Extract from the Speech from the Throne, 19th June, 1907 :—

Simultaneously with political changes, a reorganisation of the economic and social systems underlying the State has taken place. As in my early youth I sought to effect the final liberation of the peasantry from the land dues, and as, since then, the full freedom of each citizen's earnings has been secured, so now I confidently hope that efforts to develop the system of State insurance by the institution of old age and disablement insurance will meet with success, and that thus a work of humanity and social justice, affecting a large class of wage earning members of the community, will be completed. Bills will be submitted to you having this object in view, and introducing also general amendments, now felt to be necessary, of the existing system of workmen's insurance, which will incidentally be extended to seamen.

Further legislation affecting labour must also be introduced, namely, measures necessary in view of the Berne Convention of 1906, relating to the night-work of women in industrial occupations and in mining operations.

Important social problems have also to be solved in respect of the mining industry. An amendment of the Miners' Insurance Laws is in contemplation, as well as other reforms in our mines legislation, necessary in view of modern requirements and recent scientific achievements. In particular, my Government will refer to the Imperial Council the question whether it would not be expedient for the State to play, in accordance with the responsibilities laid upon it in its capacity of industrial undertaker, a more extensive part in coal mining operations, in order to ensure the supply necessary for State undertakings whatever the course of future events may be.

Together with material economic interests, we have questions of intellectual culture and particularly the education of the young, to deal with. For every intellectual acquisition gained by the people is an additional guarante or their future greatness. In particular, the acquisition of useful knowledge and of a well-founded ethical view of life is, for the wage-earning classes of a people, the best road to the attainment of a satisfactory position in the world and, as a natural consequence, of the mental attitude proper to good citizens.

The question of the protection of children and young persons forms a serious social problem, and will be dealt with, in various directions, by legislation.

1.-Homework.

Draft of a Government Bill, dated 19th July, 1907, concerning the regu lation of labour in the manufacture of wearing apparel, underclothing, and boots and shoes, carried on by outworkers (homeworkers and out-workers).

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(1) Manufacturers who, for the purpose of manufacturing wearing apparel (for men, women or children), underclothing, or boots and shoes, and of selling the same, give out work to be done by out-workers or homeworkers (hereinafter called principal employers") shall serve on the industrial authority of the place where their manufacturing centre is situated, a notice of their intention to start an enterprise of this kind. Where such principal employers intend to make use of the intervention of other persons (middlemen) in their dealings with out-workers or homeworkers, the names and addresses of such middlemen shall also be given in the notice.

Similar notices shall be served on the authority by middlemen who are employed by principal employers for their dealings with out-workers and homeworkers.

(2) The expression "out-worker" in this Act means any person who, in a legal sense, is a manufacturer in the industry in question, but who is employed by principal employers, outside the principal or branch workshops or warehouses of the latter, in the manufacture of wearing apparel, underclothing, or boots and shoes-whether he is employed at the same time by direct customers or not, whether he works with the aid of other workers or not, and whether he himself supplies, wholly or in part, the raw materials or other means of production, or whether he is provided with these materials and means of production in a more or less finished state.

The expression "homeworker" in this Act means any person who, without being in a legal sense, a manufacturer in the industry in question, is employed outside the principal or branch workshops or warehouses of his immediate employers, without the aid of other workers, in the manufacture of wearing apparel, underclothing, or boots and

shoes-whether he himself supplies, wholly or in part, the raw materials or other means of production, or whether he is provided with these materials and means of production in a more or less finished state.

(3) Principal employers and middlemen contemplated in §1 shall keep an exact register, in which entries shall be regularly made, of persons employed directly by them, either as out-workers or homeworkers, and out-workers shall similarly keep a register of any homeworkers employed by them. The said registers shall contain the names, addresses, and kind of occupation of the persons concerned, and also the dates of the beginning and end of their employment.

Principal employers who, in their dealings with out-workers or homeworkers make use of the services of middlemen (§1, paragraph 2) shall also keep an exact register in which entries shall be regularly made, of these middlemen, giving their names, private addresses, kind of employment, and any other occupations in which they may be engaged. Three copies of the registers kept by principal employers and middlemen shall be sent by them, at such time as the Provincial Government may prescribe, to the Industrial Authority, and shall be open to inspection at any time on demand by the Controlling Authority or Inspector of Industry.

The Industrial Authority shall forward one of the aforesaid copies to the sick club (Krankenkasse) concerned, and one to the Inspector for the district.

