel in any dock, river, or tidal water near the yard. 

8.-(1.) This Act shall not apply to persons in the naval or military service of the 
Crown, but otherwise shall apply to any employment by or under the Crown to which 
this Act would apply if the employer were a private person. 

(2.) The Treasury may, by warrant laid before Parliament, modify for the purposes 
of this Act, their warrant made under section one of the Superannuation Act, 
1887, and notwithstanding anything in that Act, or any such warrant, may frame a 
scheme with a view to its being certified by the Registrar of Friendly Societies under 
this Act. 

9 .-Any contract existing at the commencement of this Act, whereby a workman 
relinquishes any right to compensation from the employer for personal injury arising 
out of and in the course of his employment, shall not, for the purposes of this Act, be 
deemed to continne after the time at which the workman's contract of service would 
determine if notice of the determination thereof were given at the commencement of 
thia Act. 

10.-(t.) This Act shall come into operation on the first day of July, One 
thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. 

(2.) This Act may be cited as the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1897. 


EXTRACTS FROM SCHEDULES. 

FIRST SCHEDULE. 
SCALE AND CONDITIONS OF COMPENSATION. 


(1.) The amount of compensation under this Act shall be-


(a) where death results from the injury(
i.) if the workman leaves any dependants wholly dependent upon his 
earnings at the time of his death, a sum equal to his earnings in the 
employment of the same employer during the three years next preceding 
the injury, or the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, whichever 
of those sums is the larger, but not exceeding in any case three 
hundred pounds, provided that the amount of any weekly paymentsmade under this Act shall be deducted from such sum, and if the 
period of the workman's employment by the said employer has been 
less than the said three years, then the amount of his earnings duringthe said three years shall be deemed to be 156 times his averageweekly earnings during the period of his actual employment under 
the said employer; 

(ii.) if the work !nan does not leave any such dependants, but leaves anydependants in part dependen; upon his earnings at the time of his 
death, such sum, not exceeding in any case the amount payable under 
the foregoing provisions, as may be agreed upon, or in default of agreement, 
may be determined, on arbitration under this Act, to be reasonable 
and proportionate to the injury to the said dependants; and 

(iii.) if he leaves no dependants, the reasonable expenses of his medical 
attendance and burial, not exceeding ten pounds ; 

(b.) where total or partial incapacity for work results from the injury, a 
weekly payment during the incapacity after the sewnJ week not exceed· 
ing fifty per cent. of his average weekly earnings during the previous 
twelve months, if he has been so long employed, but if not, then for any 
less period during which he has been in the employment of the same employer, 
such weekly payment not to exceed one pound.

(2.) In fixing the amount of the weekiy payment, regard shall be had to the 
difference between the amount of the average weekly earnings of the workman before 
the accident and the average amount which he is able to earn after the accident, 
and to any payment not being wages which he may receive from the employerin respect of his injury during the period of his incapacity. 

(3.) Where a workman has given notice of an accident, he shall, if so requiredby the employer, submit himself for examination by a duly qualified medical 
practitioner provided and paid by the employer, and if he refuses to submit himself 
to such an examination, or in any way obstructs the same, his right to compensation 
and any proceeding under this Act in relation to compensation, shall be suspended 
until such examination takes place.

(4.) The payment shall, in case of death, be made to the legal personal representative 
of the workman, or, if he has no legal personal representative, to or for 
the benefit of his dependants, or, if he leaves no dependants, to the person to 
whom the expenses are due ; and if made to the legal personal representative shall be 
paid by him to or for the benefit of the dependants or other person entitled thereto 
under this Act. 

(5.) Any question as to who is a dependant, or as to the amonnt payable to 
each dependant, shall, in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under 
this Act. 

(6.) The sum allotted as compensation to a dependant may be invested or 
otherwise applied for the benefit of the person entitled thereto, as agreed, or as 
ordered by the committee or other arbitrator. 

~7.) Any sum which is agreed or is ordered hy the committee or arbitrator to 
be invested may be invested in whole or in part in the Post Office Savings Bank 
by the Registrar of the county court in his name as registrar.

