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54th C o n g r e s s , (HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. (D oc.N o. 135,
2d Session.
\
\ Part 2.
BULLETIN
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
NO. 9 - M A R C H , 1897.
TSSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH.
EDITED B Y
CARROLL D. WRIGHT,
COMMISSIONER.
OREN W . W E AVER ,
CHIEF CLERK.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1897.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Tlie padrone system and padrone hanks, by John Koren..................................
The Dutch Society for General Welfare, by J. Howard Gore,Ph. D., o f Colum
bian University......................................................................................
Digest o f recent reports o f State bureaus o f labor statistics:
Connecticut............................ , ......................................................................
Nc w York..........................................................................................................
Ohio .................................................................................................................
Ninth annual report o f the board o f mediation and arbitration of New York..
Digest o f recent foreign statistical publications................................................
Decisions of courts affecting labor.....................................................................
Laws o f various States relating to labor enacted since January 1,1896 .......
Recent Government contracts..............................................................................
hi
113-129
130-148
149-151
151-156
156-158
159
160-172
173-225
226-229
230
BULLETIN
OF THE
D E P A R T M E N T OF L A B O R .
No. 9.
WASHINGTON.
March , 1897.
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
B Y JOHN KOREN.
Although the Italian padrone discovered in the United States a field
peculiarly suited to his activity, he must be considered as a distinct
product of European soil, however much he for a time prospered under
American conditions. His prototype is to be sought in the country
whence he came, among the camorristi (a) of Naples, perhaps, and a germ
of the practice of extortion, which has become known as the padrone
system, may be found in the custom of the Italian peasantry of seeking
the good will of the padrone (master, landlord) and others whom they
recognized as superiors by habitually making them presents in addi
tion to required payments or fees.
The beginnings o f the padrone in this country are not easily traced.
He appears, however, to have come into prominence some time after the
close of the civil war. The period marking the industrial recovery
from the great struggle was, it is well known, one in which capital
sought labor with almost reckless eagerness. Special legislation was
framed to promote this quest. Thus the act of 1864, for the encourage
ment o f immigration, gave manufacturers, contractors, and other
employers the right to import foreign laborers under contract. This
privilege naturally gave rise to a not overscrupulous speculation in
cheap labor; and nowhere did the agents who were dispatched to
distant lands in search of workmen find more ready victims than
among the unenlightened peasants of Italy. Unlike the inhabitants
a The camorristi o f Naples were members o f a secret organization, at one time more
powerful than the police, who subsisted largely by extorting money from the peas
ants. The term camorristi, in the sense o f one who unduly exacts money, is still
applied to the present-day padrone.
114
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
of Northern Europe, but few of the earliest Italian immigrants came
over of their own accord to seek freedom and a home. Usually they
were already bound out to service.
The American contractor, wishing to secure the cheapest possible
labor wherewith to carry out some new enterprise, would apply to a
resident Italian immigration agent (soon to be dignified by the name
“ banker” ) for a stated number of men. The latter, having through
subagents in Italy collected as many as required, shipped them across
on prepaid tickets, for which he received a stipulated commission. On
the arrival of these immigrants the agent would make an additional
profit by boarding them at exorbitant prices until they could be sent
to their destination, the expense being deducted from their prospective
wages. The further privilege of supplying them with food and shelter
while at work was also commonly granted the agents and, if a banker,
he could from time to time add to his profits by charging unreasonable
rates for sending the scanty savings o f the laborer to Italy. Finally,
he had in prospect a commission on the return passage to Italy when
the contract expired, for the immigration then, as now, was chiefly of a
migratory character. Few remained here beyond the time of their
contract—that is to say, seldom over two or three years.
Yet this was not the padrone system as understood by the Italians.
Although often subject to much imposition and hardship at the hands
of the agent or banker, the immigrant brought hither in the manner
described recognized the former simply as a middleman between him
self add the contractor, and in no sense as a padrone. The contractor,
it should be remembered, invariably belonged to another nationality.
Tlie position of the real padrone differed essentially from that of the
go-between referred to, or “ boss,” as he is now called. The padrone
acted for himself alone. From serving as an agent for others, whom
he perceived to gain so much from taking advantage of the ignorance
of the Italian laborers, it was but a step to exploiting them solely for
his own benefit. By fair promises and golden tales he x>ersuaded men,
women, and children to follow him to the New World under contract
to work for a stated length of time, covering generally from one to
three years, but extending in some instances to seven years. The men
were farmed out to any person who saw fit to employ them at the
padrone’s prices, usually to engage in the occupation designated by
the Italian as seidbola (a)—that is, all work done with the shovel. The
padrone boarded his people, received their wages, and gave them the
merest pittance in return for hard work, accompanied by much abuse.
Forty dollars for a whole year’s service was a fair padrone wage.
Instances are known in which no larger sum accrued to the laborer
after steady employment for two years and a half. The women fared
worse, since they were frequently placed in houses of prostitution and
a Seidbola, a sword, lias probably acquired the above meaning on account of its
similarity to our word shovel.
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
115
never heard of again. The children were sent out on the streets as
bootblacks, to sell newspapers, fruit, and flowers, and to beg—all for
the benefit of the padrone. Minors were occasionally bought outright
from the parents. On the whole, the padrone outrages as depicted in
various publications of twenty-five or thirty years ago were not exag
gerated. The number of persons who have come to the United States
under the conditions mentioned can of course never be estimated, but
it is striking to note how many of those arriving after 1870 admit that
they were brought here by padroni.
It is this species of semislavery which suggests itself to the Italian
when asked if the padrone system still flourishes in this country. The
answer is invariably negative, and for sufficient reasons. The traffic in
women and children was gradually stopped through governmental inter
vention, but more efficiently, perhaps, through the endeavors of philan
thropic organizations. The padrone continued, however, to import men
in spite of the law. Indeed, he had by no means ceased to ply his voca
tion when the first act to regulate immigration was passed by Congress,
August 3,1882, and he has only become practically extinct through the
more stringent enforcement of the contract-labor law, which was made
possible in this instance by the hearty cooperation of the Italian Gov
ernment. Nevertheless, it is stated on competent authority that a few
old-time padroni still linger. They are said to control a number of
organ grinders, itinerant harp and violin players, peddlers, etc.
Those directly interested in the manipulation of Italian labor deny
also the existence of the first-mentioned form of the padrone system, or
that under which a labor contract is made before the immigrant takes
passage for America. It is on the whole true that the former system
does not exist, but not in the sense that the Italian laborer always comes
unpledged or that he escapes all the evils of the former labor contract
under what at the present time is termed the padrone system.
Before examining in detail the operation of this system, its extent,
etc., it is necessary to consider briefly the magnitude and general char
acter of the Italian immigration in order to comprehend why the system
has obtained such a firm footing in this country. The census of 1890
showed the number of foreign-born Italians living in this country to be
182,580. Yet, according to the figures furnished by the Superintendent
of Immigration, the number of Italians arriving at our ports from 1873
to 1890 reached a total of 356,062. The migratory character of this
immigration is thus clearly indicated. The majority, especially of the
laboring class, come not as settlers, but with the intention of returning
to their homes after some years. Many of them, it is true, have come
back to us again, but both from the briefness of the stay of these “ birds
of passage” and their unfamiliarity with the English language they fall
naturally and almost inevitably into the hands of labor bosses of their
own nationality. They can not shift for themselves nor make an intel
ligent appeal to the natives. Of late years the Italian immigration has
116
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
tended to more stable settlement. This is shown by the increase of
females and children among the new arrivals. Of the total immigra
tion from 1881 to 1890 of 307,309 only 20.6 per cent were females and
15.3 per cent were children under 15 years of age. These percentages
have since increased from year to year, and the period from July 1,1895,
to April 1,1896, shows the females to have constituted 30.2 per cent
and the children under 15 years of age 19.4 per cent of the total immi
gration. The proportion of Italian immigrants who have been in the
United States before is also known to be steadily growing. The same is
true o f those who come to join their immediate families or relations,
and are thus probably to a large extent put out of the reach of the
padroni. During the first four months of 1896 the total number of immi
grants from Italy entering the port of New York reached 27,149, of
whom 6,948 had been in the United States before, and 6,966joined their
immediate families, leaving 13,235 as newcomers without relatives to
receive them. The latter were almost exclusively males, (a)
The padrone, then, does not lack for fresh material with which
to maintain full ranks. It should further be borne in mind that the
bulk of Italian immigration comes from the southern and perhaps
least favorably known provinces, Abruzzi, Avellino, Basilicata, Sicily,
Naples, and Calabria. Most of them are of the peasant class and
accustomed to hard work and meager fare, generally illiterate, but of a
childlike mind and imagination, quick to forget, and easily led astray
by schemers. The majority are booked for New York, comparatively
small detachments being landed elsewhere. Nearly all who come for
the first time and have no relatives to join make at least a temporary
halt in New York. This city has thus, as a matter of course, become
the Italian center of the country, and hence the home as well as the
stronghold of the padrone system. How the system operates in actual
life is told in the following:
Even the Calabrian or Sicilian who finds no friends or relatives to
greet him is rarely at a loss where to go on being released from Ellis
Island. He brings at least the address o f some banker, perhaps that
o f the man who furnished the ticket on which he came over. The
banker has many connections abroad who are able to play more or less
into his hands, regardless o f the provisions of the contract-labor law
and give the immigrant the cue how to start out on his American
career. Should he be penniless, the banker may go on his bond to
insure that he will not become a burden to the community, and stands
ready to provide him with food and shelter without immediate com
pensation until work is found. The next step is for the new arrival to
look for employment with the pick and shovel, for he is usually an
unskilled laborer. Besides, the labor unions might bar the way should
a All figures for the period from July 1, 1895, to April 30, 1896, are taken from an
article in the North American Review for June, 1896, on Immigration .from Italy, by
Dr. J. H. Senner, United States Commissioner o f Immigration.
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
117
he at once seek to exercise the handicraft he may have learned.
Employers o f his own nationality are scarce, and nnfamiliarity with
the language prevents him from applying to others for work, so he
turns to one o f that numerous fraternity who make it their vocation to
supx>ly contractors with cheap labor, the bosses. The common laborer,
or cafone as he is vulgarly called, recognizes only these middlemen as
bosses, not the contractors themselves, unless they happen to be Italians,
in which case they are distinguished as boss contractors. The cafone
might also hesitate to make a personal search for employment, fearing
the vendetta o f his countryman boss, who, for reasons that will appear
later, often stands high in the graces o f the contractors. There is thus
little choice. He must go to the boss (the term padrone is no longer
used) to get a job or remain idle.
The modus operandi of the average boss is simple enough. He
knows the street and steam railway corporations and the principal
contractors and others who from time to time employ large forces of
men, and keeps posted about new work about to be undertaken. He
may deal directly with the representative of a corporation or with the
contractor and obtain from them a definite order for a number of men.
I f unable to fill such order at once, he has recourse to his friend
the banker, to whom he states how many men are wanted, the daily
wage, the amount of the bossatura (so is called the commission the
laborer must pay to the boss as a bonus for obtaining employment),
and whether the men shall be boarded by him while at work, etc. A
mutual understanding having been reached, the banker posts a notice
in his window calling for the number o f laborers required, and sends
out his runners “ to make the men ” {fare gli uomini, they say). Enough
applicants having been found without much difficulty, verbal informa
tion is given concerning the place of work, the wages, the probable
duration of the job, the bossatura, and the railway or steamboat fare.
When the several stipulations have been agreed to, the men are con
sidered “ made,” the boss takes them in charge, and eventually ships
them to their destination.
The amount o f the bossatura depends on the period of employment,
the wages paid, and on whether the men are to find themselves, in which
latter case the commission is always somewhat higher. Ordinarily it
varies from $1 to $10 per man. For an assured job, lasting five or six
months, $10 is considered a reasonable fee. The commission rates in
New York appear to run higher than in other cities, owing to the more
plentiful supply o f labor. The bossatura is usually paid in advance
and secretly, the boss knowing very well that the transaction is illegal,
since he is not licensed to conduct an employment bureau. Taking
advantage of his countryman’s ignorance, the boss does not hesitate
to overcharge the regular rates for transportation. When moving a
considerable body o f men, he is often able to secure reduced rates, but
charges a full first-class fare. I f the place o f work is in the country at
118
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
some distance from the starting point, the boss is generally permitted
to board the men, or he buys this privilege from the contractor at so
much per head monthly, according to the time of employment and the
wages paid. In such a case the men are occasionally sent out from
the city a week earlier than necessary, in order that the boss may profit
the more. The boarders are threatened with heavy penalties for pur
chasing elsewhere food or any other article kept for sale at the shanty.
Notices to this effect are sometimes posted. The penalty for disobedi
ence is a fine or dismissal. In some instances the boarders are com
pelled to buy food to a fixed daily amount, under threat of immediate
discharge. Generally, however, they are allowed to spend at pleasure.
The provisions are furnished in a raw state, and cooked, if at all, by
the men themselves. The food furnished by the boss is usually of an
inferior quality, and often unfit for consumption. In the table below is
given a list of articles sold at a shanty store not very far from the city
o f New York, together with the prices charged by the boarding master
and the average market prices in New York.
TRICES OF COMMODITIES A T S H A N T Y STORES A N D A T N E W Y O R K M A R K E T ,
COMPARED.
Article.
Unit.
Macaroni______ ____. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ______. . . ____________. T____ Pound.. L o a f..
Pound...
Cheese........................................... - ................................................................................. P ound...
Vegetables (sold by weight)........................ ..................... ...................................... P ound...
Codfish.............................................................................. ............................................ Pound...
Olive o i l________ _____________________________________ _____________________ G allon...
Meat (when sold).... ................................. ................................................................. Pou nd...
Tobacco........................................................................................................................... Pou nd...
P eer.................................................................................................................................. B ottle. . .
G allon...
Shanty Market
price.
price.
$0.10
.10
.20
.25
.10
.10
2.00
.15
.50
.15
.80
$0.03
.04
.06
.08
.00|
.05
1.00
.05
.25
.04
a. 30
a Approximate.
The shanty prices were coined from an original list. The market
prices given are those at which articles of the kinds mentioned can be
bought.
The boss is oftentimes prepared to supply other useful things needed
by the men, such as underclothing, shoes, and overalls, at fancy prices.
A 5-cent postage stamp costs 10 cents at the shanty, and an envelope 5
cents; for writing a letter a charge of from 10 to 25 cents is made, and for
bringing a letter from the post-office a similar amount. But there may
still be other items of expense to the laborer. The boss must make
good the cost o f the boarding privilege, and accordingly exacts from
$1 to $3 per head for the huts in which the laborer sleeps, although
they may have been furnished gratis by the contractor. To the rent
are sometimes added regular fees for medical service, drugs, and acci
dent insurance. The latter is of course not effected, and the case must
indeed be serious if a regular physician is called in. In some camps
weekly or monthly taxes are levied under the heads diritto di Madonna,
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
119
diritto di lampa, contribution to (literally, the right of) the Holy Virgin
and for lamplight.
The Italian laborer submits to these extortions because he has no
other alternative; he must work for the bosses or starve. Complaints
are useless, for to whom could he complain? He knows that the boss
may welcome a pretext for discharging him and thus have the opportu
nity of exacting a new bossatura from his successor who is so easily
found.
It should be noted that the laborer is frequently unable to pay cash
for the articles of daily need. He may have to wait a month or even
longer before x'eceiving his dues, from which are deducted the board
bill and other indebtedness he may have incurred. The fact that in
many instances wages are paid about as often as it may please the
employer or boss gives rise to much hardship, since it makes it easier
for the boarding master to practice fraud with immunity. In out ofthe-way places the employee is sometimes paid in scrip, which is taken
at a substantial discount by the tradespeople.
This is in outline the present-day padrone system in its more favora
ble aspects as it exists among the Italians of the Eastern and Middle
States. Its perpetuation does not, as is commonly assumed, depend
solely on fresh accessions of immigrants. The laborer working for $7 a
week under a boss who boards him must count himself fortunate if he can
save more than oue-half of his earnings. A number of men who were
interrogated on this point assured the writer that their weekly savings
during the part of the year when work is plenty did not average over
$3. Protracted periods of idleness ensue, a goodly share of the earn
ings are sent to Italy or squandered, and the laborer may face the win
ter months with empty pockets. Yet he need not fear starvation, nor
is he forced to seek charity. The boss or banker-boss is again ready to
tide him over until spring comes. He invites him to the boarding house
with the understanding, of course, that he shall enter the boss’s employ
at the first opportunity. Large tenement houses owned by bankers
can be pointed out on Mott and other New York streets that serve as
winter quarters for the cafoni. There they are huddled together, a
dozen or twenty in one room, in violation of all sanitary regulations.
Like conditions prevail to some extent in Boston. It is not incredible,
as the writer has repeatedly been told, that the bosses encourage their
guests in all manner of extravagance in order to get a firmer grasp on
their future earnings. Another method by which the boss retains his
hold on the men is by employing them one week and keeping them idle
the next, under the pretext that work is scarce. The boss then appears
to the men in the role of a truly benevolent master. This plan is pur
sued by one o f the most notorious bosses in New York, who is reported
to keep from 100 to 200 men constantly on hand in his boarding houses.
The abuses under the padrone system are likely to assume an aggra
vated form when, as frequently happens, a gang of men is sent to a
120
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
remote country district in charge of a padrone who acts as boss, board
ing master, and foreman of the job. Then cruel treatment of the
hands is not uncommon. Cuffs and kicks have to be endured, and the
laborer may at the end of several months’ hard work find himself pos
sessing funds barely sufficient to take him back to the place whence he
came. Or the boss may abscond with the men’s wages, leaving them
to shift for themselves as best they can. Such happenings, while by
no means rare, seldom obtain publicity. Poverty and lack of intelli
gence keep the victims from prosecuting the absconder, although some
complaints reach the authorities. The mining regions of Pennsylvania
aud West Virginia have harbored a number of the worst padroni.
They are said to have accomplices in each gang, who share the spoils in
return for protection when threats of violence are made and act as
“ council o f war” in case o f trouble.
Among the minor bosses in the large cities are some who subsist in
part by swindling their countrymen in the manner indicated by the
following incident, which has been thoroughly investigated: B oss--------went to a banker in Mulberry street, New York, choosing a moment
when about a dozen workmen were present. He showed a telegram to
the banker, who at once proceeded to translate it about as follows:
“ W e need 100 men; wages $1.50, railway fare $8. Must start work
day after to-morrow. I f necessary, pay $1.60.” Those present signi
fied their willingness to accept the employment offered, and the com
part (a) (so the bankers’ runners are called) were sent out to secure the
full complement o f men. The bossatura was settled at $3 per head.
The other customary stipulations having been made, the men were told
to assemble at the same place in the evening, when the journey would
be undertaken. Before the departure the banker, carefully counting
it out in the presence of the men, handed the bossatura and passage
money to the boss. In Jersey City tickets to a station a few miles
beyond were distributed among the men, who were told not to quit
their places until given the word to board a certain train. The boss
absented himself on some excuse and returned to New York. Having
waited hour after hour, it at last dawned upon the men that they had
been duped. The banker, to whom an appeal was made the next day,
protested his innocence. Had they not seen him give the money to the
boss? Had he not spent his time in securing them work without any
compensation ? But rather than to risk further unpleasantness he would
present them with $1 apiece. This closed the incident, (b)
In general, the Italian padroni may be divided into three classes:
(1) The small bosses (bossachi), who are by far the most numerous and
subsist by securing odd jobs for individuals and small groups or by
resorting to petty fraud in various ways; (2) the bosses who regularly
a Compare, literally, godfather.
b For other instances o f the same character see Report o f the Immigration Investi
gating Commission, 1895, pp. 122 and 123.
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
121
supply contractors and others with laborers in considerable numbers,
and (3) those who are in the employ of corporations or act both as
bosses and independent contractors. The last class is very small. In
New York not over half a dozen men belong to it, in Philadelphia about
four, and in Boston three or four. These men are usually graduates
from class 2. It must be said of them that they treat their subordi
nates far more humanely than do the others. The petty bosses have
the reputation of being the worst camorristi — that is, extorters of
money. By the best informed the number of bosses in New York and
the adjoining cities is placed at about 2,000. This is the minimum esti
mate and includes those who may be regarded as assistants to the
bosses.
So far as could be learned, not a single one of them undertakes to
supply any but unskilled labor to contractors doing work in New York.
Careful inquiry among the labor unions did not bring to light a single
instance showing that the organized trades are affected by the padrone
system. It may happen that strikers are temporarily replaced by
Italian hands, but how far the latter in such cases may be controlled
by bosses is not known. Few Italians have joined the unions. The
so-called Italian International Marble-Cutters7Union of New York was
only recently organized. It is understood to be dominated by bosses
and does not affiliate with any American organization. For work in
the country and small towns the bosses are ready to furnish all manner
of skilled workmen, such as masons, carpenters, stonecutters, machin
ists, etc.
Formerly the bosses drove advantageous bargains with the street
cleaning department of New York. When \yvoof of citizenship was
required before employment could be given, they were said to make the
same papers do service for many or to present fraudulent documents.
The contention that the Italian laborer is always underpaid or
receives less wages than the market price seems unfounded so far as
employment in the large cities is concerned. Exceptions are perhaps
not wanting. Satisfactory data on the subject of wages paid under
the padrone system were unobtainable. In outlying places, however,
the newcomer may not infrequently be found to work for less than the
price o f local labor, but then it is the contractor rather than the boss
who reaps the advantage. On the other hand, the Italian is every
where handicapped by reason of having to pay the bossatura and other
commissions to the boss.
So far all efforts made in New York to exterminate the padrone
system have failed, so firmly is it rooted. Within a few years the
bosses have prevented legislation at Albany aiming at the ameliora
tion o f the lot o f the Italian laborer. Another instance is that of the
Italian Independent Labor Union, organized for the purpose of protect
ing the immigrant “ from the tyranny and extortion of that class of
employers or labor brokers called the bosses or padroni, to prevent his
122
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
being held in involuntary servitude in the United States, and to assist
and care for those who may require help because of misfortune, pov
erty, or sickness.” Within a short time the membership of the union
rose to more than 1,000, who paid annual dues of $2 each. The bosses
made war against it, assisted by the suspiciousness and strongkeadedness of the laborers themselves, who, according to their own country
men, always take the worst advice. The society is now defunct. It
should be said that the attempts at reform have suffered for lack of
intelligent backing from outsiders.
To make the Italian bosses and bankers shoulder the entire blame
for the existence o f the padrone system were manifestly unjust. That
contractors and other employers are more or less in league with them
can not be doubted, no matter what their nationality. It has been
established beyond denial that they sell boarding privileges, ask a
bonus from the padrone for giving employment, refuse to pay for over
time, and the like. Cases have, moreover, come to the surface showing
that American employers have adopted padrone methods, sometimes
on a large scale. A single incident may suffice as an illustration. The
writer has before him a list containing the names of 23 Italians and
the sum each one paid to an American connected with one of the
largest railroads in New York in hopes of securing permanent situa
tions. The total amount aggregates $1,605, and ranges from $10 to
$115 per man. The men, at least some of them, were put to work for
a short time and then discharged. The dishonest official, be it said,
finally suffered the same fate, but his victims obtained no further satis
faction. The matter was brought to the attention of the courts with
out being settled. This was the St. John’s Park case, which is typical
of many.
It is obviously impossible to state with any claim to accuracy what
proportion of the Italian population of New York and adjoining munici
palities is subject in some degree to the padrone system. One may
not wander far from the truth by placing it at two-thirds, at least, of
the male population. An attempt to express the matter in figures
would be the merest guesswork, since one can but guess at the number
of Italian-born inhabitants of the places in question. The census of
1890 gives New York 39,951 Italians, Brooklyn 9,563, Jersey City
1,495, and Newark, N. J., 2,921, a total of 53,930. From July 1,1890,
to April 30,1896, 323,621 (a) Italian immigrants arrived at the port of
New York, or not far from twice as many as the total Italian-born
population in the United States recorded at the last census. But a
great many o f them had been in the United States jireviously; of the
^This total is made up as follows: For the years ending June 30, 1891 and 1892,
the figures are taken from tlie reports o f the Bureau o f Statistics on foreign com
merce and navigation, immigration, and tonnage; for the years ending Juno 30,
1893, 1894, and 1895, from the reports o f the Superintendent o f Immigration, and for
the period from July 1, 1895, to April 30, 1896, from Dr. Senner’s article referred to
in a preceding note.
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
123
arrivals from July 1,1893, to December 31,1895, for instance, no less
than 21,692. (a) Another bewildering factor is the number of Italians
who annually leave our ports for the home land. Dr. Senner estimates
that during the last-mentioned period of two years and a half 62,678
Italians took passage from the United States, a number greatly exceed
ing that of the persons who arrived for the first time. The estimate is
based on returns furnished by the steamship companies. All that can
be said, therefore, without assuming what is not capable of proof, is
that the Italian residents of Hew York and vicinity, are more numer
ous than ever, and that a majority of them, since they are unskilled
laborers, feel the touch of the padrone system.
The Italian colony of Philadelphia, which is estimated at over 20,000
(census of 1890, 6,799), is third in point of numbers. Here also the
bosses have intrenched themselves, but do not appear to carry things
in such a high-handed manner as in Hew York. Several reasons may
account for this. Few immigrant ships carrying Italians reach Phila
delphia, x^erhaps four or five in the course of a year. Many of those
joining the colony are not strangers to the ways of the country, having
lived for some time in Hew York and Brooklyn, and come with an idea
of more permanent settlement. The Italian quarter contains only a
few tenement houses of considerable size, smaller homes being the rule,
many being owned by the occupants. The politicians have taken a
goodly number of Italians in hand, had them naturalized, and formed
them into clubs. While this may not per se be equivalent to greater
protection from the bosses, it has brought the Italian into prominence
and opened avenues of employment beyond the immediate control of
the bosses. Thus the Italians seem to have an exclusive claim on the
work of keej)ing the streets of Philadelphia clean. Yet, since this work
is allotted by contract, and no Italian is engaged unless he is a member
of an organization known as the 8'ocieta Operaja di Mutuo Soccorso,
which is controlled by the bosses, the padrone system shows its hand
here, too, although in a milder form. The bosses are mainly active in
sending laborers to inland towns and, during the summer, to the fruit
farms of Hew Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. In i>roportion to the
population they are not so numerous as in Hew York, nor are they so
powerful. Their methods and ways do not differ essentially from those
already described.
The Italian colony of Boston is the fourth in size, with over 15,000,
according to popular estimate (census of 1890,4,718). Its increase has
largely taken place through direct immigration. That the padrone
system is extensive in Boston has long been known. Its features are
practically identical with those noted. The many bosses, mainly bossacliij continue to supxffy nearly all there is of unskilled Italian labor to
the railroads and for the multitude of contract jobs carried on in the
cities and towns of Massachusetts. Many instances of the crooked
a Dr. Senner’s figures.
124
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
doings of the bosses have been printed in ISAmico del PopoUj the one
time organ of the Italian Workmen’s Aid Association of Boston. Prob
ably in no other city in the country have efforts led by people outside
the colony been made to dislodge the bosses and improve the condition
o f their victims. So far the attempts of the society just mentioned have
not been wholly successful. It has, however, succeeded in calling public
attention to many abuses, found employment for a number through its
own bureau, and secured the enactment of an important legal measure.
Formerly the Italian laborers, on finishing a job, would often find them
selves defrauded out of the last week’s wages, which were withheld by
the contractor. In order to recover the amount it was necessary for
each man to bring a separate suit against the employer. But since the
court expenses would amount to at least $13, they naturally preferred
to lose the week’s wages. The law enacted at the suggestion of the
Italian Workmen’s Aid Association and approved May 28,1896, enables
persons to whom small sums are owing for manual labor to pool their
issues by allowing one man to sue for the recovery of the money due all.
The full text of the law follows:
In actions of contract for the recovery o f money due for manual labor
two or more persons may join in one action against the same defendant
or defendants when the claim of no one of such persons exceeds the sum
of twenty dollars, although the claims of such persons are not joint;
and each of such persons so joining may recover the sum found to be
due to him personally. The claim of each person so joining shall be
stated in a separate count in the declaration, and the court may make
such order for the trial of issues as shall be found most convenient and
may enter separate judgments and issue one or more executions, and
may make such order concerning costs as in its opinion justice may
require.
In addition to the difficulty experienced in keeping alive a feeling
against the padrone system among the impulsive Italians after the first
indignant outburst has subsided, a serious obstacle to reform is found in
the shifting character of the population. A local Italian pastor states
that membership in his congregation lasts, on an average, something
over two years, which period would thus fairly indicate the average
length of residence.
The existence o f the padrone system in other large cities, notably
Baltimore, New Orleans, and Chicago, is well established. San
Francisco, notwithstanding its large Italian colony, seems to form an
exception in this respect, principally for the reason that the cost of
transportation across the continent is a barrier to a considerable direct
immigration and precludes the arrival of the impoverished and least
intelligent. Since a majority of Italians come to San Francisco after
a more or less protracted residence in this country, it may be supposed
that they have outgrown the necessity of seeking employment through
bosses of their own nationality. Hard times, causing the practical
suspension for several years past of works requiring unskilled laborers
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
125
in large numbers, would also have made a successful operation of the
padrone system impossible, (a)
It is interesting in passing to observe the degree of notoriety the
system has attained in the labor world. The letters received from
labor leaders by the United States Commissioners of Immigration, in
reply to a circular requesting information about the padrone system,
and printed in their report for 1895, disclose these facts: Out of 30
letter writers 8 did not answer the questions put, 4 confessed them
selves as ignorant on the subject or as not comprehending the term
“ padrone,” 1 states that the system has not reached his locality, 2 that
it does not exist in their respective trades, while 15 claim knowledge of
it. Among the latter are representatives of labor unions in the large
cities of Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and California.
Several of them mention that the system flourishes among the Arme
nians, Poles, Hungarians, and probably other nationalities represented
in the United States as well as among the Italians—a statement of
undeniable truth—but not one asserts that it has affected the organ
ized trades except in times of strikes.
The peculiar system of banking in vogue among the Italians of this
country deserves special attention. Its close alliance with the padrone
system has been intimated. The boss supplies a large share of the
patronage o f the banker, at least indirectly. More often than not the
boss requires his men to bring their savings for deposit with a named
banker under threat of discharge. The banker frequently shares the
bossatura and other moneys extorted from the laborer. The men who
work under a boss during the summer fill his boarding houses in win
ter, etc. How invaluable the banker becomes to the boss has already
been shown. Many of the present-time bankers are said to be retired
bosses. Hence their institutions may also for this reason properly
be called padrone banks, although they are not known under this appel
lation.
It has not been learned who came first, the bankers or the bosses.
The former, however, have some excuse for their being in the fact that,
in addition to the jnany facilities their places of business afford the
Italians, as will presently be shown, they supply a distinct want. The
laborer apparently cares little for ordinary rates of interest. A bank is
to him not a place where his savings are increased, but simply a big safe
where they may be kept intact until he wishes to send them to Italy. The
American savings banks are unwilling to have deposits withdrawn at
the end o f two or three months after the fashion of the Italian laborer,
and they do not make it a business to transmit small sums abroad.
Aside from the difficulties of language, which often debar the Italian
from our own institutions, the savings banks do not seek his patronage
as a depositor.
a The information concerning conditions on the Pacific Coast has been obtained
through Mr. O. Albert Bernard, an expert of the United States Department of Labor.
7535—No. 9-----2
126
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Tlie Italian quarter of New York contains about 150 so-called banks.
Most of them are found on Mulberry, Mott, Elizabeth, and Spring streets,
some having branches in Little Italy uptown. Probably not a single
one of them has a legal status under the banking laws of the State, not
excepting the half dozen or so which are held to be honest in ail trans
actions. Many o f the bankers are presumably ignorant of the law, since
they can neither read nor speak English. The number o f these banks
is not surprising when it is known that it does not require capital to
open one. Not long ago a man who had just fitted up banking apart
ments sent a pitiful appeal to a friend requesting a loan of $10, as he
had no money to buy food with.
Most of the banks in New York are shabby little affairs, run in con
nection with lodging-houses, restaurants, grocery stores, macaroni fac
tories, beer saloons, cigar shops, etc., but under imposing names, such
as Banco, Roma, Banco Italiana, Banco Abbruzzese, and the like. Other
signs read simply Banchierc, Cambio Volute, and Avvisi Legali. Some
try to attract attention through a display in the windows of American
currency, Italian lira notes, a few gold pieces, along with worthless
duplicate drafts, old express receipts, and Confederate money. How
multifarious are the occupations of the Italian banker may be gathered
from the translation below of a letter head obtained from one of the
profession:
“ Eemittances in any sum whatever to all the post-offices in Italy,
Switzerland, France, and Austria, in paper money, gold francs and
florins, in the quickest and safest way. Telegraphic orders. Drafts,
payable at sight, on all the principal cities of Europe. Notary public;
legal advice free. Ocean and E. E. tickets. Intelligence office. Ship
pers by package post. Custom-house brokers. Depot for Marsala and
table wines. Depot for S. Antonino tobacco, imported, prime quality.”
Most bankers have their own compari, one to four, according to the
magnitude of the establishment, who maybe seen loafing on the prem
ises at all hours. How they facilitate the operations of the boss we
already know. For the rest, their business is to attract customers and,
by singing the praises of the bank, induce the laborer to deposit his
money there, buy steamship tickets, or obtain any favor he may call
for. They are also the ones who are to meet the new arrivals and con
duct the immigrant to the wharf or railway station. The relation of
the banker to his customer is of a peculiarly confidential nature. He
writes the laborers’ letters and receives them, the post-office branch of
the bank being one of the most important. This work, called franco
hollo, is invariably paid for. He becomes, furthermore, the cafone’s
marriage broker for a compensation, and acts frequently as his legal
adviser. It is thus plain that the banker has exceptional opportuni
ties for petty extortions. His principal business as a banker is, o f
course, to exchange, remit, and receive money on deposit. On turning
over his dollars to the bank, the laborer is not given a regular receipt^
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
127
much less a bank book, but a slip of paper on which only the sum
deposited is written. After several deposits and withdrawals have
been made.it commonly happens that the figuring of the banker does
not agree with that of the customer. Since the latter is generally
unable to read, it is easy for the banker to persuade him that he is
mistaken. In any case a mistake can not be rectified after the cus
tomer leaves the bank. The profit remains with the banker, and the
other, childlike as he is, soon forgets all about the possible injury done
him. In exchanging money, both for immigrants and emigrants, dis
honesty on the part of the banker is very common, but not easily
detected on account of the ignorance of the average Italian. A third
transaction which must be described is that of remitting money to Italy.
No complaint is made because bankers allow themselves a liberal fee
for this service. But it sometimes happens that the money never
reaches its destination. Yet the banker retains a reputation for
honesty, for did he not give the customer back 50 cents or a dollar,
saying that it represented the exchange (cambio), and that he would
not be guilty of taking more than his dues? Or, if this excuse is too
threadbare, the banker may say that the steamer carrying the mails
has foundered, or, better, he blames the American post-office, against
which he will at once bring suit for the recovery of the loss. It is, in
fact, a part of the policy of the Italian banker to instill suspicion of
American officials into the minds of his countrymen for the purpose
of retaining their trade. Few of the bankers are licensed to conduct
an employment office, still this is generally one of their most important
occupations. A s notaries they find opportunity for charging all sorts
of imaginary fees under the pretense that so much must be paid for
registroj protoeollo, and the hollo scrittura. Their legal advice is either
of a selfish nature or else plain humbug. They are, of course, not
members of the bar. The services of the banker as a peacemaker are
sometimes sought, or he may be said to sit as a kind of justice of the
peace. Finally, the banker is the one man who can furnish bail when
one of his countrymen is arrested. Some establisments have a fixed
tariff for giving bail or going on bonds. An instance was discovered in
which $100 had been charged for furnishing bail to the amount of $200.
It is an old story that several Italian bankers have no other purpose
than that o f waiting until they have accumulated large deposits, when
they abscond, leaving no trace behind them. In order to draw cus
tomers, they promise an unusual rate of interest (in a recent instance 12
per cent), while they stipulate that no deposits shall be withdrawn
within a specified time. During the progress of this investigation two
bankers in New York left for parts unknown, taking with them, so it
was reported, over $50,000 in workmen’s wages. The affair created
hardly a stir. No effort was made to find the defaulters, and they left
no bondsmen who could make good the losses. The apprehension and
conviction of a defaulting Italian banker is an exceedingly rare occur
rence.
128
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
There is a class of bankers in New York occupying a.still lower level
than the one described. Their places are the haunts of the most
degraded of their countrymen. The laborer is always made welcome
there. A back room is reserved where he may drink and gamble by
day and sleep at night. To this chamber he may bring women. The
banker gets rent from one and a share of the profits o f the other. It is
notorious that liquor is sold in these places seven days in the week.
It is interesting to note that an Italian savings bank is about to be
opened in New York under the auspices of certain bosses.
Statements relative to the vast sums sent out of this country through
the medium of Italian banks should be taken with a grain of allowance
for imaginative facts. The Senate Committee on Immigration, sitting
in 1893, is said to have “ developed?? the fact that in an average year
the Italian banks of New York send abroad from $25,000,000 to
$30,000,000. It is known that other cities, even those in the immediate
vicinity of New York, have their own Italian banks; furthermore,
that the prominent Italian business man does not patronize the insti
tutions on Mott and Mulberry streets. The vast sums mentioned must
thus be taken to represent the earnings of laborers and small trades
people. Assuming, therefore, that New York in 1892 contained 50,000
Italian wage earners, which would very nearly equal the total Italian
population o f New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Newark together,
according to the census of 1890, with no allowance for women and chil
dren, the average savings o f these 50,000 would have to reach the sum
of $500 per head annually in order to foot up the lesser of the two sums
referred to. It is needless to say that the average gross earnings of
the Italian in this country is much less than $500 per annum, let alone
his possible savings.
Philadelphia has about twenty-five Italian banks. Most o f them are
to be sought in the so-called slum districts, on South Seventh street
and near-by thoroughfares. In general character they are on a par
with the better of the New York banks. One o f them, a very uninvit
ing place, advertises itself as representing two well-known strong
banks under the control o f the Italian Government (rappresentanti del
Banco di Napoli e del Banco di Sicilia). A few years ago eight or nine
of the bankers in Philadelphia defaulted at brief intervals. This gave
a setback to the others and induced many Italians to trust their sav
ings to American institutions. About 4,000 members o f the colony
are now stated to be regular depositors in ordinary savings banks.
The banking business carried on in the Italian colony of Boston has
gained a good deal o f notoriety through the attempts made at exposing
its abuses. It, as well as conditions generally, is pictured as follows
in a recent public appeal of the Italian Workmen’s Aid Association of
Boston, a society under the supervision o f prominent Americans:
u There are more than 15,000 Italian residents o f Boston. O f these
the greater part consists o f peasants from the country districts of
THE PADRONE SYSTEM AND PADRONE BANKS.
129
Italy, who are almost entirely unacquainted with the language and
laws of our land. They are thus in a condition of such helplessness
as makes them ready victims to the extortion and abuse of a small
fraction of their number, who, under the pretense of finding them
employment or of investing their savings and making transmittances of
money to Italy, are simply robbing them and keeping them in squalor
and misery. The former, as padrones or bosses, charge extortionate
commissions whenever employment is provided, and sometimes even
exact it without furnishing the work. The latter, under the name of
bankers, demand extravagant rates for the transmission of money, and
even then, in many cases, neglect to forward the sums that have been
intrusted to them.”
To meet the situation, the association just referred to opened a bank
of its own. Thus far it has not been able to compete with the Italian
banks on an equal footing, partly for lack of funds, which allow it to
keep open at intervals, while the others are accessible at all times,
especially on Sundays, the banking day par excellence, and partly
because it has not yet won the necessary confidence of the Italians.
