BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. The Treaty-making Power of the United States. Charles Henry Butler, Banks Law Pub. Co., 1902, vol. i, chap. x, pp. 417-458.

2. Wharton's International Law Digest, Washington, 1886, vol. ii, par. 131a, pp. 15 et seq.

3. House Reports No. 4177, 49 Cong., 2 Sess., vol. ii, 1886-1887. (Mr. Tucker on the constitutional power of the Senate to bind the House of Representatives by commercial treaties.)

4. Richardson's Messages and Documents.

Especially vol. i, pp. 194–6 (Washington on Jay's Treaty); vol. ii, pp. 54-58 (Monroe on the Spanish Treaty); and vol. iii, pp. 100–107, 152–160 (Jackson on the French Treaty).

5. Gadsden Purchase 1853; Cong. Globe, 33 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. xxviii, pt. 2. (Index for pages.)

Alaska Purchase 1867; Cong. Globe 1867-8, 40 Cong., 1 Sess. (Index for pages.)

The Hawaiian Reciprocity Treaty; Cong. Record, 44 Cong., 1 Sess., 1876, vol. iv, pt. 6, Appendix, pp. 58-63, pp. 184-190.

6. Senate Journal, 28 Cong., 1 Sess., 1843-1844, pp. 445-6. (Mr. Choate on the treaty with the Zollverein.)

7. Annals of Congress, 14 Cong., 1 Sess., 1815–1816, p. 467, pp. 533–546.

8. Niles Weekly Register, vol. x, p. 11, 26 (Treaty of 1816); vol. xvi, p. 3, 225, 346, 385. (The Spanish Treaty.)

9. American Annual Register 1832–33, pp. 22-24. (The French Treaty.)

10. Cong. Debates (Gales and Seaton), vol. xi, pt. 1, 1834-5.

(A voluminous consideration of French Relations.)

II. Decisions of the Supreme Court as to the power of Congress to set aside treaty provisions by a subsequent law :

NOTES.

Swedish Labor-market and Strikes, 1902. These subjects are taken up briefly, in the Ekonomisk Tidskrift (Häft. 1, 1903) by O. Dalkvist. The first months of 1902 were marked by declining wages and lack of employment, especially in the large industries and in the cities. The apprehension caused by this state of affairs was dissipated in the spring, and, in consequence of certain labor-conflicts, wages, especially in the building industries, were raised. Summer witnessed further prosperity, especially in the iron industry; the unfavorable movement of the former two years was arrested. In consequence of labor-conflicts in southern Sweden during the summer, an agreement was entered into, which, until 1905, assures certain advantages to several thousands of laborers in the building trades. This is "one of the greatest and most noteworthy treaties for the regulation of labor-conditions that has yet taken place in our land." The year was better than its promise; and 1903 opens much more favorably than its predecessor.

But 1902 was exceptional in the matter of strikes, especially in the matter of their extent. The days lost by strikes aggregate 350,000 against 210,000 in 1901 and 330,000 in 1900. Nor is the so-called "Big Strike" which lasted about three days and implicated about 120,000 laborers here taken into account, as it did not stand "in direct connection with economic or wages questions." In actual number of strikes 1902 was slightly under 1901 (123 against 127), but the number of participants was considerably greater (9,600 vs. 6,200). Fourteen of these conflicts were in the nature of lockouts, affecting 3,200 laborers and causing a loss of 140,000 days' labor. Lockouts the previous year had been 15 in number, affecting 997 laborers and causing a loss of 89,300 days; 1900, however, surpassed 1902 in this respect (laborers, 4,120; lost days, 189,600). In general a rising conjuncture has been accompanied by strikes, a declining by lockouts.

A. G. K.

Contemplated Changes in the General Incorporation Law of France. For many years there has been a growing demand in France for such alterations of the general incorporation law of July 24, 1867, as would give better guarantees of the financial soundness

of the commercial societies formed under its provisions, and make them more thoroughly serviceable to the general public., A special commission of experts (commission extra-parlementaire) was finally appointed to recommend appropriate legislation, which after long deliberation has now advanced to the point of formulating its conclusions. These, it is expected, will be submitted to the parliament at its next session. No official text of the avant-projet of the law recommended has yet been published, but it is understood that it will consist of twenty-two articles, containing very substantial modifications of the present system of incorporation, of which the following are the most important:

Article I allows societies en commandite (that is, corporations in the nature of limited partnerships) to issue shares of a par value of 25 francs, if the capital is not over 200,000 francs, and of 100 francs, if it is of a greater amount. The law of 1867 made 100 francs the minimum for the lesser societies, and 500 francs for the greater ones.