(8.) Any sum to be so invested may be invested in the purchase of an . annuity 
from the National Debt Commissioners through the Post Office Savings Bank, or 
be accepted by the Postmaster-General as a deposit in the name of the registrar •.. 

(to.) Any person deriving any benefit from any moneys invested in a post office 
savmgs bank under the provi•ions of this Act may, nevertheless open an account 
in apost office savings bank or in any other savings bank in his o~n name 


J q 

(r r.) Any workman rece!Vlng weekly payments under this Act, shall, if so re· 
quired by the employer, or by any person by whom the employer is entitled under 
this Act to be indemnified, from time to time submit himself for examination by 
a duly qualified medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer, or such 
other person ; but if the workman objects to an examination by that medical practitioner, 
or is dissatisfied by the certificate of such practitioner upon his condition 
when communicated to him, he may submit himself for examination to one of the 
medical practitioners appointed for the purposes of this Act, as mentioned in the 
Second Schedule to this Act, and the certificate of that medical practitioner as to 
the condition of the workman at the time of the examination shall be given to 
the employer and workman, and shall be conclusive evidence of that condition. 
If the workman refuses to submit himself to such examination, or in any wayobstructs the same, his right to such weekly payments shall be suspended until such 
examination has taken place. 

(12.) Any weekly payment may be reviewed at the request either of the 
employer or of the workman, and on such review may be ended, diminished or 
increased, subject to the maximum above provided, and the amount of payment shall, 
in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under this Act. 

(13.) Where any weekly payment has been continued for not less than six 
months, the liability therefor may, on the application by or on behalf of the 
employer, be redeemed by the payment of a lump sum, to be settled, in default 
of agreement, by arbitration under this Act, and such lump sum may be ordered 
by the committee or arbitrator to be invested or otherwise applied as above mentioned. 


(14.) A weekly payment, or a sum paid by way of redemption thereof, shall 
not be capable of being assigned, charged, or attached, and shall not pass to anyother person by oper:ttion of law, nor shall any claim be set off against the same. 

SECOND SCHEDULE. 

ARBITRATION. 

The following provisions shall apply for settling any matter which under this 
Act is to be settled by arbitration :


(r.) If any committee, representative of an employer and his workmen exists 
with power to settle matters under this Act in the case of the employer and workmen, 
the matter shall, unless either party objects, by notice in writing sent to the 
other party before the committee meet to consider the matter, be settled by the 
arbitration of such committee, or be referred by them in their discretion to arbitration 
as hereinafter provided. 

(2.) If either party so objects, or there is no such committee, or the committee 
so refers the matter or fails to settle the matter within three months from the date 
of the claim, the matter shall be settled by a single arbitrator agreed on by the 
parties, or in the absence of agreement by the county court judge, according to the 
procedure prescribed by rules of court, or if in England the Lord Chancellor so 
authorises, according to the like procedure, by a single arbitrator appointed by such 
county court judge.

(3.) Any arbitrator appointed by the county court judge shall. for the purposesof this Act, have all the powers of a county court judge, and shall be paid out of 
moneys to be provided by Parliament ... .. 

(6.) The costs of and incident to the arbitration and proceedings connected 
therewith shall be in the discretion of the arbitrator . . . .. 
(I r.) No court fees shall be payable by any party in respect of any proceedingunder this Act in the county court prior to the award. 

(12.) Any sum awarded as compensation shall be paid on the receipt of the person 
to whom it is payable under any agreement or award, and hts sohcltor or agentshall not be entitled to recover from him, or to claim a lien on, or deduct anyamount for costs from, the said sum awarded, except such sum as may be awarded 
by the arbitrator or county court judge, on an application made by either party to 
determine the amount of costs to be paid to the said solicitor or agent, such sum 
to be awarded subject to taxation and to the scale of costs prescribed by rules of 
court. 

