lative period 1, Session 1907-8), to give the following explanation of the provisions of the Treaty, which is, however, subject to any decision of the High Court in this country, and to any conflicting interpretation by the proper Dutch authorities.

I. The Treaty has the force of law, and renders inoperative any provisions of the Accident Insurance Acts of either country which are contrary to the provisions of the Treaty. It applies only to firms carrying on operations both at home and abroad, and which come under both the German and the Dutch accident insurance law. In considering whether this definition applies to any particular case, the whole business, that is to say all the operations of the undertaking carried on in both countries, must be taken into consideration.. If from this point of view the undertaking proves to be insured in both countries, then such operations as are not carried on in the country of domicile will enjoy the protection of insurance in that country. The same applies to operations which considered by themselves, that is, apart from the whole undertaking carried on the country of domicile, are, according to the law of the country where they are carried, not included among the trades which are obliged to insure. For, according to the law in force previous to the Treaty, workmen in a Dutch undertaking who were not domiciled in Holland were not insured with respect to operations carried on in Germany, unless such operations amounted to more than a dependent part of the business (a so-called extension [Ausstrahlung]). The first Article of the Treaty, therefore, extends the benefit of insurance to workmen living in Germany who are employed by Dutch firms of the kind designated above.

Since the Treaty only applies to the position under insurance law of the Dutch branch of a firm domiciled in Germany, and to the German branch of a firm domiciled in Holland, it does not touch cases where the firm is domiciled in a third country, say, Belgium, nor are branches established in a third State by firms domiciled in Germany affected thereby.

II. While formerly the obligation to insure in both countries often existed with respect to the operations carried on both at home and abroad which are regulated by this Treaty, such operations will now be subject to the insurance law of only one of the two countries, in accordance with the prin ciple that the accident insurance laws of the country where the work is carried on shall apply. The territorial principle, therefore, governs the question, without regard being had to the nationality or domicile of the employers or employees, and without differentiating between such persons employed abroad as have been sent there from the country where the firm is domiciled, and persons so employed who have been engaged abroad (Art. 1, paragraph 1, of the Treaty).

Subject to the provision of Art. 3 of the Treaty, a workman will come under the insurance law of the country where he is employed, immediately he commences work in that country. A workman engaged in Germany by a Dutch employer in setting up machinery has, in the event of an accident, a claim against the employer under §12, paragraph 2, of the Industrial Insurance Act in respect of the first 13 weeks, provided such workman is not insured under the German Sick Insurance Act.

There are, however, two exceptions to the territorial principle, one temporarily excepting from its application certain workmen sent abroad by the employer (Art. 3), and the other permanently excepting persons employed in transport undertakings (Art. 2.).

BULLETIN

A. The first exception applies to workmen who, until they were employed abroad, were employed in a department of the firm coming under the accident insurance law of the country where the firm is domiciled. For the first six months during which the operations are carried on abroad, such persons remain subject to the accident insurance law of the country where the firm is domiciled, The object of this provision (Art. 3, sentence 1) is to avoid as far as possible, a temporary transfer from one system of insurance to the other, especially in cases where machinery is set up or repairs and temporary building operations are carried on abroad. This provision does not apply to workmen engaged by the employer in one country expressly for the purpose of executing work in the other country, but only to workmen already employed by him in occupations which come under the insurance law of the country where the firm is domiciled. The last mentioned circumstance only must be considered, and not whether the workman has been employed actually in the country where the firm is domiciled. On the contrary, the previous employment in operations coming under the German insurance law may have taken place in the so-called extension" (Ausstrahlung) of a German firm, for instance, in Belgium.

The said period of six months is not calculated from the date when his employment abroad began, but, in general, from the date when the employer commenced operations, whether with persons sent from the country of domicile or engaged abroad. Several consecutive operations carried on abroad must, for the purpose of calculating the period, be regarded as one operation, without taking into account the place of employment. If several operations are carried on abroad at the same time, the period during which such operations are carried on will only be reckoned once. When the period of six months has elapsed, workmen previously employed in the country of domicile, but then employed in the other country, shall at once come under the insurance of the other country, while, from the same date, such permanent workmen as have been sent there during the course of the said period, shall also be transferred from the insurance system of their own country, to that of the other country. The wages of a fitter permanently employed in a German machinery factory who is sent to Holland for the purpose of setting up some machinery, must accordingly, still be notified to the German trade association during the prescribed period, while, on the other hand, in the corresponding case a Dutch employer is not liable for contributions to the German insurance funds in respect of any fitter in his employ sent by him to Germany.

Any period before the Treaty comes into operation, that is to say, before 1st January, 1908, is not taken into account for the purpose of calculating the above time limit. As regards the method of calculating the period in cases where the employment is interrupted, see Art. 3, sentences 2 and 3, of the Treaty.

