Full text of Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, Nos. 1 - 100 : May 1907 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, No. 70, Volume XIV

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR.

BULLETIN
OF THE

BUREAU OF LABOR.




No. 70-M AY, 1907.
ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH.

W A SH IN G TO N :
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1907.




CONTENTS.
Page.

The Italian on the land: A study in immigration, by Em ily Fogg Meade . . .
A short history of labor legislation in Great Britain, b y A . Maurice Low-----The British workmen’ s compensation acts, by Launcelot Packer, B . L . . . . . .
British Workmen’ s Compensation Act of 1906 ..........................................................
Digest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics:
New York.........................................................................................................................
Ohio....................................................................................................................................
Pennsylvania..................................................................................................................
Digest of recent foreign statistical publications..........................................................
Decisions of courts affecting labor...................................................................................
Laws of various States relating to labor, enacted since January 1,1904...........
Cumulative index of labor laws and decisions relating thereto............................




in

473-533
534-578
579-638
639-652
653-658
658-660
660-664
665-708
709-759
760-782
783-788




B U L L E T IN
OF THE

BUREAU
No. 70.

OF L A B O R .

WASHINGTON.

May , 1907.

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND: A STUDY IN IMMIGRATION.
BY EMILY FOGG MEADE.

INTRODUCTION.
The present agitation for the further restriction of immigration is
especially directed against the Greeks, Poles, Austro-Hungarians, and
Italians from southern Italy and Sicily, who have been coming in
ever-increasing numbers since 1870, until in 1905 our immigrants num­
bered 1,026,499, the Italians ranking second in number with 221,479.
Gen. Francis A. Walker was one of the early opponents to the
reception of immigrants of these nationalities. He said: “ They have
none of the inherited instincts and tendencies which make it compara­
tively easy to deal with the immigration of the older times. They are
beaten men from beaten races, the worst failures in the struggle for
existence.77 Recent issues of newspapers and magazines teem with
articles on the danger of admitting these people. It is alleged that
they are underfed, ill grown, often diseased, unskilled, illiterate, qui­
escent, lacking in responsibility, with a keen sense of inferiority and
the lack of ability to take advantage of new circumstances; that their
standard of living is low, and that they do nob improve it when they
prosper; above all, that they are likely to become public charges in
hospitals, insane asylums, or almshouses. It is furthermore stated
that it is no longer the strong and independent who come, but the
weak and incompetent, for whom immigration is made easy by the
inducements offered by steamship companies. These people huddle
together in our large cities, complicating the problems of municipal
authorities.
In the earlier days the “ digging77— the rough wTork distasteful to
Americans— was done by Germans. As the Germans moved up in the
scale of living they were succeeded by the Irish, and they in turn by
Poles and Hungarians, and the latter finally by the Italians. The




473

474

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Italians have been especially stigmatized by tlie nature of their work.
Americans regard them only as dirty, undersized foreigners, who
trundle hand organs, tend fruit stands, sweep the streets, or work in
mines, in tunnels, on railroads, or in construction work. The news­
papers are full of lurid tales of fights in which the stiletto is in evidence,
of cowardly stabbing in the back, of organized gangs of Italian crimi­
nals, and there is frequently an expression of doubt as to whether the
Italians can rise in the social scale as the immigrants of other nation­
alities have done. In the meantime the demand for rough and heavy
work increases, and the Italians come in large numbers, settling in the
seaboard cities, where they are often without work in the winter time.
Only within the last few years has anyone had a good word to say for
them. The salient points of the different articles on the subject of
Italian immigration have been recently summarized in “ The Italian in
America.” (a) The southern Italians constitute a simple peasant class,
who live in extreme poverty and give the largest portion of what they
produce to taxes, rent, and tithes. They are hard-working farmers,
whose efforts have met with meager returns; they look toward
America as the “ land of the dollar,” and in their desire to make money
mortgage their little properties, their five stock, and their tools at
high rates of interest to get money enough to send a father or son to
New York. Explanation of their crowding into the large cities is
very simple. These people do not come from isolated farms but from
crowded villages; they are naturally gregarious and seek their own
people who can speak their language. They are ignorant of our
farming conditions; the years of unremunerative toil in Italy often
make them dislike farming, and then, too, they have no money with
which to locate in the South or West. In New York or other cities
they find work and friends, and as a result their training in agriculture
goes for nothing, and they are counted as the lowest kind of unskilled
laborers.
Americans generally, unfamiliar with the underlying causes of the
congestion of Italians in large cities, believe them to be unfit for farm
life. In 1896 a Government commissioner requested the officials of
the different States to express their wishes in regard to immigration.
Only two States desired Italians. The various State immigration
officers in the South show a similar prejudice even now. Evidence
is abundant that the Italians in our large cities, in spite of the dan­
gerous influence of the slums, are advancing socially and are becoming
Americanized. Nevertheless, the menace of congested conditions,
the continuous physical deterioration of these people in cities, and
the need of developing large areas of southern lands would seem to
be reasons for trying to direct this immigration to that section of the
country.




a Eliot Lord, New York, 1905.

THE ITALIAN OX THE LAND*

475

As a contribution to the growing movement to attract immigration
to the land, a minute study has been made of the economic, social,
and moral condition of the Italians of a typical rural settlement, in
order to show what the southern Italian— the lowest class of immi­
grant— can do to advance himself in the midst of an American farming
community, and to answer the question, Can the Italian immigrant
become a good American? The town of •Hammonton, in Atlantic
County, N. J., has been selected for the investigation, because the
increase of the Italian population in that section has been natural;
it has not been stimulated or assisted in any way by Americans, and
the immigrant has been thrown upon his own resources and has been
left to follow his own bent. Other significant features of the Ham­
monton settlement are as follows: (1) The immigration has in no way
been stimulated except by the Italian farmers themselves; (2) the
large number of permanent residents; (3) the annual migration of
city Italians to Hammonton during the picking season, which keeps
Hammonton Italians in close touch with their fellow-countrymen
and diffuses a knowledge of the colony among Italians in Philadelphia
and New York, and (4) the Italian farmers with few exceptions come
from southern Italy and from Sicify. Hammonton, in other words,
is one of a very few Italian settlements in the United States where an
American and an Italian population have grown up together, moved
by the same impulses to come fo the town, following the same occu­
pations, and living side by side as neighbors. In Hammonton are
found the results of twenty years’ contact of a typical American
population with the lowest class of Sicilian immigrants. It is a
safe conclusion that what the Italian has been able to accomplish in
Hammonton he can achieve elsewhere under similar circumstances.
THE COMING OF THE ITALIANS.
It has been more than thirty years since Italians first came to
Hammonton, and sufficient time has elapsed for a second generation
to grow up and to demonstrate what kind of an American citizen can
be made out of an Italian born and reared in the country and asso­
ciated with Americans as neighbors, in school, or in business. The
Italian pioneers came to southern New Jersey for the same reasons
that settlers came from New York and New England. They were
looking for homes not too far from the seaboard, where the climate
was congenial and the land cheap. Southern New Jersey was new
territory. Up to 1850 the pine barrens were looked upon as waste
land, and they were indeed barren from the standpoint of the dairy­
man or the grain grower. The climate and the forests, however,
attracted a few settlers prior to 1860, when the land was first offered
for sale. The civil war stimulated a demand for fruits and vegetables,




476

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

for which the sandy soil is specially adapted, and after 1865 the
opening of wholesale markets in the large cities made fruit growing a
profitable industry. In spite of this inducement the development of
southern New Jersey has been comparatively slow, for great labor and
expense have been required to clear the land, the appearance of the
soil is unpromising, and immigrants who were attracted to farming
have preferred the more fertile western lands. If it had not been for
the Italian settlers the vicinity of Hammonton might still be a wilder­
ness. The Italians have picked the berries for market; they have
cleared the land and prepared it for cultivation; they have saved
their earnings from their labor on the land or on the railroads and
bought the farms of retiring owners whose sons had gone to the city
or farther west. What the SwTedes and Germans have been to Illinois,
Iowa, and Minnesota these Italian farmers have been to Hammonton,
one of the most attractive spots in the pine region of southern New
Jersey.
How this Italian community arose can best be told in the brief
biographies of some of the pioneers. Probably the first Italians to
come to Hammonton were the La Grassos, a family of musicians,
who settled in a section now largely built up by Italians. Soon after
Matteo Calabrase, who was born in Palermo and was a gardener by
trade, came to Hammonton after working in a nursery in Flushing,
N. Y . He and La Grasso worked together on farms, and it is of inter­
est to know that when the war broke out they joined a regiment in
which were many Italians. Wlien Calabrase returned to Hammonton
he bought 10 acres of land and soon after married a German girl.
His taste and training led him to improve his place by planting fine
trees, a hedge, bushes, and flowers; shade trees were planted in front
of all his land, and he frequently worked for others, laying out their
places. Later he added 50 acres to his farm and built a substantial
stone house, such as he had been accustomed to in Italy. He wras a
Mason and a member of the Grand Army, and was on friendly terms
with many Americans.
Isaac Nicolai and Michael Rubertone were attracted by the country
environment. The former was a northern Italian, who came to this
country from Tuscany in 1859 and first settled in San Francisco.
When in Philadelphia in 1861 he met Judge Byrnes, one of the
founders of Hammonton, who induced him to buy land there. Mr.
Nicolai wras a man of superior intelligence, and his son has become a
substantial citizen. Michael Rubertone with his four sons left
Pastena, near Naples, in 1877, wandered with their violins through
France, and finally reached Liverpool, whence they sailed to New
York. At the suggestion of Mr. Nicolai that a home in the country
would be better for his children, Mr. Rubertone bought 20 acres of
forest land in Hammonton, and he now owns 80 acres of ground.




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

477

John Berri was something of a wanderer, who came early to the
United States and married an Italian woman who had spent most
of her life in St. Louis. He bought 10 acres in Hammonton and
employed several Italians, but did not remain many years. His son
married an American and has accumulated considerable property.
Up to the coming of the two Campanella brothers only a few
Italians had settled in Hammonton. The Campanellas were the
forerunners of a direct immigration. In 1866 Matteo Campanella, a
native of Gesso, in Sicily, ran away from home to avoid military
service and hid for seven months in Messina, finally escaping to the
United States. For about a year he worked for Germans on a farm
at Trappe, Pa. He heard of Mr. Berri, came to Hammonton to
work for him, and purchased 5 acres and a small house near Mr.
Calabrase. About 1870 he sent for his brother, and the two pros­
pered, purchased more land, and married two English girls. The
Campanellas soon encouraged the coming of relatives, who in turn
induced others to come, until, as a result of a continuous migration
from Gesso, more than one-half the inhabitants of that town are in
the United States, many of them still in Hammonton.
Usually the father, and occasionally a son, came first to earn the
money needed to bring the wife and children, all of whom in turn
assisted uncles, aunts, and cousins to come later. Peter Raneri,
an uncle of Mr. Campanella, came direct from Gesso and at his death
in 1895 had been in Hammonton twentyrone years. He worked on
the farm of Mr. Scott, a well-known writer on oriental topics. When
Mr. Scott left, he said he would be willing to leave his place in charge
of Mr. Raneri, as he was the most honest man he knew. Mr. Raneri
finally bought the farm and established upon it a macaroni factory.
At his death the place (20 acres) and factory were valued at $12,000.
His other holdings amounted to 180 acres. Antonio Capelli, a cousin
of the Campanellas, came to Hammonton about 1870, contracted for
large tracts of land, and was instrumental in bringing over consider­
able numbers of his native townsmen to work for him at low wages.
One year he is said to have made $9,000. However, he was indicted
for importing contract laborers and suffered financial ruin when the
price of berries fell. These early comers were Sicilians, scorned by
natives of the mainland as a “ little black people— not Italians.”
Thomas Tell (originally Dominico Tonsola) is the leader of the
Neapolitan element, “ the real Italians,” as they style themselves,
who have settled in a different part of the town from the Sicilians.
He came from a small town, Casalvelino, near Naples. Finding no
work in Philadelphia, he journeyed to Hammonton more than
thirty years ago to work for an Italian on the place which he now
owns. He was to work for $50 a year and his board, a sample of
the hard bargains sometimes made with newcomers by their own



478

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

countrymen. Afterwards Tell worked for Americans, within a few
years he purchased 10 acres of cleared land for $500, and he now
owns 150 acres of land. He is also a successful ice dealer. He has
been instrumental in bringing the Neapolitan element to Hamm on ton. Biazzo Crescenzo came to America in 1872 from Casalvelino.
He went from New York to Michigan. At a later date, when
employed in a Philadelphia fruit house, he lent some money to Mr.
Capelli in Hammonton and became interested in wine making. He
came to Hammonton about eighteen years ago and four years after
his arrival bought 30 acres for $750, which he sold, after develop­
ment, for $2,500; 20 acres for $1,400 and 10 acres for $1,000 were
later purchased. Joseph Esposito also 'came to the United States
in 1872 from Casalvelino. He engaged in the fruit, crockery, and
finally in a hotel business in Philadelphia. One year he picked
berries in Hammonton; later he became interested in Hammonton
and bought a good farm for $5,000.
Angelo Foglietti came from Monteroduni, near Naples, to Phila­
delphia in 1875 with but 50 cents in his pocket. He found work in
plowing preparatory to putting up buildings for the Centennial
Exposition, and when that work gave out came to Hammonton to
pick cranberries. Only a few Italians were employed at that time.
Mr. Berri, who had gone surety for a neighboring Italian on a feed
store bill, induced Foglietti to take the man’s farm, 18f acres, and
cancel the debt. He paid.$30 an acre for the land, upon which there
was a log cabin. As he had only his money from the cranberry pick­
ing to. start with (about $50) he had to make money out of the land
and by* working on the railroad. This land, with a better house,
recently sold for $1,500. Before his death Mr. Foglietti owned 90
acres.
The manner of Mr. Foglietti’s coming to Hammonton illustrates
a third cause by which the Italian population has been increased.
The clearing of land and making of farms was done by the permanent
residents, but at an early date (before 1877) the supply of natives
and Germans was found inadequate to pick the berries for market,
and Italians who had previously ^settled in cities were obtained from
padrones in Philadelphia. Some of them came year after year, realized
the opportunity to buy cheap land, and remained to make homes.
In one case a young Italian, who came over when a boy and had
worked largely on railroads, bought some land from his employer.
After a few years he returned, cleared the land, and enlarged his
holdings. The largest number of Italians came from 1885 to 1890;
however, some came every year. On June 5,1905, for instance, two
men, 25 and 30 years old, came to join a brother, and a son of 18
joined his father. A larger party was expected, but when they landed
in New York work was plentiful there, and they came no farther.



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

479

At first the Americans were suspicious of the Italians, some of
whom were very poor and strongly tempted to pilfer from gardens.
Cabbages, potatoes, and other vegetables often disappeared, but as
the people prospered the tendency to petty thievery decreased. All
things considered, the Italians have been found to be good citizens,
and their presence has proved an obstacle to the increase of negro
labor. The Americans early learned the value of the Italian as a
laborer, and that in some cases he became an excellent farmer. Not
only did he clear much wild land for Americans, but he purchased
and cleared many acres for himself, thereby adding materially to the
cultivated area of the town. In fact, the Italians cleared all the
southwestern part of the town of pine growth and erected many
houses in that section. They came at a time when the Americans
were leaving the farms, when labor was growing scarce, and when the
development of the pine lands was in a critical condition.
From 1880 to 1895 many old residents either died or retired, and
as their sons were gone the farms were bought by Italians. A few
examples are suggestive: (1) A resident in 1885 sold his outlying farm
of 30 acres, one of the best near Hammonton, to one of the early
comers among the Italians for $5,000 cash and bought a house in town
and 150 acres of wild land 3 miles from town. After he had brought
this land under cultivation he sold the most of it in 1904 to other
Italians, one of whom had been working as a laborer on the place.
(2) An Englishman came to Hammonton in 1857 and cleared 10 acres
of land. Just before his death he sold it to an Italian for $1,600,
mostly cash. (3) In 1897 an Italian bought 10 acres of land for
$1,000 from a man who came in 1865, cleared his land, but did not suc­
ceed. The property is now worth $2,500, and the Italian purchaser
has added 16 acres to his farm. (4) Forty-two years ago a tract of
32 acres was bought for about $550 and afterwards sold to an Amer­
ican for $3,200 when the land was partly cleared. The land was
again resold, and is now in the hands of several Italians. (5) The
sons of an early comer left him, and his land, although well manured,
was in bad shape and unproductive. A poor Italian bought it for
$1,400, a low price. He worked hard, clearing the place of weeds,
and paid for it the first year from his crop receipts.
From these typical examples the natural growth of the Italian
community in Hammonton is evident. There has been no stimula­
tion or assistance from Americans. Friends have helped friends, one
Italian has assisted another, and the immigrant has known that on
reaching Hammonton a place would be ready for him, because he
would locate among his kindred and his old neighbors. In this way
have the foreign populations of the cities been built up in the United
States. In the same way must the American rural community
attract the immigrant. Immigration of Italians en masse to southern
and western farms will be very difficult to promote, because there as
elsewhere family connections with Italy must first be established.



480

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

IIAMMONTON

THE

SEAT OF A
COMMUNITY.

TYPICAL

ITALIAN

According to the State census of 1885 Hammonton had a popula­
tion of 2,525, and according to the Federal census of 1890 it had
increased to 3,833. The State census of 1895 showed a falling off to
3,428, but that of 1905 registers a marked increase to 4,334. The
State census of 1895 showed that in Atlantic County there were 16
Irish, 71 German, and 694 other foreign born persons (335 male and
359 female), the majority of the latter probably being Italians. Ac­
cording to the census of 1905 Atlantic County contained 3,102 per­
sons born in Italy, and of these only 886 were in Atlantic City, the
remainder, or 2,216, being scattered about in the county. The fol­
lowing nationalities were enumerated for Hammonton:
NUMBER AND PER CENT OF IIAMMONTON POPULATION OF EACH N A T IV IT Y , 1905.
Nativity.

' Number. Per cent.

American..
English___
Irish..........
German___
Italian____
Other........

2,8/5
6G
36
62
1,223
72

66.4
1.5
.8
1.4
28.2
1.7

Total

4,334

100.0

Included in the 2,875 persons of American birth are all the children
of Italian parentage born in the United States and living in Hammon­
ton at the time the census was taken. The school census shows 677
such children of school age, including some children born in Italy;
but these figures are incomplete. It is probable that there are at least
700 persons of Italian parentage in Hammonton. The results of this
census are of interest, showing not only the large proportion of Italians
in the community, but also their preponderance in an otherwise
American town, a contrast to the mixture of races found in cities.
The largest colony of Italians in southern New Jersey is located in and
about Hammonton. When any reference is made to Italian farmers
in New Jersey, Vineland, because of its distinguished founder, is
usually mentioned. The colony at Vineland is not considered in this
article, because it was founded by an Italian leader without any
initiative on the part of the farmers. At the last State census only
475 persons of Italian nativity were found in Vineland.
The southern portion of New Jersey is of recent geological forma­
tion. The country is flat, more than one-half of Atlantic County and
much of Cumberland County being only 50 feet above the sea level;
the pine-clad plains are well watered, sufficiently undulating to allow
for drainage, and end to the eastward in a tidal marsh; the rivers




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

481

are generally bordered by cedar swamps. An unbroken pine forest
originally covered the region, and one of the greatest difficulties in
opening up the country was occasioned by the large amount of clear­
ing required. The trees and underbrush had to be cut down and the
stumps dug out, while ditching and drainage of swamps were often
necessary. The average cost for clearing was from $10 to $35 an
acre, but one resident of Vineland stated that it had cost him $65 an
acre. When this land is once cleared and the peculiarities of the soil
are understood farming is comparatively easy. The following descrip­
tion of these lands is given in the first report of the State geologist in
1888:
Occupying the higher parts of the western and all of the eastern
slope south from Long Branch is the extensive region known as the
Pines, the wildest and most undeveloped portion of the State. In
shape it is triangular, beginning in a point at Long Branch and widen­
ing to 50 miles at Delaware Bay, within a length of 96 miles. Part
of this region has the desolation of a wilderness. From Manchester
southward to the Mullica River is one of the wildest, most desolate
portions of the State. If we except the clearings on the shore road
and along the main border, not more than 2 per cent of this area is
under cultivation. Here and there narrow roads, barely wide enough
for a single vehicle to pass clear of the trees, thread their lonely way
from clearing to clearing. Some of them are merely kept as traditions.
They are relics of a time when the manufacture of iron from bog ore
found in the swamps was an important industry of the region. These
roads were then important highways. Now they scarcely retain a
reason for existence. Here and there one comes upon abandoned
forge sites, or still more suggestive, abandoned villages, the relics of
unsuccessful ventures in glass manufacture in the heart of the wilder­
ness. An indescribable speaking silence prevails. The sighing of the
wind through the pines saddens and oppresses, and the crowing of a
cock or barking of a dog, which indicates that we approach a clearing
and human habitation, come to be most welcome sounds. Still
deeper is the gloom of the dark green cedar swamps, often growing so
close that the very trunks of the tall, straight trees limit vision to a
few yards. The light of the sun scarce penetrates to the earth at all.
The above is the description given of the country which is being
redeemed with the help of the Italians.
The soil “ varies with elevation, the high parts being gravelly, the
intermediate sandy, and the lower parts a sandy loam. The last is
most fertile, being alluvial in origin.” In general the soil is a coarse,
loose, white sand with a porous subsoil. Patches of better soil, made
up of gravel, sand, and loam, are found here and there, and form part
of the cultivated portion. The Jersey pitch pine occupies the poor
soil, while the leaf pine and hard woods indicate the better soil.
To make this soil productive two things are necessary, moisture and
fertilizer; its loose, sandy, porous character makes valuable anything
which prevents the drying out of the surface. Forest fires are very




482

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

disastrous for the wild land. Careful and frequent cultivation, as
well as the planting of cow peas, clover, or similar crops that add
humus improve the land. The sand contains “ little plant food, but
it is an excellent medium through which to convert the elements of
plant food into condition fit for plants/7 Manure, if continuously
applied, improves the soil, but fertilizers must be renewed every year..
The census of 1870 showed that Landis, in Cumberland County, was
the next but one in rank to the most productive township of the
United States in agricultural and horticultural values.
Fruit and vegetables are the principal products of this region.
Berries flourish on the newly cleared land. Raspberries require
fertilizer, but strawberries and blackberries are especially adapted
to the virgin soil. The strawberry requires low lands that retain
their moisture, and large berries are found in the district south of
Hammonton. Cranberry bogs are scattered over the pine region;
grapes, pears, peaches, apples, and plums grow well, and melons are
of a rich flavor. The State of New Jersey is famous for its sweet
potatoes, to which the sandy soil is especially adapted. In this sec­
tion a fine variety is produced, the production ranging from 200
to 300 bushels per acre and occasionally amounting to as high as 450
bushels per acre. This variety commands a price 30 per cent above
the quotation for sweet potatoes from other parts of New Jersey, and
double the price of the Virginia and Delaware product. The soil is
not so well suited to white potatoes, but the better grades of land
yield fair returns. Vegetables can be grown successfully if sufficient
fertilizer is used.
Much has been said of the climate of this region, old residents
stating that plowing was often carried on all winter. In recent years
the winters have been more severe, and at all times the region is sub­
ject to sudden changes in temperature. The absorbent character of
the sandy soil leaves the air dry and wholesome. Malaria and similar
diseases, often incident to newly opened lands, are unknown. The
sea air passing over the pines is modified, retaining its bracing char­
acter and containing certain dry qualities that make it beneficial for
lung and throat diseases. This section is also desirable for winter
residence, the advantages of Lakewood, in the northern part, being
already well known.
The forests and the salubrity of the climate were two of the original
attractions of this region, some of the early settlers coming to cut the
trees for lumber; while others, who required a mild climate, sought
health among the pines. At an early date a German colony was
founded at Folsom, about 3 miles from Hammonton. As early as
1844 the antiforeign riots in Philadelphia drove a number of Germans
to the new land where they lived and worked in the mills of W ey­
mouth. Another German colony was established at Egg Harbor by




483

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

Doctor Smalley. An impetus to the settlement of Hammonton was
supplied by the purchase in 1856 of large tracts of land by Richard J.
Byrnes and Charles K. Latidis, and by the building in the same year
of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Advertisements were inserted
in newspapers; a paper was published and sent to prospective settlers;
agents were also sent out, and a lecturer was employed to tour Maine.
Over $100,000 was spent in advertising, and about 1857 settlers from
New York and New England, with a few English, German, and Irish
immigrants began to arrive.
The first comers engaged in raising wheat, com , and other grains,
as well as vegetables, but they found that this did not pay. The
following figures show the continual decrease in the growth of wheat
and corn:
PRODUCTION OF W HEAT AND CORN IN ATLANTIC AND CUMBERLAND COUNTIES
1879 AND 1889.
Atlantic County.
Year.

1879......................................................................................
1889.....................................................................................

Wheat
(bushels).

Com
(bushels).

10,519 I
1,152 i

i

98,173
63,970

Cumberland County.
Wheat 1
Com
(bushels), j (bushels).

i

157,952 1
117,037 |

002,546
491,590

The opening of the civil war brought discouragement to the settle­
ment at Hammonton, but it was the war which created the demand
for fruit that made Hammonton’s development possible. In 1861
the first patch of strawberries was planted for market. These straw­
berries were carefully picked, each berry being dusted with a brush,
and they sometimes brought $1 a quart. One soldier’s wife, while
her husband was at the front, netted $1,000 on 4 acres. After the war
many of the homeward-bound soldiers passing through Hammonton
thought so favorably of its fruit-growing possibilities that they
returned to make it their home. By 1866 there were 1,422 inhabit­
ants, with 2,031 acres under cultivation— 304 in strawberries, 212 in
blackberries, 40 in cranberries, while 53,000 grape vines, 23,906 pear
trees, 829 plum trees, and 53,767 cherry trees had been planted. On
one day in 1865 70,000 quarts of strawberries were shipped to market.
Blackberries* were found to be the best paying crop, and large areas of
land were planted, the fruit selling for 30 cents a box. The town grew
rapidly from 1880 to 1890. The narrow-gauge railroad of the Camden
and Atlantic system was replaced by double tracks, and the West
Jersey and Seashore Railroad further increased the transportation
facilities. Atlantic City furnished a market for fruit and vegetables,
and markets were also found not only in New York and Philadelphia,
but in Boston, Providence, and Pittsburg. This was the period when
Italians came in the largest numbers, both as pickers and permanent
settlers.




484

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.

Southern New Jersey was advertised to some extent by the State
authorities. As early as 1882-83 the report of the State board of
agriculture contained the following: “ Even our lands known as the
Pines, which in years gone by were regarded as barren and compara­
tively worthless except for growing timber, are well suited and
adapted for growing fruit and vegetables, and possess a value far
beyond that computed by the present owners.” The geological
survey of 1888 states that the development of the pine lands has
brought some 20,000 people into the State since 1860. B y 1890 the
State board of agriculture congratulated itself that the governor’s
message and their own efforts had aided in attracting immigration
to the pine lands. This migration from other States has been very
important for southern New Jersey. The infusion of a population
of vigorous New Englanders, New Yorkers, Germans, and English
has strengthened the character of the people; it has given to Hammonton a type of population which, in western towns, is considered highly
advantageous. For the past twenty years the State board of agri­
culture, by means of its various organs, has emphasized the desira­
bility of the cheap lands, fertile and easily tilled soil, transportation
facilities, nearness to market, and lack of isolation of New Jersey
farms. This has been necessary because of the agricultural trans­
formation in the Eastern States as the result of the superiority of the
Western States in competition for grain production, and New Jersey
has changed from the production of grain to raising vegetables, grow­
ing fruit, and dairying.
Market gardening requires (1) more indi­
vidual and harder labor, (2) makes smaller farms possible, and (3)
eventually requires more scientific training for the farmer. More­
over, oil account of the development of the new grain lands of the
West and the growing attractions of city life, the sons of farmers were
not inclined to remain at home, for Jersey farm lands were not in
demand and farm labor was scarce.
The competition of southern fruit growers put an end to the high
prices received for strawberries and early vegetables. Blackberries
became the crop for which Hammonton was famous; much land was
cleared and the business was soon overdone. However, this excessive
planting meant the exploitation of new land, similar to the methods
of planting tobacco in the South before the war. In the later nineties
the price of berries fell to 3 or 4 cents a quart; in 1896 it was 2 cents,
and it did not pay to pick the fruit. There followed a period when
the old Wilson blackberry was attacked by pests and could not be
grown profitably, and a number of farmers were ruined. Some saved
themselves by hard labor, replanting with dewberries and raspber­
ries, but a few Italians, who had overloaded themselves with land,
became insolvent, and large tracts were left uncultivated. To-day
the old blackberry fields are seen with straggling bushes, occasionally




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

485

bearing fruit, and with weeds ard even young trees growing up
among them, showing that the fields have been long neglected. The
New Jersey Handbook for 1901 estimated the acreage in the produc­
tion of fruits as follows: Twenty-seven thousand acres in blackberries;
900 in strawberries; 800 in raspberries; 400 in grapes; 200 in pears,
and 300 in cranberries; in addition there were gathered 3,000,000
quarts of huckleberries, which grow wild where the land is not too
heavily timbered.
It is evident from what has been said that in the early days almost
anyone could grow berries in Hammonton. Those days are over.
Strawberries must now compete with those grown in the South; the
growing of blackberries has met with disaster; the production of
raspberries may be overdone at any time; fruits of all kinds are
attacked with pests, and in order to get the best results spraying and
great care are required. The advance in all lines of business for
small producers has been in the improvement of quality. This is
especially true of the farmer in southern New Jersey, and leads him.
to intensive farming. This means that an acre of land must be so*
carefully cultivated that it will bear superior strawberries, which will
escape all pests and bring large returns. Also it means a careful
study of the uneven soils to see for what they are best adapted, and
then to make the product grown the best of its kind. In the case of
fruit trees, each individual tree requires cultivation, search for borers,
San Jos6 scale, or other pests, as well as constant study and attention.
As stated by a successful farmer, a good peach crop is not dependent
upon the number of trees, but upon what each individual tree cam
bear, and this is also true of all fruit-bearing plants.
Some Americans have failed, others have given up, and many do>
not yet grasp the situation but continue in the old ways, hoping for
an easy solution of the problem. Scientific farming requires intelli­
gence and hard, patient, constant labor. The Italian has shown him­
self to be a good laborer, and up to the present has been measurably
successful, but it remains to be seen whether he will develop the intel­
ligence required to meet new conditions.
THE ITALIANS AS FRU IT GROWERS AND FARMERS.
The average size of farms in Hammonton is 20 acres. The average
Italian farm in the same locality is about 14.6 acres. A man working
alone can not till more than from twenty to thirty acres of this land.
In 1905, 288 Italians, owning 4,226 acres, had land divided in the fol­
lowing proportions: Eighty-eight farms of from one to two acres; 38,.
two to five acres; 39, five to ten acres; 50, ten to twenty acres; 54,.
twenty to fifty acres; 16, fifty to one hundred acres, and 3, one hun­
dred to one hundred and fifty acres. The Italian usually wants 5
304b—No. 70—07-----?