[The omitted parts of the Schedules deal with matters which in the main 
only concern lawyers.; 


F
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J.-On General Socialism in its various aspects.
TRACTS.-79· A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich. By JoHN 
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87. The same in Welsh. 42. Christian Socialism. By Rev. S.D. HEADLAM. 
75· Labor in the Longest Reign. By SIDNEY WEBB. 72. The Moral 
Aspects of Socialism. By SIDNEY BALL. 6g. Difficulties of Individualism. 
By SIDNEY WEBB. 51. Socialism : True and False. By S. WEBB. 45· The 
Impossibilities of Anarchism. By BERNARD SHAW (price 2d.). 15. EnglishProgress towards Social Democracy. By S. WEBB. 7· Capital and Land. 
5· Facts for Socialsts (8th edn. revised 1899.) LEAFLETS-IJ. What Socialism 
Is. 1. Why are the Many Poor? 38. The same in Welsh. 

li.-On Application of Socialism to Particular Problems. 
TBACTS.-Io6. The Education Muddle and the Way Out. g8. State 
Railways for Ireland. 88. The Growth of Monopoly in English Industry.
By H. W. 1\IACROSTY. 86. Municipal Drink Traffic. 85. Liquor Licensing 
at Home and Abroad. By E. R. PEASE. 84. Economics of Direct Employment. 
83. State Arbitration and the Living Wage. So. Shop-life and its 
Reform. 74· The State and its Functions in New Zealand. 73· Case for 
State Penstons in Old Age. By G. TURNER. 67. Women and the FactoryActs. By Mrs. WEBB. so. Sweating: its Cause and Remedy. 48. EightHours by Law. 23. Case for an Eight Hours Bill. 47· The Unemployed.
By J . BURNS, M.P. LEAFLETS.-8g. Old Age Pensions at Work. 19. What 
the Farm Laborer Wants. 104. How Trade Unions benefit Workmen. 

lli.-On Local Government Powers : How to use them. 
TRACTS.-105. Five Years' Fruits of the Parish Councils Act. 103. Overcrowding 
in London and its Remedy. By W. C. STEADMAN, L.C.C. 101. 
The House Famine and How to Relieve it. 52 pp. 76. Houses for the 
People. 100. Metropolitan Borough Councils: their powers and duties. 
gg. Local Government in Ireland. 82. Workmen's Compensation Act: 
what it means and how to make use of it. 77· Municipalization of Tram-
ways. 62. Parish and District Councils. 61. The London County Council. 
55· The Workers' School Board Program. 54· The Humanizing of the 
Poor Law. By J. F . 0AKESHOTT. LEAFLETS.-81. Municipal Water. 68. 
The Tenant's Sanitary Catechism. 71. Same for London. 63. Parish 
Council Cottages and how to get them. 58. Allotments and bow to getthem. FABIAN MUNICIPAL PROGRAM, FJRST SERIES (Nos. 30-37).The 
Unearned Increment. London's Heritage in the City Guilds. 
Municipalization of the Gas Supply. Municipal Tramways. London's 
Water Tnbute. Municipalization of the London Docks. The Scandal 
of London's Markets. A Labor Policy for Public Authorities. SECOND 
ERIES (Nos. go to 97). Municipalization ofthe Milk Supply. MunicipalPawnshops. Municipal Slaughterhouses. Women as Councillors. Municipal 
Bakeries. Municipal Hospitals. Municipal Fire Insurance. 
Municipal Steamboats. Eath Series in a. red cover for ld. (9d. per doz.) ; 
separate leaflets, 1/-per 100. 

lV.-On Books. 

29. What to Read. A List of Books for Social Reformers. 6d. ea.ch. 
V.-On Fabian Policy.
70. Report on Fabian Policy. 41. The Fabian Society : its Early History.
By BERNARD SHAW. 
·vi.-Question Leaflets, containing Questions for Candidates for the 
following bodies :-20, Poor Law Guardians. 24, Parliament. 25, School 
Boards. 26, Londc-n County Council. 27, Town Councils. 28, CountyCouncils, Rural. 56, Parish Councils. 57, Rural District Councils. 59, 
Urba.n District CouncilR. 102, l\1etropolitan Borough Councils. 

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