American Coal Co. v. Allegany County Com'rs

• Court: Maryland Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: BURKE, J.
• Citation: American Coal Co. v. Allegany County Com'rs, 128 Md. 564, 98 A. 143 (Md. 1916)
• Decision Date: 04 May 1916
• Docket Number: 8.
• Parties: AMERICAN COAL CO. v. ALLEGANY COUNTY COM'RS.

98 A. 143

128 Md. 564

AMERICAN COAL CO. v. ALLEGANY COUNTY COM'RS.

No. 8.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

May 4, 1916

Appeal from Circuit Court, Allegany County; Robert R. Henderson Judge.

"To be officially reported."

Action by the County Commissioners of Allegany County against the American Coal Company. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Ferdinand Williams, of Cumberland, for appellant.

Walter C. Capper and George Henderson, both of Cumberland, for appellees.

BURKE J.

This is the defendant's appeal from a judgment for $600 entered against it in the circuit court for Allegany county. The suit was brought to recover certain assessments for which it is claimed the defendant --which is a corporation engaged in the mining of coal and clay in that county--is liable under the provisions of chapter 153 of the Acts of 1910, as amended by Acts 1912, c. 445. The single question in the case relates to the constitutionality of this legislation, and this question was raised by a demurrer to the amended declaration. It will be necessary to state such portions of the acts which it is claimed are invalid, both under the state and federal Constitutions. The object of these acts was the creation of a fund, to be known as "Miners' and Operators' Co-operative Relief Fund," for the relief and sustenance of employés injured in coal and clay mining in Allegany and Garrett counties, and the dependents of employés injured or killed in such mining.

Section 2 of chapter 153 of the Acts of 1910 declared that the word "operator," as used in the statute, should include every corporation, person, partnership, or association engaged in the business of coal mining or clay mining in those counties, and that the word "employé," as used therein, should include miners, helpers, laborers drivers, trappers, roadmen, propmen, repairers, foremen superintendents, and every employé engaged directly in or about the coal and clay mine of an operator. Provision is made as follows by section 3 of the act for the creation and maintenance of the fund:

"Upon each employé in Allegany and Garrett counties, a tax of twenty-seven cents for each month or fraction of a month that he is employed by any operator, and upon each operator a like tax of twenty-seven cents for each month or fraction of a month in respect of each employé paying the tax aforesaid, and employed by said operator in Allegany and Garrett counties. Such tax shall be due and payable monthly to the treasurers of Allegany and Garrett counties, respectively, in which the mine is operated, and be payable on or before the twenty-fifth day of the month next succeeding the month for which such tax is payable. In order to secure the effectual payment of such tax each operator is authorized and required to deduct and retain from the wages of each employé employed by him, on his pay rolls in Allegany and Garrett counties, the sum of twenty-seven cents per month or fraction of a month, if said employé be employed for less than a month, and on or before the fifteenth day of the month next succeeding the month for which such deduction is made, shall make a report of the number of employés so employed, under oath, to the treasurer of Allegany or Garrett county, where the particular mine is located, and on or before the twenty-fifth day of said succeeding month shall pay over unto the treasurer of Allegany or Garrett county, as the case may be, the total amount so deducted and retained from the wages of the employés for the preceding month, together with a like amount to be paid by the operator. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners of Allegany and Garrett counties, respectively, to enforce, by appropriate remedies, the collection and payment of the tax hereby levied; and to all taxes in default there shall be added and collected interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum from the date when due."