Of the majority of the Italian banks in Boston it is enough to say
that they are neither better nor worse than those of the other cities.
There are about twenty of them all told. Notwithstanding the many
lessons had, the forgetful Italian continues to trust them with his all.
Owing to the movement of the population and the fresh immigration,
the least scrupulous of the bankers experience no difficulty in finding
customers who have not yet learned their ways.
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
B Y J. H OW ARD GORE, PH . D ., COLUMBIAN U N IV E R SIT Y.
The conditions o f existence in the Netherlands are such as to develop
charitable impulses and the spirit of cooperation. Since the greater
part of the land is below the level of the sea, the liability to loss of life
and property from overflows engenders sympathy, for the fortunate
who escaped this year may be the ones who next year will be compelled
to ask for assistance. One person alone can not build a dike, neither
can he check in time a threatened break. Labor, therefore, can never
be selfish and individual. The lesson learned in the war with the sea
becomes a guide in organizing the battle with competition, and guilds
and corporations are the result.
f
It is, therefore, not surprising to find, with its headquarters in Am
sterdam, a society for general welfare, whose members are taken from
all classes, and whose purpose is “ to advance general prosperity and
to strive for the promotion of the intellectual, moral, and social condition
of the people, especially by fostering education, by ennobling their con
cept of life, by increasing the earning capacity of the wage earner, and
by enabling him to better enjoy the fruits o f his labor.”
The originator of the society was Jan Nieuwenhuizen, a pious exhorter
(pastor) of Monnikendam. He set before himself the task o f raising
the moral, educational, and material standard of his fellow-citizens; to
prepare them, as far as possible, for the enlarged citizenship, which he
thought would soon be their portion. Together with his son Martinus,
a physician, he founded in 1784 the society bearing the simple but comX>rehensive name, “ Tot Nut van ?t Algemeen” (for the welfare of all),
having in view “ the increase of knowledge, justice, and morality among
the common people.” He considered that equality had its basis in equal
attainments; that without a clear conception o f justice liberty would
be a menace, and that universal brotherhood could not be recognized
unless the claimant was morally beyond reproach. The economic and
social conditions of Europe in general, rather than of the Netherlands
in particular, formed the background against which this society stands
out. Constitutional and social freedom dawned with the close of the
eighteenth century; hence it was necessary to aid the people by precept
and example in becoming qualified to enjoy this freedom. Freedom had
been a precious word to the Dutch. They had inherited it from William
the Silent, and their loss of all that the word meant during the jreign of
130
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
131
some of liis successors insured for the founders of this society a rever
ential hearing when they declared freedom to be an inalienable right of
man; nor was there any open dissent when they added that “ in the
enjoyment of that freedom the immediate welfare of the people must
be considered, and such instruction given to them as to make them
callable o f self-government.” There was an intimation of the farreaching hopes o f the society in the first article of the constitution,
adopted in 1786, which read: “ Anyone of whatsoever religious faith,
wherever residing, and of whatever age, shall be eligible for member
ship in this society.” In 1788 the words “ religious faith” were changed
into “ Christian belief,” with the intention to exclude thereby those of
the Jewish faith. This restriction was ignored in 1861, and in 1888 the
original article was reenacted.
The first society was organized at Edam in 1781, and in 1789 it
removed to Amsterdam, when it announced as its purpose “ to spread
abroad good, popular, and cheap books, to improve the schools, and to
reward deeds o f valor and virtue.” In the beginning it was difficult
to outline clearly and definitely the wray in which such purposes were
to be carried out. Good books were not easily obtainable at this time.
The scientific works were too technical to be understood by the “ com
mon man,” and were also too expensive. Hence one of the first things
to be done was to encourage the writing of such books as were wanted.
To this end topics were proposed and a prize offered to the writer of
the best essay or treatise submitted. The first subject proposed was
“ The existence o f God.” The essay to which was adjudged the first
prize was o f such merit that it was translated into other languages,
and people outside of the Netherlands learned of the existence of this
ambitious society. During the early years the subjects thus discussed
included religion, morality, philosophy, oratory, natural science, history,
manual training, agriculture, botany, medicine, chemistry, architecture,
commerce, navigation, jurisprudence, vocal music, gymnastics, draw
ing, and music. These were followed by a variety of publications
which bore directly upon the moral and social life of the people, written
in a style comprehensible to all, and circulated by the society as widely
as possible. This work was very important, coming as it did at a time
when the interest in such subjects was at a low ebb and the purchase
and reading of books were restricted to the rich. The writings not
only assisted in the development of the intellectual and moral character
o f the people, but in carrying the thoughts of the wisest and best
thinkers into the homes of the less fortunate these little books helped
to unify the people by making them better acquainted with the nations
language.
The founders fully realized that the greatest power of the society lay
in its avowed purpose to extend education, and they asserted more
than once that the education of the youth would give to the country
men and women of culture. Just what the schools were at this period
132
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
can be seen by a visit to the School Museum of Amsterdam, where the
school furniture as well as schoolbooks are exhibited. The school
masters were masters in fact as well as in name, and the pupils were
driven by fear rather than led on by love of knowledge. It was neces
sary, therefore, to teach the teachers. This the society did in part by
the publication o f 45 books—in 180 editions—on educational topics,
between the years 1786 and 1834. This general movement of the society,
penetrating as it did all classes, soon elevated the teaching profession
both in the minds o f the teachers and of the patrons, and better schools
were the result. As early as 1795 the Government appreciated the
importance of the work which the society was doing along educational
lines and asked its opinion regarding the establishment of public
schools. From its experience the society was enabled to advocate the
project, and also to outline the general plan for carrying it out. In 1806
public schools were established, and it is well to know that the scheme
actually followed is in a large measure the one proposed by the society.
It might be added also that to the same source is due the remodeled
plan adopted in 1857. In providing educational facilities for the people
at large, the State did not consider it was its duty to furnish technical
or professional training. But the society, recognizing that many of
the persons whom it sought to benefit were either too old to attend the
public schools or that they must early become wage earners, soon
added to its curriculum drawing and the useful trades. In this con
nection attention might be called to the way in which the society’s
influence for technical and higher education has permeated the Nether
lands, as shown in the department at Nymwegen, which, with its 311
members, sustains without aid a free kindergarten, a pay kindergarten,
and a school for girls, and collected within a single year $16,000 for
educational purposes.
This much attention has been given to the origin of the society and
its educational work during the first years of its existence in order to
show how its present functions have developed from the primal idea of
teaching. To recapitulate, it might be said that the founders realized
the importance of educating the people up to the most wholesome use
o f the rights which were believed to be at hand. The people responded
so heartily to these efforts that broader courses were offered and other
classes reached, and finally, when their intellectual attainments were
such as to demand better hygienic surroundings, broader spheres of use
fulness, more remunerative occupations, and less enforced idleness, the
society saw that it must meet these wants which it had in part created
and promptly began its enlarged work.
In order to see how this larger work is accomplished, it will be neces
sary to examine the salient features of its constitution. But before doing
so it must be said that an important feature of the organization is that
the power o f the society lies in the departments, not in tlie central or
executive committee—in the members, not in the officers alone. As
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL
WELFARE.
133
already stated, tlie purpose of the society is “ to strive for the better
ment of the intellectual, moral, and social conditions of the people,” and
this purpose is to be attained “ independent of any religious sect or
political party,” nor can anyone be excluded from membership because
of his church or party affiliations. Each member pays annually $2.10,
or more if he feels so disposed, into the local treasury, and of this 74
cents is handed over to the central organization for general purposes.
Whenever as many as eighteen persons in one locality express a desire to
become members by sending their dues to the central committee, they
can be organized into a department. But in order to avoid a dissipation
of energy only one department is permitted in the same place.
In the plan thus outlined appear two quite distinct organizations—
the department with its own local officers, and the central committee,
which is composed of twelve members, six of whom must reside in
Amsterdam. Two members of this committee retire each year and
their successors are elected by the delegates of all the departments at
their annual meeting. The general work of the society is directed by
this central committee, together with the general secretary. However,
any department can propose a line of work or suggest any special
investigation which it may deem advisable. If such a proposition should
require an appropriation for its carrying out, it must be discussed at
the annual meeting. To avoid undue haste in disposing of a proposed
scheme or investigation, it is required that the proposing department
send its measure to the central committee at least four months before
the annual meeting. The committee, some weeks before this meeting,
distributes to the members of the society the propositions which have
been submitted, together with its opinion regarding each. In this way
the departments can discuss these propositions and give, if they like,
instructions to their delegates as to how they are to vote. To this
annual meeting, which is held at Amsterdam on the Wednesday after
Whitsuntide, each department can send one or two delegates, who, in
voting, have the following number of votes: For 8 members the depart
ment has 1 vote; for 9 to 25 members, 2 votes; for 26 to 50 members,
3 votes; for 51 to 75 members, 4 votes; for 76 to 100 members, 5 votes;
for 101 to 150 members, 6 votes; for 151 to 200 members, 7 votes; for
201 to 300 members, 8 votes; for 301 to 400 members, 9 votes; for 401
to 600 members, 10 votes, and for each 200 members in excess of 600
1 vote. The constitution must be explicit, as it is for the guidance of
a large number o f persons of varying degrees of intelligence, all of
whom feel that they have a financial interest, if no other, in the society.
This is evidently attained in the 74 articles of which the constitution
consists. In order to keep up with the growth of the organization, as
well as to meet any new demands that may arise, it is provided that
the constitution must be referred to a revisory committee every ten
years.
The work accomplished is of a dual character—that of the depart
ment, which is of its own devising and execution, and that of the central
134
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
committee, which is carried on only under the instruction of the society,
given at the annual meeting. In order to realize what the 312 depart
ments are doing, it will be necessary merely to glance at the following
figures, showing the number and kinds of institutions which they sus
tain, viz, 4 bathing establishments, 17 burial funds, 20 committees for
securing better attendance on the schools, 68 playgrounds for children,
34 libraries for the young, 7 normal kindergarten courses, 2 courses in
cooking and housekeeping, 7 workingmen’s funds, 23 flower societies, 2
common schools, 24 schools for gymnastics, 0 Sunday schools, 36 loaning
banks, 2 industrial schools, 2 lying-in funds, 3 intermediate schools, 5
reading clubs, 6 committees for bringing about broader courses of study
in the schools, 4 musical clubs, 5 aid funds, 31 schools for hand work,
33 schools for woman’s work, 2 schools for bookkeeping, 13 school libra
ries, 11 school savings banks, 164 savings banks, 5 savings funds, 32
drawing schools, 2 industrial expositions, 2 Toynbee organizations, 16
committees for hiring playgrounds, 2 building associations, 4 committees
for the distribution of fuel, 9 committees for the distribution of food,
333 public libraries, 3 reading rooms, 51 courses of public lectures, 3
committees for alleviating poverty, 11 committees for securing work for
the unemployed, 20 singing schools, 32 sick funds, and one o f each of
the following: Creche, building fund, school for marble carving, school
for basket making, school for domestic service, trade school, school for
wood carving, normal school, directory for nurses, industrial museum,
school for English, nautical school, pension fund, school for adults, and
drawing school for adults—in all, 1,071 distinct lines of work, primarily
for the working classes, managed and supported by 13,690 members,
laboring in 312 groups. It is quite impossible to estimate the amount
o f good thus accomplished in a country where the total population is
only about 4,800,000.
This large membership) of 13,690 practically permeates the entire
citizenship, and those agencies which are agreed upon as beneficial can,
by a concerted act, be placed in a short time before the people. It
might be thought that the different departments waste time and energy
in experimenting, in trying to ascertain the best means of carrying out
the work decided upon. This, however, is not so. In each case when
some new line o f activity has been devised, the department originating
it asks the central committee to investigate the project and report upon
it. A s a result of these investigations many futile projects have been
abandoned, while those which contributed most to the general welfare
are conducted along the most promising lines.
It will be noticed that public libraries lead the institutions in point
o f number. The library is a recognized teacher and, therefore, con
tributes to the carrying out of the original purpose of the society.
The central committee is in a position to aid these libraries by buying
books for them at wholesale rates. It also publishes and issues gratu
itously a list o f books suitable for youths between 12 and 18 years of
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
135
age. It is a matter of great importance to recommend good books to
persons wlio are at a formative age, especially to those whose parents
are not in all cases capable of advising. The result of this effort to
cultivate the taste of the youths and to elevate their standard shows
itself in each rising generation, who, in turn, take a greater interest in
the society and become safer counselors for their children.
Each department holds its regular meetings as often as it likes, and in
all respects it is independent of the central committee and of all the
other departments. Its chief relation to the central committee is in its
contribution to the society at large and in the reports which it period
ically renders. Some of the departments own buildings in which the
work is conducted. Such a building would contain a large room for
public lectures and meetings, with smaller apartments for reading room,
library, and other purposes. In many instances the department takes
on the functions of a j)eople?s club, and its weekly meeting is an oc
casion when the members’ families meet in social intercourse. The
membership being more or less mixed, these gatherings afford an opjiortunity for the meeting o f the different classes. The lower will learn
by observation from the higher and will lose much of the prejudice and
envy which is so often felt, while the higher will become more tolerant
toward the lower as they realize the burdens which the latter carry and
appreciate the obstacles which block their progress, thus leveling many
of the artificial class distinctions. In many instances there is a pre
arranged programme, consisting of short speeches, recitations, and
music, with a cup of coffee at the close of the evening. These enter
tainments perform an important function in a country where the win
ters are so long and so cold as to restrict the amusements of all except
the rich. Then, too, the departments frequently conduct art exhibits,
flower shows, and expositions of agricultural products and hand work.
In such exhibitions prizes are offered, and a great stimulus is thus given
to entire communities. Long ago, at the suggestion of the central
committee, there was put in operation the plan of giving out each
spring small plants which were to be cared for and returned on a given
date, so that awards might be made to those who showed the greatest
skill and care in handling the growing flotrers.
As has been said, the departments merely report to the central com
mittee the lines of work which they have in hand. They may ask for
assistance in carrying out their plans or that the advisability of any
particular scheme bo looked into and reported upon. The first-named
privilege leads to the general question of grants, while the second
opens up the work of what we shall call the society, as all are interested
in the reports o f each investigation. For the year 1896 the following
grants were made: For contributions to the schools in the less prosperous
districts, $2,000; for public entertainments, $200; for the purchase of
books for the department libraries, $600; for the publication of six
popular pamphlets, $320; for public lectures, $900; to aid in the estab
lishment of loaning banks, $400; to continue the investigation as to
136
BULLETIN OP TI^E DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
the cause of idleness and the best means of eliminating the same, $400;
to aid schools for domestic science, $400 5 to furnish instruction during
hours of leisure to persons in restraint, $200; to the school commission,
$400; to the Netherlands school of acting, $200 (for the next year, $400);
for outcast children, $800; for public creche, $400; for normal kinder
garten school, $400; for renting playgrounds for children during school
vacations, $200; for distributing the publications of the society, $200;
in all, $8,020 as special grants in addition to the current expenses and
cost of publishing reports authorized at some previous time. This
general work o f the society, reaching as it does all parts o f the king
dom, brings the village communities into relation with the life o f the
larger cities, and thus tends to unify the people by eliminating local
peculiarities. It also concentrates the attention o f the active element
in the country upon some line of work which promises to contribute to
the general welfare. An avowed purpose o f the leading spirits o f the
society is to become better acquainted with the thoughts, aims, and
desires of the people; to know their needs, and to alleviate, if not
remove, their wrongs and sufferings.
We saw what the society did for popular education, how it evolved
a practical plan and allowed the State to profit by its experience and
assume control over the schools. In the economic unrest with which the
last century closed it was realized by the thoughtful men that a great
safeguard lay in the acquisition o f habits of economy, that self-respect
is implanted in the minds of those who save from their earnings, and
that a person with money to his credit is seldom a revolutionist.
Hence the work of establishing savings banks was at once taken up.
Since none but philanthropic motives actuated the movers in this
enterprise, every inducement was offered to the wage earners to deposit,
and all possible precautions were taken to protect their savings.
Beginning under such favorable auspices, it is not surprising that
savings banks conducted by the departments rapidly increased in
number and efficiency. In fact, it was this successful experiment which
showed to the officials of the State that a postal savings bank would
be a public benefit, and when the Government gave evidence of its
desire to look after the savings of the people the society cooperated by
again turning over its chapter of experience and urged the members
to patronize the postal savings bank. Still, while this bank is one of
the very best in the world, the departments have found the local sav
ings banks so beneficial that one-half of the total number conduct such
institutions.
Before leaving the subject it ought to be said that a commission
appointed by the society submitted in 1891 a very comprehensive
report on the subject o f people’s banks in general. In this report they
gave in great detail the best way for securing the pledges for a guaranty
fund, how to invest the deposits, a safe rate o f interest to pay under
varying conditions, and such cautions as should be given to beginners
in the banking business. They also submitted a model draft for a con
stitution for these banks, prescribed the form of note and security
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
137
which should be exacted in case of loans, and added copy for all blanks
that would be required in the conduct of the bank’s business. When
such a bank is organized, if solely for the benefit of the members of a
department, the society supplies it with requisite daybooks, journals,
pass books, and ledgers. In nearly all cases the savings bank has
as one of its functions a loaning feature, but the borrower must be a
member of the society. It has often been argued that the postal savings
bank is harmful in one respect—that is, it withdraws from a neighbor
hood the spare money which might be used to better advantage by
loaning it to the farmers and merchants at home. This argument can
not be made against the department banks. They invariably earn the
interest, which they pay out, from neighborhood loans.
This principle o f economy has been industriously extended along
other lines. The Belgian war for independence, 1830-31, disturbed
Butch finances, and State bonds, which had been a favorite investment
for the banks, rapidly depreciated in value, so that for a time there was
a lack o f confidence in banks of all kinds, and new inducements to save
had to be offered. The first that suggested itself was doubtless the
sick fund, the importance of laying aside something for the periods of
enforced idleness, especially during sickness, being fully realized.
This fund arose outside o f the society, and of the 650 now known to be
in operation in the Netherlands a few antedate our society.
Since the class o f persons to whom such funds appeal is a class that
can not investigate an organization, the society rightly deemed it
advisable to examine the character of these funds, ascertain their
reliability, give encouragement to those that were meritorious, and to
urge upon the poorer people to profit by the advantages offered. In
1891 a commission was appointed by the central committee “ to examine
into the condition and workings of the sick funds and burial funds in
the country, to submit a critical report upon the same, and give as far as
possible suggestions for their betterment.” The report of this commis
sion was published in 1895 and distributed to all of the departments,
if not to all the members. The general subject was discussed at con
siderable length under the following headings: A general examination
of sick funds, the field of operation of sick funds, their management,
their financial condition, their legal status, and defects in their organ
ization, with suggestions for their improvement. As can be readily
understood, it was no easy task to look carefully into the 650 organiza
tions which allowed their workings to be investigated, to collate their
reports, and exhibit in lucid form the fees, special rules, and benefits
granted during sickness; but the society has never hesitated to under
take any work whose results promise a contribution toward the wel
fare of the people. The commission charged with this work evolved
from their investigations and study the rules of an ideal sick fund?
which, if the future does not belie the past, will soon exist as a reality
and suggest valuable modifications to those now in operation.
138
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Closely related to the sick funds are the species of funds known as
burial funds, or a sort of insurance in which there is an agreement on
the part of the organization to inter the deceased or to pay at the time
o f the death of the contributor a sum sufficient to cover the cost of
interment. Organizations of this kind, usually called societies, are of
long standing in the Netherlands, the oldest being the “ Linnenweversb u s” at Delft, which was founded in 1622, They have a strong hold
upon the people, especially among the working classes, as can be seen
from the fact that the 12 societies located at The Hague have a mem
bership of 300,000, while all of the 411 within the kingdom are more or
less prosperous. It was long ago that a great evil seemed to be asso
ciated with this general scheme of burial funds. It was this: It was
necessary for these societies to secure additions to their membership by
agents, who put the heaviest pressure of persuasion upon the poor people
to insure their children’s lives. Such agents were not slow to intimate
the profit that would arise in case of the child’s death, and the large
number of deaths among children suggested that the best possible care
was not bestowed upon the insured children in times of illness. Thus
mortuary statistics from the State board of health in 1886 showed in
nine villages the following:
DEATHS PER 100 IN NINE VILLAGES OF HOLLAND.
Village.
Ysselstein
Maarsen ................................................................ ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Breukelen . . . . . . . . . . . . .... ....................... .
Mrtntfonrt,__________________________________________________________ ______________
Vcenendaal....... ......................................................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . _____. . . . . . . . .
Jutphaas ......................... .................................................................. ............ ...........................
TC
c f v n ______________________ ______________________________________________________ ____________________
St. Pieters.............................. .................................................... ................... ................. .
Maartcnsdyk......................................................................... .............................................. ..
Persons
aboxe 6
years.
1.80
1.75
1.59
1.58
1.58
1.26
1.24
1.22
1.18
Children
under 1
year.
28.66
27.34
28.60
31.10
13.23
23.54
34.34
39.18
22.61
This surely suggested a most demoralizing effect, and that upon people
who, needing relief in time o f misfortune, naturally seize whatever offer
o f assistance is most promising. It was, therefore, just such a case as
fell within the province of the society, and in 1888 a commission was
appointed to investigate the entire subject, report upon the condition
of burial funds, and recommend such changes as might bring about
their improvement and eliminate the injurious feature just referred to.
After three years o f patient investigation, in which two university pro
fessors took part, a report of 217 pages was published and widely dis
tributed. Without fear or favor they executed the work intrusted to
them, and in those cases in which the officers declined to submit,
answers to the inquiries sent out by the commission their declinations
were published. Side by side in the report are exhibited the rates of
insurance, the premiums promised, the conditions o f membership, and
as far as possible such special rules as might give information regarding
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
139
the workings of that particular organization. Such a report can not
help being of the greatest assistance to the people who desire accurate
information regarding the funds in which they are now interested or
into which they contemplate entering. The report contains also the
draft of some clauses which it was thought should be added to the laws
of the State regulating the conduct of these funds. Perhaps the most
important of these clauses is the one which, if adopted, would place all
of these funds under State control. Another important one is that
limiting the age o f children who could be received into membership.
The patronage which is accorded the two organizations last named (the
sick funds and the burial funds) shows what a strong hold the principle
of insurance has upon the Dutch. Incidentally, the commission just
referred to ascertained that 49.37 per cent of the entire population of
the Netherlands are insured and that $1,000,000 annually is paid as
premiums.
It has been the policy of the society to encourage habits of economy.
One o f the opinions firmly held was that thriftlessness, dissipation, and
idleness could best be eradicated by encouraging the people to save,
and when possible to induce them to enter upon the systematic saving
that is inseparably connected with insurance. Con sequent]y the work
which the society has done in connection with all forms o f people’s
funds has had in view the popularizing of economical habits. Just
here it might be mentioned that the society published for gratuitous
distribution a popular treatise on political economy, one on hygiene,
and one on domestic economy, having the unique title, “ Where does
the money g o ?” In this last named are given, in addition to many
valuable suggestions regarding economy in general, the specific amounts
which a workingman receiving a given wage should expend for the
various articles o f food and clothing in order to attain the best possible
results. It also shows how household accounts should be kept, and in
many ways illustrates how the wife can be made a helpmate in fact as
well as in name. A s a further help toward increasing the efficiency of
the wage earner, the society has prosecuted a number of investigations
into the nutritive properties of foods, the evils resulting from the use
of impure food ingredients, and the methods for detecting some of the
common adulterations. The result of the publication of the popular
pamphlet on this subject has been greater care on the part of dealers
to procure for their customers more wholesome supplies and the corre
sponding higher regard for healthful diet.
While speaking o f the household it might be well to merely repeat
the titles o f some pamphlets which were written for the society, pub
lished by it, and sold at the rate of 1 cent each or given away when
necessary. They are as follows; “ Our clothing, why and how we ought
to dress,” “ Individual houses or collective houses?” “ The art of becom
ing rich,” “ Your house and your home,” “ The education and care of
children during their early years,” “ Manual training as an educational
140
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
agency,” u Precautions against contagious diseases,” “ Water from a
hygienic point o f view,” “ How the pennies may be expended,” “ Labor
laws,” “ Superstition and how to suppress it,” u The State and vaccina
tion,” u The influence of alcoholic drinks upon the human system,” u Idle
ness as a phenomenon in society,” u Forestry,” “ The trade relations of
middle Europe,” u The art of housekeeping,” u The love of truthful
ness,” etc. It would be idle to attempt to estimate the amount of good
which these small treatises have done. They are written in a simple
style and freed as far as possible from confusing technicalities, conse
quently they are not only readable, but interesting, and coming as they
do into the hands of those who would otherwise be deprived of the
opportunity of learning in schools or colleges the lessons which they
wish to impart, these little tracts have been veritable missionaries.
Before leaving the household something needs to be said regarding
the work which the society has undertaken in connection with the ques
tion of homes for the working classes. The larger cities of the Neth
erlands were at one time fortified towns, and all the dwellings were for
reasons o f safety built within the fortifications, so that the growth of
the cities resulted in a crowding of the population. Cellars were used
as dwellings, and entire families lived in single rooms. It was noticed
that the death rate among people living under such unhealthful condi
tions was abnormally great, and that contagious diseases frequently
had their starting point in the crowded quarter, where they were dis
lodged with the greatest difficulty. It became necessary to bring about
a change in these conditions, not only for the benefit of the occupants
o f such unhealthful dwellings, but for the welfare o f all. This being
such a broad subject and of interest to so many, while of financial
profit to none, it naturally devolved upon the society to take the matter
in hand. In 1887 a commission, consisting of two engineers and one
lawyer, was appointed to investigate the general question o f working
men’s homes and submit a report. First of all, they laid down the gen
eral proposition that since the household affairs are in the hands of the
wife and since she spends more of her time in the home than the hus
band does, any efficient sentiment in favor of improving the house must
emanate from her. She must be taught to place a higher estimate upon
cleanliness and neatness and be impressed with the knowledge of how
unsanitary conditions endanger the lives of her children. To this end
hygiene should be taught in the schools, especially in the classes for
girls. When there is awakened a feeling of dissatisfaction with houses
unfit for occupancy, the builders will meet the demand for a better class
of houses by at once erecting them. The commission, therefore, in its
report, submitted in 1890, dwelt at great length upon the conditions
which render a house undesirable from the standpoint of health and
difficult for the housewife to keep in order. Abundant statistics were
given, showing just where such localities were in the principal cities of
the kingdom.
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
141
The second part of its task was to show what constituted an ideal
home for a workingman, and under this head were discussed such
topics as location, choice of materials, thickness of walls, internal
arrangements, ventilation, and cost. Since the item last named would
be the one first considered by builders, the commission submitted a num
ber of designs, many o f which could be adapted to old buildings, showing
the most economical distribution of space, the area of each room, and
the estimate o f the cost per square meter. In these plans the available
room varies from 65 to 89 per cent of the ground covered. It is desirable
to cultivate as far as possible a home like feeling, consequently indi
vidual houses are preferable, especially when a piece of ground is
attached. This can be cultivated, and in hot weather a man can escape
the heat of indoors without leaving the family circle to seek refuge
perhaps in a neighboring barroom. Such considerations as these have
influenced to a marked degree builders of houses for the working classes
and have been duly regarded by factories and corporations which are
providing homes for their employees. Cities also are weighing the
question. It is impossible for city manufactories to prosper if the
wages demanded are made exorbitant because of the rent demanded
of the workmen 5 nor can the laborers, who accept the wages which the
employer can afford to give, pay a high rent and have enough money
remaining with which to procure suitable food. The housing of the
working classes, therefore, becomes a municipal question.
The ideal condition is attained when the laborer becomes the owner
o f his home; and to the praise of the Netherlands it must be said that
many successful schemes have been put in operation which are aiding
in bringing about this condition. These associations in themselves
would furnish a fruitful field for investigation. Some involve an insur
ance feature—that is, the rent is such that it is regulated by the age
of the renter, and at the end of a fixed number of years, or prior death,
the house becomes the property of the occupant. In other cases the
payments are such that the excess over and above a certain per cent
of the cost of the house is set aside as a reserve fund out of which
arrears for rent that accrued during enfored idleness can be paid or
payments be made on the house itself. Of course there must be some
central organization with capital enough to hold property while it is
being paid for in this manner. These organizations, somewhat like the
building associations in this country, are independent of State and
municipalities; but in several instances the cities have aided them, as,
for example, Leyden advanced $40,000 to enable these societies to pur
chase land on which to erect houses for workingmen, and on this sum
the city receives only 3£ per cent interest. Savings banks also which
are conducted on the mutual plan have loaned them money. In addition
to this it has been proposed that all city lots which are sold for taxes
should be bought in by the city and utilized as sites for workingmen’s
homes, but a bill providing for the employment of a part of the funds of
7535—No. 9----- 3
142
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the postal sayings bank as loans to building associations was recently
defeated in the National Congress by a vote of 47 to 21.
The Society for General Welfare has never been in a position to give
financial assistance to the building associations, but it has spread
abroad a large amount of information regarding the housing o f the work
ing classes and contributed more than any other agency to the general
sentiment in favor of home owning. In addition to that, it has most
carefully investigated the status of the building laws and recommended
improvements in them, several of which will at once go into effect.
More important still, it has, through its publications, informed the
people, to whom such information would scarcely come otherwise, just
what they have a right to expect from landlords in the way of hygienic
arrangements. It has shown even the day laborer how he may in time
become the owner o f a home, and in every way possible it has urged
him to attempt the undertaking. It is interesting to note that practi
cally all o f the building associations refuse to admit to membership men
known to be drunkards, so that when the society induces a man to make
a start toward acquiring a home through their agency it also places
an obstacle in the way of intemperance at the same time it inculcates
habits of economy.
References have been made to reports and other publications through
which the society reaches those whom it seeks to benefit. There is still
another channel, even older than these, which has been used with good
results—that is, public lectures.
The society in 1896 made a grant of $1,000 toward aiding those
departments desiring to have a course of lectures. It secured the
services of 26 speakers and announced for the winter 89 topics. In
order to secure a speaker, the department is assessed 10 cents for each
member, but if the membership exceeds 80 the fee demanded is only $8.
It has been estimated that the average cost for traveling and entertain
ment is about the sum named, and if the assessment is not sufficient
the society makes good the deficit from the appropriation available for
this purpose. The speakers give their services gratuitously.
In the range o f topics announced may be found all the subjects which
the society has had at heart, and the lectures frequently amplify and
accentuate the reports which recently appeared. In the arrangements
for the lectures the departments have absolute freedom. They can
admit the public with or without charge for admission, issue tickets o f
invitation, or restrict the attendance to the members and their families,
just as they wish. No attempt has been made in this connection to
introduce the so-called university extension, but the matter is under
advisement, and if it should be found adaptable to the functions o f the
society and within the power of the departments to carry it on, we may
expect to find the work in operation before long.
The relations o f the Society for General Welfare to society at large
and its attitude to the family unit have been discussed at some length.
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
143
It now remains to give an account of what it is doing more especially
for the individual, specifically for the individual as a wage earner.
Incidentally this feature has received some attention. Thus the man can
not render efficient service unless he be well clothed, well housed, and
I>roperly fed. Hence these points occupied the society and have been
referred to already. The man who is saving appreciates the value of
property and wastes less of his employer’s time and material; one who
drinks is seldom trusted and, therefore, with difficulty finds work, and
the man who has a high moral standard and intellectual attainments is
all the more desirable in positions of responsibility. But there are
many persons seeking work whoso only capital is muscle, and who have
but little to offer besides a pair of hands. What is the society doing
for these? Such persons usually cry out when want comes near, “ I
can not find work.” This the society well knows and devotes a large
amount of time to the study of the general question, u Idleness.”
There are in all communities persons capable and willing to work
who suffer because of insufficient compensation. In their enforced
idleness much valuable labor is lost to the community. It is also true
that many inexperienced and hence unsatisfactory laborers are engaged
upon work when skilled workmen might bo had if they only knew
where work was awaiting them. In this failure of the employer to find
the class of workmen best suited to the tasks he has in hand indiffer
ent men are employed, and they, finding work for whose execution they
have made no preparation, see no necessity for undergoing special train
ing. Others, recognizing this state of affairs, enter upon their struggle
for existence without the requisite training, and the number of poorly
prepared workmen tends to increase. This is especially true in the
Netherlands, where the working classes move about but little and, in
their ignorance as to what is going on in other parts of the kingdom
and the demands there for workmen, stay at home and help to perpet' uate the conditions just described.
The society appreciated the fact that there were many unemployed
persons within the boundaries of all of its departments, and years ago
decided to put forth its best endeavors to keep down the number of
inefficient artisans, to inform all sections of a scarcity or superfluity
of laborers, to stimulate the founding of saving, help, and invalid
funds, to prevent the migration of workmen from the country to the
city, to collect funds for worthy workmen out of employment, and to
arouse an interest in those classes whose work is not continuous. In
addition to this the society has sought to encourage emigration—not
that spurious sort which takes a helpless man into unsympathetic sur
roundings where his lot is all the harder, but the better kind that
brings muscle and the opportunities to use it into profit-yielding rela
tions. It has also awakened dormant energies, and in suggesting new
industries capital has in many instances found better fields and large
numbers of persons have been given employment. Experiments too
144
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
costly for individuals to undertake have been made in the reclaiming
o f worn-out lands, and towns have been urged to purchase unoccupied
tracts and to let the same on easy terms to men who are seeking some
thing to do.
In contributing to the schools for manual training the society has
assisted in securing better-equipped workmen, and in organizing indus
trial exhibitions, with prizes for the best manufactured articles, the
standard of work has been materially raised. A t the recent fair in
Alkmaar the first prizes were taken by a blacksmith and by a carpen
ter. Just here it might be remarked that in the guilds, which were
peculiarly popular in the Netherlands during the eighteenth century,
personal freedom and independence were pronounced characteristics,
so that with their dissolution the system of apprenticeship was in a
disorganized condition. The laxity of the guilds was inimical to the
discipline so necessary in the apprenticeship system, so that conflicts
between master and learners were frequent. The society in its early
days performed valiant service in adjusting the differences which arose
from these conflicts. It also encouraged the workmen of all sorts to
remain with their employers by giving medals to those whose terms of
service reached a certain number of years. There is now in the society
a survival of this custom. It has a die and furnishes at cost such a
medal to those departments that continue to reward faithful continuous
service.
The society seeks to collect at as frequent intervals as possible reports
of the condition of the working classes in all of the communities
reached by the departments, the number and trades of the unemployed,
and the demands for laborers. The compiled results of these reports
are distributed, and from the information thus obtained much useless
wandering in search o f work is avoided. Frequently a new enterprise
or some municipal or State work calls for workmen in a given place.
The reputed demands thus created, as well as the compensation offered,
are exaggerated as the narration o f the same passes from one neighbor
hood to another, and dozens hasten to obtain work which is sufficient
for but one, and the familiar spectacle is again repeated of a man
who, after spending all he had to make the journey, finds himself far
from home, penniless, and without work. It can be readily seen that
by attending to the reports of the society one might learn that some
work is to be undertaken in such and such a place, but that there is
available in that immediate neighborhood more help than is needed to
complete it. A task similar to this is the effort which the society is
making to prevent men from migrating from the country to the cities.
In realizing the great attraction which the larger towns have it has
been very energetic in giving out information regarding the cost of
living in the cities, the wages that can be expected, the periods of
enforced idleness which are to be provided for, the fierce competition
that exists there in obtaining work, and the helplessness of the unem
ployed city man who must have money to give in return for even the
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOE GENERAL WELFARE.
145
water which he drinks. In the poor colonies of Holland (a) it has been
found that the worst results are obtained with the families who are sent
from the larger cities, showing that if a man is eventually to become
an object of charity his life in the city makes the task of caring for
him all the more difficult.
Some of the departments conduct a labor exchange, and publish each
day the number of persons who registered the previous day, together
with their trades and the wages expected. In the same connection
they publish the demands for laborers under the head of “ Situations
wanted.”
What the society is doing in the way of stimulating the founding of
savings banks, sick funds, and burial funds has already been stated.
While its labors in this direction have been most successful, it might
well regard as its crowning work the interest which it has awakened
in those classes whose work is not continuous and the attention which
it has directed to the general subject of idleness. First of all, the soci
ety distributed very widely a treatise, written by one of the ablest
Dutch economists, on “ Idleness as a phenomenon in society,” and after
allowing time enough for the press to discuss the topic and economists
and philanthropists to weigh the subject, the proposition was made
that each department take up the matter of idleness in its own neigh
borhood, investigate its causes, devise means for its relief, and report
the results to the central committee. By the year 1894, 248 such
reports had been received. To eight o f the departments where the neces
sities were the greatest the society made grants to enable them to con
duct untried experiments.
The following abstracts will give an idea as to how the departments
sought to give relief to the unemjfloyed, and in some cases what conclu
sions were reached regarding the causes of idleness:
In the vicinity covered by the department of Dantumadeel, where
there is a population of 9,000,150 heads of families and 7 single men
were without work and in need. The department bought flax and had
it dressed, giving in this way employment to 114 persons. In this sec
tion the land is overflowed during high water, and if a freeze occurs at
this time the ice or even the frozen ground permits but little farm work,
so that those entirely dependent upon their labor are reduced to want.
In Oldeboorn, a stock-raising district, where there is but little work
in the winter time, the department bought standing timber and em
ployed those in greatest need to cut, haul, and house the wood. This
wood was kept until seasoned and ready for the market, when it was
sold and the proceeds used to repay the amount advanced for purchase
money and wages. Here it was noticed that the men required consid
erable supervision. So many were inclined to shirk that it was neces
sary to change the compensation from pay by the hour to pay by the
quantity of work done. Employment was given to 26 men for three
weeks, and much suffering was thereby alleviated.
a See Bulletin o f the Department of Labor, No. 2.
146
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A t Steen wyk 80 persons were given work cleaning out the city canals.
Eacli liad work for forty days, and to make tlio period of employment as
long as possible only three days a week were set aside for work. The
wages paid were from 24 to 27 cents per day. Three men were given
regular work cutting rope for oakum, and 34 families were supplied with
rope to pick, from 10 to 30 men drained lands belonging to the city, 4
broke stone, and G families were aided in mat weaving. Most of this
work was given out by a local organization which had for its purpose
the suppression of mendicancy, but the city and the society contributed
largely to the general fund. It was found that there was a net loss to
the city, but it was less than would have been the expense of support
ing 150 persons during the three winter months when there was no
farm work.
In two departments the grants made by the society were expended in
conducting schools for hand work, such as net making, brush making,
chair seating, and mat making, the purpose being to qualify men to
utilize with profit the long winter nights and the days when their ordi
nary vocations are not in demand.
A t Wissekerke on one occasion, when it was evident that families
would come to want before the close of the approaching winter, it was
decided that indiscriminate giving was injurious and that money given
to the poor fund should be refunded in work. A popular subscription
was, therefore, made for the construction of a dike which was a public
need, and to this purpose the poor fund was added. In digging this
dike 1G persons were employed for eleven weeks at a compensation of
from 32 to 5G cents per day.
The department at Heerenveen organized a joint-stock company with
a capital of $10,000 for the purchase o f unproductive lands and for their
improvement. Work was given to those in need in draining and improv
ing this ground, which was thereupon subdivided and let out to the
poorer people at a low rental, with the agreement that all of the rent
should be expended in the betterment of the soil. This experiment has
not continued long enough to give any pronounced results, but if it suc
ceeds it will go a long way toward solving the problem of idleness in
farming districts. Those who contribute to such a fund merely give
outrighttho interest on their subscription; nor even all of that, since the
company retains ownership of the ground, which, under the favorable
conditions here existing, becomes more valuable each year.