If, in the course of the period of six months, an accident takes place in the branch of the firm carried on abroad, the insurance liabilities resulting therefrom shall, after, as well as before, the expiration of the said period, be borne by the institution which pays the insurance in the State where the firm is domiciled.

B. An exception to the territorial principle is also made in the case of the travelling staff of transport undertakings. With respect to such employment, in accordance with Art. 2, the accident insurance law of the country of domicile shall apply exclusively without any time limit. Persons so employed, e.g., on trains, ships, etc., remain insured under the insurance law of their own country, not only when travelling, but also when put to work abroad in other

branches of the transport business, such as in goods depots. On the other hand, all persons employed in the said operations, whether they have been engaged abroad or have been sent there from their own country, are insured -under the rule contained in Art 1, subject to the reservations laid down in Art. 3, sentence I, of the Treaty, and Division A of this circular-under the law of the country where the work is performed. This rule applies equally to occupations in establishments (premises) which are carried on abroad to supply the needs of the transport industry, or in connection with it (such as wharves; places for storage, harbour boats, etc.), and also in temporary subsidiary industries (such as loading and unloading ships, piloting ships into harbour, coaling, etc.). Notwithstanding, subsidiary industries which, from their nature, form part of the travelling branch of the undertaking, such as the towing of ships out of harbour, assistance of sick sailors, etc., come under the rule contained in Art. 2, and persons employed in such industries are consequently, even when engaged abroad, always insured under the law of the country where the firm is domiciled.

III. When, in accordance with the foregoing principles, the operations carried on in Germany by a Dutch firm come under German insurance law, they rank with respect to the application of that law (such as the provisions relating to the giving of notice and the presentation of statements of wages), as occupations for which insurance is compulsory, even when the particular occupations in question would not, by themselves, constitute an undertaking within the meaning of the German Insurance Act.

Such operations carried on in Germany, and falling under the German insurance law, must be attached to the trade association established for firms in the same branch of industry as that of the Dutch employer, provided that the operations in question are carried on within the district of the said trade association (§1 of the Administrative Regulations of 16th December, 1907, Reichsgesetzblatt 1907, p. 773, printed in the Official News of the Imperial Insurance Office, 1907, p. 539). Accordingly, the question to what trade association Dutch operations carried on in Germany belong, is not determined by the nature of the said operations, but by that of the whole Dutch business whereof they are a part. For example, warehousing carried on in Germany by a Dutch employer, employing workmen engaged in Germany in warehouses belonging to a Dutch shipping concern, must not be insured with the warehousing trade association, but with the local trade association for inland navigation.

With respect to the operations carried on in Germany, the Dutch employer is a member of the trade association to which, according to the previous definition, he properly belongs. He acquires, in consequence, all the rights and duties of a member of the trade association, he is in particular obliged to give notice of the commencement and termination of the operations insured under German law. In cases where it is observed that operations of a particular Dutch employer recur with considerable regularity, it is left to the discretion of the trade association to dispense, as a matter of convenience, with a notice of adhesion on each occasion, and to be satisfied with a single notice.

Since, except in the case of the travelling staff of transport undertakings, operations carried on in Germany always come under the German insurance law, the trade association can, in the first instance, presume that all workmen employed in Germany by a Dutch employer are insured with it, and the burden of proof lies with the employer to satisfy the trade association as to which of his employees working in Germany are excepted from the operation of the said rule, by reason of the exceptions prescribed in Art. 3, sentence I.

IV. When doubts arise in respect of a compensation claim which must be met, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty, by either the German or the Dutch insurer, it is recommended that, in accordance with the procedure of $73, paragraph 2, of the Industrial Accidents Insurance Act, the injured party be given provisional compensation, and that negotiations be immediately entered into with the National Insurance Bank of Amsterdam, with a view to the Bank's accepting the liability to pay the compensation. If no agreement is arrived at, the trade association shall come to a definite decision on the matter and announce the same as promptly as possible.

Copies of this Circular for the sections are subjoined.

FEDERAL STATES.

I. KINGDOM OF PRUSSIA.

I. Erlass des Ministers der öffentlichen Arbeiten an die Königl. Eisenbahndirektionen betreffend Bestimmungen über die planmässige Dienst- und Ruhezeit des Personals im Eisenbahnbetriebsdienst. Vom 31 Dezember 1906. (Eisenbahn-Nachrichtenblatt, Berlin, 1907, Nr. 3; Reichsarbeitsblatt V. Jahrg. 1907, Nr. 3, S. 254.)

1. Decree of the Minister of Public Works addressed to the Royal Railway Boards, issuing regulations respecting systematic periods of work and rest: for employees in the railway service. (Dated 31st December, 1906.)