486

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

acres, and these small holdings afford a good living when supple,
mented by outside work at the brickyards or on the railroad. The
majority of Italians in Hammonton own about as much land as can
be cultivated by themselves and their families.
The Italian has but one idea of the possibilities of a farm, the culti­
vation of “ berries and grapes.” Fine strawberries are raised, and in
the weekly paper several Italians advertise new plants for sale.
While many blackberries are grown, new varieties of dewberries are
taking the place of the old ones. Raspberries are a favorite crop
with the Italian farmers, who came at a time when this fruit was
being largely introduced. Berries form the principal crop, but sweet
potatoes and white potatoes are also grown for market where the soil
is suitable. Grapes are an Italian specialty, and every farm, no
matter how small, has a vineyard. Italians seemingly can make
grapes grow on any soil. The grapes are used mainly in making a sour
wine, which is sold in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Only a few of the
large land owners among the Italians have orchards. They have not
given much attention to scientific fruit culture, and spraying and
other expensive methods are little used. The younger generation,
however, is planting peach, pear, and apple trees. Vegetables are
grown largely for the family’s own use, but some of the more success­
ful farmers supply the markets with potatoes, watermelons, peppers,
and tomatoes, and during the berry season the children peddle the
freshly picked berries about the town.
The vegetables grown by Italians are sweet and white potatoes,
cabbage, turnips, com , peas, beans, carrots, onions, parsnips, melons,
squashes, pumpkins, peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. Beans, toma­
toes, and peppers are grown in the largest quantities. Italians have
popularized the sweet pepper and introduced other vegetables, such
as a peculiar shaped squash, okra, Italian greens, and various kinds of
mint; they also have engaged in the cultivation of such other vege­
tables as celery and asparagus. As soon as an Italian can save a
sufficient amount of money he buys a horse. Until then he relies
upon a wheelbarrow to carry his berries to market. Cows are seldom
kept, as the pine region does not furnish good fodder and purchased
food is expensive. A goat is frequently the source of the milk supply.
Nearly every Italian keeps a pig and chickens for his own use, and
takes excellent care of them, buying large quantities of feed.
The significant features in the Italian’s cultivation of the soil are his
primitive methods, his economy, and his imitativeness. When the
Italian comes to this country he is familiar with the mattock and the
hoe only, the first comers tilling large fields of com with the hoe.
Their patient, constant labor, especially the labor of the women,
makes the use of this implement very effective, and in times of drought
the pulverizing of the soil saves many gardens. It is highly important




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

487

that berries and vegetables should be kept free from the weeds which
multiply rapidly in the sandy soil, and the Italian’s method of pulling
up weeds by hand is conspicuously successful. In scattering manure
from wheelbarrows women and boys are seen using their bare hands.
The men are often awkward and unintelligent; for instance, when the
chips were to be removed from a piece of ground near a wood pile, an
Italian attempted to do it with his hands; leaves are carried some dis­
tance on a fork, and a laborer frequently retraces his steps for water
or supplies instead of carrying at once the required quantity. The
older people are slow to learn and persist in their accustomed
methods in spite of protest. Their planting is frequently done at
certain phases of the moon. Many mistakes are made from lack of
knowledge of the English language.
The Italian’s economy is noticeable everywhere. They collect
leaves from the public streets for bedding for their animals, or beg the
underbrush from places that are being cleared to use in their beehive
ovens. They are extremely reluctant to trim fruit trees, and nowhere
is the Italian’s economy more apparent than in the appearance of his
garden. Every inch of ground is utilized, and a great deal is crowded
into a small space; if there is an orchard, tomatoes, beans, or potatoes
are planted between the trees, and small vegetables are planted
between large vegetables and berries. The ground is often utilized
for two or three crops, and green peas and onions or early cabbage and
kale may be followed by sweet com and tomatoes. The front yard,
ordinarily used by Americans for flowers and lawn, is planted with
grapes, berries, and vegetables. The character of this economy
is noticeable in the purchase of fertilizer, the use of fertilizer being
very important for this soil. Where the farm produces an inadequate
supply of manure the farmer must buy prepared fertilizer. At first
the Italians were slow to purchase fertilizing material, and in their
efforts to economize they were often cheated. Finding, however,
that good results require artificial fertilizers, they have become heavy
buyers, but as yet not always intelligent buyers. A number of Ital­
ians have attended farmers’ institute meetings, and at these meetings
or in watching their neighbors they have learned the value of rotating
crops, growing cow peas and red clover for fertilizing the soil, and thus
making possible the use of cheaper commercial fertilizers.
The more successful Italian farmers are careful to pattern after the
best American farmers. In one case, an Italian after buying a farm
looked carefully over the farm of a prosperous German and talked
over methods with him.
The cultivation of berries is comparatively simple. The care of
strawberries requires transplanting, cultivating, weeding, and some­
times covering in winter. Raspberries and blackberries must be care­
fully trimmed because the lower branches spread and bear heavily




488

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

when the new shoots of the bushes are cut off. The Italians have
their own method of planting a vineyard, a method which has been
adopted by the Americans. They dig deep trenches, filling in with
leather scraps from the shoe factories as a foundation. The vines
are tied to poles instead of being allowed to run on a trellis, and the
grapes are closely trimmed every year.
The harvesting of crops is largely a question of berry picking.
Italians are accustomed to pick olives in Italy and are excellent pickers
of small fruits. During the picking season they are brought from
Philadelphia in car loads. From 1890 to 1893 as many as 1,500 came
annually in special trains. The pickers were supplied by padrones,
some of whom resided in Hammonton. The padrones stipulated that
the farmers should supply no other pickers and received 50 cents per
picker from the farmers, besides charging the pickers 50 cents each
and full railroad fare, although special rates had been obtained.
Some large farms require 150 to 200 pickers as well as a number of
foremen. Small farmers do their own hiring and overseeing. Tenacre farms require a number of pickers, and Italians with small farms
requiring five or six extra pickers frequently bring their own friends
from town. Since the failure of the heavy blackberry crops, fewer
pickers come to Hammonton, and recently they have been hard to
obtain, because other work for Italians has been more plentiful in
Philadelphia. In 1905 the padrones charged the farmers $1 per
head for pickers, including children of 9 and 10 years of age. The
pickers were often dissatisfied, however, and many did not remain.
It was stated that those who were employed in factories did not wish
to give up their places for the brief picking season, and that when the
men had work they were unwilling to let their wives and children pick
berries. Farmers endeavored to get Italians in the vicinity of Ham­
monton to do their work, and there are now almost a sufficient number
of Italian women and children in Hammonton to harvest the berry
crops.
The berries are picked into six boxes held in trays, the whole family
assisting, even little tots of four-or five years of age picking ahead of
their mother, or carrying the filled trays to the shed; still younger
children mind the babies, who roll in the grass or lie in carriages in the
fields or in the shade of the receiving sheds. The price for picking
was formerly 2 cents per quart; it is now 1J cents per quart for
strawberries and blackberries, and 1 to 1J cents per pint for rasp­
berries. Unless the picking is very good, the pickers do not average
over $1 a day. The pickers are given tickets, which are marked
with the fanner’s name and indicate the number of quarts picked,
the tickets being later exchanged for money. In one day in 1905
twenty men, women, and children picked 2,250 quarts of raspberries
for a farmer, averaging $1.50 per person. Huckleberry picking is




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

489

also an important feature of the pine region, and where the land is
not heavily timbered the woods are full of huckleberry bushes, and
in the swamps is found the valued swamp berry. While in late
years few pickers have come to Hammonton to pick strawberries and
raspberries, as many as 600 came for the huckleberry season. The
usual price for picking huckleberries averages 5 cents per quart,
ranging from 10 cents in the early season to 4 cents later on. Extra
help is also necessary for cranberry picking, which is especially profit­
able for the pickers. In 1904, 104 pickers were obtained for the
Atlantic Cranberry Meadow by a local agent, and 4,000 bushels
were picked. Occasionally Italian labor is furnished for tomato
canning factories in other sections of southern New Jersey, their work
consisting in peeling tomatoes, for which 2 cents a pail is paid.
The expenses of the Italian farmer are reduced to a minimum, the
most important cash outlay being for pickers if the berry crop is too
heavy for the family to handle, or for plowing in case he does not own a
horse. The fact that he has his family to aid him makes it possible for
the Italian to engage in other work and thus to increase his income.
Also the women and children can add to his income by working for
others during the berry season. It is claimed that the women are
better workers than the men. The patient and constant labor and
economy of the Italians bring good results on land where Americans
would starve; families of eight live well on from 3 to 5 acres. Among
the reasons given by the Italian for the success of his countrymen is
that they are economical in conducting experiments in the production
of new varieties of plants. The American keeps trying new things in
a reckless manner; feeling flush,” he will order 1,000 plants of a new
variety at 2 J cents each, to which must be added the cost of fertilizer,
while, on the other hand, an Italian will try half a dozen plants near a
manure pile. The New Jersey soil is too poor to support expensive
experiments.
The success of the Italian farmer is best shown in a letter from
Prof. John B. Smith, one of the agricultural scientists of the State:
I have seen considerable of the Italian farmer in South Jersey, and
in fact, have watched with much interest the gradual increase of the
settlers of this nationality in the southern part of the State. Origi­
nally they were imported from Philadelphia as berry pickers only.
Gradually a few of them settled and took hold of small pieces of land.
Their method of farming at the beginning was sloppy in the extreme;
they had little or no machinery and everything was done by hand.
They were dirty in their habits; dirty in their surroundings; they did
not raise as much as their neighbors, but they made as much or more
money, because they spent less. Since tnat time matters have
improved. The style o f living has improved to some extent; the
method of farming has improved materially. The Italian does not
use as much machinery as the American farmer, but he does more
work on his crops; the result is that he gets just as much out of his




490

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

land, gets it on the whole at less cost, and makes a profit where his
neighbor barely makes expenses. Like all other nationalities there
are good and bad farmers among them. The better class of farmers
are not quite equal to the best class of American farmers; but they are
fully as good as the average. The better class of the Italian farmers
fully realize the injury done by insects, and are as ready as their
American brethren to do whatever is necessary for their control. The
difficulty that I find is that they always try tne cheapest things first;
but after they have once learned what is necessary there is no further
trouble, and after you have once gotten even a single Italian to do
the right thing, the rest of his countrymen will follow.
It is not difficult to explain the characteristics of these people.
They come from the mountain districts of Italy, where they live in
crowded villages. In the outlying country, near these villages, each
family owns from one to one and one-half acres, to which they walk
every day to their work. When they do not own land they work for
large landowners at a greater distance. On these little farms are
grown lemons, olives, peaches, grapes, a little com and rye, and beans
and other vegetables. The taxes are heavy and the markets so poor
that the hardest labor can seldom win more than a bare subsistence.
Necessity has developed frugal habits, few demands, and the ability
to make much out of a very little. Labor-saving machinery is not
adapted to mountain farming, and the Italian has therefore never
learned to use it. He is used to working for long hours with his hands
and to labor under a hot sun. Accordingly he accepts any kind of
irksome toil, whether berry picking, clearing land, or railroad work.
When he has in prospect the ownership of a number of acres without
heavy taxes, his saving instinct is stimulated to the utmost, and he
works early and late. When he works in the brickyard he is up at
daylight attending to his garden, and after his return from his day’s
labor he will be seen toiling away, making a day of from 16 to 18
hours.
It is claimed that the yield per acre secured by the average Italian
farmer is less than that of the American and that the quality of the
product is not so good. The Italian is often mistakenly spoken of as
an intensive farmer. He knows how to grow a large amount on a small
tract and is successful with berries and vegetables, but he has still
the field idea of quantity and does not know how to concentrate effort
to obtain the largest return of perfected fruit from a small plot of
land. Moreover, the Italian is often too parsimonious, and ships
his fruit in unattractive second-hand boxes that injure its appear­
ance. Americans frequently sell old boxes to Italians and buy new
ones for their own use. Again, boxes are sometimes “ slack packed.”
This carelessness in packing and shipping, the wreak point of the
Italian fruit grower, causes lower prices. The importance attached
to the appearance of fruit by the Italian fruit sellers in the cities




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

491

gives hope that the less intelligent Italian fruit growers will soon
learn its value. It is claimed that the success of the first genera­
tion of Italians in Hammonton in farming has been largely due to
their economy, which makes it possible for them to live a year on
an income upon which Americans would starve in a few months.
A few examples of the net profits on special crops may be given:
(1) An American-born Italian, in 1903, cleared $500 on a scant two
acres of raspberries; his gross receipts were $753, the pickers being
paid $99.85. (2) A young Italian farmer netted $160 from one-fourth
of an acre of strawberries. (3) Another farmer netted $180 on one
acre of strawberries, after paying $50 for picking. (4) Five acres of
berries produced $200.
Illustrations of some of the yearly incomes of Italian farmers in
America are also of interest : (1) One farmer of the first generation
estimates $75 an acre yearly on IQ acres in berries and potatoes. (2)
Another of the second generation, with 8 acres in berries and one in
grapes, clears $700 a year. (3) A young Italian with about 12 acres
averages $400 a year, after paying $50 for fertilizer and from $75 to
$125 for picking. (4) One of the early comers claims only $1,000
yearly income from 150 acres. (5) An Italian who has been in this
country fifteen years, speaks no English, and has his land largely in
blackberries and dewberries, is said to have made from $3,000 to
$4,000 in 1905. (6) One of the most progressive Italian farmers,
who is hardly able to read or write English, in two years had cleared
$5,000; in 1903 he claimed to have made $6,000 gross, or $4,570 net,
on his 50 acres of raspberries. (7) A young Italian worked for an
American farmer for two seasons of six months each, and, together
with his father, who had previously worked for another man for
eleven years and saved some money, bought a farm for $2,000
in cash, giving a mortgage of $500. In one season (1906) they paid
off the mortgage and saved $800. (8) Another young man, a bar­
ber by trade, but who from observation has learned a great deal about
farming, worked for the same farmer for two summers and then
rented a farm of 70 acres. He owns a store and, with an American,
has the agency for a fertilizer company.
The table following shows the number of American and Italian
members of the Fruit Growers’ Union, according to their classified
gross receipts for various years from 1889 to 1897.




492

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

MEMBERS OF FR U IT GROW ERS' UNION, OF EACH N A TIO N ALITY, RECEIVING SPECI­
FIED AMOUNTS FOR FRU ITS IN VARIOUS Y EA R S, 1889 TO 1897.
[From records of Fruit Growers’ Union.]
Number o f members receiving—
$100 $200 $300 $400 | $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 J$l, 000 $2,000
Year. 1Nationality. Un­ $50
or
or
or
or i or | or
or
or 1 or
or
or
der under
under
under under under under under under under, under or
$50. $100. $200. under
$300. $400. $500.. $600. $700. $800. $900. $1,000 $2,000 over.
1889.... Italian.......
American..
1893.... Italian.......
American..
1894___ Italian.......
American..
1896___ Italian.......
American..
1897___ Italian.......
American..

4
7
1
10
7
3
4
6

2
12
8
9
3
9
4
7
2
10

3
28
7
17
5
13
7
8
14
9

5
23
10
13
7
12
6
12
13
5

5
15
6
7
7
8
4
6
9
5

5
12
8

12 !

1
i
i

!
1

6 ,
5
3
6 !
4
i

3
12
7
11
9

4

2
5
4

1
8
2
10
2
3
2
8
5 !
6 I

2
5
1
4
3
3
2
2
3
2

2
8
2
23
1
6
4
3
4
3

1
4
4
4
6
4
2
7
2
2 !

7
25
12
13
15
11
4
10
12
io

7
15
5
6
4
12
6
3

i

The Hammonton fruit growers have always been at the mercy of
the railroads and commission agents, for none of the farmers have
shipped in sufficiently large quantities to be able to enforce their
demands. The grounds of complaint against the railroads were:
The character and number of the cars, their ventilation, and in recent
years icing, the cost of loading, and times of shipment. Against the
commission men the complaints were as to the prices at which the
products were sold, the guaranty of the commission men's honesty
and ability to pay, and their failure to return crates and baskets.
These matters could not be adjusted by the individuals, and accord­
ingly various cooperative societies were organized. The Ffuit
Growers' Union, organized in 1867, included a large number of
Italians among its members, and always had one Italian on the board
of directors. The failure of this association was due to the credit
allowed in connection with a cooperative store. The accompanying
table gives some figures from the books of the association in regard to
the gross sales for Italians and Americans. There, have been other
cooperative societies, including two exclusively Italian associations.
The most successful have been the Shippers' Union, of Hammonton,
composed of Italians and Americans, (a) and the Elm Farmers' Club.
Elm lies just beyond the boundaries of Hammonton, and some
Hammonton farmers belong to the Elm societies. Previous to 1900
there was only the Fruit Growers' Society, with American and Italian
members. This society still exists, but as the men in control were
not farmers, in 1900 the Elm Farmers' Club was formed of farmers
and fruit growers only. This society is managed by a president,
treasurer, secretary, and ten directors; three or four leading Italians
are always kept on the board of directors, and meetings are held
every two weeks in May and August. The Italian members work
well with the Americans and are faithful, but seldom take the initiaa In 1906 twenty-three out of sixty-five members were Italians.




493

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

tive. In a small place like Elm there is a saving in the cost of loading
and loading is better done. There are also advantages in having
their own ice houses, in chartering their own cars, in knowing the
market, and in saving the 3 per cent returned on commissions. The
expenses are reduced to the minimum and are for such items as print­
ing, ice, chartering cars, loading, and small salaries to the secretary
and to the agent. The expenses are paid from the 3 per cent rebate,
and the small amount of expenses is unnoticeable in the large percent­
age paid in dividends.
The following table shows the extent of the gross sales made
through the Elm Farmers’ Club and the dividends paid to members
out of rebates allowed by the commission houses from 1900 to 1905:
GROSS SALES OF ELM F A R M E R S CLUB AND DIVIDENDS PAID TO MEMBERS OUT
OF REBATES ALLOW ED B Y COMMISSION HOUSES, 1900 TO 1905.
Dividend
Gross sales. (per
cent).

Year.
1900..................................
1901..................................
1902..................................

(a)
(®)
$61,018:75

6 21
2|
2|

Year.
1903..................................
1904..................................
1905..................................

Dividend
Gross sales. i1(per
cent).
$67,441.00
52,867.50
76,511.00

i

2|
oa
2|

® Not reported.
&2.5 per cent on berries and 3 per cent on pears. Balance carried over.

The expenses of 1904 were: For secretary’s salary, $34; agent’s
salary, $24; printing and incidentals, $14; iced cars, $70; loading
(by Italians), $40; dispatchers and delivery (by Americans), $40.
In 1900 there were 38 members, 17, or 45 per cent, of whom were
Italians; in 1904, 40 members, 23, or 58 per cent, Italians, and in
1905, 44 members, 28, or 64 per cent, Italians. Nineteen hundred
and four was a poor year for Italians, as a number were cheated in
fertilizers. Some of their dividends, which for that year represented
2 f per cent on gross sales, were $2.95, $3.71, $5.59, $7.61, $8.40,
$11.53, $11.60, $13.21, $13.99, $15.34, $15.59, $16.74, $19.03, $20.82,
$21.13, $22.55, $23.60, $33.18, $45.14, and $64.53. These dividends
represent gross sales of different amounts, varying from $107 to
$2,347. Since 1899 the commission houses have sent agents to Hammonton to purchase the fruit before it is shipped. Cooperative socie­
ties are therefore less important to either Americans or Italians.
It is claimed that the first comers among Italians, while good
workers, do not naturally like work; that their idea of a gentleman
is that of a man who does not labor; that there is no ambition to gain
wealth; and that, accordingly, when the pressure of paying for the
farm is removed the incentive to labor is gone. This may be true,
but farming is not sufficiently remunerative in southern New Jersey
to make it possible for the new comer to gain a competence without
much labor. The time comes when the importance of intelligent
effort in this kind of farming becomes evident. The second genera­



494

BULLETIN OF THE BTJBEAU OF LABOR.

tion are growing up amidst American ideas, and they are improving
sufficiently in their methods of farming to give promise of still further
advance in conformity with the changes now taking place in agricul­
ture in southern New Jersey.
THE ITALIANS IN INDUSTRY.
Hammonton is fortunate in combining agriculture and manufac­
turing. To the second generation of Italians, as to their American
neighbors, farm life grows irksome, and they seek the quick returns
and the excitement of factory employment. The local manufactur­
ing enterprises enable these young men and women to change their
occupation and still remain at home, for in the town are two shoe facto­
ries, two cut-glass works, a planing mill, a woolen mill, and a^stoeking
factory; and there are brickyards at Winslow Junction, 3J miles west.
The planing mill was there before the town was built, and glassworks
are common all through New Jersey. The brickworks are located at
Winslow because of a large deposit of clay in that region. The shoe
and stocking factories represent the tendency to remove such indus­
tries from large centers to outlying districts within easy access of the
market. The planing mill is engaged on millwork for building,
requiring skilled carpenters, with a few drivers and laborers. The
shoe and glass factories use highly developed machinery requiring
skill in manipulating them, and necessitating a system of apprentice­
ship. This is particularly true at the glassworks, where skill in the
more delicate processes can be acquired only after long training.
The stocking factory employs automatic machinery, which can be
easily adjusted. A t the brickyards there is a large amount of purely
manual labor, and but a small amount of skilled labor is required.
In these various industries in 1906 there were employed about 403
men and 113 girls, and of this number 211 were Italian men and 64
Italian girls. The division of the Italian operatives and the wages
paid are shown in the following table;
ESTIMATED NUMBER AND EARNINGS OF ITALIAN S
INDUSTRIES.

EM PLOYED IN PR INC IPA L

Estimated number of employees.
Industry.
Total.
Brickyards.. . ....................................... 250 males...........
f71 males.............
Shoe factories....................................... \50
females.........
J69
males.............
Glass factories...................................... (8 females_______
Stocking factory.................................. 55 female#..........
Planing m i\\ .......................................... 13 males,............
Railroad................................................
(«)
a le s.............
General store........................................ \8 m
females...........
Meat market......................................... 4.........................
Dry goods store................................... 2.........................
Feed store............................................. 5 m ales.............




Italian.
150 males...........
30 males.............
10 females..........
30 males.............
4 females...........
50 females..........
1 m a l e .............
10 to 15 m ales...
4 nfaies..............
1 female.............
1 male................
1 female.............
4 m a le s ............

Estimated earnings of
Italians.
$1.25 to $1.40 per day.
J$5.50 to $10.00 per week.
$10 to $42 per week.
$3 to $6 per week.
$4 to $0 per week.
(<*)
$1.15 to $1.30 per day.
j$5.50 to $10.00 per week.

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

495

Out of the 250 men employed at the Winslow brickyards 150 are
Italians, almost all of whom are unskilled laborers. In the shoe
factory the cutting, heeling, and soling are done by men and boys,
the sewing and finishing by girls. Twenty-five out of the 75 employ­
ees in 1903, and 40 out of 121 in 1902 were Italians. Until recently
only two girls of Italian parentage were employed, one of them as a
forewoman. Their father was an educated Italian and their mother
a German. From the starting of the shoe factories in 1883 until
1899, when the cut-glass works opened, the employees were all Amer­
icans. The supply of local labor was, however, scarce, and when the
cut-glass works offered special inducements in wages the shoe factory
was unable to meet the competition and became obliged to look to
Italian boys for a new laboring force. In 1905 of 71 male employees
41 were Americans and 30 Italians, and of 50 female employees 40
were Americans and 10 Italians.
The Skinner Glass Works were opened in 1899 with American
employees, and in 1903, 20 Italians and 33 Americans were employed.
In the roughing department, the most important department, 2 out of
14 employees were American-born Italians; in the smoothing depart­
ment 5 out of 25 were American-born Italians; the 7 polishers were
all Italians; one Italian acted as packer and driver, and 5 out of the
6 girls employed in the inspection department were Italians. Appren­
tices are taken at the age of 16. The scarcity of local labor, the
tendency of American boys to look elsewhere for work after they had
learned their trades, and more particularly a strike in 1900, when
some Americans were discharged, resulted in the introduction of Ital­
ians. This strike was in connection with a peculiar development in
the polishing department. In this department the work is dirty;
and is, therefore, distasteful to Americans, and as soon as they had
learned this part of the work they were anxious to be transferred to
smoothing. The polishers are now all Italians, who will without
murmuring do any kind of work, no matter how unpleasant. In
1905, 25 Italian boys and 4 Italian girls were employed, the whole
number of employees being 47, of whom 6 were girls. There are 2
journeymen among the 12 Italian polishers. A new glass factory was
started in 1903, which employs 30 persons, 2 of whom are Italians.
The stocking factory began work in Hammonton in 1893. The
original intention was to employ Russian Jews, but the Italians being
at hand workers of that nationality were utilized. The wages paid
have not been attractive to American girls. In 1903, 10 Italians and
5 Americans were employed. In 1905 the employees had increased
to 55, of which number 50 were Italian girls from 14 to 18 years of
age, most of whom were bom in the United States. This number,
the manufacturer thinks, includes nearly all the available supply.
The planing mill at Hammonton ordinarily employs 12 men, 9 of




496

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

them being skilled workmen. There has been a native-born Italian
employed at the mill, and occasionally an Italian as a teamster. It
appears, therefore, that the Italians are of some importance to the
local industries, but up to the present time, except for manual labor,
they have been employed only because American labor was lacking.
It meant great effort on the part of the managers to train these boys
and girls. In comparing American and Italian factory labor one
point must be emphasized— the difference between the Italians born
in Italy and those bom in America. The former are seldom suitable
for anything but manual labor, unless they come as children; the
latter, however, are fitted for work requiring a greater degree of skill.
Taking up the characteristics of Italian factory labor, we find, first,
that the new comers are to some extent unreliable. Among the work­
ing force at Winslow a large number of the Italian laborers own farms,
and work at the brickyard only part of the year. Some of the men,
moreover, are liable to accept, without giving notice, any other profit­
able job that turns up. During berry-picking seasons it is often neces­
sary to carry a large number of men on the roll in order to be sure to
have a sufficient working force. In its early days the stocking factory
suffered considerably from the irregularity of its laboring force; the
girls especially were not dependable, and it was always necessary to
close the factory during the berry-picking season. The girls have
come gradually to realize the demands of their employment, and
being anxious to earn money they arrive promptly and begin work
on time. The same criticism is true of the first Italian boys employed
at the shoe factory. They had no sense of responsibility, no appre­
ciation of the demands of a job, and would leave at any time without
warning. It took about a year and a half to get them in training.
The boys employed at the glass factory comprise the highest class of
Italian labor. They are glad to get the work and can be depended
upon. It is said of the manual workers at the brickyards that they
are awkward and careless. On beginning work in the factories the
boys and girls are clumsy, but with training they improve and some
become expert. In the glass works the Italians become better
polishers than do the Americans. The Italian girls, in the stocking
factory were at first rough and awkward in operating the hand
machines, and sometimes broke them, but they are more proficient
in handling the automatic machinery. The endurance of the Italians
is greater than that of the Americans, but it takes them longer to
learn and their promotion is correspondingly slow. A t the shoe
factory the rate of wages is probably lower than if Americans alone
were employed. The superintendent of a factory for making
trousers— established in the country in order to utilize the cheap
labor of Italian women and girls— said that the Italians were in such
haste to earn money in doing piecework that they were careless, and,



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

497

as a result, much of the work was frequently spoiled. This fault
might have been remedied if there had been sufficient time to ade­
quately train these employees, but unfortunately it was an impos­
sibility for the reason that the undertaking was short lived. The
girls in the glass works are said to be careful and easy to control. The
girls at the stocking factory are ambitious to learn to do good work
and make better wages. Unlike the American girls, they do not cry
over difficulties, but endeavor to surmount obstacles, even if their
perseverance results in breaking machines. Uneducated labor is
never efficient. The Italian is as good in his way as were the ignorant
Irish and Germans, and is a faithful, steady, and sober worker.
Race prejudice has been noticeable, and at the stocking factory the
American and Italian girls were at first kept separate. At the glass
works more Italian apprentices would be employed if it were not for
the objections made by the Americans, who, being well paid for their
work in this industry, wish to retain it. The managers of the shoe
factory were always able to get a sufficient number of American girls
to do the work, and being apprehensive of trouble no attempt was
made until 1905 to employ Italians.
At the brickyards the Italians formerly received a daily wage of
only $1. In 1894 there was a strike among the Italians, who claimed
that the Americans received $1.20. The Italians now receive from
$1.25 to $1.40. At the shoe factories wages range from $5.50 to $18
per week, Italians receiving about $5.50; a few receive from $9 to $10.
Glass making is the best paid industry in Hammonton. Apprentices
receive from $10 to $12; some make from $14 to $15 per week, the
average pay for piecework in the roughing department being $20.
Several of the polishers earn good wages, one Italian averaging $30
per week, and at times has earned as high as $42. The girls earn
from $3 to $5 a week. At the stocking factory the girls earn from $4
to $6 a week.
Outside the factories there are other demands for both skilled and
unskilled labor, but the Italians with trades are few in number. Of
the first generation of Italians in Hammonton there is a blacksmith,
a few carpenters, a house painter, a horse clipper, and two bakers.
Among the younger generation there is a telegraph operator, a line­
man, a harness maker, a plumber’s helper, and a few carpenters.
Day laborers have been in demand in the last few years. The rail­
roads employ from 40 to 45 men in the winter, as during that season
traffic is lighter and improvements can more readily be made. The
Reading Railroad regularly employs from 10 to 15 men for section
work, and in the winter of 1904-5, 50 men were also employed on
special work, the pay ranging from $1.15 to $1.30 per day, according
to the number of hours. A number of public-service enterprises
have been inaugurated in Hammonton, the establishment of a water




498

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

supply system and the gas works being the most important. Italians
were employed for all the digging; for instance, in 1903 about thirty
were so utilized in connection with the gas works, at $1.50 per day.
They struck for $1.75, but were not successful. Every year the gas
and water lines are extended, requiring diggers, and the plumbers
employ Italians to dig the trenches for connections with private
dwellings or to dig cesspools. In fact, if there is any digging to be
done Italians are obtained, and they do a great deal of work on the
public roads. The town records of accounts frequently show pay­
ments to Italians; for example, on September 2, 1905, $397.50 was
paid for work on highways, of which $229.12 went to persons of this
nationality in sums varying from $6 to $68.03. In 1896 the contract
for building the county road from Hammonton to Egg Harbor and
Absecon was given" to an Italian of Philadelphia. Advertisements
for work frequently appear in the local newspapers as follows: “ Mow
lawn, trim hedge, clean yards, carry ashes, guarantee satisfaction,”
or “ Whitewashing, papering, pressing clothes.” In truth, the
Italian is, in many cases, willing to do any kind of work, though his
efficiency is not always equal to his willingness.
Several Italians are engaged in business enterprises. One of the
most competent and popular builders and contractors in town is a
native-born Italian of the second generation, who comes of a family
from northern Italy. Among the southern Italians one is a success­
ful ice dealer, carrying on the business with the aid of his sons. He
is considered a fair dealer; is an advertiser, and in 1902 offered free
ice to church entertainments. His competitor imports his ice and
charges higher prices. Turchi Brothers are prominent merchants in
the neighboring village of Elm. There is one store in the principal
street of Hammonton stocked with olive oil, fruit, bread, groceries,
and clothing. One of the bakers owns a store. Most of the stores
conducted by Italians are small, untidy in appearance, located in
outlying districts, and are patronized only by Italians. Other busi­
nesses controlled by Italians include a hotel and saloon, two barber
shops, one harness making establishment, one pool room, a junk busi­
ness, and an automobile repair shop. The steam macaroni factories,
formerly operated by Italians, have been idle since the owners died.
Some Italian farmers act as agents for fertilizer companies, one young
man doing a business of $8,000 in the course of the year, and he is
proud of the fact that no bond or security is required. A number
act as padrones, supplying not only pickers for Hammonton, but
laborers for Atlantic City and elsewhere.
As many Italians deal at the large stores owned by Americans it
is an advantage for the proprietors to have as clerks Italians who
speak the Italian language. The department store of the town
employs one Italian woman and four Italian men, as well as another




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

499

Italian to attend to the horses. The woman has charge of a depart­
ment, is considered an excellent clerk, and receives good wages.
None of these Italians are American born. This establishment for­
merly employed a young Italian who was said to be superior in cour­
tesy and efficiency to most of the American employees. The large
feed store employs three Italians, all bom in Italy, who are able to
read and write, and they are highly valued by their employer. One
intelligent boy, who came from Italy at an early age, is being trained
at a meat store. A clothing store has an Italian woman as clerk, and
the two livery stables have had as drivers Italian men or boys.
Italian women not only work in the fields, but supplement the family
income by other kinds of work; they consider, however, that domestic
work is beneath them. Only in a few cases have Italian girls worked
for Americans, and then generally as an accommodation, because
friendly relations had been established. Unfortunately they do not
appreciate the value of this method of learning American customs.
Housework is not attractive to the girls, and besides the parents fear
to have their daughters away from home, especially in the evenings.
A number of Italian women are good laundresses, and either take in
washing or go out to the homes of their patrons to do washing and
ironing, or to help in house cleaning. One woman has made a con­
siderable sum of money by doing laundry work.
The home industries remain to be mentioned. Italian women are
usually knitting when not otherwise engaged, and they also make a
kind of trimming for clothing and linen, as well as spreads of elaborate
patterns for wedding chests. Hammonton, like other country places,
has been provided with work from the city to be done in the homes.
One New York firm, dealing in socks and jackets for babies, and
in umbrella shawls, has supplied Italian women with consider­
able work. This work had previously been given out to Americans
only, but eight years ago an Italian woman saw what was being
done by Americans and applied for work. When it was decided to
employ Italians in this industry, their number increased rapidly until
there were 200 Italians to 60 Americans. Material and samples are
supplied. The Italians make principally babies’ socks, called bootees,
for which they are paid from 12 cents to $1 a dozen, according to the
quality and stitch, but they do not attempt the work when the pat­
tern is intricate. Some women knit as many as 27 dozen bootees in
two weeks and make as high as $8. A woman or a girl will take
work for relatives as well as for herself, and sometimes other women
or girls will help in the knitting. When the women first under­
take the work, they watch carefully while some one instructs
them in the operation, but they make no attempt to do the work
until they reach home. They usually succeed, but occasionally they
try another way, and bring it, with the question, “ How you like?”




