HEORY AND Policy Iabour Protection D^A.birllAt i Li. u Mii m iii I innTrmmniriTi-niinnniTTrTi-^rMTT-in ^ Vff' •■^•■'■^"■" ' UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 'JJ^r^a.u^. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON Till-; SOCIAL SCIENCE SERIES. "* ' The Principles of State Interference ' is another of Messrs. Swan Sonnen- schein's Series of Handbooks on Scientific Social Subjects. It would be fitting to close our remarks on this little work with a word of com- mendation of the publishers of so many useful volumes by eminent writers on questions of pressing interest to 'a large number of the com- munity. We have now received and read a good number of the handbooks which Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein have published in this series, and can speak in the highest terms of them. They are written by men of con- siderable knowledge of the subjects they have undertaken to discuss; they are concise ; they give a fair estimate of the progress which recent dis- cussion has added towards the solution of the pressing social questions of to-day, are well up to date, and are published at a price within the resources of the public to which they are likely to be of the most use." — Westminster Beview. Jul}', 1891. " The excellent ' Social Science Series,' which is published at as low a price as to place it within everybody's reach." — Beview of Beviews. " A most useful series. . . . This impartial series welcomes both just writers and unjust." — Manchester Guardian. " Concise in treatment, lucid in style and moderate in price, these books can hardly fail to do much towards spreading sound views on economic and social questions." — Beview of the Churches, " Convenient, well-printed, and moderately-priced volumes." — Beynold's Neivs- j)aper. " There is a certain impartiality about the attractive and well-printed volumes which form the series to which the works noticed in this article belong. There is no editor and no common design beyond a desire to redress those errors and irregularities of society which all the writers, though they may agree in little else, concur in acknowledging and deploring. The system adopted appears to be to select men known to have a claim to speak with more or less authority upon the shortcomings of civilisation, and to allow each to propound the views which commend themselves most strongly to his mind, without reference to the possible flat contradiction which may be forthcoming at the hands of the next contributor." — Literary World. " ' The Social Science Series ' aims at the illustration of all sides of social auJ economic truth and error." — Scotsman. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO., LONDON. SOCIAL SCIENCE SERIES. SCAIiLET CLOTH, EACH 2s. fJd. [y Work and Wages. Prof. J. E. TuonoLr Rogers. " Nothing that Professor Rogers writes can fail to be of interest to thoughtful people."^.4(/i«i!(tum. 2. CiYilisation : Its Cause and Cure. Edwabd C.uipenteb. " No passing piece of polemics, but a permanent possession."— &o((mA Revitw. 3. Quintessence of Socialism. Dr. Schaffle. " Precisely the manual needed. Brief, lucid, fair and ^iae."— British Weekly. 4. Darwinism and Politics. D. G. Ritchie, M.A. (Oxen.). New Edition, with two additional Essays on Human Evolution. " One of the most suggestive books we have met with." — Literary World. 5. Religion of Socialism. E. Belfort Bax. 6. Ethics of Socialism. E. Belfobt Bax. " Mr. Bax is by far the ablest of the English exponents of Socialism."— IFeafminifer Review. 7. The Drink Question. Dr. Kate Mitchell.' " Plenty of interesting matter for reflection. '—Graphic. 8. Promotion of General Happiness. Prof. M. Macmillan. " A reasoned account of the most advanced and most enlightened utilitarian doc- trine in a clear and readable form."— Scotsman. 9. England's Ideal, &c. Edward Carpenteb. " Tlie literary power is unmistakable, their freshness of style, their humour, and their enthusiasm." — Pall Mall Gazette. 10. Socialism In England. Sidney Webb, LL.B. " The best general view of the subject from the modern Socialist side." — Alhtnctum, 11. Prince Bismarck and State Socialism. W. H. Dawson. " A succinct, well-dif,'ested review of German social and economic legislation since 1870." — Saturday Review. 12. Godwin's Political Justice (On Property). Edited by H. S. Salt. " .Shows Godwin at his best ; with an interesting and informing introduction."— Glasf/oic Herald. ♦' 13. The Story of the French Revolution. E. Belfort Bax. " .\ trustwortliy outline." — Scotsman. 14. The Co-Operative Commonwealth. Laurence Gronlund. " An independent e.\position of the Socialism of the Marx school." — Contemporary Revieic. 16. Essays and Addresses. Bernard Bosanquet, M.A. (Oxou.). " Ought to be in the hands of every student of the Nineteenth Century spirit."— h'c/io. " No one can complain of not being able to understand what Mr. Bosanquet meAna."— Pall Malt Gazette. 16. Charity Organisation. C. S. Loch, Secretary to Charity Organisation Society. " A perfect little manual." — .ilhtmeum. " Dc-^erves a wide circuliition. " — Sco^^ma«. 17. Thoreau's Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers. Edited by II. S. Salt. " An hitcrestlng collectiipn of essays."— ii<«-ary World. lb. Self-Help a Hundred Years Ago. G. J. Holyoake. " Will be studied witli much benefit by all who are interested in the amelioration f.' 111., .-..inbtion '.' Ili.> pn..r." ^rn,■„i.^,l Pnfl 19. The New York Suae Reforiiiatory at Elmira. ALK.XANUtU Wintkii. With Preface by Havelock Ellis. " A valuable contribution to the literature of penology."— /J/ac/t and While. SOCIAL SCIENCE SERIES— {Con finued). 20. Common Sense about Women. T. W. Higginson. "An admirable collection of papers, advocating in the most liberal spilt the emancipation of women." — WonKin'.^ Herald. 21. The Unearned Increment. W. H. Dawson. I^ "A concise but comprehensive volume." — Echo. 22. Our Destiny. Laukence Gbonlund. " A very vigorous little book, dealing with the influence of Socialism on morals and religion." — DaiLii Chixuiicle. 23. The Working-Class Movement in America. Dr. Edwahd and E. Majix Aveling. " Will give a good idea of the condition of the working classes in America, and o( fcho various organisations which they have formed." — Scots Leader. 24. Luxury. Prof. Emile de Laveleye. "An eloquent plea on moral and economical grounds for simplicity of life."— Academy. 25. The Land and the Labourers. Rev. C. W. Stubbs, M.A. "This admirable book should be circulatt-d in every village in the country."— Manchester Guardian. 26. The Evolution of Property. Paul Laeabgue. " Will prove interesting and profitable to all students of economic history."— Scotsman. 27. Crime and its Causes. W. Douglas Mobbison. " Can hardly fail to suggest to all readers several new and pregnant reflections on the subject."— ^n(i-J'«fo; criticisms bear the mark of much acumen." — Times. 86. Outlooks from the New Standpoint. E. Belfobt Bax. " Mr. Bax is a very acute and accomplished student of history and economics." — Daily Clironiclc. 37. Distributing Co-Operative Societies. Dr. Luioi Pizzamiglio. Edited bj F. J. Snell, "T>:. P'z.-inniislio has gathered tncothnr nid grnnpcd n wide nviny of facts and statistics, and they speak for themselves."— iytaicc. 88. Collectivism and Socialism. By A. Nacquet. Edited by "W. Heafobd " An admirable ciiticisni by n will known French politicinn of the New S.n lali-^'i' oi Marx and La<--alle " -Omlu flumin le. SOCIAL SCIENCE SERIES- (Continued). 39. The London Programme. Sidney Webb, LL.B. " Brimful of excellent ideas." — Anti-Jacobin. 40. The Modern State. Paul Leroy Beaulieu. '■A most interesting book; well worth a place in the library of every social inquirer." — N. B. Economist. 41. The Condition of Labour. Henry George. " Written with striking ability, and sure to attract attention."— JV'eifcasKe Chronicle. 42. The Revolutionary Spirit preceding the French Revolution. Felix Rocquain. With a Preface by Professor Huxley. " The student of the French Revolution will find in it an excellent introduction to the study of that catastrophe." — Scotsman. 43. The Student's Marx. Edward Avelino, D.So. "One of the most practically useful of any in the Series." — Glasgow Herald. 44. A Short History of Parliament. B. C. Skottowe, M.A. (Oxon.). " Deals very carefully and completely with this side of constitutional history." — Spa-tutor. 45. Poverty : Its Genesis and Exodus. J. G. Godabd. " Ut> states the problems with great force and clearness." — N. B. Economist. 46. The Trade Policy of Imperial Federation. Maurice H. Hervey. "An interesting contribution to the discussion." — Publishers' Circular. 47. The Dawn of Radicalism. J. Bowles Daly, LL.D. " Forms an admirable picture of an epoch more pregnant, perhaps, with political instruction than any other in the world's history." — baily Telegraph. 48. The Destitute Alien in Great Britain. Arnold White ; Montague Crackan- thorpe, Q.C. ; W. A. M'Arthub, M.P. ; W. H. Wilkins, &o. " Much valuable information concerning a burning question of the day." — Times. 49. Illegitimacy and the Influence of Seasons on Conduct. Albert Leffingwell, M.D. "We have not often seen a work based on statistics which is more continuously interesting." —Westminster Review. 50. Commercial Crises of the Nineteenth Century. H. M. Hyndmax. " One of the liest and most permanently useful volumes of the Series."— Xtiera»'y Oplilioo. 51. The State and Pensions in Old Age. J. A. Spender and Arthur Acland, M.P. " A careful and cautious examination of the question."— Tiw^s. 52. The Fallacy of Saving. John M. Eobertson. " A plea for the reorganisation of our social and industrial system."— SpeoArer. 53. The Irish Peasant. Anon. "A real contribution to the Iri.sh Problem by a close, patient and dispassionate invest if-'at or." — Dciil/i Chronicle. 54. The Effects of Machinery on Wages. Prof. J. S. Nicholson, D.Sc. "Ably reasoned, clearly stated, impartially written." — litcranj World. 65. The Social Horizon. Anon. "A reallv admirable little book, bright, clear, and unconventional."— floiVy Chroai.l.. 50. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific. Frederick Engels. "The body of the book is still fresh and striking."— UaiV;/ Chronicle. 67. Land Nationalisation. A. R. Wallace. - "Tlie most instructive and convincing of the popular works on the subject."— Nali'n,«l Ur/anii.r. 68. The Ethic of Usury and Interest. Rev. W. Buss.vrd. "'I'bi' wiirk is m.ukeil by gi iiuine ability."— iVoj-(/t British Agriculturalist. H'J. The Emancipation of Women. Adele Crei'az. " lly far the most (•oini)r<'bensive, luminous, and penetrating work on this question tliat i liave vet met with." lixtmct from Mr. . The local police magistrates shall up- hold the Labour Board in the exercise of its authority, and shall enforce obedience to its directions. § 133c. The Labour Board shall organize all free labour in- telligence within its district, and serve in fact as a central bui'eau for this purpose. It shall also be em- powered to appoint branch bureaux with this object, in such places as may seem suitable, and if there is no industi"ial union to undertake the duties the local police magistrates shall undertake them. § 133cZ. Every Labour Board shall publish a yearly report of its proceedings, copies of which shall be distributed gratuitously to the members of the Labour Chambers by the Imperial Labour Board and the Central District Courts. The report shall be submitted to the approval of the Labour Chamber before publication. The Im- perial Labour Board shall draw up yearly, from the annual reports of the Labour Boards, a general report to be submitted to the Bniidcsralh and the Reichstag. The reports of the District Labour Boards and the Imperial Labour Board shall be accessible to the public at cost price." LABOUR BOARDS. 177 The Labour Board of a district of from 200,000 to 400,000 inhabitants would be in the first place a modern kind of industrial inspectorate with offices filled from both classes — employers and employed — with a democratic system of election, and to which women would also be eligible. Even the presidency of this inspectorate would not be freely appointed by the government, which would have only the power of electing one out of two nominees of the Labour Chambers. The primary task of the board would take the form of Labour Protection, of centralization of labour intelligence, and of drawing up reports on matters concerning labour. The Labour Board is intended as the executive organ of the Labour Chambers, the parliamentary administration would therefore be general; even in reporting on industry the Labour Board would be subject to the approval of the Labour Chamber. It is evident that this Demo- cratic organisation of courts, which would be power- less to act so long as both classes obstructed each other, might easily at one stroke, by turning out the nominees of the employers, be changed and developed into purely democratic district courts for the general protection of labour and the control of production. Courts of Arhitration. The Court of Arbitration as proposed by the Auer Motion, is, so to speak, the judicial twin brother of the Labour Board. Accord- ing to § 137-137e, the Court of Arbitration would be a court of the first instance, for the settlement of disputes between employers and workmen. It would be formed by each Labour Chamber out of its numbei's, and would consist of equal numbers of N 178 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. employers and of workmen. The chair would be taken by the labour councillor or one of his paid assistants. Equal representation of both classes would be required when pronouncing decisions. None but relations, employes, and partners in the business, would be permitted to be present during the delibera- tions in support of the disagreeing parties. There would be right of appeal to the Labour Chamber. The members of this Court of Arbitration would (like those of the Labour Chamber) (§ 130a) receive daily pay and defrayment of travelling expenses. Such would evidently be the working out of this system of combined class representation, of which, indeed, we already have an instance in the industrial courts of arbiti'ation. Labour Chambers. These would form the founda- tion stone of the edifice, and they deserve the special attention of all who wish to know how Social Demo- cracy means to attain her ends. I give verbatim the clauses dealing with this : " § 134. For the represen- tation of the interests of employers and their work- men, as well as for the support of the Labour Boai'ds in the exercise of their authority, there shall be ap- pointed from Oct. 1, 1891, in every Labour Board district, a Labour Chamber, to consist of not less than 24, and not more than 36 members, according to the number of different firms established in the district. The number of members for the separate districts shall be determined by the Imperial Labour Board. The members of the Labour Chambers shall be elected, the one half by employers of full age from amongst their numbers, the other half by workers of LABOUR CHAMBERS. 