The farmer, assuming the risks o f season and price, if free from debt,
raises enough for his own wants and hires as little as possible. I f he
be in debt, he is liable to become discouraged or more involved and sells
his land. During the past ten years the selling of small holdings and
their purchase by large owners has been very marked. Again, the
farmers, thus dispossessed, in their inability to find employment in
the vocation which they were just forced to relinquish, usually go to
the cities with their small capitals and become consumers instead of
producers.
THE DUTCH SOCIETY FOR GENERAL WELFARE.
147
Such articles of food as milk and eggs seem to be the ones which
must find the nearest market. Flour can come from a distance, so can
animals on foot or dressed meat in refrigerator cars. The growing
cities, therefore, demanding more and more milk, butter, eggs, etc.,
tend to transform the adjacent grain-producing lands into dairy farms
or kitchen gardens, and these, requiring less labor to the acre, are daily
throwing farm hands out of work. On the farms more remote from
the large cities the introduction of agricultural machinery, especially
steam threshing machines, mowers, and reapers, is depriving men of
work. Since all available land is under cultivation, the use of machin
ery, instead o f increasing the acreage farmed, diminishes the number
of workmen needed to handle the crop.
A t Ylaardingen, where the majority of the men are engaged in fishing,
there is a long period of enforced idleness, so that the experience of
those charitably inclined is quite extensive in all matters pertaining to
the unemployed. The conclusion reached is that the first idler is usually
idle because of vicious habits or incapacity, but the necessities or pov
erty of this person are at a maximum, since the very characteristics
which kept him idle would make him a poor provider. Therefore, idle
ness can best be diminished by developing the workingman, by improv
ing his morals, and teaching him to be reasonable and sensible. The
morals ought to be improved by the churches and their officers, while
culture should be given in a large measure by the society through its
reading clubs, lecture courses, and schools—both ordinary and manual
training institutions.
In many of the agricultural districts men have been thrown out of
employment by the decline of agriculture. In the Netherlands this is
especially marked.
The society is fully alive to the seriousness of the question which it
is now studying. The Government has appointed a commission to
report upon the best form of agricultural banks, intending through
them to assist the people. This idea came from the society, making
the third time that the State has taken its cue from its helpful friend
and adviser, and it is safe.to say that any general scheme which may
be adopted for diminishing the amount o f idleness by removing its
principal causes will rest upon the experience and observation of the
Society for General Welfare.
Such is a i>art of the work of the society—that part which is immedi
ately related to the workingman—but outside of this there are other
activities which are along charitable lines. Thus, the orphans of Fries
land, undaunted by the fate of their fathers, long to follow the sea,
and the society aids in the maintenance of a school for seamanship.
The poor colony at Frederiksoord has a partially endowed school for
forestry, and the society comes forward with its aid to place it on a sure
footing. Many persons have been members practically throughout life,
and now comes the question of granting pensions to those who are
unable to work because of the infirmities of age.
148
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
The society has laid before its members the question, “ What is the
duty o f the more fortunate toward those less fortunate V7 and in its
attempt to answer emphasis is laid upon unselfishness, and a high ideal
o f living is held up before all. It has described the Toynbee work in
London, the Hull House in Chicago, and “ Ons Huis” in Amsterdam,
and left it to the cities of the Netherlands to decide if they can afford
to remain inactive in these lines of charity. The causes of poverty in
the land have been carefully studied, and a charity recommended that
strengthens the recipient, places him on a higher plane, and aids him
in self-support. It is hardly necessary for the society to apologize for
apparently overstepping its bounds in this instance. In all of Europe
the material breach between the rich and the poor is becoming wider,
and social disturbance can be avoided only by awakening in the hearts
o f the former a sympathy for those whose lines are cast in harder
places.
Such is the work accomplished by the Society for General Welfare,
an organization having only $110,000 o f invested funds and an annual
income o f about $18,000. That so much is possible can be ascribed to
the hearty cooperation of its members, many of whom as members of
commissions devote months of time to gratuitous labor in its interests.
In a close study of this society, toward which members, officers, bene
ficiaries, and lecturers freely lent their aid, the conviction has been
strengthened that with the Dutch charity not only begins at home, but
finds there its most attractive field; that sympathy grows with use, and
that the hand extended in aid brings back to its owner that greater
blessing which comes to the cheerful giver.
RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.
CONNECTICUT.
Twelfth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics o f the State o f
Connecticut, fo r the year ending November 30,1896. Samuel B. Horne,
Commissioner. 315 pp.
The following subjects are treated in this report: Taxation, 242 pages5
general investigations, 32 pages ; statistics o f manufactures, 18 pages.
Taxation .—The object of this investigation was to show the extent
of the inequalities arising from the existing system of assessments for
purposes of taxation in Connecticut. The law of the State requires that
all real and personal property shall be put into the assessor’s hands for
taxation at its true market value. There is provision made for State,
Qounty, and town tax.
With respect to the assessment of real and personal property infor
mation was obtained by the bureau by means of schedules of inquiry
mailed to the boards of assessors of the 168 towns in the State and by
personal visits by special agents. The result shows that, on an aver
age, property is assessed at 69.6 per cent of its actual value in the
entire State. In only 50 of the 168 towns reported is property assessed
at its full value, while in 17 towns it is assessed at one-half or less than
one-half of its value. In 4 towns property is assessed at 33£ per cent,
which is the lowest reported. The average valuation of property for
assessment purposes for each county varies from 47.6 to 81 per cent.
Another method adopted by the bureau for ascertaining the extent
of undervaluation of property for assessment purposes was by compar
ing the valuation placed upon estates of deceased persons during 1895
by appraisers appointed by probate courts with the amounts assessed
against the same property on the tax lists of 1894. This work was done
by personal investigation. Seven hundred and thirty-two probated
estates were compared. The assessed value of this property was
$3,450,964, or 61 per cent of the appraised value, namely, $5,626,212.
Individual estates were assessed at from 10 to 284 per cent of their
appraised value. The average assessed value of probated estates for
each county varied from 43 to 89 per cent of the appraised value.
A further comparison was made of the assessed and actual value of
the property of corporations. The results were obtained by comparing
the assessed value of corporation property with that reported in the
sworn returns o f the financial condition of corporations made by their
officers to the secretary of state, as required by law. The 291 corpora
tions in the State covered by this investigation show a net taxable
property of $23,685,205, which was assessed at $10,508,327, or 44 per
cent of its reported value. The percentages of assessed valuation of
the property of individual corporations vary from 5.9 to 207.9 of their
reported value. By counties, the averages vary from 29.1 to 76 per cent.
149
150
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
This subject is concluded with a review of the early methods of taxa
tion, suggestions as to remedial legislation, and abstracts of tax laws
of Connecticut and some other States.
General I nvestigations.—The condition of bake shops and bakeshop employees is the principal subject treated under this head. An
inspection was made by agents of the bureau of 181 bake shops in dif
ferent parts o f the State. O f these 97 were reported clean, 57 dirty,
and 27 filthy. Ninety-five were situated in cellars. In 30 shops waterclosets were found in either work or store rooms, 40 had sewer pipes in
the work or store rooms, and 3 shops were used for sleeping purposes
by employees.
O f the 084 men employed in the shops inspected 2 worked 7 hours
per day; 30, 8 hours; 70, 9 hours; 352, 10 hours; 97,11 hours; 105,12
hours; 4,13 hours; 2,15 hours; 2,17 hours. Nearly one-half, or 324,
were night hands. The weekly wages ranged from $5 to $20.
The bureau suggests a law for the inspection and regulation of bake
shops.
Other subjects treated under this head relate to alien laborers aud
to the protection of motormen.
Statistics of Manufacture .—Information in reference to the
number o f persons employed, weekly hours of labor, number of days
closed during the year, changes in rates of wages, and proportion of
business done was received from 789 establishments by means of sched
ules of inquiry. Following is a summary of some of the facts reported:
W A G E S A N D HOURS OF LABO R OF EM PLOYEES A N D BUSINESS CONDITION
EST A B L ISH M E N T S FOR Y E A R EN D IN G J U L Y 1, 189C, B Y IN D U ST R IES.
Employees, July 1, 1896.
Industry.
Estab
lish
ments
report
ing.
Men.
Women Boys.
Brass and brass goods..........
Brickmaking-. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Buttons, buckles, and pins.
Carriages and carriage parts
Corsets......................................
Cotton goods...........................
Cotton mills............................
Cutlery and tools...................
Firearms..................................
General hardware.................
Hats and caps.........................
Hosiery and knit goods........
I t o u and iron foundries........
Leather goods.........................
Machine shops.......................
Musical instruments and
parts......................................
Paper and paper goods........
Rubber goods.........................
Shoes ........................................
Silk goods................................
Silver and plated ware........
Stone cutting and quarrying
W ire and wire goods...........
W n o d working_____________
Woolens and woolen goodsMiscellaneous.........................
67
13
14
31
11
36
20
88
7
64
24
20
30
16
75
9,520
628
.402
933
471
2,662
1, 540
1,754
687
8,424
1, 881
1,165
4, 342
496
7,915
2,202
G
451
23
3,467
2,524
1,499
126
10
484
706
1,319
14
45
68
350
5
47
14
71
482
444
132
2
508
42
111
147.
40
156
8
45
12
11
14
30
15
15
49
37
78
648
1,107
1, 365
313
1,411
3,221
666
697
1, 609
2, 596
1,583
85
889
594
185
1,579
531
56
69
1,413
306
9
61
60
10
126
134
23
66
16
286
135
Total..............................
789
58, 036
18,681
3,477
Girls.
224
205
146
473
520
22
231
14
280
4
8
20
89
52
15
101
114
25
224
90
2,857
Wages
per
day of
ten
Total.
hours.
12,296
639
1,105
970
4,155
6,141
4,003
2,034
699
9,647
2,643
2,905
4,507
589
8,159
OF
Per cent
of busi
ness «lone
of
great
weekly
est ca
hours of pacity
of
labor.
establish
ments.
Aver-
$1.87
55.01
1.30 a 39.68
1.47
54.91
2.29
52.32
1.24
51.75
1.23
54.02
1.09
53.52
1.81
52.70
2.15
55.01
1.64
54.96
1.68
51.45
1.25
57.31
1.92
54.69
1.66
54.83
2.04
58.18
83.49
94.29
77.52
72.01
87.58
85.75
87.28
80.13
57.26
82.53
75.80
79.30
83.66
80.15
87.06
2.74
1.31
1.87
1.51
1.37
2.15
1.85
1.78
1.76
1.38
1.78
48.77
55.45
50.88
53.60
54.89
43.71
50.76
54.70
54.63
50.58
55.79
69.36
74.50
63.72
83.87
62.96
73.61
72.21
78.37
76.81
70.74
82.20
83,051 | 1.66
53.79
79.69
742
2,146
2,071
523
3,217
4,000
689
844
1, 694
4,519
2,114
a Establishments in this industry are in active operation only during the open season; hence tiio
low average of hours of labor.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— CONNECTICUT.
151
As will be seen by reference to the above table, the total number of
establishments reporting, 7S9, had on their pay rolls on July 1, 1896,
83,051 employees. The same establishments at the same date in 1895
had 83,696 employees, a reduction in number in 1896 from that in 1895
o f 0.77 per cent. The average weekly hours of labor during the year
was 53,79, exclusive of hours lost by reason of days closed. The pro
portion o f business done, reported by the manufacturers as being the
per cent o f actual or full capacity of the whole number of establish
ments reporting, was 79.69 per cent. The amount paid in wages by the
789 establishments was $38,509,484 for the entire year. The average
daily wages for actual hours worked during the entire year by all
employees in all industries, based on the assumption that the number
reported as being on the various pay rolls on July 1,1896, was the
average number employed for the entire year, was $1.66 per day of ten
hours. Sixtv-six establishments, employing 2,212 persons on July 1,
1895, and which appeared in the report for that year, were found to
have been closed on July 1,1896.
NEW YOEK.
Thirteenth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Statistics o f Labor of the
State o f New York, fo r the year 1895. Transmitted to the Legislature
March 2,1896. Thomas J. Dowling, Commissioner. Yol. 1 ,588 pp.;
Yol. II, 668, xxvi pp.
The report is presented in four parts and an appendix, and treats of
the following subjects: Part I, Progress of organized labor, 418 pages;
Part II, Special investigations (practical operation of* the mechanics*
lien law, life and limb law, and eight-hour and prevailing rate of wages
law, and tenement-house cigar making in New York City), 138 pages;
Part III, Investigation of bake shops, 394 pages; Part IY , Labor laws
of New York State, 113 pages; Appendix, Proceedings of the eleventh
annual convention of the National Association of Officials of Bureaus
of Labor Statistics, 158 pages.
Progress of Organized Labor.—This investigation was made
chiefly with the view o f ascertaining whether or not labor has been
benefited by reason of labor organizations, and, if so, in what respect
and to what extent. The returns compare the general condition of
organized working people on July 1,1895, with the corresponding date
of the preceding year. The subjects of inquiry include wage rates and
working time, success of the movement for the shorter day, employed
and unemployed labor, membership of labor organizations, organized
working women, and remarks and suggestions regarding the labor
movement in the State and the legislation needed for the improvement
of the condition o f the working people.
The replies to inquiries sent to the labor organizations in the State
in reference to rates of wages and hours of labor that prevailed in the
various organized occupations on July 1,1895, as compared with July
152
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
1,1894, show an improved condition as to both.
tabulation, by industries, of the replies received:
The following is a
W A G E S A N D HOURS OF LABOR IN VA R IO U S OR GANIZED OCCUPATIONS ON J U L Y 1,
1895, COM PARED W IT H J U L Y 1, 1894, B Y IN D U STR IES.
Industry.
Cigars Mid cigarettes...........................
Clothing
.......................................
Coach drivers and livery-stable em
ployees .................................................
Food products......................................
Furniture...............................................
Glass workers.......................................
Hats, caps, and furs............................
Hotel, restaurant, and park em
ployees ................................................
Iron and steel.......................................
Leather workers ................... .............
Malt liquors and mineral waters. . .
Marine trades.......................................
Metal workers........ - .............. .............
Musicians and musical-instrument
makers................................................
Printing, binding, photo-engrav
ing, stereotyping, e tc ......................
Railroad employees (steam).............
Rrilroad employees (street surface).
Stuiif*, worlcp/rs________ ____________
Street paving........................................
Textile trades........... ................
Theatrical employees and actors . . .
Wood workers............... .....................
Miscellaneous trades...........................
Total.............................................
Organizations
re Organ Organizations re Organ
porting
as
to
porting
as
to
Total
iza
iza
wages.
hours of labor.
organ
tions
tions
iza
not
not
No report An in A de
tions. An in A de
No report
crease. crease. change ing. crease. crease. change ing.
249
54
70
27
4
32
4
27
8
15
16
1
7
1
3
18
2
6
202
46
24
1
2
4
3
3
19
5
7
6
1
13
6
2
2
8
2
2
4
4
5
10
1
4
2
2
22
1
1
16
4
58
116
1
28 i
10
13
9
16
33
9
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
4
1
1
1
1
2
1
46
112
1
25
10
6
6
14
28
113
70
703
927
2
2
2
4
4
16
93
17
26
15
11
15
66
6
22
11
7
2
12
2
23
235
52
38
7
11
4
2
4
14
4
10
15
1
1
2
1
3
6
16
84
13
23
13
11
2
11
11
1
19
52
2
1
1
3
4
2
51
97
1
27
10
12
7
16
24
41
18
69
788
1
2
3
2
3
These figures show that out of a total of 927 labor organizations 113,
or 12.19 per cent, reported an increase of wages; 70, or 7.55 per cent, a
decrease, and 703, or 75.84 per cent, no change. On the other hand, out
of the same number of labor organizations 69, or 7.44 per cent, reported
a decrease in the hours of labor; 18, or 1.94 per cent, an increase, and
788, or 85.01 per cent, no change. Forty-one organizations failed to
report in regard to wages and 52 in regard to hours of labor. The
most favorable conditions, both as to increased wages and decreased
hours of labor, were shown to exist in the building trades, cigar and
cigarette making, clothing, food products, malt liquors and mineral
waters, and printing, binding, photo-engraving, stereotyping, etc.
The reports of the labor organizations show that in quite a number
o f instances the restorations or advances in the rates of wages or
reductions of working hours were made on the demands of the unions
and without recourse to strikes. In several cases employers voluntarily
increased wages. In some places workmen indulged in strikes to
enforce their scales of wages and hours of labor, and these trade
disputes were usually successful.
The working hours of labor, as reported by the labor organizations,
range all the way from 4 per day, returned by a calcium-light operators’
union, to from 15 to 18 per day, returned by an organization of clerks
153
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— NEW YORK.
and salesmen. An 8 hour working day is reported in 76 branches of
trade, enjoyed by 54,250 members of 208 organizations, 1,851 of the
members being women. The unions that have, for the most part, estab
lished the 8-hour day are associated with the constructive industry.
The observance of the 8-hour day is also general in the organizations
of cigar makers and cigar packers. The laws of the typographical
unions now provide that typesetting-machine operators shall not labor
more than 8 hours per day. A 9-hour working day is reported by 172
organizations, having 25,040 members, of whom 2,810 are women. A
10-hour day is reported by 261 organizations, having 44,700 members, of
whom 3,743 are women. A 12-hour day is reported by 71 organizations,
having 14,594 members, of whom 761 are women. A number of organi
zations, composed of bakers and confectioners, barbers, bartenders,
clerks and salesmen, coach drivers, cooks, mattress makers, mineralwater bottlers and drivers, stage mechanics, and trainmen, report that
their members work more than 12 hours per day.
The number of members of labor organizations who were employed
and unemployed in July, 1894, and in July, 1895, is shown in the
following table:
M EMBERS OF LABOR O R G AN IZAT IO N S W H O W E R E EM PLOYED A N D U N EM PLO YED
IN J U L Y , 1894, A N D J U L Y , 1895, B Y INDU STR IES.
July, 1894.
Employed.
Industry.
Building trades...........
Cigars and cigarettes.
Clothing........................
Coach drivers aud liv
ery-stable employees
Food products.............
Furniture.....................
Glass workers.............
Hats, caps, and fu rs...
Hotel, restaurant, and
park employees........
Iron and steel...............
Leather workers.........
Malt liquors and min
eral w aters...............
Marine trades.............
Metal workers.............
Musicians and musi
cal-instrument mak
ers................................
Printing,
binding,
photo - engraving,
stereotyping, etc—
Railroad employees
(steam).......................
Railroad employees
(street surface)........
Stone workers.............
Street paving...............
Textile trades.............
Theatrical employees
and actors.................
Wood workers.............
Miscellaneous trades.
T o ta l...................
July, 1895.
Unemployed.
Employed.
Unemployed.
Per
Organ
Organ
Organ
Organ
cent
iza
iza
iza
iza
Mem
em
Mem tions
Mem
Mem
tions
tions
tions
bers.
ployed.
bers. report
report bers. report bers.
report
ing.
ing.
ing.
ing.
Per
cent
em
ployed.
222
53
55
28, 620
7, 639
21, 560
169
29
29
11,930
1,092
11,089
70. 58
87.49
66.04
228
53
69
35,950
7,830
32,891
149
33
39
9,293
1,250
11,468
4
22
8
11
14
679
1, 772
790
607
2, 792
1
20
5
8
5
100
355
436
251
173
87.16
83.31
64.44
70. 75
94.17
4
25
8
11
15
810
2,244
1,072
909
2, 540
3
20
3
9
8
210
344
187
382
1,142
16
82
12
1,252
5,188
1, 265
9
61
6
125
2,026
491
90.92
71.92
72.04
16
88
15
1,179
7,025
1,337
11
51
8
172
1,067
793
87.27
86.81
62.77
22
13
8
2,910
1,336
531
11
11
5
233
579
67
92.59
69.77
88.80
24
13
10
3,145
1,442
623
13
10
4
218
582
43
93.52
71.25
93.54
15
1,969
5
485
80.24
15
2,183
5
367
85.61
79.46
86.23
74.15
i
79.41
86.71
85.15
70.41
68.98
51
9,224
30
1,626
85.01
57
10,552
37
1,174
89.99
91
6,725
28
160
97.68
96
7,313
36
251
96.68
1
24
10
10
2,500
3,419
726
1, 328
17
5
6
1,562
71
350
100.00
68.64
91.09
79.14
1
25
10
13
1,000
4,140
698
1,788
14
5
6
681
114
198
100.00
85.87
85.96
90.03
5
16
21
346
1,305
3,354
5
9
5
730
461
419
32.16
73.90
88.89
7
16
29
782
1,520
3,287
1
! 1,213
7 1
10 j|
189
899
5 !
39.20
88.94
78.52
786 107,837
479
34,811
75.60
848 132,260
486
32,237
80.40
154
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A comparison o f tlie two periods shows th^t there was a decrease in
the percentage o f the unemployed from 24.40 per cent in July, 1894, to
19.G0 per cent in July, 1895. The greatest proportion of the unemi>loyed
was found among theatrical employees and actors, 00.80 per cent of
whom were reported as being out of employment in July, 1895. In but
9 o f the 24 industries was there an increase in the percentage of unem
ployed from July, 1894, to July, 1895. This increase was most marked
among persons engaged in the hat, cap, and fur industry, leather
workers, and coach drivers and livery-stable employees.
The following table shows the membership of the various labor
organizations, reported to the bureau, on July 1,1894, and July 1,1895:
M EM BERSHIP OF LABOR O R G A N IZA T IO N S ON J U L Y 1, 1894, A N D J U L Y 1, 1895, B Y
IN D U STR IES.
July 1, 1894.
Industry.
Building trades............. .....................
Cigars and cigarettes.........................
Clothing.................................................
Coach drivers and livery-stable
employees.........................................
Food products......................................
Furniture...............................................
Glass workers......................................
Hats, caps, and furs..........................
Hotel, restaurant, and park em
ployees ...............................................
Iron and steel........................................
Leather workers..................................
Malt liquors and mineral waters. . .
Marine trades.......................................
Metal workers......................................
Musicians and musical-instrument
m akers...............................................
Printing, binding, photo-engrav
ing, stereotyping, etc.....................
Railroad employees (steam).............
Railroad employees (street surface)
Stone workers......................................
Stroet paving........................................
Textile trades......................................
Theatrical employees and actors...
Wood workers......................................
Miscellaneous trades...........................
T o ta l...........................................
Organi
Male
zations memreport
bers.
ing.
244
53
55
44,151
6,789
27,862
4
23
8
15
15
16
87
14
24
15
8
I
;
22
2,078
6,650
48,638
9,089
44,001
20
1
352
2,799
1,259
1,301
3,682
1,020
2,799
1,239
1,300
3,330
1,377
7,464
1,802
3,153
7,115
548
1, 377
7,464
1,920
3,153
7,115
598
16
93
17
26
15
11
1,351
8,522
2,188
3,411
8,064
846
5,044
22
5,954
2
5,956
11,059
8,503
2,500
5,153
797
1,678
1,092
1,736
3,887
58
116
11, 744
8,958
254
11,998
8,958
10,912
8,503
2, 500
5,153
797
1,638
969
1,736
3,887
10
48, 638
7,011
37,351
4
27
8
15
16
52
7
16
249
54
70
779
2,187
1,176
882
2,964
5,642
27
10
........... 44,151
1,933
8,722
4,798 32,660
779 ........... .
2,187 .............
1,163
13
881
1
2,701
263
22
112
1
July 1, 1895.
Organi
Female
Malo Female
mem Total. zations mem
mem Total.
report
bers.
bers.
bers.
ing.
118
50
147
40
123
860 149,709 ■ 7,488 157,197
1
28
1,020
117
1,000
1, 351
8,522
2,305
3,411
8,064
846
1,000
812
1,834
1,532
1,709
4,523
149
479
4,993
812
1,983
2, Oil
1,709
4,523
927 170,129
10,102
180,231
10
13
9
16
33
Of the 24 industries shown there are only 4 in which the labor organ,
izations, collectively, report a decrease in membership during the year
ending July 1,1895. These were the hotel, restaurant, and park em
ployees, street-railway employees, stone workers, and wood workers.
In all the other industries the returns for July 1,1895, show an increase
o f membership over the preceding year. The total membership in 1895
was an increase of 14.65 j>er cent over the preceding year. The per cent
o f increase was much more marked among females than among males,
being 34.91 per cent in the case of the former and 13.G4 per cent in the
case of the latter.
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— NEW YORK.
155
Part I of tlie report closes with a summary o f suggestions made by
labor organizations throughout the State with reference to proposed
labor legislation, the immigration question, and other matters affecting
the working people.
Special I nvestigations.—The bureau conducted special investiga
tions on the practical operation of the mechanics’ lien law, life and limb
law, and eight-hour and prevailing rate o f wages law by taking the
testimony of individuals and labor organizations as to the actual opera
tions of the laws, and also as to suggestions for the remedying of defects
in them and for their better enforcement. The testimony is published
verbatim.
Another investigation was that of tenement-house cigar making.
Personal visits were made by the. commissioner to the tenement houses
in New York City where the manufacture of cigars is carried on. The
cigar workers were interrogated as to their wages and hours of labor.
According to their statements, they wTorked, when business was good,
from 10 to 14 hours per day and received from $3 to $6 for making 1,000
cigars. Accordin g to the bureau’s records, the wages of organized cigar
makers, who do not work more than 8 hours per day, are from $7 to
$42 per 1,000, the larger number receiving from $15 upward. The
tenement-house cigar makers sometimes live in their employers’ houses
and pay exorbitant rents.
,
Investigation of Bake Shops.—The bureau entered into an exten
sive investigation of the condition of bake shops and bake-shop em
ployees for the purpose of securing remedial legislation beneficial to the
bakers and to the public generally. The investigation covered the fol
lowing subjects o f inquiry: Location, height, and sanitary condition of
bake shops; diseases resulting from insanitary bake shops; number
of years that bakers have worked at the trade; bakers’ ages; length of
time that bakers have been in the service o f present employers; weekly
wage rates of bakers; bakers’ weekly working time; duration of employ
ment and annual earnings of bakers ; wage rates and hours of labor
of union and nonunion bakers; married bakers, their weekly wage
rates, and the number o f members in their families; day and night
workers; bakers who board and lodge with their employers; bakers’
nationalities; number of employers who comply with and number who
violate the bake-shop law.
A brief analysis o f some of the facts brought out by the investigation
will give an idea of their value. O f 1,603 bake shops investigated in
the eight leading cities of the State the sanitary condition of 5 was
reported as clean, 12 fair, 281 healthy, 33 bad, 9 very bad, 27 dirty, 18
very dirty, and 612 unhealthy. The sanitary condition of the remaining
bakeries was not reported.
The returns in regard to working time show that the hours of labor
vary from 30 to 132 per week. On an average first hands worked 71J
hours per week, second hands 73£ hours, third hands 73| hours, an
156
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
average for all hands of 72§ hours. For this labor the following average
weekly wages were paid: First hands, $13.51; second hands, $8.85;
third hands, $6.01; average for all hands, $9.94. Out of a total of 3,253
bakers 2,433, or 74.79 per cent, did night work, and 820, or 25.21 per cent,
were employed in the daytime. The advantages of organization are
shown by the fact that the 896 bakers who belonged to unions earned
on an average $11.86 for 68J hours’ work, while the 2,357 nonunion
bakers received but $9.20 for 74J hours’ work.
The returns from the 3,253 bakers show that 1,408 board and lodge
with their employers, while 86 receive board only, making a total of
1,494, or 45.93 per cent.
L abor Laws , etc .—The remainder of the report is devoted to a
codification o f the labor laws of the State, and to a reproduction of the
proceedings o f the eleventh annual convention of the National Asso
ciation of Officials of Bureaus of Labor Statistics in the United States,
held at Minneapolis, Minn., September 17-19, 1895.
OHIO.
Nineteenth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics o f the
State o f Ohio, fo r the year 1895. Transmitted to the Seventy-second
General Assembly January 27,1896. W. T. Lewis, Commissioner.
359 pp.
The following subjects are treated in this report: Clay-working indus
tries, 83 pages; coal mining, 17 pages; manufacturing, 242 pages;
employment offices, 8 pages.
Clay -w orkin g Industries.—This part of the report is descriptive
rather than statistical, and is largely a history of the development of
the various branches of the clay- working industry in the State. The subject is treated under two general heads, namely, pottery and architect
ural ceramics. The pottery ware manufactured in Ohio is divided into
the following general classes: (1) White ware, including white granite,
semi-porcelain, china, andc. c. (cream colored), which industry was started
in Ohio in 1872 and reached its highest development in 1892; (2) yellow
and Rockingham*ware, which were first manufactured in the State in
1839 and reached their maximum output in 1873, when white ware
began to replace them; (3) stone ware, which was first made in 1825
and continues as an important industry; (4) art ware, including art
tiles, faience, etc., which industry has reached a high state o f develop
ment since its introduction, about twenty years ago.
During the period from 1892 to 1894 there has been a decrease in the
output of all branches o f pottery ware in Ohio, with the exception of
art tiles and electrical supplies.
REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR— OHIO.
157
The following table shows the extent of the pottery industry in Ohio
in 1894:
C A P IT A L , PRODUCTION, A N D W A G E S P A ID IN PO TTER Y ESTABLISH M EN TS, 1894.
Estab
lishments
reported.
Kind of war© manufactured.
Capital.
Value of out
put.
Wages.
A rt tiles...........................................................................
Electrical supplies........................................................
Rockingham and yellow ware...................................
Sanitaryware.................................................................
Stoneware.......................................................................
W hite granite ware......................................................
Rockingham, yellow, and stone ware.....................
W hite granite, Rockingham, and yellow ware. . .
Sagger stilts and p in s.................................................
1
5
5
3
31
19
1
1
1
$25,000.00
202,000.00
145,000.00
193,600.00
483,050.00
2,433,500.00
150,000.00
150,000.00
$317,800.00
168,449.72
93,576.78
196,134.35
370,026.31
1,376,721.76
43,325.00
127,315.00
23,003.26
$101,500.00
78,270.17
51,371.05
99,868.59
150,054.17
629,593.71
21,800.00
56,000.00
8,272.51
T o ta l.....................................................................
67
3,782,150.00
2, 716,352.18
1,196,730.20
The second division of clay work, namely, architectural ceramics,
treated in this report, includes such products as enter into the construc
tion of buildings, streets, sewers, etc. This branch of the clay-work
industry, unlike the preceding, shows an increase in output from 1892
to 1894, except in the case of roofing tiles. The following table shows
the condition of this industry in Ohio in 1894:
C A P IT A L , PRODUCTION, A N D W A G E S P A ID IN ESTABLISH M EN TS M A N U F A C T U R IN G
A R C H IT E C T U R A L CERAM ICS, 1894.
Articles manufactured.
Estab
lishments
reported.
Capital.
A rt tiles...................................................................
Common brick........................................................
Drain tile ................................ .
Fire brick...............................................................
Hollow block..........................................................
Paving brick..........................................................
Pressed b rick........................................................
Roofing tile..............................................................
Sewer pipe..............................................................
Miscellaneous........................................................
1
56
3
10
10
25
5
2
16
9
$50, 000
495,150
9, 500
335,500
152, 500
1,804, 875
425, 000
23, 800
1,829,500
826, 000
Total..............................................................
137
5,951, 825
Salaries
for office Wages to
Value of
help and
other
output.
manage employees.
ment.
(
$1,480
18,410
13,011
6,800
66,354
17,895
4, 700
58,700
24, 780
$6,441
173,654
5,200
78. 661
44, 732
445, 564
105, 209
30,118
417, 785
115, 557
$15,053
299,067
5,006
221, 512
97,172
766, 368
254,010
69,124
2, 640,954
617,546
212,130
1,422, 921
5, 085,806
Goal Mining.—The information regarding this industry, as well as
the following on manufacturing, is presented entirely in the form of
statistical tables, there being no analysis or conclusions in the form of
text.
7535—No. 9----- 4
158
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
The following table gives a short summary of statistics presented in
the report on coal mining:
EM PLOYEES, W A G E S , A N D PRODUCTION OF COAL M INES, 181)4.
Kind of mine.
Pick m ines............................
Pick mines (giving onlyincomplete returns).........
Pick mines (run of mine
coal only)............................
Machine m ines.....................
Pick and machine m ines.. .
T otal............................
Miners
em
ployed.
Value of
coal on
board cars
at the mine.
Amount paid Amount paid Tons of
for
coal
for mining.
day labor.
reported.
Average
number
of whole
days
worked.
5,074,743 $4,603,717.21
133
665,482
258,125.91
169
592,092
1,750,503
678,942
269,905.28
1,162,499.77
438,764.37
202
134
112
12,286 $2,721,856.79
$986,039.84
1,978
230,870.49
97,639.14
1,068
2,205
1,463
285,056.88
539,748.71
250,086.78
76,595.23
291,720.58
128,711.56
19,000
4,027,619.65
1,580,706.35
9,361,762
6,733,012.54
1
Manufactures.—Statistical tables of manufactures, by cities, towns,
and for the State, are given for over 86 industries, representing 2,190
establishments. The tables show occupations of employees, their num
ber and sex, the number of working days in 1893 and 1894, average
daily wages and yearly earnings, salaries o f clerks and officials, cap
ital invested, value of goods made and of materials used, etc.
Following is a brief analysis of some of the tables presented: In
2,199 establishments $38,373,925.07 was paid in wages in 1894 as
against $43,408,047.32 in 1893, or a falling off of $5,034,122.25 in one
year. Figures for 1,036 establishments, where the same information
for three years could be obtained, also show a steady decline in the
amount o f wages paid, namely, $23,139,989.51 in 1892, $20,741,458.47
in 1893, and $18,758,945.05 in 1894. Taking the value of manufac
tured articles on hand, wo find a similar decrease. This value was
$25,417,970.39 on January 1, 1894, and $23,987,237.28 on January 1,
1895, or a decrease of $1,430,733.11 in one year. Eeturns from 2,110
establishments show a total capital of $160,296,502 invested in manu
facturing industries in 1894 and the manufacture of goods to the value
o f $180,765,238.12 for the same period.
E mployment Offices.—During the year 1895 the employment
offices at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, and Dayton re
ceived applications from employers for 3,051 males and 12,172 females.
Applications for situations were made by 14,165 males and 13,793
females. Positions were secured for 2,677 males and 9,048 females.
The following table shows a comparison of the operations of the
employment offices during the six years of their existence:
OPERATIONS OF EM PLO YM EN T OFFICES, 1890 TO 1895.
Help wanted.
Situations wanted.
Positions secured.
Year.
Male.
1890...................................................................
1891...................................................................
1892...................................................................
1893...................................................................
1894...................................................................
1895...................................................................
| Female.
It, 453 !
9,695!
8,227 j
5,826 ;
2,426 :
3,051
6,701
33,513
13,945
11,403
9,444
12,172
Male.
14,529
21, 457
15,522
14,169
14,521
14,165
Female.
5,607
12,914
11,424
12,685
14,616
13,793
Male.
5,575
6,967
5,905
4,566
2,140
2,677
Female.
3,413
8.628
7,840
8,635
7, 626
9,048
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MEDIATION AND
ARBITRATION OF NEW YORK
Ninth Annual Report o f the Board o f Mediation and Arbitration o f the
State o f New YorJc. Transmitted to the Legislature January 27,1896.
William Purcell, Gilbert Robertson, jr., and Edward Feeney, Com
missioners. 642 pp.
The object of this board, which was created in 1886, is to investigate
strikes and lockouts that may arise in the State, particularly with the
view of mediating between the parties in dispute. This report con
tains accounts o f individual strikes, arranged by industries, and ver
batim reports o f proceedings of the board where sessions were held for
the purpose of taking testimony.
During the year ending October 31, 1895, there were 417 strikes
reported to the board. Eighty-nine of these lasted less than twentyfour hours, 233 lasted from one day to one week, inclusive, and the
remaining 95 lasted over one week, the longest one lasting nine months.
The board frequently intervened, in some cases through the invitation
of parties to the disputes, in others without such invitation. Twenty-six
of the more important cases of strikes are mentioned in which the
mediation of the board was brought into service. The 417 strikes and
lockouts in the State were distributed among the following occupations:
STRIKES A N D LOCKOUTS IK N E W YORK, B Y OCCUPATIONS, 1895.
Occupations.
j Strikes
1
or
lockouts,
A
malrnrs........... .....
Halrnra___________ ____
■Rnilnr makers...... .........
‘Rnttlfvr s ...................... .
Brass workers_______
Brick makers..............
Rnilding tra d e s____
Button m akers___ . . .
Buttonhole makers . . .
0».p makers.................
Carpet, workers______
Cement workers_____
Cigar makers...............
Cloak makers...............
Clothing cutters.........
Hinmono workers____
Drivers..........................
Elevator conductors..
Tlml »roiderers________
Fiber chamois workers
TTi]a pifllrAvs
Furniture workers-----
1
11
2
4
1
7
156
1
2
7
2
1
12
18
1
3
3
2
1
1
1
3
!j
1
j
Occupations.
Glove makers. . . . . . . . .
Gold-beaters.................
Horseshoers.................
Hotel employees.........
Ice cutters.....................
Iron workers...............
Jute workers...............
Laborers........................
Laundry workers. . . . .
Machinists ...................
Match packers......... ...
Mattress makers.........
Messengers...................
Meter makers...............
Paper cutters...............
Passementerie workers
Picture-frame makers.
Plait makers.................
Printing trades______
Purse makers...............
Rn o' pie.lrers
Salesmen.......................
Strikes >
or
|
lockouts.
3
1
1
2
1
10
x
0
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
X
2
11
2
1
1
Strikes
or
lockouts.
Occupations.
Salt packers and lifters
Saw vers......................
Shirt makers...............
Shoemakers.................
Silk workers...............
Slipper makers...........
Stonecutters...............
Street-railroad
em
ployees ....................
Tailors..........................
Tanners............. .
Textile workers..........
Theatrical workers__
Tin workers.................
Upholsterers...............
Varnish era...........
W aiters........................
Waist and wrapper
makers_______ _____
Wood workers...........
Total...................
1
1
14
8
7
1
2
1
41
1
22
3
3
2
4
2
1
4
417
O f the whole number 273, or 65 per cent, occurred in the city of New
York. Brooklyn had 33, Rochester 14, Buffalo 12, New York and
Brooklyn 7, Albany 7, Syracuse 6. The remaining 65 occurred in 44
different cities and towns throughout the State.
159
RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
Report on the Strikes and Lockouts o f 1895 in Great Britain and Ireland.
1896. 293 pp. (Published by the Labor Department of the British
Board of Trade.)
This report is similar to those published in previous years and re
viewed in preceding Bulletins, In addition to statistics of strikes and
lockouts, it contains reports of trade unions on the state of the labor
market and reports on the settlement of disputes by conciliation and
arbitration.
State of the Labor Market .—Returns received from trade
unions in the United Kingdom showed a higher percentage o f unem
ployed during the first four months o f 1895 than during the same
months of 1894, During the eight months following in 1895 there was
an almost steady decline in the percentage of unemployed, showing for
the whole year a better condition than was shown for 1894. The follow
ing table gives the percentages of the unemployed for nine successive
years:
PERCEN TAG E OE M EMBERS OF T R A D E UNIO N S REPORTED A S U N EM PLO YED A T
TH E END OF E A C H M ONTH , 1887 TO 1895.
Month.
1887.
1888.
January.................................................................... 10.8
February ................................................................
8.5
March.......................................................................
7.7
April.........................................................................
6.8
M ay...........................................................................
8.5
J une.........................................................................
8.0
July........................................................................... 8.5
8.3
A u g u s t...................................................................
September...............................................................
7.5
October...................................................................
8.6
8.5
November...............................................................