Shares of 25 francs must be paid in full at the outset. All stock payments must be made in cash and the money deposited in bank, to be drawn out only on the order of all the managing partners (gérants). All stock subscriptions must be signed by the subscriber. Article 3. Any special reservations or benefits to founders of business companies (fondateurs) must be approved at a general meeting of the shareholders.

Article 9 makes punishable by fine and imprisonment the negotiation of shares of a par value or a form not conformable to law, or on which the required payments have not been made.

Article 10 imposes on founders of societies not doing business under individual names (sociétés anonymes) similar duties, as to the form of papers, returns, etc., to those required of managing partners (gérants).

Article 14. The shareholders are to elect a general supervising committee (commissaires) having power at any time to inspect the books, accounts, and financial condition of the corporation, and to call a shareholders' meeting in case of urgency.

Article 15. At any time within fifteen days before a shareholders' meeting, any shareholder has a right to inspect the inventory, and stock-list, and to demand a copy of the trial balance and the report of the general committee (commissaires).

Article 16 makes punishable by not exceeding twenty years in the penitentiary at hard labor, nor less than a month in jail, any officer

or director who may be guilty of a spoliation of the books, embezzlement of the funds, or fraudulent admission of pretended claims against the company.

Article 17 requires fuller publication of the facts showing the financial condition of the company; of invitations to subscribe to the capital, when the scheme is one involving public subscription; and of the names of those who from time to time are entrusted with its general management.

The annual summary of accounts (bilan) is to be published, after its approval by the shareholders, in the bulletin annexed to the Journal Officiel.

Any person whatever can demand a certified copy of the organization papers and by-laws (statuts) of any society the stock of which is represented by shares (whether en commandite or not), on paying a franc for it.

The corporate name must never be written or printed, unless immediately preceded or followed by the words, "société anonyme" or "société en commandite par actions," as the case may be.

The amount of the capital must never be mentioned in any corporate obligation without stating how much remains unpaid, and whether it is subject to reduction.

Article 18 forbids the formation of corporations for granting annuities, or to promote the investment of funds for long terms, without the special authorization of the government.

Fire, marine, and accident insurance companies are left, as now, to be formed without such authorization.

There is nothing in this avant-projet to secure further protection against foreign corporations doing business in France. Certain treaty stipulations exist which, if they do not impede any essential interference with them, make it at least a matter to be handled with great delicacy.1

In general the change of policy thus recommended by the committee follows the lines pursued by Germany by her regulation of the affairs of corporations with a capital divided into shares, in 1884 and 1889. It will be not unlikely to produce similar results, namely, to drive capitalists more and more to associate as partners rather than as a corporation. A commercial corporation is sadly handicapped unless it can follow the same business methods as a private individual in the same line of activity. He does not tack

1 See for instance, the Convention with Great Britain of April 30, 1862.

his annual inventory and trial balance to the sign-post, nor need he produce them at the call of every one who has put five dollars in his hands for investment in his business. Keeping his financial condition to himself, so far as he can, often preserves him a credit to which he is not entitled. It is so with a corporation, and the good of publicity must be carefully weighed against the loss that may ensue if public enterprises lack the support which comes from incorporated capital, with its immunity from personal risk to those who contribute to it.

Yale University.

SIMEON E. BALDWIN.

Labor Statistics will be enriched in Germany by the creation of a special department for this subject under the Imperial Statistical Bureau, and by the publication of a monthly bulletin under the title "Reichs-Arbeitsblatt." The German Commission for Labor Statistics, which began its work in 1892, is thus superseded by a body known as the "Beirat für Arbeiterstatistik." This body is to consist of fifteen members, seven of whom are chosen by the Federal Council and seven by the Parliament, while the President of the Imperial Statistical Bureau is chairman. Being thus in close touch with a large department of the government, it will have at its command a trained clerical force and be able to undertake large investigations with thoroughness as well as to issue periodical statements. The first number of the Reichs-Arbeitsblatt appeared in April, 1903, the second in May. The leading topics dealt with are the labor market, employment bureaux, conditions of labor, labor legislation, the question of dwellings, etc. In general form the publication is more like the English Labor Gazette than the Bulletin of the United States Department of Labor, and forms a valuable addition to the official periodical literature of the labor question.

H. W. F.