500

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

When a mistake is made, they do not think of pulling out the wolk
and beginning over, but blunder on. Cleanliness is necessary, and
even the most untidy of the women keep their work neatly wrapped
in clean handkerchiefs. In case work is returned in a soiled condi­
tion they must pay for the material. Their employers had some diffi­
culty in establishing regular hours for serving them, and for a long
time, in spite of notices, they would persist in coming at unseason­
able hours. There have been examples of short weight in returning
work, but proper deductions have always been made, and in several
cases unusual honesty has been shown by the return of money when
too much had been received.
For the past twelve years white duck and colored trousers, to be
used in the Philippines, West Indies, and Australia, have been fin­
ished in Hammonton for large Philadelphia firms, and 10,000 were
made in Hammonton the first six months of 1905. This work has
all gone through the hands of an Irish woman, and neatness and good
sewing are required. The trousers are cut and sent to be finished by
housekeepers who can not leave their homes. The number of workers
varies at different times, the highest having been 40. Only $1 to $6
per week can be made. It is difficult for Italian women to do the
work in the summer time, as they are required to help in the picking
season when pickers are scarce. When the Work is urgent, they will,
however, sew at night and on rainy days. In the summer of 1905
there were 33 names on the list, of whom 13 were Italians, and, in
looking over the names, it is noticeable that they belong to the best
Italian families.
THE ACQUISITION OF PRO PE RTY.
The most practical method of ascertaining the amount of property
owned by an individual is to refer to the tax list, and in this way it is
also possible to compare the possessions of Italians and Americans.
Both real and personal property are taxed in New Jersey, and in
addition there is a poll tax. According to the last assessment (1906-7),
Italians pay $4,493.67, or 17.7 per cent of $25,407.79, the total
amount of taxes levied. Real estate in Hammonton is, as a rule,
assessed at about one-half its actual value, but in the case of highpriced property the assessed valuation is nearer one-third of the value.
Town property is assessed at high valuations, and few Italians own
town sites, but within the past year several sites have been purchased.
According to the 1906-7 assessment, the assessed value of 26,421 acres
is $1,149,021, and there are 323 Italians who own 4,846 acres, assessed
at $176,575. There are 1,370 names on the tax register. Of these,
448, or about one-third, are Italians, of whom 96 pay only a poll tax.
Forty-eight Italians pay taxes on real estate, but have no personal-




501

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

property tax. Real estate owned by Italians represents 18.4 per cent
of the acreage assessed and 15.4 per cent of the assessed value.
Improvements, such as houses, barns, and sheds, are included in the
assessed value. The greater value of American properties is in part
due to the better houses and barns. Italian houses are ordinarily
assessed at $200. All the farms are not owned outright by either
Italians or Americans. Many of them are mortgaged, and are being
paid for by means of the building and loan associations. The fol­
lowing tables show, for 1906-7, the number of Italian owners and
the range of assessments on real estate holdings of each classified
size; also the number assessed for each specified amount of personal
property, and examples of high taxes paid:
ITALIAN OWNERS AND RANGE OF ASSESSMENTS ON R E A L ESTATE HOLDINGS OF
EACH CLASSIFIED SIZE, 1906-7.
Size of holdings.

Italian 1 Range of
owners.
assessments. ;

1 acre or under..............
1 to 2 acres....................
2 to 3 acres....................
3 to 4 acres....................
4 to 5 acres....................
5 to 8 acres....................
8 to 10 acres...................

82
$25 to $2,750
50 to 1,875
19
14
75 to
450
9
250 to
625
26
50 to
500
14
25 | 25 to 1,175

Size of holdings.

Italian
owners.

10 to 20 acres...............
20 to 50 acres...............
50 to 80 acres...............
80 to 100 acres..............
100 to 150 acres............
230 acres.......................

Range of
assessments.

54
62
13
2
2
1

$100 to $5,000
150 to 1,700
875 to 2,300
(a)
(a)
(a)

a Not reported.
ITALIANS ASSESSED FOR EACH CLASSIFIED AMOUNT OF PERSONAL PR O PE R TY,
1906-7.

Assessments on personal property.
$25.............................................................
$50.............................................................
$75.............................................................
$100...........................................................
$125...........................................................
$150...........................................................
$175.........................................................

Number of
Italians
assessed.
183
72
16
10

8

2
2

Assessments on personal property.

Number of
Italians
assessed.
4
2
2
1
1
1

$200.........................................................
$250.........................................................
$325.........................................................
$3o0.........................................................
$450.........................................................
$575(o)...................................................

« Factory, $400; other personal property, $175.
EXAM PLES OF HIGH TA XE S PAID B Y ITA LIA N P R O PE R T Y HOLDERS, 1906-7.
Assessed value.
$1,350........................................................
$1,650........................................................
$1,800........................................................
$1,950........................................................
$2,200........................................................
$2,250.......................................................
$2,350........................................................
$2,625........................................................

Tax.
o $25.84
o31.36
33.12
o36.88
a41.48
0 42.40
0 44.24
48.30

Assessed value.
$2,850......................................................
$2,925......................................................
$3,225......................................................
$3,450......................................................
$4,200......................................................
$5,000......................................................
$5,175......................................................

Tax.
$52.44
• 54.82
o 60.34
63.48
o78.28
92.00
0 96.22

a Including $1 poll tax.

In its issue of October 18, 1902, the South Jersey Republican
remarked, “ Every week or so a new house is built between Rosedale
and Winslow by Italians.” This marks a tendency on the part of day
304b— No. 70—07---- 3



502

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

laborers to buy an acre or half an acre and to build a house. In the
fall of 1905, 43 houses were erected in Hammonton, 20 of which, at
least, were built for Italians.
The personal property tax is levied on house furnishings, horses,
wagons, store goods or fixtures, and bank stock. An assessment of
$50 or $75 ordinarily represents one or two horses, the heavier assess­
ments, however, being made upon small stores. The assessed value
of personal property in Hammonton is $185,450, including all impor­
tant business enterprises of the town, and of this $15,525, or 8.4 per
cent, was assessed against 304 Italians. The ordinary American
with a comfortable home is assessed for $50; the poor Italian with his
scantily furnished house is assessed for $25, and for $50 if he keeps
a horse. This illustrates a general inequality of the taxing methods
to the disadvantage of the Italians in many cases. In the personal
property assessment, 183 Italians are assessed at $25 each and 121
at higher amounts. In addition there are 29 Italians assessed for
personal property who pay no real estate tax, which shows the
small number of Italians who rent their houses.
The property of Italians consists largely of real estate, and if an
Italian buys a few acres he usually has sufficient savings to pay for
them. Wild land has been obtained for $20 and $25 per acre, but
occasionally, when a large tract of land some distance from the town
has been purchased the price has been as low as $5 per acre. This,
however, is exceptional, and as a rule the Italians have paid good
prices for their land, poor land near the town having recently been
sold at from $100 to $200 per acre. When an Italian purchases wild
land he spends his leisure time grubbing it out and getting it ready
for cultivation, and if, when the land is ready for use he has not suf­
ficient savings wherewith to build a house, several courses are open
to him. He pays for the digging of a cellar and for a pump and gives
his note or notes, made negotiable by the signature of a freeholder,
to the builder who puts up the house; or he borrows the money from
a well-to-do Italian; or he arranges to get the money from one of the
building and loan associations; or he buys the entire property on
contract. It is noticeable that new houses are usually built in the
fall, after the berry picking is over and money is plentiful.
The town of Hammonton has been built up by its building and loan
associations, and 90 per cent of the shares of the associations are held
in the town. It is a mark of intelligence that Italians have made use
of this modem institution for securing homes. There are two asso­
ciations, the Hammonton Loan arid Building Association, organized
in 1871, and the Workingmen's Building and Loan Association,
organized in 1877. In 1904 the Hammonton Loan and Building
Association had 460 stockholders, averaging five and a half shares to
each holder. Seventy-nine stockholders, or 17 per cent of the total




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

503

number, were Italians, holding three and a half shares each on the
average. The total loans during the year amounted to $182,156, of
which Italians took $53,600, or nearly one-third, averaging $800 each.
Defaults in payments have numbered 122, of which 19 per cent were
by Italians. In the Workingmen’s Building and Loan Association in
1904 there were 553 stockholders, with average holdings of five and a
half shares. Of these, 129, or 23 per cent, were Italians. Italians
have been on the books for twenty years, and their number is increas­
ing, a few holding shares as investments. Women as a rule hold
shares jointly with their husbands. One woman has 25 shares, repre­
senting $3,500, which she has paid for out of money earned in launder­
ing and other work. Occasionally Italians pay their dues for the
whole year in August or September. In eight years property amount­
ing to $3,500 only has been taken over in default of payments by the
Hammonton Loan and Building Association. The building and loan
associations frequently lend as high as 80 per cent on the value of the
land and completed house. The Italians usually build small tworoom houses, 16 by 16 feet, which cost about $350. The double houses,
16 by 32 feet, cost from $650 to $750, while some houses, with porches
and improvements, cost from $1,000 to $1,200, and a $1,700 house has
just been completed for a prosperous Italian family. Such improve­
ments as bams and sheds are often made by means of loans from the
building and loan associations. Many Italians are prompt in getting
out of debt, and are unwilling to assume new obligations until the old
debts are liquidated. A debt of $1,200 is usually paid off in eight
years. When land is purchased on contract the buyer agrees to pay
the taxes and a certain amount each year, and Italians have often paid
unnecessarily high prices, as, for instance, in 1896, an Italian took a
farm on contract, for which $3,000 was to be paid. After paying
$1,200 hard times came, and he gave up the place and went to Provi­
dence, where he also bought land. Returning in 1902, he bought the
place for $1,200 cash, about what it was worth. With improvements,
he now values it at $2,000.
The estimated wealth of some Italians of Hammonton is repre­
sented by the following: (1) An Italian, now a resident of Philadel­
phia, owns six houses and 14 acres of land, which he values at $10,000,
a part of the property bordering on a street embracing high-priced
real estate. (2) Another has a farm and business estimated at
$15,000. (3) One of the second generation has accumulated property
worth from $20,000 to $30,000, and (4) a recent comer has not only
paid for his farm from the first year’s receipts, but he has put up an
expensive house, and he also owns some bonds in addition to some
mortgages on surrounding farms.
Thrift is one of the strongest characteristics of the Italians. Many
of them carry large sums of money about their persons, or hide money




504

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

in their homes. An Italian and his wife, recently killed by a train,
had with them a wallet containing $465. The house of an aged
Italian was burned in the winter of 1905 and $250, all his savings, lost.
In the past the Italians deposited their money with trusted friends,
Americans or Italians, but since the local bank was started they have
been advised to use the bank as a depository. The following statis­
tics show to what extent this has been done. The People’s Bank,
which is a thriving institution, paying 16 per cent on its capital stock,
was opened in 1887. In September, 1890, there were 450 deposit
accounts on the books, amounting to $87,080. Only three of these
accounts belonged to Italians, and aggregated less than $500. In
1904, however, out of $260,779 on deposit, $56,614, or 21.7 per cent,
belonged to Italians. Of the total deposit $172,011 was deposited on
demand accounts, of which $30,383, or 17.7 per cent, was owed to
Italians, and $88,768 on time or savings’ accounts paying 3 per cent
interest, of wdiich $26,231, or 29.6 per cent, was owed to Italians.
One of the largest amounts deposited by an Italian at one time was
$1,500; one of the largest balances was $2,300.
The Italians make fairly good wages. This fact, together with the
products of their farms and their frugal habits, makes possible the
accumulation of comparatively large savings. The wages received
in the various industries have been1mentioned. It remains to be
stated that farm wages, originally $1 for a ten-hour day, have risen
to $1.25 and even to $1.50. Women receive only from 50 to 75
cents a day. For special work like plowing, where horses and a plow
are furnished, from $2.50 to $5 is paid. One farmer employs an Ital­
ian by the year at $1.40 a day, with house, rent free, and free wood.
In summer he is expected to work long hours. During the busy
season this farmer also employs 11 Italian farm hands and 150
pickers. When the value of blackberries declined an Italian, farming
on a large scale, had to place a mortgage for $900 on some of his
property in order to pay off his pickers. It is said that a family of
six (man, wife, and four children whose ages ranged from 7 to 22
years) can earn $530 in a good year, as follows: Strawberries in
district south of Hammonton, $125; raspberries, $60; blackberries,
$90; huckleberries, $80; and cranberries, $175. In 1905 a mother
and her 11-year old daughter earned $40 in three weeks; another
mother and daughter earned $121 for the season, which sum repre­
sented $28 for strawberries, $55 for raspberries and blackberries,
and $38 for cranberries; and a family of five received $200 for rasp­
berries and blackberries.
In one day in 1904 six men gathered 115 bushels of cranberries in
seven hours, in quantities of 25, 20, 19,18,17, and 16 bushels, respec­
tively, the last two quantities being picked by men 75 and 77 years
old. The average earnings of each amounted to $4.79. One family
makes $500, as a rule, in cranberry picking.



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

505

Some Italians own property in Philadelphia. For instance, one
family owns a house worth $6,000, for which $40 a month in rent is
received. Some Italian families disposed of small properties in Italy,
which properties usually were not valued at more than $500 each, to
aid in purchasing places in Hammonton. In order to do this it is
necessary to transport the entire family to the United States, but in
some cases the old people are left behind. Considerable money is
sent back to Italy to support relatives, to bring over friends, or as
savings. These remittances can hardly be estimated since the
money is sent in various ways, by post-office orders, registered letters,
b y returning friends, or by Italian bankers. The Hammonton postoffice orders to Italy in 1903 numbered 408, amounting to $8,774.39.
There were 519 registered letters sent, many of which probably con­
tained Italian money obtained from Italian bankers in Philadelphia.
These remittances doubtless include some of the money of outof-town pickers, but they are offset by money sent by Hammonton
Italians from Philadelphia.
The Italian is seldom a town charge. In fact the taxpayers of
Hammonton are not heavily burdened with any charges, and only old
age or some misfortune brings an Italian “ on the town.” In 1900
the poor fund was only $400; in 1901, $582.40. In 1901 the town
paper mentioned the death of an Italian pauper.
It is evident that the property owned by Italians in Hammonton
represents the results of hard labor and the actual making of wealth.
Starting with practically nothing, they have bettered themselves,
and by bringing new land into cultivation they have increased both
the productive and the consumptive capacity of the community.
STANDARD OF LIVING.
In order to appreciate the changes which have taken place in the
lives of these people it is necessary to present the conditions under
which they lived before they came to this country. Gesso, a typical
Sicilian town, 6 miles from Messina, perched on the top of a moun­
tain, is the locality whence the Sicilians came to Hammonton. The
people are crowded together in a little village, one-half mile long
by one-quarter mile wide, with three streets running lengthwise.
Every possible space is occupied by a brick house of three or four
rooms, in one of which the mule is stabled; chickens and pigs are
also kept. A boy of Italian birth pictures the conditions as inex­
pressibly squalid. The residents of the village own small farms of
from 1 to 1£ acres in the outlying district, and the few Italians who
live in the country are usually tenant farmers. The markets for
produce are poor, and the farmers get but meager returns. When
working for others a farmer receives only 20 or 30 cents a day, and
the taxes are so high that little is left for him to live upon. Living



506

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.

is cheap, prices low, and a man can exist on 5 cents a day, the food
consisting of polenta, macaroni, green vegetables, bread and cheese,
milk, figs, chestnuts, and fresh fruits, little or no meat being eaten.
Clothing is coarse and cheap. Only the rich wear hats, wooden
sandals take the place of shoes, and collars and neckties are never
seen. W ood for fuel is obtained in the forests.
The low standard of living of the southern Italians who come
to Hammonton is especially apparent among the berry pickers.
Poor accommodations are provided for them, but they seldom com­
plain of their lodgings. Originally these pickers were given a part
of the bam with hay for bedding, and men, women, and children
would sleep on the floor. Sheds or barns are now prepared with
two tiers of wooden bunks, but there is the same promiscuous
crowding, with little room for the wearing apparel or the food, con­
sisting of dried vegetables or bread, which is hung from the rafters.
Occasionally a family is given a single room. The farmers some­
times attempt to justify these conditions, especially the broken pumps
and lack of conveniences, b y alleging that the people are indiffer­
ent and do not know how to take care of what is provided for them.
The pickers bring with them queer luggage, consisting of boxes,
barrels, and corded wooden tranks, containing bedding, clothing,
and some provisions. Their garments are usually old cotton skirts,
waists, and aprons for the women, with bright-colored handkerchiefs
for their heads; old store clothes for the men, and dilapidated single
garments for the children. The children always go barefoot in hot
weather, and sometimes are entirely naked. In the matter of food,
breakfast frequently consists of dry bread and water, with onions or
cucumbers added. A stove is usually supplied by the farmer. The
pickers often cook outdoors, and they sometimes make a little furnace
over stones in the ground, covering it with an old piece of iron; but
little cooking is done, however, bread and cheese forming much of
the diet. The people from Calabria live largely on dry bread, which
is often stuck in chunks on the fence, where it molds, and water is
pumped on it before it is eaten. The Sicilian berry pickers live
better, adding a little milk, tea, or coffee to the fare, and polenta,
macaroni, or soup is also prepared. When a dish is cooked, whether
it be for a group of men or a family, all gather about the dish and
each one helps himself with a spoon or with his fingers. The manner
of living and appearance of the pickers has improved of late years.
Those who at first would sit in the sun eating bread and onions with
water from the horse pail, are now particular to cover their food
while sweeping is done, and an especial improvement is also noticed
in the clothing of some who come from the city.
Among the Italian residents of Hammonton different stages of
development may be noted. There is a class of newcomers who are




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

507

unspeakably filthy. These people have no knowledge of the physical
care of children, and allow their houses to be overrun with dogs and
chickens. On the other hand there are homes, especially of the
second generation, that are neat and clean. Every Italian desires
a home, and this seems to be characteristic of the race. When they
first come to Hammonton, several families will crowd into one house,
but as soon as they are able they buy houses for themselves, and
frequently brothers build a house which they share until each of
them is able to own a home. The Italians are always thrifty, and
have great contempt for a man who rents a house for $7 a month
and will not crowd his five children into one or two rooms until he is
able to save enough to build a home. When a family is building a
house every member is -interested; even little children are seen
carrying the stones for the foundation, while the older children
help to earn the money to pay for the home. All spare time, espe­
cially Sundays, is spent about the new house. Young people never
board, but go to housekeeping, if it is only in one room. In one
case where a farmer's helper was married, one room was added to
the farmer's house, and patched with old tins and tin cans; but this
was years ago when the Italians were willing to put up with any
kind of a shelter.
The surroundings of the Italian house, as a rule, are unattractive,
the rear being cluttered with little sheds built of odds and ends, with
lumber, and with piles of rubbish of all kinds. There are no flowers
or grass in front, and what should be a front yard is frequently a
vegetable garden, grape vineyard, or wood yard. As already stated
where American farmhouses are purchased by Italians the cost of
maintaining them is considered a great drawback, and they are either
neglected or several families occupy a large house. In some cases,
however, the houses have been kept in good repair, but the flower beds
and grass plots are usually plowed up. There are, however, encourag­
ing signs. A number of Italians have neat, pretty places; one of the
men of the second generation maintains a lawn because he thinks it
increases the selling value of his place, and some of the recent builders
have picketed off little front yards and have made attempts to grow
grass and flowers in the sand.
There are comparatively few small houses in Hammonton which
may be rented, so it is necessary to buy or to build. The Italian, as
a rule, builds his house, of which there are three types of construction:
(1) The two-room house, (2) houses of four or more rooms, and (3) a
modification of the second type. The two-room house is ordinarily
16 by 16 feet, with one room on the first floor and stairs leading to the
room above. These houses have doors in the front and back, several
windows, and a chimney. The second kind of house, unlike that of
the American type, has greater width than depth; it is 32 by 16




508

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

feet, and the two rooms are separated by a tiny hall and a steep
stairway. This type of house is modified in several ways, occasionally
being a double house with two doors for two families, and sometimes
having a plain porch. While these houses are decidedly ugly, with
their plain weatherboarding, they are the usual American cheap
house, with bay windows or decorative porches omitted. Recently
there has been adopted an improved type, with a gable in the roof
and porches with balustrades, which make the dwelling more attract­
ive. Several houses of this style were built in 1905. In the fall of
1905 an Italian family built a typical American house of medium
size on a corner lot, with porches on two sides and with bay windows,
which will doubtless serve as a model.
The houses are built of wood, and, even if small, are fairly well con­
structed, with good foundations and paper sheathing. In summer the
occupants lead an outdoor life, so that they do not greatly feel the
lack of space when indoors. Nearly every house has a shed, where the
cooking is done in summer, and while some of these sheds have the
appearance of covered wells others are nice summer kitchens. Often
the cook stove is left outdoors, exposed to all conditions of weather.
In some cases the old-fashioned beehive oven, made of brick and
cement, has been erected and is used by several families. This is
filled with wood, and after the wood is burnt and the oven heated
the bread is put in to bake. The houses generally have no heating
apparatus except the kitchen stove and, perhaps, oil stoves that are
sometimes used in bedrooms. In winter the Italians keep closely
housed. While the Italians buy good cooking ranges, little coal is
used for fuel as yet, hard wood and sometimes only brushwood
being used, women often being seen going home with a bundle of
branches on their heads. Water is obtained from a pump outside
the house. The houses are plastered, and strips of wood supplied
with nails and hooks take the place of closets.
The furnishings are meager and not well arranged. The comments
of an Irish domestic servant were amusing. She had never seen
“ such poverty, such lack of comfort, not a carpet or anything.”
There are few cooking utensils, the dishes are of the most ordinary
white ware, and the table is without a cover until the Italian learns
about oilcloth. Oilcloth with colored figures is very popular, and
is often sent as gifts to friends in Italy. The chairs and tables, are
either a cheap kitchen grade or well-worn old-fashioned articles
which have been picked up at auctions. A jumble of barrels, trunks,
and boxes, often used in place of bureaus, gives the cluttered appear­
ance so familiar in the homes of the poor. General cheerlessness is
evident, for instance, in the house of a well-to-do Italian, where the
contents of the principal room consisted of a stove, two tables, two
shelves with clocks, a barrel, a sewing machine, a printer’s calendar




THE ITALIAN ON THE LANDV

509

on the wall, and a few cheap chairs. The distinctive thing about an
Italian house is the bed. This is set up high, either on homemade
frames or, if purchased, it is made high by feather ticks, and no
matter how dirty or forlorn the house the bed is clean. The Italian
women and girls spend much time making lace, with which they
trim the sheets, while the bed covering is an elaborate piece of lace,
occasionally put over some colored fabric. When possible a girl
makes several of these coverings for her wedding box, sometimes a
year being taken to make one spread, and the designs are simple as
well as original. Little else is found in the bedroom. Bureaus are
seen, but the absence of washstands is noticeable.
Mosquito nettings, screens, and cheap white sash curtains, such as
are seen everywhere in American houses, mark the first advance
toward comfort and decoration in furnishing. A parlor and more
bedrooms constitute the first expansion in living rooms; dining rooms
are seldom provided, and carpets and rugs are found only among
the well to do, or in the homes of the second generation. Here the
furniture— chairs,sofa,couches,lace curtains, lamps, and even pianos—
correspond to those of Americans of the same class, and often a silk
or plush parlor suit is purchased. When the Italian has money to
spend, he is greatly influenced by the example of his American neigh­
bors as well as by that of the more progressive among his own race.
Some Italians have had their homes nicely papered and, if they can
afford it, they keep their houses well painted, occasionally in bright
blues and greens. When an American housewife went to the city
and purchased a new stove to accommodate a hot-water boiler, the
stove was duly inspected and similar purchases were made by the
Italian neighbors. Hammonton has recently put in a water sys­
tem; a number of Italians have had water put in their houses, and
on one street, where Italians and Americans live in close proximity,
several Italian families, when they heard that a family of Americans
was going to put in a bathroom, immediately decided on securing
the same convenience. Some ideas of bathing have been acquired
by the young Italians, and the fresh-water lake at Hammonton
makes a pleasant bathing place for the young people of the town.
When some Italian boys wanted to try the bathing, they were told
by the older Italians that they would die from its effects; but Ameri­
cans suggested a trial, and since then the boys of both nationalities
frequent the lake in summer time. A local telephone system has
recently been completed, and thus far 29 telephones have been sub­
scribed for by Italians.
Several notable cases of improved standards in house building and
furnishing may be mentioned. In one case a large family had lived
for ydars in a tiny story-and-a-half building, but in 1905 this family
purchased valuable property in town and put up a nice house with



510

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

store building adjoining. An Italian hotel keeper has improved an
old property, making a neat and attractive building, in which he
has put a steam-heating plant. Another Italian, of the first genera­
tion, who a few years ago had practically nothing, bought a farm
for $1,500, and, although the land was well manured, it was covered
with weeds and was unprofitable. He cleared the ground and paid
off his indebtedness from the first year’s crop of berries, and since
then, out of his profits, he has purchased a farm of 20 acres on the
main road for $700, and has erected one of the best houses in the
vicinity, at a cost of $3,500, spending $1,100 of this amount for plumb­
ing, which included a hot-water heating apparatus, a well-equipped
bathroom, and a steam pump for the house and bam. This house
is papered and well furnished. When about to purchase the furni­
ture he went to a well-to-do farmer in the vicinity and asked that
he and his wife might be permitted to inspect the interior of the
farmer’s house; he also asked the farmer’s wife for advice, and told
her what amounts he wished to spend on the different rooms. She
told him that in each case he had not allowed enough. Finally the
farmer accompanied him to the city and aided him in making his
purchases. In spite of these fine surroundings this man’s family have
not noticeably departed from the customs of other Italians; his wife
dresses like the other Italian women; she walks 3 miles to town and
returns with purchases on her head, and the family eat in the pump
room in summer. The oldest daughter, however, is being sent away
to school, and the children are early becoming accustomed to good
surroundings.
The food of the Italian newcomer who locates in Hammonton is
similar to that of the berry pickers, with the addition of meat, but­
ter, and eggs, and even among the very poor meat is always eaten
on Saturdays and Sundays, while orders for large quantities of meat
are given on holidays. Good qualities of meat and the very best
brands of flour are used, the latter usually being bought by the bar­
rel. The bread is made in large well-baked loaves, sometimes twisted
into big circles. Fruit and vegetables are supplied from the garden,
and dandelions are frequently gathered in season. “ Italians eat
everything,” one woman said, and strange plants certainly are gath­
ered for “ greens.” Olive oil is obtained from Italy when possible,
and some Italians send for it by the barrel. The oil retails at 50
cents per quart and is of excellent quality. Olives, sausages, and
macaroni are also procured from Italy. The food is in every way
superior to that which is obtained b y many of their countrymen in
the cities, as the studies of Italians in Chicago and elsewhere show
that in large cities these people live largely upon spoiled and rejected
vegetables and decaying fruit.




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

511

The women know practically nothing about cooking, and give little
attention to it. They seldom preserve fruits by canning or drying,
but tomatoes are made into a kind of paste, which is dried on a board
in the sun, and forms an important article of winter diet. Some of the
Italian dishes are as follows: Potatoes with the skins on, each mem­
ber of the family taking a potato from the pot and paring it; a pot of
macaroni with tomato butter; Italian greens (like kale) with pota­
toes; corn-meal mush with fat meat and onions or garlic, and raisins.
They also combine onions, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and herbs
into one dish. Little seasoning other than pepper or mints is used.
Meat is not used more than three times a week. Oatmeal and com
meal are the only cereals purchased, which, together with crackers,
canned goods, oranges, lemons, and bananas are obtained at the stores.
Lemons and oranges are eaten with equal enjoyment. Peanuts are
in great demand at social gatherings. Ice is purchased only on July
16 to keep the beer and soft drinks cool. With regard to the use of
beverages the Italians are fond of the sour wine of their own make;
whisky is sometimes drunk at weddings; beer is frequently given to
children; milk, tea, and coffee are ordinarily used at meals. Many
of the children say that they do not like wine. Preference is shown
by the young Italians for such foods as are used by Americans, and
in some cases they do not indulge in onions and garlic lest the odor
make them offensive to their American fellow-workmen. Italians
show little judgment in the feeding of children, allowing them to eat
such things as green apples and cucumbers without protest. The
lunches of the school children ordinarily consist of sweet potatoes,
apples, bread, and jam, and in the district or country schools their
lunches are often copied after those of their teachers. An advance in
cooking has resulted from contact with the neighbors. For instance,
a daughter will be sent to a neighboring acquaintance to inquire how
to make a cake for a special occasion, what use can be made of rhu­
barb, or how to put up fruit.
In the matter of clothes, the older women of the first generation
retain their native garb, consisting of cotton skirts and waists, which
do not always match, aprons, gay little shawls and handkerchiefs for
their heads, or no covering at all. The shawls are pretty, and are
made of silk or wool, in bright colors, embroidered and fringed; the
handkerchiefs are the bright colored ones so common in Italy. Gala
occasions are marked by the wearing of clean dresses, clean aprons
and shawls, clean handkerchiefs, and long earrings, the ears of the
girls having been pierced when they were tiny babies. Cotton clothes
are worn in winter, and woolen “ fascinators” (white “ nubias” ) are
the headgear generally worn by girls in cold weather. Strangely
enough, the girls will keep their heads covered when no other




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

outer wraps are worn. Blue is a favorite color, but orange, yellow,
and red are frequently seen. The men wear sweaters and cheap
ready-made suits— the ordinary clothing of the poor— and shoes of
American make are generally worn. Italians wear shoes until they
are unfit to mend, but recently they have learned that the wearing of
rubber overshoes saves the shoes.
Italian babies are often clothed in the old-time swaddling clothes,
and are not well cared for. Babies and little children are allowed
to go naked, or are clad in short garments in summer, the moth­
ers having an idea that it is less trouble not to clothe small chil­
dren below the waist. The second generation mothers do not bind
their babies. A local physician has been trying to teach them that
warm clothing and some training will reduce doctors’ bills. Some
years ago, when there was great poverty among these people, large
numbers of little children died, since when the Americans have tried
to impress upon the parents the necessity of warm clothing and proper
covering for the feet of the children in winter. Often little children have
shoes and no stockings in winter, and they begin going barefoot in April.
While some children are inadequately clad, a general improvement is
noticed in that respect, although during the winter season many Italian
children still suffer greatly from coughs and colds because of scanty
clothing. The cotton dresses of the little girls appear dirty simply
because they are made of cheap material, which soon looks dingy in
spite of washing; however, some of the children are tastefully clothed.
When the children go to school, beginning with the kindergarten, if
any necessary part of their apparel is lacking, or if any part is soiled,
the child is sent home to have proper changes made. The appearance
of the children improves after beginning school attendance until, as
young men and women, they are frequently not to be distinguished
from native-born Americans. The first marked change in the stand­
ard of living is probably in the clothing. Neatly attired young men
and women frequently come from crowded and dirty homes, and many
of the younger members of the first generation, as well as of the second,
are clothed in American style.
The Italian women very generally possess sewing machines, often
purchased on the installment plan, and though they do not sew very
well, and the children’s made-over garments are frequently not well
done, they are improving in the character of this class of work. The
frugality of the Italians is evidenced in the patching of clothes, and
sometimes an entire suit or dress will consist of nothing but patches.
From twenty to thirty sheets, that are a mass of neatly sewed pieces,
are often seen hanging on lines, and while they can not as yet be
called a cleanly people, they seem to be always washing their clothes.
At first they did not use lines, but hung the clothes on fences or left
them about on barrels or posts; but the use of lines as well as ironing




