to the employer, to cancel the contract and provide for the return home of the labourer at the employer's expense.

5. The Resident Commissioner concerned may in like manner cancel the contract and return a labourer to his home if the labourer did not freely consent to the engagement, or if he did not clearly understand and freely accept the terms of the engagement. In that case the expenses of returning him to his home shall be borne by the recruiter.

LII.-Register of Repatriation.

I. The names of labourers returned to their homes shall be entered on a register kept by the master of the vessel, in a similar form to that prescribed by Article XXXII., for keeping the register of engagements.

2. The signature of the employer upon the register shall prove that the labourer who is to be returned to his home has been handed over to the master of the vessel.

3. The master shall enter in the register the date when the native so to be returned to his home was put on shore, and shall mention the exact spot where he was landed.

4. The rules prescribed by Article XXXVIII. with regard to the submission and signature of the register of engagements shall be applicable to the register of repatriation.

LIII.-Death during the Return Passage.

In the event of the death of a labourer occurring during the return passage, the master of the vessel shall proceed as prescribed by Article XXXV. LIV.-Powers of Control.

I. The High Commissioners, the Resident Commissioners, and the persons appointed by them for the purpose, shall have, with regard to their respective nationals, the right to employ any method of inquiry which may be necessary to ensure, as far as the recruiting and engagement of native labourers are concerned, the execution of the present Convention.

Employers shall be bound, for this purpose, to produce any labourer at the request of the competent authority.

2. A report shall be drawn up with regard to any irregularity or breach of regulations which may be discovered, and shall be forwarded without delay to the competent authority. The report shall be primâ facie evidence of the

facts stated therein.

LV.-Short Engagements and Employment of Native Labourers without

Engagement.

1. Non-natives may employ natives without restriction provided that they are not engaged for more than three months, with the option of renewal, and provided they are not removed to an island more than io miles from the island of their tribe.

2. They may, in any case, employ without restriction natives who are known to have served non-natives for at least five years, and who are familiar with a European language or the vernacular in use between non-natives and natives.

LVI.-Penalties.

1. Any infringement by non-natives of the terms of the present Convention regarding the recruiting and engagement of native labourers shall be punishable by a fine of from 4s. to £20, and by imprisonment of from one day to one month, or by either of the above penalties.

2. Damages may also be awarded to labourers for any injury suffered by them.

3. The Joint Court shall inflict the penalties and assess the damages.

4. In the event of conviction on a serious charge, or for a second offence, the recruiting licence, as well as the right of engaging labourers, may be withdrawn for a period not exceeding two years by the High Commissioner for the country to which the recruiter or employer belongs.

2. Treaty between the German Empire and the Netherlands relating to Accident Insurance, 27th August, 1907. (German Reichsgesetzblatt 1907, No. 50, P. 763.)

I. Undertakings to which the accident insurance laws of the two Contracting States apply and which are domiciled within the territory of one State and carry on business also within the territory of the other, shall, subject to the exceptions contemplated in Articles 2 and 3, be subject, in respect of business carried on within the territory of either State, exclusively to the accident insurance laws of that State.

Where, in accordance with the preceding paragraph, an undertaking carrying on business outside the territory of one State is subject to the insurance laws of the other, such undertaking shall be held to be an undertaking within the meaning of the said laws. Further regulations for the enforcement of this Treaty shall be drawn up independently by each State according to the needs of their respective systems of accident insurance. In Germany the said regulations shall be drawn up by the Imperial Chancellor or an authority designated by him, and in the Netherlands by the department having authority for the time being. The regulations so drawn up shall be communicated to the two Governments.

2. In the case of transport undertakings carrying on operations across the frontier, the accident insurance laws of the country where the undertaking is domiciled shall alone apply in respect of the travelling staff, regardless of the extent of the operations carried on in the two respective countries. The travelling staff shall remain subject to the said insurance laws also in respect of other classes of employment carried on on behalf of such transport undertakings outside their country of domicile.