December...............................................................
6.9
7.8
7.0
5.7
5.2
4.8
4.6
3.9
4.8
4.4
4.4
3.1
3.3
1889. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893.
3.1
2.8
2.2
2.0
2.0
1.8
1.7
2.5
2.1
1.8
1.5
1.7
1.4
1.4
1.7
2.0
2.0
1.9
2.3
2.3
2.6
2.6
2.4
3.0
3.4
2.6
2.8
2.7
3.0
2.9
3.3
4.2
4.5
4.4
3.8
4.4
5.0
5.7
5.7
5.4
5.9
5.2
5.0
5.1
6.2
7.3
8.3
10.2
10.0
9.5
8.7
6.9
6.2
5.8
6.2
7.1
7.3
7.3
7.2
7.9
1894. 1895.
7.0
6.3
6.5
6.1
6.3
6.3
7.4
7.7
7.6
7.4
7.0
7.7
8.2
7.9
6.5
6.5
6.0
5.6
5.3
5.2
4.9
4.9
4.3
4.8
Strikes and L ockouts.—The reports of labor disputes in 1895
show a material diminution in the number o f strikes and lockouts, the
number of persons affected, and the aggregate duration when com
pared with 1894. There were, in all, 876 strikes and lockouts in 1895,
involving 263,758 working people, as against 1,061 disputes, involving
324,245 persons, in 1894. The disputes were confined to 2,753 estab
lishments as compared with 3,713 in the preceding year. The total
number of days lost through strikes and lockouts in 1895 was 5,542,652,
which is the smallest recorded during the period of six years for which
comparative figures exist.
160
161
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS,
The following table shows the total number of strikes and lockouts
and the persons affected by them in the United Kingdom during 1895:
STRIKES A N D LOCKOUTS A N D PERSONS A F FE C TE D IN 1895.
[Persons affected means persons thrown out of work.]
Strikes and lock
outs for which
persons affected
were reported.
Total
strikes
and lock
outs.
Division.
Number.
Persons
affected.
England and W ales................. ............................................................. ...........
Sent,land__ _________________________ _____. . . . . __________. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Irelan d ................. - ___________ ___________________________ . ______________
Extending to more than one division of the United Kingdom.... ............
639
188
47
2
622
180
46
2
179,343
62,770
12,045
9,600
Total................................................................................................................
876
850
263,758
Following is a summarized statement of strikes and lockouts in groups
of trades, with the number of persons affected, for five successive years:
STRIKES A N D LOCKOUTS A N D PERSONS AFFEC TED , B Y TRADES, 1891 TO 1895.
[Only those strikes and lockouts were considered for which persons affected were reported.
affected means persons thrown out of work.]
Persons
Persons affected.
Strikes and lockouts,
Trades.
1891. 1892.
1893.
1894. 1895.
1892.
1893.
1894.
25,229
18,175
17, 738
15, 247
9,898
317
312
366
257
1, 858
1895.
Building trades.............
Cabinet and furniture
trades..........................
Chemical and gas work
ers..................................
Clothing trades.............
Coach building and
coopers.........................
Domestic trades...........
Food, tobacco, and
drink preparation----Glass
and pottery
trades ...........................
Labor (agricultural and
general unskilled) . . .
Leather and rubber
trades ..........................
Metal trades (includ
ing shipbuilding).----Mining and quarrying.
Paper, printing, and
bookbinding trades..
Textile trades...............
Transport.......................
Miscellaneous trades..
123
115
152
215
11
7
15
9
20
4
55
3
49
5
71
6
81
2
52
118
40,992
193
36,431
427
10,821
2, 805
6,853
400
57,078
4
3
6
4
680
627
477
425
2, 495
56
69
184
68
108
T otal.....................
6
5
190
1891.
8
7
5 !
17
12 |
9
5
15
3,271
1,516
549
365
757
10
7 j
10
9
7
3,534
20, 369
5,211
1, 667
422
958
584
152
52
199
30,309 | 27,899
506,182 i 216,880
46,314
83,879
6!
12
17
12
14
1, 967
1,031
3
5
2
5
6
169
717
123
96
108
86
124
133
167
222
169
189
60,502
51,427
39,759
120, 386
14
164
42
7
117
35
2
13
1, 291
129 ' 44,837
28 ; 32,499
6
708
102,722
12, 878
700
381
45,274
15, 589
688
576
356, 799
636,386
11 |
i
7 ! 19
89
182
34
56
2
679
1
997 ! 850
267,460
Il
30 !
271 ,
39,025
12,041 !
46
324,245
327
57,415
4,263
620
263,758
162
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The causes or objects of the strikes and lockouts and their results,
whether employees were successful or otherwise, are shown in the fol
lowing table:
RESULTS OF STRIK ES A K D LOCKOUTS TO EM PLOYEES, B Y CAUSES, IK 1895.
Suc
Suc
Kot re
ceeded. ceeded Failed. ported. Total.
partly.
Cause or object.
"W ages.... ................................................................................. ...........
Honrs of labor............... ................ . . . . . . _____________ _________
Working arrangements....................................................................
Class disputes......................................................................................
Unionism...............................................................................................
Other causes or objects................................. ...................................
Clause not known...............................................................................
T otal....................................... ....................................................
143
3
80
28
27
22
131
3
39
8
6
19
169
6
80
23
40
25
10
303 j
206 i
343
24
453
12
204
60
76
69
5
1
3
3
2
2
876
In 2G of the strikes and lockouts above mentioned the number of
persons affected was not reported. In the following table is given, by
causes and results, the number of persons affected in the strikes and
lockouts for which this information was reported:
PERSOKS AFFE C TE D B Y STRIK ES A K D LOCKOUTS, B Y CAUSES A N D RESULTS, IK
1895.
[Persons affected means persons thrown out of work.]
Employees suc
ceeded.
Causo or
object.
Employees suc
ceeded partly.
Employees
failed.
Result not re
ported.
Total.
Strikes
Strikes
Strikes
Strikes
Strikes
Persons
and
Persons
and
and
Persons
and
Persons and
Persons
lock affected. lock affected. lock affected. lock affected. lock affected.
outs.
outs.
outs.
outs.
outs.
W ages............
Hours of la
bor .............
Working ar
rangements
Class
dis
putes .........
Unionism----Other causes
or objects..
Cause
not
known____
138
35,306
129
56,761
164
49,819
3
761
3
313
6
1,784
79
15,052
38
55,545
79
13,497
4
25
26
1,431
3,288
8
6
1,598
1,098
23
40
1,363
2,210
22
7,706
18
8,822
23
5,075
T o ta l..
293
63,544
202
124,137
335
73,748 |
9
1,312
440
143,198
12
2,858
299
200
84,393
1
2
75
18
57
74
4,467
6, 614
2
443
65
22,016
2
182
2
182
20
2,329
850 ! 263,758
!
The returns for 1805 as to results of strikes and lockouts show a
greater degree o f success on the part of working people than in 1894.
O f the 876 disputes during 1895 the workmen were successful in 303,
or 34.6 j>er cent, as against 35 per cent in 1894. In these 303 successful
disputes 63,544 persons were involved, which is 24 per cent of those
engaged in the total disputes of the year, as against 22.1 per cent in
1894. There were 206 partially successful strikes, or 23.5 per cent, in
1895, as compared with 23 per cent in 1894. These disputes affected
124,137 working people, or 47 per cent, in 1895, as against 34.2 per cent
in 1894. In 343, or 39 per cent, of the strikes and lockouts tlie result
was a failure to the working people, as against 36.7 per cent in 1894.
In these 343 strikes and lockouts 73,748 persons were affected. This
was 28 per cent o f the whole, as against 42 per cent in the previous year.
163
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
Tlie following’ table shows the magnitude of the strikes and lockouts,
grouped according to the number of persons affected:
W O R K IN G D A Y S LOST AN D PERSONS A F FE C TE D B Y STRIKES A N D LOCKOUTS IN 1895.
[Persons affected means persons thrown out of work.]
Strikes and lockouts for which both per
sons affeeted and working days lost
wero reported.
Strikes and lock
outs for which
persons affected
Avere reported.
Working days lost.
Groups.
Number. Persons
affected.
Number.
Avcrago
per
person Number.
affected.
Persons
affected.
5 000 persons and upward.......................
1 OOn -fn R 000persons___ _____ _____. . .
500 to 1,000 persons ..................................
100 to 500 persons............. .......................
Under 1Oft persons ____ _____________
G
30
48
230
401
103, 800
56,682
31,921
50,680
12, 917
2,960,800
771,237
560, 930
967, 613
282,072
28.5
13.6
17.6
19.1
21.8
6
30
49
253
512
103,800
56, 682
32,441
55,656
15,179
T otal.................................................
715
256,000
5, 542,652
21.6
850
263, 758
Of the 263,75S persons affected by the strikes and lockouts 215,922
were directly and 47,836 were indirectly concerned. The average
number of persons per dispute in 1895 was 301, as against 306 in 1894.
The average duration of the strikes and lockouts was 21.4 days in 1895
and 24.6 days in 1894.
The following table shows the method of settlement of strikes and
lockouts reported in 1895:
METHOD OF SETTLEM EN T OF STRIKES A N D LOCKOUTS IN 1895.
[Disputes settled by a combination of two or more of tho methods enumerated have been classed
under the most, important one. Disputes settled partly by arbitration and partly by other methods
are classed under arbitration. Persons affected means persons thrown out of work.]
Method of settlement.
Strikes and lock
outs for which
persons affected
wero reported.
Total
strikes
and lock
outs.
Number.
Negotiation or conciliation between tlie parties............. ..................... .
Mediation or conciliation by third parties............. ........................
Arbitration.......................................
Submission of working people.....................................................................
■Rpiplfieenimit ftf bonds_______ _____________________________________. . .
Closing of works or establishments............................................................ .
Withdrawal or disappearance of cause without mutual arrangement..
Indefinite, unsettled at date of compilation, or no information.. . . . . __
Total................................................................................................................
489
35
25
124
160
16
9
18
876 1
1
Persons
affected.
476
35
25
123
154
14
8
15
119,226
65, 700
13,251
56,644
4,352
2, 397
381
1,80=7
850 |
263,758
The results shown above indicate a decided improvement over the
preceding year in the method of settlement of the strikes and lockouts.
Taking the first three methods on the list, those which are conciliatory in
their nature, the percentage of persons involved in disputes settled by
one or the other o f these methods was 75.1, while in 1894 it was but 50.4
per cent. In the case of only 23.1 per cent of the persons affected was
there submission of the working people and replacement of hands, as
against 47.3 per cent in 1894.
164
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
C o n c i l i a t i o n a n d A r b i t r a t i o n . —The following statement shows
the number o f strikes and lockouts which were settled by conciliation
and arbitration through the intervention of third parties:
S T R IK ES A N D LOCKOUTS SETTLED B Y CO N C IL IA T IO N A N D A R B IT R A T IO N IN 1895.
[Persons affected means persons thrown ont of work.]
Conciliation.
Agency employed.
Trarlfl hnnrds___________________________. _____
Individuals_____ - __ . . . . . . . . . ___ . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total (<*)_______ __________________ _____
Arbitration.
Total.
Strikes
Strikes
Strikes
and lock Persons and lock Persons and lock Persons
affected. outs.
affected.
affected.
outs.
outs.
7
10
4,165
46,788
4
24
1,379
6,566
11
34
5,544
53,354
17
50,953
28
7,945
45
58,898
a These figures differ from those in the preceding table, because the present table deals only with dispules settled in 1895, while the preceding table deals only with disputes begun in 1895; of the former
a few were begun in 1894, while of the latter a considerable number were not settled until 1896.
During the year 1895 45 disputes, affecting 58,898 persons, were
reported as settled by conciliation or arbitration through the mediation
of some disinterested party, as compared with 42 disputes, affecting
18,325 persons, in 1894. Disputes beginning in 1894 and referred to
arbitration or settled by conciliation in 1895 are included. The great
difference in the numbers affected in the two years is explained by the
fact that in 1895 the greatest dispute of the year—namely, that in the
boot and shoe trade, affecting no less than 46,000 persons—was settled
by conciliation. As was the case in 1893 and 1894, the greater proportion
of these disputes was settled by independent individuals, 75.6 per cent
of the disputes, affecting 90.6 per cent of the total number of working
people, being settled by this means.
There were 68 trade boards of arbitration and conciliation known to
exist in 1895. Of these 29 are believed to have dealt with no new cases
during the year. The remaining 39 trade boards were reported as hav
ing dealt with 1,282 cases, of which 293 were withdrawn, referred back,
or settled outside the boards. O f the remaining 989 cases submitted
during the year 831 were settled by the boards themselves, and 158
were settled by arbitrators appointed by the boards or by independent
chairmen of the boards.
O f district boards 25 were believed to be in existence in 1895, but
only two of them were known to have settled cases during the year.
165
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
Reports as to losses and expenditures by employers and working
people are very incomplete. The following summary was taken from
returns received from employers and from trade unions, respectively:
COST OF STRIK ES A N D LOCKOUTS IN 1895, A S REPORTED B Y EM PLOYERS A N D
T R A D E UNIONS.
Amount.
Items.
Strikes Persons
and lock affected.
outs.
LOSSES RE PO RTE D B Y E M P L O Y E R S.
i
Estimated value of fixed capital laid idle...................... .......... ................... $33,119,545
925,876
Estimated annual ratable value of property laid idle................................
Estimated actual outlay by employers in stopping and reopening
141,844
works, and in payments of fixed charges, salaries, e t c ..........................
Amount paid in defense against strikes or in support of lockouts by
b 6,628
organizations of employers (a).......................................................................
E X P E N D IT U R E S O F W O R K IN G P E O P L E R E P O R T E D B Y T R A D E
47,100
37,745
103
42, 604
2, 551
31
i
|
U N IO N S .
Amount expended in support of strike or defense against lockout
from trade union fu n d s ..................................................................................
Amount expended in support of strike or defense against lockout
from other funds................................................................................................
127
88
125,434
217 j
24,555
15,850
33 |
8,368
^Employers reporting upon 65 other disputes, in which 44,839 people were engaged, state that
nothing was paid under this head.
&In addition $2,433 was paid in one dispute, in which the number of persons affected is not stated.
The report estimates the loss to working men during 1895, on account
of working days lost, at about £1,120,000 ($5,450,480), as against
£2,000,000 ($9,733,000) in 1894.
Lois et rdglements concernant le travail des femmes et des enfants, la
police des etablissements classes, le payement des salaires aux ouvriers,
les rdglements dJatelier et Vinspection du travail. Office du Travail,
Ministere de PIndustrie et du Travail. 1896. 226 pp.
This is a compilation of all of the laws, orders, and regulations of
Belgium relating to the employment of women and children, the regu
lation o f factory work, especially that of a dangerous or unhealthy
character, the payment of wages, and the inspection of factories.
Commencing with the year 1895 this same bureau also issues an annual
report concerning the inspection of factories, workshops, and mines
under the title of Rapports annuels de Pinspection du travail. Tome I,
Rapports de Padministration centrale; Tome II, Rapports des inspecteurs de province.
Congres National des Habitations Ouvrieres et des Institutions de Prevoyance. Antwerp, 1894.
This volume contains the official report of the National Congress in
Relation to Workingmen’s Houses and Provident Institutions, organ
ized by the Belgian Government in connection with the International
Congress held at Antwerp in 1894. The purpose of this congress was
solely to discuss Belgian institutions with a view to their possible
reform or development. To accomplish this, a special programme,
including 21 specific propositions, was prepared, the task of reporting
166
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
upon which was assigned to individuals who were believed to be most
competent to treat the subjects. These reports when presented were
then discussed by the congress.
In the section relating to workingmen’s houses the principal reports
related to the results accomplished by the law o f August 9,1889, which
provided for the creation of local committees o f patronage to encour
age the erection of workingmen’s houses and the organization of build
ing societies to operate under the financial assistance of the national
savings bank, and the features in this law that should be modified 5 the
laws in relation to expropriation; the part that the government, local
and central, and public institutions should play in aiding in the better
housing of the working classes; the best form of workingmen’s build
ing societies; the taxation of workingmen’s houses, and the combina
tion o f insurance with contracts by workingmen to buy houses on the
installment plan.
As regards i>rovident institutions, the principal subjects considered
were in relation to the State aid of workingmen’s insurance; the
encouragement of workingmen to make use of the national old age
pension branch of the general savings bank; the extension of the
activities of this institution to other fields of insurance, and the ques
tion of compulsory insurance, including a brief account of the system
of compulsory insurance in Germany, Austria, and Denmark.
Erstellung billiger Wohmmgen durch die Gemeinde Bern. Separatabdruck aus dem 2. Heft der “ Zeitsehrift fur Schweizerische Statistik.”
30. Jahrgang. 1894. 24 pp.
This extract from the u Zeitsehrift fur Schweizerische Statistik,” con
tains an account of the municipal dwelling houses for working people,
erected by the city of Bern, in Switzerland. The author gives an
account of the circumstances leading up to the construction of dwell
ing houses by the city government, a description of the houses erected,
with plans and elevations, and a statement o f the benefits derived
therefrom.
Owing to the rapid development of certain industries the housing
accommodations of the city of Bern were inadequate for the influx of
working people. An official investigation in 1889 showed that many
people were either without any homes or were crowded into stables,
attics, and houses which were unfit for habitation.
The absence of private enterprise compelled the city authorities to
provide means for the better housing of these people. Fourteen houses,
containing 28 tenements, were erected in February, 1890. Others were
gradually added, until, at the time of this publication, 98 families had
been accommodated.
The houses were all erected on one tract of land; most of them
detached; some in rows. The dwellings each contain from two to four
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
167
rooms, an attic, and garden space. They rent from $3.47 to $5.02 per
month. The demand was so great that there were on an average fonr
applicants to each tenement. The average cost per house, including
land, was $868.50.
The report concludes with statistics of the population, size of families,
occupations, death rate, etc., of tenants of the municipal dwelling
houses.
Publications o f the Musee Social, Pans, France.
The Mus6e Social of Paris, France, is a privately endowed but pub
lic institution, the object of which is to advance the study of practical
labor questions throughout the world. Though in no way a State insti
tution, the character of its organization and work is so akin to that of an
official labor bureau that as regards its services it may almost be
ranked with these offices. In a way it may be said to be a labor bureau
the maintenance of which is provided for by funds with which it has
been privately endowed. Under these circumstances its organization
and work merit a special interest.
The Musee was created in 1894 by the Comte dc Chambrun, who gave
for that purpose the sum of 1,700,000 francs ($328,100), but it was not
definitely organized and inaugurated until March 25,1895. Its objects,
in the language of the constitution, are “ to place gratuitously at the
disposition o f the public documents with collateral information, models,
plans, constitutions, etc., of social institutions and organizations which
have for their object and result the amelioration of the material and
moral situation of the laboring classes.”
Unlike the various economic associations and societies, it as far as
possible avoids mere academic discussions, and confines its attention
to matter relating to practical labor questions. In this it follows
strictly the line of work of official labor bureaus.
In order to carry out these aims, the Musee has adopted a number of
lines of action. A t Ho. 5, rue Las Cases, Paris, in a building owned
by it, it has accumulated a library of all the principal official reports,
publications of private associations and industrial organizations, and
private treatises printed in all languages bearing upon practical labor
problems. It has fitted up rooms for lectures and meetings and for stu
dents who desire to make use of the library. It has a permanent exhibitionof models, plans, etc., of workingmen’s houses, devicesfor preventing
accidents, constitutions of social institutions of all kinds, etc. It pro
vides for lecture courses on labor problems.
As regards its own direct contributions to a knowledge of labor con
ditions, it from time to time organizes special commissions in France
and in foreign countries to inquire into labor subjects of present prac
tical importance. In the autumn of 1895 two such commissions were
organized. The first was composed of four persons, who visited England
for the purpose of making an investigation and report in regard to trade
168
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
unions. The second had for its object the study o f the agrarian ques
tion in Germany, with special reference to agrarian socialism and the
efforts o f the Government to improve the condition of the agricultural
classes. In the fall of 1896 it organized a third investigation, sending
for this purpose a commission of four members to the United States to
study labor organizations in this country. The results o f these inves
tigations will be embodied in reports which will be published by the
Musee.
The publications of the Musee Social naturally constitute a very
important part of its work. O f these there are several kinds. It
issues from time to time volumes in a series entitled Bibliotheque du
Musee Social, which give the results of its investigations and other
material representing the results of original research. The second
class of publications consists of more frequent bulletins, or “ circulaires,**
as they are called, for the publication of shorter contributions. There
are two series of these circulaires, the first of which is intended for a
wide gratuitous circulation among the working classes and is devoted
to giving information concerning current happenings relating to labor,
such as the meetings of labor congresses or organizations, social legis
lation, etc. The second series embraces studies more in the nature of
economic monographs. A most important feature of these circulaires
is the valuable bibliography of reports and works relating to the ques
tion under treatment, which is always appended.
A t the present time the Musee Social has issued 14 circulaires, 9 in
the first and 5 in the second series. The titles of these publications are:
SERIES A .
1. Le Musee Social. [The Musee Social.]
2. Le trade-unionisme anglais et les causes de son succ&s. [English
trade-unionism and the causes of its success.]
3. Discours prononc6 par M. Pickard, membre du Parlement, presi
dent de la Federation des Mineurs de la Grande-Bretagne A la reunion
annuelle de cette association, le 14 janvier 1896. [Address delivered
by Mr. Pickard, M. P., president o f the Miners* Federation of Great.
Britain, at its annual meeting, January 14,1896.]
4. Les syndicats du batiment en Angleterre. Conference prononcee
par M. Paul de Bousiers, le 17 mars 1896, au Musee Social. [Trade
unions in the building trades in England. An address delivered by M.
Paul de Bousiers, March 17,1896, at the Musee Social.]
5. Fete du travail.—Dimanche 3 mai 1896. [Labor celebration, Sun
day May 3,1896.]
6. Septieme Congres International des Mineurs (Aix-la-Chapelle,
25-28 mai 1896). Suivi d*une notice sur M. Thomas Burt, ancien sec
retaire d’etat, membre du Parlement anglais, president du congres.
[Seventh International Miners* Congress, Aix-la-Chapelle, May 25-28,
1896, followed by a notice concerning Mr. Thomas Burt, former secre
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
169
tary of state, member of the English Parliament, president of the
congress.]
7. Les ouvriers de la construction navale en Angleterre, leur syndicat et leur secretaire general, M. Robert Knight. Conference prononcee
par M. Andre Fleury, membre de la mission envoyee en Angleterre par
le Musee Social. [Naval construction employees in England, their
union and general secretary, Mr. Robert Knight. An address deliv
ered by M. Andre Fleury, member o f the commission sent to England
by the Musee Social.]
8. Le 29e Congres National des Syndicats Ouvriers Britanniques,
tenu A Edimbourg du 7 au 12 septembre 1896. [The Twenty-ninth
Trade-Unions Congress of Great Britain, held at Edinburgh Septem
ber 7-12, 1896.]
9. Les ouvriers des docks et entrepdts en Angleterre: Le metier, les
homines et les syndicats. Conference prononcee par M. Octave Festy,
membre de la mission envoyee en Angleterre par le Musee Social.
[Dock and warehouse laborers in England: The trade, the men, and
the labor unions. An address delivered by M. Octave Festy, member
of the commission sent to England by the Musee Social.]
S E R IE S B .
1. Questions legislatives: Projet de loi concernant les responsabilites des accidents dont les ouvriers sont victimes dans leur travail, vote
par le Senat, en deuxieme lecture, le 24 mars 1896. [Legislative ques
tions: Bill concerning the responsibility for accidents received by
workingmen during their labor, passed by the Senate, second reading,
March 24, 1896.]
2. L’assurance contre le chdmage involontaire en Suisse. [Insurance
against involuntary idleness in Switzerland.]
3. Quatrieme Congres Socialiste International (Londres, 27 juilletl er aout 1896). [The Fourth International Socialist Congress, London,
July 27-August 1,1896.]
4. La democratic socialiste en Allemagne et la question agraire au
Congres de Breslau. [Social democracy in Germany and the agrarian
question at the Breslau Congress.]
5. L’assurance obligatoire contre le chdmage A Saint-Gall, Suisse:
suppression de la caisse de chdmage. [Obligatory insurance against
idleness at Saint Gall, Switzerland: Suppression of the insurance
institution.]
One volume in the Bibliothdque du Mus£e Social, giving the report
of the commission sent to England, has also been issued under the title
o f Trade unionisme en Angleterre, par Paul de Rousiers, avec la col
laboration de MM. de Carbonnel, Festy, Fleury et Wilhelm. Paris,
1897.
O f the circulaires the two relating to the insurance of workingmen
170
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
against idleness in Switzerland are of such general interest that their
contents are here summarized.
Switzerland is apparently the only country in which serious efforts
have been made to lessen the evils of lack of employment through the
creation of special State insurance institutions. These experiments
relate to, first, the voluntary insurance institutions against lack of
employment organized by the town of Bern, second, the obligatory
insurance institution against lack of employment created by the town
of Saint Gall, and, third, the various propositions to introduce similar
institutions in Basel, Zurich, and Lucerne, and the official investiga
tion o f the question o f idleness now being conducted by the federal
authorities o f Switzerland.
The first attempt to provide for insurance against idleness under gov
ernment auspices was made by the town of Bern in April, 1893. It
provided for the creation o f an institution, membership in which was to
be purely voluntary. Each member was required to pay monthly dues
of 40 centimes ($0,077). To the fund thus accumulated the town
agreed to add a subsidy the maximum amount of which was limited
to 5,000 francs ($965) a year. The constitution also provided for the
receipt of gifts from employers and other individuals. The value of
the out of-work benefits was fixed at 1 franc ($0,193) for unmarried and
1.50 francs ($0.29) for married men per day. This relief would be
granted only during the months o f December, January, and Feb
ruary. Only members o f six months’ standing who had paid their dues
regularly and had been unemployed at least fifteen days are entitled
to benefits, and then not for the first week that they are without work.
These members must also present themselves twice a day in a room
set aside for that purpose, where they can spend the day if they desire,
to respond to a roll call. This is in order to safeguard the institution
against impositions. A workingman who refuses work of any kind
loses all right to aid of any kind. The members thus do not have the
right to refuse any work because it is not in their trade. There are
also other cases in which the workingman loses his right to a benefit.
Such, for instance, are the cases where he is unemployed as the result of
his own fault, and especially when he has engaged in a strike.
The fund is administered by a commission of seven members, of which
three are named by the municipal authorities, two by the employers
contributing to the fund, and two by the workingmen.
This institution has now been in existence a sufficient length of time
to furnish some indication of the character of the results. The num
ber o f members during the first year, 1893-94, was 404. O f these 166
were aided during the year. There was paid to them $1,319.16, or an
average of $7.95 each. The highest sum paid to any one person was
$20.27. The total expenditure of the year was $1,508.30. "Receipts for
the year consisted of $212.30, dues of members; $382.14, gifts from
employers and others, and $913.86, municipal subsidy.
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
171
It will be seen that the members contributed but 14 x>er cent of the
total receipts and that they received in actual benefits six times the
amount paid in by them as dues. One would think that under such
exceptionally favorable circumstances membership would increase
rapidly. Such, however, has not been the case. During the second
year, 1894-95, there were but 390 members, or 14 less than the pre
ceding year. Two hundred and nineteen persons, or more than half
the members, were aided. They received $1,869.06, or an average of
$8.53 each. But $263.79 out of a total receipt of $2,249.86 were from
members’ dues. The ratio of this sum to the amount paid out in bene
fits is 14 per cent, the members thus receiving on an average seven
times the amount contributed by them.
This institution had been founded for but two years as an experi
ment. In 1895, the two years having elapsed, the town council deter
mined by an almost unanimous vote to continue it in operation. Some
modifications, however, were introduced in its organization. Dues
were raised from 40 to 50 centimes ($0,077 to $0.096J) per month, and
the maximum amount of the municipal subsidy was raised from $965 to
$1,351. Daily benefits were also increased from 1 to 1.50 francs ($0,193
to $0.29) for single and from 1.50 to 2 francs ($0.29 to $0,386) for mar
ried members. In addition, the municipal employment bureau, which
had until then been an independent service, was attached to the work
of the insurance fund.
The result of these changes was to increase the operations of the
fund. On December 31, 1895, there were 605 members enrolled, of
whom 169, or 49 more than during the preceding year at the same date,
had been aided. The total receipts during the year 1895-96 were
$2,213.99, of which $312.70 were derived from dues. Total expendi
tures were $2,121.30, of which $1,932.22 were for benefits. In this
third year, therefore, slightly over six times the amount received as
dues from the members was paid in benefits.
Saint Gall, a town of about 30,000 inhabitants, was the first to follow
the example of Bern and provide for the insurance of workingmen
against idleness. Its policy, however, differed radically from that of
Bern in that it adopted the i>olicy of compulsory insurance. Its insti
tution was created June 23,1895. After an existence of about a year
and a half, its suppression, after June 30,1897, was voted by a majority
of the electors o f the town November 8, 1896. The reasons for its
abolishment were that the system of compulsion worked badly. It
was difficult to compel the workingmen to become members; injustice
was done by putting workingmen in industries in which the likelihood
of lack o f employment was slight on the same footing as those in indus
tries, such as the building trades, where interruptions to work were of
almost certain occurrence. Finally, it was claimed that the efforts of
those out of work to obtain employment were lessened.
A t Basel, though no scheme of insurance has as yet been put into
172
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
operation, a proposition for the compulsory insurance of workingmen
against lack o f employment through a municipal institution has been
elaborated, in which the attempt has been made to meet the objections
that were urged against the Saint Gall experiment. The question o f
insurance against lack o f employment has also received attention in
other Swiss cities, notably Zurich and Lucerne, but no actual steps in
this direction have as yet been taken. The Federal Government is now
prosecuting an investigation of the whole subject of lack of employ
ment and the means of preventing or lessening the evils resulting from
it. The complete report of this investigation has not yet been made.
DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
[This subject, begun in Bulletin No. 2, will be continued in successive issues, deal
ing with tho decisions as they occur. All material parts o f the decisions are repro
duced in the words of the courts, indicated when short by quotation marks and
when long by being printed solid. In order to save space, immaterial matter, needed
simply by way of explanation, is given in the words of tho editorial reviser.]
DECISIONS UNDER STATUTORY LAW .
A
l ie n
Contract L abor L a w
not
A
p p l ic a b l e
to a
Ch e m
is t —
United States v. Laics, 16 Supreme Court Reporter, page 998.—Action
was brought by the United States in the United States circuit court
for the southern district of Ohio, western division, against Harry L.
Laws to recover the statutory penalty for breach of the contract-labor
law. Judgment was rendered for Laws, and the United States brought
the case on a writ of error before the United States circuit court of
appeals for the sixth circuit and said court certified the case to the
United States Supreme Court for its opinion. The Supreme Court
rendered its decision May 18, 1896.
The statement of facts shows that on or about July 22,1889, A . Seeliger was a citizen of the German Empire, residing in Germany; that
at that date the defendant (Laws) made a contract with him to come to
the United States as a chemist on a sugar plantation in Louisiana;
that Seeliger agreed to come to the United States for that purpose;
that the defendant paid his expenses to the United States; that
Seeliger came to the United States and went to Louisiana, and that
he was there employed on a sugar plantation as a chemist, under the
direction of the defendant. The question certified by the circuit court
of appeals to the Supreme Court was as follows:
Is a contract made with an alien in a foreign country to come to this
eountry as a chemist on a sugar plantation in Louisiana, in pursuance
of which contract such alien does come to this country, and is employed
on a sugar plantation in Louisiana, and his expenses paid by the
defendant, a contract to perform labor service, as prohibited in the act
of Congress passed February 26,1885?
The opinion of the Supreme Court was delivered by Mr. Justice
Peckham, and in the course of the same he uses the following language:
The fifth section [of chapter 164, acts of Congress of 1884-85, passed
February 26,1885J, after providing for certain exceptions to the provi
sions of the first two sections, further enacts that the act shall not
apply “ to professional actors, artists, lecturers, or singers, nor to per
sons employed strictly as personal or domestic servants.”
173
7535—No. 9----- 5
174
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
While this act was in force a suit was brought in the circuit
court for the southern district of New York in favor of the United
States against the rector, etc., of the Church of the Holy Trinity, in
the city of New York. It was brought to recover a penalty of $1,000,
as provided for in the act5 and in the course of the trial it appeared
that the defendant was a religious corporation and had engaged a Mr.
Warren, an alien residing in England, to come to the city of New York
and take charge o f its church as pastor. It was claimed on the part of
the United States that the church corporation, in making that contract
with Mr. Warren, had violated the first section of the act in question.
It was held by the circuit court that the contract was within the stat
ute, and that the defendant was liable for the penalty provided for
therein.
Congress, however, a short time after, and probably in consequence
of the decision o f the circuit court in the southern district of New York,
amended the fifth section of the statute in question by adding to the
proviso therein mentioned the words, u nor to ministers of any religious
denominations, nor persons belonging to any recognized profession,
nor professors for colleges and seminaries.* 26 Stat., 1081, e. 551, act
approved March 3,1831.
If, by the terms o f the original act, the provisions thereof applied
only to unskilled laborers whose presence simply tended to degrade
American labor, the meaning of the act, as amended by the act of 1891,
becomes, i f possible, still plainer; Now, b y its very terms, it is not
intended to apply to any person belonging to any recognized profes
sion. W e think a chemist would be included in that class. Although
the study o f chemistry is the study o f a science, yet a chemist who
occupies himself in the practical use o f his knowledge o f chemistry, as
his services may be demanded, may certainly, at this time, bo fairly
regarded as in the practice of a profession.
The question presented to us assumes that the individual is a chemist,
aud that he has come to this country for the purpose of pursuing his
vocation as a chemist on a sugar plantation in Louisiana. It may be
assumed that the branch of chemistry which he will practice will be
that which relates to, and is connected with, the proper manufacture*
o f sugar from the sugar cane, or possibly from sorghum or beets. He
is-none the less a chemist, and none the less occupied in the practice
o f his profession, because he thus limits himself to that particular
branch which is to be applied in the course of the scientic manufacture
of sugar, any more than a lawyer would cease to practice his profession
by limiting himself to any particular branch thereof,, or a doctor by
confining his practice to some specialty which he particularly favored
and was eminent in..
The fact that the individual in question, by this contract, had agreed
to sell his time* labor, and skill to one employer and in one prescribed
branch of the science, does not in the least militate against his being a
professional chemist, nor does it operate as a bar to the claim that while
so employed he is nevertheless practicing a recognized profession. It
is not necessary that he should offer his services to the public at large,
nor that ho should hold himself ready to apply his scientific knowledge
and skill to the business of all persons who applied for them, before he
would be entitled to claim that he belonged to, and was actually prac
ticing, a recognized profession. The chemist may confine his services
to one employer so long as the services which he performs are of a pro
fessional nature. It is not the fact that the chemist keeps his services
open for employment by the public generally which is the criterion by
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
175
which to determine whether or not he still belongs to, or is practicing,
a recognized profession. So long as he is engaged in the practical
application of his knowledge of the science as a vocation, it is not
important whether he holds himself out as ready to make that applica
tion in behalf of all persons who desire it, or that he contracts to do it
for some particular employer, and at some named place.
W e have no doubt that the individual named comes within one of the
exceptions named in the statute.
The question certified to this court by the circuit court of appeals for
the sixth circuit should be answered in the negative.
C h in e s e
E
x c l u s io n
A
ct
— I m p r is o n m e n t
at
H
ard
Labor—
— TVong Wing ct ah v. United
States, 16 Supreme Court Reporter, page 977.—Wong Wing and other
Chinese persons were brought before a commissioner of the circuit
court of the United States for the eastern district of Michigan upon
the charge o f being Chinese persons unlawfully within the United
States and not entitled to remain within the same. The commissioner
found that the charge was true and adjudged that they be imprisoned
at hard labor in the Detroit house of correction for a period of CO
days, and that, at the expiration of said time, they be removed from
the United States to China. This action was based on the provisions
of section 4 o f chapter CO of the acts o f Congress of 1891-02, approved
May 5,1892, which reads as follows:
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
P r o v is io n
Any such Chinese person or person of Chinese descent convicted and
adjudged to be not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United
States shall be imprisoned at hard labor for a period of not exceeding
one year and thereafter removed from the United States, as hereinbe
fore provided.
The case was brought before the circuit court on a writ of habeas
corj)us, and after argument the writ was discharged and the prisoners
were remanded to serve out their original sentence. From this decision
an appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court, which ren
dered its decision May 18,1896, reversing the decision of the circuit
court on the ground that said section 4 of the act of May 5,1892, con
flicts with the fifth and sixth amendments to the Constitution of the
United States.
The opinion of the court was delivered by Mr. Justice Shiras, and
the following is quoted therefrom :
The present appeal presents a different question from those hereto
fore determined. It is claimed that even if it be competent for Con
gress to prevent aliens from coming into the country, or to provide for
the deportation o f those unlawfully within its borders, and to submit
the enforcement of the provisions of such laws to executive officers,
yet the fourth section of the act of 1892 inflicts an infamous punish
ment, and hence conflicts with the fifth and sixth amendments o f the
Constitution, which declare that no person shall be held to answer for
176
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless oil a presentment or indict
ment o f a grand jury, and that in all criminal prosecutions the accused
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury
of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.
It is argued that as this court has held that no person can bo held to
answer, without presentment or indictment by a grand jury, for any
crime for which an infamous punishment may be imposed by the court,
and that imprisonment at hard labor for a term o f years is an infamous
punishment, the detention of the present appellants in the house o f
correction at Detroit, at hard labor, for a period o f 60 days, without
having been sentenced thereto upon an indictment by a grand jury,
and a trial by a jury, is illegal and without jurisdiction.
W e think it clear that detention or temporary confinement, as part
o f the means necessary to give effect to the provisions for the exclusion
or expulsion o f aliens, would be valid. Detention is a usual feature in
every case o f arrest on a criminal charge, even when an innocent person
is wrongfully accused; but it is not imprisonment in a legal sense. So,
too, we think it would be plainly competent for Congress to declare the
act of an alien in remaining unlawfully within the United States to be
an offense punishable by fine or imprisonment, if such offense were to
be established by a judicial trial. But the evident meaning of the sec
tion in question—and no other is claimed for it by the counsel for the
Government—is that the detention provided for is an imprisonment at
hard labor, which is to be undergone before the sentence o f deportation
is to be carried into effect, and that such imprisonment is to be adjudged
against the accused by a justice, judge, or commissioner, upon a sum
mary hearing. Thus construed, the fourth section comes before this
court for the first time for consideration as to its validity.
Our views upon the question thus specifically pressed upon our
attention may be briefly expressed thus: W e regard it as settled by
our previous decisions that the United States can, as a matter o f pub
lic policy, by Congressional enactment, forbid aliens or classes of aliens
from coming within their borders, and expel aliens or classes o f aliens
from their territory, and can, in order to make effectual such decree of
exclusion or expulsion, devolve the duty and power o f identifying and
arresting the persons included in such decree, and causing their deporta
tion, upon executive or subordinate officials. But when Congress sees
fit to further promote such a policy by subjecting the persons of such
aliens to infamous punishment at hard labor or by confiscating their
property, we think such legislation, to be valid, must provide for a
judicial trial to establish the guilt o f the accused.
No limits can be put by the courts upon the power of Congress to
protect, by summary methods, the country from the advent of aliens
whose race or habits render them undesirable as citizens, or to expel
such if they have already found their way into our land and unlawfully
remain therein. But to declare unlawful residence within the country
to be an infamous crime, punishable by deprivation of liberty and prop
erty, would be to pass out of the sphere of constitutional legislation,
unless provision were made that the fact of guilt should first be estab
lished by a judicial trial. It is not consistent with the theory of our
Government that the legislature should, after having defined an offense
as an infamous crime, find the fact of guilt, and adjudge the punishment
by one o f its own agents.