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

513

they have learned from Americans. In buying goods their tendency
at first was to spend much time in arguing over prices in the effort to
get them reduced. They are now learning to accept the one-price
system.
The outdoor life is one of the most important features of the coun­
try existence. The women work in the garden and do much of their
housework out of doors, such as washing, cooking, washing dishes,
shelling peas, etc. Their children are outdoors with them, and often,
in the afternoon, groups of women with babies are seen sitting under
the trees. Unquestionably the manner of living of the older people
is not greatly influenced by their neighbors. In the country they
have good food, a good house, and outdoor life, which makes for better
health and comfort; but they do not care for American ways, as they
are not used to them and because they “ cost too much.” The
younger people, on the other hand, learn by observation and by
intercourse with their American neighbors to adopt American ways,
while the children desire American clothes, food, and homes, and the
boy, who helps to build the house, takes pride in a brick walk and
grass “ like Americans;” the girl who visits an American learns of
American dishes, while marked changes during the past six years
have been noticed in the appearance of the younger children, due to
the influence of older brothers and sisters.
The standard of living is most important in relation to the birth
and death rate. It is well known that the Italian men who come
to this country die in large numbers from disease and accidents.
Fevers, malarial and typhoid, are common diseases among the Italians
of the cities. Malaria and typhoid are rarely contracted in the pine
regions, and the town of Hammonton is considered a health resort
for tuberculous patients. The mortality statistics show a small
death rate for adults, but a heavy death rate for children under 10.
This rate, however, is less than the rate in Italy or in our own large
cities. The deaths among children are mainly due to intestinal dis­
eases, especially in summer, and to bronchitis, pneumonia, contagious
diseases, and accidents. The causes for this high death rate— care­
lessness in the selection of clothing and food and lax supervision of
children— will gradually be remedied by greater intelligence among
the mothers. The children born in Hammonton are noticeable for
their health, vigor, and size. Contagious diseases are peculiarly dan­
gerous among Italians, as the family and neighbors crowd into the
room of the sick person in spite of the doctor's protest; but this dan­
ger is at its minimum in the country. The more intelligent Italians,
however, are trying to follow the doctor's directions in caring for sick
children.
One of the chief objections to Italian immigrants has been the
belief that the poor Italian has so long been used to a low standard of



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BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP LABOR.

living that he is never willing to improve his condition when he has
bettered himself financially. While the Italians of Hammonton have,
on the average, made no more than comfortable livings, they have
shown a marked tendency to improve their way of living, and this is
shown in the greater privacy in the family life, in better food, in better
clothes, and in the imitation of the mode of life of their American
neighbors.
SOCIAL RELATIONS.
The home life of the Italians, like that of the Jews, has much for
Americans to emulate. Family bonds are strong, and social pleas­
ures are enjoyed by the family as a whole. Italians not only value
children for their labor, but they have great affection for them and
are uniformly kind to them. To have many children is considered
a blessing; on the other hand, to be childless is regarded as a great
misfortune. Families of six, eight, and ten children are not uncom­
mon. Marriage is desired because of the wish for children, while
parents look forward to the marriage of their offspring because of
the pleasing possibility of grandchildren. The parents have success­
fully controlled their grown-up children, but recently the sons have
shown a tendency to break away; the daughters, however, are closely
guarded. Female chastity is highly esteemed, and very rarely does
an Italian girl go astray. Only two cases of this kind are known in
Hammonton, and in one of these the guTs parents were of different
nationalities and the morals of the mother were not above reproach.
It is to be noted, however, that Italian men will live with German
and Irish women out of wedlock, but this seldom happens with
women of their own nationality, and the foreigners are deserted
when the Italians are able to send for their wives. Unquestionably
the watchful jealousy of the Italian husbands tends to keep the
wives in the path of rectitude, and the church is also vigilant to dis­
courage any moral laxity. A girl, even when betrothed, is not allowed
to be alone with a young man, nor to go out with him. The girls
do not go to gatherings freely, and to attend dances the permission
of the parent is often required. A few of the younger generation
are breaking away from such restrictions, the young men finding
them especially galling, and they frequently seek American girls in
preference to Italian girls.
It is customary among the Italians to’ marry off the daughters
according to seniority. Even if younger daughters are promised,
they can not marry until their elder sister is provided for. Fathers
arrange marriages even against the will of the daughters, preferring
to have them marry old and established men, and they sometimes
send to Italy for wives for their sons. It is said that an Italian in
1899 gave Ids 14-year old daughter in marriage to a man to whom




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515

he owed money and who would on that account cancel the debt.
The statistics of marriage are of interest. There are a few cases of
intermarriage with other nationalities. Two of the first comers
married English sisters; some of the northern Italians have married
Americans; one thoroughly Americanized Italian married an Ameri­
can and repudiated his sister who married an Italian, and several
have married Germans. In one case a German girl from a neigh­
boring town married a well-to-do Italian from the city, and two
Italians of the second generation married Irish girls in Philadelphia.
The results of most jof these marriages have been satisfactory, the
children developing into very desirable American citizens. Italian
young men are anxious to marry American girls. From 1876 to
1901 there were 672 marriages, of which 250, or 37 per cent, were
Italians, and in later years the Italian marriages have increased in
number. From 1889 to 1901 they constituted 49 per cent of the
total marriages, while in 1894, 1900, and 1901 they reached more
than one-half the total number. The average age at which Italians
marry seems to be about the same as that for all marriages of other
nationalities. Thirteen widows and eleven widowers are included
in this investigation, and, as a rule, an Italian widow with a number
of children has every opportunity to make a good second marriage.
The actual figures show that in 109 marriages out of 250 the woman
in each case was under 20. There was one bride at 13 years of age,
two at 14, eight at 15, eighteen at 16, fifteen at 17, thirty-six at 18,
and twenty-nine at 19. The usual differences between the ages of
married women and married men are shown by a few combinations:
Twenty-seven and 37; 26 and 50; 21 and 31, and 22 and 33.
'The number of the bridegrooms in various occupations are as fol­
lows: Ninety-three farmers, 123 laborers, 2 railroad laborers, 1 rag­
man, 4 merchants, 2 barbers, 1 storekeeper, 2 fruit dealers, 1 lumber­
man, 4 workmen, 3 brickmakers, 1 machinist, 3 tailors, 1 pipe maker,
1 blacksmith, and 1 agent. This would indicate that a number of
them came from the city.
The Italian believes in the subjugation of women and thinks he is
justified in administering necessary chastisement. It was amusing
to see a young Italian shake his head and ejaculate, “ Oh! yes,” when,
at a wedding before a justice of the peace, the wife was told to promise
to obey. In some cases they beat their wives, and one offender,
when told by the justice that he could be made answerable to the
law, said he would prefer to return to Italy father than to remain in
this country. There are, however, many kind and affectionate
husbands among the first comers, men who assist their wives in
laundry work and in carrying and also aid their sick wives, and as a
result of intercourse with Americans some ordinary attentions are
now paid to their wives. Some Italian men exploit their wives and



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

children, living upon their earnings. One early comer said: “ In
Pennsylvania woman don’t work; here she pick berries and work.”
The wives not only care for the homes and the farms, but they are
also hired out to other farmers. The life of the Italian woman is
one of hard work, and often pretty girls become old in appearance
and misshapen before they reach 30 years of age. Some of the
younger women, daughters of well-to-do Italians, refuse to engage in
outdoor work.
While the Italians of Hammonton live in groups, they are neces­
sarily too scattered for frequent large gatherings. Berry picking is
popular, because the people work in common, going to and from the
fields together and often having Philadelphia pickers visiting them.
In the evening the out-of-town pickers make the night merry with
story-telling, dancing, and the music of mouth organs, accordions,
and tambourines. As a rule the Italians live quietly, they do not
keep late hours, and they are seldom on the streets in the even­
ing. The isolation of farming life gives a prominent place to home
pleasures. On Sundays whole families are seen driving to visit
friends, and in the winter neighbors gather at one another’s houses
for music, dancing, gambling, or smoking. Occasionally a dance is
given at a house or at one of the public halls. Visits to Philadelphia
are another source of diversion, and in the summer Philadelphia Ital­
ians, especially those having sick children, often visit Hammonton
relatives. The important social occasions are weddings, christen­
ings, and church festivals, while large numbers gather at funerals.
The Italians generally belong to the Catholic Church. One family,
where the Italian married an English woman, attends the Episcopal
Church; the Baptist Church has an Italian communicant, and the
Presbyterian Church conducts an Italian mission, where an Italian
evangelist preaches to the people. This mission has been established
for fifteen years, the effort being to reach the people by doctrinal
preaching, and when the preacher has been satisfactory the mission
has flourished. The mission society has a good building. In 1897
there were 31 members, with 63 children in the Sunday school, and
in 1905 there were about 50 members. American women aid in the
Sunday-school work.
The prosperity of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church has been largely
due to the interest of the Irish Catholics of the community. Mr..
Cogley, an old Settler, had services at his house, the children of the
early comers were brought there to be baptized, and at Mr. Cogley’s
suggestion the bishop provided a visiting priest. The first comers
among the Italians were so poor and so engrossed with their work
that they were not very enthusiastic contributors. When St. Joseph’s
Church was built in 1895, Judge Byrnes donated the lot, and some
Americans contributed money.



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

517

This church is maintained as a mission, and there have been both
German and well-trained Italian priests in charge. The Italians
attend church regularly, religious observances playing an important
part in their lives, and on holidays and saints’ days all work is laid
aside, special masses are said, and large crowds are seen going to
church. These Italians, however, are not so devout a people as the
Irish. They have less respect for the person of the priest, and, being
used to enforced contributions for church maintenance in Italy, they
are slow to respond to appeals for voluntary support. In 1899 the
priest demanded that they arrive on time at services and that they
make larger contributions, and to enforce his demands he even went
so far as to lock the church against some of his congregation, where­
upon his parishioners forced an entrance. The Italians were not
instructed in church doctrine in Italy, and their ideas are crude and
superstitious.
The great religious festival is on July 16, and Hammonton is one
of the few places (a) in the United States where it is celebrated on
a large scale. It is especially interesting in Hammonton, not only
because of the rural surroundings and the large attendance of Ital­
ians from Philadelphia, Camden, and Atlantic City, but because of
the significance given to it by Americans. In the early days there was
some opposition to processions and the carrying of images in the
streets; the town council was requested not to sanction it, and in
1901 the priest, thinking it best not to arouse prejudice, forbade it,
whereupon he was mobbed, and a riot almost ensued. Public opin­
ion is influenced by commercial considerations and the local mer­
chants have found July 16 a rich harvest time, one merchant stating
that he had taken in more money on July 15 than on any day
before Christmas. Many outsiders com e'to the town, and the Ital­
ians themselves spend their money freely. While berry picking
makes money plentiful, the pickers seldom ask to have their tickets
cashed before July 15. Large stores of provisions are laid in, includ­
ing good meats, especially veal, as well as cakes and candies. Every
Italian must have new shoes, and all the girls have new dresses.
Judging from the conversation heard at the stocking factory, it is the
Easter time in the costuming of Italian women.
July 16, “ the Italian Fourth,” as it is called, had made such an
impression on the American children that in. 1903 the town council
authorized a special celebration of the Fourth of July, with a street
parade, a gathering in the park, a patriotic address, band playing, and
fireworks. • However, no town celebration has equaled the Italian cele­
bration, especially that of 1905. The following extracts from a local
« A great celebration is held in New York where the first Italian Church was built
and dedicated to our Lady of M t. Carmel, to whom this day is also dedicated.

304b—No. 70—07----- i



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

paper best describe the Americans’ appreciation of the evening’s
entertainment: “ In the evening all the surrounding country was in
town— that is, the people— to see the fireworks. We believe it is a
safe estimate to claim that not less than two thousand people were
present and remained to the close. A large screen was set up near
the grand stand, and an exhibition of moving pictures of the life of
Christ, mostly taken from the Passion Play, was an unusual feature
of the evening. It was about 9 o’clock when the first bomb was
fired, and high in air bursted with a deafening crack, scattering colored
fire over a wide circle, and eliciting screams of delight. Then followed
a display never equaled in the town, lasting an hour and a half. It
was noticeable that not a rocket nor a roman candle was included in
the programme; all were rare and beautiful. A professional was sent
from New York to fire them off.” While this celebration occurs at
the hottest time of the year, and the people undergo great fatigue,
the crowd is orderly and shows no disposition for quarrelsome or
drunken rioting. There is little drinking indulged in, and this occurs
only in the saloon near the baseball grounds— where two games are
played in the course of the day— at some distance from the church.
Excellent management is apparent. The exercises were in the hands
of a committee until 1905, at which time the Neapolitan element
among the Italians organized a Lady of Mount Carmel Society, this
society having been incorporated. Money is contributed by Italians
of Philadelphia and Atlantic City, as well as by local Italians and
merchants of Hammonton; $400 was spent in 1904 and $600 in 1905.
Weddings are especially joyous occasions. Sometimes they are
solemnized at the church; often at the office of the justice of the peace.
A large crowd sometimes accompanies a wedding party to the latter
place, shouting, firing pistols, and showering the wedded pair with
pink and white almond-shaped candies. On their return to the house
the wedding party frequently spends the whole night in dancing.
For music, accordions, tambourines, guitars, and violins are played,
and the dances are made up of many impromptu steps. The cele­
bration of a christening sometimes lasts three days, and the baby is
always decorated. Many curious customs are still maintained at
funerals, where the emotional and excitable character of the people
is peculiarly evident, and the house is usually crowded with people
weeping and shouting, apparently almost crazy. The undertaker,
when coming to place the body in the coffin, has sometimes felt as if
he were being mobbed. Frequently all the clothes of the deceased
are put on the body, and in one case a baby had on three coats in
addition to dresses .and other clothing. Artificial flowers are placed on
the forehead and petunias in the mouth of the corpse. The graves are
marked by little wooden crosses or little wooden houses, in which are
placed artificial flowers of wax, etc., statues, or pictures. In recent



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

519

years the behavior at funerals has been more subdued and more in
accordance with American ideas.
The principal Italian society is the Beneficial Society, for which the
dues are 50 cents per month and the sick benefit $6 per week. The
society has a contract with one of the local physicians to attend its
members for a stated sum. Occasionally a social function is held
under the auspices of the Beneficial Society; and in 1900 a ball was
given, which was largely attended by non-Italians and at which prizes
were offered for the “ best lady dancers/’ and in 1901 a game of base­
ball was played under the protection of the society. The society owns a
building 28 by 40 feet. A number of the large fraternities have camps,
lodges, or circles in Hammonton, but few Italians as yet are included
in the membership. However, a prominent Italian of the second
generation, whose father came from northern Italy, is a leading mem­
ber of the I. O. O. F.; there are a few Italians among the Red Men;
some Italians of the second generation are in the Shield of Honor,
and recently another lodge of that fraternity has been organized,
principally of Italians, but with a few Americans to leaven the loaf
and prevent disputes. The Little Ha Ha Circle includes one woman,
whose father was an Italian. One Italian, the manager of an Ameri­
can woman’s farm, is a member of the Hammonton Grange.
In their relations with Americans the Italians are good neighbors.
They are very appreciative of kindness, and show their liking for
Americans by gifts and a willingness to aid where necessity demands.
Their gifts often consist of early fruits or vegetables, for which they
could get good prices— squashes of a kind not possessed by the neighbor,
melons that ripen before his, boxes of berries, and the pickers from
town occasionally bring tropical fruits. Their artistic nature is some­
times shown in their gifts of a full branch of blackberries, a bunch of
huckleberry stems, or some rosy apples, arranged with leaves. In
one case an American farmer was ill and his Italian neighbor sent his
man to work his farm, for which he would take no pay, saying, “ You
good to me.” In another case the pickers, who are paid by the quart,
left their work to pick beans rather than allow an elderly woman of
the household to do the work. An American girl was recently ill, and
on that account the carpentry work on a neighboring house was
suspended, the Italian workman telling the farmer he would not work
even if the contractor ordered it. When there is a fire, when a
doctor is needed, or in any emergency, if they can understand what
is required they are ready to help.
The Italians are essentially a social and cordial people, and the
natural politeness of the older people, which so often manifests itself
in a pleasant bow to strangers on the country road, has a decided
charm. When this courtesy is practiced by the Italians of the younger
generation, it makes the young people very agreeable. Some store­



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BULLETIN OF THE BUKEAU OF LABOR.

keepers have stated their preference for young Italian men and women
as customers. When strangers go to their houses, no matter what
their errand, they are treated with courtesy and are offered wine,
fruit, or bunches of flowers and mints. Visitors are always welcome.
In the few cases where the parents are of different nationalities the
social position of the second generation is good. The young men are
anxious to mingle with Americans and they go to baseball games,
entertainments, the dancing school, and dances. In 1906 an Italian
baseball team was maintained. The children enter enthusiastically
into celebrations of the national holidays, such as Washington’s
Birthday and Decoration Day. American social customs are readily
adopted. In cases of death well-known Italians, like Americans,
insert cards in the local newspapers, thanking their friends for their
kindness; and the movements of prominent Italians, visits to New
York or Atlantic City, the presence of guests, weddings, and births
form news items in the local papers. One Italian of the second
generation had a wedding ceremony performed at the Episcopal
Church according to American usage.
The generally peaceable character of these people is evidenced by
the fact that Americans are not afraid of them. They do not molest
Americans; they seldom quarrel or have trouble with them, and many
Americans say that when they are out late at night they have less
fear of Italians than of Americans. The chief misdoings of Italians
that affect Americans are lying and stealing— two vices of an oppressed
and poverty-stricken people, which are likely to decrease as their
economic condition is bettered. Thievery takes the form of petty
larceny. Italians never enter houses, even when the farmhouses are
known to be left alone, but they sometimes help themselves to fruit
and vegetables, such as watermelons, com in the crib, onions, potatoes,
cabbage, and apples and pears on the trees; one Italian had his vine­
yard robbed on a September night; two pigs prepared for market
mysteriously disappeared, and an American’s sweet-potato field was
raided in 1900. The pickers take potatoes from the field, carefully
recovering the hills. Americans have found it unwise to plant vege­
tables among berries when fields are far from the house; the pickers
unquestionably help themselves to the berries and supply themselves
with cranberries for the winter; women hide cranberries in their
pockets or by looping up their skirts; agricultural implements or clothes
on the line are sometimes taken .when Italians enter a yard on an
errand or to dig dandelions in the spring; little children carry off the
toys of other children when they come to sell berries, or they pilfer
in stores, and it is considered a misfortune rather than a disgrace to
get caught. But after all, with ordinary care on the part of Amer­
icans, little stealing is possible, and the high character of many
Italians indicate that this fault will be outgrown. One American



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

521

family which has lived among Italians for more than ten years never
lost anything but a bag of potatoes which was left at nightfall near the
road. When an Italian begins to own property he becomes solicitous
for the good behavior of his neighbors.
There is a difference of opinion as to the comparative honesty of
the Italians in paying their debts. Many residents of Hammonton
declare that Italians are generally honest and pay better than Ameri­
cans; others claim that they will avoid the contracting of debts if
possible. The shoe dealers say that they pay better than Americans,
although they generally keep credit accounts, paying for the last pair
of shoes when they get new ones. Proprietors of stores carrying
other lines of goods speak well of them. In one case an Italian said
he could not put in town water until he had paid his bill to the general
storekeeper, who had trusted him while he was ill. Unless they are
very poor Italians pay taxes promptly, and in a few cases their taxes
have been remitted. When other nationalities would ask for relief
Italians manage to exist without aid. It is said, however, that they
do not pay each other very well, and, indeed it is among their own
people that most of their legal difficulties arise.
While Italians have great respect for the law they are prone to enengage in litigation, and will litigate about almost anything, spending
a good deal of money in this way. It is fortunate, however, that
they are learning to substitute legal proceedings for correcting wrongs,
instead of resorting to the use of physical force as a means of vengeance.
An interesting case occurred in 1894. An old Italian was caught
attempting to assault a 9-year-old Italian girl— fortunately the only
case of this character on record in the community— and the father
and brother choked him, but did not kill him. When the father
handed him over to the police he said: “ I first thought I would kill
him; but I remembered that I would be punished, and I had better
let the squire take charge of him.” Italians are frequently quarrel­
some among themselves. Americans have great fear of their use of
the knife or stiletto; but they forget, as a justice of the peace says,
that this is merely the Italian way of fighting, which is more danger­
ous than the use of the fists, and so their fights get into court while
American combats are not heard of. Their knives are sharp, twoedged weapons, and are carried in their shirts. The quarrels are
usually the result of love affairs or of drinking, not that Italians are
often drunkards, but they can not stand beer and whisky on top of
their own make of wine. They are primitive in their display of
anger. For instance, one man on the public street, with a crowd of
people laughing at him, got into a rage over his bicycle and broke it
by slamming it upon the pavement.
An occasional criminal makes his way into this country, one resi­
dent having committed seven murders in Italy and spent twenty-five



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

years in the penitentiary. Some brutal murders have occurred, and
in a few cases they were committed for money, one being for $100.
Sometimes men are stabbed and left for dead; in one fight a man’s
ear was bitten off. The leader of a strike in a neighboring town was
waylaid and killed, because he had himself returned to work when he
received no pay from the strikers, although he had induced the men
and boys to leave their places. His own anger gave the opportunity.
In falling from his bicycle he lost his hat, and, picking it up, in a rage
he tore it to pieces with his teeth. Needing a hat for a wedding he
returned to the town and was waylaid. The doctor is sometimes
called in to attend a patient “ stabbed bad by a cow.” In one stab­
bing affray two men, after drinking, got into an altercation while still
in their wagon, from which they alighted to fight, and one of the party
procured an axe as a weapon, whereupon his opponent plunged a
knife into his back, penetrating the lung. In troubles among pickers
revolvers are sometimes drawn; and at a funeral where two Italians
began a fight they used their fists; one Italian, caught shooting quail
out of season, tried to shoot, the officer. As a rule, however, the
Italian respects the officers of the law, and when a German priest
refused to have the images taken from the church and was mobbed,
six constables were able to clear the church with but slight resistance.
Before the license law was adopted a number of Italians were indicted
for running “ speak easies.” As already said, however, the Italians
are not an intemperate people, especially when they stick to their own
sour wines, and a drunken Italian is usually not disorderly in public.
Gambling on simple games is a vice among Italians. Some of the
Italian “ speak easies” were considered places where the employer
sold liquor to his ignorant employees and profited by their gambling.
It must be remembered that this is a summary of the crimes and
misdemeanors of Italians covering a period of more than twenty
years, and in many cases the offenders were recent immigrants. The
young men of the second generation, while inclined to affect the
unfortunate ideal— too frequently put before newcomers to the
United States— of being “ sporty,” are quiet and well behaved.
Some of them give all of their leisure time to music. The civil
cases grow out of small offenses and retaliations— a desire for
vengeance. For instance, one woman may hit another with an
umbrella, and they may call each other names; pigs may get into a
neighbor’s yard; a bicycle may be borrowed and not returned; a boy
may be kicked; or they may slap one another, and many quarrels
arise from disputes between or about children. While their anger
lasts they wish to send each other to jail, no matter what the cost,
but the justice can usually reconcile such cases and settle them at




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

523

once. For instance, a peaceable Italian was attacked by a drunken
one who used offensive and threatening language; the case, however,
ended by their shaking hands, the plaintiff saying: “ Don't wish to
make trouble." A number of cases have come up over verbal orders
to buy horses, where the parties refused to take the horses and pay
expenses; also cases have come up over the charge for the use of a
horse. In a case of dispute over wages the prosecutor was willing
to pay costs far beyond the amount demanded. The desire for ven­
geance was shown in a recent case. An Italian was accused by an
American of violating a game law, but at the trial before the justice of
the peace he proved his innocence, and he immediately swore out a
warrant against his accuser for perjury. On the whole it may be said
that the Italians are a law-abiding, peaceful people, with some of the
faults of grown-up children which will, with improved opportunities
and education, tend to disappear.
Hammonton is not a suburb, and as yet the Italian population
does not take a prominent part in politics. The principal inhabitants
are business men, with their business interests in the town instead of
in a neighboring city. They accordingly do not leave politics to for­
eigners and an inferior class of Americans, and, moreover, the town
meeting remains as an educational feature. The town officers are
usually of a higher order than is found in large cities, although occa­
sionally it is necessary to get rid of some official who has been in office
so long that he fails to discriminate between public and private inter­
ests. The political questions generally at issue are licenses, care of
roads, water supply, drainage, etc. Of recent years reform move­
ments, sometimes for merely local districts, agitate the State, and they
often cause considerable activity in general elections. The town of
Hammonton is divided into two voting districts. In 1904 in the
first district there were 394 non-Italian and 63 Italian votes; in the
second, 361 non-Italian and 130 Italian, or 948 votes in all, with 193,
or 20 per cent, Italians. As the Italian bom population is 1,232, it
shows that many are not naturalized. The Italians of Hammonton
are given to following leaders, and the Americans who influence them
have won their ascendancy by assisting these ignorant men and by
kindly treatment of them.
National politics do not enter into the town elections, and if there
is any contest it is usually over either local issues or the character of
the candidate. The Italians as yet, in spite of their large numbers,
take little part.in town matters, although some of them attend town
meetings, especially when they are interested in drainage questions
or street openings. The more intelligent Italians protested at the
cost of the waterworks, as they claimed that the out-of-town citizens
would not be benefited by the plant. They sometimes appear at




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

council meetings to protest against the noise made by the gas works,
to complain of the condition of some road, or to ask damages, as in
one case for a strawberry patch which had been walked over when
the road was blocked with snow. Few Italians have held official
positions, which is due to the youth of educated Italians. On one
occasion (in 1896) the nominating caucus mentioned Italians for
councilmen, overseer of highways, and overseer of the poor, but they
were not elected. One prominent Italian of the second generation
has been a constable for several years; another has been assessor.
Three have been called on county juries. An Italian was placed on
a recent coroner’s jury, in a case where two Italians were killed by
the railroad; Italians have also acted as jurors in civil cases. One of
the freeholders of Atlantic County is an Italian, and he serves on the
standing committees* for country roads and release of prisoners— he
is not a resident of Hammonton, however. An Italian of the second
generation serves as one of the election clerks and also as commis­
sioner of appeals for taxes.
The Italians of Hammonton show themselves to be a social people,
with simple and natural tastes; their love of home and children is
healthful. They are ignorant, primitive, and childlike, but their
faults will largely be mended by education and contact with good
American customs. Their courtesy, gentleness, and love of outdoor
life and simple pleasures are actual contributions to American life.
The country environment seems to develop their better qualities and
they take a normal part in the life of the community.
THE SECOND GENERATION.
Throughout the foregoing pages frequent mention has been made
of the rapid improvement in efficiency, manners, and customs which
the second generation of Italians of Hammonton is making. Com­
prehensive information upon this point is, however, difficult to obtain,
but the facts of improvement can be generally observed, without the
possibility of quantitative statement. In one field, however, and that
the most important, conclusive evidence of improvement is available.
Facts regarding school children are valuable and easily comparable
with other statistics, and this study of the second generation of Ital­
ians will, therefore, be confined to children of school age. A sum­
mary of urban surroundings of Italian immigrants will emphasize
the contrast between city and country environments.
The conditions resulting from the massing of immigrants in large
cities have brought us face to face with all the serious problems of




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

525

immigration, and no race has been more affected than the Italians,
the physical degeneration among them being so great that the Italian
Government has been considering some remedy for the evil. To
whatever city they go Italians are housed in the most insanitary and
ill-built quarters, and in New York City they live on the top floors of
old tenements, reached by dark, dirty halls and rickety stairways,
with often no water except from a hydrant in the yard; with large
families and even lodgers crowded into two or three small rooms,
some of which, if not windowless, have no outlet except into an airshaft or into rooms which have in some cases been occupied by tenants
suffering from tuberculosis, or which are used as workshops as well as
living rooms. In cities where tenements do not exist the Italians,
always seeking the cheapest houses, are found in the neglected build­
ings deserted by former tenants. In New Orleans they are found in
the old French quarter; in Chicago, in the frame cottages of the fron­
tier city, with the rear and side tenements that fill the original open
spaces; in Philadelphia, in the ill-lighted houses along small courts
and narrow streets. Overcrowding is prevalent everywhere, the
small houses intended for one family being often sublet to several
families, while only the most primitive bathing and washing facilities
are provided. Surface drainage, scattered garbage, bad smells, and
insanitary and filthy conditions are present in the Italian quarters in
every city. The food consists of fruits and vegetables rejected from
better markets, flour paste, pork (too much of which is consumed),
wine, beer, and cordials. Little children are seldom fed milk, but
share the food of the adults.
The effect of bad housing and overcrowding is first apparent'in
the health of the women and children. The women, who have been
accustomed to an outdoor life, fall easy victims to tuberculosis, bron­
chial troubles, indigestion, and other disorders, which also affect the
health of their infants; rickets is a common disease. There is no
opportunity for fresh air to counteract the dirt and lack of proper
care for little children, and many children die. The agents of a life
insurance company advise against insuring without medical exami­
nation children under four years of age. I^ad food, accidents, sweat
shops, and bronchial diseases impair the health and undermine the
constitutions of the second generation.
The moral effects resulting from city conditions are still more
serious. Children have no playgrounds but the street, and the street
associations, as well as their own overcrowded quarters and contact
with other tenement-house inmates, too often make them familiar
with many forms of vice; the boys grow beyond the control of their
parents, who are unable to impart the sterling virtues they have
brought with them; child labor in its worst forms is made possible.




526

BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Newsboys are Italians in many cases, and little children are found in
sweat shops and factories. Nowhere do the children come in contact
with Americans. In the schools, as the result of the segregation of
nationalities, they are apt to be massed with their own people or other
foreigners, and their English is a patois of the slums, a mixture of
slang and broken English. The pressure of city life causes the chil­
dren to leave school at an early age to go to work, consequently they
do not have an opportunity to develop physically or mentally, or to
measure themselves with Americans and try to emulate them. They
are inhabitants of a “ little Italy,” which, as an environment for chil­
dren, lacks some of the best features of the fatherland. In such an
environment the benefit to be derived from American institutions is
minimized by the evil accompaniments of the slums.
In contrast with this the influences molding the Italian children
of Hammonton are: (1) The country environment; (2) the contact
with Americans, and (3) the public schools. In Hammonton the
Italians lead an outdoor life, and the women not only work in the
fields, but wash, cook, and serve the meals out of doors. There is
no abrupt transition from country to city life; their health is, there­
fore, generally good, and their children are robust. While the little
children sometimes die from lack of proper care, the fresh air and
cleanly surroundings increase a child's chances of life. The larger
children are constantly out of doors, and the tasks that are imposed
upon them are of a healthy nature and teach them to be useful.
There are few shanties that can be converted into homes in Hammon­
ton, and therefore, as already stated, new houses are built which are
fresh, clean, and warm, with an adequate water supply, and there is
consequently a constantly rising standard in regard to overcrowding.
The food is largely obtained from the gardens; there is no opportu­
nity to buy secondhand clothing from push carts, and, in fact, an
Italian in a place like Hammonton makes a new start in life, with
new possessions instead of being forced to use the leavings of his bet­
ters. While the children are kept busy, child labor in evil forms is
impossible; the isolation of the homes prolongs the parents’ control
over the children, and #with no vicious influences to intervene, the
simple virtues of the Italian family life can take deeper root. Above
all, the Italian child in Hammonton is an organic part of an Ameri­
can community. The Italian immigrant and his children work for
Americans, they buy at the same stores, they meet them on the street,
they have them for neighbors, and, most important of all, Italian and
American children sit side by side in the schoolroom. The public
school is one hopeful feature in city life, but it has an added value in
Hammonton, because in a country place all American children attend
the public school, and as a result the schools are as good as the com­
munity can afford.



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

527

The location of Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, with its high
assessment values, gives the county a generous school fund, and
within the past ten years the increasing number of Italian children
in Hammonton has required new buildings and more teachers. The
school law of New Jersey provides a State appropriation for every
additional child or teacher, and accordingly the large number of Ital­
ian children is not considered a burden but rather a help to the town
in obtaining better school facilities. The Italians, moreover, pay a
fair share of the taxes. Hammonton has a large central school, con­
sisting of three well-equipped buildings, containing all the grades
from the kindergarten through the four years of high school, and in
addition, there are seven suburban schools. The country children
who attend the suburban schools have no opportunity to go to the
kindergarten, but when they reach the fifth grade they are trans­
ferred to the central school. The board of education is composed of
some of the leading men in the town, the .president of the board
being the leading manufacturer in the locality, and the superintend­
ent, who has been in charge since 1898, is a progressive educator.
The teachers, as a rule, have had experience and training. Com­
mercial courses have recently been introduced into the high school.
In 1903 the superintendent took a school census of the town, with
a view to enforcing the compulsory feature of the school law, and
while the figures are necessarily not complete (a) the results as they
stand are of interest. Of the 400 families visited(*6) 242 were Ital­
ian. Of the total of 1,340 children 1,294 were of school age, and of
these 645 were boys and 649 girls. Two hundred and ninety-nine
boys and 318 girls were non-Italians and 346 boys and 331 girls were
Italians. The preponderance of boys among the Italians is noticeable.
The present school enrollment (1906-7) shows how the Italian
children are distributed through the grades. There are 1,155 chil­
dren enrolled, 712 in the central schools and 443 in the suburban
schools. The table following shows the total enrollment and the
number and per cent of Italian children in the various grades of the
central schools and in the district schools of Hammonton.
a A large number of children under 4 years were included, and a few above 16 years.
As usual the Italians are enumerated from names, which method occasionally causes
error.
&The average number of children to a fam ily was 2.29 for non-Italians and 2.71 for
the Italians. The largest Italian fam ily contained 10 children, the largest non-Italian
8. Of families of 6 children or over there were 13 non-Italian and 28 Italian; of 5
children, 15 non-Italian and 25 Italian; of 4 children, 20 non-Italian and 36 Italian;
of 3 children, 62 non-Italian and 51 Italian, and of 2 children, 60 non-Italian and 54
Italian.