I. It appears from the reports of the Royal Railway Boards that nearly all the railway medical officers who have been consulted, and the majority of the railway employees whose opinion has been asked, agree that to change from day to night duty and vice versa, causes an interruption in the habits of life of the employees, involving a strain which is greater in proportion as the transference occurs more often, because the habit of working at night and resting during the day is only gradually acquired. It is therefore expedient to arrange that the intervals between the transference from day to night duty and vice versa shall not be too short, so that the employees may be exposed as seldom as possible to the inconveniences caused thereby.

(1) I shall not therefore give directions that the rule that no railway official shall be employed on night duty during more than seven consecutive nights shall be altered (E.V.Bl., 1900 p. 9, subsection 4 and 1903, p. 72), but on the contrary I consider that the evidence contained in the reports shows that the rule as to weekly periods of day and night duty should be maintained.

(2) In order, however, to arrange the weekly change from day (early or late as the case may be) to night shifts in such a manner that the employees may in all cases recover from the strain of the preceding period of employment, I hereby direct that all officials and workmen shall, after every period of day and night duty, be allowed a period of rest of from 30 to 36 hours, in order that no so-called "self-relief" (Selbstablösung) may be necessary on changing shifts every week.

So far as this is possible, in view of the difficulties which exist in some localities with respect to Sunday employment, the weekly change shall take place between Saturday and Monday, in order that the employees may enjoy the full Sunday rest as often as possible, and that consequently their attendance at church may be facilitated.

With respect to employees who, up to the present, have not been allowed the prescribed number of days of rest, or who have been having periods of rest of less than 30 hours duration, the alteration in their shifts shall be introduced as soon as possible.

The examples contained in the schedule show, the manner wherein the shifts shall, in future, be changed each week. Accordingly, the change will be effected at the usual hours, namely 6 and 2 or 6 and 10, as the case may be. Since it has been objected that the commencement of the early shift at 6 a.m. and the termination of the night shift at that hour is very inconvenient for the employees and their families, by reason of the fact that it brings the night's rest of the family to a close before the usual hour, it is necessary to consider in what cases the changing of shifts can, especially during the winter, be postponed to a later hour, say 7 a.m., regard being had to the local conditions affecting the alternation of shifts. In so far as 12 hour shifts are concerned, there can be no difficulty about such posponement, but, on the other hand, in the case of 8-hour shifts, the termination of the late shift at II p.m., and the commencement of the night shift at that hour might be undesirable.

(3) The work of the engine and train staff does not as a rule admit of a regular division into day and night shifts; consequently the rule given under (2) as to the granting of days of rest cannot be applied in its entirety. In any case, care shall be taken that the said employees shall be allowed a liberal allowance of periods of rest at suitable, and, as far as possible, regular intervals; in particular, longer periods of rest shall be allowed for such employees if they have been employed on three or more consecutive days from II p.m. at the latest until 5 a.m. or later.

In this connection I beg to call attention to the regulation that the number of consecutive day and night shifts during which the engine and train staff are employed, shall be as far as possible equal. (Umdruckerlass, 21st December, 1905, IV., B. 8, 867.)

II. (1) Although weekly periods of day and night duty shall be adopted as the rule for railway employees, it must, nevertheless, be borne in mind that a minority of the employees have declared in favour of reducing the length of the periods of night duty to three or four days, and have asked for the retention of the shorter periods in view of the conditions of their employment. Since the grounds which have been adduced in support of this application cannot be dismissed off-hand, I leave to the discretion of the Royal Railway Board and the inspecting authorities (Inspektionsvorstand) to decide the matter in each case. As a general rule, the changing of shifts shall not take place more frequently than once a week, except in cases where the employment is so responsible and makes during the night such an uninterrupted demand on the powers of the employees, that the efficiency required for the particular employment and the health of the employees might be impaired by their being employed on seven consecutive night shifts. Regard must also be had to the question how far the employees are able, in view of the local housing conditions, to rest during the day without being disturbed, a question requiring special consideration in the case of large towns.

(2) In a number of cases the employees favour a shorter term of night duty, of, say, three or four days, on the supposition that a longer period of rest, namely, 24 hours or more, would be allowed. The necessity for this is not upheld in the reports to hand, and cannot be admitted in view of the fact that, by virtue of I. (2) of this Decree, an ample period of rest will be allowed after the weekly alternation of shifts. On the contrary, in the case of employees whose hours are changed twice a week, the change taking place in the course of the week shall be made by way of the so-called self-relief (Selbstablösung), while, on the other hand, such persons shall, in accordance with I. (2) of this Decree be relieved at the weekly alternation of shifts, in common with