In the case of Yick W o v. Hopkins (118 U. S., 369, 6 Sup. Ct., 1064) it
was said: “ The fourteenth amendment to the Constitution is not con
fined to the protection of citizens. It says: ‘ Nor shall any State deprive
177
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
any person of life, liberty or iiroperty without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
law.’ These provisions are universal in their application to all persons
within the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of
race, of color, or nationality; and the equal protection of the laws is a
pledge o f the protection of equal laws.” Applying this reasoning to
the fifth and sixth amendments, it must be concluded that all persons
within the territory of the United States are entitled to the protection
guaranteed by those amendments, and that even aliens shall not be
held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime, unless on a pre
sentment or indictment of a grand jury, nor be deprived of life, liberty,
or property without due process of law.
Our conclusion is that the commissioner, in sentencing the appellants
to imprisonment at hard labor at and in the Detroit house of correc
tion, acted without jurisdiction, and that the circuit court erred in not
discharging the prisoners from such imprisonment, without prejudice
to their detention according to law for their deportation.
Cl a im
for
W
ages—
Preference
of
Sam e
over
P
r io r
M
ort
—Bell et al. v. Miner, 44 Northeastern Reporter, page 576.—This
case was brought before the appellate court of Indiana on appeal from
the circuit court of Allen County from a judgment rendered in favor
of Hiner in the original action brought by him to enforce a laborer’s
lien against Bell and others. The appellate court rendered its decision
June 18,1896, and affirmed the judgment of the circuit court.
The following, containing a statement of the facts in the case, is
quoted from the opinion of the appellate court, which was delivered
by Judge Gavin :
gage
On October 25,1894, one Jasper was engaged in keeping a livery
stable at Fort Wayne. A t this time, and prior thereto, one Bell held a
mortgage on the property used by Jasper in said business, viz, certain
horses, carriages, etc., “ and all other chattels belonging to the said
Jasper in the said barn,” to secure $1,000, this being more than the
value of the property. Jasper, being upon that day insolvent, threat
ened with suit, and pressed for payment by Bell, and unable to meet his
liabilities, at his request conveyed to Bell all of said property in pay
ment o f said debt; and his business was on said day and thenceforth
continuously suspended by the actions of said Bell, who afterwards sold
the property to one Martin, who had knowledge of appellee’s [Hiner’s]
claim. Appellee was a laborer employed in the stable, to whom seven
weeks’ wages were due for work performed within that period last pre
ceding the sale and subsequent to the execution of the mortgage and
the due recording thereof.
Section 7051, Bev. St., 1894 (section 5206, Bev. St., 1881), provides that
when the property o f any person engaged in business u shall be seized
upon any mesne or final process of any court of this State, or where their
business shall be suspended by the action of creditors or put into the
hands of any assignee, receiver, or trustee, then, in all such cases, the
debts owing"to laborers or employees, which have accrued by reason of
their labor or employment, to an amount not exceeding fifty dollars to
each employee, for work and labor performed within six months next
178
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
preceding the seizure of such property, shall be considered and treated
as preferred debts, and such laborers and employees shall be preferred
creditors, and shall be first paid in full, and if there be not sufficient to
pay them in full, then the same shall be paid to them pro rata, after
paying costs.**
Under this section appellee sought to enforce a lien for $50 against
the property in Martin’s hands.
Appellants [Bell and others] assert (1) that by the statute no lien is
created nor any charge made against the property unless it shall come
into the hands o f some officer, assignee, or other trustee under the court,
to be administered upon according to law ; (2) that, even if a lien is cre
ated, it is junior to the lien of the mortgage. Under our authorities,
neither position is tenable. The statute, it is true, does not in terms
create any express lien eo nomine; but the supreme court, in Bass v.
Doerman (112 Ind., 390,14 N. E., 377) decided that by this statute a lien
was given to the laborer superior to the rights of and enforceable against
one to whom the property of the insolvent debtor was sold in payment
of debts due the purchaser, where the business of the debtor was by such
action of the creditor thereby suspended.
It is true, as urged by appellant’s counsel, that the Bass case does
not decide that the labor lien is superior to a prior mortgage, that
question not being involved, but it does decide the debt is a charge
against the property in the hands o f a purchaser for value. The word
44lien ” includes every case in which personal or real property is charged
with the payment of a debt. Here the statute directs that the labor
claim shall be preferred and shall be 44first paid in full.” It being
established by the Bass case that the statute gives a lien for the labor
claim, then it seems to us the intent that it shall be a paramount lien
is clearly expressed. I f it is to be 44first” paid in full, we do not well
see how the mortgage can come in before it. When the mortgagee
accepted his mortgage, he must be deemed to have done so with know l
edge that if the business was continued, and the contingency contem
plated by the statute should occur, then the labor debts would be
preferred, and must be first paid. The law entered into the mortgage
contract as a silent, but potent, factor, and the mortgagee accepted
it subject to such rights as might accrue to others under the law.
It is argued that upon the principle declared in Eversole v. Chase
(127 Ind., 297,26 E". E., 835} section 7051, Bev. St., 1894, is not in force,
because it was an amendment of a statute (section 5206, Bev. Sfc.,
1881) passed in 1879, which had been repealed by implication by the
passage of the act o f March 3,1885 (Elliott’s Supp., § 1598, being section
7058, Bev. St., 1894).
“ Repeals by implication are not favored in the constrnction of stat
utes,” yet “ it is ordinarily true that the enactment of a new statute
covering the whole subject-matter of an older statute, and containing
provisions that can not be reconciled with it, operates as an implied
repeal of the older one.” (Bobinson v Bippey, 111 Ind., 112,12
E.,
141.) This is the rule declared by this court, through Davis, J., in
Allen v. Town of Salem (10 Ind. App.", 650,38 H. E., 425). It was further
said in the same case: 44In order to effect such repeal by implication,
it must appear that the subsequent statute revised the whole subjectmatter o f the former one, and was intended as a substitute for it, or
that it was repugnant to the old law.” The act of March 3,1885, makes
no provision for and does not cover the subject of labor liens where
the property has not passed into the hands o f an assignee or receiver.
It falls far short o f covering the whole subject-matter of the act of 1879,
179
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
nor is there any good reason why both should not stand together.
Upon the principles of law announced in the Town of Salem case,
supra, and the authorities therein cited, we are of opinion that the act
o f March 3,1885, did not repeal the law of 1879. Judgment affirmed.
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
Sta tu te— B
o il e r
Inspectors
A
ct
—
— State ex rel. Graham v. McMahon, 68 N'orthicestern
Reporter, page 77.—This case was heard in the district court of Bamsey
County, Minn., on application for writ of habeas corpus. The relator,
Harry Graham, was discharged, and from an order refusing a new trial
the defendant, Thomas McMahon, bailiff, appealed the ease to the
supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision July 8,1896,
reversed the order of the lower court, and remanded the relator to the
defendants eustody.
The opinion o f the supreme court was delivered by Judge Collins
and contains a sufficient statement of the facts in the case. The follow
ing is quoted therefrom:
E
x e m p t io n s
In this case, which is an appeal by the respondent [McMahon] under
the provisions of Laws, 1895, c. 327, from an order discharging the relator
in a habeas corpus proceeding, we are required to pass upon the con
stitutionality o f an act of the legislature (Gen. Laws, 1889, c. 253) gen
erally known as the “ Boiler inspectors’ act.” (Gen. St., 1894, §§ 480494, inclusive.) The claim is made on behalf of the relator (who was
arrested upon a warrant issued upon a complaint charging him with
having wrongfully and unlawfully operated a steam boiler, and a sta
tionary engine attached thereto, without first having obtained a license)
that, because o f the exemptions provided for in section 493, the act is
unequal, partial, and is class legislation, forbidden by the constitution.
Omitting a proviso which is of no consequence, the section reads as fol
lows: “ Sec. 493. This act shall not apply to railroad locomotives, nor
shall engineers employed by railroad companies be required to procure
licenses from the state board of inspectors. Hor shall it apply to boilers
inspected by insurance companies and certified by their authorized
inspectors to be safe.” Briefly stated, the position o f counsel is that
this section must be construed as exempting, in terms, from the opera
tion o f the requirement to obtain licenses, all engineers who may be
employed by railroad companies, whether as locomotive engineers, or
in operating stationary engines used in office buildings, station houses,
grain elevators, pumping stations, and even wood-sawing machines,
and that it must also be construed as exempting from inspection all
boilers which may be inspected by insurance companies, and certified
to be safe by their inspectors, without regard to the character of insur
ance business these companies may be engaged in or authorized to do.
It is further claimed that the provision respecting boilers inspected by
insurance companies is obnoxious to the constitution, because it is an
unw arranted and unreasonable delegation of the police power of the
State to such companies.
The object of the act of 1889 was to provide for the inspection of
steam boilers, and the examination as to qualifications o f persons
intrusted with their management, or with the management of any
machinery operated by steam within this State, that its citizens might
180
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
be protected from the greatly iDcreasing hazards arising out of defective
construction, or want of care and repair, of boilers, as well as unskill
fulness and incoinpetency on the part of the hundreds of persons engaged
in handling them and their appliances. It was intended as a police
regulation, designed to secure public safety.
Having in mind the object in view, and the methods to be adopted
to accomplish this object, there can be no valid reason why the legisla
ture could not exempt from the operation of the act certain classes of
subjects and persons, provided some solid and substantial ground or
basis for the exemption actually existed.
Was it the manifest intention of the legislature, when using the words
“ nor shall engineers employed by railroad companies be required to
procure licenses,” to exempt locomotive engineers only? I f so, the
objection to this feature o f the section is removed. W e are of the opin
ion that none but locomotive engineers were intended to be exempted.
Reference to railroad locomotives, exempting them from inspection, had
just been made, and the above-quoted language—following, as it does,
immediately—must be construed as applying solely to locomotive engi
neers.
The act is not to apply to boilers inspected by insurance companies,
and certified by their inspectors to be safe. There is nothing in the
point that there was an unwarranted delegation of the police power of
the State when the legislature declared that the certificate of the
inspector o f one o f these companies that a boiler was safe should exempt
it from the operations of the law.
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
Sta tu te — Su n d a y
Labor— B arbers—
Eden v. People, 43 Northeastern Reporter, page 1109.—William S. Eden
was convicted in the criminal gourt of Cook County, 111., for violating
an act passed June 26, 1895, prohibiting barber shops from being open
on Sunday. He appealed the case to the supreme court of the State,
which court rendered its decision May 12,1896, and reversed the judg
ment of the lower court on the ground that the act referred to was
un constitutional.
The opinion of the supreme court, delivered by Chief Justice Craig,
reads in part as follows:
It is contended in the argument that by the act in question that part
of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution (sec
tion 1) has been violated, which reads as follows: “ Nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process o f
law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
o f the laws.” It is also contended that the act violates the following
sections o f the Illinois constitution of 1870, to wit: Article 2, § 2:
“ No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process o f law.” Also article 4, § 22, the general clause of which
reads: “ In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable
no special law shall be enacted.” It is conceded in argument that if
the legislature had enacted a law prohibiting all business on Sunday
its validity could not be questioned; that such a law would violate
none o f the constitutional provisions relied on.
Under the law o f this State, as it existed prior to the passage of the
act in question, each and every citizen of the State was left perfectly
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
181
free to labor and transact business on Sunday, or refrain from labor and
business, as be might choose, so long as ho did not disturb the peace
and good order of society. By the act in question an attempt has been
made by the legislature to inaugurate a radical change in the law as
to a class of the laboring element of the State—the barbers. This
statute, as has been seen, declares: “ That it shall be unlawful for any
person or persons to keep open any barber shop or carry on the busi
ness of shaving, hair cutting, or tonsorial work on Sunday.” That act
is plain and its meaning is obvious. The owner of a place who carries
on the business of a barber is prohibited from doing any business what
ever during one day in the week. He may have in his employ a dozen
men, and yet during one day in seven he is deprived of their labor, and
also deprived of his own labor. The income derived from his place and
his own labor and the labor of his emidoyees is his property, but the
legislature has by the act taken that property from him. The journey
man barber who works by the day or week, or for a share of the amount
he may receive from customers for his services is by the law denied the
right of laboring one day in the week. Ho may rely solely upon his
labor for the support of himself and family; his labor may be the only
property that he possesses, and yet this law takes that property away
from him. His labor is his capital, and that capital is all the property
he owns. Can a law Avhich takes that from the laborer be sustained?
The Constitution of the United States says the State shall not deprive
any person o f property without due process of law, and our State con
stitution declares the same thing. What is understood by the term
“ due i>roeess of law” is not an open question. “ Hue process of law”
is synonymous with “ law of the land,” and “ the law of the land” is
“ general public law, binding upon all the members of the community,
under all circumstances; and not partial or private laws affecting the
rights of private individuals, or classes of individuals.” Is the act in
question alone binding upon all the members of the community? A
glance at its provisions affords a negative answer. The act affects one
class of laborers, and one class alone. The merchant and his clerks,
the restaurant with its employees, the clothing house, the blacksmith,
the livery stable, the street-car lines, and the people engaged in every
other branch o f business, are each and all allowed to open their respec
tive places of business on Sunday, and transact their ordinary business
if they desire, but the barber, and he alone, is required to close his
place of business. The barber is thus deprived of property without
due process of law, in direct violation of the Constitution of the United
States and o f this State.
But it is said the law may be sustained under the police power of the
State. In Tied. Lim. the author (section 85) says: “ The State, in its
exercise of police power, is, as a general proposition, authorized to sub
ject all occupations to a reasonable regulation, where such regulation
is required for the protection of the x>ublic interest or for the public wel
fare.” It is also conceded that there is a limit to the exercise o f this
power, and that it is not an unlimited arbitrary power, which would
enable the legislature to proh ib its business the prosecution of which
inflicts no damage upon others. The author also lays down the rule
that it is within the discretion of the legislature to institute such regu
lations when a proper case arises; but it is a judicial question whether
the mode or calling is of such a nature as to justify police regulation.
In Millett v. People, in speaking of the police power of the State as
applicable to the case then before the court, it is said: “ Their require
ments have no tendency to insure the personal safety of the miner, or
182
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
to protect liis property or the property of others. They do not meet
Dwarris’s definition of ‘ police regulations.’ They do not have refer
ence to the comfort, the safety, or the welfare of society.”
It will not and can not be claimed that the law in question was passed
as a sanitary measure, or that it has any relation whatever to the health
o f society. As has been heretofore seen, as a general rule a police
regulation has reference to the health, comfort, safety, and welfare of
society. How, it may be asked, is the health, the comfort, safety, or
welfare o f society to be injuriously affected by the keeping open of a
barber shop on Sunday f It is a matter of common observation that
the barber business, as carried on in this State, is both quiet and
orderly. Indeed, it is shown by the evidence incorporated in the record,
that the barber business, as conducted, is quiet and orderly, much more
so than many other departments of business. In view o f the nature of
the business and the manner in which it is carried on, it is difficult to per
ceive how the rights of any person can be affected, or how the comfort
or welfare o f society can be disturbed. I f the act was one calculated to
promote the health, comfort, safety, and welfare of society, then it
might be regarded as an exercise o f the police power o f the State.
W e do not think the law was authorized by the police power of the
State. I f the public welfare of the State demand that all business and
all labor o f every description, except work o f necessity and charity,
should cease on Sunday, the first day of the week, and that day shall
be kept as a day o f rest, the legislature has the power to enact a law
requiring all persons to refrain from their ordinary callings on that day,
and in order that Sunday may be kept as a day of rest, then all will be
placed on a perfect equality, and no one can complain o f an unjust dis
crimination. But when the legislature undertakes to single out one
class o f labor, harmless in itself, and condemns that, and that alone, it
transcends its legitimate powers and its action can not be sustained.
Judgment will be reversed.
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
S t a t u t e — S u n d a y L a b o r — R u n n in g
r e ig h t
T r a i n s —Norfolk
of
and Western B. B. Co. v. Commonwealth,
M Southeastern Reporter, page 837.—The railroad company was indicted
in the county court o f Appomattox County, Ya., for violating section
3801 o f the Code o f 1887, which is as follows:
!No railroad company, receiver, or trustee controlling or operating a
railroad, shall, by any agent or employee, load, unload, run, or trans
port upon such road on a Sunday any car, train o f cars, or locomotive,
nor permit the same to be done by any such agent or employee, except
where such cars, trains, or locomotives are used exclusively for the
relief o f wrecked trains or trains so disabled as to obstruct the main
track o f the railroad; or for the transportation o f United States mail;
or for the transportation o f passengers and their baggage; or for the
transportation o f live stock; or for ‘the transportation of articles o f
such perishable nature as would be necessarily impaired in value by
one day’s delay in their passage: Provided, however, That if it should
be necessary to transport live stock or perishable articles on a Sunday
to an extent not sufficient to make a whole train load, such train load
may be made up with cars loaded with ordinary freight.
The case was tried upon the following-agreed state of facts: “ That
the train composed of empty coal cars, which are used exclusively
F
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
183
in the coal business, as described below, passed through. Appomattox
County, and by Appomattox station, between 9 o’clock a. m. and 3
o’clock p. m. o f Sunday, April 2, 1893, going from Crewe to Roanoke;
said points being divisional terminal points on the Norfolk and Western
Eailroad. That when the train arrived at Roanoke it would be broken
up in the company’s yard, and, as soon as practicable, would be put
into another train, with another engine and crew, and sent by way of
Bluefield, in West Virginia, to the coal mines at Pocahontas, in Vir
ginia, and to others in West Virginia. A t these mines the cars would
be loaded and sent by way of Bluefield, in West Virginia, to Lambert’s
Point, in Virginia. The coal so shipped would be coal sold to parties
out of the State o f Virginia before it leaves Bluefield, and to be con
veyed to the purchasers outside of Virginia by way of Bluefield, W.
Va., and Lambert’s Point, Va. That said train was not one of those
included in the exemptions in section 3801, Code Va., 1887.”
The railroad company was found guilty and fined, and the judgment
of the county court was affirmed by the circuit court of Appomattox
County, from which court the case was brought on writ of error to the
supreme court o f appeals of Virginia, which court, on June 11,1896,
rendered its decision affirming the judgment of the court below.
The following language was used by Judge Buchanan in delivering
the opinion of the court of appeals:
In the case of Norfolk & W . R. Co. v. Com., reported in 88 Va., 95,13
S. E., 340, this court held that the statute under which the indictment
in this case was made was inconsistent with the commerce clause of the
Constitution of the United States in so far as it applied to trains run
ning between different States or engaged in transporting interstate
commerce, and therefore void.
The counsel for the plaintiff company insists that the principle
decided in that case is the same that is involved in this, and conclu
sive of it. On the other hand, the attorney-general for the Common
wealth contends that the questions involved in the two cases are
different, and if they were the same that the decision relied on as
controlling this is erroneous and ought not to be followed*
The train which the plaintiff company was indicted for running in
violation of section 3801 o f the Code was made up entirely of empty
cars, which, it is agreed, were used exclusively in carrying articles of
interstate commerce.
The fact that they had been so used in the past, and were intended
to be so used in the future, does not show that they were, at the time
when the act was done for which the plaintiff company was indicted,
engaged in interstate commerce.
it was held by the Supreme Court of the United States in Coe v.
Errol (116 U. S., 517, 525, 6 Sup. Ct., 475) that “ when the products of
the farm or the forest are collected and brought in from the surround
ing country to a town or station serving as an entrepot for that par
ticular region, whether on a river or line of railroad, such products are
not yet exports, nor are they in process of exportation, nor is exportation begun until they are committed to the common carrier for trans
portation out of the State to the State of their destination, or have
started on their ultimate passage to that State. Until then it is reason
able to regard them as not only within the State of their origin, but as
184
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
a part o f the general mass of property of tliat State, subject to its
jurisdiction, and liable to taxation there, if not taxed by reason of their
being intended for exportation, but taxed without discrimination, in the
usual way and manner in which such property is taxed in the State.”
I f this be the true rule by which to determine when the j>roducts of
the mine become articles of interstate commerce, and cease to be con
trolled entirely by the laws of the State, why is it not the correct rule
to determine when the carrier of such products becomes engaged in
transporting interstate commerce and is protected and governed by the
laws o f the United States ? In the one case the miner may intend to
ship a particular product to another State, and may be preparing the
article for shipment, yet it is not an article of *interstate commerce
until it starts upon its final destination to that State, and until that
time is subject to the laws of the State alone and has none of the rights
of an article o f interstate commerce. In the other case the carrier may
be preparing certain cars upon which to transport the products of the
miner to the foreign State, and they may be on their journey to the
place from which they are to be shipped, yet why should those cars be
considered as engaged in interstate commerce until they are loaded with
articles committed to the carrier to be transported to another State?
The reason given for the rule that goods do not become an article of
interstate commerce until actually put in motion for some place out of
the State, or committed to the carrier for such transportation, is that
until that time the article, though intended for exportation, may never
be exported, as the owner has the perfect right to change his mind at
any time.
The common carrier has the same right to change his mind and ship
on other* cars than those which he may have provided for that purpose,
and the cars which were intended for that purpose may never be used.
The rule fixed by the Supreme Court in the one case seems equally
applicable to the other. Applying that rule to the facts of this case, it
would seem that the train for which the plaintiff company was indicted
for running was not when so running engaged in transporting articles
of interstate commerce, and was therefore controlled exclusively by the
laws o f the State.
But if this be not the correct view, and it be held that the plaintiff, in
running the train, was engaged in the business of interstate commerce,
was the legislation in question within the powers reserved to the State,
and not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States?
Here the court quotes at some length from various decisions, princi
pally those of the United States Supreme Court, and then continues its
opinion in part as follows:
I think from the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
in the cases referred to above, and others not cited, this conclusion may
be drawn: That the State may, in order to secure and protect the lives
or health of its citizens, or preserve good order and the public morals,
legislate for such purposes, in good faith, and without discrimination
against interstate or foreign commerce, without violating the commerce
clause o f the Constitution of the United States, although such legisla
tion may sometimes touch, in its exercise, the line separating the respec
tive domains of national and State authority, and to some extent affect
foreign and interstate commerce.
Was the statute which we are considering passed, in good faith, for
the purpose o f protecting the health and of preserving the morals of
the people o f the State?
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
185
Tlie experience of mankind lias shown tlie wisdom and necessity of
having, at stated intervals, a day of rest for man and beast from their
customary labors. It is necessary both for the physical and moral nature
of man. The Government of the United States, as well as the govern
ment of the States of the Union, recognize this requirement for rest in
man’s nature, and provide for it in their respective jurisdictions.
Here the court quotes from certain decisions upholding Sunday laws,
and then goes on to say as follows:
It can not be doubted that such laws are police regulations of the
greatest utility for the physical and moral well-being of society. Neither
is there any question that the statute under discussion was enacted in
good faith for the preservation and protection of the health and morals
of the people o f this State, and without any discrimination whatever
against interstate or foreign commerce, and that its only effect upon
such commerce would be to delay it a few hours in its journey from the
point o f shipment to its destination. The statute provides for the unin
terrupted shipment o f articles .of commerce of such a perishable char
acter that one day’s delay in their shipment would impair their value.
There is nothing in the character o f coal and other articles o f commerce
which are not injured by short delays, or, in fact, of any article o f com
merce, that requires that the laws of the State enacted and necessary
for the preservation and promotion of the health and morals o f its
people should be struck down in order that they may have a more rapid
shipment.
I am of the opinion that the statute which the plaintiff company was
indicted for violating is not in conflict with the commerce clause of the
Constitution of the United States, and that the judgment of the circuit
court was right, and should be affirmed.
C o n s t it u t io n a l
P r o v is io n — W
hen
S e l f -E x e c u t in g — E
n
Illinois Central R. R. Co. v. Ihlenberg,
75 Federal Reporter, page 873.—Action was* brought in the United
States circuit court for the western district o f Tennessee by Eudolph
Ihlenberg against the railroad company above named to recover dam
ages for personal injuries incurred while in the employ of said com
pany. The evidence showed that the cause of the plaintiff’s injury
was a defective engine on which he was employed as fireman; that he
had knowledge o f the defects prior to and at the time of the accident,
and that the accident occurred in the State o f Mississippi. The court
charged'the jury that under the law of Tennessee, or under the com
mon law, the plaintiff could not recover, but that the law of Mississippi,
where the accident occurred, controlled the case, and that section 193
of the Mississippi constitution of 1890 applied. The jury returned a
verdict for the plaintiff, and judgment thereon was rendered in his
favor. The defendant carried the case on writ o f error before the
United States circuit court of appeals for the sixth circuit, which ren
dered its decision July 8,1896, and affirmed the judgment of the lower
'court. The section above mentioned was adopted with the rest of the
forcem ent of
F
o r e ig n
Law —
186
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
constitution in 1890, and contained the following language: “ Knowl
edge by any employee injured of the defective or unsafe character or
condition o f any machinery, ways, or appliances shall be no defense
to an action for injury caused thereby, except as to conductors or
engineers in charge of dangerous or unsafe cars or engines voluntarily
operated by them.” The accident occurred in July, 1891, subsequent
to the adoption of said section. The main point raised by the defense
was that said section was not self-executing; that is, that it would not
bo binding on the courts in considering a case until an act had been
passed by the legislature to give it effect.
The circuit court o f appeals decided adversely to the defense on this
point, and from the opinion, which was delivered by Circuit Judge Taft,
the following is quoted:
It follows, therefore, that the only question we have before us in this
case on the record is whether section 198 of the constitution o f Missis
sippi was self-executing, and whether, if self-executing, it should be
enforced in a Federal court sitting in Tennessee in an action for an injury
happening in Mississippi after the constitutional provision went into
effect.
Here the court cited the case of Groves Slaughter (15 Peters, page
449), which decided that a certain constitutional provision was not self
executing, and then continued as follows:
There is nothing in Groves v. Slaughter to justify the claim that a
constitution may not contain self-executing provisions. It may be con
ceded that it is usually a declaration of fundamental law, and that many
o f its provisions are only commands to the legislature to enact laws to
carry out the purposes of the framers of the constitution, and that many
are mere restrictions upon the j>ower of the legislature to pass laws;
but that it is entirely within the power of those who confirm and adoirt
the constitution to make any o f its provisions self-executing is too clear
for argument. Hence it is a question always o f intention to be deter
mined by the language used and the surrounding circumstances. Con
sidering the constitutional clause in this light, we have no doubt that
itwas self-executing. In the first place, the language of tho particular
clause in question is prohibitory, and is in the exact form which the
legislature, were it enacting such a provision into the law, would use in
a command to the courts. More than this, there is language in the sec
tion which is inconsistent with the view that it is not self-executing.
The final clause o f the section excludes any other construction than that
we have given. It is : “ The legislature may extend the remedies herein
provided for to any other class of employees.” This certainly implies
that so much o f the section as precedes the clause actually provides
remedies for those mentioned in it, and leaves to the legislature power
to enlarge the benefits of the section by applying it to others than those
named in the section.
The only remaining question for discussion is whether a Federal court
in Tennessee will enforce the Mississippi constitution with respect to
the tort committed in that State. It is well settled by the decisions of
the Federal courts that, “ while it is true that the statutes o f a State
have in themselves no extraterritorial force, yet rights acquired under
them are always enforced by comity in the State and national courts in .
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
187
other States, unless they are opposed to the public policy or laws of the
forum.” There is nothing in section 193 of the Mississippi constitution,
here under consideration, which is repugnant to the policy of the Ten
nessee law on the subject. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
Contract
of
Se r y ic e
to
W
ork
out
F in e
and
C osts— M
o d if i
Shepherd v. State, 2 0 Southern
Reporterypage 330.—The appellant, one Shepherd, was prosecuted in the
county court of Macon County, Ala., on a complaint charging him with
a “ failure, without good and sufficient cause, to perform a contract with
surety confessing judgment with fine and costs,” and was convicted of
the offense charged. He appealed to the supreme court of the State,
which court rendered its decision May 2G, 1896, and reversed the judg
ment of the lower court and ordered the discharge o f the prisoner.
The charge was brought under section 3832 o f the Code of Alabama, and
so much o f the same as is pertinent to the case is hero given:
Any defendant, on whom a fine is imposed on conviction for a mis
demeanor, who in open court signs a written contract, approved in
writing by the judge of the court in which the conviction is had, whereby,
in consideration o f another becoming his surety on a confession o f judg
ment for the fine and costs, agrees to do any act, or perform any service
for such person, and who, after being released on such confession of
judgment, fails or refuses, without a good and sufficient excuse, to be
determined by the jury, to do the act, or perform the service, which in
such contract he promised or agreed to do or perform, must, on convic
tion, bo fined not less than the amount of the damages which the party
contracting with him has suffered by such failure or refusal, and not
more than five hundred dollars; and the jury shall assess the amount of
such damages. * * *
From the opinion of the supreme court, delivered by Judge Haralson,
and containing a recital of the facts in the case, the following is quoted:
There is no dispute but that the contract of the defendant with Mrs.
Cunningham was good and sufficient for the purposes intended, and
was, according to section 3832 o f the Code, for the alleged violation of
which defendant was proceeded against. That contract recites that
defendant had pleaded guilty in the county court in a specified criminal
proceeding for a misdemeanor, and was fined $50 and costs—the fine
and costs amounting to $84.10—for which latter sum, Mrs. Cunningham,
for and with the defendant, confessed a judgment, and she paid the
amount thereof for the defendant. It then proceeds: “ I agree to labor
for the said Mrs. Cunningham as a farm hand, and do good and faithful
service at and for the sum of $5 per month until the said fine and costs
are fully paid. The said Mrs. Cunningham agrees to furnish me good
and sufficient food and clothing, medicine, and medical attention when
needed.” This contract, as appears from the transcript, was taken and
approved by the judge of the county court in which said conviction
was had, and on the day o f said conviction, and was filed.for record in
the office of the judge of probate of the county on the same date. The
agent o f Mrs. Cunningham, one Hall, her present husband, testified
that defendant worked on the plantation of his wife as a farm hand for
c a t io n
of
such
C ontract Il l e g a l —
1*8
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
about five months, and that he, as her agent, with the consent of the
defendant, hired him to the section boss on the railroad, and while so
employed defendant quit his work and went away and has never
returned, and had failed to carry out his contract with his surety $ that
he instructed the section boss to lock or fasten the defendant up at
night, i f he did not quit running about, but he did not know whether
he told him to chain defendant or not, and that defendant had never
complained o f any cruel treatment at the hands of the section boss.
Defendant, examined in his own behalf, denied that it was with his
consent that he was put to work on the railroad, and stated that while
engaged at such work he was compelled to sleep in box cars, without
any comforts, but remained at work until the section boss threatened
to chain him in the car at night, and he left that service only because he
was wrongly treated.
The service to which the defendant was bound under the contract
with his employer, as authorized by statute, was penal. He was in
contemplation o f law performing labor or service as a punishment, as
if sentenced to hard labor for the county. The confessed judgment
and the contract approved by the court in such cases do not pay the
penalty imposed, but are the conditions, as we have held, on which the
offender, by the humane provisions o f the law, is permitted to elect
how and whom he will serve in satisfying its broken demands. The
hirer becomes the transferee of the State to compel the satisfaction of
the fine and costs in the manner provided for in the contract, and for
nothing more. The failure to perform service under any contract not
made in the manner prescribed by statute, for the purposes therein
specified, is not denounced as criminal. When a contract o f the kind
has been once entered into, approved by the court, and filed, all as
authorized by statute, it becomes binding and can not afterwards be
modified by the consent, even, o f the parties, so as to allow any other
service to be legally exacted o f or performed thereunder by defendant.
The defendant’s penal servitude was that o f a farm hand for Mrs. Cun
ningham, and when she changed his service and hired him to a rail
road company to do railroad work, she violated her contract with the
defendant and her obligation to the State, and defendant was not amen
able to penalties for refusing to perform it. A s it is apparent the
defendant is guilty of no crime in what is alleged against him, and can
never be convicted of the charge preferred, it is ordered that he be
discharged.
D
e f in it io n
of
“ W
ages
”
under
Law
E
x e m p t in g
Sam
e
from
— Swift Manufacturing Go. v Henderson, 25 Southeastern
Reporter, page 27.—This action was brought injustice’s court by M. L.
Henderson against one Pittman, and the Swift Manufacturing Com
pany was summoned as garnishee. There was a judgment against the
garnishee, who petitioned the superior court of Muscogee County, Ga.,
for a writ of certiorari, which was refused, and the garnishee then
brought the case before the supreme court of the State, which rendered
its decision June 8,1896, and reversed the judgment of the superior
court.
The facts in the case were substantially as follows: Henderson sued
Pittman for a debt, and the manufacturing company was summoned as
Ga r n is h m
ent
189
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
garnishee. Said company answered that all they owed Pittman was
due him as daily wages, which was exempt by law from the process of
garnishment. The evidence at the trial showed that Pittman was
employed by the garnishee, not at a stipulated sum per day, but at
a rate of 11 cents per hank, and that the wages he received for a day’s
work depended upon the number of hanks he turned out. The justice
of the peace charged the jury that, if the garnishee had Pittman
employed at a stipulated sum per day, his wages would not be subject
to garnishment, but if he was doing contract work at so much a piece
or hank, as the evidence seemed to show, then his wages would ^e sub
ject.
The supreme court decided that this charge was erroneous, and in the
syllabus of the case which was prepared by said court it laid down the
law as follows:
The word u wages” means the compensation paid to a hired person
for his services. This compensation to the laborer may be a specified
sum for a given time of service, or a fixed sum for a specified work;
that is, payment may be made by the job. The word “ wages ” does
not imply that the compensation is to be determined solely upon the
basis o f time spent in service. It may be determined by the work
done. Accordingly, where the compensation o f an ordinary laborer in
a factory is so many cents per u hank ” for every hank he makes, paya
ble biweekly, this compensation is u wages,” and as such exempt from
the process o f garnishment.
The judge erred in refusing to sanction the petition for certiorari.
E
m ployers’
L ia b il it y — R a il r o a d
C o m p a n ie s — F e l l o
w
-S e r v
— Texas Central By. Co. v. Frazier, 36 Southwestern Reporter, page
432.—This action was brought in the district court of Hamilton County,
Tex., by Etta Frazier, for herself and minor child, against the railroad
company above named to recover damages for the death of her hus
band, J. W . Frazier, resulting from the wrecking of a train on which he
was employed as brakeman and caused by the negligence of the engi
neer of said train. Judgment was given for the plaintiff, and the rail
road company appealed the case to the court of civil appeals of Texas,
which sustained the judgment of the district court and held that under
the act o f March 10,1891 (fellow-servant act), the engineer of the train
was a vice-principal of the railroad company and not a fellow-servant
of the deceased brakeman, Frazier. (See case of Texas Central Ry. Co.
v. Frazier, published on page 774 of the Bulletin o f the Department of
Labor, Ho. 7.)
Sections 1 and 2 of the act in question read as follows:
S e c t i o n 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Texas,
That all persons engaged in the service of any railway corporations,
foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, who are entrusted by
such corporation with the authority of superintendence, control, or
command o f other persons in the employ or service of such corporation,
7535—Ho. 9-----6
ants
190
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
or with the authority to direct any other employee in the performance
o f any duty o f such employee, arc vice-principals of such corporation
and are not fellow-servants with such employee.
Sec . 2. That all persons who are engaged in the common service of
such railway corporations, and who while so engaged are working
together at the same time and place to a common purpose, o f same
grade, neither o f such persons being entrusted by such corporations,
with any superintendence or control over their fellow-employees, are
fellow-servants with each other: Provided, That nothing herein con
tained shall be so construed as to make employees o f such corporation,
in the service o f such corporation, fellow-servants with other employees
o f such*corporation, engaged in any other department o f service o f such
corporation. Employees who do not come within the provisions o f this
section shall not be considered fellow-servants.
From the decision o f the court o f civil appeals, above noted, the
railroad company appealed the case to the supreme court o f the State,
which rendered its decision June 22,1890, and reversed the judgment
o f the lower court. In the opinion of the supreme court, which was
delivered by Judge Denman, the following language was used:
Though it is earnestly disputed by plaintiff in error, let it be conceded,
for the purposes o f this opinion, that the evidence warranted the jury
in believing that the engineer was guilty of negligence resulting in
Frazier’s death.
The railroad company, as plaintiff in error, has brought the ease to
this court, assigning as error that the court of civil appeals erred in
not sustaining its assignment in that court, to the effect that the court
below erred in rendering judgment for plaintiff, because the verdict is
without evidence in the record to support it; there being no evidence
that the engineer was a vice-principal o f the defendant comx>any, as
claimed by plaintiff. The question, stated in a different form, is,
Were the engineer and Brakeman Frazier fellow-servants under the
act o f March 10,1891, which was in force at the time o f the accident?
I f they were, the judgment must be reversed.
In Bailway Oo. v. Warner (35 S. W ., 364), this court held that under
the act o f 1893 (which seems to be the same as the act of 1891, as far
as this case is concerned), in order to constitute two persons fellowservants the following distinguishing characteristics must be found
concurring and common to them: (1) They must be engaged in the
common service; (2) they must be in the same grade o f employment;
(3) they must be working at the same time and place, and (4) they
must be working to a. common purpose. W e do not understand that
any question is made as to the correctness o f the construction placed
upon the statute in that case, nor do we understand it to be denied
that the first, third, and fourth o f said characteristics are shown by the
evidence to be concurring and common to the engineer and Frazier in
the case before us; but defendant in error denies that they u were in
the same grade of employment,” for the reason that, under the Warner
case, the test as to whether they were in the same grade o f employ
ment was decided to be whether one had authority over the other while
engaged in the common service, and the evidence here shows that the
engineer had authority over Frazier, in that he had the power, by sig
nal, to direct him to apply the brakes. The purpose o f the statute was
to impute to the master the negligence of an employee upon whom he
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
191
Las conferred authority or power to influence the action or volition o f
another employee in the performance o f his duties. Under the com
mon-law rule, as settled in this State before the statute, the negligence
o f an employee would not have been imputed to the master unless he
had the power to employ and discharge, it being assumed that such
power was necessary to subject the will of the latter to that o f the
former. The statute, however, is based upon the theory that the author
ity or power in one employee to superintend, control, or command, or
direct another employee in the performance of his duties, as effectually
influences and subjects to the former the will of the latter as does the
power to employ and discharge. But it was not the purpose o f the
statute to impute to the master the negligence of an employee upon
whom he had conferred no such power, but had merely imposed the duty,
in certain contingencies arising in the course of his employment, o f giv
ing a signal whereby another employee would know that the occasion
had arisen for him to perform some duty imposed upon him by the rules
governing his employment, leaving such employee free to perform such
duty in his own way under such rules. In such a case there is no sub
jection o f the will o f one to that o f the other.
W e are o f the opinion that the signal given by the engineer for
brakes was a mere notice to the brakeman, Frazier, that the occasion
had arisen for him to perform a duty imposed upon him by the rules 5
that the fact that the engineer was intrusted by the company with the
discretion of determining when the brakes should be applied, and to
signal therefor, did not give him any “ authority of superintendence,
control, or command/ 7 or “ authority to direct77Frazier in the perform
ance o f his duties; that Frazier, in attempting to set brakes in the
performance o f his duties, was governed and controlled by the direc
tion and command of the rule, and not of the engineer, and that,
therefore, under the statute, they were “ in the same grade o f employ
ment77 and fellow-servants. It follows that the assignment of error
was well taken, and that the judgments o f the trial court and court of
civil appeals must be reversed and the cause remanded.