(4) Principal employers and middlemen contemplated in §1 shall affix in those parts of the building in which work is given out to out-workers and homeworkers or in which the finished articles are returned by the out-workers or homeworkers, in a form which can be easily read, a notice giving the provisions of this Act, any dates fixed for the work to be given out and returned, particulars of the rates of wages, the reasons for which deductions from wages will be made, and the amount of such deductions.

The obligation to affix the said notice shall apply also to out-workers in respect of their workshops.

Before the notice is affixed the terms thereof shall be submitted for the approval of the Industrial Authority.

(5) Principal employers and middlemen shall, at their own cost, supply a wages book to each homeworker who is employed directly by them.

The form of these wages books, which shall contain the provisions of this Act, shall be fixed by the Minister of Commerce by special order. Wages books shall contain, besides their regular schedules, a space in which the immediate employer or his representative shall on each occasion enter particulars of the work given out and returned, wages paid and any deductions made.

The wages books shall be kept by the homeworkers and shall be open to inspection at any time on demand by the Controlling Authority or Inspector of Industry.

Out-workers, whether working with assistants or not, shall be supplied by their immediate employers with books for delivery, to which the preceding paragraphs shall apply with the necessary modifications.

(6) The provisions of §§78 -78c of the Industrial Code concerning the payment of wages, and, if dwellings are supplied on account of wages, also the provisions of §74, paragraph 4, shall apply to homeworkers.

In the case of homeworkers directly employed by principal employers or middlemen who are members of an Industrial Guild for which agreements concerning conditions of labour have been concluded (§114b of the Industrial Code*) these agreements shall apply similarly to such homeworkers provided that no special agreements concerning homeworkers have been concluded in pursuance of the first paragraph of §7 below.

In the latter case a Board, consisting of six members and a chairman, shall be appointed to superintend the execution of the agreement, to prevent disputes arising, and to settle, by conciliation, disputes which may arise.

Half of the members of this Board shall be elected by the Assembly of the Guild from amongst the members of the Guild, and the other half from the ranks of the employees or homeworkers.

is in force.

The Chairman shall be an impartial expert appointed by the Controlling Authority. The Board may be appointed for a fixed period, or for the term that the agreement The Board shall draw up standing orders, which shall be subject to confirmation by the Controlling Authority, after being submitted to the Guild Assembly and the Employees' Assembly.

(7) Industrial Guilds in the industry concerned to which a large number of principal employers and out-workers belong may conclude special agreements concerning conditions of labour in pursuance of §114b of the Industrial Code.

*See E.B. II., p. 189.

Principal employers (occupiers of manufacturing establishments which bear the character of factories and of commercial establishments concerned), who, without being members of a Guild in the district of their manufacturing centre, are willing to participate in collective agreements, shall, acting upon the request of the governing body of the Guild or on their own demand, attend the meetings of the Guild Assembly and assist, with full voting rights, in the formulation of its resolutions.

In this case, homeworkers employed by principal employers who are not members of an Industrial Guild, shall, acting upon the request of the Employees' Committee, or by their own demand, send a sufficient delegation to the Employees' Assembly, who shall assist, with full voting rights, in the formulation of its resolutions.

Agreements of this kind shall, if convenient, be different for different classes of employers, and they shall be binding on the minority of employers and their homeworkers, provided that the majority of principal employers who are not members of an industrial Guild, and by whom the majority of homeworkers are employed, have agreed thereto.

On the conclusion of an agreement under the preceding paragraph, provision shall be made for principal employers who are not members of an Industrial Guild, and their homeworkers, to be adequately represented on the Board contemplated in §6, paragraph 3 et seq. (8) The Guilds referred to in §6, paragraph 2, may further decide that all or some of the terms of agreements made in pursuance of §7 shall apply also to out-workers who are working without assistants and are employed by principal employers who are members of the Guild.

The said Guilds may also agree upon scales of prices and conditions of payment to be binding on principal employers who are members of the Guild in their dealings with outworkers.

In the case contemplated in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, the meeting shall, for voting purposes, be divided into special trade groups, consisting of principal employers and out-workers [Industrial Code, §126, paragraph 2k], or the voting shall take place at separate meetings. In each group a two-thirds majority must be obtained.

The provisions of §7, paragraph 2, shall apply similarly to the participation of principal employers who are not members of the Guild in the agreements contemplated in paragraphs 1 and 2, provided that these principal employers shall participate in the proceedings of the corresponding group of principal employers in the Guild.