3. Persons employed in a department of any kind of undertaking where insurance is compulsory under the laws of their own country, shall, on being transferred to work in the other country, remain in respect of all branches of their employment in the said country, for the first six months of such employment, subject exclusively to the accident insurance laws of the country where the firm is domiciled, provided that the rules contained in Article 2. shall not be affected hereby. If the employment in the said country is interrupted for a period not exceeding 30 days, such period shall be included in the six months' limit. If the period during which the employment is interrupted exceeds 30 days, the course of the six months shall be held to be broken off, and, on the resumption of employment in the said country, a new term of six months shall be held to begin. In applying the preceding rules, account shall not be taken of any period before this Treaty comes into force.

4. Where the accident insurance laws of one country are applicable, the rules contained in such laws for proving claims thereunder in respect of accidents occurring outside the realm, shall apply, by analogy, to compensation claims made in pursuance of the laws of the other country in respect of an accident occurring in such country.

5. In administering the accident insurance laws the proper authorities -shall give each other mutual assistance in determining the facts of any case. Where, in dealing with an accident insurance case, the authorities of one country deem it necessary to procure the sworn depositions of witnesses and -experts in the other country, a request to this effect duly submitted through diplomatic channels shall be acceded to. The authorities instructed by the Government of the said country or having jurisdiction without such instructions shall summon the witnesses or experts by official action and, if necessary, -use such means of compulsion as are prescribed in the case of similar proceedings in their own country.

6. Rules in force in one country relating to exemptions from stamp duties and fees in the case of accident insurance business, shall apply by analogy in respect of the administration in such country of the accident insurance laws of the other.

7. Manufacturers shall not be required to pay higher contributions or premiums in respect of the accident insurance of one country for the reason that their undertakings are domiciled in the other.

8. The provisions of Articles 4-7 shall apply to undertakings subject to the accident insurance laws of one of the two countries, even in cases where the conditions set forth in Article I do not obtain.

9. The terms of this Treaty shall apply by analogy to those officials of the German Empire, of a German Federated State, or of a German group of parishes (Kommunalverband) who are employed in undertakings in which insurance is compulsory, but who are, notwithstanding, entitled to accident benefit within the meaning of German legislation, instead of being insured under the German system of accident insurance.

10. Where, in administering the accident insurance laws of one country, it is necessary to calculate the value of wages expressed in terms of the currency of the other country, such conversion shall be effected by taking as a general basis an average rate of exchange, which shall be determined by each of the two Governments for the purposes of the administration of the law in their respective countries and which shall be communicated by each 'Government to the other.

II. This Treaty shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged as soon as possible. The Treaty shall come into force one month after the first day of the month following the exchange of ratifications.

Notice of withdrawal from the Treaty may be given by either party at any time, and the Treaty shall expire on the conclusion of the calendar year next following such notice.

Liabilities in respect of accidents occurring before this Treaty comes into force, shall continue thereafter to be fulfilled by the insurance institution wherein the branch in question of the undertaking was formerly insured. Similarly, on the expiration of this Treaty, liabilities in respect of accidents which occurred while the Treaty was in force, shall continue to be fulfilled by the previous insurance institution.

In witness whereof the plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty in -duplicate and set their seals thereto.

National Labour Legislation

1. LAWS AND ORDERS

I. German Empire

(A) EMPIRE.

Bekanntmachung, betr. die Einrichtung und den Betrieb von Anlagen zur Herstellung von Alkali-Chromaten. Vom 16. Mai 1907. Nr. 3331. (Reichsgesetzblatt 1907, Nr. 21, S. 233.)

1. Notification respecting the establishment and management of works for the manufacture of the alkaline chromates. (16th May, 1907.)

In pursuance of §120e of the Industrial Code, the Federal Council hereby issues the following regulations respecting the establishment and management of works where the manufacture or regeneration of the alkaline chromates (bichromate of potassium or bichromate of sodium) is carried on.

I.