528

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF IT A LIA N CHILDREN EN ROLLED IN THE HAMMONTON
SCHOOLS, 1906-7.
All children.
School.

CENTRAL

Fe­
Males. males.

Italian children.
Fe­
Males. males.

Total.

Per
cent of
Italian
total
Total. ofchil­
dren.

SCH OOLS.

High school (twelfth grade)............................
High school (eleventlTgrade)..........................
High school (tenth grade)..............................
High school (ninth grade)...............................
Eighth grade..........7....... .................................
Seventh grade...................................................
Sixth grade, senior...........................................
Sixth grade, junior...........................................
Fifth grade, senior............................................
Fifth grade, junior...........................................
Fourth grade.....................................................
Third grade, A ..................................................
Third grade, B ..................................................
Second grade, senior I I ....................................
Second grade, junior I I ....................................
Primary grade, senior I ...................................
Primary grade, junior I ...................................
Kindergarten....................................................
T otal........................................................

5
7
7
9
19
15
18
22
18
31
28
21
13
24
15
31
43
34
360 |

!

«i
«4
a1
2
2
1
5
12
9
14
14
6
6
10
4
13
17
13

1
1
4
7
2
7
10
7
10
5
11
14
5
13

1
4
1
2
3
2
9
19
11
21
24
13
16
15
15
27
22
26

712

128

103

231

32.4

50
73
60
61
61
56
82

21
34
22
24
25
22
45

29
39
23
23
25
13
33

50
73
45
47
50
35
78

100.0
100.0
75.0
77.0
82.0
62.5
95.1

4
13
13
11
11
23
20
19
25
22
29
19
23
12
33
23
16
36

9
20
20
20
30
38
38
41
43
53
57
40
36
36
48
54
59
70

352

29
39
29
28
32
24
37

11.1
20.0
5.0
10.0
10.0
5.3
2a 7
46.3
25.6
39.6
42.1
32.5
44.4
41.7
31.3
50.0
37.3
37.1

D IS T R IC T S C H O O L S (F IR S T T O F IF T H G R A D E S ).

Middle road........................................................
First road......................................... ................
Union road........................................................
Rosedale.............................................................
Magnolia............................................................
Lake...................................................................
Main road................................................ ..........

21
34
31
33
29
32
45

T otal........................................................

225

218

443

193

185

378

85.3

Grand total.............................................

585

570

1,155

321

288 |

609

52.7

a The large proportion of girls is due to the fact that in several families of mixed parentage the children
are all girls who are just of high-school age.

According to the above table the proportion of Italian children in
the central schools in the grades below the high school ranged from
50 per cent in the senior primary grade to only 5.3 per cent in the
seventh grade. Few Italians are found in the upper grades, the
children usually leaving at the end of the fifth grade. So far only
one boy and one girl have been graduated from the high school. The
enrollment of Italians in the district schools ranged from 62.5 to 100
per cent of all the children and averaged 85.3 per cent for the seven
schools. This shows a marked tendency for the suburban schools
to become almost entirely Italian, due not only to the increase in the
number of Italian children, but to the removal of Americans to the
town and to the growing up of the children of the early American
settlers. One new schoolhouse was built in 1902 to accommodate a
district recently built up by Italians, and as their children go later to
the central school this segregation of these children in the suburban
schools is not disadvantageous.
The longer the Italians remain in the community the more they
learn to value education, especially for boys. One Italian expressed



THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

529

a common point of view: “ I no send daughter to school. When 17
or 18 she marry. I send boy ’til 14 or 15. He get education, make
more money, stay with me.” They have, therefore, learned to asso­
ciate greater earning capacity with* education. In some cases the
mothers are so anxious to start children in school that very little ones
are claimed to be 4 years old; and the number of Italian girls and boys
in the upper grades is increasing. The difficulties in the way of
enforcing the compulsory education law are the scattered country
houses, the tendency to keep one child out of school to care for the
younger children or to do other work, and the early withdrawals or
late entrance to school of children who are berry picking or working
on the farms. Little children of 3 or 4 years of age are started in as
nurses for the baby until, in the case of some girls, a child of 10 or 12
years of age has never been to school. A strict enforcement of the
law can meet this difficulty.
In order to compare the physical development of these Italian chil­
dren with that of city children the writer in the fall of 1905 examined
over 600 Hammonton school children, including the children in four
of the suburban schools. In many cases a local physician also exam­
ined them, and he found that most of the Italian children were in a
good physical condition and that their general health compared favor­
ably with that of American (°) children.
Five hundred and ninety-one children (188 Italian boys and 163
Italian girls, and 110 American boys and 130 American girls), from 4
years to 14 years of age were examined. The number of children for
the different ages varied, but a fair average was represented. A
comparison of the figures showing the average height and weight of
Italian boys and girls with those for American boys and girls of Ham­
monton indicates, as would be expected, that the Americans are
superior in physique, but it is significant that the differences are not
very great, especially among the younger children; for example, the
Italian girls of 5 years old average 41.4 inches in height, the American
girls 42.5 inches; the Italian boys 41.6 inches, and the American boys
41.8 inches; the Italian girls weigh 40.9 pounds, the American girls
42.2 pounds; the Italian boys 41.7 pounds, and the American boys
40.5 pounds. In the matter of weight the Italian boys are superior,
and the average height and weight for ages of 6 years and 7 years,
respectively, are equally satisfactory. As the children grow older
the race tendencies are noticeable, and at 12 to 13 years of age the
American children have the advantage of almost 3 inches in height
for girls and 2 inches for boys, and 6 pounds for both sexes in weight.
a ' ‘ Am erican” is used in a broad sense, and includes all children not Italians, a few
being born in Germany or elsewhere. About 10 per cent of the Italian children
were born in Italy, and had lived in the United States for periods ranging from six
months to eleven years.



530

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

The condition of the Italian children is shown to more advantage
when their measurements are compared with the measurements of
the average American child. The American children of Hammon­
ton are as a rule slightly above the average in height, but slightly
below in weight, while the Italian children are about 1 inch inferior in
height, the younger children being almost the average in weight, and
none of them are far below the average. For example, the average
height of children at 5 years old is 41.5 inches, (a) the Italian boys
measured averaging 41.6 inches and the girls 41.4 inches; the aver­
age of children at 6 years is 44 inches, the Italian boys averaging 42.9
inches, the girls 43.1 inches; the average of children at 7 years is 46
inches, the Italian boys averaging 45.5 inches, the girls 45.5 inches.
In weight, the average weight of children at 5 years is 41 pounds,
the Italian boys averaging 41.7 pounds, the girls 40.9 pounds; the
average of children at 6 years is 45 pounds, the Italian boys averag­
ing 41.7 pounds, the girls 42.5 pounds; the average of children at 7
years is 49.5 pounds, the Italian boys averaging 47.4 pounds and
the girls 48.3 pounds. In a comparison of these figures with
measurements of Massachusetts children the Italian children of
Hammonton, especially the boys, average well in height, but are
slightly inferior in weight.
A comparison of the measurements of the Italian children of
Hammonton with those of children of Turin, Italy (*&), and of New
York City (c) show more valuable results. Measurements of children
from Turin, a city in northern Italy, will unquestionably exceed the
measurements of children from southern Italy; but even the dis­
advantageous conditions of New York City show the younger children
of New York to be slightly superior in height and weight. (d) For
example, at 6 years of age the average height of Turin boys is 40.7
inches and of girls 40.2 inches; of New York boys 42.4 inches and of
girls 41.4 inches; in weight Turin boys average 36.8 pounds and the
girls 36.2 pounds, while in New York City boys average 44.2 pounds
and girls 40.9 pounds. For the older children the New York City
children average slightly less in weight than the Turin children; how­
ever, when the Turin figures are compared with the Hammonton
figures, the Hammonton figures are in every case superior to the
Turin figures, and the Hammonton figures are also in every case
superior to the New York figures, as is shown in the following table:
a The figures of Dr. L. E . H olt, as given in “ The Care and Feeding of Children, ”
are used. The weight also includes clothing. The figures are for boys, but girls
usually weigh one pound less than boys and have the same height.
&Official.
c Obtained from agent of Prudential Life Insurance Company.
d Also include some northern Italians, while Hammonton Italians are all from south­
ern Italy or Sicily.




581

THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

A VERAG E HE IG H T AND W EIGH T OF IT A LIA N CH ILD R E N IN T U R IN , NEW Y O R K
AND HAMMONTON, B Y SEX AND AGE.
Average height (inches).
Locality.

Boys of each age.

Average weight (pounds).

Girls of each age.

Boys of each age.

Girls of each age.

5
7
10
5
5
7
10
5
8
10
8
10
years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years.
Turin................
New Y ork .......
Hamm onton...

38.2
39.6
41.6

44.3
446
45.5

49.8
48.2
51.2

38.0
39.0
43.1

4a 0
442
46.8

50.1
49.2
52.2

33.5
38.9
41.7

45.6
50.1
51.0

54 7
57.2
59.5

3a 1
37.2
40.9

41.9
48.4
49.1

54 5
61.1
62.3

These figures indicate that Italian children tend to improve in
physique in the United States, an improvement which is more
noticeable in a favorable rural environment.
The physical examination of New York and Hammonton children
shows other important differences. The agent of an industrial life
insurance company reported that in New York City the complex­
ions of the children were waxy, with dark rings under the eyes, and
there were general indications of rickets. Out of 604 children ex­
amined 59, or 9.8 per cent, had rickets; many children were anemic;
their dentition was imperfect; the expressions on their faces were
unpleasant, and their clothes were also ragged and filthy. In dif­
ferent examinations, out of 100 children 44 were considered unde­
sirable risks; out of 94, 20; and out of 200, 64. The Hammonton
children, on the other hand, in the opinion of the examining physi­
cian, presented fair risks. Their complexions were good and healthy;
in only twenty cases were sores or blemishes mentioned, and these
not serious; rickets is an unknown disease in Hammonton, and there
were no indications of anemia. While the countenances of many of
the children were sober, these children seemed happy and well
nourished; some had exceptionally bright faces, and few abnormali­
ties were found. There were three definitely marked cases where the
teeth indicated syphilis; there were three cases of tongue-tie, four
of flat chests, two of phthisis, one of sore eye, one of sore eyelid, and
one of puffy eyes; two boys were feeble-minded, and one was eccen­
tric. Several boys had spreading ears, one a mapped tongue and an
angular jaw, and another could not straighten his arm because of a
fracture. These were the only defects noted in over 300 children.
The dentition was generally good, although decay of the teeth had
sometimes set in, from lack of care. The examining physician made
use of the stethoscope, measured the childrens' chests, and tested
their breathing capacity, which demonstrated normal development.
The clothing of the Hammonton children has already been described.
It was, however, noticeable in the examination that the unkempt
or ragged children were more generally found in the outlying schools;
especially was this the case at one school largely frequented by new­
comers. Some of these children had strings or strips of calico for



532

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

hair ribbons, torn shoes and stockings, and but few buttons on their
patched and ill-fitting garments. Many children were noted as “ not
clean,” while others were neatly and even tastefully clothed, notice­
ably in the higher grades and at the central school.
Unquestionably the physical environment of a rural community
like Hammonton makes for the well-being of Italian children, and
the good results are soon shown in a better physique.
The recent history of the United States has shown that our cities
have been greatly benefited by the influx of young men and women
from the country districts, and that the children of immigrants who
enter city life by way of the farm— that is, children whose parents
have first settled in rural districts where the children have been
subject to good physical conditions and a close contact with Amer­
icans— undoubtedly are better fitted to cope with the competition
and the wear and tear of urban business. There is some slight proof
at hand that this is true of Hammonton young men. The following
table shows some of the occupations other than farming into which
young people have entered. Among those who have gone to Phila­
delphia it is noticeable that they are engaged in occupations requiring
some degree of skill and intelligence.
OCCUPATIONS OF ITA LIA N ADULTS OF SECOND GENERATION.
Occupation.

Where employed.

Remarks
j.

Teacher, since 1898.

County schools.

Employed in commission house.
Druggist......................................
Telegraph operator....................
Barbers (6 in number)...............
Barber.........................................
Barber.........................................
Clerk in market..........................
Employed in fruit store............
Employed in navy-yard............
Wheelwright...............................
Harness maker...........................
Medical student.........................
Employed in paper m ill.............

New Y ork ......................

In charge of telephone agency..........
Employed in hat manufactory (18
in number).
Builder and owner of glass fa ctory..
Fruit dealer.........................................
Constable, labor contractor, agent,
fanner.
Carpenter.............................................
Saloon keeper and agent....................
Employed in commission house.......
Employed in fruit store.....................

Philadelphia
Atlantic City
Hammonton.
Hammonton.
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia.
Hammonton.
Universit;
Philadelphia
(o)

Philadelphia
Hammonton.
Philadelphia..
Hammonton.
H am m onton.
H am m onton.
Philadelphia..
Philadelphia..

Graduate of high school and of
normal school at Kutztown,
Pa.; mother English.
Mother English.
One married an American.
B om in Italy.
jBrothers.
[•Brothers.
Married in Philadelphia, returned
to Hammonton, and bought 40acre farm.
Mother German.
•Sons of a northern Italian.
►Brothers.

« Not reported.

The work chosen by the Italian young people of Hammonton
reveals, however, a tendency of far greater importance for the future
of Italian immigrants. A large majority of them are found, in the




THE ITALIAN ON THE LAND.

533

local factories, which gives them the continued benefit of country
life, with the new homes, the good air, the garden products, the simple
pleasures, and the contact with Americans. It also insures that their
children— the third generation— will grow up in similar surroundings.
For those who finally go to the city it means a previous industrial
training that makes them better able to secure good positions. The
solution of the problem of assimilating Italian immigrants probably
lies in establishing them in country districts where the climate and
products are suited to their constitutions and knowledge of farming,
and in providing manufacturing plants with simple processes which
will require the labor of young people. In order to accomplish this
object it is necessary that the immigrants should not be allowed to
stop in New York or other cities, but should be conveyed at once to
their destination. The Sicilians are especially wedded to country
life, but many of the people from southern Italy would be willing
to start their new life on our farms if the way were made clear for
them. Within the past ten years there has been a tendency for
groups of Italians to settle and buy small farms or truck patches near
large cities or where some particular kind of work was carried on.
Thus, they have located in West Philadelphia near a stone quarry;
in Chester, Pa., where manufacturing plants are located; at Rosetta,
Pa., where there are quarries, and where the town government is in
the hands of Italians; at Alexandria, Va., and at Bryan, Tex*., where
Italians were sent to work on the railroad, and finding land cheap
they sent for their families and bought farms.
Three things are necessary to bring about a proper distribution of
Italian immigrants: (1) Well-organized plans, (2) financial support,
and (3) an appreciation of the fact that an Italian is a desirable
acquisition. The industrial departments of the railroads, the immi­
gration bureaus of the Southern States, the State and town leagues
and business men’s associations for the betterment of their localities,
the United States Immigration Bureau, and the philanthropic
societies for alleviating the evils arising from immigration and for
aiding immigrants need only to cooperate to provide the plan and the
money. While the need of labor is felt in the South and in various
other localities, the Italian has only recently been considered as a
possible substitute for northern Europeans. If this brief study has
aided in giving a fairer estimate of the qualities of this people, showing
them to be industrious, willing, well behaved, and progressive, its
object has been accomplished.
304b— N o . 70—07----- 5




A SHORT HISTORY OF LABOR LEGISLATION IN GREAT BRITAIN.
B Y A. MAURICE LOW.

E A R L Y FACTORY CONDITIONS AND LEGISLATION.
“ Protective labor” legislation in England— that is, legislation
designed purely to protect men, women, and children working in
factories and workshops from the exploitation of their employers—is
the contribution of the nineteenth century to civilization. It owes
its inception to England; from England it has spread to all the
world. It was forced upon England; English manufacturers were
compelled against their will to accept it. Nothing more strikingly
typifies the gradually enlarged view of the rights of employees and
the duties and responsibilities of capital than the protective laws that
are now on the statute books of Great Britain.
About the beginning of the last century when the factory dis­
placed the cottage system of industries in England and England
entered upon the beginning of her marvelous rise as a manu­
facturing and industrial nation, there also was born in a few
men with vision keen enough to foresee the future a desire to
protect their fellow-men from the cruelty and rapacity of their
employers. This legislation, which at the present time occupies the
attention of statesmen, legislators, economists, and sociologists to a
greater degree than any other, was in the beginning and is now class
legislation in its most extreme form. It was for the protection of the
masses against the classes; it was wrung from a class for the protec­
tion of tli& mass. Two names will be forever associated with this move­
ment; two men who marked the extreme ends of the social scale. To
Lord Ashley, better known as the Earl of Shaftesbury, who personally
knew none of the hardships of toil and the degradation of want, and
to Robert Owen, a man of the people, philosopher, and seer, the
world owes its eternal debt of gratitude. Owen, the most practical
of men, but whose life was a romance colored by the wealth of his
own fantasy, is of peculiar interest to Americans because for a time he
abandoned England and came to the United States to attempt to
534




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

535

carry out a visionary project that he believed would be the means of
industrial salvation. It failed, but its failure does not detract from
Owen’s genius, his humanity, and his sound common sense when he
dealt with practical questions.
The system which has grown up, which now includes in its scope
in England manual workers in every manufacturing industry, began
in a haphazard way, as a makeshift, the result always of a compromise
as the system was gradually extended, and without any clear conception
on the part either of its advocates or opponents of its economic value.
That, perhaps, as we look back at it, is one of the most extraordinary
things in connection with this legislation. Men were not capable of
realizing the economic value of humanity. They did not understand
that human beings had a money value; that men, like machines,
would last longer and produce a greater output if their capacity was
not overstrained. This phase of the question is strikingly emphasized
in a noteworthy preface by Sidney Webb to “ A History of Factory
Legislation,” written by Miss Hutchins and Miss Harrison, and
published in London in 1903. Says Mr. W ebb:
This century of experiment in factory legislation affords a typical
example of English practical empiricism. We began with no abstract
theory of social justice or the rights of man. We seem always to have
been incapable even of taking a general view of the subject we were
legislating upon. Each successive statute aimed at remedying a
single ascertained evil. It was in vain that objectors urged that
other evils, no more defensible, existed in other trades, or among
other classes, or with persons of other ages than those to which the
particular bill applied. Neither logic nor consistency, neither the
overnice consideration of even-handed justice nor the quixotic appeal
of a general humanitarianism, was permitted to stand in the way of
a practical remedy for a proved wrong. That this purely empirical
method of dealing with industrial evils made progress slow is scarcely
an objection to it. With the nineteenth century House of Commons
no other method would have secured any progress at all. More
serious is the drawback of the unevenness of the progress. Some
industries— cotton spinning, for example— are now so thoroughly
guarded by common rules, enforced either by the factory inspector
or by the jointly-acting officials of the trade union and the employers’
association, that no individual mill owner and no individual operative
can go far in degrading the standard of life. We have, in the course
of a century, in this particular trade so strictly fenced off the down­
ward way that competition, as far as the manufacturing process is
concerned, is exclusively concentrated upon the upward way. How
potently the additional freedom which the law thus secures, to master
as well as to man, has reacted on the efficiency of the industry is, at
the opening of the twentieth century, one of our proudest boasts. In
spitfc of the keenest foreign competition the Lancashire cotton mill,
in point of technical efficiency, still leads the world, and the Lancashire
cotton spinner, once in the lowest depths of social degradation, now




536

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

occupies, as regards the general standard of life of a whole trade,
perhaps the foremost position among English wage-earners.
It has required a hundred years of unceasing agitation, and at times
almost open warfare between capital and labor, for one fact to be
irrevocably established which is the basis of all this legislation. That
fact is ineluctable. At the present time no one dares to dispute it,
notwithstanding that even now the stress of necessity forces it to be
disregarded. 'Economically and socially the fact is established that
whenever the conditions of an industry compel an operative to work
for a wage insufficient to supply him with proper food and clothing to
maintain his strength,*whenever he is compelled to work in insanitary
surroundings and can not be decently and wholesomely housed, that
industry is no less a menace to the worker than it is to society at large;
it is as great a menace as an epidemic against which the resources of
civilization are constantly warring. For such an industry can be
carried on only at the expense of the physical and moral welfare of
the worker. It exhausts him in body and soul, it literally uses him
up, and in a few years he either dies or he is a hopeless wreck and can
secure only a precarious existence, the recipient of charity. This
applies especially to what is known as the “ sweated trades,” to which
protective legislation has not yet been extended. While factories and
workshops in England are now under close governmental supervision;
while the hours of labor, sanitation, the prevention of accidents, and
generally the health and welfare of the worker are carefully guarded
in the skilled trades, in those trades requiring little skill but a certain
amount of manual dexterity, especially in the trades in which women
and children are largely employed, and in which the work is done in
the operative’s own living room, typically in the manufacture of ready­
made clothing, “ factory legislation is,” to quote Sidney Webb, “ after
half a century of agitation, found only in its most rudimentary form.”
The year 1802 saw the passage of the first factory act in England.
Prior to that time there existed statutes regulating the hours and con­
ditions of service of craftsmen, but these statutes, as Prof. Stanley
Jevons has pointed out, were designed to prevent idleness rather than
to prevent overwork. They were class legislation, legislation in the
interest of the class of employers as opposed to the interest of the
mass of workers. As far back as the reign of Elizabeth, in 1601, a
law was enacted which directed that destitute children and orphans
should be taught spinning, weaving, and other trades, and later should
be apprenticed. At that day this manual training was regarded as
the greatest boon of society to its unfortunates, but the condition of
the children was deplorable. They worked from 6 to 6 in summer and
from 7 to 5 in winter. They were put to work at 5 years of age, and
after their long day’s toil they were made to attend school. Between




H is t o r y

of

Br i t i s h

labor

l e g is l a t io n .

537

8 and 11 years of age their training and education were deemed fin­
ished, and they were regularly apprenticed, and as such their condition
was little better than slavery. They were lodged, fed, and clothed by
their masters, many of whom treated them with great brutality, fed
them on scraps, and gave them clothing insufficient to conceal their
half-starved bodies or protect them from the cold. Nominally under
the supervision of the parish authorities, actually when they once left
the workhouse or the “ house of industry” they became the chattels
of their employers.
It is impossible to understand the mental state of men who found
in these conditions subject for admiration; but men of learning, pre­
sumably humane, whose ears were not deaf to the heart throb of
humanity, could find only cause for rejoicing because every child over
5 years of age was earning its living by working twelve hours a day!
Learned men wrote ponderous tomes setting forth the great profits
that were derived from this labor, and how the children earned millions
over and above the actual cost of their subsistence. In a word, a
child was looked upon as a productive asset, and the more yards its
baby fingers could weave or spin the better off was society at large.
How often those tiny fingers clutched at the heart of a mother, as the
child lay on her breast and she saw its future of hopeless suffering and
work and all childhood obliterated under the inexorable task of the
master, was not considered by the seventeenth and eighteenth century
philosophers. They could measure output in yards and pounds and
shillings; there the balance sheet was easily struck. But emotions
and human affections were not reducible to mathematical terms and
had no place in their equation.
In 1801 a man named Jouvaux was convicted and sentenced to
twelve months’ hard labor for illtreating and overworking his appren­
tices. The poor-law overseers had permitted him to employ 16
apprentices, who “ had but two beds amongst them, and were kept at
work for such hours, and, owing to the nature of the work, in such
attitudes that they came near being deformed and disabled for life.”
In pronouncing sentence the judge said: “ Should the manufacturers
insist that without these children they could not advantageously fol­
low their trade, and the overseers say that without such opportunity
they could not get rid of these children, he should say to the one, that
trade must not for the thirst of lucre be followed, but at once, for the
sake of society, be abandoned; and to the other, it is a crime to put
out these children, who have no friends to see justice done, to incur
deformity and promote consumption or other disease; this obviously
leads to their destruction— not to their support.”
England, industrial England, of that day was a revelation of the
brutality and sordidness in human nature— the lust for gold to be




588

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

coined out of humanity, the braying of blood and flesh in the mortar
of commerce. Gibbins gives us this picture of conditions:
The manufacturers wanted labor by some means or other, and they
got it. They got it from the workhouses. They sent for parish
apprentices from all parts of England and pretended to apprentice
them to the new employments just introduced. The mill owners
systematically communicated with the overseers of the poor, who
arranged a day for the inspection of pauper children. Those chosen
by the manufacturers were then conveyed by wagons or canal boats
to their destination, and from that moment were doomed to slavery.
Sometimes regular traffickers would take the place of the manufac­
turer and transfer a number of children to a factory district, and
there keep them, generally in some dark cellar, till they could hand
them over to a mill owner in want of hands, who would come and
examine their height, strength, and bodily capacities, exactly as did
the slave dealers in the American markets. After that the children
were simply at the mercy of their owners, nominally as apprentices,
but in reality as mere slaves, who got no wage3r and whom it was not
worth while even to feed or clothe properly, because they were so
cheap and their places could be so easily supplied.
It was often arranged by the parish authorities, in order to get rid
of imbeciles, that one idiot should be taken by the mill owner with
every twenty sane children. The fate of these unhappy idiots was
even worse than that of the others. The secret of their final end
has never been disclosed, but we can form some idea of their awful
sufferings from the hardships of the other victims to capitalist greed
and cruelty. Their treatment was most inhuman; the hours of their
labor were only limited by exhaustion after many modes of torture
had been unavailingly applied to force continued work. Children
were often worked sixteen hours a day, b y day and by night. Even
Sunday was used as a convenient time to clean the machinery.
The author of the History of the Factory Movement writes: “ In
stench, in heated rooms, amid the constant whirling of a thousand
wheels, little fingers and little feet were kept in ceaseless action,
forced into unnatural activity by blows from the heavy hands and
feet of the merciless overlooker and the infliction of bodily pain by
instruments of punishment invented by the sharpened ingenuity of
insatiable selfishness.” They were fed upon the coarsest and cheap­
est food, often with the same as that served out to the pigs of their
master. They slept by turns, in relays, in filthy beds which were
never cool, for one set of children were sent to sleep in them as soon as
the others had gone off to their daily or nightly toil. There was often
no discrimination of sexes, and disease, misery, and vice grew as in a
hotbed of contagion. Some of these miserable beings tried to run
away. To prevent their doing so, those suspected or this tendency
had irons riveted on their ankles, with long links reaching up to their
hips, and were compelled to work and sleep in these chains, young
women and girls as well as boys suffering this brutal treatment.
Many died and were secretly buried at night in some desolate spot,
lest people should notice the number of graves, and many committed
suicide.
The catalogue of cruelty and misery is too long to recite here. It
may be read m the Memoirs of Robert Blincoe, liimself an appren­



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

539

tice, or in the pages of the blue books of the beginning of this century,
in which even the methodical, dry, official language is startled into
life by the misery it has to relate. It is perhaps not well for me to say
more about the subject, for one dares not trust merely to try and set
down calmly all that might be told about this awrul page in the
industrial history of England. I need only remark that during this
' )d of unheeded and ghastly suffering in the mills of our native
the British philanthropist was occupying himself with agitat­
ing for the relief or the very largely imaginary woes of negro slaves in
other countries. The spectacle of England buying the freedom of
black slaves by riches drawn from the labor of the white ones affords
an interesting study for the cynical philosopher. (a^
These and other disclosures— notably serious epidemics among the
apprenticed children—led to the introduction by Sir Robert Peel, in
1802, of the Health and Morals of Apprentices A ct,(6) which Parlia­
ment approved the same year with little opposition. That act limited
the hours of labor of apprentices to twelve a day; night work was to
be gradually abolished, and cease entirely by June, 1804; apprentices
were to be instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic (after work­
ing twelve hours a d a y!); each apprentice was to be given a new suit
of clothes once a year; factories were to be whitewashed twice a year,
and at all times properly ventilated; separate sleeping apartments
were to be provided for apprentices of different sexes, and not more
than two were to share the same bed; apprentices were to attend
church at least once a month; two justices of the peace, one of whom
was to be a clergyman, were appointed as inspectors to visit the
factories; all mills and factories were required to be registered
annually with the clerk of the peace; power was lodged in the justices
of the peace to impose fines varying from £2 to £ 5 ($9.73 to $24.33)
for violations of tn^ act.
This curious hodgepodge of paternalism, moral and religious regu­
lation, economic control, and theological supervision was, as might
naturally have been expected, a failure. The justices of the peace
who were designated as inspectors were either negligent or inefficient,
but in some instances they performed good service and brought
about an amelioration of conditions. It is not surprising, however,
that the act should have failed of its purpose. It would have been
remarkable if the first attempt at legislation so revolutionary as this
should haye been successful. The important point to be noticed is that
a beginning had been made; that prejudice and opposition and sel­
fishness and criminal greed had been attacked; that the whole con­
cept of society for centuries had been radically reversed, and that at
last a step forward had been taken.
To refer again to the revolution that the steam engine had wrought,
the following quotation is made:
The first steam engine on Watt's pattern had been introduced at
Manchester in 1791, but it did not come into general use till the early
years of the nineteenth century. With the restoration of peace in

E

a Industrial History of England, by H . De B . Gibbins, pp. 178-181.

b 42 Geo. I l l , c. 73.



540

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Europe an immense development of the industry took place. The
English manufacturers had been improving their processes. They
were now able to send their goods to foreign ports, and proximity to
coal, labor, and the world’s markets came to be a more important con­
sideration than water power, though this was still used, sometimes as
an alternative to steam, sometimes independently. Pauper children
had been eagerly demanded by manufacturers whose mills were sit­
uate in lonely valleys, where, if water power were cheap, yet labor
was scarce; but in the populous centers child workers could easily
be had without the trouble and responsibility of taking apprentices,
who must be housed, fed, and clothed at the employer’s expense. (a)
The mills and factories of England were becoming daily more
important in that industrial development that has made England
great, and especially in cotton spinning and weaving, for it has been
truthfully and epigrammatically said that “ Lancashire carries England
on its back; it is the beast of burden of Britannia; ” but side by side
with the new order the old survived, and the hand loom and the hand
weaver were still at work in cottages and miserable hovels and cel­
lars. Peel’s act applied to factories alone and not to cottage indus­
tries, in which industries the hours were anything the master liked.
It is notorious that parents treated their children, who were also their
apprentices and helpers, with even greater cruelty and harshness
than did employers who did not stand in the parental relation.
Kinder W ood says that when a father was drunk the mother kept
the children to their weaving; “ the children support the father,
which is contrary to the common use of nature.”
“ Socially and industrially, the first two or three decades of the nine­
teenth century form a gloomy period in which, as Spencer Walpole
observes, it took twenty-five years of legislation to restrict a child of 9
to a sixty-nine hour week, and that only in cotton mills.” (*6) It is now
that the name of Robert Owen first appears as the champion of those
helpless victims who were being sacrificed to greed. He testified
before Peel’s committee that he employed no children under 10 years
of age, and the total hours worked were twelve, including an hour
and a quarter off for meals. Previously he had worked his children
fourteen hours daily and had gradually reduced the limit to twelve.
He desired to make a further reduction, and by so doing he did not
believe that manufacturers would suffer either in their home or for­
eign trade. He gave it as his belief that a further reduction of hours
would result in a “ considerable improvement in the health of the
operatives, both young and old, a very considerable improvement in
the instruction of the rising generation, and a very considerable
diminution in the poor rates of the country.” One of the most
a A History of Factory Legislation, by B . L. Hutchins and A . Harrison, B . A ., p. 19.
&History of Factory Legislation, p. 21.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

541

striking economic statements he made, which has since been verified in
a thousand different ways, was that shorter hours instead of increasing
cost (which was the great fear of the manufacturers) would decrease
it, as the improved mental and physical condition of the workers
employed under more rational and humane circumstances would
enable them to produce a larger amount in a shorter workday.
The result of this agitation was the passage in 1819 of an act that
was a disappointment to Owen and some of his friends, but still must
be regarded as a long step forward in that never-ending conflict
between the forces of oppression on one side and altruism on the
other * The act placed the age limit at 9 years, and prohibited any
person under 16 years of age from working more than twelve hours
a day, exclusive of mealtimes. The act applied only to cotton mills,
against the opposition of Owens, who wanted it to include all cot­
ton, woolen, flax, and other mills in which twenty or more persons
were employed. It is melancholy to observe that the advocates of
child labor maintained that it was cruel to prevent or restrict the
Working of young children, because without work they would starve.
The choice, as they put it, was too much work or too little to eat. It
was thought to be advantageous to the workingmen to have their
children employed; it was supposed to be for the advantage of the
children themselves, because it kept them out of idleness and from
vicious and immoral habits. One pamphleteer used this argument
in opposing the passage of the act: “ All experience proves,” he wrote,
“ that in the lower orders the deterioration of morals increases with
the quantity of unemployed time of which they have the command.
Thus the bill actually encourages vice— it establishes idleness by act
of Parliament; it creates and encourages those practices which it pre­
tends to discourage.” (a) Men were not far enough advanced in the
study of economics to understand that the employment of children
had a tendency to depress wages, and that adults lost rather than
gained by child labor.
In 1825 a new law was put upon the statute books. (b) The act of
1819 was violated by the mill owners retaining the children three or
four days a week during mealtime to clean the machinery, which
deprived them of exercise or change of air, and compelled them to eat
their food in mouthfuls while they were cleaning and when the air was
full of dust and cotton flue. The new act prohibited any person
under 16 from working more than twelve hours a day, exclusive of an
hour and a half for mealtime. The dinner hour was to be between
11 a. m. and 3 p. m. On Saturday nine hours’ work only was allowed,*&
o An Inquiry into the Principle and Tendency of the 3 ill for Imposing Certain
Restrictions on Cotton Factories, London, 1818.
&6 Geo. IY , c. 63.