(9) For the purpose of enforcing the agreements contemplated in §8, paragraphs 1 and 2, and in order to prevent disputes arising, and to settle disputes which have arisen, the Guild shall establish special joint boards of arbitration in the sense of §114, paragraph 3 (h) (2) of the Industrial Code, on which principal employers who are parties to the agreements, but not members of the Industrial Guild, shall be adequately represented.

(10) The provisions of §§7 and 8 concerning the conclusion of agreements shall apply also to their modification and to the termination of agreements which are not concluded for an agreed term.

(11) Agreements contemplated in §§7 and 8 and any modification of such agreements shall be subject to the approval of the Provincial Government, who shall first consult the Chamber of Commerce and Industry concerned. Agreements which have been approved by Provincial Governments shall be published by them in a convenient manner.

Notice of the termination of collective agreements shall be given by the Industrial Guild to the Provincial Government, and shall be communicated by the latter to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and published in a convenient manner.

(12) Persons who have not completed the 18th year of their age shall not be employed as homeworkers.

Casual and temporary employment of members of the family of a homeworker shall not be considered to constitute such members "homeworkers" within the meaning of this Act. Notwithstanding, children who have not completed the 12th year of their age shall not be employed even in such temporary casual work.

(13.) Homeworkers shall not employ any workmen or apprentices other than members of their family; such employment shall be liable to punishment as illegal exercise of trade.

Similarly, homeworkers shall not be permitted to work directly for private customers, e.g., for immediate consumption.

(14) The conditions of labour of homeworkers, the rooms in which business is carried on with homeworkers, and the dwelling rooms in which the work is done shall be subject to the supervision of the inspector for the district.

The inspector shall serve on the Controlling Authority a notice whenever he observes serious hygienic defects in the dwellings or workshops or in the manner in which the work is carried on, which may endanger the health of the workers, their families, or the consumer, and have not been remedied at the inspector's request. The Controlling Authority

shall then make such orders as are necessary for removing these defects, and to this end may, if necessary, prohibit work from being given out by employers or from being accepted or performed by homeworkers.

In the case of epidemics or infectious diseases the Controlling Authority may, on its own initiative, or on the proposal of the district inspector, declare that homework shall be excluded from some or all of the premises in which homework is carried on.

This declaration may, if necessary, be published.

(15) Homeworkers who are not already insured against sickness in their capacity as workmen shall be subject to the Sick Insurance Laws. A special order of the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Commerce shall state in detail in what manner this insurance is to be effected, and, especially, who shall be considered, in the case of homework, as the employer.

Similarly, out-workers may be insured who employ no workpeople, provided that such out-workers are not already insured in their capacity as members of a Guild.

(16) The Minister of Commerce in agreement with the Minister of the Interior may, on his own initiative or upon the proposal of the local authority or an inspector of industry after consultation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Industrial Guild concerned, prohibit, by special order, the exercise of homework in particular districts or in certain branches of industry.

(17) Offences under this Act shall be punishable in the manner provided by the provisions of the Penal Code.

(18) In any case in which homeworkers are to be considered as workmen within the meaning of the Industrial Code, this Act shall apply only in so far as it contains provisions for their protection which are more far-reaching than those of the Industrial Code.

(19) The Minister of Commerce, in agreement with the Minister of the Interior, may extend by special order the application of this Act or of particular provisions thereof to other stated branches of home industry.

(20) This Act shall come into force six months after its publication, with the exception of $15, which shall come into force on the publication of the special order contemplated therein.

(21) The enforcement of this Act is entrusted to my Minister of Commerce, in agreement with my Minister of the Interior.

2.-Dangerous Trades.

(a) Bill (introduced by the Social Democratic Party) relating to the manufacture of matches.

(1) No white or yellow phosphorus shall be used in the manufacture of matches of any kind.

Matches containing white or yellow phosphorus shall not be offered for sale, sold, or circulated in any way whatsoever.

Matches of the kind described shall not be imported for trade purposes.

These provisions shall not apply to apparatus used for lighting miners' safety lamps. (2) No matches or surfaces for striking matches shall be manufactured from any paste until the use of such paste has been sanctioned by the Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Minister of Commerce.

The Minister of the Interior may, in agreement with the Minister of Commerce, permit the use of certain pastes subject to conditions relating to the arrangement of the establishment in question, or to the packing of matches for sale.

Manufacturers may apply to the Minister of the Interior for permission to use new pastes, stating the composition of such pastes, the proposed manufacturing processes, and the proposed method of packing the manufactured matches.