179 full age from amongst tlieir numbers. The election shall be made on the priuciple of direct, individual, ballot voting by both sexes, a simple majority only to decide. Each class shall elect its own representatives. The mandate of the members of the Labour Chamber shall last for two years, opening and closing in each case with the calendar year. Simultaneously with the election of the members of the Labour Chamber proxies to the number of one- half shall be appointed. The proxies shall be those candidates who receive the greatest number of votes next after the elected mem- bers. In the case of equal votes lots shall be drawn. 'I'he selection of the polling day, which must be either a Sunday or festival, shall rest with the Imperial Labour Board, which shall also lay down the rules of procedure for the election. Employers and workmen shall be equally represented on the election com- mittees. The time appointed for taking the votes shall be fixed in such a manner that both day and night shifts may be able to go to the poll. § 135. Besides fulfilling the functions assigned to them in §§ 106a, 110 and 121, the Labour Chambers shall support the Labour Boards by advice and active help in all questions touching the industrial life of their district. It shall be their special duty to make enquiry into the carrying out of commercial and shipping contracts; into customs, taxes, duties, and into the rate of w^age, price of provisions, rent, com- petitive relations, educational and industrial establish- ments, collections of models and patterns, condition of dwellings, and into the health and mortality of the working population. They shall bring before the 180 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. courts all complaints as to tbe conditions of industrial life, and they shall give opinion on all measures and legal proposals affecting industrial life in their district. Finally, they shall be courts of appeal against the decisions of the Courts of Arbitration. § 136. The president of the Labour Chamber shall be the labour councillor, or failing him, one of his paid officials. The president shall have no vote, except in cases in which the Labour Chamber is giving decision as a court of appeal against the decision of the Court of Arbitration. Equality of voting shall be counted as a negative. The president shall be bound to summon the Labour Chamber at least once a month, and also when required on the motion of at least one-third of the members of the Chamber. The Labour Chambers shall lay down their own working rules ; their sittings shall be public.^' According to § 139 of the motion, the members of the Labour Chambers shall also be entitled to claim daily pay and defrayment of travelling expenses. Such are the Labour Chambers accordinof to the proposals of the Social Democrats in 1885 and 1890. It is not without some astonishment that I note the tactical ingenuity displayed by the party even here. Everytliing that has anywhere appeared in literatui'e, in popular representation, in judicial and administrative organisation, in the way of proposals for the centrali- sation and extension of labour intelligence, or of pro- posals for the representation of labour in Labour Pro- tection, and in all agencies for the care of labour, — every scheme tiiat has ever been put forward under different forms, either purely theoretic or practical, as, A BRIDGE TO SOCIALISM. 181 e.g., " Popular Industrial Councils/^ and " Industrial Courts of Arbitration " — is here used to make a part of a broad bridge, leading across to a " People's State." Nothing is lacking but the lowest planks, which could not, however, be dispensed with, a Local Labour Board and a Local Labour Chamber, as the sub- structure of the District Labour Boards and District Labour Chambers. The leaders of Social Democracy in the German Reichstag maintain that they are willing to join hands with the representatives of the existing order in their schemes of organisation. We have, therefore, no right to treat their scheme as consciously revolu- tionary. But this hardly affects the question. The question is whether — setting aside altogether the originators of the plan — such an organisation as that described above might not in fact readily lend itself as a battering-ram to overthrow the existing order and realise the aim of Socialism, whether, in fact, it would not of necessity be so used. This question may well be answered in the afSrmative without cast- ing the slightest reproach at the present leaders of the party. The regulating representative organs would have full and comprehensive authority in all questions of industry, social policy, and health, and in inspection of dwellings; and the executive organs, even up to the Imperial Labour Board, might be empowered by the mere alteration of a few sections of the Bill to exercise the same authority, subject to the consent of the majority in the National and District Chambers, and eventually in the Local Chambers. 182 THEOET AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. If these representative and administrative bodies- ever came into existence, they would slowly but surely oust, not only the whole existing organisation of Chambers of Commei'ce and Industrial Councils, but also the Reichstag itself, and the Imperial Govern- ment, as well as the local corporate bodies; they would tear down every part of the existing social edifice. By the combined action of the Social Demo- crats in the Reichstag with the increasingly demo- cratic tendencies of the local bodies, all this might come to pass in a very short space of time. I do not forget that the organisation is to be based in the first instance on equal representation of classes. On the first two, and eventually on the third, step of the judicial and representative edifice, as many repre- sentatives are given to capital as to labour. In so far the organisation is a hybrid of Capitalism and Social Democracy. For the moment, and in the pre- sent stage, it is, for this very reason, of special value to the Social Democrats, as it supplies a method of completely crippling the forces opposed to them in the existing order. For it will be sufficient in the day of fulfilment, i.e. when all is ripe for the intended change, to give one shake, so to speak, in order to burst open the half capitalistic chrysalis, and let the butterfly of a Social Democratic " People^s State " fly out. The half capitalistic organisation would, I repeat, be of the greatest value at present, in the early preparatory work of the Social Democrats. First, because the working class would become practically and thoroughly accustomed to co-operation instead of to subordination A BRIDGE TO SOCIALISM. 183 as hitherto ; this is the traiisition step which cannot be avoided, to the supremacy of the working class over the employers' class. Then^ too, the proposed organisation would offer an excellent opportunity for passing through the transition step by step, by the continued weakening of the capitalist order of society in all its joints. The struggle with capital would have the sanction and the organised force of legisla- tion. It would receive legal organisation, and would even be legally enjoined. This legalised battle would proceed over the whole circuit of industrial activitj^, including trade and transport, and including also the state regulated portion of it. In addition to this the organisation would be peculiarly fitted to cripple even the least objection- able bulwarks of capital, even the altogether un- biassed and nonpartisan operation of the local and district, and probably even ultimately of the imperial courts. The apparently equal coupling of the influence of both classes would lead to the result that the class which had the more energetic representatives and the slighter interest in the maintenance of the " working rules " would be able at any moment and at any point in the national industrial life, to bring everything to a deadlock. The labour councillor would be dependent on the Labour Chambers, and they in turn would be entirely dependent on the leaders of labour. By the provision that the president shall have no vote, and a tie in voting shall therefore count as a defeat, the workmen's electorate hold in their hands the power to obstruct at will any resolution, and especially to ob- 184 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. struct the issue of the working rules in any business, since the rules must be submitted to the approval of the Labour Chambers. The function of " supporting the Labour Boards by advice and active help in all questions touching the in- dustrial life of their district/^ might very easily, by virtue of the above provision, be so abused by the Labour Chambers as to deprive individual industrial inspectors of all possibility of just and independent action, and hence by degrees to entirely cripple and destroy the value of the inspectorate as a whole; there can, I think be no doubt that before very long these powers would intentionally be used for this purpose. The action of a positive Social policy would be hopelessly crippled by an equally balanced class repre- sentation, while at the same time the existing order of industrial life would be disturbed and shaken down to the very last and smallest branches of in- dustry. Nor would this be all, for such an organisation would secure fixed salaries for the staff of agitators in the Labour party, since the representatives would receive daily pay and defrayment of travelling ex- penses from the Imperial exchequer. Debates and discussions might be cai'ried on without intermission, the pay continuing all the time, for each Labour Chamber would be convened, not only once a month, but also at any time at the request of one-third of the members of the Labour Chamber, therefore of two- thirds of the labour representatives in the chamber, liy virtue of iho provision which gives them unlimited A BBIDGE TO SOCIALISM. 185 I'ight of intervention, pretexts for convening frequent meetings would never be wanting. Hence it is evident tliat no more effectual machinery could be devised for the legal preparation for leading up the existing social order directly to the threshold of the " People's State." The attempt to convert the hybrid Capitalist- Socialist state to a pure Socialist state would be a perfectly simple matter, both in the Empire, the provinces, and the local districts, as soon as we had allowed Social Democracy one or two de- cades in which to turn the two-fold class representa- tion to their own ends. By a single successful revo- lutionary "coup" in the chief city of the Empire, or in the chief cities of several countries simultaneously, representation of capital in the Labour Courts might be thrown overboard, and the "People's State" would be ready ; the parliament of a purely popular government would hold the field, and the present representation of the nation which includes all classes and watches over the spiritual and material interests of the whole nation, might without difficulty be swept away from Empire, province, district and munici- pality. The construction of a complete system of " col- lective" production would be easy, for it would find the framework ready to its hand, complete from base to summit, fully mapped out on the plan. Perhaps the leaders themselves are not fully con- scious of the lengths to which their proposed organi- sation may caiTy them. One can quite understand how from their standpoint they fail to see the end. They have pursued the path that seemed the most 186 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. likely to lead to their goal of a radical change of the existing social order. The whole responsibility will rest with the parties in power, if they do more than hold out their little finger, which they have already done, to help Social Democracy along this path of organisation. CHAPTER XII. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE ORGANISATION. In spite of all that can be urged against them^ however^ we may gather much^ not merely negative,, but also positive, knowledge from the proposals of Social Democracy. An organisation which shall be equipped with full authority, which shall be indepen- dent, complete in all its parts, which shall prevail uniformly and equally over the whole nation ; an organisation which shall avoid the disintegration of collective aids to labour, which shall encourage in- dustrial representation and prevent the division of authority amongst many different courts : such is the root idea of the proposal, and this idea is just, however unacceptable may appear to us the form in which it is clothed in the Auer Motion. Nothing is omitted in the Auer Motion except the assignment of their various duties to the various branches of the territorial representative bodies, and the working out of an elementary local organisation. I shall therefore try to work out the idea into a legitimate and possible form of development. In order to do this I must distinguish between the organisation required for ex- ecutive and for representative bodies. 