542

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

between 5 a. m. and 4.30 p. m. The infamous practice of forcing the
children to clean the machinery during the meal hour was not touched
by the act. In the act of 1802, it will be remembered, violations of
the act were triable by the local justices of the peace. The new act
very properly barred justices who were the proprietors of mills, or the
sons or fathers of proprietors, from hearing complaints under the acts.
In 1831 an act amendatory to the act of 1825 was approved, the
principal provisions of which were that justices who were mill owners,
or their fathers, sons, or brothers were excluded from hearing com­
plaints, and if necessary other justices of the county, or within a
radius of 12 miles, were to try the cases. On proof that the machin­
ery had been working during the night the accused might be sum­
marily convicted, unless he could prove that he had not employed
persons below the specified age. It is important to note that for the
first time the burden of proof was laid on the employer, which was
another safeguard thrown about the helpless children. This act also
extended the twelve-hour working day to all persons under 18 years
of age, instead of 16, as heretofore, and it prohibited night work for
all persons under 21.
A year before, in 1830, Richard Oastler had begun a series of impas­
sioned letters in the Leeds Mercury on “ Yorkshire slavery.” Robert
Southey, the poet, had written: “ The slave trade is mercy compared
to the factory system.” In 1833 the West Indian slave system was
abolished by Great Britain, and it was during the years preceding
that enactment that the new school of humanitarians forced upon the
people of England the knowledge that a slavery far worse than that of
the negroes of the West Indies existed at their very doors. In 1831
Michael Sadler, a recently elected member of Parliament, a Tory in
politics, a philanthropist and writer on political economy, introduced
a ten-hour bill, the second reading of which he moved in the following
year. The great opposition to all legislation of this character was
that an attempt to regulate commerce or manufacturing by legisla­
tion was dangerous and more likely to prove injurious than remedial;
furthermore, legislation was an interference with the sacred right of
contract and struck at the theory of free agency. It was the same
argument that has always been employed when the cause of the help­
less was championed.
Sadler demolished the theory of “ free agency” in an effective
speech. He denied that the workingmen were free agents, or that
they competed with their employers on equal terms in the market.
He admitted that legislative interference was an evil, but so was all
legislation, and to be tolerated only when it destroyed a still greater
evil. If full-grown men were not free, how much less could little
children be considered free? In moving terms he described the long



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

543

hours, and the other conditions under which young children were
compelled to work for a starvation wage.
The manufacturers opposed this bill, and it was referred to a select
committee of which Sadler was chairman. That committee made a
most valuable and exhaustive report, but in the autumn of that year,
1832, Parliament was dissolved and Sadler lost his seat. A com­
mittee interested in carrying on Sadler’s work invited Lord Ashley,
son of the Earl of Shaftesbury, to take Sadler’s place, and after delib­
erate consideration Lord Ashley agreed. “ He now stood at the part­
ing of the ways,” says his biographer. “ On the one hand lay ease,
influence, promotion, and troops of friends; on the other, an unpop­
ular cause, increasing labor amidst every kind of opposition, per­
petual worry and anxiety, estrangement of friends, annihilation of
leisure, and a life among the poor. It was between these that he
had to choose.” But his choice was made. He was a man of over­
flowing sympathy; his heart beat to the heart throb of humanity.
From the time he entered Parliament when he was 25 until his death,
nearly sixty years later, he never ceased to be interested in all that
tended to promote the happiness and welfare of his fellow-men.
FACTORY INSPECTION LEGISLATION.
Sadler’s and Ashley’s work quickly bore fruit. The report of
Sadler’s committee made it obvious that further and more stringent
legislation was necessary, and in 1833 a law(a) was enacted that has
been declared “ the turning point of factory legislation.” In sober
verity this act may be called the Great Charter of Labor, for like the
charter that the barons wrung from the unwilling hands of a craven
king, which guaranteed to them their political rights and liberties and
is the foundation on which the whole political and social superstruc­
ture of England has been reared during the past seven centuries, the
act of 1833 was the first stone laid in the upbuilding of the great fabric
of factory and protective legislation the world over.
The act is memorable in that for the first time the beginning of an
efficient inspection system was instituted, which modem legislation
now recognizes as essential for the protection of operatives. It will
be remembered that by the act of 1802 the justices of the peace
appointed two of their number to act as inspectors, and, as might
have been anticipated, this inspection was neither thorough nor
uniform, because the justices, no matter how well meaning or honest,
were too much swayed by local bias and the influence of social con­
tact. The new enactment provided for the appointment of four
Government inspectors, under the control of the home secretary and




a 3 and 4 W ill. IV , c. 103.

544

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

responsible directly to him, who were given for that day extraor­
dinarily wide powers. These inspectors were authorized to enter at
will any factory at work, to make inquiries, call witnesses, and sum­
mon any person to give evidence. They were empowered to make
such rules and regulations as might be necessary to enforce the pro­
visions of the act, these to be binding on all persons subject to the
act, and to enforce school attendance. The inspectors were given
powers coordinate with those of a justice of the peace in the execu­
tion of the provisions of the act. They were required to make
reports twice a year and to meet twice a year to confer on their duties
and to secure among themselves as nearlv as possible uniformity in
the enforcement of the act. Surely a very good beginning in the
direction of an efficient system of inspection.
The act also specifically defined the hours of labor of children.
All persons under 18 years of age were prohibited from working
between 8.30 p. m. and 5.30 a. m. in any cotton, woolen, worsted,
hemp, flax, tow, linen, or silk mill, so that the principle for which
Owen had contended was thus conceded. No person under 18 years
of age was to be employed more than twelve hours a day, or sixtynine hours in all in any one week. The employment of children
under 9 years of age was prohibited except in silk mills. Lord Ashley
endeavored to have silk mills included in the prohibited class but
was defeated. For the first year after the passage of the act no child
under 11, during the second year under 12, and during the third year
under 13 years of age was to be employed more than forty-eight hours
a week, or nine in one day. In silk mills children under 13 years of
age might work ten hours a day. In all mills one hour and a half a
day was to be allowed for meal times, and children were not allowed
in the same room with machinery or in the mill after the expiration
of their legal working hours. Penalties for violation of the act ranged
from £1 to £20 ($4.87 to $97.33).
We must go back a few years to trace properly the logical sequence
and development by the State of the interference with and the regu­
lation of hours of labor that have thrown about the workingman his
present protection. As early as 1818 the cotton spinners of Man­
chester petitioned Parliament for a universal ten-and-a-half-hour day,
or nine hours of actual work, but no attention was paid to this petition.
From time to time during the succeeding years there were sporadic
attempts made to restrict the hours of adults in the cotton districts,
but the majority of workingmen were too firmly opposed to any
restriction being put on their hours of labor—foolishly believing that
it would carry with it a correspoilding decrease of wages— to make
it possible for the movement to gain headway. It was not until 1830
that the movement assumed real form, when committees were formed




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

545

and systematic agitation initiated in favor of a general reduction of
working hours for adults as well as children.
Two things began gradually to dawn on the comprehension of men.
One was that in restricting the working time of children a restriction
was also placed on adult labor, because, as one observer declared,
“ The mistake of Parliament has arisen from supposing that they could
effectively legislate for children without including adults; they are
not aware that the labor in a mill is, strictly speaking, family labor,
and that there is no longer the system of a parent maintaining his
children by the operation of his own industry.” In that stage of
industrial development, especially in the cotton mills, the adult
worker was dependent upon child labor for so much of the subsidiary
processes that without the children the work could not proceed.
When the children were prevented from working, practically all work
ceased. The other fact that men were slowly grasping was an eco­
nomic fact, which is stated in a resolution adopted at a public meeting
in Leeds in 1831:
That a restrictive act would tend materially to equalize and extend
labor, by calling into employment many male adults who are a burden
on the public, who, though willing and ready to work, are obliged,
under the existing calamitous system, to spend their time in idleness,
whilst female children are compelled to labor from twelve to sixteen
hours per day.(a)
Of all the complex forces struggling in humanity the world perhaps
owes more to selfishness than to any other impulse, paradoxical as
this may sound. .But selfishness is a force to gain a certain end; it
goes on unchecked until it gains that end and overshoots the mark,
and then, by a law of nature, as inevitable as it is inexorable, pays the
penalty of its own greed and seeks the remedy. It was so in this case.
Selfishness was at the root of the employment of little children.
Against the dictates of conscience and humanity parents sanctioned—
nay, more than that, compelled— the employment of their offspring at
a tender age, so that at the earliest moment they might cease to be
a burden and become a profit by contributing their meager pittance
to the support of their parents. But the employment of children
at a starvation wage displaced adult and more highly paid labor until
the parents began to see that instead of really profiting by the labor
of their children they were ruining their own market. Once having
grasped that sound principle in economics, they were as anxious to
prevent the employment of child labor as in the past they had been to
encourage it.
At a meeting in Manchester one of the speakers declared that “ men
were as much entitled to protection for their labor as masters were




a Leeds Intelligencer, October 29, 1831.

546

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

for their machines; but men would not apply for it till convinced it
was practicable.” (a)
The press was voicing the same sentiment.
The Manchester and Salford Advertiser of March 10, 1832, said:
“ The great difficulty has been to persuade sages like Mr. Hume to
pass laws to restrain free labor, it being totally overlooked, in the first
place, that Englishmen are not free; that it is because they are not
free that they are seeking to become so. It is * * * to avoid
this stumbling block that the attempts at regulation have been con­
fined to the case of persons under age, though the effect of really pre­
venting them from working beyond fixed hours must have been to
interfere with the labor of adults also. It is to avoid this stumbling
block that Mr. Sadler has adhered to the principle of legislation for
children only.” Even one of the opponents of the interference of
the State with the hours of labor was forced to make this admission:
“ Whilst the engine runs the people must work— men, women, and
children are yoked together with iron and steam. The animal
machine— breakable in the best case, subject to a thousand sources
of suffering— is chained fast to the iron machine, which knows no
suffering and no weariness.” (*6)
By the beginning of 1832, we learn from the admirable work of the
Misses Hutchins and Harrison, (c) the movement had obtained a firm
hold of the working classes of Yorkshire and Lancashire and had
spread to London, where a society was formed for the improvement
of the condition of factory children.
Space will not permit the tracing of the growth of the movement
in its various stages. It is sufficient to say that during the next three
years the agitation was unceasingly kept up, and in 1832, at a meeting
held in Lancashire, it was declared that many years’ experience had
shown that “ all attempts made by the legislature for the protection of
those employed in factories will be set at naught and rendered com­
pletely abortive unless the restriction be put upon the machinery.”
This testifies that a further fact had been grasped. So long as the
engine ran and men, women, and children were yoked to iron and
steam, men, women, and children must work. The only way to
limit the work demanded of them was to limit the hours in which the
machinery was permitted to be in motion. This, then, marks the
second stage in the agitation— an effort to secure enactment by which
motive power was brought under regulation.
The education of the public was slowly progressing, and men
could no longer plead ignorance as an excuse for noninterference.
Voice of the People, April 16, 1831.
&Moral and Physical Conditions of the Operatives Em ployed in the Cotton Manu­
facture in Manchester, by James Philip K ay, 1832, p. 24.
c History ot Factory Legislation, p. 51.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

547

The Parliamentary Commission of 1840 in its report termed existing
conditions as “ the most frightful picture of avarice, selfishness, and
cruelty on the part of masters and of parents, of juvenile and infan­
tine misery, degradation, and destruction ever presented.”
The next few years are not important in results, notwithstanding
an active propaganda was being carried on. In 1841 the operatives
executed a tactical flank movement by fighting “ behind the women’s
petticoats.” A universal ten-hour day they had not been able to
secure, and the legislature was not far enough advanced to sanction
the radical remedy of restriction of motive power, but by advocating
legislation for the protection of women for the sake of humanity
something might be gained. The Government of the day was asked
to raise the standard of female child labor, to limit the number of
women in proportion to the number of men employed in a factory,
and to prohibit the employment of married women in factories during
the lifetime of their husbands. (a)
Here again selfishness had overreached itself and was now forced
to appeal against itself. The employment of women had originally
been encouraged by the men for the same reason that fathers encour­
aged the employment of their children. So long as married women
could be employed, marriage laid no burden on the man, but simply
gave him the enjoyment of the woman, but with the extension of
manufacture women came to be more and more employed, because
female labor was cheaper than adult male and for certain processes
fully as efficient. This led to the displacement of male labor, and
the deputation of Yorkshire operatives that in 1841 went to London
to lay their grievances before Sir Robert Peel talked in a lofty moral
strain of “ home, its cares and its employments, is woman’s true
sphere.”
While the question of the regulation of the hours of women working
in factories was under consideration, in the following year— that is, in
1842— the report of the commission on the employment of children in
mines and collieries was made public, and the publication of the report
had much to do with subsequent factory legislation affecting the
status of women. This report created a profound impression. The
conditions under which little children, as well as young girls and
women of all ages, were compelled to work are simply indescribable.
Like animals, they were harnessed to heavy trucks; like animals, they
were driven by brutal taskmasters, who used the lash unsparingly;
unlike even the meanest animal, which has a commercial value, the
masters had no regard for their health or safety, because fresh
“ stock” was always to be obtained without cost. The indecency,
the dirt, the demoralization, the ruination of body and soul, no one
a Manchester and Salford Advertiser, January 15, 1842.




548

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

in this day can understand unless one has read these official reports,
which are as painful to read as it is shameful to contemplate a state
of society that permitted such things.
Action swift and drastic followed, the most striking illustration on
record of legislative interference with the rights and liberties of the
individual when interference became necessary to correct an evil.
The employment of women of all ages, as well as young children of
both sexes, was prohibited in underground work.
THE TEN HOURS MOVEMENT.
We come now to 1844, to the sociologist a year memorable. The
Government brought in a bill to fix the hours of labor of women and
young persons working in factories at twelve a day. The operatives
sought to have the bill amended so as to have the normal working
day run from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m., minus the time allowed for meals, or
in effect the ten-hour day, for which they had been contending for
nearly a quarter of a century. Lord Ashley brought forward an
amendment defining “ night,” during which the employment of
women and young persons was illegal, as between the hours of 6 p. m.
and 6 a. m., which was the Government measure. Lord Ashley’s
amendment was carried by a majority of nine, and thus Parliament
affirmatively declared in favor of a ten-hour day. The adoption of
Ashley’s amendment made other changes necessary in the text of the
bill, which, under ordinary parliamentary practice, would have fol­
lowed as a matter of course, but the Government was stubborn, and
when a later clause had to be modified to conform to the previous
section as amended it forced a division and was sustained by a major­
ity of three votes. The House of Commons was therefore in the
anomalous position of having reversed itself, and having voted in
favor of both ten and twelve hours as a legal day’s work. The Gov­
ernment, as well as its opponents, refused to accept a compromise, and
the bill was abandoned, but in its place a new bill was immediately
introduced and became a law by which the hours of work of women
and young persons were limited to a maximum of twelve, between
5.30 a. m. and 8.30 p. m.
Nominally the ten-hour men were defeated, but they had made
many converts and won over to their cause such prominent Whigs
as Macaulay, Lord Palmerston, and Lord John Russell. The agita­
tion continued. In 1846 Lord Ashley again introduced a ten-hour
bill, which was defeated, but in the following year the bill was rein­
troduced in the House and was approved by a majority of seventyeight. The great struggle of three years before had exhausted both
sides. But perhaps the greatest argument in its support was the state
of trade. Three years earlier the mill owners had contended that



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

549

to cut down the working day two hours was to invite bankruptcy,
since it was the conviction of mill owners as well as economists
of that day “ that the whole profit is derived from the,last hour.” (a)
In 1847 “ so great was the depression of trade that the mill owners
found it impossible to keep their mills working for so long as ten hours.”
Thus the work of a quarter of a century was finished. The ten-hour
day was a reality.
RESULTS OF FACTORY INSPECTION.
It is necessary to return to the act of 1833, “ The Great Charter of
Labor Legislation,” to show the far-reaching and beneficent effects
that resulted from that act. The magnitude of its importance has
not been overstated. That act, it will be remembered, provided for
the appointment of four inspectors, responsible to the home secretary,
to secure the proper enforcement of the act. Heretofore all such
legislation depended for its enforcement upon the voluntary work
of philanthropists or the generosity of manufacturers; but the phi­
lanthropists, suffering from the intemperance of most reformers,
were apt to be carried away by an excess of zeal; and while there were
among the manufacturers men of humanity, such men as Owen and
a One of the most uncompromising opponents of the ten-hour day was Nassau Senior,
a distinguished economist and professor of political economy at Oxford, whose ‘ ‘ Let­
ter on the Factory A cts,” made a profound impression on the public mind and was
regarded as irrefutable by his admirers, who believed that he had discovered a new
principle in economics. This letter has perhaps been more quoted and has served as
the text for more arguments than any other piece of writing of equal length; it influ­
enced legislators as well as manfuacturers, to whom political economy was an unknown
science, and for years it was tilted at by tractarians and economists. Time has proved
that the fallacy of its conclusions are exceeded only by the false premises on which
the argument is based. Senior wrote:
The following analysis w ill show that in a m ill so worked [i. e., on the plan of
twelve houifc a day and nine on Saturday, laid down by the act of 1833] the whole
profit is derived from the last hour. I w ill suppose a manufacturer to invest £100,000
[$486,650], £80,000 [$389,320] in his m ill and machinery and £20,000 [$97,330] in raw
material and wages. The annual return of that m ill, supposing the capital to be
turned once a year and gross profits to be 15 per cent, ought to be goods worth £115,000
[$559,648], produced by the constant conversion and reconversion of the £20,000
[$97,330] circulating capital from money into goods and from goods into money in
periods of rather more than two months. Of this £115,000 [$559,648] each of the twentythree half hours of work produces 5-115ths of [or] l-23d . Of these twenty-three twentythirds (constituting the whole £115,000 [$559,648]), twenty, that is to say, £100,000
[$486,650] out of the £115,000 [$559,648], sim ply replace the capital; l-23d (or £5,000
[$24,333]) out of the £115,000 [$559,648] makes up for the deterioration of the m ill and
the machinery. The remaining 2-23ds, the last two of the twenty-three half hours of
every day, produce the net profit of 10 per cent. If, therefore (prices remaining the
same), the factory could be kept at work thirteen hours instead of eleven and a half by
an addition of about £2,600 [$12,653] to the circulating capital, the net profit would be
more than doubled. On the other hand, if the hours of working were reduced by one
hour per day (prices remaining the same), net profit would be destroyed; if they were
reduced by an hour and a half even gross profit would be destroyed. The circulating
capital would be replaced, but there would be no fund to compensate the progressive
deterioration of tl\e fixed capital.

304b— N o. 70—07-----6




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Peel, the majority of manufacturers were too much governed by
greed and too grossly ignorant of economics to understand that their
own profit lay in the conservation of the health and the raising of
the physical and moral standard of the class from which the labor
supply was drawn. When one of the foremost economists of his day
preached the doctrine that profit could be made only out of the last
hour’s excessive labor, and not only preached it but really believed it,
it is not surprising that men of far less intelligence and education, who
knew little except the practical business of manufacturing and selling
should have been victims of the same delusion. From the mass of
testimony available, from a careful study of the condition of society
of that period, and what is believed to be a just estimate of the general
level of intelligence, the conclusion is reached that what now appears
to have been, viewed by the light of a more advanced civilization and
a greater scientific knowledge, brutality and indifference to human
wrongs was not, as a fact, brutality inherent in the English manufac­
turer but, rather, ignorance. It was the same ignorance that makes a
small child thoughtlessly tease an animal. The great lesson that we
have slowly learned was then unknown.
“ Factory legislation,” says Victorine Jeans (Factory Act Legisla­
tion, London, 1892) “ has always been primarily sanitary or educa­
tional in aim. * * * As economic measures, the various acts have
stood almost entirely on the defensive.” This is a concise presenta­
tion of the case. Economists and legislators believed that any
reduction of the hours of work would be accompanied by a reduction
of wages or an increase in the price of manufactured goods, or both,
which would destroy England’s foreign trade. This argument is used
time after time in the books; it is read in the debates in Parliament.
It was, of course, the most powerful argument that could be employed.
It needed nothing more to league capital against legislation that
threatened to destroy trade; it arrayed labor against legislation that
was to raise its condition because, pitiful as was the condition of
labor, that condition, labor mistakenly believed, was better than that
which would follow from a decrease in wages and an increase in the
price of commodities.
These fears were groundless. “ We have seen,” says Jeans, “ that
as soon as legislation was brought to bear on the textile industries,
every effort was made to economize time and labor by the introduc­
tion of better machines. * * * Manufacturers, under pressure
of the factory act, resorted to better methods of work to keep up pro­
duction. These better methods proved even more satisfactory than
had been expected. Cost of production fell enormously, prices could
be lowered without loss of profit, consumption increased, more capi­
talists were attracted into the business, new mills were established to
meet the growing market, and new mills meant more work people.”




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

551

The first inspectors appointed under the act of 1833, fortunately
for the successful working of that act, were practical men, of much
common sense; they were not philanthropists, nor were they biased
in favor of the manufacturer; it was their duty, they considered, to
hold the scale level between master and men. These four men were
men of intelligence, courage, and honesty. Their appointment was,
as might naturally have been expected, bitterly opposed— opposed
as much by the operatives as by the manufacturers. The powers
invested in the inspectors were for that age looked upon as plenary,
yet they were mild compared with the authority of inspecting officials
of the present day, and the manufacturers bitterly resented govern­
mental “ prying into” their business. At first the inspectors were
sneered at. It was said that they could do no good; that they were
simply appointed to give somebody a little more patronage; that
their salaries were an added burden laid upon the taxpayer. Then,
when it was seen that they were really efficient, they were made the
target of abuse. It was satirically said that only one thing more was
needed to complete this most unholy interference with the liberty of
the freeborn Englishman. The inspectors should have the power to
put the manufacturer to the torture if he failed to answer questions
to the satisfaction of these inquisitorial inspectors.
Nor did the operative, at first, regard the inspector as his friend;
rather he regarded him as his enemy, whose unwarranted interference
with his rights as a freeborn Englishman cut into his pocket. One of
the most important duties of the inspectors was to prevent the
employment of children under the prohibited age, and here masters
and men were leagued against the common enemy; for the masters
wanted children— children of any age— to work in the factories, and
the parents were only too willing to put their children to work at any
age so that the few pence they earned might go to swell the family
earnings. It was not until 1837 that it was made obligatory to reg­
ister births in England; before that time the age of a child was largely
a matter of guesswork, and no reliance could be placed on the state­
ment of parents. The act required that no child should be employed
without a certificate from a duly qualified medical practitioner that
the child was of the ordinary strength and appearance of its presumed
age. But this of course opened the door to fraud of the most flagrant
character. Doctors were complaisant; “ doctors” who signed the
certificates were found not to have even a rudimentary knowledge of
medicine; certificates were traded in; in scores of ways the law was
evaded. We now see with what intelligence and courage the inspect­
ors acted. Mr. Rickards, the first inspector for the Manchester dis­
trict, appointed a certain number of surgeons who alone were author­
ized to issue these certificates, this arrangement pertaining only to
the city of Manchester. Lord Melbourne, the home secretary, with




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BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB.

less courage and intelligence than his subordinate, at first vetoed this
regulation, but Rickards was so persistent that he was permitted to
have his way, and the system was extended over the entire inspection
district. It was then put in force by Mr. Horner, the inspector for
Scotland, and finally by the other inspectors.
In a brief article like the present it can not be told in detail how
the inspectors, with a devotion that commands the highest admiration,
worked with unflagging interest to ameliorate the condition of these
tiny industrial slaves and require the strict enforcement of the law
in their interest. What they did was of the highest importance, but
even a more important service they rendered were the reports which
the law required them to make twice a year to the home secretary.
These reports were published and unquestionably influenced subse­
quent legislation. For the first time the people of England read in
unemotional Government reports the facts regarding industrial con­
ditions. Happily these men were not controversialists, and they laid
no pretensions to literary style. They were plain men reporting facts,
and the absence of all heat and passion, the simplicity of their state­
ments, and the direct language they used were far more effective than
the impassioned vehemence of Oastler or the other disinterested men
who had pioneered the way to reform.
The years 1847-48, when the Ten-Hour Act came into full effect,
were years of great depression in England, but with the revival of
trade many manufacturers attempted to evade the provisions of
the law by working their operatives in shifts or “ relays,” and by
juggling with the distribution of hours made it practically impossi­
ble for the inspectors to determine whether the law was being violated
by children being required to work beyond the prohibited limit. The
inspectors held the relay system to be illegal and contrary to the
spirit of the law and prosecuted many manufacturers; but while some
of the magistrates sustained the inspectors, several refused to con­
vict on the ground that the act was loosely worded and would not
sustain the construction sought to be put upon it by the inspectors.
In 1849, in an effort to obtain a final decision, a test suit was brought
b y Inspector Horner in the court of exchequer. (a) The court held
that the wording of the act was not sufficiently explicit to carry into
effect what the court “ strongly conjectured” to be the legislative
intent, thus making the relay system legal. There was no alterna­
tive but a fresh appeal to Parliament, and in March, 1850, Lord Ash­
ley introduced a bill in the House of Commons to correct the act of
1844. It was found that this was more difficult than appeared on
its face, and the Government brought in a bill to fix the hours of
work for protected persons within a twelve-hours’ limit— from 6
a. m. to 6 p. m., or from 7 a. m. to 7 p. m.— with the customary hour
a Court of Exchequer, Ryder v. M ills, P. P. 67, sess. 1850, p. 3.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

553

and a half for meals; work on Saturdays to cease at 2 p. m. Lord
Ashley accepted this amendment, and the bill became law.
Workingmen had never ceased to agitate for a law that would place
a restriction upon motive power. So long as it was legal for machin­
ery to run twenty-four hours a day, so long would men be compelled
to work long shifts. Children and women were under the protection
of the law and were not permitted to labor more than a specified
time, but the only limit to the working hours of an adult male was
his physical endurance. In 1853 Cobbett, Liberal member for Old­
ham, introduced a bill with the following specific purpose in view:
To restrict the labor of women and young persons to ten hours a
day; to prohibit motive power in factories between 5.30 p. m. and
6 a. m. Cobbett admitted that the real object of the bill was to
regulate the hours of labor for adult males, and in the course of his
speech said: “ Is there no consideration for adult men? You have
already put them in connection with and chained them to the mule,
and to the loom, and to the engine. You have bound them to iron,
and to brass, and to steel, and you are now— whilst they had before
certain protection in the physical weakness of the women and the
youths with whose working they were associated— you are now going
to infuse fresh life and blood into those beings with whom they are to
be coworkers on the relay system; so that the question is now to be,
as to the adult male, whether he shall be worked to death or not—
fifteen hours a day! Sixteen hours a day! Allow the relay system,
and who will tell where mammon will stop in its attempt to destroy
men’s lives? For my part I can regard it as little less than murder,
and I trust the legislature will never allow a system to which such
strong objections may be offered. The argument on the other side
will be, ‘ But these are free men. You talk of their inevitable con­
nection with brass and iron! These are all figures of rhetoric. f” To
this Cobbett’s reply was: “ Are these figures of rhetoric? We know
here they are practical facts. Talk of freedom! The man in the
factory is not free.” (a)
Cobbett, however, was in advance of his age, and the bill was not
considered. In place of it Lord Palmerston brought forward a Gov­
ernment measure, which became a law, by which children might not
be employed before 6 a. m. or after 6 p. m., which had the desired
effect of the masters not being able to work their mills fifteen hours
a day.
Protective legislation now and for the next few years took another
shift, which was almost as important in its results as the limitation
of hours. Accidents in factories using steam as a motive power were
frequent. Shafting, gearing, and all forms of machinery in fact, were
insufficiently protected, and men, women, and children, the latter




« Hansard, 3 S ., Yol. C X X V III, p . 1255.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

especially, were often caught in the machinery and killed or maimed
for life. The inspectors called attention to this state of affairs in
their reports and insisted upon adequate protection. The manufac­
turers complained of the “ undue restrictions and mischievous inter­
ference^ of the inspectors and sent deputations to the home secre­
tary to induce him to curb the activity of his subordinates, but that
official declined to interfere, and the courts upheld the inspectors.
For many years this fight was kept up, and even if at times the manu­
facturers were able temporarily to secure advantages, the enlarged
view of the duty of society gained gradual headway, until at the
present time we find its culmination in the most rigid requirements
properly to safeguard workers from injury, while the recent enact­
ment of the Workman s Compensation Act makes an employer
pecuniarily responsible for an accident to a workman arising out of
the cause of his occupation, provided the workman has not contrib­
uted to it by negligence or a violation of regulations made for his
own protection.
LEGISLATION RELATIN G TO THE T E X T IL E INDUSTRY.
The earliest factory act applied to the textile industry alone, and it
was the stock argument of the manufacturers and the advocates of
the policy of laissez faire, conspicuously the so-called “ Manchester
School” to whom State interference was criminal and maudlin senti­
mentality— Carlyle, for instance, wrote of “ this universal syllabub
of philanthropic twaddle” — that any attempt at regulation would
work the doom of industry. But when facts routed prophecies
made with all the confidence of inspiration, when the amazing dis­
covery was made that it was possible to produce a greater output in
eleven hours than in twelve; that the lowest-paid labor was not the
cheapest; when it was established that there was no economy in the
employment of children of tender years— astounding discoveries then
but elementary truisms now— the Manchester School and their
Carlyles and their advocates of laissez faire were driven from their
last stronghold. Every argument advanced had been refuted. Every
prophecy made had been proved false. Every prediction of gloom
had been dispelled by the sunlight of a broader and more complete
humanity. The Manchester School did not surrender, but the world
swept it to one side and went on with the work that civilization found
necessary if civilization was to be something more than a mock.
In the early days of the agitation for the regulation and control of
the textile industry the manufacturers contended that they were
being discriminated against, and, as an argument for Government
noninterference, they maintained that there were other industries
even more in need of regulation. As late as 1874 Mr. Fawcett




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

555

uttered this plaint: “ Why, I should like to know, should the great
textile manufacturers be singled out as so peculiarly deficient in
independence and lacking in experience to manage their own affairs
that they must be taken under the special patronage of the Govern­
ment whose peculiar mission it is to harass no industry and worry no
trade/ 9
It was not, however, that conditions in the manufacture of textiles
were worse than they were in other industries, but it was simply that
it was easier to make a beginning there. When statesmen, philan­
thropists, and sociologists turned to the print works, they found
conditions existing there parallel with the conditions that existed
in the textile factories in the early years of the century. There was
the same callous indifference to the employment of young children,
the same requirements of long hours amid unsanitary surroundings,
the same excuse that the work was really not injurious, and the same
craven plea that if industrial slavery were abolished ruin would fol­
low. When Lord Ashley in 1845 came forward with a bill to regulate
the hours of children in print works, he faced a hostile assemblage.
This passion for regulating, for interfering, for meddling, must be
.discontinued. The definite question was put to Ashley: “ Where will
you stop?” The reply was worthy of the man and showed that he
was satisfied with no halfway measures. “ I reply, nowhere, so long
as any .portion of this mighty evil remains to be removed,” and he
went on to say that his desire and ambition was “ to bring all the
laboring children of this Empire within the reach and the opportuni­
ties of education— within the sphere (if they will profit b y the offer)
of happy and useful citizens.”
The Government inquiry made in 1843 as to the age of children
working in print works showed that nearly two-thirds had been put
to work before they were 9 years old, and some of them had actually
been forced into the factory at a little more than 4 years of age.
Children were extensively employed in the various processes of
calico printing, and while the hours of work in the machine room nom­
inally did not exceed ten and a half, as a matter of fact when the
demand was active the machines were kept in motion from twelve
to eighteen hours without stopping, and frequently they ran day and
night. Children .were employed as “ teerers” to spread the color for
the block printer, and a witness before the Parliamentary Commission
of 1843 testified he had known a man to work three days and three
nights without going home, and the same “ teerer” was kept all the
time. The hours of labor in the print works were very irregular
owing to the nature of the trade. In the slack season they were not
excessive, but in the busy season men and young persons and children
were kept at their tasks all day and far into the night. Once again a
law of nature was demonstrating its infallibility and shaming man’s




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

ignorance. Evidence adduced before the Parliamentary Commission
showed that after a certain length of time the strain was so enormous
that the men were physically incapable of turning out proper work
and that the proprietors instead of profiting by inordinately long
hours were actually losers by them. In one works for four months
the machines were run from morning until night (fifteen hours) with­
out the usual dinner-hour intermission. For the first month the
production was steady and there was only the normal proportion of
spoiled work, but from that time on production decreased and propor­
tionately the spoiled work increased. “ The amount of spoiled work
increased to such an alarming degree that the parties referred to felt
themselves compelled to shorten the hours of labor to avoid loss, and
as soon as the alteration was made the amount of spoiled work sank
to its former level.’ ’
Mr. Kennedy, who had been deputed by the Government to make
this inquiry, points out that the men had been paid extra wages for
overtime and therefore had no motive to produce inferior work.
Remembering the dictum of Senior that the profit begins in the last
hour, it is interesting to note that Kennedy reached the conclusion
that in trades requiring skill and attention “ the loss, rather than the
profit, begins in the last hour.” This conviction was gradually forcing
itself on the manufacturers, and they were especially convinced that
overtime which was paid for at an extra price was detrimental and
too costly to be commercially profitable. It is worth while to quote
from the report:
A legislative restriction does no individual an injury; it places all
upon a footing; it protects the more humane or the more discerning
manufacturer from the compulsion exercised upon him by those who
do not entertain his objections to excessive hours of labor. An
unlimited competition exposes each manufacturer [worker] to the
caprice, and places him at the mercy of his employer.
Lord Ashley’s bill of 1845 to restrict the hours of children in print
works was opposed on the ground that it was unnecessary. Ashley’s
opponents pointed out that in the cotton factory manufacturing was
carried on by steam, and when the engine halted the whole business
came to a standstill; but in calico print works half the process of
manufacture was dissevered from machinery, and therefore it would
be difficult, if not impossible, to make suitable restrictions for those
works and properly enforce the law. Strong protest was also made
against extending the law to dyeing, bleaching, and calendering.
Lord Ashley was forced to accept a compromise. Dyeing, bleaching,
and calendering were omitted from the bill, but no child under 8 years
of age was to be employed in print works, no child under 13 years of
age or a woman was to be employed between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m.,
and children under 13 years of age were to be required to attend school
thirty days in each half year.



