1436 LAWS OF MARYLAND.

injured employe nor any dependent of such employe shall re-
ceive compensation under this Act.

The liability prescribed by the last preceding paragraph shall
be exclusive that if an employer fail to secure the payment of
compensation for his injured employes and their dependents as
provided in this Act, an injured employe or his legal repre-
sentative in case death results from the injury, may, at his
option, elect to claim compensation under this Act, or to main-
tain an action in the Courts for damages on account of such
injury; and in such an action the defendant may not plead
as a defense that the injury was caused by the negligence of
a fellow servant or that the employe assumed the risk of his
employment, or that the injury was due to the contributory
negligence of the employe. If an employer, besides employing
workmen in extra-hazardous employment within the meaning
of this Act, shall also employ workmen in employments not
extra-hazardous, the provisions of this Act shall apply only to
the extra-hazardous employments within the meaning of this
Act and the workmen employed therein, except as provided in
Section 33 of this Act.

SEC. 15. The employer shall secure compensation to his em-
ployes in one of the following ways:

(1) By insuring and keeping insured the payments of such
compensation in the State Accident Fund, or

(2) By insuring and keeping insured the payments of such
compensation with any stock corporation or mutual association
authorized to transact the business of Workmen's Compensa-
tion Insurance in this State.

(3) Any such employer who does not with the approval of
said Commission voluntarily insure the payment of the Com-
pensation by one of the methods designated in the preceding
paragraphs of this section, must furnish satisfactory proof to
the Commission of his financial ability to pay such compensa-
tion himself, in which case the Commission may, at any time and
from time to time in its discretion, require the deposit with the
Commission of securities, such as are accepted by the Equity
Courts of Baltimore City for the investment of trust funds and
in an amount or amounts to be determined by the Commission,
to secure the liability of the employer to pay the compensation
specified in this Act; and in order to be informed as to the con-
tinued financial responsibility of any such employer the Com-
mission may require reports from him annually or at such other