188 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. As regards the executive organs^ neither in Ger- many nor elsewhere is the industrial inspectorate at present furnished with a sufficient number of paid head-inspectors and sub-inspectors. Scarcely any of the sub-inspectors are drawn from the labouring class except in the case of England. Industrial inspection in Germany has not yet attained uniform extension over the whole Empire. The inspectors of the dif- ferent provinces, and the chief provincial inspectors of the whole Empire require to be brought into regular communication with each other and with a Central Bureau adapted for all forms of aid to labour, including Labour Protection — an organ which of course must not interfere with the imperial, con- stitutional, and administrative independence of the States of the Bund. If the individual inspectors were everywhere carefully chosen, the assembling of all inspectors for deliberation with the Provincial and Imperial Central Bureaux of Labour Protection would in nowise retard, but on the contrary would serve to promote the complete and equitable administration of Labour Protection and all forms of aid to labour. This is the really fruitful germ contained in the idea of an " Imperial Labour Board." A Provincial Labour Board might effect much in the same direction. We are not without the begin- nings of a uniform constitution of this kind : England has an Inspector-General, Austria a Central Inspector ; in Switzerland the inspectors hold regular conferences ; in France a comprehensive scheme of inspectoral com- bination is projected. The choice of persons as head and sub-iuspectors, DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE ORGANISATION. 189 which is a matter o£ such great importance, might bo subject to nomination by the united provincial inspec- torate, coupled with instructions to direct particular attention to the selection of persons of practical ex- perience, without social bias, well versed in knowledge of technical and hygienic matters, and suited to the special needs of the several posts. But the mere development of the inspectorate would not be the only step in the progress of the organisa- tion of Labour Protection. We must go much further than this. The combined interests of economy, sim- plicity, efficiency, and permanence of service, point to the necessity of relieving as far as possible the regular governmental courts of the Empire, of the province, and of the municipality, of the extra burden of judicial and police administration involved in special branches of Labour Protection, and in all other special forms of aid to labour. The same considerations in- volve the necessity of gradually developing a better organisation of associated labour boards, an imperial board, and provincial, district, and municipal boards. We should thus get rid of the present confusion of divided authority without entirely depriving Labour Protection, both individual and general, of the assist- ance of the ordinary administrative courts. This is the task that I have repeatedly insisted upon as im- peratively requiring to be taken in hand in connexion with Labour Insurance. The Auer Motion attempts to meet this necessity. Much also that is very just and very practical is contained in the idea of extending the sphere of operations of the Imperial Labour Board and of the 190 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. District Boai-ds so as to embrace not only Labour Protection but every form of aid to labour. Com- plaint is made that the organisation of Labour Insur- ance, in spite of all caution, has frequently proved an unpractical and costly piece of patchwork administra- tion. Would it not then be more to the point, and would it not more easily fulfil the object of Labour Insurance and Labour Protection, and later on also of dwelling reform, inspection of work, etc., to create municipal district and provincial boards, with a great Imperial Central Bureau at the head ? In order that each special branch of protection might receive proper attention, care would have to be taken in appointing to the oflSces of the collective organ, to insure the inclusion of the technical, juristic, police, hygienic, and statistic elements, and it would be necessary to group these elements into sections without destroying the unity of the service. There would be no lack of material, and it would not be difficult to secure a good, efficient, and economical working staff. No less reasonable is the idea of a '' guild " of the eldest in the trade, or of a factory committee for the several large works with representation of both classes to appoint the district, provincial, and imperial labour councils. So far from being extreme in this respect, the Auer Motion is rather to be reproached with incompleteness, and a lack of provision for local Labour Councils and Labour Chambers, a point which wo have already mentioned. But the representative bodies would have a significance extending far beyond the limits of Labour Protection — following the ex- ample of Switzerland the von Berle^sch Bill admits DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE ORGANISATION. 191 factory labour-committees for dealing with matters concerning the factory working rules — they would be agencies for the care of labour, for the insurance of social peace, the protection of morality, the settlement of disputes and the maintenance of order in the factory, for the instruction and discipline of appren- tices, for the control of the administration of protec- tive legislation, for dealing with the wage question, in a word for softening the severe autocracy of the employers and their managers by the co-operation and advice of the workers. And in this case I have nothing further to add to what I have already said on the matter in a former article. But the supporter of even the most comprehensive scheme of labour representation does not stand com- mitted to any such system of parliamentary manage- ment of industry by democratic majority as is proposed in the Auer Motion. The appointment and the work- ing of the Labour Councils and Labour Chambers seems to me to introduce quite another element into the scheme. The regular, not merely the accidental and occa- sional, meeting of the inspectors with the body of employers and workers is a recognised practical neces- sity; a less bureaucratic system of industrial manage- ment is demanded on all sides. Regularly appointed ordinary and special meetings with the Labour Cham- bers would no doubt accomplish much. The inspector ought to be accessible to the expression of all wishes, advice, and complaints ; but, on the other hand, he should not yield blind obedience to the rulings ^nd representations of such organs. The industi-ial 192 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. inspector must be, and must remain, an officer of the State, capable of acting independently of either class, appointed by government ; only under these circum- stances can he perform the duties of his office with firmness and impartial justice ; in his appointment, in his salary, and in the exercise of his official duties he should be furnished with every guarantee to insure the independence of his judgment. It is nowise in- compatible with this that he should be open to receive representations, whether in the way of advice, infor- mation, or complaint. The more he lays himself open to such in the natural course of work, the more im- portant will his duties and position become, both on his circuits and in his office. The right of appeal to higher courts can always be secured to the Labour Chambers in cases of complaint. But how should representative bodies of this kind be formed ? In answering this question care must be taken above all not to confound such public Labour Cham- bers as are suggested in the Auer proposals with voluntary joint committees of both classes. Each of these representative organs requires its own special constitution. The voluntary unions appoint committees for the security of class interests, and especially for the pur- pose of making agreements as to conditions of work. The election of these representative bodies ought to be made by both classes with unrestricted equal eligibility of all, including the female, members of any union, and without predominance of one class over the other, or of any section of one class. I have already in a former article (see also above. DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE ORGANISATION. 193 "Chap. V.) laid great stress upon the development ot" this voluntary or conciliatoiy repi-esentation of both classes as a means of ^ union which can never be re- placed by the other or legal form of representation. The need for a representative system in the organs of the different forms of state-aid to labour is quite -another matter. Their tasks require special, public, legalised repre- sentation, with essentially only the right of delibera- tion ; but they may also decide by a majority of votes questions which lie within the sphere of their compe- tence. As regards this public representation, it seems to me that joint appointment by direct choice of all the individuals in both classes, and out of either class, rends to the preservation of class enmity rather than to the mutual conciliation of the two classes and to the promotion of their wholesome joint influence on the boards. This kind of appointment might be dis- pensed with by limiting direct election as far as pos- sible to the appointment of the elementary organs of representation ; but for the rest by drawing the already existing authorities of a corporate kind into the formation of the system of general representation. Herein I refer to such already existing organs as those <'f labour insurance, Chambers of Commerce and In- dustrial guilds, railway boards, local and parliamentary representatives ; and other elementary forms of cor- porate action might also be pressed into the service. A thoroughly serviceable, fully accredited personnel would thus be secured for all Labour Boards. This system might even be applied to the election o 194 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. or appointment by lot of the Industrial Court of Arbi- tration. If the Labour Chambers were corporate bodies really representative of the trade, then the Industrial Courts of Ai'bitration, both provincial and local, might be constituted as thoroughly trustworthy public organs — without great expense, free from judi- cial interference, competent as courts of the first and second instance, and not in any way dependent on the communal authorities — either freely elected by the managers of the workmen's clubs and the em- ployers' boards or companies, or chosen by lot from the personnel of the already existing corporate institu- tions above referred to. The system of direct election by the votes of all the individual workers and em- ployers would thus be avoided, and, more important still, this method would meet the difficulty which proved the crux of the whole question when the organisation of Industi'ial Courts of Arbitration was discussed in the last Reichstag : the distinction be- tween young persoiis and adults would not enter into consideration, either in the case of Labour Chambers or of the Courts of Arbitration proceeding therefrom. There would be no need, under this system, that electors of either class should be required to limit their choice of representatives to members of their own class. Each body of electors would be free to fix their choice on the men who possessed their con- fidence, wherever such might bo found. This would further help to stamp out the antagonisms which are excitcid by the separate corporate representation of V>oth classes. Men would bo appointed who would DEVELOPMENT OF PKOTEGTIVE ORGANISATION. 195 need no special protection against dismissal. But the representatives of the workers when chosen out of tlie midst of the working electorate might still receive daily pay and defrayment of travelling expenses. If this were entered to the account of the unions which direct the election through members of the managing committee, and if charged pro rata of the electors appointed, a sufficient safeguard would be provided against the temptation to protract the sessions or to bribe professional electors. The foregoing sketch of the executive and repre- sentative development of the organisation of Labour Protection in the direction of united, simple, uni- form, specialized organisation of the whole aggregate of aids to labour, ought at least to deserve some at- tention. Provided that the upward progress of our civilisa- tion continues generally, this quite modern, hitherto unheard of, development of boards and representative bodies, even if only brought about piecemeal, will eventually be brought to completion, and will effect appreciable results in the State and in society. Some of the best forms of special boards, i.e. special repre- sentative bodies are already making their appearance, e.g. the '^ Labour Secretariats" in Switzerland, the American " Boards of Labour,^' and the Russian "factory Courts" under the governments of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Vladimir (Act of June 23, 1868). CHAPTER XIII. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROTECTION. Years and years elapsed before the first supporters of international protection received any recognition. Then immediately before the assembling of the Berlin Conference, the idea began to take an enormous hold on the public mind. Switzerland demanded a con- ference on the subject. Prince Bismark refused it. The Emperor William II. made an attempt towards it by summoning an international convention to discuss questions of Labour Protection. The inner springs of the movement for international Labour Pi'otection are not, and have not been, the same everywhere. With some it is motived by the desire to secure for wage labour in all " Christian " States conditions compatible with human dignity and self-respect. This was the basis of the Pope's negotiations with the labour parties and with certain of the more high- minded sovereigns aud princes. Others demand it in the combined interests of international equilibrium of competition and of Labour Protection, believing that these two may be brought into harmony by the inter- national process, since if industry were equally INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROTECTION. 