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

557

Parliament refused to include dyeing and bleaching in the Print
Works Act of 1845 on the ground that the irregularity of the trade
made that impossible. The men who worked in those industries felt
that they were rightly entitled to the protection of the law, and in
1853 the operatives began an agitation to obtain legislative regula­
tion. In that year the bleachers of the west of Scotland presented
a characteristically Scotch memorial to their employers. They
objected to the long hours not only because they were exhausting and
unhealthy, but also because they “ leave us no time for the cultivation
of our intellectual faculties. * * * If no change takes place in
our trade, the consequence will be that your memorialists will feel
themselves degraded in the eyes of their fellow-workmen. * * *
Man needs periodic seasons of rest. If that be infringed on during
the six working days it can not surprise us if nature demands it back
on the Sabbath. We are therefore compelled to acknowledge that
the present system either forces us to remain at home, or renders us
dull, listless, and haggard in the House of God.” After having
advanced these pious reasons why their hours should be diminished
they used a more cogent and more practical argument to appeal to
their Scotch employers. “ A careful examination of work done in
the morning,” the memorial runs, “ and similar work performed after
a day of thirteen hours will, we are confident, show that the work
done at the thirteenth hour is either unequal in amount or quality to
that done at the first. Other trades have the hours of labor reduced,
and we believe the result generally is such as to corroborate our state­
ment that short hours produce more work, and that of a better quality
than under the old system.”
Ashley in the meantime had succeeded his father to the earldom of
Shaftesbury, but his transfer from the Commons to the House of Lords
in no way made him less keenly interested in the welfare of the work­
ing classes. In 1854 he brought in a bill for regulating bleaching
works, which the Lords approved practically without opposition, but
which was resisted in the Commons, and Mr. H. S. Tremenheere was
appointed a commissioner by the Government to report on conditions
in the trade. As a result of his investigations several bleaching and
dyeing bills were introduced only to meet with stormy opposition, and,
as further information was considered necessary, in 1857 a select
committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into
the subject. Among other evidence brought out was the fact “ that
the workers were subject to the evil of being constantly on foot,
exposed to great heat, often 90 degrees to 130 degrees, for long hours,
occasionally as much as sixteen or eighteen a day.” Mr. Richmond,
a surgeon who attended a house in which lodged a large number of
women and girls employed in these works, said that the sick list
varied in proportion to the hours of work. In slack times he would




558

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

have very few patients among them, and many more when they were
working full time or overhours. A master gave evidence that there
was no necessity for the long hours of work; he was forced to work
long hours because others did it. Another master found that he lost
ten to thirty pieces a day by working overtime. (a)
The committee made a report to the House that the hours of work
of women and young persons were excessive and should be reduced.
In 1860 Lord Brougham again brought the subject to the attention
of the Lords, and the Commons also debated it with much vigor.
One of the most important speeches in the lower house was made by
Roebuck, who sixteen years before had declaimed against the peril
of State interference with the profits of the manufacturer; but the
intervening years had brought about his conversion, and with all
the fiery zeal that he had used before in opposing legislation he now
supported it. “ I appeal to this House,” he said, “ whether the manu­
facturers of England have suffered by this legislation. The honorable
member for Manchester still makes the same objection. He gets up
and prophesies all sorts of evil if we interfere now, but he has left out
of view the evils for the prevention of which we are asked to inter­
fere. * * * When he tells me the Manchester manufacturers
are likely to suffer, I say, let them suffer. * * * We complain
bitterly of the hours of this House, and if we come at 4 with liberty
to go away and dine at 7 and then do not go home till 2 in the morn­
ing we say, ‘ What a terrible night's work we have had.' Well,
then, think of the poor child between 13 or 14 or between 10 and
11 not Able to go away and get a good dinner, not sitting while at
work upon these soft cushions, but standing upon her poor, tired,
little legs for hours and hours together.”
The battle had been won. On July 27, 1860, a bill (23 and 24
Viet., c. 78) placing bleaching and dyeing works under^the factory acts
passed its third reading. But the law was not so rigid as its advo­
cates hoped for. Two years later a further law was enacted to pro­
hibit night work in open-air bleach fields, and in 1863 and 1864
amendatory acts were enacted regulating calendering and finishing.
It followed as a matter of course that, society having recognized its
right to regulate the employment of factory operatives, and not
only its right but its duty, it was only a question of time when
all industries would be subjected to governmental regulation. In
1860 Mr. Tremenheere was directed by the secretary of state for
home affairs to investigate conditions in the lace industry, and in
the following year an act regulating the hours of work in that industry
was approved. It is interesting to note, as showing the change that
had taken place in public sentiment, that not only did the bill not
have to encounter opposition, but the amendments made to it
"H istory of Factory Legislation, Hutchins and Harrison, pp. 137, 138.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

559

increased its ‘stringency. As originally introduced the bill per­
mitted work on Saturdays until 4.30, and children of 11 years of
age were allowed to work full time, but the amended bill raised the
full time age of children to 13 years and made the Saturday half
holiday begin at 2 o’ clock.
LEGISLATION

RELATING TO N ONTEXTILE
AND WORKSHOPS.

FACTORIES

So far protective legislation related to textile factories and allied
industries alone. But the time had now come when, in the opinion
of Lord Shaftesbury and others, nontextile factories and workshops
should also be subjected to legislative control. On August 15, 1861,
Lord Shaftesbury moved in the House of Lords for an inquiry to be
made into the conditions of the employment of children and young
persons in trades not then regulated by law. It was known that
conditions in the pottery, glass, metal, hosiery, and many other
industries were as bad as they had been at the beginning of the
century in the textile trade. The employment of children at a very
tender age, forced to work long hours and far into the night, unsani­
tary conditions, and an almost total disregard for the health or
comfort of the workers were the marked characteristics of the con­
ditions existing in these trades. In the pottery trade especially the
evidence adduced showed increasing deterioration of the workers
due to their constant contact with poisons and the excessively high
temperature in which many of the operations were carried on. In
the manufacture of lucifer matches the workers were affected with
necrosis of the jawbone, which frequently resulted in death after
excruciating agony. As a result of Lord Shaftesbury’s'inquiry, in
1864 a law was enacted regulating employment in the manufacture
of pottery, match making, percussion-cap and cartridge making,
paper staining, and fustian cutting. The latter was largely a home
industry, and this is the first attempt at legislative control of industry
carried on outside a factory. The definition of a factory was
widened so as to include “ any place in which persons work for hire.”
It is impossible within the scope of this report to take up separately
every industry as it was brought under legislative control; it is only
necessary to say that by 1867 legislation had been extended so as to
include within its scope practically every important industry in the
United Kingdom. That such legislation was necessary is shown
by the report on the hosiery trade. Children of 4 and 5 years of age
were required to work by their parents, and we read in the report
that “ mothers will pin them to their knee to keep them to their work
and give them a slap to keep them awake. If the children are
pinned up so, they can not fall when they are slapped or go to sleep.” (a)




a Second Report, p. xxxvi.

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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

The end of the period named, 1867, witnessed the passage of one
of the most important factory acts on the statute books. (a) Without
making any change in the regulations then existing governing textile
factories, bleaching and dyeing works, and other industries already
subject to legislative enactment, it regulated employment in a large
number of new industries. Blast furnaces, copper mills, iron, steel,
and tin plate mills; iron, copper, and brass foundries; factories in
which machinery, metal articles, gutta-percha, paper, glass, or tobacco
was manufactured, and printing establishments were brought within
the purview of the act; and all these industries were subject to the
sanitary provisions and regulations as to hours of work, age of child
laborers, education, and fencing of machinery of the previous acts.
The advancement of public opinion is shown by the leading articles
in the Times. When the ten-hour amendment act of 1844 was
approved it was styled “ a triumph of humanity,” but the act of 1867
was simply and soberly defined as a measure of common sense and
economic prudence.
The Times said:
The worst result of the old system of unrestricted freedom was that
it tempted men to indulge in alternate fits of idleness and excessive
labor. They would be drunk for two days at the beginning of the
week and would then endeavor to recover their lost wages, not only
by overworking themselves during the remainder of the week, but
by compelling their wives and children to work unreasonable hours.
The result was that no more money was gained on the average than
would have been earned by steady, moderate labor. After all, there
is but a certain amount of work to be got out of men, women, or
children in the 24 hours. Only a certain amount of work is, in
point of fact, got out of them, and the effect of this regulation in the
Factory Acts is simply to recognize the fact and induce all classes
to act upon it. Nothing can be gained in the end by anticipating
our resources, and to employ women and children unduly is simply
to run in debt with nature. ( 6)
LEGISLATION RELATING TO TRAD E UNIONS.
Before closing a survey, necessarily fragmentary, of a subject so
vast as a century of legislation which, next to the laws of the Ten
Tables, has exercised a greater influence on the betterment of the
human race and the advancement of civilization than perhaps any
other agency of man, mention must be made of legislation which while
not properly to be classed as “ protective legislation” is so closely
allied to it, and is the logical outgrowth of the development of ethical
considerations, that unless this protective legislation had been enacted
the latter would have been impossible— the right of workingmen to
combine to secure their material advancement and the right of work­
ingmen to be recompensed when injured in the discharge of their duty.
a 39 and 3L V iet., c. 103.




&The Tim es, London, March 4, 1867.

HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

561

Prior to 1824 the law of England treated the workingman who
endeavored to secure an amelioration of his condition with great
severity.
Strikes of any magnitude or duration were almost impossible, as all
attempts at organization for such a purpose were prevented as far as
ever possible by the law against combination then in force. The
great labor disputes which took place previous to that time, and indeed
for many years after, were rather outbreaks of actual industrial revolt
against grievances become intolerable than deliberately arranged and
skillfully organized methods for bringing about changes in existing
conditions.
There were then very few disputes during which the leaders of the
men were not sent to prison ana in which there were not committed
some acts of violence against property or persons.
The combination laws in operation from 1799 to the time of their
repeal in 1825 were very stringent in their character, and a very brief
summary of a few of their provisions and penalties will show how work­
men on strike might be dealt with. The preamble of the act of 1799
(39 Geo. I ll, c. 8) strikes the keynote of the industrial legislation of
that period. It says: “ Whereas great numbers of journeymen man­
ufacturers and workmen in various parts of this Kingdom have by
unlawful meetings and combinations endeavored to obtain advance
of their wages and to effectuate other illegal purposes; and the laws
at present in force against such unlawful conduct have been found to
be madequate to the suppression thereof, whereby it is become neces­
sary that more effectual provision should be made against such
unlawful combinations; ana for preventing such unlawful practices
in future and for bringing such offenders to more speedy and exem­
plary justice.”
The act then goes on to declare null and void all agreements “ between
journeymen manufacturers or workmen” for obtaining an advance of
wages or for lessening or altering their hours of labor, and for various
other stated purposes. Workmen entering into any such agreement
were, upon conviction before a magistrate, to be committed to jail
for three months or to the house or correction for two months with
hard labor. The same punishment was also to be awarded to any
journeymen or workmen who entered into any combination to “ obtain
an advance of wages, lessen or alter the hours ,of work, decrease the
quantity of work, or who by giving money or by persuasion, solicita­
tion, or intimidation endeavor to prevent any unhired or unemployed
journeymen or other person wanting employment from hiring him­
self to any manufacturer or tradesman; or who should, for any pur­
pose contrary to the provisions of the act, directly or indirectly,
decoy, persuade, solicit, intimidate, influence, or prevail, or attempt
to prevail on any journeyman hired or to be hired to quit or leave his
work, service, or employment, or who should hinder or prevent, or
attempt to hinder or prevent, any employer from hiring such work­
man as he might think proper, or who (being hired or employed)
should refuse to work with any other journeymen employed therein.”
Like penalties were enacted for those who attended meetings held
for making agreements rendered unlawful by the act, or who should
pay money in support of such a meeting, or collect money from other
persons, or by any means induce other persons to attend such a meet­
ing. Nor might anyone contribute to the support of persons who



562

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

had quitted work. Any sums so collected were forfeit one-half to
the King and one-half to the informer.
A subsequent act (40 Geo. I ll, c. 60) somewhat qualified these
stringent provisions, but only by inserting such words as “ falsely
and maliciously” before the various prohibited acts. It will thus be
seen that the work of attempting in any way to better his condition
was rendered extremely hazardous to the workman. It was even
an offense to assist in maintaining men on strike. Stringent as was
this legislation, however, it failed in its object, secret societies began
to multiply, and trade disputes took place in spite of the law, if not,
indeed, by reason of it.(a)
In 1824 a law was enacted “ to repeal the laws relative to combi­
nations of workmen,” which repealed many acts and parts of acts
dating back as far as the reign of Edward I. The passage of this act
was marked by numerous strikes and labor disputes, and in the fol­
lowing year Parliament appointed a committee to inquire further into
the subject. As a result of this investigation the act of 1825 was
approved, one of its most important provisions being that it should
not be held unlawful for persons to meet “ for the purpose of consult­
ing upon and determining the rate of wages or prices which the per­
sons present at such meeting should demand for their work.” But
the interpretation of the law was left to the courts, and the judges
soon declared labor combinations to be unlawful at common law on
the ground that they were in restraint of trade. This led to further
agitation and the passage in 1859 (22 Viet., c. 34) of a law which
enacted that workingmen were not to be held guilty of “ molestation”
or “ obstruction,” under the act of 1825 simply for entering into
agreements to fix the rate of wages or the hours of labor, or to endeavor
peaceably to persuade others to cease or abstain from work to pro­
duce the same results. Here again the decision of the courts gave
the law an effect which was unsatisfactory to its creators, and in 1867
a commission was appointed to inquire and report on the subject.
The result of this investigation brought forth two acts in 1871— the
Trade Union Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the latter
repealing the acts of 1825 and 1859. This new act made stringent
provisions, both as against masters and men, to prevent coercion,
violence, threats, following, molestation, and obstruction, but there
was no prohibition against doing or conspiring to do any act on the
ground that it was in restraint of trade unless it came within the
scope of the enumerated prohibitions.
B y the passage of these two acts it was thought that strikes as ordi­
narily conducted were legal, provided the limits recognized vere not
exceeded, and it was certainly assumed that if men went on strike
they were not in danger of prosecution for criminal conspiracy. But
the following year certain gas stokers, who were under contract,
a British. Board of Trade; John Burnett: Report on the Strikes and Lockouts of 1888.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

563

struck and were indicted for conspiracy, Mr. Justice Brett, at the
Old Bailey, before whom the men were tried, holding that “ a threat
of simultaneous breach of contract by the men was conduct which
the jury ought to regard as a conspiracy to prevent the gas company
carrying on its business.” The defendants were sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment. “ The severity of the sentence, however,”
says Mr. John Burnett, of the Board of Trade, in the report previously
quoted, “ caused a great deal of agitation in the country, a special
fund was raised to support the wives and families of the men con­
victed and eventually a remission of eight months of their punish­
ment was obtained. The feeling thus raised resulted in the appoint­
ment of another commission, which reported in favor of further alter­
ations in the law.”
In 1875 Mr. R. A. Cross, the home secretary, introduced the Con­
spiracy and Protection of Property Act (38 and 39 Viet., c. 86), which
received the royal assent on August 13 of that year.
This act did hot repeal the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1871,
but amplified it. The picketing clauses of the act of 1871 were
retained in the new law, but the important addition in the home sec­
retary's act was contained in the first paragraph of section 3, which
reads as follows:
An agreement or combination of two or more persons to do, or to
procure to be done any act in contemplation or furtherance of a trade
dispute between employers and workmen shall not be punishable as
a conspiracy if such act as aforesaid when committed by one person
would not oe punishable as a crime.
This section must be read in conjunction with- section 2 of the
Trade Union Act of 1871, which legalizes combinations of workmen.
The text of that section is:
The purposes of any trade union shall not, by reason merely that
they are in restraint of trade, be deemed to be unlawful, so as to
render any member of such trade union liable to criminal prosecution
for conspiracy or otherwise.
B y this section of the act of 1871 every combination of workingmen,
which prior to the passage of that act would have been unlawful
merely on the ground of its purpose being in restraint of trade, is
expressly legalized whether it be a temporary or permanent combina­
tion. Had this law been in operation in 1872 the gas stokers could
not have been convicted of conspiracy.
To show how the legislative mind has widened it is necessary to
read only the first sections of the Trade Union Act of 1871:
S e c t io n 2 . The purposes of any trade union shall not by reason
merely that they are in restraint of trade be deemed to be unlawful
so as to render any member of such trade union liable to criminal
prosecution for conspiracy or otherwise.




564

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

S e c . 3. The purposes of any trade union shall not by reason merely
that they are in restraint of trade be unlawful so as to render void or
voidable any agreement or trust.
By the Trade Union Act of 1876, which did not repeal the parent
act but is amendatory of it, a trade union is thus defined:
The term “ trade union” means any combination, whether tem­
porary or permanent, for regulating the relations between workmen
and masters, or between workmen and workmen, or between masters
and masters, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of
any trade or business, whether such combinations would or would not,
if the principal act had not been passed, have been deemed to have
been an unlawful combination by reason of some one or more of its
purposes being in restraint of trade.
These two acts and the Conspiracy and Protection of Property
Act give the workingmen full liberty of action.
They make the object of a trade dispute lawful provided the means
adopted by the workingmen are also lawful. That is to say, what A
may do himself A and B may with equal impunity do in concert.
At least two persons are required to “ conspire ” in the eyes of the law.
In the old days individual action might be lawful, but the moment
that action was undertaken by two persons the action became illegal
and the men were liable to be punished for conspiracy. “ Con­
spiracy, therefore,” says Mr. George Howell in his Handy Book of
the Labor Laws, “ as relating to trade disputes must now be defined
as a combination to commit a crime, whether that crime be the object
or the means of the combination, for the common law of conspiracy
as affecting trade disputes has been by this statute practically
abolished.”
Under the protection afforded by these acts British workingmen
have carried on strikes against their employers. B y the seventh
section of the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act it is
made a penal offense for any person to attempt to compel any other
person to abstain from doing or to do any act which such other
person has a legal right to do and in that attempt uses violence or
intimidation, follows such person about from place to place, hides
any tools, clothes, or other property, watches or besets the house or
place where such person resides or works, or follows such person with
two or more persons in a disorderly manner through any street.
Numerous prosecutions have been based on this section. What con­
stitutes “ intimidation” or “ violence,” how far a person may “ com­
municate information” and not be deemed guilty of “ watching or
besetting” have given rise to many judicial decisions, generally more
satisfactory to the employer than to the employee, to quote from a
report made by the present writer on the British Conspiracy and
Protection of Property Act published by this Bureau in Bulletin
No. 33:




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

565>

a As a general thing it may be said that the courts have given a
broad construction to the act and have been inclined to protect work­
ingmen against ‘ intimidation 7even when that method of coercion has
not been attended by violence/7 Generally speaking, English working­
men are satisfied with the law. “ It has permitted u s /7 further to
quote from the report already mentioned, “ to do in combination
what we are permitted to do as individuals, but which we were pro­
hibited from doing in association before that law came into effect; it
has more particularly established our rights; it has given us certain
privileges and restrictions, and at the same time has laid equal
privileges and restrictions upon employers.77
THE CASE OE AL L EN VERSUS FLOOD.

Before leaving this branch of the subject attention must be called,
to the celebrated case of Allen v. Flood, because labor no less than
capital long regarded it as one of the most important decisions
affecting their rights. Flood and Taylor, shipwrights, expert artisans,,
and men of excellent character, were employed by the Glengall Iron
Company. Their dismissal was demanded by the IndependentSociety of Boiler Makers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders solely o n
the ground that they were workers both in wood and iron. Allen,,
the London delegate of the union, frankly admitted that his union
had no ill feeling against their employers or the two men, but that the
union was determined to prohibit men from working both in wood
and in iron, and he threatened that unless his demands were complied
with the other members of the union would strike. The two men.
were discharged. They then brought suit against Allen and obtained
damages. From this verdict Allen appealed, and the decision of the.
court below was affirmed. Allen took a further appeal to the House,
of Lords, the court of last resort in England. Eminent counsel on
both sides argued the case for four days, December 10, 12, 16, 17,,
1895, but their lordships required further argument and from March
25 to April 2, 1897, the case was reargued, when their lordships did a
thing done once in a generation and requested the attendance of eight
of the most eminent judges of the Kingdom to give their opinion on.
questions of law. At the conclusion of the arguments the law lords,
propounded the following question to the judges: “ Assuming the
evidence given by the plaintiffs7witnesses to be correct, was there any
evidence of a cause of action fit to be left to the jury?77 Two monthslater the judges delivered their opinion, six of them, agreeing with the
two lower courts, the other two answering their lordships in the nega­
tive. The opinion of the judges, however, was advisory merely and
not the action of the court. On December 14,1897, the decision was
rendered, the judgment of the court below being reversed; of the*
304 b — N o. 70— 07------ 7




566

BULLETIN OE TH E BUREAU OE LABOR.

nine law lords who sat in the case only three joined in the dissenting
opinion. Put in its most concise form the judgment of the highest
court of the British Empire is this: Where an act is lawful in itself the
motive with which it is done is immaterial. To induce a master to
discharge a servant, if the discharge does not involve a breach of
contract, or to induce a person not to employ a servant, even if done
maliciously, and resulting in injury to the servant, does not give him
any cause of action. This decision broke down many of the restraints
of both civil and criminal law, and as Lord Morris, one of the dissenting
lords, said, “ It overturned the overwhelming judicial opinion of
England.”
The overwhelming importance of this decision will be better
understood when later the Taff Yale decision is considered.
From the date of the passage of the two trade union acts in 1871
and 1876 until 1900 British workingmen believed that the code of
industrial warfare was precisely defined and that they could carry on
defensive or offensive operations against capital without subjecting
themselves to the penalties of the law. But in the latter year there
arose a labor dispute that led to one of the most important judicial
decisions affecting labor in England.
THE TAFF V A L E DECISION.

In June, 1900, the men employed by the Taff Vale Railway Com­
pany, a Welsh railroad system, were dissatisfied and generally in a
state of discontent. James Holmes, one of the organizing secretaries
of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (the railway men’s
trade union), stationed at Cardiff, sent a circular to the signalmen on
the Taff Vale system, asking them if they were in favor of a movement
to obtain an advance of wages, promotion by seniority, additional pay
for Sunday duty, and a rearrangement of their hours. In his circular
Mr. Holmes said: “ A more favorable opportunity will never present
itself, and if you are dissatisfied with present conditions, sign this
paper and return it to me.”
When this circular was brought to the attention of Mr. Richard
Bell, the general secretary of the society in London., he wrote to Mr.
Holmes warning him that he was exceeding his authority and was in
danger of incurring the displeasure of the executive committee.
Holmes, however, refused to heed the warning and showed that he
was determined to make trouble between the company and its men.
Despite Bell’s warning, in making his official report for July to his
superior officer, Holmes used this language:
There is nothing I would like better than to measure swords with
this T. V. R. dictator, and who knows how soon the,chance may come?
I not only do not fear him, but court a try, and if the men will onlv
prove men, I shall have no fear of the results. There is a black mart
to rub out, and I swear I w^on’t rest till it has been done.



HISTOBY OF BBITISH LABOK LEGISLATION.

567

The feeling among the men grew. Holmes spoke at several
meetings at which he used language similar to that in his letter to Mr.
Bell. The men were in a mood to strike, but while still in an uncer­
tain frame of mind the company drove them to action.
Ewington, a signalman who had been for more than twenty years
in the company's service, and who had taken a leading part in the
agitation in favor of improved conditions, was ordered to be trans­
ferred to a remote part of the system. Rightly or wrongly, the men
interpreted the order as an attempt to intimidate them and make a
victim of Ewington. The company asserted that, on the contrary,
Ewington's transfer was in the nature of a promotion, as it carried
with it an advance of about 50 cents a week. At the time Ewington
received his notice of transfer he was confined to his bed with rheu­
matism and therefore was physically unable to comply with his
instructions. He protested against being transferred, even at an
increase of wrages, as he was satisfied where he was; but, on recovery,
finding that his protest was unheeded, offered to accept the new place,
only to be told that inasmuch as he had refused the place the vacancy
had been filled, and so also had been his old box or 16cabin." The
company then offered him a new cabin, but at 75 cents a week less
than he formerly received. This Ewington declined and demanded
that he be restored to his former place. The company refused his
demand.
Holmes immediately made the Ewington case an additional reason
for war, and he wrote to Bell again denouncing the company. Bell
replied cautiously hoping that the protests made by the men would
lead to Ewington's reinstatement. On August 6, the men determined
to strike unless Ewington was immediately reinstated. Bell wrote
to Holmes saying, “ I can not help but think that the men have been
very impatient and very undecided as to their course of action, and I
fear whether what they have done will be conducive to the best
results. They [the men] seem to have gone absolutely on their own
responsibility, disregarding the society's rules, the executive commit­
tee decisions, and all reasonable advice." Bell also called Holmes's
attention to the fact that the movement had not received the sanction
of the executive committee, and that for the men to strike without
the sanction of the executive committee was in violation of the rules.
Holmes knew that he was proceeding unconstitutionally, but he was
determined to force the men to strike.
In an endeavor to avert a strike, Mr. Ritchie, the president of the
Board of Trade, a member of the cabinet, invited Mr. Bell to an
unofficial conference, and Bell went to Cardiff to try to induce the
men to accept a compromise. There Holmes bluntly told him that
he did not want his interference, and that the men were acting inde­
pendently of the society. Both Mr. Ritchie and Mr. Bell continued



568

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

their efforts to bring about a settlement, but on August 19 the execu­
tive committee of the society adopted a resolution censuring the men
for having acted without the prior consent of the committee, com
demning the company for the arbitrary removal of Ewington, recom­
mending that every effort be made to bring the dispute to a speedy
termination, and agreeing to support financially the men. In obedi­
ence to the resolution of the executive committee, Mr. Bell went to
Cardiff personally to take command, and on August 20 the men went
on strike. Ten days later a compromise was reached, and within a
week practically all the men had been reinstated. Thus the strike,
one of the shortest and one of the most important in the history of
English labor, was brought to an end, but it proved to be one of
the most costly for labor and had results that no one could have
anticipated.
As soon as the men went on strike, the Taff Yale Company brought
suit against more than two hundred for breach of contract in having
left the company’ s service without notice or on insufficient notice,
and in the Cardiff police court sixty of the men were each fined £4
($19.47) and costs. The company then applied for an injunction to
restrain (a) the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Bell,
Holmes, and the other officers, and the members generally from doing
certain acts alleged to be illegal, such*as picketing, “ besetting” the
plaintiff’ s stations, intimidating and using violence toward the com­
pany’ s employees, and generally interfering with and obstructing
the conduct of the company’s business; also claiming damages in the
sum of £24,626 ($119,842) for the injury done to the plaintiffs by the
loss of their business and the extra expense involved arising out of the
unlawful and malicious conspiracy of the defendants. A temporary
injunction and restraining order was issued against Bell, Holmes, et al.,
and the writ made returnable on August 30.
The ease was heard in the high court of justice before Mr. Justice
Farwell, who took under advisement the application against the soci­
ety, but granted an interim injunction against Bell and Holmes to
restrain them from watching and besetting the works of the plaintiffs
or the places of residence of any workman employed b y the plaintiffs,
for the purpose of persuading or preventing any persons from working
for the plaintiffs. On September 5 he made two orders, one refusing
to strike the name of the society out of the action, and the other grant­
ing an interim injunction against the society, holding, contrary to the
contention of the society, that it could be sued as a trade union. The
defense set up by the society was that under the two acts of Parlia­
ment enacted for the creation of trade unions (34 and 35 Viet., c. 31,
and 39 and 49 Viet., c. 22, more generally known as the Trade Union
a Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 50, January, 1904, “ Labor Unions and
British Industry,’ 5 b y A . Maurice Low.