L a b o r e r s 7 L i e n s — W h o E n t i t l e d t o — Oliver v. Macon Hardware
Co. et aln25 Southeastern Reporter, page403. —In the matter of a j udgment
against the Macon Hardware Company, rendered in the superior court
of Bibb County, Ga., Henry E. Oliver intervened, alleging that he was
a clerk in the service of said company; that the amount he claimed was
due him for labor and services as a clerk; that as such clerk he per
formed manual labor and was entitled to lien under the provisions o f
section 1974 o f the Code of 1882. A judgment was rendered against
the intervenor, and he brought the case on writ o f error before the
supreme court o f the State. Said court rendered its decision March
23,1896, and affirmed the decision of the superior court.
The opinion o f the court was delivered by Judge Lumpkin, and from
the syllabus o f the same, which was prepared by the court, the follow
ing is quoted:
Primarily, a clerk in a mercantile establishment is not a “ laborer,77
in the sense in which that word is used in section 1974 of the Code, even
192
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
though the proper discharge of his duties may include the performance
of some amount o f manual labor. I f the contract of employment con
templated that the clerk’s services were to consist mainly of work
requiring mental skill or business capacity, and involving the exercise
o f his intellectual faculties, rather than work the doing o f which prop
erly would depend upon mere physical power to perform ordinary man
ual labor, he would not be a laborer.
If, on the other hand, the work which the contract required the clerk
to do was, in the main, to be the performance o f such labor as that last
above indicated, he would be a laborer. In any given case the question
whether or not a clerk is entitled, as a laborer, to enforce a summary
lien against the property of his employer must be determined with
reference to its own particular facts and circumstances.
In the course o f his opinion, which was but an amplification of the
syllabus of the same above quoted, Judge Lumpkin said as follows:
In determining whether a particular clerk or other employee is really
a laborer the character o f the work he does must be taken into consid
eration. In other words, he must be classified, not according to the
arbitrary designation of his calling, but with reference to the character
o f the services required of him by his employer.
L a b o r e r s ’ L i e n s — W h o E n t i t l e d t o — Cole et ah i\ McNeill, 25
Southeastern Reporter, page 402.—Suit was brought by E. H. McNeill in
the superior court o f Charlton County, Ga., to foreclose a general lien
as a laborer upon the property o f Cole and Covington, under the pro
visions o f section 1974 o f the Code o f 1882. Said section is as follows:
Laborers shall have a general lien upon the property of their employ
ers, liable to levy and sale, for their labor, which is hereby declared to
be superior to all other liens, except liens for taxes, the special liens of
landlords on yearly crops, and such other liens as are declared by law
to be superior to them.
A judgment was rendered for McNeill, and the defendants carried
the case on writ o f error to the supreme court of the State, which gave
its decision July 13,1896, and reversed the decision of the lower court.
The opinion o f the supreme court is not published, but the syllabus of
the same, which was prepared by the court, and which sufficiently
shows the facts in the case, reads as follows:
One who was employed as a “ woodsman,” and whose duties as such
included overlooking and superintending a large number o f ordinary
hands engaged in turpentine operations, who had authority to employ
and discharge these hands, who also worked in a commissary in the
capacity o f a clerk, and who was employed for his skill in rendering
services which obviously required mental and business capacity, rather
than the mere power to do manual toil, these services consisting much
more largely o f “ head work” than o f “ hand work,” was not a laborer,
entitled, under section 1974 o f the Code, to foreclose a lien as such,
although, in point of fact and of necessity, he did, in the performance
of his duties, a considerable amount of manual labor, and often became
physically fatigued.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
193
Under the evidence contained in the record the verdict was contrary
to law, for the reason that the jury could not properly find that the
plaintiff was a “ laborer.”
M e c h a n ic s ’
L ie n s — A
p p l ic a b il it y
of
A
ct
to
Street
B a il *
—JSfeiv England Engineering Go.
v. Odkwood Street Hallway Go., 75 Federal Reporter, page 162.—A bill
was filed by the New England Engineering Company in the United
States circuit court for the southern district of Ohio, western divi
sion, to enforce a mechanic’s lien against the street-railway company
above named under the provisions of the Ohio statute of March 20,
1889 (86 Ohio Laws, page 120), and the railway company filed a
demurrer thereto. The court rendered its decision July 13, 1896, and
overruled the demurrer.
The opinion of the court, delivered by Circuit Judge Taft, shows the
important facts of the case, and the following is quoted therefrom:
The demurrer was intended to present these points: First. That the
statute upon which complainant relies does not apply to a street-railway
company. Second. I f it does apply, that the statute itself is unconsti
tutional and void. O f these in their order.
3. The statute relied on is an act entitled “ An act to fix responsi
bility and to protect labor and the rights of contractors and subcon
tractors on all public works or work done for companies, corporations,
contracting companies, or individuals.” The first section of the act
provides as follows:
“ Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of
Ohio, that any person who shall have performed common or mechanical
labor upon, or furnished supplies to, any railroad, turnpike, plank road,
canal, or on any public structure being erected, or on any abutment,
pier, culvert, or foundation for same, or for any side track, embank
ment, excavation, or any public work, protection, ballasting, delivering
or placing ties, or track laying, whether the labor is performed for, or
the supplies or material is furnished to, any company, corporation, con
tractor, or subcontractor, construction company, or individual, shall
have a first, immediate, and absolute lien on the whole of the prop
erty on which said work is done and to which said supplies have been
contributed, and shall hold the railroad, canal, turnpike, plank road
or structure, to the creation or construction of which the said labor or
supplies has been contributed, or so much thereof as may have been
in whole or in part created by said labor or supplies, to the exclusion of
any railroad, canal, turnpike, plank road, public work or structure, as
to operation, occupation, or use, until the claim for such labor or sup
plies is properly adjusted and paid in full.”
The contention is that the term “ railroad,” as used in this section,
refers to commercial or traffic railroads, as distinguished from “ street
railways.”
W e are to determine from the association in which the term occurs
whether street railroads would naturally be included within it. I am
very clear that the doctrine, “ Noscitur a sociis,” establishes that the
word “ railroad,” in this connection, includes “ street railroads.” It
was intended to secure the rights o f laboring men, contractors, and
subcontractors on all public works; and, in the sense of the statute,
a railroad, a turnpike, a plank road, or a canal is a public work, though
it may be built by a private corporation. Certainly, the public policy
w ays
— C o n s t it u t io n a l it y
of
A
ct
194
BULLETIN OE THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
which would furnish a lien to ono working upon a turnpike or a plank
road or a canal or a traffic railway would bo likely to provide a lien for
one working upon a street railway. While mechanic’s lien laws should
not be strained to mean more than tlieir language will justify, they are
not to receive a narrow construction, and every purpose that is within
the letter and policy o f the law should be given effect. Even if a street
railroad were not included within the term “ railroad,” I think it would
come within the expression “ any public structure.” The street railway
is a public structure in the sense that it is constructed on the public
street for public purposes, though operated by a private corporation
for gain. In the case at bar a street railroad is certainly a structure
like those mentioned in the act under consideration, and therefore
comes within the general words used, if not included as a railroad. It
is very clear to me that the narrowest construction o f the statute in
question would not exclude street-railway companies from its operation.
2. It is claimed that the act is unconstitutional, and reliance is had
for this contention on the third section o f the act. I do not find it
necessary to decide the question mooted with respect to section 3, how
ever, because, assuming it to be invalid, I think the rest of the law
may very well stand. The main object o f the law was to give a lien for
work done on the structures mentioned in the act. Section 3 is a mere
special mode o f enforcing the payment o f the lien. I f section 3 had
not been in the act, there would be no difficulty in carrying out the pro
visions o f the other sections, though no particular proceeding was
mentioned by which the lien could be enforced. Unless we are to sup
pose that the legislature’s sole purpose in this act was to enable a lien
claimant to take owner by the throat, so to speak, and compel payment
by force o f an injunction, the contention that the act becomes inoper
ative by the reason o f the invalidity o f the third section must fail. W e
can not impute to the legislature any such intention. Its main purpose
was to create a lien in cases where its existence was previously doubt
ful. The lien being created, the remedy is manifest. It is not neces
sary to refer to authorities to show that part o f the act may be valid
and part invalid by reason o f its constitutional restriction. In such
cases the court must be able to say from an examination o f the whole
act that the legislature would have passed that which is valid even if
it had been advised that the invalid section would bo declared so.
The demurrer will be overruled.
M
o r tg a g e s on
C r o p s — L a b o r e r s ’ L ie n s
on
Sam
e—
P
r io r it y
—
Watson v. May ,35 Southwestern Reporter,page 1108.—Action was brought
in the circuit court o f Ashley County, Ark., and a judgment was ren
dered in favor o f the defendant, May. The plaintiff, Watson, appealed
the case to the supreme court o f the State, which rendered its decision
May 23,1896, and affirmed the judgment o f the lower court.
The opinion of the supreme court, delivered by Judge Battle, and
containing a statement of the facts in the case, is quoted below :
One bale o f cotton, of the value of $34, is the property in controversy
in this action. Appellant, D. E. Watson, claims possession o f it under
a mortgage executed to him by B. P. Brown, and appellee, J. W . May,
says that was the product of labor performed by him in the service of
Brown, and was received by him in payment of the amount due him for
such labor.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
195
No bill of exceptions was filed, and tlie facts and the declarations of
law upon wliicli a reversal is asked are set out in tbe judgment of the
court. Tbe facts, as found by tbe court, are as follows:
“ 1. That the bale of cotton in controversy was the product o f tbe
labor o f defendant, May, and delivered to him in payment for services
as such laborer under a verbal contract with one R. P. Brown in 1891.
“ 2. That the plaintiff, Watson, bad a valid mortgage on tbe crop of
said R. P. Brown for said year 1891.
“ 3. That plaintiff’s mortgage, duly acknowledged, was filed for record
January 15,1891, and Defendant May’s contract with Brown was made
in April, 1891.”
Appellant contends that bis mortgage having been filed for record
on the 15th o f January, 1891, and the contract o f appellee to perform
labor having been entered into in April, 1891, bis lien upon tbe cotton
was prior and paramount to that acquired by appellee, and that bo is
entitled to tbe possession of tbe cotton. Tbe accuracy of this conten
tion depends upon tbe proper interpretation of tho statute regulating
laborers’ liens.
Section 4706, Sand. & H. Dig., provides: “ Laborers who perform
work and labor for any person under a written or verbal contract, if
unpaid for the same, shall have an absolute lien on tbe production of
their labor for such work and labor.” Other statutes were subse
quently enacted, which are as follows:
“ Sec. 4783. Contracts for services or labor for a longer period than
one year shall not entitle tbe parties to tbe benefit of this act unless in
writing, signed by tbe parties, witnessed by two disinterested witnesses,
or acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknowl
edgments.”
“ Sec. 4786. Specific liens are reserved upon so much of the produce
raised and articles constructed or manufactured by laborers during
their contract as will secure all moneys and tbe value of all supplies
furnished them by tbe employers and all wages or shares due the
laborers, and if either party shall before settlement dispose of or appro
priate tbe same without tbe consent of tbe other so as to defraud him
o f tbe amount due, such party shall be deemed guilty of a misde
meanor,” etc.
“ Sec. 4787. A copy of such contract or tbe original shall be filed in
tbe recorder’s office of tbe proper county, and such filing shall be suffi
cient notice o f tbe existence of such lien, and no third party shall be
prejudiced by tbe existence of such lien, nor in any manner liable under
tbe provisions o f this act unless a copy of tbe contract is filed in tbe
recorder’s office, as above provided.”
As verbal contracts can not be filed, tbe last section has no reference
to them, or contracts for a less period than one year, as they are not
required to be in writing.
It not appearing that appellee was hired to labor except in tbe pro
duction o f the crop o f 1891, it is apparent that be was not employed for
a longer period than one year. Tbe court did not so find, and we can
not presume that be was, and it was not necessary that bis contract
should have been in writing.
Tbe mortgage o f appellant and tbe contract o f appellee being valid,
who bad tbe superior lien? Upon this question tbe statute is silent,
and no decision has been rendered by this court. But tbe decisions of
similar questions as to liens o f landlords furnish us with a guide in this
case.
Tbe statutes give landlords liens upon tbe crops of their tenants for
196
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
rent, but say nothing about tho superiority of such incumbrances over
prior mortgages; yet this court has held that such liens take hold of
the crops as soon as they come into existence, and are superior to a
mortgage on the same property executed and filed for record before
that time, notwithstanding the statutes make a mortgage on a crop to
be planted valid. No lien can attach at an earlier moment. Being the
creatures o f the statute, liens created by contract must yield to them
in superiority. This preference is due to the fact that the crop is the
fruit o f the lands of the landlord.
The lien for rent is on tho production of the land of the landlord,
while the lien o f the laborer is on the production of his labor. As the
lien of the former seizes the product of the land as soon as it comes into
existence, so does the latter seize tho product of the laborer. As a
prior mortgage o f a crop must yield to the lien of the former on the
samo property, so a like mortgage, for the same reason, must yield,
under the same circumstances, to the latter. The evidence o f the inten
tion of the statute to protect the latter against older mortgages is
stronger than it is in the case o f the former. It inhibits the employer
from disposing o f or appropriating the production o f labor, before set
tlement, so as to defraud the laborer o f the amount due him, and makes
it a misdemeanor for him to do so, thereby evincing an intention that
the lien o f the laborer on the product of his labor shall be paramount
to any created by his employer.
As the bale o f cotton in controversy was the product of the labor of
tho appellee, and was received in payment of the amount due him for
his services, he is entitled to hold it. Judgment affirmed.
M
ortgage
on
C r o p s — L a b o r e r s ’ L ie n s
on
Sa m
e
— P r io r it y —
Sitton v. Dubois et al., 45 Pacific Reporter, page 303.—Action was
brought in the superior court of King County, Wash., by A . Sitton
against C. C. Dubois and others and a judgment was rendered for the
plaintiff. One of the defendants, B. R. Lilienthal, appealed the case to
the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision June 3,1896,
and affirmed the decision of the lower court.
The opinion of said court was delivered by Judge Scott, and the
following, containing a statement of the facts in the case, is quoted
therefrom :
The plaintiff’ brought this action to forclose a laborer’s lein under vol.
1, Code, §1695, on certain crops grown upon land owned by the defend
ants Dubois in tho year 1891. Said defendants had executed to appel
lant, in November, 1893, a chattel mortgage to cover such crop, it not then
being in existence. The appellant was made a defendant in said action,
and appeared, setting up his mortgage lien, and asked for a foreclosure,
which was granted; but the court, in foreclosing the lien o f the plan tiff,
found that it was entitled to priority over appellant’s mortgage, where
upon this appeal was taken. Said statute contains the following pro
vision: “ And the lien created by the provisions o f this section shall bo
a preferred lien, and shall be prior to all other liens.” Appellant con
tends that this provision does not include a mortgage incumbrance,
especially as several prior statutes upon this subject, enacted at various
times by the legislature, expressly made such liens prior to any other
“ lien or incumbrance.”
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR
197
Appellant contends that the word “ lien ” does not generally include
an incumbrance by mortgage, and in view of this fact, and of the fact
that the legislature dropped the term “ incumbrance ” in the statute
now in force, it must be presumed that it was not intended to make
such lien prior to a mortgage lien or incumbrance.
Had it been the intention of the legislature to except mortgage liens
from the operation of this act, it is probable that it would have done so
by express provision, and not merely by dropinng the word “ incum
brance ” from the section, which very likely was understood and intended
as included in the word “ liens,” previously therein used.
Appellant further contends that, unless the act can be construed to
accept mortgage liens, it is unconstitutional, on the ground that it would
impair the obligation o f contracts, as it would be possible, after a mort
gagee, in consequence of the security afforded by a mortgage, had
advanced money to the mortgagor, for such mortgagor to wholly divest
him of all benefit o f the security by contracting for labor without his
consent or knowledge. But this act was in force at the time appellants
mortgage was executed, and therefore, in effect, entered into and
formed a part of it. Affirmed.
DECISIONS UNDER COMMON LAW .
i k e — I n j u n c t io n — I l l e g a l it y
of
a
“ Pa
Vegelalm v. Guntner et al., 44 Northeastern Reporter, page
1077.—A bill was filed in the supreme judicial court in Suffolk County,
Mass., by Frederick O. Yegelahn, asking for an injunction against
George M. Guntner and others to restrain them from interfering with
his business, etc. The hearing was before Judge O. W. Holmes. It
appears that he issued a preliminary injunction, which not only enjoined
the defendants from committing acts of violence or intimidation, but
also, in effect, from maintaining a patrol of men in front of the plain
tiff’s factory for the purpose of influencing those in his employ to leave
it, or those seeking employment to refrain from so doing. As a result
of the hearing the injunction was made permanent, but was so modi
fied as to restrain the defendants only from committing acts o f vio
lence or intimidation. On a report of the case to the full bench of the
supreme judicial court, the injunction was, by a divided court, so modi
fied as to conform to the preliminary injunction issued by Judge
Holmes. The decision of said court was rendered October 27, 1896,
and its opinion, containing a sufficient statement of the facts in the
case, was delivered by Judge Allen. The following language is used
therein:
The principal question in this case is whether the defendants should
be enjoined against maintaining the patrol. The report shows that,
following upon a strike of the plaintiff’s workmen, the defendants con
spired to prevent him from getting workmen, and thereby to prevent
him from carrying on his business, unless and until he should adopt a
certain schedule of prices. The means adopted were persuasion and
social pressure, threats of personal injury or unlawful harm conveyed
to persons employed or seeking employment, and a patrol of two men
in front of the plaintiff’s factory, maintained from half-past 6 in the
morning till half-past 5 in the afternoon, on one of the busiest streets
C o n s p ir a c y — S t r
trol
”—
198
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
o f Boston. Tlie number of men was greater at times, and at times
showed some little disposition to stop the plaintiff’s door. The patrol
proper at times went further than simple advice, not obtruded beyond
the point where the other person was willing to listen, and it was found
that the patrol would probably be continued i f not enjoined. There
was also some evidence o f persuasion to break existing contracts.
The patrol was maintained as one of the means o f carrying out the
defendants7plan, and it was used in combination with social pressure,
threats o f personal injury or unlawful harm, and persuasion to break
existing contracts. It was thus one means o f intimidation, indirectly
to the plaintiff* and directly to persons actually employed or seeking
to be employed by the plaintiff, and o f rendering such employment
unpleasant or intolerable to such persons. Such an act is an unlawful
interference with the rights both of employer and of employed.
An employer has a right to engage all persons who are willing to
work for him at such prices as may be mutually agreed upon, and per
sons employed or seeking employment have a corresponding right to
enter into or remain in the employment of any person or corporation
willing to employ them. These rights are secured by the constitution
itself. No one can lawfully interfere by force or intimidation to prevent
employers or persons employed or wishing to be employed from the
exercise of these rights. It is in Massachusetts, as in some other
States, even made a criminal offense for one, by intimidation or force,
to prevent or seek to prevent a person from entering into or continuing
in the employment of a person or corporation. (Pub. St., c. 74, § 2.)
Intimidation is not limited to threats o f violence or of physical injury to
person or property. It has a broader signification, and there also may
be a moral intimidation which is illegal. Patrolling or picketing under
the circumstances stated in the report has elements o f intimidation
like those which were found to exist in Sherry v. Perkins (147 Mass.,
212,17 N. E., 307). The patrol was an unlawful interference,both with
the plaintiff and with the workmen, within the principle o f many cases;
and, when instituted for the purpose of interfering with his business,
it becomes a private nuisance.
The defendants contend that these acts were justifiable, because
they were only seeking to secure better wages for themselves by com
pelling the plaintiff to accept their schedule o f wages. This motive or
purpose does not justify maintaining a patrol in front of plaintiff’s
premises as a means o f carrying out their conspiracy. A combination
among persons merely to regulate their own conduct is within allowa
ble competition, and is lawful, although others may be indirectly
affected thereby. But a combination to do injurious acts, expressly
directed to another, by way o f intimidation or constraint, either of
himself or of persons employed or seeking to be employed by him, is
outside o f allowable competition, and is unlawful. The present case
falls within the latter class.
Nor does the fact that the defendants7acts might subject them to an
indictment prevent a court o f equity from issuing an injunction. It is
true that, ordinarily, a court of equity will decline to issue an injunc
tion to restrain the commission of a crime; but a continuing injury to
property or business may be enjoined, although it may also be punishable
as a nuisance or other crime.
A question is also presented whether the court should enjoin such
interference with persons in the employment of the plaintiff who are
not bound by contract to remain with him, or with persons who are not
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
199
under any existing contract, but who are seeking or intending to enter
into liis employment. A conspiracy to interfere with the plaintiff’s busi
ness by means of threats and intimidation, and by maintaining a patrol
in front of his premises, in order to prevent persons from entering into
his employment, or in order to prevent persons who are in his employ
ment from continuing therein, is unlawful, even though such persons
are not bound by contract to enter into or to continue in his employ
ment; and the injunction should not be so limited as to relate only to
persons who are bound by existing contracts.
W e therefore think that the injunction should be in the form as
originally issued. So ordered.
Strong dissenting opinions were delivered by Chief Justice Field and
Judge Holmes, and, being o f great interest, the following is quoted
therefrom. Chief Justice Field said in part:
In the absence of any power given by statute the jurisdiction of a
court of equity, having only the powers of the English high court of
chancery, does not, I think, extend to enjoining acts like those com
plained o f in the case at bar, unless they amount to a destruction or
threatened destruction o f property, or an irreparable injury to it.
As a means o f prevention, the remedy given by Pub. St., c. 74, § 2,
would seem to be adequate where the section is applicable, unless the
destruction of, or an irreparable injury to, property is threatened; and
there is the additional remedy o f an indictment for a criminal conspir
acy at common law, if the acts o f the defendant amount to that. I f the
acts complained o f do not amount to intimidation or force, it is not in
all respects clear what are lawful and what are not lawful at common
law. It seems to be established in this Commonwealth that, intention
ally and without justifiable cause, to entice, by persuasion, a workman
to break an existing contract with his employer, and to leave his
employment, is actionable, whether done with actual malice or not.
(Walker v. Cronin, 107 Mass., 555.) What constitutes justifiable cause
remains in some respects undetermined. Whether to pursuade a per
son who is free to choose his employment not to enter into the employ
ment of another person gives a cause of action to such other person by
some courts has been said to depend upon the question o f actual malice.
For myself, I have been unable to see how malice is necessarily deci
sive. To persuade one man not to enter into the employment o f another,
by telling the truth to him about such other person and his business,
I am not convinced is actionable at common law, whatever the motive
may be. Such persuasion, when accompanied by falsehood about such
other person and his business, may be actionable, unless the occasion of
making the statements is privileged; and then the question o f actual
malice may be important.
In the present case, if the establishment of a patrol is using intimi
dation or force, within the meaning of our statute, it is illegal and
criminal. I f it does not amount to intimidation or force, but is car
ried to such a degree as to interfere with the use by the plaintiff
of his property, it may be illegal and actionable. But something more
is necessary to justify issuing ail injunction. I f it is in violation of
any ordinance o f the city regulating the use of streets, there may
be a prosecution for that, and the police can enforce the ordinance;
but if it is merely a peaceful mode o f finding out the persons who
intend to enter the plaintiff’s premises to apply for work, and of inform
ing them of the actual facts in the case, in order to induce them not to
200
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
enter the plaintiff’s employment, in the absence of any statute relating
to the subject, I doubt if it is illegal, and I see no ground for issuing
an injunction against it.
The following is quoted from the dissenting opinion of Judge Holmes:
In the first place, a word or two should be said as to the meaning of
the report. I assume that my brethren construe it as I meant it to be
construed. There was no proof of any threat or danger of a patrol
exceeding two men, and as, of course, an injunction is not granted
except with reference to what there is reason to expect in its absence,
the question on that point is whether a patrol o f two men should be
enjoined. Again, the defendants are enjoined by the final decree from
intimidating by threats, express or iftplied, of physical harm to body
or property, any person who may be desirous of entering into the
employment of the plaintiff, so far as to prevent him from entering the
same. In order to test the correctness of the refusal to go further, it
must be assumed that the defendants obey the express prohibition o f
the decree. I f they do not, they fall within the injunction as it now
stands, and arc liable to summary punishment. The important differ
ence between the preliminary and the final injunction is that the former
goes further, and forbids the defendants to interfere with the plaintiff’s
business “ by any scheme * * * organized for the purpose o f
# * * preventing any person or persons who now are or may here
after be * * * desirous of entering the [plaintiffs employment]
from entering it.”
I quote only a part, and the part which seems to me most objection
able. This includes refusal of social intercourse, and even organized
persuasion or argument, although free from any threat o f violence, either
express or implied. And this is with reference to persons who have a
legal right to contract or not to contract with the plaintiff, as they may
see fit. Interference with existing contracts is forbidden by the final
decree. I wish to insist a little that the only point of difference which
involves a difference of principle between the final decree and the pre
liminary injunction, which it is proposed to restore, is what I have men
tioned, in order that it may be seen exactly what we are to discuss. It
appears to me that the opinion of the majority turns in part on the
assumption that the patrol necessarily carries with it a threat o f bodily
harm. That assumption I think unwarranted, for the reasons which I
have given. Furthermore, it can not be said, I think, that two men
walking together up and down a sidewalk and. speaking to those who
enter a certain shop, do necessarily and always thereby convey a threat
of force. I do not think it possible to discriminate and to say that two
workmen, or even two representatives o f an organization of workmen, do,
especially when they are and are known to be under the injunction of
this court not to do so. I may add that I think the more intelligent
workingmen believe as fully as I do that they no more can be permitted
to usurp the State’s prerogative of force than can their opponents in their
controversies. But if I am wrong, then the decree as it stands reaches
the patrol, since it applies to all threats of force.
There is a notion, which latterly has been insisted on a good deal,
that a combination o f persons to do what any one of them lawfully
might do by himself will make the otherwise lawful conduct unlawful.
It would be rash to say that some as yet unformulated truth may not
be hidden under this proposition. But in the general form in which it
has been presented and accepted by many courts, I think it plainly
untrue, both on authority and principle.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
201
It is plain from tlie slightest consideration of practical affairs, or the
most superficial reading of industrial history, that free competition
means combination, and that the organization of the world, now going
on so fast, means an ever-increasing might and scope of combination.
It seems to me futile to set our faces against this tendency. Whether
beneficial on the whole, as I think it, or detrimental, it is inevitable,
unless the fundamental axioms of society and even the fundamental
conditions of life are to be changed. One of the eternal conflicts out
of which life is made up is that between the efforts of every man to get
the most that he can for his services, and that of society, disguised
under the name of capital, to get his services for the least possible
return. Combination on the one side is patent and powerful. Combi
nation on the other is the necessary and desirable counterpart, if the
battle is to be carried on in a fair and equal way.
If it be true that workingmen may combine with a view, among other
things, to getting as much as they can for their labor, just as capital
may combine with a view to getting the greatest possible return, it must
be true that when combined they have the same liberty that combined
capital has, to support their interests by argument, persuasion, and the
bestowal or refusal of those advantages which they otherwise lawfully
control. I can remember when many people thought that, apart from
violence or breach o f contract, strikes were wicked, as organized refusals
to work. I suppose that intelligent economists and legislators have
given up that notion to-day. I feel pretty confident that they equally
will abandon the idea that an organized refusal by workmen of social
intercourse with a man who shall enter their antagonist’s employ is un
lawful, if it is dissociated from any threat of violence and is made for
the sole object o f prevailing, if possible, in a contest with their employer
about the rate o f wages. I repeat at the end, as I said at the beginning,
that this is the point of difference in principle, and the only one, between
the interlocutory and final decree [injunction].
Em
ployers’
L ia b il it y — D
u t ie s
of
M aster— A
s s u m p t io n
of
— CheroJcee and Pittsburg Goal and Mining Go. v.
Britton, 45 Pacific Reporter, page 100.—This action was brought in the
district court of Crawford County, Kans., by Simon Britton, adminis
trator of William James, deceased, against the coal and mining com
pany above named to recover damages on account of the death of
said James, an employee of said company, caused by a rock falling
upon him from the roof of the mine in which he was at work. A judg
ment was rendered for Britton, and the defendant company carried
the case on writ o f error to the court of appeals of the State, which
rendered its decision June 2, 1896, and reversed the judgment of the
lower court.
The opinion of said court was delivered by Judge Johnson, and in
the syllabus o f the same, which was prepared by the court, the follow
ing principles of law were stated:
A duty enjoined, either at common law or by statute, which is omit
ted, and by reason thereof injury occurs to some of the employees in
B
is k
by
E
m ployee
202
BULLETIN' OF TH E DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the service o f the delinquent party, it is direct negligence of the per
son owing the duty, and not o f his employees.
No duty devolving upon the owner or operator o f a coal mine, or
other work o f a dangerous character, can be delegated to an agent or
employee so as to relieve the owner or proprietor from his personal
responsibility. No duty required o f him for the safety and protection
o f his employees can be transferred so as to exempt him from his lia
bilities. He may, and often must, delegate the performance o f such
duties to his subordinates; but ho assumes the responsibility o f all of
his servants for the acts o f those subordinates in that particular capac
ity, to the same extent as i f those acts were literally his own.
Where a person enters into the employment of another, as a general
rule, he is presumed to be competent to perform the kind of service
required of him by such employment, and he is held to assume the
ordinary risks and hazards incident to the business upon which he
enters, so far as the risks at the time of entering upon the business are
known to him, or should be readily discernible by a person o f his age
and capacity in the exercise of ordinary care. The risks must be inhe
rent in the business and not arise from defects in the master’s discharge
o f his personal duties.
While it is the duty o f the owner or operator o f a coal mine to pro
vide his employees with a reasonably safe place to perform their labor,
he is only bound to exercise ordinary care in providing for the safety
o f the men engaged in the mine, so far as it could reasonably be expected.
He is not an insurer against unforeseen accidents, which are liable to
happen from the action o f the weather, or the unanticipated slipping
o f earth, slate, coal, or stone from the walls or roof o f the mine.
Before the owner or operator of a coal mine can be held liable for
the death of one of the employees engaged in mining coal, caused by
the tailing of loose rock or earth from the Toof of the mine, it must bo
shown that the owner or operator had previous knowledge of the
defective or dangerous condition of the roof, or by the exercise of ordi
nary care and caution, he could have discovered the defective condition
thereof.
The owner or operator of a coal mine is only held to the exercise of
ordinary care in the employment of competent and skillful operators
and superintendents, ancl in the construction and repair o f the mine, so
as to make it reasonably safe for the protection of those employed
therein.
Employers’ Liability —Duties of Servant—D uties of Mas
Kansas and Texas By. Co. v. Young, 45 Pacific Reporter,
page 963.—Action was brought in the district court of Labette County,
Kans., by James S. Young to recover damages for personal injuries
alleged to have been sustained while in the employ of the railroad com
pany above named. Judgment was rendered in his favor, and the rail
road company brought the case on writ of error to the court o f appeals
of the State, which rendered its decision July 13,1896, and affirmed the
judgment o f the lower court.
The opinion o f the court was delivered by Judge Johnson, and in it
the court laid down certain general principles on the relative duties of
employers and employees. The syllabus o f said opinion was prepared
ter —Missouri,
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
203
by the coart, and the following, showing the principles above referred
to, is quoted:
Where a person seeks employment in any line of business where there
is danger, he assumes the risk and hazard ordinarily incident to such
employment. By accepting the employment, he represents himself as
competent to perform that kind of work, and that he will not be guilty
o f negligence in and about the performance o f the same. He owes to
his employer vigilance and care in the execution of the undertaking;
and where he has been guilty of negligence, contributing to his injury
personally, he can not recover for such injury.
It is the duty o f the master to furnish his servant with a safe place
to perform the work he undertakes to do, and to provide him with such
tools and instrumentalities with which to do the work as are reasona
bly safe. I f the master performs all that is required of him under the
law, and the servant is injured by accident or through lack o f proper
care on his part, the master is not liable for snch injury; but i f the
master fails to furnish the servant with a safe place to perform his
work, or fails to furnish him with suitable and reasonably safe instru
mentalities with which to perform his work, and the servant is injured
by reason o f the master’s failure, then the master is liable, unless the
servant, knowing the defective condition of the tools, uses them with
out complaint; then ho waives his right to damages.
It is the duty o f the railroad company to furnish its employees with
reasonably safe tools and implements with which to perform their work,
and also to exercise reasonable care and diligence to see that the tools
and instrumentalities furnished by it to the employees are kept in such
state o f repair and safe condition for which the employees are required
to use them. Where the railroad company has furnished, in the first
instance, such reasonably safe tools and implements to the employee,
to be used in the performance of the work he undertakes to do, and the
tools become worn, or some latent defect exists, o f which the company
has no knowledge, or which, by the exercise o f ordinary care and dili
gence, it could not have discovered, and the employee using the same
has the same means of knowing the condition o f the tools that the
company has, and the tools are by each considered reasonably safe, and
the employee is injured by the use o f the tools, it is a mere accident or
misfortune for which the company is not liable.
E m p l o y e r s ’ L i a b i l i t y — E l e c t r i c B a i l w a y C o m p a n y — McAdam
v. Central Railway and Meetrie Cro., 35 Atlantic Reporter, page 341.—An
electric street railway and light company constructed its railway in
such a manner that the support and span wires, which passed over the
trolley wire, might become dangerous by contact with the trolley wire,
unless properly insulated. The plaintiff, a lineman of the company, in
pursuance o f his directions, ascended a pole, and, while on the pole,
received an electric shock from taking hold of a support wire, due to
the fact that a span wire, which was not insulated, had come in contact
with the trolley wire. Said shock caused him to fall to the ground, and
by said fall he was severely injured. He brought suit against the com
pany, in the superior court of Hartford County, Conn., to recover dam
ages for his injuries and judgment was given in his favor. The company
204
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
appealed the case to the supreme court of errors of the State, which
court rendered its decision March 26, 1896, and affirmed the judgment
o f the lower court.
The opinion of said court was rendered by Judge Hammersley, and
in the course of the same he used the following language:
The reasons o f the appeal seem to be a summary of the defendant’s
argument upon the trial, and apparently the errors mainly relied on
are the alleged erroneous conclusions reached by the court upon ques
tions o f fact. In its brief, however, the defendant claims that, in find
ing gross negligence in the construction of the defendant’s wires, the
court erred in measuring the legal duty o f the defendant by an errone
ous standard. The trolly wire, as used by the defendant, is charged
with an agency o f exceeding danger to life, and is capable o f commu
nicating such deadly quality to any wire or conductor of electricity that
may come in contact with it. When the legislature authorizes a cor
poration to use such an agency in the public streets, the law implies a
duty o f using a very high degree of care in the construction and oper
ation o f the appliances for the use o f that agency, requiring the
corporation to employ every reasonable precaution known to those
possessed of the knowledge and skill requisite for the safe treatment of
such an agency for providing against all dangers incident to its use,
and holds it accountable for the injury o f any person due to the neglect
o f that duty, whether the person injured is or is not one o f its own
employees. This standard of duty was correctly applied to the facts
as found by the court below. The method of construction in connec
tion with the failure to insulate the span wire was a violation of the
duty imposed on the defendant by law.
E m p l o y e r s ’ L i a b i l i t y — F e l l o w -S e r v a n t s —Buckalew v. Tennes
see Goal, Iron and Railroad Go., 20 Southern Reporter, page 606.—Louella
Buckalew, administratrix of the estate o f Wm. H. Buckalew, deceased,
brought suit in the city court of Birmingham, Ala., against the Ten
nessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company to recover damages for the
death o f her intestate. The evidence showed that said Wm. H. Buckalew
was a convict sentenced by the criminal court of Jefferson County, Ala.,
for two years 5 that he had been leased or let to the defendant company
by the proper authorities o f said county; that he was put to work in
the coal mines o f said company at Pratt City, as such leased convict,
and that while so at work he was instantly killed by a fall of slate or
stone from the roof of said mine. The plaintiff claimed that the fall of
slate or stone was caused by the negligence of the company’s superin
tendent, and that the company was therefore liable in damages. A
judgment was rendered for the defendant in the city court, and the
plaintiff appealed the case to the supreme court of the State, which
rendered its decision June 16, 1896, and reversed the judgment of the
city court. Judge Wilkinson, o f the city court, instructed the jury that
the deceased, although a convict, was a fellow-servant o f the superin
tendent of the mine, through whose negligence it was claimed that the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
205
accident was caused. The principal objection of the plaintiff to the
judgment of the city court was directed at this instruction, and, in
regard to the same, the supreme court, in its opinion, which was deliv
ered by Judge Head, held as follows:
It seems to have been supposed that some of these counts fin the
plaintiff’s declaration] were under the employer’s liability act, or were
governed by the rules regulating the liability of a master for the acts
or omissions of fellow-servants. This we think a misconception o f the
law.
A master’s exemption from liability to a servant for negligence of a
fellow-servant in a common employment has for its fundamental prin
ciple that by voluntarily entering the service the servant engages to
take upon himself the natural and ordinary risks and perils incident to
the performance o f such service, which includes the risks of injuries
arising from the wrongs and omissions o f fellow-servants in the same
employment. When he enters the service it is presumed that he has
observed and understands its character, and the character o f the serv
ants employed therein, and contracts with reference thereto. I f incom
petent or unfit servants are introduced or retained in the service o f the
master, he has the right, growing out of his contract, to demand of the
master correction of the wrong, and, if not done, to quit the service.
Thus he has the means of protecting himself against the dangers of
unfit fellow-servants.
There was under neither count a relation of master and servant
between the defendant and the intestate. That relation always grows
out o f a contract between the parties, express or implied. Here, under
the last three counts, the intestate was a prisoner in the custody of the
defendant, as his keeper. By law, and the defendant’s contract with
the proper law officers, it was authorized lo put him to labor in the
mine, and owed him the duty of doing him no willful harm and of
exercising reasonable care for his personal safety. The intestate had
made no contract with any one. His servitude was involuntary. It
was enforced. He had no right or power to refuse to enter upon the
service, or to quit it, at any time, until his sentence expired. What
ever may have been the dangers of the service, howsoever incom
petent, careless, or vicious may have been the defendant’s agents or
servants put to work with or over him, the convict had no voice, voli
tion, or freedom of action in the matter whatever. He had entered into
no contract, express or implied, to take the risks of the wrongful acts
and omissions of the defendant’s servants. He was fellow-servant with
no one.
Employers’ Liability —Fellow -Servants—Klochinski v. Shores
Lumber Co., 67 Northwestern Reporter, page 934.—Action was brought
in the circuit court of Ashland County, Wis., by John Klochinski against
the lumber company to recover damages for injuries received while in
the employ o f said company. The plaintiff was injured while engaged
in helping place logs on a log deck in the steam sawing mill o f the
lumber company, and alleged, among other things, that his injury was
caused by the negligence o f one Murray, the superintendent and gen
eral manager o f the lumber company, who was at the time taking an
7535—No. 9----- 7
206
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
active part in operating the log deck. The plaintiff had judgment
against the defendant company, and the case was appealed by said
company to the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision
May 23, 1896, and reversed the judgment of the lower court. One of
the points decided was that although where a person acting as superin
tendent negligently directs an employee to work on a log deck with
him in handling logs, without giving him necessary instructions as to
the danger, such negligence will be regarded as that of the master j yet,
having himself voluntarily taken part in the work, which was no part of
his duty as superintendent, a negligent direction of his to the employee
while they are working together will be regarded as that o f a fellowservant.