197 weighted everywhere, and the costs of production, therefore, approximately the same everywhere, pro- tected nations would not suffer in the world^s markets. The first, the more "idealist" motive prevails most strongly among Catholics, and contains no doubt a deeper motive — namely, the preservation of the social influence of the Church. At the International Catholic Economic Congress at Suttich, in September, 1890, this view prevailed, with the support of the English and Germans, against the opposition of the Belgians and French. The light in which international Labour Protection is viewed depends upon whether the one or the other motive prevails, or whether both are working together. Two results are possible. Either limits will be set to the right of restricting protection of employment and protection in occupation by means of universal international legislation, or the interchange of moral influence between the various governments will be brought about by means of periodical Labour Pro- tection Conferences and through the Press, which on the one hand would promote this interchange of in- fluence, and on the other hand would, uniformly for all nations, demand and encourage the popular support of all protective efforts outside the limits of the State. Before the Berlin Conference it was by no means clear what was expected of international Labour Pro- tection. Since the Conference it has been perfectly clear, and this alone is an important result. The international settlement which Prince Bismark had opposed ten years befoi^e did not meet with even timid support at the Berlin Conference. England 198 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. and Frauce were the strongest opponents of the idea of the control of international protective legislation. This can be proved from the reports of the Berlin Conference. The representative of Switzerland^ H. Blumer, in the session of March 26^ 1890^ made a proposal, which was drawn up as follows : — " Measures should be taken in view of carrying out the provisions adopted by the Conference. " It may be foreseen on this point that the States which have arrived at an agreement on certain measures, will conclude an obligatory arrangement; that the carrying out of such arrangement will take place by national legislation, and that if this legislation is not sufficient it will have to receive the necessary additions. " It is also safe to predict the creation of a special organ for centralizing the information furnished, for the regular publication of statistical returns, and the execution of preparatory measures for the conferences anticipated in pai'agraph 2 of the programme. " Periodical conferences of delegates of the different governments may be anticipated. The principal task of these conferences will bo to develop the arrange- ments agreed on and to solve the questions giving rise to difficulty or opposition." Immediately upon the opening of the discussion on this motion, the delegates from Great Britain moved the rejection of the proposal of Switzerland, *' since, in their opinion, an International Convention on this matter could not supply the place of special legislation in any one country. The United Kingdom had only INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROTECTION. 199 consented to take part iu the Conference on the understanding that no such idea should be entertained. Even if English statesmen had the wish to contract international obligations with respect to the regulation of factory labour, they would have no power to do so. It is not within their competence to make the indus- trial laws of their country in any way dependent on a foreign power." The Austrian delegate suggested that it be made quite clear " that the superintendence of the carrying out of the measures taken to realise the proposals of the Conference is exclusively reserved to the Governments of the States, and that no interfer- ence of a foreign power is permitted/' The Belgian delegate " considers it advisable, in order that the deliberations of the Conference may keep their true character, not to employ the word ' proposals/ but to substitute for it ' wishes,' or ' labours.' M. Jules Simon, the French delegate, states that he and his colleagues have received instructions which " forbid them to endorse any resolution which either directly or indirectly would appear to give immediate executive force to the other resolutions formulated by the Con- ference.'' And M. Tolain adds that ''it is true that the French Government had always considered the meeting of the Conference exclusively as a means of enquiring into the condition of labour in the States concerned, and into the state of opinion in respect to it, but that they by no means intended to make it, at any rate for the present, the point of departure for international engagements." The idea of an international code of Labour Pro- tection could not have been more flatly rejected. 200 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. Hence the opposition to the idea manifested by Prince- Bismark was fully borne out by the Conference. This opposition has everything in its favour, for it is clear that a uniform international code of Labour Protection would supply boundless opportunities for friction and for stirring up international commercial quarrels. If it were desired to establish Labour Protection guaranteed by international agreement, it would be found that there would be as many disturb- ances of international peace as there are different kinds of industry, nay, I will even say, as there are work- men. The countries whose administration was best and most complete would be the very ones that would be most handicapped : seeing that they could expect only a very minimum of real reciprocity from those other contracting powers whose administration was faulty, and where a strong national sentiment was lacking in the workers, owing to their miserable and penurious condition in the absence of effective pro- tection for labour. Accurately to supervise the observance of such an international agreement we should require an amount of organisation which it is quite beyond our power to supply. But even on paper, international labour legislation has no signifi- cance beyond that of creating international discon- tent and agitation, and of supplying political ani- mosity with inexhaustible materials tor arousing international jealousy. The Berlin Conference has negatively produced a favourable effect by the protest of England and France, if one reflects how fiercely the scepticism of Bisinark's policy was attacked before the meeting of the Conference. Repeated INTERNATIONAL LABOUR PROTECTION. 201 readings of the reports of the Conference have con- firmed me in the impression that Prince Bismark was fully upheld by the Conference in his opposition to the establishment of Labour Protection by inter- national agreement. But I have felt it necessary to clearly establish the grounds on which the opposition to this form of protection is based. The moral influence of the international Conference^ however, has been on the other hand something more than "vain beating the air." This is already shown in the increased impetus given to the impi'ovement of national labour-protective legislation. The conclusions arrived at by the Conference as to the international furtherance of Labour Protection are, it is true, of the nature of recommendations merely, and are in nowise binding on the govern- mental codes of each country. But even as recom- mendations they are practically of the greatest value. None of the nations represented will venture, I think, to disregard the force of their moral influence. All the means recommended by the Conference have promise of more or less success. Some of the propo- sals, for instance, are : the repetition of international Labour Protection Conferences, the appointment of a general, adequate, and fully qualified industrial inspec- torate, the international interchange of inspectors' reports, the uniform preparation of statistics on all matters of protection, the international interchange of such statistics, and of all protective enactments issued either legislatively or administratively.^ ' Proposals YL, la-d, and II. Ic is as follows : " All the 202 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTIOl^. But what of the proposal for the appointment of an international commission for the collection and com- pilation of statistics and legislative matei'ials, for the publication of these materials, and for summoning Labour Protection Conferences, and the like ? And what would this proposal involve ? None of the objections which can be urged against the enforcement of an international code of Labour Protection would apply to this. The commission would be well fitted to help forward the international development, on uniform lines, of labour protective legislation, without in any way fettering national in- dependence. Its moral influence would be of great international value. What it would involve is also easy to determine. Such a commission would be an international ad- ministrative organ for the spread and development of Labour Protection on uniform lines in all countries ; a provision by International Law for the enfoi'cement of the international moral obligations arising out of pro- tective right. That is really what the Labour Protection Confer- ences would be if they met periodically as suggested. At the Berlin Conference this at least was felt when it was said that the Conference was indeed less than a treaty-making Congress, but more than a scien- tific Congress. " International Conferences may be divided into two categories. In the first the respective States, following certain rules, for which an under- standing will have to be arrived at, will proceed periodically to publish statistical reports with respect to the questions included in the proposals of the Conference." INTEKNATIONAL LABOUR PEOTECTION. 203 l^Ienipotentiavies of different States have to conclude Treaties, either political or economic, the execution of which is guaranteed by the principles of international law ; to the second category belong those Conferences vvhose members have no actual powers, and give their attention to the scientific study of the questions sub- mitted to them, rather than to their practical and immediate solution. Our Conference, from the nature of its programme, and the attitude of some of the States good enough to take part in it, has a character of its own, for it cannot pass Resolutions binding on the Governments, nor may it restrict itself to study- ing the scientific sides of the problems submitted to its examination. It could not aspire to the first of these parts; it could not rest content with the second. The considerations which have been admitted in the Commissions relative to all the questions contained in the programme have been inspired by the desire of showing the working population that their lot oc- cupies a high place in the attention of the difierent Governments ; but these considerations have had necessarily to bend to others which we cannot put aside. In the first place, there was the wish to unite all the States represented at the Conference in the same sentiment of devotion to the most numerous and the most interesting portion of society. It would have been grievous not to arrive at the pro- mulgation of general principles, by means of which the solution of the most important half of the social problem should be attempted. It was evidently not possible to arrive at once at an agreement on all its details. But it was necessary to show the world that 204 THEOET AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. all the States taking part in the Conference were met in the same motives of humanity/' The proposal of a commission for summoning re- peated conferences, international, uniform gatherings- of representatives of all non-governmental agencies of Labour Protection, for the purpose of dealing uni- formly with the i-equirements of a progressive policy in national labour-protective legislation, was a sum- ming up of the demands urged by the Conference for a strong, international, administrative organisation for the furtherance of Labour Protection by the inter- national exchange of moral persuasion, but without the enforcement of a code of international application. From a scientific point of view it is of the highest interest to observe how international right, and even to some extent an international administrative right, is here breaking out in an entirely new direction. Treaties between two or more, or all, civilized States have hitherto mainly been treaties for combined action in certain eventualities (treaties of alliance), or terri- torial treaties for defining spheres of influence. Or else they have been treaties for the reciprocal treat- ment of persons or of goods passing between or remaining in the territories of the respective contract- ing States : migration treaties, commercial treaties,, treaties concerning pauper aliens, tariff treaties and other treaties. Or they have been treaties for the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases. The exercise of international activity in the creation,, development, and regulation of an international uni- form Social Policy would be quite a new departure. Probably the idea of Switzerland has not been thmwu out altogether in vain. CHAPTER XIV. THE AIM AND JUSTIFICATION OF LABOUR PROTECTION. The aim and justification of Labour Protection have I think become suflBciently clear in the course of our inquiry. It is now only necessary to recapitulate. Labour Protection, especially protection by limita- tion of employment, and protection in occupation, is first and foremost the social care of the present and of all future generations, security against neglect of their spiritual, physical, and family life through the unscrupulous exploitation of wage-labour. Hence Labour Protection is indirectly protection also of the capitalist classes of the future, and therefore far from being unjust, it even acts in the highest interests of that part of the nation which by virtue of the fact of property or ownership is not in need of any special Labour Protection. In fulfilling its purpose. Labour Protection even goes bej^ond the woi'k of upholding and strengthening national labour, when it takes the form of interna- tionally uniform Labour Protection such as was lately projected at the Berlin Conference, and such as is becoming more and moi'e the goal of our efforts. This international Labour Protection is a universal 205 206 THEOEY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. demand of liutaanity, morality and religion, especially from the standpoint of the Church, like that of international protection of all nations against slave r3^ but it is also no doubt demanded in the interests of international equilibrium of competition. The aim of Labour Protection for the worker indi- vidually lies far beyond mere industrial protection. Protection of labour extends to the person of indi- vidual labourers and their freedom as regai'ds re- ligious education, instruction, learning, and teaching, social intercourse, morality and health, and especially does it afford to every man security of family life. In this social and individual aim lies its justifica- tion, subject to certain conditions. These conditions we have already examined. The first condition is, that special protection shall only be used to guard against distinct dangers arising out of employment in service. Next, Labour Protec- tion is only justified in dealing with such dangers as cannot or can no longer be adequately guarded against by any or all of the old forms of protection, viz., self-help, family protection, private agencies and non-governmental corporate agencies, or the pro- tection of the regular administrative and judicial authorities, and even with such dangers only so far as is absolutely necessary. And lastly, the extra- ordinary State protection contained in the several labour-protective enactments must be adapted to thi' suppression of such dangers altogether. Bearing in mind these conditions, it will be found on examination of the several measures of Labour Protection, as they appear in the resolutions of the LEGITIMATE SCOPE OF LABOUR PROTECTION. 