1. Raw materials (chrome iron-ore, quicklime, soda, etc.) shall be crushed and mixed only in apparatus constructed in such a manner that the dust is prevented as far as possible from penetrating to the workrooms.

2. All plant liable to give rise to dust or fumes containing chromates. shall be provided with effective arrangements for preventing, as far as possible, such dust or fumes from entering the workrooms.

The fused mass shall be stored, except close by the furnaces, only in rooms separated from other workrooms. The fused mass, while still hot, may be conveyed in any kind of vessel, but when cold only in enclosed vessels.

Lixiviating and evaporating pans and all other vessels containing solutions at a temperature exceeding 50°C., and all acidification pans shall be covered with a tight-fitting cover, with an outlet into the open air or a chimney.

3. Further processes in the manipulation of solid chromates, especially drying, sifting, crushing (breaking, grinding), and packing shall be carried on in rooms apart from other workrooms.

The chromates shall, as far as possible, be crushed only in plant hermetically sealed.

4. Workrooms and courts shall be kept as free as possible from contamination by chromates.

In particular, arrangements shall be made to remove without delay all chromates which have escaped into the workrooms by leakage, or dripping from pipes and then become dry. Floors, walls, stairs and handrails shall always be kept in a clean condition.

The workrooms shall be thoroughly cleaned at least every quarter, or at more frequent intervals when necessary.

5. Employers shall provide a sufficient supply of suitable clothes and caps to be worn during work by the workmen employed in chromate works.

6. No person who is not wearing a suitable respirator or other arrange. ment for protecting the mouth and nose (such as sponges, cloths, etc.) provided by the employer shall be permitted to work in processes in which the liberation of dust cannot be entirely avoided, unless the dust so liberated is immediately and completely removed by suction.

This rule shall apply in particular to the removal of the dry mass from the drying kilns, furnacing of the dry mass after removal from the drying kilns, the emptying of such furnaces and the shovelling of the fused mass when dry into receptacles for conveyance, and also to the processes of drying, sifting and packing the finished chromates.

7. The employer shall, by making suitable regulations for the purpose and by careful supervision, ensure that the working clothes, respirators and other articles designated in §§5 and 6 shall be regularly worn and only by the particular persons to whom they are allotted, and he shall see that overalls are washed at least once a week, and all respirators, mouth sponges, etc., before each occasion on which they are used, and that each respirator or sponge is kept, when not in use, in its own special place.

8. A lavatory and cloakroom and a separate mess-room shall be provided for the workmen in a part of the premises which is free from dust. Both the said rooms shall be kept clean and free from dust, and shall be heated in the cold season. A sufficient supply of water and vessels for rinsing the mouth and of suitable nail-brushes, soap and towels for washing the hands, together with sufficient accomodation for keeping garments not worn during work, shall be provided in the lavatory and cloakroom.

The employer shall give every workman in chromate processes an opportunity of taking a warm bath at least twice a week.

9. No women or young persons shall be employed except in operations which do not bring them into contact with the chromates.

10. No person shall be engaged for work in chromate processes unless he produces a certificate of a qualified medical practitioner certifying that he is free from open wounds, suppurating sores and cutaneous eruptions. The said certificates shall be collected and preserved, and must be produced on the demand of the inspector. (§1396 of the Industrial Code.)

II. The employer shall appoint a qualified medical practitioner, whose name shall be notified to the inspector, to keep watch over the health of workmen in chromate processes. The said practitioner shall examine such workmen at least once a month, especially with a view to detecting any cutaneous eruptions or disease in the nasal passages or throat.

12. The employer shall require workmen to keep a close look-out for sores, however slight, on their skin and particularly on their hands, and, when necessary to procure a bandage from the medical practitioner, or some suitable person designated by him. The hands, forearms and face of each workman shall be examined by such persons every day before work commences or during working hours.

On the order of the medical practitioner, workmen showing symptoms of chrome poisoning-e.g. cutaneous eruptions or irritation of the mucous membrane of the nose-shall be removed from employment in chromate pro