The opinion o f the supreme court was delivered by Judge Pinney
and the following, treating o f the point above stated, is quoted
therefrom:
The plaintiff in his testimony imputes negligence to the sawyer as
being an efficient cause o f his injury j but, if this was established, it
would have been the negligence o f a coemployee or fellow-servant iu
a common employment o f the same master, and would furnish no ground
o f action against the latter. The same holds good, we think, as to the
alleged negligence of Murray, the superintendent and manager of the
defendant company. Whether he is to be considered as a vice-princi
pal of the defendant or a coemployee and fellow-servant o f the plain
tiff, depends, not upon Murray’s grade or rank, but upon the work
being performed by him and the plaintiff at the time. The evidence
is quite clear that Murray took hold at the time as a volunteer
to do the work on the log deck in place of one just disabled, and he
called the plaintiff to assist him in doing it. This was no part o f Mur
ray’s duty as superintendent or manager, and it would seem that he
and the plaintiff, in any view that can fairly be taken of the case, must
be regarded as coemployees and fellow-servants o f'th e defendant,
engaged in a common employment. Whatever order or direction Mur
ray gave to the plaintiff after he commenced the work on the log deck,
and while working there with Murray, must be regarded as the order
or direction o f a coemployee or fellow-servant, and not of a vice-prin
cipal o f the defendant. But if Murray, as superintendent and vice
principal, negligently and improperly directed the plaintiff to work on
the log deck with him, without giving him necessary or proper warning
or instruction as to the danger and hazard o f working there, for the
lack o f which he got injured, this must be regarded as the negligent
act o f the defendant, for which it would be liable.
E mployers’ Liability —Measure of D amages—Baltimore and
Ohio B. B. Co.v Hentkorne, 73 Federal Beporter, page 634.—One Charles
Henthorne, a brakeman in the employ o f the Baltimore and OhioBailroad
Company,wasinjured in a collision. He brought suit against the railroad
company in the United States circuit court for the northern district of
Ohio, and judgment was rendered in his favor for $15,000. The rail
road company brought the case on writ of error before the United States
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
207
circuit court of appeals for t-lic sixth circuit, which court rendered its
decision April 14,1890, and sustained the judgment of the lower court.
In the opinion o f said court, delivered by Circuit Judge Taft, of the
numerous points decided one seems to be of special interest, and the
language of the judge thereon is given as follows:
There remains to consider only the objection to the charge with
respect to the measure of damages. The charge of the [lower] court,
as we interpret it, directed the jury to consider as one element o f dam*
age the loss o f the plaintiff in his earning capacity by reason of his
bodily injuries, and to reach the loss of his earning capacity by esti
mating as near as they could his probable yearly earnings during his
entire life, and to give him a sum that would purchase him a life annuity
equal to the difference between the amount which he would have earned
each year if he had not been injured and that which he could earn each
year in his injured condition. W e see no objection to this measure;
indeed, we think it technically accurate.
E mployers’ Liability —Railroad Companies— Wright v. South
ern Pacific Go., 46 Pacific Reporter, page 874.—Action was brought in
the district court of Weber County, Utah, by James A. Wright against
the railroad company above named to recover damages for personal
injuries received while in the employ of said company. Judgment
was rendered for the plaintiff, and the defendant appealed the case to
the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision September
23,1896, and reversed the judgment of the lower court solely upon
the ground that the jury in said court disregarded the instructions of
the judge thereof in fixing the amount of damages. With this excep
tion all the important points raised by the defendant were decided in
the plaintiff’s favor.
The opinion of the supreme court was delivered by Judge Bartch,
and the syllabus of the same, which was prepared by the court, con
tains a clear statement of the facts in the case and the points decided.
The following is quoted therefrom:
The plaintiff received the injury complained of while in the employ
of the defendant, and while acting in the capacity of switchman in
defendant’s yards. The engine used in moving the cars was operated
without a fireman, the engineer performing the duties of fireman him
self. This fact was known to the plaintiff, who continued to work
without making any complaint to defendant or to any of its agents.
The engine was defective, and required more attention because thereof.
Defendant had rules which required switchmen to give signals to the
the engineer, and to see that the signals were observed and obeyed
before going between the cars, and to abstain from going between them
while in motion, for the purpose o f coupling or uncoupling them. But
these rules were constantly violated, not only by the plaintiff, but also
by the yardmaster, as well as the other switchmen. On the occasion
o f the accident the plaintiff gave the engineer the signal to stop, which
was obeyed, and then went between the cars to puli the pin, but being
unable to do so he stepped out and gave the “ slow back up ” signal,
208
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and, without waiting to see if the signal was obeyed, went between the
cars to uncouple them while in motion. The "engineer, by a quick
movement, bumped the forward cars against the back one. The plain
tiff’s foot was caught under the brake beam. Ho then gave the signal
to stop, which not being observed, he was dragged a distance of two
or three car lengths until he fell, when several trucks passed over and
crushed his leg below the knee, causing the injury complained of.
When the last signal was given, the engineer was in the act of replen
ishing the fire, and therefore failed to observe and obey it. Plaintiff’s
leg was amputated above the knee and he has been unable to wear an
artificial leg. Evidence was introduced tending to show that the acci
dent would not have occurred had there been a fireman on the engine
at the time of the accident. Held, that the nonsuit was properly denied;
that plaintiff ’s knowledge of the fact that defendant operated its engine
without a fireman was not of itself sufficient to preclude a recovery;
that such a result would not follow unless the want of a fireman caused
the operation of the engine to be so obviously dangerous that a man of
ordinary care and reasonable prudence would refuse to act as switch
man. The plaintiff had the right to rely, at least to some extent, upon
the judgment of the defendant’s agents, who deemed it safe for the
engineer to perform the work of a fireman.
An employee, as switchman, assumes the perils and risks ordinarily
incident to such employment, including the hazards which observation
would bring to his knowledge; but he does not assume the perils occa
sioned through the negligence of his employer, nor is he bound to
anticipate and comprehend all the perils to which he might possibly be
exposed because o f a want o f a sufficient number of employees to per
form the service in safety.
The employer has the right to adop’t rules for the conduct of business
and safety o f the employees; but, in order that such rules may avail
the employer in a suit for damages for injuries resulting from a breach
thereof, they must not only have been known to the employee, but also
their observance must not have been waived by the employer.
Where a certain rule of the employer, though established for the
safety of the employee, has been habitually disobeyed since its incep
tion, or for a long period of time, in the presence or to the knowledge
of the employer, without an attempt to enforce it, or has been disre
garded in such manner and for such length of time as to raise the pre
sumption that it was done with his knowledge and approval, the rule
will be regarded as abrogated or waived.
Evidence o f a customary disregard of the rule of a railroad company
by its employees, with the knowledge and approval o f the agents of the
company, is competent as tending to show that the rule was abrogated
or waived.
Where the negligence of the employer and that o f a fellow-servant
combine to produce an injury to a servant, the employer will be liable
in damages to the injured servant.
Employers’ Liability —Railroad Companies—A ssumption op
Risk—Contributory Negligence— Chicago, Bock Island and Pacific
B. B. Co. v. McCarty, 68 N'orthtcestern Bcporter, page 633.—Action was
brought by Patrick McCarty in the district court of Douglas County,
Nebr., against the above-named railroad company to recover damages
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
209
for personal injuries sustained while in the em|)loy of said company.
The evidence showed that McCarty was a member of a construction
crew; that they had loaded a train of flat cars with earth on the day of
the accident; that Butler, the foreman of the crew, concluded to send
the men with the train to unload it when it arrived at its destination;
that just as the train started he ordered McCarty to get aboard, and
that McCarty, in endeavoring to board the train, slipped and fell and
was injured by the train passing over one of his feet, causing amputa
tion. Upon these facts a judgment was rendered for McCarty, in the
district court, and the railroad company carried the case oil writ of
error to the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision
October 26, 1896, and reversed the judgment of the lower court.
The opinion of the supreme court was delivered by Judge Irvine,
and in the course of the same ho used the following language:
The argument of the railroad company, stated in a condensed form,
is that there is no obligation resting upon a master to exercise greater
care for a servant’s safety than the servant is himself required to exer
cise; and that, if it was negligence for Butler to command McCarty to
board the train while it was in motion, it was contributory negligence
for McCarty to obey the order, it being neither alleged nor proved that
the danger was not as apparent and as well known to McCarty as to
Butler.
Our conclusion after a consideration of the subject is that it is a
harsh and unreasonable rule which charges a servant, when commanded
to perform an act by his master, with the duty o f at once determining
whether or not the act can be safely performed, and then performing
it at his peril or refusing to perform it at the expense of losing his
employment. The risk incurred by obeying a negligent command of
the master is not one ordinarily incident to the servant’s employment,
and is not an assumed risk, because negligence on the part of the
master is not presumed to be a feature of the employment. It is true
that, where ample time exists for examination and reflection, a servant
may not, beyond a certain limit, continue in the service, performing
dangerdus acts, except at his own risk; and it is this consideration
which governs the cases holding that the continued use of defective
appliances without protest, and a promise by the master to remedy
them, discharges the master from liability. With the case, however, of
a command given suddenly, which must be obeyed immediately or not
at all, a different question is presented. The servant is confronted
with a new danger, one not contemplated when he entered the employ
ment, and one not made a part of it by continued use. The servant has
certainly, in the first place, a right to presume that the master gave
the command advisedly and in the exercise of due care. I f the servant
disobeys, he forfeits his employment; and, even though he be aware of
the danger, whether or not it is negligence for him to obey depends
upon circumstances. The act may be so foolhardy, so clearly entailing
disaster, that the only reasonable course is to disobey. The test of
negligence is in such cases as in others, whether or not a man of ordi
nary prudence so situated would obey or refuse. In many cases a man
o f ordinary prudence, compelled to decide instantly, even though aware
o f the existence of danger, would prefer obedience, and would take the
risk. It is not true, however, because the servant in such case may not
be guilty of negligence in obeying, that it follows necessarily that the
210
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
master was not negligent in giving the order. In the first place, reflec
tion and the exercise o f discretion is the business of the master, and
not of the servant. It is the duty of the master to determine what
shall be done, and how. In general the duty of the servant is merely
to obey} and even when the command is given suddenly and without
previous reflection, as in this case, the master, charged with the power
of discretion, has imposed upon him the duty o f rightly directing and
safely directing. O f course, a sudden exigency may arise which would
relieve the master of any imputation of negligence in requiring, under
such circumstances of exigency, a dangerous act to be suddenly per
formed. But here the failure to command McCarty to board the train
before it started was not due to any sudden exigency, but apparently
to mere inattention on the part o f the foreman, and a failure by him to
conceive the idea o f sending men with the train until the last moment.
It was not McCarty’s duty to go with the train in the absence of a
specific order for that purpose; and, under the circumstances, we think
there was evidence to support a finding that Butler was negligent in
giving the command and McCarty not negligent in obeying it.
The district court gave the following instruction: “ It is in general
the duty o f an employee to obey the orders o f his superior, and, in the
absence of knowledge or means o f knowledge to the contrary, he may
presume it safe for him to do so. However, he may not obey blindly
and without regard to his personal safety; for it is incumbent on him
to protect himself by the exercise o f such care and diligence as the
circumstances require. But when he receives an order which must be
obeyed immediately or not at all, and when he has no time or oppor
tunity for considering the situation, or the danger, if any, o f a compli
ance with the order, he may rely on the skill and judgment o f his
superior, unless to obey the order would be reckless, rash, or foolhardy
on his part. I f to obey would be so dangerous as to indicate that the
employee had abandoned all care and consideration for his own safety,
then obedience would be negligence in itself, which, if it contributed to
the injury, would prevent a recovery.7’
W e think there was error in this instruction. The performance o f
an act by an employee not within the usual line of his duties, and in
obedience to a command given instantly and under circumstances per
mitting no deliberation, is not the assumption of a risk ordinarily inci
dent to the employment, and is therefore not one o f the assumed risks
o f servants. The right to recover for injuries sustained in the course
o f performing such acts depends upon ordinary considerations o f negli
gence and contributory negligence. The test o f negligence is whether
a man o f ordinary prudence would so conduct himself under the circum
stances, and therefore the master is in such case only liable for the con
sequences of a command which a person o f ordinary prudence would
not have given under the circumstances, and which a man o f ordinary
prudence would have obeyed under the circumstances. In stating the
law to the jury the court should have borne in mind this test. But the
instruction we have quoted departs from the rule in several respects.
In the first place, the first sentence was erroneous in implying that,
as a matter o f law, McCarty had a right to presume that it was safe for
him to obey this command. Where the danger is not known or obvious,
as the instruction states, the servant might presume the act safe because
it was commanded. But here the danger was as apparent to him as to
the master, and there was no basis in the evidence for submitting the
case on the theory that the danger was not known or susceptible of
knowledge.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
211
In tlie second place, according to tlie instruction, the servant would
be excused in obeying the order unless obedience would be “ reckless,
rash, or foolhardy.” This can only mean that, in order to charge a
plaintiff with contributory negligence in such cases, his act must not
only be one which an ordinarily prudent man would not perform, but
must be one which no man except a reckless, rash, and foolhardy man
would perform. In other words, instead of holding up to the jury as a
test of conduct that of a man of ordinary prudence, it raises before
them as a type the conduct of a man reckless and foolhardy, and excuses
contributory negligence if not within the line of conduct that such a
man would pursue.
Finally, this erroneous idea is emphasized by the last sentence of the
instruction, by which it is plainly implied that obedience to the command
would not constitute negligence unless the circumstances were such as
to indicate that the servant had abandoned all consideration for his own
safety. This last sentence, to a certain extent, explains the previous
one; and the combined effect o f the two is to state to the jury that the
servant might recover if the circumstances were such that any man,
however imprudent, however careless, might have performed it, provided
he kept in view the slightest consideration for his safety. In the respects
indicated the instruction fails essentially to propose to the jury the true
test o f negligence, to wit, the conduct o f a man of ordinary prudence
under the circumstances. Keversed and remanded.
Employers’ Liability —B ailroad Companies—A ssumption of
B isk—Negligence—Brewer v. Tennessee Goal, Iron and By. Co.7 37
Southwestern Reporter, page 549.—Action was brought in the circuit
court of Marion County, Tenn., by Lewis Brewer against the company
above named to recover damages for injuries sustained while in its
employ. In the declaration filed by the plaintiff he alleged that it
was his duty to stop all cars loaded with ore at a certain place in the
company’s stock house on a trestle about 25 or 30 feet above the floor;
that a piece o f timber about 18 inches wide and 6 inches thick had
been placed parallel with and between the tracks on said trestle for
servants and employees of the company to walk on while handling the
cars; that said timber had been worn off by unloading ore on it until
it was not more than two or three inches wide on top and defective,
unsafe, and unfit for anyone to walk on; that he and others had noti
fied the company shortly before the accident of the condition of the tim
ber; that the company, by its agent, promised to replace it and ordered
plaintiff to continue the work, which he did, rather than lose his job
and relying upon the promise to repair; that one afternoon, in attempt
ing to step from a car on to the timber his foot slipped off and he fell
through the trestle into the iron ore below, and that from this fall he
was severely injured. The defendant company demurred to this
declaration, and the circuit court, in its decision, sustained the demurrer
and dismissed the suit. The plaintiff appealed the case to the supreme
court of the State, which gave its decision November 13, 1896, and
affirmed the decision of the lower court.
212
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The opinion o f the supreme court was delivered by Chief Justice
Snodgrass, and the following is quoted therefrom:
It will be noticed that the declaration does not aver a defect in the
walkway used any more apparent to the master than to the servant
himself, or one which required special or expert skill to detect. It was
a plain and obvious defect, equally within the observation and knowl
edge o f both. It is also to be observed that there is no averment that
the plaintiff was led to continue his services with the company on
account of promise to repair, but only that he did not decline to work
because of fear o f losing his job, and that he did continue it, relying
upon the express promise of defendant to repair the walkway. It is fur
ther to be noticed that there was no promise to repair in any given time,
nor is it averred how long before the accident had the promise been
made. The true rule on that subject is thus stated by Mr. Bailey in
his work on “ The Master’s Liability for Injuries to Servant” (page
208): u It must appear that the servant was led to continue his employ
ment by the master’s promise that the defect complained of should be
removed. Where the servant does not complain upon his own account,
aud continues in the employment, with full knowledge of the risk, he
can not recover of the master, because the latter, when the defective
condition is called to his attention by the servant, gives assurances,
which do not induce the servant to remain, that the defect should be
remedied. * # # When there has been a promise to repair or
obviate defects, and the servant has received an injury, after such
promise, caused by the defect, the question then becomes one o f ordi
nary care on tho part o f the employee—whether, relying upon such
inducement held out by the employer, a prudent workman would take
the risk, as well as whether there were reasonable grounds at the time of
the injury for expecting the employer would remove the defect.” * * *
Our cases, so far as they have gone, are in accord, Railroad Oo. v.
Smith (9 Lea, 685) and Telephone Oo. v. Loomis (87 Tenn., 504) holding
that the exercise o f ordinary care is essential on the part of the servant,
and that tho master can not be charged with his imprudence and rash
ness. Neither, however, involved the doctrine of protest against the
use o f defective tools or machinery, and neither are they intended, nor
is this, to hold that in doubtful conditions, or in a case where the ser
vant has a right to rely upon the superior judgment o f the master, the
master might not be held liable, but only in plain cases, as averred in
the declaration, o f a defect perfectly known to both servant and master,
and where it is rashness to use the walkway, and the servant can not
put upon the master a liability for its use upon an indefinite promise of
repair. Tf the plank was 18 inches wide, and had been worn until it
was but 2 or 3 inches, as averred, it is clear that whatever danger might
have existed in its use was perfectly apparent, and therefore one who
used it must take the risk. Judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
E mployers’
ter —Atchison,
Liability —Railroad Companies—D uty of Mas
Topeka and Santa Fe R. R. Co. v. Penfold, 45 Pacific
Reporter, page 574.—Action was brought in the district court of Atchi
son County, Kans., by Wm. H. Penfold against the railroad company
above named to recover damages for injuries received while in the
DECISIONS OP COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
213
employ of said company and through its negligence. A judgment was
rendered for Penfold, and the company carried the case on writ of error
to the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision July 11,
189G, and affirmed the decision of the district court.
The facts of the case are, in brief, as fallows: The plaintiff, in the
performance of his duties, undertook to go down the ladder of a car,
and the end of one of the rounds of the ladder upon which he stepped,
being unfastened and displaced, gave way and he fell to the platform
below and was injured. The defective car belonged to the Missouri
Pacific Railway Company, but was for the time being in the possession
of the defendant company, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. The
negligence alleged was that of the company in whose possession the car
was in not inspecting it, and said company alleged in defense that as
it did not own the defective car, and consequently had no right to
repair it, it could not be required to inspect it.
The supreme court in its opinion, delivered by Judge Johnson, held
the contention of the defendant company to be unsound, and the sylla
bus of said opinion, which was prepared by said court, is given below:
It is the duty of a railroad company to inspect cars owned by or
received from another company which the employees of the former are
required to handle or use, where there is time and opportunity to do so;
and it will be liable to its employees for injuries resulting from defects
in such cars which an ordinary inspection would have discovered.
It will not be excused for failure to perform that duty because such
cars are only used for a brief time or carried a short distance; nor will
the mere fact that the company is not required to repair such defects
relieve it from the obligation to inspect.
Employers’ Liability — Railroad Companies — Employees’
Contracts op Service — Fellow -Servants — Spencer et ah v.
Brooks, 25 Southeastern Reporter, page 480.—Actiou was brought in the
city court of Atlanta, Ga., by J. F. Brooks against Samuel Spencer and
others, receivers of the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company,
to recover damages for injuries received while in the employ of said
receivers as a brakeman on said railroad. A judgment was given for
the plaintiff, and the defendants brought the case before the supreme
court of the State on writ of error. Said court rendered its decision
January 27, 1896, and affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
The facts of the case are sufficiently shown in the opinion of the
supreme court, which was delivered by Chief Justice Simmons, and the
following is quoted therefrom:
Brooks, a minor, was employed by the receivers of the Richmond and
Danville Railroad Company as brakeman on a freight train, and while
so employed sustained serious personal injuries by reason of his being
run into by the train when engaged in opening the u knuckle” o f the
bumper of a car, under the direction of the conductor of the train,
214
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
preparatory to coupling that car to others belonging* to the train. By
his next friend he sued the receivers for damages, alleging negligence
on the part o f the defendants and the conductor, and recovered a ver
dict for $1,500. The defendants made a motion for a new trial, the
grounds of which are set out in the reporter’s statement, and to the
overruling of the motion they excepted.
1. It is complained that the court erred in excluding, when offered in
evidence by the defendants, a contract in writing between the plaintiff
and the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, whereby the plaintiff
agreed to be bound by a rule of the company prohibiting brakemen from
going between cars for the purpose o f coupling or uncoupling, etc., and
agreed to waive liability of the company to him for any results of infrac
tion of the rule. There was no error in excluding this contract. It was
not a contract with the receivers, but one entered into with the company
prior to the receivership. When the company ceased to operate the
road and the receivers took charge of it the latter were not bound to
retain the employees o f the former, and the contracts of the company
with its employees were not binding on the receivers unless adopted by
them; nor in the absence of such an obligation on the part of the receiv
ers were such enqdoyees bound to abide by the terms o f any contract
entered into with the company. The contract in question, therefore,
was not necessarily binding between the plaintiff and the receivers, and
there was no evidence showing any adoption of it as between them,
either directly or by implication.
2,3. It was complained that the trial judge, in his charge to the jury,
erred in assuming that the conductor was the alter ego o f the defend
ants on the occasion in question, thereby excluding the theory o f the
defendants that they were fellow-servants, and that the company was,
therefore, not liable for -any injury resulting from the negligence of the
conductor. Ordinarily, the conductor of a train has control o f its
movements, and brakemen connected with the train are, while engaged
in coupling cars to the train at stations, subject to his orders and under
his control 5 and he is not, when directing the movements o f the train
and giving orders to the brakemen and engineer in connection there
with, a fellow-servant o f such employees, within the meaning o f the
rule as to fellow-servants, but is a vice-principal of the master. The
evidence in this case discloses nothing which would take it out of the
general rule above stated. It shows that the conductor was in fact
directing and controlling the movements of the train, and that the plain
tiff and the engineer were acting under his orders at the time o f the
injury. The instructions complained o f were, therefore, not improperly
based upon the assumption that the plaintiff and the conductor were
not fellow-servants.
Employers’ Liability —Railroad Companies—F ellow -Serv
Central R. B. Co. v. Hilliard, 87 Southwestern Reporter,
page 75.—This was an action to recover damages for personal injuries.
From a judgment for the plaintiff in the circuit court o f Hickman
County, Ky., the defendant appealed the case to the court of appeals
o f the State, and said court rendered its decision September 30,1896,
and affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
The opinion of the court of appeals, which was delivered by Judge
ants—Illinois
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
215
Lewis, contains a full statement of the facts in the case, and reads as
follows:
E. Y. Hilliard was employed as conductor of a freight train of appel
lant, Illinois Central Railroad Company, which left Mound Station, of
that State, October 5,1803, going southward. But just before reach
ing Clinton, Ky., the train, moving at about the rate of five miles per
hour, broke apart, and Hilliard, being on top o f the cars, thereupon
started to descend to the ground on a ladder fixed at the end of one of
the cars, when a round thereof, as lie grasped it, gave way, in conse
quence of which he fell, and one of his hands was so crushed by a wheel
as to necessitate amputation. It is not contended that he was, under
the circumstances, out of his proper place, or negligent, or outside his
line of duty, in attempting to descend in the manner and time he did
so. Eor is there dispute about his fall and injury resulting from inse
cure fastening of the round which he had to take hold of in order to
descend. The questions, therefore, are whether the railroad company
was guilty of actionable negligence,' and if, or although, it was, whether
Hilliard, as conductor, was guilty of such contributory negligence as
that but for it the fall and injury would not have occurred. And those
questions involve an inquiry as to the respective and relative duties of
the two parties. As the lower court instructed the jury, it was the
duty o f the company to provide and keep in good and safe condition
the ladders attached to the several cars; and, as it further instructed,
if at the time plaintiff was hurt the ladder in question was in an unsafe
condition, and defendant knew it, or by the use o f ordinary care could
have known it, in time to have put same in a safe condition, and the
injury resulted from such condition o f the ladder, then plaintiff was
entitled to recover, unless plaintiff knew, or by exercising ordinary care
could have known, that the ladder was in such condition.
Defendant asked but the court refused to give the following instruc
tion: “ That the car inspector of the defendant and the plaintiff, as
conductor of the freight train upon which the accident happened, were
fellow-servants engaged in the same line of service as to the inspection
o f the cars in said train, and though the jury may believe from the
evidence that said inspector was guilty of negligence in the inspection
of said cars, yet they can not find for plaintiff, unless they believe said
negligence was gross negligence.” That instruction was properly
refused, because abstract and misleading. In the first place, the per
son employed at Mound Station to inspect each car o f a train and
ascertain if it is in a safe condition was not a fellow-servant of plain
tiff in the sense of being upon a common footing and agents of each
other. They acted in different spheres, and neither could or was
required to know whether the other was properly doing his duty. In
the second place, it would have been improper to require the jury to
believe that the inspector was guilty o f gross negligence. The simple
inquiry was, as they had been instructed, whether the company, through
its inspector, used ordinary care in examining the cars, so as to ascer
tain whether the ladders attached to each were in a safe condition, for
it was the legal duty of the company to guard against every source o f
danger that it could, by the exercise of that kind and degree of care,
foresee and prevent. And, while a railroad company can not be
required to insure the safety of a train, it is bound to make a reasona
ble, proper, and careful examination of each car. The evidence in this
case shows that the bolt which held the defective round of the ladder
was so rusted and worn that the top slipped off when plaintiff
216
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
grasped the round. And the jury might have reasonably concluded
that the inspector could and would, by using proper and reasonable
care, have discovered the fact; and, having failed to do so, the legal
liability o f the company was fixed. On the other hand, the conductor,
while required to examine the condition o f a train before taking charge
of it, could not be reasonably required or expected to make such close
and minute examination as to discover a latent defect. I f the ladder
had been detached or out of place, it would have been the plaintiffs
duty to have discovered it. There is plainly a difference in the degree
and character o f examination of cars required of the inspector, who is
employed for that special purpose, and that required o f a conductor.
If there was not, there would be no use for an inspector. Perceiving
no error of law on the trial of this action, the judgment is affirmed.
Employers’ Liability —Railroad Companies—Fellow -S erv
Short Line and Utah Northern By. Go. v. Frost, 74
Federal Reporter, page 965.—Action was brought in the United States
circuit court for the district of Montana by Hattie Frost, as administra
trix of James Frost, deceased, against the above-named railroad com
pany to recover damages for the death of the intestate. The plaintiff
recovered a judgment, and the defendant company brought the case on
writ of error before the United States circuit court of appeals for the
ninth circuit. Said court rendered its decision June 15, 1890, and
reversed the judgment of the lower court. The evidence showed that
Frost was an engineer in the employ of the railroad company on train
No. 5; that on the day he was injured the train dispatcher at the super
intendent’s office at Pocatello telegraphed an order to the operator at
Dillon that train No. 5 should wait there until 2.45 p. m. for train No.
32; that said operator received said order thirty-two minutes before
train No. 5 was due there, but neglected to warn it on its arrival; that
said train therefore went on and had gone but a short distance beyond
Dillon when it came into collision with train No. 32, and that in said
collision Frost was injured and died eight days thereafter from the
effects o f the same. The case hinged on the question as to whether the
telegraph operator, through whose negligence Frost was injured, was
the vice-principal of the railroad company, so that his negligence would
be that o f the company for which it would be responsible, or whether
he was a fellow-servant of the injured man, for whose negligence the
railroad company would not be responsible.
The opinion o f the circuit court o f appeals was delivered by Judge
Gilbert, and in giving the reasons of the court for its decision he used
the following language:
The case presents the important question whether or not the local
telegraph operator at the station, who receives and delivers the orders
o f the train dispatcher, is the fellow-servant o f the employees o f the rail
road company in charge of the train. It is conceded that the train dis
patcher, in giving notice of a change in the running of trains, acts for
ants— Oregon
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
217
and in behalf of the railroad company. He is in that respect a viceprincipal, not because of his attitude to other employees as their superior,
nor because he has charge of a department, but because of the nature
o f the duty which ho discharges. He is, for the time being, clothed with
the responsibility which rests upon the company to furnish its employees
a safe place of operation. The ordinary running of the train is estab
lished by a fixed schedule, of which all operatives have notice, and by
which their acts must be governed. When occasion arises to disturb
the regular schedule, the duty rests upon the company to give timely
notice to those that are to be affected thereby. This it is the office of
the train dispatcher to do. But when he has given that information to
a local operator, is that duty discharged, or does there rest upon the
company the further obligation to see that all of its servants through
whose hands that message goes on its way to the train employees shall
deliver it as given, and that in case of any failure in the line of commu
nication the company shall be liable for the resulting injury? After a
careful consideration of the question and of the strong reasons that may
be urged in support of either view of this proposition, it is our conclusion
that the better doctrine is that the local telegraph operator is the fellowservant o f those who are in the control and management of the train.
It is evident, and the court will take judicial notice of the fact, that a
disturbance in the regular time schedule of trains is frequent and neces
sary in the operation of all railroads. It then becomes necessary to issue
special orders for their direction. Conductors, engineers, and brakemen
have knowledge of that fact, and they know when they enter into the
employment o f the railroad company that their notice of such orders
must come through the local telegraph operator at the station, and that
they incur the risk of accident through his negligence or mistake. The
special orders issue, in the first instance, from the train dispatcher. It
is obviously impossible for him to give personal notice to all who are to
be governed thereby. The orders must, of necessity, be conveyed to
some one in behalf o f the others. The local telegraph operator, the con
ductor, the engineer, and the brakemen are all engaged in a common
employment—that o f moving the train. The operator, it is true, is sub
ject to no x>ersonal risk from any change in the time card; but that fact
is not a controlling one in deciding who are his fellow-servants. There
must be some point where the responsibility of the company ceases. I f
it does not cease at the time when information is given to the operator,
where shall it cease? Could it be said that a conductor who received
from the operator a message from the train dispatcher, yet who failed to
guide his action thereby, stands in the relation of vice principal to the
conductor, engineer, or brakeman of another train, who may be injured
by his negligence, or that, if the operator should receive instructions
from the train dispatcher to send out a flagman to signal an approaching
train, the company is responsible for the negligence of such flagman in
failing to carry out such instructions ? It seems just in principle to hold
that the company has discharged its duty when it has given information
to one o f its servants who is engaged in the common employment of the
others that are to be affected thereby, and has instructed him to notify
his coemployees, and that when the company has exercised due care in
selecting such local operator, in the first instance, and has not been neg
ligent in employing or retaining him in his office, it has discharged
its duty, and that such operator stands in the attitude of a fellow-servant
to the train men. It follows from these views that the judgment must
be reversed, at the cost of the defendant in error, and the cause remanded
for a new trial.
218
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
E mployees’ Liability —B aileoad Companies—Masters’ Neg
E tc.— Terre Saute and Indianapolis Railroad Company v.
Reciter, 45 Northeastern Reporter, page 96.—Action was brought in the
circuit court of Cass County, Ind., by Mary A . Becker, administratrix,
against the above-named railroad company, to recover damages for the
death of her husband, Martin Becker, who was killed in a collision.
Judgment was rendered for her, and the railroad company appealed
the case to the supreme court of the State, which rendered its decision
November 10,1806, and reversed the judgment of the circuit court.
The opinion o f the supreme court was delivered by Judge Jordan, and
the following, which contains a clear statement of the facts in the case,
is quoted therefrom:
ligence ,
It will be seen that, among others, the following facts are disclosed
by the special verdict: That on and before December 10, 1889 (being
the day on which the fatal collision occurred), the company was operat
ing and running daily, south bound, over its road, four regular trains—
two passenger and two freight—and also a like number running north.
The time o f the arrival and departure o f each of these trains at the
respective stations along the road was fixed by the appellant, and
printed in time-schedules or time-tables, and these were issued and
delivered to all o f its servants then engaged in operating said trains.
On the reverse side of these time-tables were printed rules adopted by
appellant for the direction and government of all of its servants
engaged in operating trains. That under these rules conductors and
enginemen o f all work and wild trains were required to keep the same
out of the way and off of the time o f all regular passenger and freight
trains, and in no case to occupy the main track of the road within ten
minutes o f the time o f any regular train. That by these rules the
enginemen and conductors were equally responsible for keeping off of
the time o f other trains.
The court here says in effect that the conductor and engineman of a
wild train did, on December 10, 1889, violate these rules and got on the
main track in the time of a regular train, No. 60, on which Martin
Becker was fireman, and thereby caused a collision in which Becker
was killed, and then goes on to say as follows:
That previous to this collision the appellant gave no notice to the
deceased, nor to its servants in charge of said local No. 60, o f the
whereabouts o f this work train on that morning, and that neither he
nor they had any knowledge that said train on that day was working
wild between Crawfordsville Junction and Rockville. The principal
insistence o f counsel for appellee in answer of the contention of counsel
for appellant is that, under all the circumstances, negligence resulting
in the death o f the deceased servant must be imputed to the appellant,
for the following reasons: First, in ordering the work train to work
wild between Crawfordsville Junction and Rockville, over a part of its
road which they insist, under the facts, is shown to be dangerous;
second, failure to notify Becker and the servants in charge of the train
upon which he was at work of the whereabouts of the wild train on the
morning in question, previous to the accident; third, failure to adopt a
rule requiring notice to be given to its regular trains of the whereabouts
of wild trains. These facts, in connection with the negligence of the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
219
employees in charge of the work train, they contend, constitute the
proximate cause of the fatal collision.
It may be conceded, under certain circumstances, that a railroad com
pany would be guilty of actionable negligence in ordering a train to
work wild, in the absence of notice to its servants along its line of the
fact, in the event the injury or death of the latter was due to the fail
ure, in whole or in part, to give such notice. But in the case at bar,
under the facts aud circumstances as they are shown, we are o f the
opinion that it can not be affirmed, as a legal proposition, that the death
of appellee’s decedent was due to, or resulted from, any negligence of
the appellant. The reasons for*this conclusion, we think, are obvious.
The time at which all the regular passenger or freight trains on appel
lant’s road were due to arrive at and depart from each station had been
fixed and published in printed schedules or time-tables, and these had
been delivered to all o f its servants engaged in operating its trains.
It had also adopted, and caused to be printed and delivered to such
servants, a series o f rules and regulations for their guidance and con
trol in conducting and running trains under their charge. One of these
rules expressly required of and enjoined upon conductors or others of its
employees in the charge of work and wild trains the duty to keep such
trains out o f the way of all regular passenger and freight trains, and
under no event were they to occupy the main track within ten minutes of
the time of any regular train, etc. On the morning of the accident in
question the jury find, in effect, that the conductor and engineman
in charge o f the work train which had been ordered to work wild dis
regarded, or rather neglected to discharge, their required duty in failing
to sidetrack their train at Waveland, and there remain until the arrival
and departure from station of the local freight, upon which Becker
at the time was serving as fireman j that, notwithstanding their duty
in that respect, they “ recklessly,” “ carelessly,” and negligently left
said station with their train before the arrival of local No. GO, and on
the time of the latter, without taking any precaution to prevent the
collision whereby Becker was killed.
The conclusion that the death of appellee’s decedent was wholly due
to the negligence o f the conductor and engineman in control of the work
train, in leaving with their train the station as they did, before the
arrival of No. GO, and in running on its time, can not be successfully
controverted, and is the only reasonable and legitimate conclusion
that can be deduced from the facts in the case. Appellee admits that
the employees in charge o f this work train were the fellow-servants of
the deceased. Hence, under a well-settled rule, there can be no recov
ery, as against appellant, on account of his death, resulting, as it did,
under the facts, from their negligence. It clearly appears, we think,
from the finding of the jury, that the death o f the servant in question
must be attributed solely to the negligence of his fellow-servants, and
under the facts this precludes a recovery.
It can not be said that ordering the train in question to work wild,
under the circumstances, was an act of negligence; and when, in this
connection, we consider the rules of appellant relative to the duty
required o f those in control of wild trains, the law will not authorize
us in holding that, in addition to these, it was also incumbent upon the
company to notify Becker and the other servants in control of his train
o f the fact that the train in controversy was working wild, and at what
point on the road it was, previous to the collision. This duty, under
the facts, was not required of the appellant, and its omission to give the
notice can not be said to render it guilty of negligence. It had the
220
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
riglit to presume that its servants in charge o f the work train would
discharge their duty as provided by the rules, and would keep out of
the way o f all regular trains, and not run upon the time of any of the
latter.
Employers’ Liability —Railroad Companies —Negligence of
Company’s Surgeon— York v. Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul Ry.
Co., 67 Northwestern Reporter, page 574.—This was an action brought
in the district court of Jones County, Iowa, for damages for the death
of John Graham, an engineer, who was fatally injured in a collision of
two freight trains. A verdict was rendered for the defendant, and the
plaintiff appealed the case to the supreme court of the State, which
rendered its decision May 26,1896, and affirmed the judgment of the
lower court. Damages were sought upon the ground, among others,
that the surgeon o f the railroad company, who was employed and paid
by said company to treat its injured employees, as an act of charity or
humanity, wrongfully and negligently moved Graham, against his pro
test, from the place to which he had been taken when injured to a
hotel, which act, it was claimed, contributed to produce his death.
Upon this i>oint, in its opinion, delivered by Judge Kinne, the supreme
court used the following language:
It is not claimed that Dr. Adair was not a skillful physician, or that
defendant did not exercise due care in employing him, but the claim is
made that he acted wrongfully and negligently in doing as he did.
W e understand the rule to be well settled by a large number of cases
that, under such circumstances, the defendant is not liable for acts of
negligence o f the physician who is employed to treat gratuitously its
injured employees.
Employers’ Liability —Release of Claim for D amages—
Chesapeake and Ohio Ey. Co. v. Mosby, 24 Southeastern Reporter, page
916.—Edgar W . Mosby, who was a conductor o f a freight train on the
Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, and while thus engaged was seriously
injured in a collision, brought an action for damages against the rail
road company. Pending said action he instituted a suit in the chancery
court o f Richmond, Va., to set aside a release of all claim for damages,
given by him to the railroad company, on the ground that at the time
he executed the release he was mentally incompetent. The chancellor,
after hearing the case, granted the relief asked and set the release aside.
From this action the railroad company appealed to the supreme court
o f appeals of the State, which rendered its decision April 16,1896, and
reversed the decree of the chancellor.
The opinion o f said court was delivered by Judge Harrison, and,
in the course o f the same, he used the following language:
“ The law presumes that there is in everyone capacity to contract,
and accordingly, where exemption from liability to fulfill an engage
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
221
meat is claimed by reason of the want of such capacity, this fact must
be strictly established on the part of him who claims the exemption.
Moreover, it is only in certain prescribed cases that this protection can
be claimed; and therefore weakness o f mind short of insanity or imma
turity of reason in one who has attained full age, or the mere absence
o f experience or skill upon the subject of the particular contract, affords
per se no ground for relief at law or in equity.’7 (1 Chit. Cont., 186.)
The same author from whom this general rule has been quoted states
its qualification thus: a Although weakness of intellect, short of insan
ity, in one of the contracting parties is no ground per se for invalidat
ing a contract, it may have that effect if additional facts, betraying an
intention to overreach, can be proved.” (2 Chit. Cont., p. 1050.)
This rule, with its qualification, is substantially adopted by this court
in Greer v. Greers, 9 Grat., 330. It was there said that, although the
person may labor under no legal incapacity to do a valid act or make a
contract, yet, if the whole transaction, taken together with all the facts,
mental weakness being one of them, showed that consent, the very
essence o f the act, was wanting, it would be void. Where a legal
capacity is shown to exist that the party had sufficient understanding
to clearly comprehend, that he consented freely to the special matter
about which he was engaged, and no fraud or undue influence is shown
to have been used to bring about the result, the validity of the act can
not be impeached, however unreasonable or imprudent it may seem to
others. It is not the propriety or impropriety of the act, but the
capacity to do the act freely, that must control the judgment of the
court.