207 Berlin Conference and in the von BerlepscJt Bill, that not one of them oversteps these limits. The labour protective code as already existing, and as projected by government, nowhere stretches its authority beyond the specified point, either in its scope, extension or organisation ; at present it rather errs on the side of caution, and in many respects it does not go nearly so far as it might. This also I claim to have shown in the foregoing pages. This fact alone fully justifies- the policy of Labour Protection as at present projected by the German government. It is in nowise intended (as shown in Chaps. IV. to X.) by this protective policy to supplant and replace free self-protection and mutual protection, or the ordinary State protection of common law. No addition to Labour Protection will be permitted except where special need exists. In no case shall a larger measure of protection be afforded than necessary. There is no question of treating all and everywhere alike the various classes of industrial wage-labour needing protection. But rather that complete elasticity of treatment is ac- corded, which is required in view of the variety of needs for protection and of the different degrees of difficulty of applying it; it is this variety which necessitates extraordinary State intervention, extra- ordinary alike in scope, basis and organisation. Labour Protection has not, it is true, by any means reached its full development either in aim and scope or in organisation. None of those further demands, however, from various quarters, which I have treated in this book as within the range of discussion ovei'- 208 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. step in any essential degree the limits imposed on Labour Protection, regarded as special and supple- mentary intervention of the State. Even the Auer Motion when carefully examined — if we set aside the general eight hours day and oertain special features of organisation, in particular its claim to include in its scope the whole of industry — is not reall}^ as extravagant as it appears at first sight; for although indeed it demands complete Labour Protection for all kinds of industrial work, it requires onl}^ the application of the same special measures as are also demanded in other quarters, and as I have shown to be justified, except in a few special cases where it calls for more drastic measures. We have seen also that the policy of Labour Pro- tection does not involve a kind of State intervention hitherto unknown. The State has long afforded regular administrative and judicial protection to the work of industrial wage-service, and has even inter- fered in a special manner in the case of children, young men, young women and adult women ; and for still longer in the case of adult men, by aS'ordiug protection in the way of limitation of employment, truck protection and protection in occupation, and by affording protection of contract through the Industrial Regulations, applied to non-factory as well as to factory labour. The application of protection by limitation of employment is thus far from being the lirst exercise of State interference with the hitherto unrestricted freedom of contract. Nothing will be found in the developments of protection here dealfc LEGITIMATE SCOPE OP LABOUR PROTECTION. 209 with, that has not long ago been demanded and granted elsewhere, chiefly in England, Austria and Switzerland. The economic burden imposed upon the nation by Labour Protection, when compared with that of Labour Insurance, which we have already, will be found to be comparatively small. Those measures which call for the greater sacrifices' — protection of married women, and regulation of the factory ten hours working-day — are recommended on all sides by way of international uniform regulations. Freedom of contract will not be impaired, since? such adults as are included under Labour Protection stand in special need of protection, and are as incap- able of self-defence as minors in common law ; we have discussed and proved this contention point by point. This will certainly soon be recognised gener- ally, even by England and Belgium, whose represen- tatives at the Berlin Conference laid such stress on freedom of contract for adults. An international and internationally administered code for the whole of Labour Protection is strictly to be avoided. The wider measures of Labour Protection demanded by the Berlin Conference, and the vo)i Berlepsch Bill,^ I conclude therefore to be nothing more than a fully justifiable and harmless corollary and supplement to the Social Policy of the Emperor William II. and of Prince Bismark. By following in the paths already trodden without ^ See Appendix. 210 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. ill results by separate countries, long ago by some, only lately by others, in paths therefore which have to a certain degree been explored, this policy will need to be subjected to fewer alterations than that great and noble policy of Labour Insurance which has struck out in entirely new paths, and too often worked in consequence by somewhat unpractical methods. APPENDIX. Industrial Code Amendment Bill (Germany). IJtine 1st, 1891]. We, William, by the grace of God Emperor of Germany, etc., decree in the name of the Empire, by and with the consent of the Federal Council and Reichstag, as follows : — Article I. After § 41 of the Indastrial Code shall be inserted : §41(1. Where, in accordance with the pi^ovisions of §§ 1056 to 105^, employment of assistants, apprentices and workmen is prohibited in any trading industry on Sun- days and holidays, no industrial business shall be carried on on those days in public sale-rooms. This provision shall not preclude further restrictions by common law of industrial business on Sundays and holidays. Article II. After § 55 of the Industrial Code shall be inserted. 211 212 THEOEY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. § 55 a. On Sundays and holidays (§ 105 a, 2) all itinerant in- dustrial business, so far as it is included in § 55 (1) 1-3,. shall be prohibited, as -well as the industrial business of the persons specified in § 426. Exceptions maybe allowed by the lower administrative authorities. The Fedei^al Council is empowered to issue directions as to the terms and conditions on which excep- tions may be allowed. Article III. Chapter VII. of the Industrial Code shall be amended as follows : — CHAPTER VII. Industrial workers (journeymen, assistants, apprentices,, managers, foremen, mechanics, factory workers). I. General Relajions. § 105. The settlement of relations between independent in- dustrial employers and workers shall be left to voluntary agreement, subject to the restrictions laid down b}' im- perial legislation. § 105a. Employers cannot oblige their work people to work on Sundays or holidays. This, however, does not apply to certain kinds of woi'k mentioned further on. Holidays are determined by the State Govei'iiments in accordance with local customs and religious belief. APPENDIX. 213 § 105 &. There shall be no work on Sundays and holidays in mines, salines, smelting works, quarries, foundries, fac- tories, workshops, carpenters' yards, masons' and ship- builders' yards, brick-fields, and buildings of any kind. For every Sunday and holiday the workpeople of such <3stablishments must be allowed a rest of at least 24 hours, for two consecutive holdings of 36 hours ; and for Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide of 48 hours. The iperiod of rest must be counted from midnight, and in the case of two consecutive holidays must last till 6 p.m. of the second day. In establishments where regular day •jind night gangs are employed, the period of rest may •commence at any time between 6 p.m. of the preceding week-day and 6 a.m. of the Sunday or holiday, provided that the work is completely suspended for 24 hours from .such commencement. The assistants, apprentices and workpeople in small trades and handicrafts must not be employed on Christ- mas Day, Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday; on other .Sundays and holidays they must not be employed for more than five hours. By statutory regulation of the parish or municipal authorities, such Sunday work can be further resti-icted •or entirely prohibited for particular branches of trade. For the last four weeks before Christmas, and for parti- cular Sundays and holidays, which, owing to local condi- tions call for greater activity in trades, the police authori- ties may order an extension of the hours of work up to ten. The hours of work must be so fixed as to admit of attendance at Divine worship. The hours may be variously fixed for the different branches of trading industiy. 214 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. § 105 c. The provisions of 105 h do not apply : 1. To work which mnst be carried on without delay in cases of necessity and in the public interest ; 2. To the work of keeping the legally prescribed register of Sunday labour ; 3. To the work of watching, cleaning* and repairing the workshops, required for the regular continuance of the main business or of some other business, nor to any work on which depends the resumption of the full daily working of the business, wherever such work cannot be carried on dui'ing working days ; 4. To such work as may be necessary in order to protect from damage raw materials or the produce of work, wherever such cannot be carried on during working days; 5. To the supervision of such work as is carried on on Sundays and holidays, in accordance with the provi- sions of clauses 1 to 4. Employers must keep an accurate register of the work- men so employed on each Sunday aiid holiday, stating their number, and the hours and nature of the work. The register must be produced for examination at any time at the request of the local police authorities or of the official specified in ,§ 139 fc. If the Sunday employment exceeds three hours, or prevents the workpeople from attending Divine worship, a rest of 36 hours must bo given to such workpeople every third Sunday, or they must be fi-ee every second Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. p]xceptions to the above may bo allowed by the lower administrative authorities, provided that the workpeople arc not pi-evcnted from attending Divine worship on Sundays, and that a rest of 24 hours is granted to them on a \v('('k-(l;iy in lien of Sunday. APPENDIX. 215 § 105 J. The Federal Council may make further exceptions to the provisions of § 1056, 1 in certain defined industries, especially in the case of operations which do not admit of delay or interruption, or which are limited by natural causes to certain times and seasons, or the natui^e of which necessitates increased activity at certain times of the year. The regulation of the work permitted in such business on Sundays and holidays, and the regulation of the conditions on which sucb work shall be permitted, shall be uniform for all business of the same kind, and shall be in accordance Avith the provision of § 105 c, 3. The regulations laid down by the Federal Council shall be published in the Imperial Law Gazette^ and shall be laid before the Reichstag at the next session. § 105e. Exceptions to the restrictions of work on Sundays and holidays may also be made by the higher administrative authorities in trades which supply the daily necessaries of life to the public, and in those that require increased activity on those days ; also in establishments the work- ing of which depends upon the wind or upon the irregu- lar action of water power. The i-egulation of these exceptions shall be subject to the provision of § 105 c, 3. The procedure on application for permission of excep- tions in the case of establishments employing machinery worked wholly or mainly by wind or by the irregular action of water power, shall be subject to the enactments of §§ 20 and 21. § 105/. In order to prevent a disproportionate loss or to meet an unforeseen necessity, the lower administrative authori- ties may also allow exceptions for a specified time to the provision of § 1056, 1. •il6 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUE PROTECTION. The orders of the lower administrative authorities shall be issued in writing, and must be produced by the employer for examination in the office of the business at the request of the official appointed for the revision. A copy of the orders shall be hung up inside the place of business in some spot easily accessible to the workers. The lower administrative authorities shall draw up a register of the exceptions gTanted by them, in which shall be entered the name of the firm, the kind of work per- mitted, the number of workers employed in the business, and the number required for such Sunday or holiday labour, also the duration of such employment and the gi'otinds on which it is permitted. § 105^. The prohibition of Sunday work may be extended by Imperial Ordinance, with consent of the Federal Council, to other trades besides those mentioned in the Act. These ordinances shall be laid before the Reichstag at the next session. The provisions of §§ 105c to 105/ shall apply to the exceptions to be permitted to such prohibi- tion. § 105 /i. The provisions of §§ 135a to 105(7 do not preclude farther restrictions by common law of work on Sundays and holidays. The Central Provincial Court shall be empowered to permit departures from the provisions of § 1056, 1, for •special holidays which do not fall upon a Sunday. The 2)rovision does not apply to Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day or Whitsuntide. ^ 105 i. The provisions of §§ 105a, 1, 1056 to 105 f/ do not apply to public houses and beerhouses, concerts, spectacles. APPENDIX. 