(3) The Minister of the Interior may, in agreement with the Minister of Commerce, acquire possession of new processes for the manufacture of matches which offer especially good guarantees for the health and safety of workmen in match factories and of the public, and place such processes at the disposal of manufacturers either in return for a consideration or free of charge.

(4) Industrial Inspectors may take from any establishment where matches of any kind are manufactured, samples of the chemicals and pastes used in making matches or surfaces for striking matches, as well as of the finished goods. The provisions of the Act of 16th January, 1896 (B.G.Bl, No. 89, 1907) shall apply in respect of the taking and examining of the said samples and of the the control of the sale of matches.

(5) Persons guilty of contraventions of §1 of this Act shall be punishable by fine not exceeding 4,000 kr., or, in default, in especially serious cases, and in cases of repeated offence, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months; and in cases where the

repeated imposition of the said penalties has been without avail, the right of the manufacturer to carry on business shall be withdrawn from him for a stated time or for ever. Persons guilty of contraventions of the first paragraph of §2 shall be punishable by fine not exceeding 2,000 kr. or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

Over and above these penalties, articles manufactured, imported or circulated in contravention of this Act shall be confiscated, regardless of whether they belong to the guilty party or not. Where it is impossible to prosecute or convict a particular person, the articles in question shall be confiscated independently of any other proceedings.

(6) The provisions of §1, paragraphs 1 and 3, and of §2, shall come into force on 1st July, 1911. The provisions of §1, paragraph 2, shall come into force on 1st January, 1912, and the remaining provisions of this Act, on the day of its notification.

(b) Bill (introduced by the Social Democratic Party) relating to the use of white lead and colours containing lead, and the manufacture and sale of varnishes, siccatives, and lacquers containing lead.

(1) No white lead or colours containing lead shall be used in any kind of decorating, painting, or lacquer work. (2) No lead or lead compounds shall be used in the manufacture of varnishes, siccatives, and lacquers, and no varnishes, siccatives, and lacquers containing lead or lead compounds shall be sold.

(3) White lead and colours containing lead and other lead compounds shall be sold or stored only in vessels and cases marked in a conspicuous manner with the words "white lead." containing white lead," or containing lead," together with the word poisonous or the usual death's head symbol.

(4) The Minister of the Interior, in agreement with the Minister of Commerce, may allow exceptions to the provisions of §1, where such exceptions appear to be technically necessary for certain purposes. Simultaneously with the granting of such exceptions, protective regulations shall be issued applicable where the exceptions in question are in force. Such regulations shall in all cases prohibit dry grinding. Notwithstanding, no exceptions shall be allowed to the prohibition of white lead and colours containing white lead in respect of any decorating, painting and lacquer work on new buildings and on repair work. (5) Industrial Inspectors may take from any establishment where decorating, painting and lacquer work is carried on and from all places where the processes of decorating, painting, and lacquering are being carried on, and from places where varnishes, siccatives and lacquers are manufactured, samples of the substances used or manufactured. The provisions of the Act of 16th January, 1896 (R.G.BI, No. 89, 1907) shall apply in respect of the taking and examining of the said samples and of the control of the sale of all kinds of lead colours and of varnishes, siccatives and lacquers containing lead.

(6) Persons guilty of contraventions of §1 of this Act shall be punishe? by fine not exceeding 2,000 kr., or, in default, in especially serious cases, and in cases of repeated offences, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months; and in cases where the repeated imposition of the said penalties has been without avail, the right of the manufacturer to carry on business shall be withdrawn from him for a stated time or for ever. The same penalties shall apply in the case of persons who manufacture varnishes, siccatives, or lacquers containing lead. The sale and use of such varnishes, siccatives, and lacquers, and contraventions of §3, shall be punishable by fine not exceeding 1,000 kr. or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding six weeks.

In case of contraventions of §§2 and 3, over and above the penalties aforesaid, substances manufactured or circulated, and articles not marked in accordance with §3, shall be confiscated, regardless of whether they belong to the guilty party or not. Where it is impossible to prosecute or convict a particular person, the articles in question shall be confiscated independently of any other proceedings.

(7) This Act shall come into force on the day of its notification.

1.-Industrial Accidents.

III. France

Sen., 14th May, 1907. M. Poirrier's Report on the draft Bill, as adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, to give the right to claim damages in cases of industrial accidents (Doc. Parl., No. 117). 24th May, 1907. First debate on the Bill; adopted. New title : Draft Bill relating to the exercise of option under the laws respecting industrial accidents.--11th June, 1907. Second