These general principles are entirely applicable, and are all that yeed
be invoked in considering the case before us.
The plaintiff was very seriously injured in a collision between two
trains on the road of the defendant, he being conductor on one of
said trains. It satisfactorily appears from the evidence that about two
months after the accident the plaintiff went to the office of the super
intendent of the defendant company, and agreed upon a settlement of
his claim for damages against the company. About two months after
this agreement was made the plaintiff went to the office of the superin
tendent and collected $300 on account of this settlement and gave a
receipt therefor, which fully describes the accident and admits that his
injuries were received under circumstances exonerating the company
from responsibility. On the 22d of September, 1891, the plaintiff again
went to the office of the superintendent, and collected the remaining
$150 due under the agreement, and gave a final voucher therefor, which
is a more elaborate paper than the first, reciting that the injuries were
received under circumstances completely exonerating the company
from liability, and that the amount was received in full compromise,
satisfaction, and discharge of all his claims or causes of action, and
particularly o f all claims or causes of action arising out of personal
injuries received by him in the accident as to which the settlement had
been made.
The plaintiff admits the genuineness of his signature to both these
papers, but says that he has no recollection of signing any but the last
one for $150, and further insists that both papers should be declared
null and void, because at the time of their execution he was mentally
incompetent, and that the defendant took advantage of his incapacity
to procure them.
The evidence wholly fails to sustain this contention; on the contrary,
it shows that the plaintiff had an intelligent comprehension of his
7535—No. 9----- 8
222
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
rights in the premises. The first receipt was given four months and
the other six months after the accident* when the plaintiff had been
going about for months.
The plaintiff insists that the consideration for the settlement made
by him was totally inadequate* and that this circumstance is sufficient
to justify the court in releasing him from the contract he has made.
I f the plaintiff was at the time he signed the release competent to
appreciate and understand its nature and effect—and we have seen
that he was—and no unfair methods were used to induce him to sign it*
then it makes no difference whether the settlement was* on his part*
wise or unwise. So far as this transaction is disclosed by the record, it
is absolutely free from the suspicion of fraud, advantage, or undue
influence on the part of the defendant. There is nothing in the record
upon which to base the contention that the consideration was inad
equate, For aught that appears to the contrary it may have been a
wise contract for the plaintiff to make. There is no evidence showing
that the company was under any liability to the plaintiff, and none can
be inferred, for in a suit by an employee against a railroad company
the mere proof o f the accident raises no presumption of negligence
against the company.
The law favors the compromise and settlement of disputed claims.
It is to the interest of all that there should be an end of litigation; and
a settlement deliberately sought* as this was by the plaintiff* ought not
to be set aside except upon the most satisfactory evidence.
For the foregoing reasons the decree complained of must be reversed
and set aside, and this court will enter such decree as the court below
ought to have entered.
Employers’ Liability —Belief A ssociations— Chicago y Burling
ton and Quincy Railroad Company v. Miller, 76 Federal Reporter *page
489.—J. E. Miller brought suit iu the United States circuit court for
the district o f Colorado against the above-named railroad company to
recover damages for personal injuries sustained while in the employ of
said company. One of the defenses pleaded by the railroad company
was to the effect that Miller was a member o f a relief association,
organized by the railroad company and its employees, for the protec
tion and relief o f employees injured in the service of said company;
that when he joined said association, as a condition of his membership,
he promised and agreed in his application that, in consideration of
certain amounts which had been, and were to be, paid by said railroad
company for the maintenance of the relief association* the acceptance
of benefits from said association for injuries should operate as a release
and satisfaction o f all claims for damages against the company arising
from or out o f such injuries; and that lie had accepted and received
the benefits due him, by reason of his membership, on account of the
injury complained of by him in the suit. The plaintiff, Miller, demurred
to this pica, and the demurrer was sustained by the circuit court.
Judgment was rendered for him after trial on the remaining issues,
and the defendant company carried the case on writ of error to the
United States circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit, which
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING BABOR.
223
rendered its decision October 19,1890, and affirmed tbe judgment of
tbe lower court. Tbe opinion o f said court was delivered by Circuit
Judge Tbayer, and the following is quoted therefrom:
The chief error complained of consists in the action of the trial court
in sustaining the demurrer to the third defense which was pleaded by
the defendant company. With reference to the alleged error, it is to be
observed that it has been held in several well-considered cases that if
a railroad company organizes a relief association for the special benefit
o f its injured, sick, and disabled employees, pays the incidental expenses
of such association, acts as treasurer or custodian o f its funds, and
enters into a binding obligation to support and maintain the association
by paying out of its own funds such sums to discharge the obligations
of the association as the assessments levied upon the members of the
association are inadequate to pay, such an association, on admitting an
employee of the railroad company to membership, may lawfully stipu
late that, in the event of an injury being sustained by him, the accept
ance of benefits from the association shall operate as a relinquishment
of any right o f action which the employee may have against the rail
road company in consequence of the injury, and that the stipulation so
made inures to the benefit of the railroad company, and constitutes a
legal defense to a suit brought against it by the injured employee if the
latter accepts benefits from the association. The various courts which
have had this question under consideration appear to agree that the
stipulation in question is not opposed to sound public policy, but, on
the whole, is conducive to the well-being o f those whom it immediately
affects, inasmuch as many railroad employees, owing to the dangerous
character of their employment, are hurt without any culpable negligence
on the part o f their employer, and inasmuch as the employee retains,
until after he sustains an injury, the right to elect whether he will sue
his employer for negligence or accept benefits from the association. It
also appears to be agreed that the obligation assumed by the employer
to maintain and support such association by contributing the funds
necessary for that purpose creates a privity o f contract between the
employer and all the members of the association, and at the same time
furnishes a sufficient consideration to support such contract.
Conceding the foregoing propositions to be supported by adequate
authority, we nevertheless think that the plea filed by the defendant
below, to which the demurrer was addressed, failed to show with the
requisite certainty that the defendant had become legally obligated to
the members of the relief association to maintain that organization, and
to supply such funds as might at any time be needed by it to meet its
obligations. There is no direct allegation found in the plea that the
defendant had assumed such an obligation, the nearest approach to
such an averment being, in substance, a recital that the plaintiff had
agreed, in consideration of certain amounts which had been and were
to be paid by said company for the maintenance of the relief depart
ment, that the acceptance o f benefits from the relief department should
operate as a release of all claims for damages against the defendant
company. The plea failed to show, we think, that if the relief associa
tion was at any time short of funds to meet its obligations to a member
of the association, such member could maintain an action against the
defendant company for the amount that was due to him. The plea
further failed to show what sum o f money, if any, the defendant com
pany had theretofore contributed out of its own funds to the support of
the relief association. It also failed to show what other beneficial acts,
224
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
if any, tlie defendant company had done and performed toward the
maintenance of the association. In short, it would seem to be fairly
consistent with the averments o f the plea that the moneys thereto
fore expended by the relief association in the case o f its injured and
disabled members had not been paid out of the funds of the defendant
company, but had been paid from sums deducted from the wages of
those who were members of the association.
In a case of this character, where the contract invoked as a defense,
lies close to the line dividing agreements that are lawful from those
which are unlawful, it is proper to require the defendant to set out the
arrangement which existed between itself and its employees in the form
o f a relief department with such fullness and certainty that the court
may be able to say from an examination o f the same that the arrange
ment is fair and reasonable, and that it is neither objectionable on
grounds of public policy nor voidable for want of a valuable considera
tion. The demurrer to the third defense was properly sustained. As
the record discloses no material error, the judgment is affirmed.
Circuit Judge Caldwell, while in agreement with the other members of
the circuit court of appeals in affirming the judgment of the lower court,
yet disagreed with them in part, as his opinion, quoted below, will
show:
Assuming that contracts of this character are valid, this case is
rightly decided on the ground stated in the opinion. But such con
tracts, in so far as they attempt to release a railroad company from lia
bility for injuries inflicted on its employees through its negligence, are
without sufficient consideration, against public policy, and void, and
must ultimately be so declared by all courts.
Employers’ Liability —Street -Bail w ay Companies—Fellow Servants—Lundquist v. Duluth Street Railway Co., 67 Northwestern
Reporter, page 1006.—This action was brought in the district court of
St. Louis County, Minn., by Gust Lundquist to recover damages for
inj uries received while in the employ of the street-railway company. The
case was dismissed by the court, and from an order denying a motion
for a new trial the plaintiff appealed to the supreme court of the State,
which rendered its decision July 3,1896, and affirmed the order o f the
district court. The evidence showed that the plaintiff, with others, was
engaged in repairing the tracks on the street; that the company had
adopted a rule that the motorman of each car as it approached should
give warning to the men so employed; that the plaintiff was struck and
injured by one o f the company’s cars, and that the motorman of the
same had given no warning of its approach.
The opinion of the supreme court was delivered by Chief Justice Start,
and in the course of the same he used the following language:
Counsel for the plaintiff claims that it was the defendant’s duty to
furnish to plaintiff a reasonably safe place in which to work, and, as a
means o f making the place in question safe, it was necessary to give
him due warning of the approach of its cars, and, having made a rule
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
225
requiring the mofcorman to give such warning, his failure to do so was
the negligence o f the defendant and not of a fellow-servant.
It is true, as claimed, that it was the duty of the defendant to use
reasonable care to provide a safe place in which the plaintiff was
required to work, and that this duty, like the duty to furnish safe
machinery and proper appliances for doing the work, was an absolute
one, which the defendant could not delegate so as to be relieved from
liability in case the duty was neglected. But if the safe place or safe
machinery which the master has furnished and keeps in repair is made
unsafe by the negligence of his servants, whom he has selected with
due care, in using or operating the place or machinery, and one of his
servants is injured thereby, such negligence is that of a fellow-servant.
The plaintiff and the motorman in the case at bar were fellow-servants.
The plaintiff was injured by the negligence of the motorman in foiling
to give any signal of the approach of the car, or to slacken its speed,
as it was his .duty to do. But such duties did not appertain to the
work o f furnishing, constructing, or equipping a safe place for work,
or safe machinery for the execution of the work, but to the operation of
the street railway; hence his negligence in the premises was that of a
fellow-servant, and the plaintiff can not recover.
Employers’ Liability —Substitution by Employer —Missouri,
Kansas and Texas By. Go. v. Kerch, 36 Southwestern Reporter, page 487.—
Action was brought in the district court of Grayson County, Tex., by
F. F. Ferch to recover damages for personal injuries incurred while he
was in the employ o f the above-named railroad company. A judgment
was rendered for Ferch, and the railroad company appealed the case to
the court of civil appeals of the State, which rendered its decision May
20, 1896, and reversed the judgment of the district court.
The material facts in the case are as follows: Ferch was injured by a
pile driver crushing his hands while he was placing a ring around the
head o f a pile to keep it from splitting, which was one of his duties.
The accident was not due to negligence on his part or on the part of his
coemployees, but to defects in the pile-driving machine, which could
have been discovered and remedied by the exercise of ordinary care.
The pile-driving gang to which he belonged had been for a long time in
the employ of the railroad company; but about two months before the
accident occurred it had been ordered to report to the chief engineer of
a construction company, which was an independent contractor for the
railroad company, and it was still in the service of the construction com
pany when the injury was received. The names of the members of the
gang were carried on the rolls of the railroad company, and they were
paid with its checks, and some of the evidence seemed to show that
Ferch had no knowledge that a change had been made in original
employment and that he was in the employ of a master other than the
railroad company. There was other testimony, however, to the effect
that the members had all been notified of the change of employment
by the foreman, and the railroad company claimed that as Ferch was
226
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
not in its employ when the accident happened, but in that of its inde
pendent contractor, it could not be held liable in damages. Upon this
point the supreme court, in its opinion, which was delivered by Chief
Justice James, used the following language:
While it can not be doubted that if the machine and crew went into
the independent service of the contractor, and subject to its sole direc
tion and control, with knowledge on the part o f the crew o f the change,
appellant would be absolved from the duties that apply to the relation
o f master, still we think it equally clear that the employer can not rel
egate his employee to the service of another, under circumstances that
do not charge the employee with notice o f any change, and thereby
escape the obligations o f master. The servant can not be held to have
ceased being such where he is continued in his ordinary work, and no
knowledge is imparted to him o f any change in the relations between
him and his employer. According to the rule just mentioned, the orig
inal employer continues to sustain the relation o f master, and (without
any reference to the question o f his liability to third persons, and with
out reference to the contractor’s liability), in our opinion, it follows that
the servant may look to him for the performance o f those duties that
result from the relation of master, among which was reasonable care
in keeping safe the machinery at which he worked.
Employers’ Liability —Temporary D anger—-McCann v. Kennedy, 44 Northeastern Reporter, page 1055.—Action was brought in the
superior court o f Worcester County, Mass., by William E. McCann
against John A . Kennedy, his employer, to recover damages for per
sonal injuries. A verdict was rendered for the defendant by the direc
tion o f the court, and the plaintiff brought the case before the supreme
judicial court o f the State on exceptions. Said court Tendered its
decision October 22, 1896, and overruled the exceptions.
The opinion o f the court was delivered by Judge Holmes and con
tains a sufficient statement o f the facts in the case. It reads as follows:
This is an action for personal injuries, on the ground of negligent
superintendence. The plaintiff was at work upon a house in which the
defendant was making some changes. He went up a ladder, stepped
through a window, and then, in order to avoid a man who was working
behind it, stepped to the left upon a joist which had been sawed nearly
through for a wellhole, and fell. The plaintiff knew that the customary
way to make wellholes was to lay the joists and then cut them out,
and, so far as appears, knew where this wellhole would be. It would
seem from the plaintiff’s testimony that the joist had been cut very
recently. Another witness stated, without contradiction, that he had
cut it a moment before the accident, and had gone to get an ax to knock
the joist out. The only ground on which the plaintiff could recover is
that, while the joist remained, it was a trap, and that he ought to have
been warned. But the danger was momentary, and it would be imprac
ticable to require employers to warn their men of every such transi
tory risk when the only thing the men do not know is the precise time
when the danger will exist. Exceptions overruled.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
227
Maritime Liens—Employees on Steam D redge—Saylor et ah
v. Taylor et ah, 77 Federal Reporter, page 476.—This was a suit origi
nating in tho United States district court for the eastern district of
Yirginia with the filing of a libel against the steam dredge Morgan by
A. J. Taylor & Bro., the owners of the tug D. M. Key, to recover charges
for towage. Intervening libels were afterwards filed by S. S. Saylor
and others to recover for services rendered on board the dredge. The
district court rendered a decree in favor of the Taylors, but held that
the intervening libelants, Saylor and others, were not seamen and con
sequently not entitled to a lien for their wages. Saylor and others,
the intervening libelants, appealed from this decision to the United
States circuit court of appeals for the fourth circuit, which court
rendered its decision November 25,1890, and reversed the part of the
decision of the district court applying to the claim of Saylor and others
for wages. The opinion of the court was delivered by District Judge
Brawley, and the following is quoted therefrom:
In sustaining the libel, and decreeing priority of lien on tho pro
ceeds o f the sale of the dredge and its accompanying scows in favor
of the tug for towage, the court below has in effect decided that the
dredge was a “ vessel,” and therefore subject to a maritime lieu; other
wise it would have had no jurisdiction. I f it was a vessel, then the
intervening libelants, the engineer and hands employed upon it in doing
the work which it was engaged to do, must be considered as seamen,
and entitled to priority of payment; for the ship has from the earliest
times been recognized as the primary security for the seamen’s wages,
which take precedence over all other liens or claims upon the same
corpus.
The learned judge has decided that the dredge and scows are liable
in admiraltyfor the services rendered [by the tug], but that the laborers
employed on the dredge are not entitled to a lien for wages as seamen,
their work not being necessary to navigation. The record contains no
precise description of the dredge; but, inasmuch as the testimony
shows that she was engaged in cleaning out and deepening the chan
nels in Aquia Creek and Nomini Creek, that she had no natural powers
of propulsion by oars, sails, or steam, and was moved from Washing
ton by water to the place where she was engaged, it may be assumed
that such form and characteristics were given her as enabled her to
navigate the water and to transport from place to place the steam shovel
placed upon her, and that her occupation was to transport from place
to place such steam shovel and the engine and hands employed on her,
and to maintain them afloat in her work of deepening channels in nav
igable waters, an occupation incident to navigation. I f so, then she
falls within the definition of a “ vessel,” as given in section 3, c. 1, title 1,
of the Bevised Statutes of the United States, which is as follows:
“ The word 6vessel’ includes every description of watercraft or other
artificial contrivance used or capable of being used as a means of trans
portation on water.”
I f this craft, this movable thing capable of being transported on the
water and engaged in a work incidental to navigation in shoveling mud
and removing it by water, is a vessel, then she comes within the mari
time jurisdiction, and the persons employed on her in that work are sea
men, and the lien on the vessel for wages is correlative. Such persons
228
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
fall within the definition o f “ seamen** in section 4612 of the Bevised
S t a t u t e s , which is as follows:
“ In the construction o f this title every person having the command of
any vessel belonging to any citizen of the United States shall be deemed
to be the ‘ master* thereof, and every person (apprentices excepted) who
shall be employed or engaged to serve in any capacity on board the
same shall be deemed and taken to be a ‘ seaman,*** etc.
It is now well settled that all persons employed on a vessel to assist
in the main purpose in which she is engaged are entitled to a lien for
wages. The statute above referred to, which declares that persons
employed “ in any capacity** upon vessels shall be deemed “ seamen,**
seems conclusive upon this point. I f it be considered necessary to give
a reason for a rule supported by a great weight of authority, it would
be found in this, that a vessel and her crew are considered a unit. Each,
person aboard of her contributes according to his capacity to the suc
cess o f the enterprise in which she is engaged. I f she comes within the
maritime jurisdiction, the persons employed aboard of her come also,
with all the rights and disabilities which flow therefrom. Among those
rights, from the days of Ol^ron, are that the ship stands responsible for
the wages o f the seamen.
The decree o f the district court, in so far as it is in conflict with the
opinions herein expressed, is reversed.
M a s t e r a n d S e r v a n t — C o n t r a c t o p H i r i n g — Louisvilb and
RashvilleR. R. Co. v. Offuti, 36 Southwestern Reporter,page 181.—Action
was brought in the circuit court of Warren County, Ky., by James T.
Offutt against the railroad company above named for damages for
breach of a contract o f hiring. Judgment was rendered for Offutt,
and the railroad company appealed the case to the court o f ai>peals of
the State, which rendered its decision June 12,1896, and reversed the
judgment of the lower court. The plaintiff in the original action alleged
that he had been employed by the railroad company for a number of
years as a brakeman and freight conductor and had been discharged
for violating some of the rules of the company; that not long after and
during a strike on the road he was again employed for special duty, and
that the company contracted with him, through its agents, that after
the strike was over it would give him regular work as freight conductor,
and that said work should continue so long as the plaintiff did faithful
and honest work. The evidence showed that after the termination of
the strike, which lasted but a few days, the plaintiff was kept on the
pay roll as a freight conductor with directions to wait until a place
could be found for him; that he was paid up to the end o f August, 1890,
and that on the 26th day of September, 1890, he received formal notice
from the company that he would be allowed no more time, which was
equivalent to a discharge from the service of the company. The plain
tiff claimed pay up to the 26th day of September and damages for
breach o f the alleged contract for regular or permanent employment.
The court o f appeals held in the decision that the alleged contract of
employment was a legal one; that the plaintiff was entitled to recover
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
229
pay up to September 26, but that be was not entitled to recover dam
ages for breach of contract, as the alleged contract of employment was
such an one as could be terminated at any time by either party.
The opinion of said court was delivered by Judge Landes, and so
much of the same as bears on the points mentioned above is quoted
below:
On the former appeal, the superior court held that the contract alleged
in the petition was not illegal or against public policy ; that it was not
within the statute of frauds,* and that a discharged employee for a
fixed term, who sues and whose case is tried before the expiration of
his term o f employment, can recover damages from his employer for dis
charging him only up to the date of the trial. These are, undoubtedly,
correct principles of law, and the first and second, as stated, unques
tionably apply to this case as it appears in the record before us. W e
can conceive of no reason for holding that a contract of employment or
of service, either for a fixed term or for an indefinite time, would not
be legal, or would bo against public policy. In actual experience, such
contracts are constantly made; and, on both principle and authority,
such contracts must be held not to be within the statute of frauds, and
therefore may be made by parol. The third iiriuciple or rule is likewise
well settled. But whether it applies to this case must be determined
from this record. He [Offutt] failed either to allege or prove that he
bound himself to serve the appellant either for a definite or indefinite
time, even conceding that the appellant promised to employ him as
alleged in the petition. Upon his own showing the appellant had no
right to make him answer in damages if he failed or refused to enter
its services. It will thus be seen that the essential element of mutu
ality of obligation was omitted from the alleged contract of hiring for
the breach o f which his suit was brought.
If it be conceded that there was a contract for regular employment,
as alleged in the petition and amended petition, still the contract, as
alleged and proved, being that “ said regular work would continue so
long as this plaintiff did faithful and honest work for the defendant,”
was a contract indefinite as to time or term o f employment or service,
and was therefore subject to be terminated at any time, at the discretion
of either party to it. The inevitable conclusion is that the principle or
rule of law laid down in tlic opinion of the superior court, as to the
recovery o f damages by an employee for a fixed term, who has been dis
charged without cause by his employer, has no application to the facts
o f this case as they are presented in the record. The well-settled rule
with reference to the character of hiring that is set up in the petition
and amended petition is that when the term of service is left discretionary
with either party, or when it is not definite as to time, or when it was
for a definite time, provided both parties are satisfied, in either event
either party has the right to terminate it at any time, and no cause
therefor need be alleged or proved.
Upon the case as it is presented in the record the appellant had the
right to terminate the relation between it and the appellee at will and
without cause, and is not liable for damages for so doing. But the
appellee had and has the right to reasonable pay for the time he waited
for employment or work from the appellant up to the date on which he
received notice of discharge.
This will entitle the appellee to reasonable pay for his time to the
26th day of September, 1890, deducting what he has received therefor
from the appellant.
230
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Master and Servant —Degree of Care —Fry et ah v. Hiilan, 37
Southwestern Reporter, page 359.—Action was brought in the district
court of Bexar County, Tex., by James Hiilan against T. C. Fry and
others to recover damages for personal injuries. Hiilan, an employee
o f the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Kailway Company, was
riding, in the discharge of his duties, on the iron ladder on the side o f
a freight car which was being moved on a track in the coal yard belong
ing to Fry and others. Coal was piled so close to the track that the
ladder struck it and Hiilan was knocked off and severely injured. Upon
the above state o f facts a judgment was rendered in the district court
for the plaintiff, and the defendants appealed the case to the court o f
civil appeals of the State, which rendered its decision October 14,1896,
and reversed the judgment o f the lower court. On one point, however,
viz, the degree o f care which was imposed by the law upon the coal-yard
owners, the court decided in the* line of the plaintiff s contention, and
on this point, the court, in its opinion, Avhich was delivered by Judge
Fly, used the following language:
It is contended by appellants that the court imposed a higher degree
of care upon them than the law demands, in instructing the jury that
appellants were bound to exercise such care as an ordinarily prudent
person would have exercised under like circumstances. Their proposi
tion is : “ A trespasser or mere licensee who is injured by any dangerous
machine or contrivance on the premises of another can not recover dam
ages unless the contrivance is such that the owner may not lawfully
erect or use or when the injury is inflicted willfully, wantonly, or
through the gross negligence of the owner or occupier of the premises.”
However sound such a proposition might be under a proper state of
facts, it can not be applied in this suit, because the facts do not warrant
it. Appellee was neither a trespasser nor mere licensee. The track was
built into the yards of appellants for the evident purpose of making it
possible for the cars of the railway to enter and be unloaded there and
then be carried out. The track was built for the common interest and
mutual advantage of the railway company and appellants. The con
struction o f the railway track in the yards o f appellants carries with it
the conclusion that the railway company would use the track. It could
have been constructed for no other purpose. The testimony showed
that the engine went into the yard on the morning of the accident with
the knowledge and consent of the servant o f appellants. W e are of
the opinion that the degree of care demanded o f appellants was that
which “ an ordinarily prudent person wrould have exercised under the
circumstances.”
Master and Servant — I nterpretation of Contract of
E mployment— Graves v. Lyon Bros, and C o 68 Northwestern Reporter,
page 985.—This suit originated in justice’s court and was appealed to
the circuit court o f Wayne County, Mich. The evidence o f the plain
tiff and defendant was conflicting, but the jury by its verdict found the
facts in favor o f the truth o f the plaintiff’s statement, and judgment was
accordingly rendered for him. The defendant appealed the case to the
DECISIONS OP COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
231
supreme court o f the State, which rendered its decision November 17,
1890, and affirmed the judgment of the circuit court.
The opinion of the supreme court was delivered by Judge Grant and
contains a statement of the facts in the case. The following language
was used therein:
He [the plaintiff] sued the defendant corporation to recover a balance
claimed to be due on a contract o f hire for a year. For two years pre
vious to 1893 he had been employed by the defendant by the month.
On January 4,1893, according to his testimony, the manager of the
defendant informed him that his “ pay would have to be reduced to $600
for the year;” that he replied: “ I f that was all he could pay, he would
go on doing his work.” About the middle of March plaintiff was dis
charged. A t that time he said to the manager o f the defendant: “ You
understand you made a contract with me for $600 for the year from the
1st o f January,” and he says: “ I can’t help that; it is a case of two
against one.” Plaintiff was paid about the 1st of April, obtained other
employment at a reduced compensation, and at the close o f the year
brought this suit, and recovered the year’s compensation less what had
been paid him and what he had earned.
Defendant insists that there was no change of employment by the
month to employment by the year. W e think it a fair inference, from
plaintiff’s version o f the conversation, that the contract was for a year.
Defendant’s agent denied the conversation, and under his view it was
a hiring by the month. The court left the question to the jury, instruct
ing them to consider all the evidence in the case in determining the
question. W e find no error upon the record, and the judgment is
affirmed.
LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR ENACTED SINCE
JANUARY 1, 1896.
N E W JERSEY.
ACTS OF 1896.
Ch apter
27.— Wages preferred—In executions, etc.
(Amending an act approved March 13, 1856, page 749, revision of 1877.)
S e c t i o n 1. Section one o f the act o f which this act i3 amendatory [shall] he
amended so as to read as follows:
S e c t i o n 1. No goods, chattels or personal property whatsoever, being in this State,
and belonging to any manufacturer or other person or persons, or to any corporation,
shall be liable to be removed by virtue o f any execution, attachment or other process,
unless the party by whom or at whose suit the said execution, attachment or other
process was issued or sued out, shall first pay or cause to be paid to the operatives,
mechanics and other employees employed by such manufacturer, person or persons
or corporation, the wages then owing from such manufacturer, person, persons or
corporation to the operatives, mechanics and other employees employed by them;
Provided, The same shall not exceed two months’ wages, and in case the sum owing
as aforesaid shall exceed two months’ wages, then the said party at whose suit such
process is sued out, upon paying the said operatives, mechanics and other employees
two months’ wages, may proceed to execute his process as he might have done before
the passage o f this act; and the sheriff or other officer is hereby empowered and
required to levy and pay to the plaintiff, as well the money so paid for wages as the
money to be made by virtue o f such process.
S e c . 2. Section two o f said act [shall] bo amended so as to road as follow s:
S e c t i o n 2. I f the sheriff or other officer shall, by virtue of any execution, attach
ment or other process, remove from the possession or premises o f any person, persons
or corporation against whom such process may be issued, any goods, chattels or
personal property, without first paying to the operatives, mechanics and other
employees o f such person or persons or corporation, their wages to the amount in the
preceding section specified, such goods or chattels or personal property shall not be
sold by such sheriff or other officer so taking or removing the same, until ten days
after such removal, and then not until the plaintiff or party at whoso suit such
goods or chattels are taken as aforesaid shall, before the sale thereof, pay to the
operatives, mechanics and other employees o f such person or persons or corporation
against whom such process is issued, the wages due them at the time o f such
removal; Provided, The same shall not in any case exceed two months’ wages, and
i f more than two months’ wages is owing to such operatives, mechanics or other
employees, then the party by whom or at whose suit such execution or other process
is issued, by paying two months’ wages, may proceed to execute his process, and
sell such goods or personal property; Provided, The persons to whom such wages
may be owing shall, before the expiration o f said ten days after snch removal, give
notice to the sheriff or other officer holding such process o f the amount of wages due
and claim the same, which notice may be served by delivering the same to said
officer or leaving a copy thereof at his usual place o f abode.
Sec . 3. A ll acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act [shall] be and the
same are hereby repealed, and this act shall take effect immediately.
Approved March 9, 1896.
Chapter
179.— Payment o f wages.
S e c t i o n 1. Every manufacturing, mining or quarrying and lumbering corpora
tion, partnership, association and establishment in this State employing persons in
the business o f manufacturing, mining or quarrying, shall pay at ieast every two
weeks, in lawful money o f the United States, each and every employee engaged in
232
LABOR LAWS— NEW JERSEY— ACTS OF 1896.
233
its business, or tbeir representatives, the full amount o f wages due to such employees
up to within twelve days o f such payment; Provided, however, That if at any time o f
payment any employee shall be absent from his regular place of labor, and shall not
receive his wages through a duly authorized representative, he shall be entitled to
said payment at any time thereafter upon demand.
Se c . 2. No assignment o f future wages payable every two weeks, under the pro
visions o f this act, shall bo valid i f made to the employer or employers from whom
such wages are to become due, or to any person on behalf of such employer or
employers, or i f made or procured to bo made to any person for the purpose of
relieving such employer or employers from the obligation to pay weekly under the
provisions o f this act.
S e c . 3. It shall not be legal for any such company or establishment, or the agent
o f any such company or establishment, to enter into or make any agreement with
any employee for the payment o f the wages o f any such employee otherwise than as
provided in section one o f this act, except it be to pay such wages at shorter intervals
than every two weeks, and every agreement made in violation o f this act is hereby
declared to be null and void; And provided, That each and every one o f such em
ployees with whom any agreement, in violation o f this act, shall be made by any such
person, company, establishment or agent, shall have his or her action and right o f
action against any such partnership, association, company or establishment for the
full amount o f such wages in any court o f competent jurisdiction in this State.
Se c . 4. Any employer or employers who may violate any o f the provisions of this
act shall be guilty o f a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
two hundred dollars and not less than fifty dollars for each violation, to be paid to
the people o f the State, at the discretion o f the court; Provided, That an action for
such violation is commenced within thirty days from the date thereof.
Se c . 5. The factory inspector of this State and his deputies shall bring an action
against any employer or employers who neglect to comply with the provisions o f
this act for a period o f two weeks after having been notified in writing by said
inspector or his deputies that such action will be brought; and it is hereby made
the duty of county prosecutors o f the pleas to appear in behalf of such i>ro.ceedings
brought hereunder by the factory inspector or his deputies.
Se c . 6. When an employer or employers against whom action is brought under
this act fail to appear, after having been duly served with tho process, the default
shall be recorded, the allegations in the complaint taken to be true and judgment
rendered accordingly.
Se c . 7. When judgment is rendered upon any complaint for the violation o f any
of the provisions o f this act the court may issue a warrant of distress to compel the
payment o f the penalty prescribed by law, together with costs.
S e c . 8. The provisions o f this act shall not apply or affect any contract now exist
ing or that shall hereafter be entered into between any manufacturer or corporation
and any employee or employees or any bona fide trades union or labor organization.
S e c . 9. All acts and parts o f acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Approved April 16, 1896.
Ch a p t e r
181.—Bakeries, etc.— Inspection, hours o f tabor, etc.
Section 1. N o employee shall be required, permitted or suffered to work in a
biscuit, bread or cake bakery, or confectionery establishment more than sixty hours
in any one week, or more than ten hours in any one day, unless for the purpose of
making a shorter workday on the last day o f the week, nor more hours in any one
week than will make an average of ten hours per day for the whole number o f days
in which such person shall so work during such week; but it shall be lawful in cases of
emergency for employers to permit any employee and for the latter to work an addi
tional time not exceeding two hours per day, such extra work to be remunerated at the
current rate o f the weekly wages paid to such employee for his weekly work o f sixty
hours; no employee in any biscuit, bread or cake bakery shall be discharged by his
employer for having made any truthful statement as a witness in a court or to the
factory inspector or a deputy factory inspector, in pursuance of this act.
S e c . 2. All buildings or rooms, occupied as biscuit, bread or cake bakeries, shall
be drained and plumbed in a manner to conduce to the proper and healthful sanitary
condition thereof, and constructed with air-shafts, windows or ventilating pipes
sufficient to insure ventilation, as the factory inspector or any o f his deputies shall
direct: no cellar or basement not now occupied as a bakery shall hereafter bo occu
pied and used as a bakery, and a cellar bakery heretofore occupied, when once
closed shall not be re-opened, unless the proprietor shall have previously complied
with the provisions of this act.
Se c . 3. Every room used for tho manufacture of flour or meal food products shall
bo at least eight feet in height and shall have, if deemed necessary by tho factory
inspector, an impermeable floor, constructed of cement or of wood properly saturated
234
BULLETIN OP THE DEPARTMENT OP LABOR.
witli linseed o il; the sidewalls o f such rooms shall he plastered or wainscoted, except
where brick walls are shown, and, i f required by the factory inspector, shall be white
washed at least once in three months; the furniture and utensils in such rooms shall
be so arranged that the furniture and floor may at all times be kept in a proper and
healthful, sanitary and clean condition; no domestic animal, except cats, shall be
allowed to remain in a room used as a biscuit, bread or cake bakery, or for the storage
o f flour or meal food products.
S e c . 4. The manufactured flour or meal products shall bo kept in perfectly dry and
airy rooms, so arranged that the floors, shelves and all other facilities for storing the
same can be easily and perfectly cleaned.
Se c . 5. Every such bakery shall be provided with a proper wash-room and watercloset or closets, apart from the bake-room or rooms where the manufacturing o f such
food products is conducted; and no water-closet, earth-closet or privy shall be within
or communicate directly with the bake-room of any bakery, hotel or public restaurant.
S e c . 6 The sleeping places for the persons employed in a bakery shall bo kopt sep
arate from the room or rooms where flour or meal food products are manufactured or
stored, and the factory inspector or a deputy factory inspector may inspect such
sleeping places, i f they are on the same premises as the bakery, and order them
cleaned or changed in compliance with sanitary principles.
S ec . 7. Any person who violates any o f the provisions o f this act, or refuses to
comply with any requirement of the factory inspector or deputy factory inspector,
as provided herein, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be pun
ished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense,
and not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars for a second offense or
imprisonment for not more than ten days, and for a third offense by a fine o f not less
than two hundred and fifty dollars and not more than thirty days’ imprisonment.
Se c - 8. The factory inspector and his deputies shall inspect all bakeries and see
that the provisions o f this act are observed therein; such deputies shall have all
power and duties o f the deputy inspectors and shall be amenable to the supervision
and control o f the factory inspector; the factory inspector or a deputy factory
inspector authorized by him may issue a certificate to a person conducting a bakery
that such bakery is conducted in compliance with all the provisions o f this act.
S e c . 9. The owner, agent or lessee o f any property affected by the provisions o f
section two, three or five o f this act shall, within sixty days after the service o f a
notice requiring any alterations to be made in or upon such premises, comply there
with, and such notice shall be in writing and may bo served upon such owner, agent
or lessee, either personally or by mail, and a notice mailed to the last known address
o f such owner, agent or lessee shall be deemed sufficient for the purposes o f this act.
Approved April 16,1896.
.
C h a p t e r 185.— Insolvency
o f corporations— Wages prefaced.
S e c t i o n 83. In case o f the insolvency o f any corporation the laborers and work
men, and all persons doing labor or service o f whatever character, in the regular
employ o f such corporation, shall have a first and prior lien upon the assets thereof
for the amount of wages due to them respectively for all labor, work and services
done, performed or rendered within two months next preceding the date when pro
ceedings in insolvency shall be actually instituted and begun against such insolvent
corporation.
S e c . 84. Such lien shall be prior to all other liens that can or may be acquired upon
or against such assets, except the lien and encumbranco o f a chattel mortgage,
recorded more than two months next preceding the date when proceedings in insol
vency shall have been actually instituted against such insolvent corporation, and
except the lien and encumbrance o f a chattel mortgage recorded within two months
next preceding the date when proceedings in insolvency shall have been actually
instituted against such insolvent corporation, for money loaned or for goods pur
chased within said period o f two months; and also except as against the lien o f
mortgages given upon the lands and real estate o f such insolvent corporation.
Approved April 21,1896.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
ACTS OF 1896.
A ct N o . 84.— Payment o f wages ly contractors.
Section 1. On and after the passage o f this act it shall be the duty o f any con
tractor or contractors in the erection, alteration or repairing o f buildings in the
State o f South Carolina to pay all laborers, subcontractors and material men for their
lawful services and material furnished out o f the money received for the erection,
LABOR LAWS-----SOUTH CAROLINA-----ACTS OF 1896.
235
alteration or repairs of buildings upon which said laborers, subcontractors and
material men are employed or interested, and said laborers, as well as all subcon
tractors and persons who shall furnish material for said building, shall have a iirst
lien on the money received by said contractor or contractors for the erection, altera
tion or repair o f said buildings in proportion to the amount o f their respective claims.
Nothing herein contained shall make tho owner o f the building responsible in any
w ay: Provided, further, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
prevent any contractor or contractors or subcontractors from borrowing money on
such contract.
Sec . 2. Any contractor or contractors ot subcontractors who shall for other purposes
than paying tho money loaned upon said contract expend and on that account fail
to pay to any or all laborers, subcontractors and material men out o f the money
received, as jirovided in section 1 o f this act, and as admitted by such contractor or
contractors, or as may be adjudged by any court o f competent jurisdiction, shall bo
deemed guilty o f a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined not less than
one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment [imprisoned]
not less than three months nor more than twelve months: Provided, Said contractor
or contractors or subcontractors may have the right o f arbitration by agreement with
said laborers, subcontractors and material men.
Approved the second day of March, A, D, 1896.
RECENT GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.
[The Secretaries o f the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments have consented to
furnish statements o f all contracts ^reconstructions and repairs entered into by them.
These, as received, will appear from time to time in the Bulletin.]
The following contracts have been made by the office of the Super
vising Architect of the Treasury:
P ueblo , Oolo .—December .22,1896. Contract with J. J. Haniglien,
Omaha, Nebr., for plumbing and gas piping for post-office, $8,300.
Work to be completed within twelve months.
A l l e g h e n y , P a .—December 28,1896. Contract with W . C. Peake,
Washington, D. C., for interior finish, plumbing, and approaches for
post-office, $35,527. Work to be completed within nine months.
L y n n , M a s s .—January 9, 1897. Contract with L. L. Leach & Son,
Chicago, 111., for erection and completion o f post office, except heating
apparatus, $69,000. Work to be completed within ten months.
O m a h a , H e b r .— January 14,1897. Contract with Bernhard J. Jobst,
for interior finish of basement, first story, and all outside windows of
court-house, custom-house, and post-office, $83,598. Work to be com
pleted within eight months.
Los A n g e l e s , C a l .—February 4, 1897. Contract with John Han
lon for miscellaneous changes in and extension to court-house and postoffice, $8,380. Work to be completed within fourteen weeks.
W a s h i n g t o n , D. C.—February 4,1897. Contract with William H.
Doyle, Philadelphia, Pa., for plumbing, gas piping, etc., in post office,
$49,950. Work to be completed within six months.
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