217 theatrical representations, or any kind of entertainment, nor to carrying industries. Industrial employers may only exact from their work- people on Sundays and holidays such work as admits of no delay or inten-uption. §106. Industrial employers who have been deprived of civil rights shall not, so long as they remain deprived of these rights, undertake the instruction of workers below 18 years of age. The police authorities may enforce the dismissal of workers employed in contravention of the foregoing pro- hibitions. § 107. Unless special exceptions are made by Imperial Ordi- nance, persons under age shall only be employed as workers on condition that they are furnished with a work register. At the time of engaging such workers, the employer shall call for the work register. He shall be bound to keep the same, produce it upon official demand, and return it at the legal expiration of service relations. It shall be returned to the father or guardian if de- manded by them, or if the worker has not yet completed his sixteenth year, in other cases it shall be returned to the worker himself. With consent of the local authorities of the district specified in § 108, the work register may also be handed over to the mother or other relation, or directly to the worker himself. The forgoing provisions do not apply to children who are under compulsion to attend the national schools. § 108. The work register shall be supplied to the worker by the police authoi'ities of that distinct in which he has 218 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. last made a proti^acted stay ; but if this was not within the limits of the German Empire, then it shall be free of costs aud stamp duty in any German district chosen by him. It shall be supplied at the request or with the con- sent of the father or guardian ; and if the opinion of the father cannot be obtained, or if the father refuses consent on insufficient grounds, and to the disadvantage of the worker, the local authorities shall themselves grant con- sent. Before the register is supplied it must be certified that the worker is no longer under compulsion to attend school, and an affadavit must be made that no work register has previously been supplied to him. §109. If the work register is completely filled up, or can no longer be used, or if it has been lost or destroyed, another work register shall be supplied in its place by the local authorities of the district in which the holder of the register has last made a protracted stay. The register which has been filled up, or which can no longer be used, shall be closed by an ofl&cial mark. If the new register is issued in the place of one which can no longer be used, or which has been lost or destroyed, the same shall be notified therein. In such case a fee of fifty pfennig may be charged. § 110. Tlic work register (§ 108) must contain the name of the worker, the place, year and day of his birth, the name and last residence of his father or guardian, and tlie sig- nature of the worker. The register shall be supplied under seal and signature of the magistrate. Thc> latter shall draw up a schedule of the work registers supplied by him. APPENDIX. 219 The kind of work registers to be used sliall be deter- mined by the Imperial Chancelloi-. §111. On admission of the worker into service relation, the employer shall enter, in the place provided for that pur- pose in the register, the date of admission, and the nature of the employment, and at the end of the term of service, the date of leaving, and if any change has been made in the employment, the nature of the last employment. The entries shall be made in ink, and shall be signed by the employer or by the business manager authorised thereto by him. The entries shall contain no mark intended to attribute a favourable or unfavourable character to the holder of the register. The entry of a judgment upon the conduct or manner of work of the worker, and other entries or mai'ks in or on the register for which no provision is made in this Act, shall not be permitted. § 112. If the work register has been rendered unfit for use by the employer, or has been lost or destroyed by him, or if signs, entries, and marks have been made in or on the- register, or if the employer refuses without legal grounds to deliver up the register, the issue of a new register may be demanded at the cost of the employer. Any employer who in defiance of his legal obligation has not delivered up the register in due time, or who has neglected to make the requisite entries, or who has made illegal signs, entries or marks, may be forced to compen- sate the worker. The claim for compensation expires if no complaint nor remonstrance is made within four weeks. 220 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. § 113. On quitting service workers may demand a testimonial setting forth the nature and duration of their employ- ment. This testimonial may, at request of the workei'S, bear evidence as to their conduct and manner of working. Employers are forbidden to add irrelevant remarks . In the same manner an employer shall be answerable if he takes into his employ a journeyman or assistant who to his knowledge is still contracted to any employer. Any employer shall also be liable under the foregoing sub-section if he employs a journeyman or assistant, who to his knowledge is still contracted to another employer, throughout the duration of such term ; the claim expires after fourteen days from the date of the illegal dissolution of wox'king relations. The persons specified in § 1196 shall be accounted as journeymen and assistants as understood by the foregoing provisions. III. Ari'REXTicE Relations. § 1-26. The master shall be bound to instruct the apprentice in all branches of the work of the ti-ade forming part of his business, in due succession and to the extent necessary for the comj)lete mastery of the trade or handicraft. He must conduct the instruction of the apprentice himself or tlii-(Migli a lit rcpi'csentative expressly ap[)(jinted thereto. APPENDIX. 231 He shall not deprive the apprentice of the necessary time and opportunity on Sundays and holidays for his educa- tion and for attendance at Divine Service, by employing him in other kinds of service. He shall train his appren- tice in habits of diligence and in good morals, and shall keep him from evil courses. § 127. The apprentice shall be placed under the parental discipline of the master. He shall be bound to render obedience to the one who conducts his instruction in the place of the master. § 128. Apprentice relations may be dissolved by the with- di'awal of one party during the first four weeks after the beginning of the apprenticeship, unless a longer time has been agreed upon. Any agreement to fix this time of probation at longer than three months shall be void. After the expiration of the time of probation the apprentice may be dismissed before the ending of the apprenticeship agreed upon, if any one of the cases pro- vided for in § 123 applies to him. On the part of the apprentice, relations may be dis- solved at the expiration of the time of probation : 1. If any one of the cases provided for in § 124) under nos. 1, 3 to 5 occurs; 2. If the master neglects his legal obligations towards the apprentice in a manner endangering the health, morals or education of the apprentice, or if he abuses his right of parental discipline, or becomes incapable of fulfilling the obligations imposed upon him by the contract. The contract of apprenticeship shall be dissolved by the death of the apprentice. The contract of apprentice- 232 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. ship shall be dissolved by the death of the master if the claim is made within four weeks. Written conti-acts of apprenticeship shall be free of stamp duty. § 129. At the termination of apprentice relations, the master shall deliver to the apprentice a testimonial stating the trade in which the apprentice has been instructed, the duration of the apprenticeship, the knowledge and skill acquired during that time, and also the conduct of the apprentice. This testimonial shall be certified by the borough magistrate free of costs and stamp duty. In cases where there are guilds or other industrial representative bodies, letters or certificates from these may supply the place of such testimonials. § 130. If the apprentice quits his instruction tinder circum- stances not provided for in this Act, without consent of his master, the latter can only make good his claim for the return of the apprentice, if the contract of apprentice- ship has been drawn np in writing. In such case the police magistrate may, on application of the master, oblige the apprentice to remain under instruction so long as apprentice relations are declared by judicial ruling to be still undissolved. Application is only admissible if made within one week after the departure of the apprentice. In case of refusal, the police magistrate may cause the apprentice to be taken back by force, or he may compel him to retui-n under pain of a fine, to the amount of fifty marks, or de- tention for five days. § 131. If the pa7-ent or guardian acting for the appieuh'co, or if the apprentice himself, being of age, shall deliver a APPENDIX. 233 written declaration to the master, that the apprentice wishes to enter into some other industry or some other calling, apprentice relations shall cease after the expira- tion of four weeks, if the apprentice is not allowed to leave earlier. The grounds of the dissolution must be notified in the work register by the master. The apprentice shall not be employed in the same trade by another employer, -without consent of the former master, within nine months after such dissolution of ap- prentice relations. § 132. If apprentice relations are severed by either party, before the appointed time, the other party can claim compensation only if the conti'act has been made in writing. In the cases referred to in § 128, 1, 4, the claim will only hold if the kind and degree of compensa- tion has been specified beforehand, in the contract. The claim is void unless made within four weeks of the dissolution of apprentice relations. § 133. If apprentice relations ai^e dissolved by the master, because the apprentice has quitted his work without per- mission, the compensation claimed by the master shall, unless some other agreement have been made in the con- tract, be fixed at a sum amounting for every day succeed- ing the day of breach of contract, up to a limit of six months, to the half of the customary local wage paid to journeymen and assistants in the trade of the master. The father of the apprentice shall be liable for the payment of compensation, also any employer who has induced the apprentice to quit his apprenticeship, or who has received him into his employ, although knowing him to be still under obligation to continue in apprentice rela- tions to another employer. If the one who is entitled to 234 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. compensation has not received information till after the dissolution of apprentice relations, as to the employer "who has induced the apprentice to quit his work, or who has taken him into his employ, claim for compensation against the latter shall expire if not preferred within four weeks after such information has been received. Ill A. Relations of Business Managers, Foremen, Skilled Technical Workers. § L33a. The service relations of such persons, as are employed by directors of industry for certain defined purposes, and are charged, not merely temporai-ily, with the conduct and supervision of the business, or of a department of the business (business managers, foremen, etc.), or are en- trusted with the higher kinds of technical service work (experts in machinery, mechanical engineers, chemists, draughtsmen, and the like), may, if not otherwise agreed, be broken off by either party at the expiration of any quarter of the calendar year, after notice has been given six weeks previously. § 183 6. Either party may, before the expiration of the contract time, demand dissolution of service relations without ob- serving the due period of notice, provided sufficiently important reasons exist to justify the dissolution under the circumstances. § 133 c. Dissolution of service relations may be demanded, in ])articular, of the persons specified in § 133 a. 1. If at the time of concluding the conti-act, they have deceived the employer by presenting false or falsified testimonials, or if they have deceived him as to the APPENDIX. 