Section 4 deals with the custody and safekeeping of the fund. Section 5 deals with the disbursements from the fund. The provisions of this section are here quoted:

"The treasurers of Allegany and Garrett counties, respectively, shall make payments out of the fund, when directed by the county commissioners of each county, as follows: (a) In the event of personal injuries to any person received while in discharge of his duty as an employé of any operator, subject to the provisions of this act and which shall have complied with the provisions hereof, in case of loss of both hands, severance at or above the wrist joint, seven hundred and fifty dollars; both feet by severance at or above the ankle joint, seven hundred and fifty dollars; one hand and one foot at or above the said joints, seven hundred and fifty dollars; either hand by severance at or above the wrist joint, three hundred and seventy-five dollars; either foot by severance at or above the ankle joint, three hundred and seventy-five dollars; entire sight of both eyes, if irrevocably lost, seven hundred and fifty dollars; entire sight of one eye, if irrevocably lost, three hundred and seventy-five dollars. (b) In event of personal injuries as aforesaid resulting in any of the losses hereinbefore designated, the additional amount of one dollar per day, not including Sundays, excluding the first week following the injury, while he is being treated, for a period not exceeding twenty-six weeks. (c) In the event of personal injuries as aforesaid not resulting in any losses hereinbefore designated, but resulting in total disability, one dollar per day, not including Sundays, excluding the first week following the injury, for a period not exceeding fifty-two weeks. (d) In the event of personal injuries as aforesaid resulting in death within a period of one year, one thousand five hundred dollars: Provided that in case any payments shall have been made on account of the above-mentioned losses or disability during treatment, or total disability resulting from said injuries, the amount thereof shall be deducted from the sum payable upon death of the person injured. (e) In case of death resulting from having come in contact with any of the mine gases, one thousand five hundred dollars. When any such employé shall have suffered loss from injury in the discharge of his duty, as aforesaid, the county commissioners for the county in which he shall have suffered said loss from injury, shall, within thirty days after the receipt by them of satisfactory proof thereof, direct the treasurer of the county to pay unto said employé upon his proper receipt therefor the sum of relief money as provided herein for such loss from injury; when such injury shall result in disability as aforesaid, the said county commissioners shall within thirty days after the receipt by them of satisfactory proof of the injury and disability, direct the said treasurer to pay said employé the per diem relief money as herein provided. When such injury shall result in death or the employé shall have been killed by coming in contact with mine gases, as aforesaid, said county commissioners shall, within thirty days after the receipt of satisfactory proof of the injury and death, direct the said treasurer to pay unto the personal representative of the deceased the relief money as herein provided, to be disbursed by him under the direction of the county commissioners, as hereinafter provided, for the sustenance of the dependents of said deceased employé. The county commissioners shall determine the manner and form of the proof herein required: Provided, that such proof shall at least consist of a certificate of the mine foreman or superintendent, and of the mine inspector, that the injury was received by the employé in the discharge of his duty, and the certificate of a reputable physician setting forth the injury in detail; and, in the case of continuing disability, an additional certificate, monthly, of such physician, certifying as to the period that the employé has been unable to resume his duties as a direct result of the injury; and in the case of death, an additional certificate of such physician that death has resulted from said injury. If the county commissioners shall fail or refuse to direct the treasurer to pay or the treasurer shall fail or refuse to pay unto any employé or personal representative of a deceased employé the relief money provided under this act, suit may be brought by him, and in such suit the county commissioners of the proper county shall be made defendant and shall defend such suit as other cases and have power to compromise the same in the exercise of a just discretion, and if not compromised the court shall determine whether such relief money ought to be payable under this act, but any judgment rendered in such cases shall only be payable out of the relief fund; Provided, that any such suit shall be brought by the employé within twelve months from the date of the injury and by the personal representative within six months from the date of the death of the deceased employé, and failure to commence such suits within said periods shall forfeit all right or claim of said parties to any payments out of said fund."

Section 6 confers power upon the county commissioners of the respective counties to determine certain questions arising upon the application of a personal representative of a deceased employé for relief money and provides that:

"From any order passed by said county commissioners under this section the personal representative or any person claiming to be a dependent may appeal within sixty days to the circuit court of such county, whereupon such circuit court shall have jurisdiction to determine the issues of fact and law raised by such appeal, and may pass such rules as may be judged necessary to expedite and effectuate the determination

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