235 existence of another service relation, to wliicli they were simultaneously bound ; 2. If they are unfaithful in service or if they abuse con- fidence ; 3. If they quit service without permission, or persistently refuse to fulfil the obligations imposed upon them by the service contract ; 4. If they are hindered in the performance of service by protracted illness, or by long detention or absence ; 5. If they are guilty of violence or insult towards the employer or his representatives ; 6. If they pursue an immoral course of life. In the case of No. 4, the worker's claim for the fulfil- ment of contract, by the employer, shall remain in force for six weeks, if the performance of service has been hindered by some unavoidable misfortune ; but in such, cases the claim shall be limited to the amount that is legally due to the claimant as insurance against sickness or accident. § 133 (Z. The persons specified in § 133 a may demand dissolu- tion of service relations, in particular : 1. If the employer or his representatives are guilty of violence or insult towards them ; 2. If the employer does not provide the work agreed upon in the contract ; 3. If, by the continuance of service relations, their life or health would be exposed to demonstrable danger, which was not apparent at the time of entering into service-relations. § 133 e. The provisions of §§ 124h and 125 shall apply to the persons specified in § 133 a, but not the provisions of § 119a. 236 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. TV. Relations of Factory Workers. § 134. The provisions of §§ 121 to 125 shall apply to factory workers ; if the factory workers are apprentices, the pro- visions of §§ 126 to 133 shall apply to them. Owners of factories in which, as a rule, at least twenty workers are employed, shall be prohibited, in the case of illegal dissolution of working relations by the woi-ker, from exacting forfeiture or withholding wage beyond the amount of the average weekly wage. The provisions of § 124 b shall not apply to employers and workers in such factories. § 13-ia. In every factory in which, as a rule, at least twenty workers are employed, worMng rules shall be issued within four weeks after this Act comes into force, or after the opening of the business. Special working rules may be issued for separate departments of the business, or .separ- ate groups of workers. The rules must be posted up (§134«[2]). In the working rules must be set forth the time at which they are to come into operation and the date of issue. They must bear the signature of the person by whom they are issued. Altei-ations in the contents can only be made by the issue of supplements, or by the issue of new working rules in the place of the existing rules. Working rules, and> supplement to the same, shall come into operation at the earliest, two weeks after issue. § 134 6. Working rules shall contain directions : ]. As to the beginning and end of the time of daily work, also as to the intervals provided for adult workers ; APPENDIX. 237 2. As to the time and manner of computing and paying wage ; 3. Where legal provisions are insufficient, as to the period of notice due, also as to the grounds on which dis- missal from work and quitting work is permissible without notice ; 4. Where fines are enforced, as to the kind and amount thereof, the method of determining them, and, if they consist in money, as to the manner of collecting them, and the purpose to which they shall be appro- priated. 5. Where forfeiture of wage is exacted in accordance with the provisions of § 184 (2), by the working rules or by the working contract, as to the appro- priation of the proceeds. Punishments destructive of self-respect, or dangerous to morals, shall not be admitted in the working rules. Money fines shall not exceed the half of the average daily wage, except in cases of violence towards fellow- workers, grave oifences against morality, and contempt of directions issued for the maintenance of oider in the business, for security against dangers incidental to it, or for carrying out the provisions of the Industrial Code, where money tines to the full amount of the average daily wage may be imposed. All fines shall be devoted to the benefit of the workers in the factory. The right of the employer to claim compensation for damage is not affected by this provision. It shall be left to the owner of the factory to insert in the working rules, together with the provisions of sub- section (1) from 1 to 5, further provisions for the regula- tion of the business and the conduct of the woi^kers employed in it. With the consent of the standing com- mittee of workers, directions may be inserted in the working rules, as to the conduct of the workei-s in the use of arrangements, provided for their benefit in the 238 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. factory, also directions as to the condact of workers under age, outside the factory. § 134 c. The contents of the working rules shall be, unless con- traiy to law, legally binding on employers and workers. N^o grounds shall be agreed upon in the contract of work, for dismissal fi*om work, other than those laid down in the working rales or in §§ 123 or 124. No fines shall be imposed on the workers other than those laid down in the working rules. Fines must be fixed without delay, and information thereof must be given to the worker. The money fines imposed shall be entered in a register which shall set forth the name of the offender, the day of imposition, the grounds, and the amount of the fine, and this register shall be produced for inspection at any time, at the request of the officer specified in § 139 h. § 134 J. Before the issue of working rules, or of supplements to the same, opportunity shall be given to the workers of full age, employed in the factory or in the departments of the business, to which the rules in question apply, to express their opinion on the contents of the same. In factories in which there is a standing committee of workers the requirements of this provision shall be satis- fied by granting a hearing to the committee, on the con- tents of the woi'kiiig rules. § 134 e. The working rules and any supplement to the same shall, on communication of opinions expressed by the workers, provided sucli expression be given in writing or in the form of protocols, be laid before the lower court of administration in duplicate, within three days after the APPENDIX. 239 issue, accompanied bj a declaration showing that, and in what manner the requirements of the enactment of § 134 d have been satisfied. The working rules shall be posted up in a specially appointed place, accessible to all the workers to whom they apply. The placard mnst always be kept in a legible condition. A copy of the working rules shall be handed to every worker upon his entrance into employ- ment. § 134/. Working rules or supplements to the same, which are not issued in accordance with these enactments, or the contents of which are conti-ary to legal provisions, shall be replaced by legal working rules, or shall be altered in accordance with legal enactment, by order of the lower court of administration. Appeal against this order may be lodged within two weeks, with the higher court of administration. § 134(7- Working I'ules issued before this Act comes into force, shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 134 a to 184 r, 134 e (2), 134/, and shall be laid before the lower court of administration in duplicate, within four weeks. Sections 134 cZ and 134 e (1) shall not apply to later alterations of such working rules, or to working rules issued for the first time, since January 1st, 1891. § 134/1. The expression " standing committees of workers," as understood by §§ 134 6 (3), and 134c?, includes only: 1. The managing committee of the sick-clubs of the business (factory), or of other clubs existing in the factory, for the benefit of the workers, the majority of the membei'S of which are elected by the workers 240 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. out of their midst — where such exist as standing committees of workers ; 2. The eldest journeymen of such journeymen's unions as include the business of any employers not subject to the provisions of the Mining Acts — where such exist as standing committees of workers ; 3. Standing committees of workers, formed before Jan. 1st, 1891, the majority of the members of which are elected by the workers out of their midst ; 4. Representative bodies, the majority of the members of which are elected out of their midst by direct ballot voting of the workers of fall age in the factory, or in the departments of the business concerned. The choice of representatives may be made according to classes of workers or special departments of the business. § 135. Childi-en under 13 years of age cannot be employed in factories. Children above 13 years of age can only be employed in factories if they are no longer required to attend the elementary schools. The employment of children under 14 years of age must not exceed 6 hours a day. Young persons between 14 and IG years of age must not be employed in factories for more than 10 hours a day. § 136. Young workers (§ 135) shall not begin work before 5.30 in the morning, or end it later tlian 8.30 in the even- ing. On every working day regular intervals must be granted, between the hours of work. For childroTi who are only employed for six hours daily, the interval must amount to half an hour at least. An interval of at least APPENDIX, 241 half an hour at mid-daj, and half an hour in the forenoon and afternoon must be given to other young workers. During the intervals, employment of young workers in the business of the factory shall be entirely prohibited, and their retention in the work rooms shall only be per- mitted, if the part of the business in which the young workers are employed is completely suspended in the work rooms during the time of the interval, or if their stay in the open air is not practicable, and if other special rooms cannot be procured without disproportionate diffi- culties. Young workers shall not be employed on Sundays and festivals, nor during the hours appointed for regular spiritual duties, instruction in the catechism, prepara- tion for confession and communion, by the authorized priest or pastor of the community. § 137. Girls and women cannot be employed in factories during the night, between the hours of 8.30 p.m. and 5.30 a.m., and must be free on Saturdays and on the eves of festivals by 5.30 p.m. The employment of women workers over 16 years of age must not exceed 11 hours a day, and on Saturdays and the eve of festivals must not exceed 10 hours. An interval between the houi's of work of at least one hour at mid-day must be allowed to women workers. Women workers over 16 years of age, who manage a household, shall at their request be set free half an hour before the mid-day interval, except in cases where this amounts to at least one and a half hours. Women after childbirth can in no case be admitted to work until fully four weeks after delivery, and in the following two weeks only if they are declared to be fit for work by a duly authorized physician. R 242 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. § 138. The owners of factories, in which it is intended to employ women or yonng persons, must make a written announcement of the fact to the local police authorities before such employment commences. The notice shall set forth the name of the factory, the days of the week on which employment is to take place, the beginning and end of the time of work, and the in- tervals granted, also the kind of employment. No alteration can be made except such delays as are temporarily necessitated by the replacement of absent workers in separate shifts of woi'k, before notice thereof has been given to the magistrate. In every factory the employer shall, in the workrooms in which young workers are employed, provide a register of young workers to be posted up in some conspicuous place ; the same shall contain information as to days of work, be- ginning and end of time of work, and intervals allowed. He shall likewise provide in such workrooms a notice board, on which shall be posted up, in plain writing, an extract, to be determined by the Central Court, from the provisions for the employment of women and young workers. § 138 «. In case of unusual pressure of work, the lower court of administration shall be empowei*ed, on application of the employer, to permit for a fortnight at a time, the employ- ment of women workers over IG years of age up to 10 o'clock in the evening (except on Saturdays), provided that their daily working time does not exceed 13 hours. Such extension cannot be allowed to the employer during more than 40 days in any one year. Further extension beyond the two weeks, or for more than forty days in the year, can only be granted by the APPENDIX. 243 liigliei' court o£ administration, and by it, only on con- dition that in the business or in the department of busi- ness in question, the total average number of hours per day, calculated over the Avhole year does not exceed tlie legal limit. Application shall be made in writing, and must set forth the grounds on which such extension is requested, the number of women workers affected, the amount of employment, and the length of time required. The decision of the lower court of administration on the application shall be given in writing within three days. Appeal against refusal of i:)ermission may be lodged with the superior court. In cases where the extension is granted the lower court of administration shall draw up a schedule, in which shall be entered the name of the employer, and a copy of the statements contained in the written application. The lower court of administi'ation may permit the employment of such women workers being over 16 years of age, as have not the care of a household, and do not attend an educational school, in the kinds of work speci- fied in § 105 (1), 2 and 3, on Saturdays and the eve of festivals, after 5.30 p.m., but not after 8.30 p.m. The permit shall be in writing, and shall be kept by the employer. § 139. If natural causes or accidents shall have interrupted the business of a factory, exceptions to the restrictions laid down in §§ 135 (2), (3), 136, 137 (1) to (3), may be granted by the higher court of administration, for a period of four weeks, and for a longer time by the Imperial Chancellor. In urgent cases of such a kind, and also where necessary, in order to guard against accidents, exceptions may be granted by the lower court of administration, but only for a period of fourteen days. 244 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. If the nature of the business, or special considerations attaching to workers in particular factories, seem to render it desirable that the working time of women and young workers should be regulated otherwise than as laid down by §§ 136 and 137 (1), (3), special regulations may be permitted on application, by the higher court of ad- ministration, in the matter of intervals, in other matters by the Imperial Chancellor. But in such cases young workers shall not be employed for longer than six hours, unless intervals are granted between the hours of work, of an aggregate duration of at least one hour. Orders issued in accordance with the foregoing provi- sions shall be in writing. § 139 a. The Bundesrath (Federal Council) shall be empowered: 1. To entirely prohibit or to attach certain conditions to the employment of women and of young workers in certain branches of manufacture which involve special dangers to health or morality ; 2. To grant exceptions to the provisions of §§ 135 (2) and (3), 136, 137 (1) to (3), in the case of factories requiring uninterrupted use of fire, or in which for other reasons, tlie nature of the business necessitates regular day and night work, also in the case of fac- tories, a pait of the business of which does not admit of regular shifts of equal duration, or is from its nature restricted to certain seasons ; 3. To prevent the shortening or the omission of the in- tervals prescribed for young workers, in certain branches of manufacture, where the nature of the business, or consideration for the workers may seem to render it desirable ; 4. To grant exceptions to the provisions of § 134 (1) and (2), in certain branches of manufacture in which pressure of business occurs regulaily at certain APPENDIX. 245 times of the year, on condition that the daily \«t)rk- ing time does not exceed 13 hours, and on Saturday 10 hours. In the cases under No. 2, the duration of weekly work- ing time sliall not exceed 36 hours for children, 60 houi-s for young persons, 65 hours for women workers, and 70 hours for young persons and women in brick and tile kilns. Night work shall not exceed in duration 10 hours in 24, and in every shift one or more intervals, of an aggre- gate duration of at least one hour, shall be granted. In the cases under No. 4, permission for overtime work for more than 40 days in the year may only be gi-anted, on condition that the working time is so regulated that the average daily duration of working days does not exceed the regular legal working time. The provisions laid down by decision of the Bundesrath (Federal Council) shall be limited as to time, and shall also be issued for certain specified districts. They shall be published in the Imperial Law Gazette, and shall be laid before the Reichstag at its next session. V. Supervision. § 139 6. The supervision and enforcement of the pi'ovisions of §§ 105 fc (1), 105 c to 105/1, 120 a to 120 e, 134 to 139 a, shall be entrusted exclusively to the ordinary police magistrates, or, together with them, to officials specially appointed thereto by the provincial governments. In the exercise of such supervision the local police magistrates shall be empowered with all official authority, especially with the right of inspection of establishments at any time. They shall be bound to observe secrecy (except in exposing illegalities) as to their official knowledge of the 246 THEORY AXD POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. business affairs of the establishments submitted to their inspection. The settlement of relations of competence between these officials and the ordinary police magistrates, shall be subject to the constitutional regulation of the separate States of the Bund. The officials mentioned shall publish annual reports of their official acts. These annual reports or extracts from the same, shall be laid before the Bundesrath and the Reichstag. Employers must at any time during the hours of busi- ness, especially at night, pei-mit official inspection to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of §§ 105 a to 105 /i, 120 a to 120 e, 134 to 139 a. Employers shall further be bound to impart to the officials appointed or to the police magistrate, such statis- tical information as to the relations of their workers, as may be prescribed by the Bundesrath or the Central Provincial Court, with due observance of the terms and forms presci'ibed. Article IV. Chapter IX. of the Industrial Code shall contain the followiiig: clauses : CHAPTER IX. Statutory Puovisions. § 142. Statutory provisions of a borough or wider communal union shall be binding in regard to all those industrial matters "with which the law empowers them to deal. After they have been considered by the directors of in- dustry and the workers concerned, the statutory pro- visions must receive the assent of the higher court of APPENDIX. 247 administration, and shall then be published in some form pi-escribed by the parish oi' wider communal union, or in the usual form. The Central Court shall be empowered to annul statu-* torj provisions which ai^e contrary to law or to the statu- tory provisions of a wider communal union. Article V. Sub-section 2 of § 9S a (2 b) shall contain the following clause : h. The supervision by the union of the observation of the provisions laid down in §§ 41 a, 105 a to 105_^, 120 to 120 e, 126, 127. Article VI. The penal provisions of Chapter X. of the Industrial Code shall be altered as follows : 1. Section 146, (1) 1, 2, and 3, shall contain the follow- ing clauses : 1. Directors of industry, acting in contravention of § 115; 2. Directors of industry, acting in contravention of §§ 135, 136, 137, or of orders issued on the grounds of §§ 139 to 139 a; 3. Dii'ectors of industry, acting in contravention of §§ 111 (3) and 113 (3) ; 2. The following sub-section shall be added to § 146 : Section 75 of the Constitution of Justice Act shall apply here. 3. After § 146 shall be inserted : § 146 a. Any person who gives employment to workers on Sundays and festivals, in contravention of §§ 105 6 to 105 g, or of the orders issued on the grounds thereof, or 248 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. -any person who acts in contravention of §§ 41 a and 55 a, or of the statutory provisions laid down on the grounds of § 105 (2) shall be punished with a money fine to the Amount of 600 marks, or in default of the same, with imprisonment. 4. Section 147 (1) 4 shall contain the following clause: 4. Any person who acts in contravention of the final orders issued on the grounds of § 120 d, or of enact- ments issued on the grounds of § 120 e ; 5. After § 147 (1) 4, shall be inserted : 5. Any person who conducts a factory, in which there are no working rules, or who neglects to obey the final order of the court as to the substitution or alteration of the working rules. 6. Section 147 shall contain at the close the following new sub-section. In the case of No. 4, the police magistrate may, pending the settlement of affairs by order or enact- ment, order suspension of the business, in case the continuance of the same would be likely to entail serious disadvantages or dangers. 7. Section 148 shall contain the following extensions : 11. Any person w^ho, contrary to the provision of § 134 c (2), imposes such fines on the workers as are not prescribed in the working rules, or such as exceed the legally permissible amount, or any person who appropriates the proceeds of fines or the sums speci- fied in § 134 b 5, in a manner not prescribed in the working rules ; 12. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations im- posed upon him by §§ I'Sie (1), and 134'/; 13. Any person who acts in contravention of § 115 a, or of the statutory provisions laid down on the grounds of § 119 a. 8. Section 149 (1) 7 shall contain the following clause: 7. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations ini- APPENDIX. 249 posed upon him by ^ 105 c (2), 134 e (2), 138, 138a (5), 139 6; 9. Section 150 (2) shall contain the following clause : 2. Any person who, except in the case prescribed in § 146 (3), acts in contravention of the provisions of this Act with respect to the work register ; 10. Section 150 shall contain the following extensions : 4. Any person who acts in contravention of the pro- visions of § 120 (1), or of the statutory provisions laid down in accordance with § 120 (3) ; 5. Any person who neglects to fulfil the obligations im- posed upon him by § 134 c (3). Common law enactments against neglect of school duties, on which a higher fine is imposed, shall not be affected by the provision of No. 4. 11. Section 151 (1) shall contain the following clause : If in the exercise of a trade, police orders are in- fringed by persons appointed by the director of the industrial enterprise, to conduct the business or a de- partment of the same, or to superintend the same, the fine shall be imposed upon the latter. The director of the industrial enterprise shall likewise be liable to a fine if the infringement has taken place with his knowledge, or if he has neglected to take the necessary care in providing for suitable inspection of the busi- ness, or in choosing and supervising the manager or overseei's. Article VII. The following provisions shall be substituted for § 154 of the Industrial Code : § 154. The provisions of §§ 105 to 133 c shall not apply to assistants and apprentices in the business of apothecaries; the provisions of §§ 105, 106 to 119 6, 120 a to 133 e, S 250 THEORY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. ^ shall not apply .to assistants and apprentices in trading business. — The provisions of §§ 105 to 133 e shall apply to employers and workers in smelting-houses, timber-yards, and other building yards, in dockyards, and in such brick and tile kilns, and such, mines and quarries worked above gi'ound, as are not merely temporary, or on a small scale. The final decision as to whether the establishment is to be accounted as temporary, or on a small scale, shall rest with the higher court of administration. — The provisions of §§ 135 to 139 6 shall apply to employers and workers in workshops, in which power machinery (worked by steam, wind, water, gas, air, elec- tricity, etc.), is employed, not merely temporarily, with the provision that in certain kinds of businesses the Bundesrath may remit exceptions to the provisions laid down in §§ 135 (2), (3), 130, 137 (1) to (3), and 138. — The provisions of §§ 135 to 139 b may be extended by Imperial decree, with consent of the Bundesrath, to other workshops and building work. Workshops in which the employers are exclusively members of the family of the employer, do not come under these pvo- visions. Imperial decrees and j^rovisions for exceptions issued by the Bundesrath, may be issued for certain specified districts. They shall be published in the Imperial Law Gazette, and laid before the Reichstag at the next ensuing session. § 151 a. The provisions of §§ 115 to 119 a, 135 to 139 i, 152 and 153 shall apply to owners and workers in mines, salt pits, the preparatory work of mining, and underground mines and quari-ies. — Women workers shall not be employed underground in establishments of the aforementioned kind. Infringe- APPENDIX. 251 mcnts of this enactment shall be dealt with under the penal provisions of § 146. Article VIII. Section 155 of the Industi'ial Code shall contain the following clauses. — Where reference is made in this Act to common law, constitutional or legislative enactments are to be under- stood. The Central Court of the State of the Bund shall make known what courts in each State of the Bund are to be understood by the expressions : higher court of adminis- tration, lower court of administration, borough court, local court, lower court, police court, local police court, and what unions are to be understood by the exp ression, wider communal unions. — For such businesses as are subject to Imperial and State administration, the powers and obligations conferred upon the police courts, and higher, and lower courts of administration, by §§ 105 b (2), 105 c (2), 105 e, 105/, 115 a, 120 (i, 134 e, 134/, 134^, 138 (1), 138 a, 139, 139 6, may be transferred to special courts appointed for the administration of such businesses. Article IX. The date on which the provisions of §§ 41 a, 55 a, 105 a to 105/, 105 h, 105 i and 154 (3) shall come into force, shall be determined by Imperial decree with consent of the Bundesrath. Until such time the legal provisions hitherto obtaining shall remain in force. The provisions of §§ 120 and 150, 4 shall come into force on Oct. 1, 1891. — The rest of this Act shall come into force on April I, 1892. — The legal provisions hitherto obtaining shall remain in force until April 1, 1894, in the case of such children 252 THEOEY AND POLICY OF LABOUR PROTECTION. from 12 to 14 years of age, and young persons between 14 and 16 years of age, as were employed, previous to the proclamation of this Act, in factories or in the Industrial establishments specified in §§ 154 (2) to (4), and 154a. — In the case of businesses in which, previous to the proclamation of this Act, women workers over 16 years of age, were employed in night work, the Central Provincial Coui't may empower the fui'ther employment in night work of such women workers, in the same numbers as hitherto, until April 1, 1894, at the latest, if in conse- quence of suspension of night work, the continuation of the business to its former extent would involve an altera- tion which could not be made sooner without dispropor- tionate expense. Night work shall not exceed in dui*ation 10 hours in the 24, and in every shift intervals must be granted of an aggregate duration of at least one hour. Day and night shifts must alternate weekly. Delivered under our Imperial hand and seal. Given at Kiel, on board my yacht Meteor, June 1, 1891. William. VON Caprivi. lliiilor i Tanner, Tlie Selwood Printing Works, Fromc, and Londuti This book is DUE on the last date stamped below MAR 9 1943 i^l UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 963 554 1 UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Lu ^hiljBS LIBRARY