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

569

Acts of 1871 and 1876), a trade union was neither a corporation nor an
individual nor a limited-liability company, and while the trustees of
the union were empowered to bring or defend any action touching the
property of the union, and in all cases concerning the real or personal
property of the union might sue or be sued, the union, as a union, was
not collectively liable for the acts of its members or responsible for
those acts either civilly or criminally. The importance of a judicial
interpretation of this section of the act was of the utmost consequence
to the trade unions no less than to the general public.
Justice Farwell gave a new status to the trade unions by deciding
that the union, as a union, was an entity to be reached by the process
of the court, arriving at his conclusion in these words:
Although a corporation and an individual, or individuals may be
the only entities known to the common law who can sue or be sued,
it is competent to the legislature to give to an association of individ­
uals, which is neither a corporation nor a partnership nor an individ­
ual, a capacity for owning property and acting by agents; and such
capacity, in the absence of express enactment to the contrary, involves
the necessary correlative of liability, to the extent of such property, for
the acts and defaults of such agents— in other words, the liability of
being sued in its registered name.
As to the competency of the action against Bell and Holmes, as:
individuals, no question was raised, but from the decision granting the
interlocutory injunction against the society an appeal was taken.
The strike terminated long before the appeal could be heard, and,
therefore, so far as the injunction affected the freedom of action of the
parties involved, it was a dead letter, but both sides saw at once that
a vital question was at issue. The Taff Vale Company knew that an
action for damages against individual members, in the event of that
action being successful, would, in all probability, be a barren victory,
as on other occasions employers had obtained verdicts and damages
against their employees which could not be satisfied because the
employees, not being men of substance, had no property that could be
attached. But here was an entirely different case. Here was a soci­
ety with $1,500,000 in its treasury, and if the decision went against the
society it could not escape its responsibility. Naturally, both sides
were determined to defend what each considered to be its rights.
The appeal came on. for hearing in the court of appeals before the
master of the rolls, Lord Justice Collins, and Lord Justice Sterling, on
November 12, 1900. The only question at issue was whether Mr.
Justice Farwell had erred in deciding that the society could be sued.
Mr. Haldane, Q. C., M. P., for the appellants, maintained that, follow­
ing the strict letter of the acts of 1871 and 1876, a trade union could
not be sued. Sir E. Clark, Q. C., for the respondents, contended that
if this argument was sound the act of 1871 had created a “ society that




570

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

would bear the character of a chartered libertine. I maintain/’ he
said, “ that the legislature intended to create an entity.”
Judgment was given on November 21, the master of the rolls read­
ing the unanimous opinion of the court. In his opinion the master of
the rolls said:
If a trade union can be sued in the manner proposed in this case, the
funds of the union will be liable to be taken in execution under a judg­
ment obtained against the union in the society’s name. Whether
this ought to be so or not is one thing which I have not to inquire into.
Whether it is so, that is, whether the union can be sued in this manner
proposed, is another matter, and this I have to decide. Mr. Justice
Far well has held that this action is maintainable against the union in
the society’s name, and against this judgment it is that the members
of the trade union appeal. The learned judge in the early part of his
judgment says what is undoubtedly the truth when he said that a
‘ ‘ trade union is neither a corporation nor an individual, nor a partner­
ship between a number of individuals,” and in this I entirely agree.
There can, in m y judgment, be no doubt that at common law the
defendants could not be sued in the name in which they are sued in
this action, any more than a tradesman could sue a defendant in the
name o f a West End club for goods supplied by him to that club, for
the simple reason that the name of a club is not the name of a corpo­
ration nor an individual member of a partnership, which, apart from
statute, are the only entities known to the law as being capable of
being sued. In order, therefore, that the action can be maintained
against the defendants in the name of “ Amalgamated Society of Rail­
way Servants,” there must be some statute enabling this to be done,
either by creating the society a corporation or enacting that it may be
sued in its registered name, and this, as the learned judge states, and
in this I also agree, depends upon the true construction of the trades
union acts.
The court held that there was no section in the acts empowering a
trade union to sue or be sued, and that if the legislature had intended
to make that possible “ the legislature well knew how, in plain terms,
to bring about such a result.” In conclusion the master of the rolls
said:
As there is no statute empowering this action to be brought against
the union in its registered name, it is not maintainable against the
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, eo nomine, and these
defendants must therefore be struck out, the injunction against them
must be dissolved, and the appeal as regards these defendants must
be allowed with costs here and below.
From the judgment the company asked leave to appeal, and served
notice on the society that it had lodged an appeal in the House of
Lords.
The appeal was heard before the Lord Chancellor and Lords Macnaghten, Shand, Brampton, and Lindley, the court, by a unanimous
bench, overruling the court of appeal and sustaining the judgment




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

571

of Mr. Justice Farwell. In pronouncing the opinion of the court the
Lord Chancellor said:
In this case I am content to adopt the judgment of Farwell, J.,
with which I entirely concur; and I can not find any satisfactory
answer to that judgment in the judgment of the court of appeal which
overruled it. If the legislature has created a thing which can own
property, which can employ servants, which can inflict injury, it
must be taken, I think, to have impliedly given the power to make it
suable in a court of law for injuries purposely done by its authority
and procurement. I move your lordships that the judgment of the
court of appeal be reversed, and that of Farwell, J., restored.
Mr. Sidney Webb, perhaps the foremost of contemporary English
sociologists, thus comments on this decision :(a)
At first sight there would seem little or nothing to complain about.
The judgment professes to make no change in the lawfulness of trade
unionism. No act is ostensibly made wrongful which was not wrong­
ful before. And if a trade union, directly or by its agents, causes
injury or damage to other persons, by acts not warranted in law,
it seems not inequitable that the trade union itself should be made
liable for what it has done. The* real grievance of the trade unions,
and the serious danger to their continued usefulness and improve­
ment, lies in the uncertainty of the English law and its liability to
be used as a means of oppression. This danger is increased, and the
grievance aggravated, by the dislike of trade unionism and strikes,
which nearly all judges and juries share with the rest of the upper
and middle classes.
The public opinion of the propertied and professional classes is,
in fact, even more hostile to trade unionism and strikes than it was
a generation ago. In 1867-1875, when trade unionism was struggling
for legal recognition, it seemed to many people only fair that, as the
employers were left free to use their superiority in economic strength,
the workmen should be put in a position to make a good fight of it
against the employers. Accordingly, combinations and strikes were
legalized, and some sort of peaceful picketing was expressly author­
ized b y statute. So long as no physical violence was used or openly
threatened, the mild tumult and disorder of a strike, a certain amount
of harmless obstruction of the thoroughfares, and animated persua­
sion of blacklegs by the pickets, were usually tolerated by the police,
and not seriously resented by the employers. It all belonged to the
conception of a labor dispute as a stand-up fight between the parties,
in which the State could do no more than keep the ring. Gradually
this conception has given way in favor of the view that, quite apart
from the merits of the case, the stoppage of work by an industrial
dispute is a public nuisance, an injury to the commonweal, which
ought to be prevented by the Government. Moreover, the conditions
of the wage contract are no longer regarded only as a matter of pri­
vate concern. The gradual extension of legislative regulation to all
industries, and its successive application to different classes of workers
and conditions of employment, decisively negatives the old assump­
tion of the employer that he is entitled to hire his labor on such
a Industrial Democracy, preface to 1902 edition.




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOB.

terms as he thinks fit. On the other hand, public opinion has become
uneasy about the capacity of English manufacturers to hold their
own against foreign competition, and therefore resents as a crime
against the community any attempt to restrict output or obstruct
machinery of which the trade unions may be accused. And thus we
have a growing public opinion in favor of some authoritative tribunal
of conciliation or arbitration, and an intense dislike of any organized
interruption of industry by a lockout or strike, especially when this
is promoted by a trade union which is believed— often on the strength
of the wildest accusations in the newspapers— to be unfriendly to the
utmost possible improvement of processes in its trade.
Labor, naturally, bitterly, denounced the decision and regarded it
as another scandalous illustration of “ judge-made law ;” of the
perversion of the intent of the legislature by hostile judicial inter­
pretation. Labor at once began a campaign to secure the amend­
ment of the Trade Union Acts, by which the legislature should affirma­
tively declare that the funds of trade unions were not liable for any
act of a trade union that was not in itself criminal, even if its pur­
pose was to cause injury; and further that the union should not be
held civilly liable for the acts of its individual members if such acts,
had not been sanctioned, or had been repudiated, by the duly
authorized executive body.
Mr. Bell, who, in addition to being secretary of his union, is a,
member of Parliament, introduced a bill “ to legalize the conduct
of trade disputes.” Mr. Bell’s bill provided that:
Where an act is done in contemplation or furtherance of a trade
dispute, the person doing the act shall not be liable to an action on
the ground that by that act he interfered, or intended to interfere,
either with the exercise by another person of his right to carry on
his business, or with the establishment of contractual relations
between other persons: Provided, That nothing in this section shall
exempt such persons from liability on any other ground.
An agreement or combination by two or more persons to do or procure
to be done any act in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute
shall not be ground for an action, if such act when done by one person
is not a ground for an action.
A n action shall not be brought against a trade union, or against,
any person or persons representing the members of a trade union in
his or their respective capacity, for any act done in contemplation
or furtherance of a trade dispute.
Attending at or near the house or place where a person resides, or
works, or carries on business, or happens to be, or the approach to
such a house or place, in order merely to persuade such person
peaceably to do or abstain from doing that which he has a legal right
to do or abstain from doing, shall not be deemed as watching or
besetting within the meaning of section 7 of the Conspiracy and.
Protection of Property Act, 1875.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

573

TRADE DISPUTES ACT, 1906.
The bill, however, did not become a law, but the Government of the
day admitted that an inquiry was necessary, and a royal commission
was appointed. In March, 1906, the Government brought in a bill
amendatory of the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, to
meet the demands of labor, which was finally passed, December 21,
1906, as the Trade Disputes Act 1906. This act contains the follow­
ing provisions:
An act done in pursuance of an agreement or combination by two
or more persons shall, if done in contemplation or furtherance of a
trade dispute, not be actionable unless the act, if done without any
such agreement or combination, would be actionable.
It shall be lawful for one or more persons, acting on their own
behalf or on behalf of a trade union or of an individual employer or
firm in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute, to attend at
or near a house or place where a person resides or works or carries
on business or happens to be, if they so attend merely for the pur­
pose of peacefully obtaining or communicating information, or of
peacefully persuading any person to work or abstain from working.
An act done by a person in contemplation or furtherance of a trade
dispute shall not be actionable on the ground only that it induces
some other person to break a contract of employment or that it is
an interference with the trade, business, or employment of some
other person, or with the right of some other person to dispose of his
capital or his labor as he wills.
An action against a trade union, whether of workmen or masters,
or against any members or officials thereof on behalf of themselves
and all other members of the trade union in respect of any tortious,
act alleged to have been committed by or on behalf of the trade
union, shall not be entertained by any court.
Nothing in this section shall anect the liability of the trustees of a
trade union to be sued in the events provided for by the Trader
Union Act, 1871, section nine, except in respect of anj tortious act
committed by or on behalf of the union in contemplation or in fur­
therance of a trade dispute.
It will be seen that this act give^ to trade unions, whether of work­
men or masters, immunity from being sued “ in respect of any tor­
tious act.” If it had been a law at the time of the Taff Yale Rail­
way strike that company could not have recovered damages from
the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.
It has been made manifest that at the beginning of the last century
society had no recognition of the duty it owed to the manual worker..
There was no conception of what in latter days has been termed
“ paternalism,” usually employed as a term of reproach and disap­
probation; of the ethical relations between employer and employee;,
of the obligations capital owes to the means by which it is produced—
that is, the men whose labor creates wealth. It has already been
observed that all the legislation which has here been considered is




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

class legislation; legislation for the protection and the moral and
material advancement of a class— the so-called “ working class/’ to
use a generic term— that required the protection of society to save
it from the depredations of society. It was the frank recognition of
weakness; it was an acknowledgment that in the complex organiza­
tion of society the worker and the producer, born to a lower intellec­
tual plane, unable to advance themselves by means of their own
unaided efforts, and yet the agency whereby society advanced, were
entitled to at least a share of their contribution to society’s welfare.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the legislator who would
have proposed that the workingman should be compensated by his
employer for an injury received in the course of his employment, not
caused by his own negligence or violation of rules, would have been
regarded as mad or an enemy to society. We have seen how the
manufacturers opposed regulations for the proper protection of
machinery. W e have seen the callous disregard manufacturers had
for the lives and health of their employees. We have seen all this,
and to-day we find on the statute books of England a law by which
men injured in the course of their employment are compensated by
their employers. It is the fitting end to legislation that, beginning
with an attempt to save mere babies from the lash of industrial
slavery, now seeks to give to men a just proportion of their labor.
W ORKM EN ’S COMPENSATION ACTS.
On August 6, 1897, the royal assent was given to the Workmen’s
Compensation Act (60 and 61 Viet., c. 37), which came into operation
on July 1, 1898. This act provides, in brief, that a workman killed
or injured in the course of his duty, whose death or injury was not due
to his own negligence or the willful violation of any rule or regulation
made by the proper authorities or his employers for his protection or
safety, shall be compensated according to a fixed schedule. The
law was important for more than one reason. It was, in the first
place, a great advance in social legislation; in the second place, this
act had the effect practically, even if not statutorily, to destroy
the old doctrine of “ common employment.” The common law of
England recognized the liability of an employer to compensate an
employee for an injury received by the employee in his service, sub­
ject to certain conditions, but it relieved the employer of liability
where the injury was caused by a fellow-employee, their employment
being common. Thus, to quote from the Report of the Departmental
Committee of 1903 Appointed to Inquire into the Law on Workmen’s
Compensation, “ the representatives of a deceased sailor who has lost
his life through the negligence of the captain of the ship have no
remedy against the owners, who are the common employers both of
the captain and of the injured man.” The new law fastened the



HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

575

liability upon the employer irrespective of the joint agency of
employer and fellow-employee. The purpose sought to be attained
was concisely set forth by Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M. P., who
moved t o amendment to the bill of 1893, which failed to become a
law, in these words: “ That no amendment of the law relating to
employers’ liability will be final or satisfactory which does not provide
compensation to workmen for all injuries sustained in the ordinary
course of their employment, and not caused by their own acts or
default.”
To quote again from the departmental report already cited:
In 1897 the measure which is now law was introduced. It is diffi­
cult to overrate the boldness or the importance of the step then
taken by the legislature. * * * The proposal was somewhat
startling, for hitherto the law had never recognized a personal lia­
bility, except as a consequence of breach of contract or some wrong­
ful act or omission. It is true that our law and the law of the United
States of America, which was derived from it, had gone very far in
recognizing a personal liability in the employer for the wrongful act
or omission of persons employed by him, even without any personal
default on the part of the employer himself. Vicarious responsibility
of this kind is in some form an element of all systems of European law
and of those derived from it;, but, as already stated, the English law
carried the idea further than that of most other countries. But it was
a departure from legal principle to enact that a personal responsibility
should exist, although there had been no breach of contract or wrong­
doing on the part either erf the employer or of anyone for whom he was
responsible. However, the step was taken, and this anomaly has
been established as part of our law. Other European countries and
British colonies have followed the example of the legislature of the
United Kingdom. In effect, upon the coming into force of the Work­
men’s Compensation Act, 1897, the legislature attached to every con­
tract of employment in the industries to which the act related the
term‘that for industrial accidents arising out of the occupation under
the specified conditions compensation should be paid by the employer
to the amount and in the manner provided for by the act. There are
no means of escaping or limiting this liability, except under condi­
tions (to be noticed hereafter) by which equal or greater benefits are
secured to the workmen.
This legislation was stated by the ministers responsible for its
introduction to be of an experimental character. But it is obvious
that as soon as it was passed the contractual relations of employers
and employed who fell within its scope underwent a vast change.
Whatever the true economic view may be as to the ultimate incidence
of the cost of compensation, a burden of greater or less weight was, in
the first instance, at all events, thrown upon the employers and a
benefit conferred on the workmen. This change has been too farreaching to admit of any recurrence to the former state of things.
The questions for the future must be, not whether the workman
should continue to have a legal right to be relieved from some portion o f
the loss caused b y industrial accidents, but what amendments are
required in the law providing for that relief as regards the general
method and detailed means of affording it, whether any ana what



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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

changes are required in the extent or limits of that relief, or in the
security for its provision and maintenance, and whether similar
privileges should be extended to classes of work people not now;
within the law. The former controversies as to “ common employ­
ment,” “ volenti non fit injuria,” “ contributory negligence,” so far as
the scope of the Workmen’s Compensation Act is concerned, have
practically passed away.
The history of the law is the history of all similar legislation. It
has become a proverb that history repeats itself, and certainly it is
true that the evolution of society is circumgyratory, that society in
its progressive movement does not ascend perpendicularly, but
reaches a higher plane only by working around and touching in its
path the circumference of prejudice and preconceived error. This
law encountered the same opposition that the early factory acts did.
It met the resistance of capital, which saw in it another attack on its
rights; it was antagonized by workingmen, for whose benefit it was
sought to be enacted, because they believed the burden of its cost
would be laid upon them. We have here a dramatic illustration of
this circular evolution of society to which reference has been made.
The opposition to the Workmen’s Compensation Act was parallel to
that which made both employers and employees league against the
acts in the earlier years of the last century, restricting the hours of
labor of adults in factories. The employers believed that any reduc­
tion would affect their profits; the workingmen believed that the
reduction of hours, and consequently a reduction of output, would
enhance the cost of production and diminish their wages, and that
they would suffer by the proposed legislation.
The lapse of three-quarters of a century found prejudice and igno­
rance as firmly intrenched as ever, and despite the advancement in
the science of economics men were still unenlightened by its teachings.
Prior to the passage of the bill Mr. John Wilson, a member of Parlia­
ment and the secretary of the Durham Coal Miner’s Association, who
had previously declared that “ there is not a question within the
probabilities of legislation which so vitally affects our interests,”
thus commented on the bill in a circular sent to his association:
But suppose a universal scheme of compensation for all accidents
established, and as easily as water flowing down a hill we received
the amount arranged by the State for the class of accident we had
received. Whence comes the money? The ready but incorrect
answer will be, no doubt, from the employer. It will come no more
from him than the water we drink comes from the tap or pipe it runs
out of. It may run out of the tap, but it must first come from
the spring or other source. So the money paid will come from the
spring of the employer’s wealth— the labor of the workman. The
employers are alive to that simple truth of political economy. In
conversation with one large employer he admitted that, and it can
not be successfully controverted. It may be denied, but not refuted.




HISTORY OF BRITISH LABOR LEGISLATION.

57 r

This was the view of labor, but the view of what may be fairly
called the representative of capital was not dissimilar. Mr. Asquith,
a former secretary of state for home affairs and the chancellor of the
exchequer in the present Government, in discussing the bill in the
House of Commons, said that a large share of the burden would fall
upon wages and that little benefit would accrue to workmen. To this
Mr. Chamberlain replied that even admitting the correctness of the
argument, “ every addition to the cost of manufacture must come
out of wages, which, I think, will reduce the argument to an absurd­
ity*/; The colliery proprietors protested against the legislation
because, they maintained, it would create a liability that would be
ruinous and impose a charge of about 6 cents a ton on mining. Mr.
Wilson scoffed at these fears and again asserted that the compensa­
tion would come out of the pockets of the workingmen.
No one can have read this imperfect history of factory legisla­
tion without being impressed with the fact that dangers anticipated
by legislative control have never been realized, and that instead of
harm having resulted from legislative interference good has followed*
It is so in the case of the compensation act of 1897. Employers have
not been ruined and the wages of workingmen have not been reduced
because of the passage of the law. The original enactment applied
to employment on railways, in factories, mines, quarries, and engi­
neering works, and in building operations exceeding 30 feet in height.
B y an amendment to the act, in 1900, argicultural laborers were
included in its provisions. On December 21, 1906, the Workmen’s
Compensation Act, 1906, was passed, under the provisions of which
practically all workingmen are entitled to compensation. This act
will take effect July 1, 1907.
“ Whether the Compensation Acts of 1897 and 1900 have conferred
substantial benefits on those classes of workingmen who are in a
position to take advantage of them, we think that the general answer
must be decidedly in the affirmative,” is the judgment of the depart­
mental commission already referred to. “ Previous to the coming
into operation of these acts,” the report continues, “ it is no exag­
geration to say that the whole burden of the losg occasioned by
industrial accidents fell upon the workmen, subject to the numerous
exceptions where the burden was alleviated by the generosity of the
employer, either by help afforded immediately to the injured work­
man, or by contribution to sick or accident funds. Perhaps the sub­
stitution of a claim enforceable by law for assistance voluntarily
given may in some cases be matter of regret, as interfering with
very satisfactory relations between employer and employed. But,
notwithstanding this consideration, it seems right and necessary to
make by law systematic provisions for relief from the consequences
of industrial accidents. In this way alone can some degree of uni­



578

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

formity be obtained, and workers in the industries within the law
of compensation and those dependent on them have reasonable secu­
rity for obtaining substantial relief from the consequences of indus­
trial accident, and that, in the great majority of cases, without liti­
gation, delay, or expense.”
The first “ protective legislation” was placed on the statute books
in 1802. The year 1906 saw the latest^ most important enactment.
Compare, for a moment, those two periods— the nineteenth centurj^ at
its birth and the century at its close. Then the workingman, his wife,
and his children were at the mercy of the master. Hours of labor
were long, work was done in unsanitary surroundings, accidents due to
criminal carelessness and greed were frequent; the moral and material
welfare of the worker was no concern of the employer and a matter of
supreme indifference to the State. An attempt on the part of work­
ingmen to redress their wrongs^ to obtain a higher wage, or a decrease
of the working day that was destroying their souls as well as their
bodies, degrading their wives, and devitalizing their offspring, was
an offense against the laws and punishable as such. At present the
Trade Union Acts and other acts cited give workingmen the fullest
liberty of action and freedom o f choice. They may work or not, as it
may seem good to them; they may enter into combinations to secure
an increase o f wages or a decrease of hours; their actions may be
frankly taken “ in restraint of trade,” but they face no penalties of
the law. The State is jealous of its women and children, it protects
them against their own ignorance and weakness and from the. avarice
of the employer, and, as the capstone of benevolent legislation, it
gives the workman injured or killed in the line of his duty a pecuniary
claim on his employer, who must compensate him according to a
well-defined schedule.
“ The ultimate end of factory legislation is to prescribe conditions of
existence below which population shall not decline,” (a) was a state­
ment made at the time when it was contended that unless little
children were worked to the last remnant of their feeble strength
trade would be ruined. The end sought to be attained has, in a
measure, been reached.




« The Times, June 12, 1874®

BRITISH WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACTS.
B Y L A U X C E L O T P A C K E R , B. L .

CHANGING A T T IT U D E OF P U BLIC OPIN IO N AS TO
R E LA TIO N S OF M A ST E R AN D SERVANT.
The attitude o f public opinion in England toward the relations of
master and servant, o f which the latest law regulating the accidents
o f industry is an outcome, is shown by the current decisions of
judges, by attempted legislation, and by the legislation adopted.
That this attitude has changed greatly with the times is illustrated
by Parliament’s expression o f view in 1825, that “ all combinations
o f workmen are injurious to trade,” while in 1875 a diametrically
opposite view was held, and legislation was enacted in accordance with
that view, it being then admitted by the Conservative leader, Lord
Beaconsfield, that u for the first time in the history o f the country
employer and employed sit under equal laws.” Again, in 1837 it is
said that “ principles of justice and good sense ” require “ that a
workman should take on himself all the ordinary risks o f his employ­
ment,” while in 1897 the legislature said, “ sound economic doctrine
requires that the employer shall take all the ordinary and extraor­
dinary risks involved in the carrying on of his industry.” ( a)
Examination of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1897, as
amended in 1900, o f the parliamentary steps by which it became law,
and o f its working, leads at the outset to an inquiry into judicial
decisions o f sixty years before, and the measures subsequently intro­
duced into Parliament dealing with accidents which were the result
o f the growth and concentration o f industries.
COMMON L A W OF NEGLIGENCE.
In 1837 the general principles of the common law o f negligence
formed the only basis of recovery by a workman from his employer
for an accident Under these general principles a man was held to
be responsible to others, including his servants, for injuries resulting
from his own negligent acts, or from the negligent acts of his agents
in the scope o f their employment.
FELLOW-SERVANT DOCTRINE.

A decision rendered by Lord Abinger in 1837 under the common
law of negligence, in the case of Priestly v. Fowler (3 Mees. & W. 1,




a See lectures by A. H. Ruegg, K. C.

579

580

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB.

Murph. & H. 805), is largely responsible for subsequent attempted
legislation and for legislation enacted affecting a master’s responsi­
bility to his servant in case of negligence. In this decision was
enunciated the doctrine “ that a master could not be held responsible
for an accident to his servant if such accident were caused by the
negligence o f a fellow-servant,” this being called “ the fellow-servant
doctrine,” or “ the doctrine of common employment.” This doctrine,
whether rightly or wrongly expounded in this decision, has operated
as a defense to actions by servants against their masters for damages
for injuries resulting from the negligence of their master’s agents, i f
such agents were fellow-servants, and has thus left the workman no
redress in many cases where a stranger would have had redress.
The fellow-servant doctrine has been supported on the ground
o f its expediency (as preventing accumulation o f alarming liability),
on the ground o f “ its tending to prevent accidents ” (by making
each servant watch his fellow-servant), and on the ground of “ con­
tract ” (it being held to be one of the “ implied terms ” of the
contract o f employment). On the other hand, it has been the subject
o f bitter attack ever since it was enunciated, the statement having
been made that it was an exception to the general law of negligence,
putting workmen in a worse position than strangers to their employer;
that it tended to make employers less careful in the selection of their
employees, and that it was founded on a legal fiction, not on a
voluntary contract.
The doctrine was entirely repudiated in Scotland until imposed
on that country by a House of Lords’ decision in 1858 (Bartonshall
Coal Company v. Beed, 3 McQ., H. L. Cas. 266). Though it remains
operative to a certain extent, as modified by the Employers’ Liability
Act o f 1880, the practical workings o f the Workmen’s Compensation
Acts have largely counteracted its effect in the trades to which these
acts apply. From allusions to it in debates in 1897 on the W ork­
men’s Compensation Act it seems likely to be soon entirely extin­
guished by Parliament.
Opinions o f lawyers have differed as to the soundness o f the
decision, some holding that it rightly interpreted the existing common
law, and others that it entirely without warrant engrafted a new
doctrine into the law, but it is now according to high English legal
authority almost universally admitted to be not only unjust, but
also based on illogical reasoning.
DOCTRINE OF ASSUMED RISK.

The doctrine o f assumed risk was another defense against an em­
ployer being held liable for accident, a doctrine generally based on an
“ implied term ” in the contract of service. It was laid down in the




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

581

case o f Priestly v. Fowler (supra) that a servant “ assumes all the
ordinary risks which are incidental to his employment.” (A n im­
portant corollary o f this doctrine o f assumed risk is the aforementioned'
doctrine o f fellow service, namely, that one o f the risks incident to the*
service which the workman agrees to assume is the risk from the negli­
gence o f a fellow-servant.) This implied term of his contract o f'
service left the workman to bear the risks he knew or ought to have *
known, including the burden o f dangers inherent in the business
such as unavoidable accidents, etc.
This doctrine has been justified on the ground that the servant ig~
as well able to guard against the risk as his employer, and that it is
calculated to secure fidelity and prudence on the servant’s part; on
the other hand, it has been doubted whether it has the effect claimed
for it, and it has been suggested that the “ dread o f personal injury
has always proved sufficient to bring into exercise the vigilance o f
the servant. Another attempt to justify the doctrine, on the ground
that the amount o f the workman’s wages is adjusted with reference
to the character o f these risks, is answered by the statement that this
theory is borne out only to a very limited extent by the actual fa cts
o f everyday life. (Labatt, sec. 259, etc.)
This principle was applied to the relations o f master and servant
in the case o f Dynen v. Leach (26 L. J. Exch. N. S. 221) in 1857,.
and also in Saxton v. Hawkesworth (26 L. T. N. S. 851) in 1872, in*
such a manner that it was made to operate as a defense against &
claim by the servant for damages for injuries resulting from “ negli­
gence actually existing ” on the part o f his master, on the theorythat the servant had voluntarily agreed to encounter the risks from
nonfulfillment o f his master’s legal duty as to system and appliances..
A t the time o f these early cases cited, the voluntary agreement o f:
the servant was implied from his continuing in the service of the
employer, “ with knowledge o f the defects,” so that if the servant
remained in the service, with knowledge, he was debarred thereby
from maintaining any action for recovery from the master for injuries^
resulting from such defects.
D O C TRIN E OF V O LEN TI NON F IT IN JU R IA .

This old defense of assumed risk, enumerated as a defense peculiar
to the relation o f master and servant, has been thought by some,
authorities to be only a form o f the wider and more comprehensive
doctrine o f “ volenti non fit injuria ” of the common law, which means-;
that “ one who voluntarily incurs a risk can not recover.” The.,
latter has, by other authorities, however, been stated to be different,
from the doctrine o f assumed risk, as the doctrine o f assumed risk
arises out o f the contract of service between master and servant, whila
304 b — N o. 70— 07------ 8




582

BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR.

the doctrine volenti non -fit injuria is a general principle applicable
whether the relation o f master and servant exists or not. Thomas v.
Quartermaine. (L. R. 18 Q. B. Div. 685, 56 L. J. Q. B. N. S. 340.
See Labatt, sec. 370, note.)
This doctrine o f volenti non -fit injuria was thought not to be a
hardship on the servant in the same sense as were the fellow-servant
doctrine and the assumed-risk doctrine, as it wTas common to the
whole law o f negligence and w^ould be a good defense to a stranger’s
action against the master for damages for injuries resulting from
negligence.
CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE.

The doctrine o f contributory negligence was another defense
against claims for damages for injuries resulting from negligence
and, in very many instances, defeated a workman’s claim against his
employer. It is sometimes stated thus: “ A plaintiff can not recover
damages if but for his own negligence the accident would not have
happened, though there was negligence on the part o f the defendant.”
This was also recognized by Lord Abinger in Priestly v. Fowler
(supra), and applied to a master and servant case, when he laid down
that “ the relation of master and servant cam not imply an obligation
on the part o f the master to take more care of the servant than he
may be reasonably expected to do of himself,” thereby recognizing
that the servant’s right to recovery for an accident was conditioned
on his showing that he did not contribute to his own injury. (See
Labatt, section 313.) This defense, however, was available against
the claim o f a stranger as well as against the claim o f a workman
upon his employer. It was based upon the idea that if the plaintiff
was negligent his negligence and not that o f the defendant was the
real or proximate cause of the injury. (Thomas v. Quartermaine,
supra.)
This doctrine was never accepted as sound in the Admiralty courts,
where if both parties were negligent the loss was divided.
EFFECT OF DEATH UPON PERSONAL ACTIONS.

Another defense that operated to defeat a workman’s claim was the
rule o f the common law that every personal action dies with the person
entitled to bring it, or on the death o f the person against whom it
can be brought ( actio 'personalis moritur cum persona). This rule of
the common law, which relieved an employer from responsibility for
all injuries causing death, was, howTever, abrogated by parliamentary
enactment in 1846, under the statute commonly called “ Lord Camp­
bell’s Act.” Until that act the representatives of a workman killed
By accident had no redress whatever against his employer.




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

583

BTJRDFN OF PROOF ON PLAINTIFF.

A final stumbling block to recovery by an injured workman lay
in the fact that at common law in an action for damages for injuries
resulting from negligence the burden o f proof lies upon the plaintiff.
He has to show (1) negligence, namely, a duty and a breach of that
duty; and (2) injury, as a consequence of that breach. In many
cases, therefore, even where a workman had a legal right of recovery,
he got nothing, as he was unable to prove his case.
A T T E M P T E D L E G ISL A TIO N , 1875 TO 1879.
An examination of attempted legislation and legislative enactments
shows that bills were introduced in 1875 and 1876 to abolish entirely
the doctrine o f common employment and the defense o f assumed
risk. These bills were doubtless introduced because the princi­
ples so laid down were being pressed more and more severely
against the workmen until the restrictions which were conceivably
equitable in the case of the smaller industries o f former years were
made to apply in the case of more recent and indefinitely extended
undertakings. Thus the doctrine of common employment was
applied to the slight relationship existing between a miner and the
engineer of the mine and between the general manager o f a railway
and a trackman in the service of the same company, resulting in the
master in a large undertaking escaping responsibility by delegating
authority. These bills were withdrawn, however, on the understand­
ing that Lord Beaconsfield, who was the prime minister, should cause
an inquiry to be made into the subject by a select committee of Par­
liament.
This committee was duly appointed, and in 1877 submitted a
report:
This report recommended that where a master delegates his duty
of selecting proper servants, material, and plant wholly to agents,
instead of performing them himself, such persons to whom those
duties are delegated should be held to be the “ alter ego ?? of the
master and not to be fellow-servants of the injured servant.
During the proceedings of the committee, before the adoption of
the report, it had been proposed that the committee recommend that
the defense o f common employment should be abolished in the case
o f accident through the negligence of any employee exercising author­
ity, however low in the scale he might be, so long as he was not
employed in actual manual labor. This recommendation, however,
was rejected in favor o f the report above given.
About the same time a report from the Royal Commission on Acci­
dents on Railways was brought in, to the effect that the master should




584

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

be made liable for damages for injuries resulting from the negli­
gence o f those to whom the master’s authority had been delegated on
railways.
The following year, 1878, one of the bills to totally abolish the
doctrine o f common employment wTas reintroduced. It, however,
was 44talked out ” and then dropped. The attorney-general, how­
ever, promised to bring up a bill later. It was then contended that
there was no difference between railways and other industries.
In 1879 three bills Avere introduced, none o f which passed. O f
these, one proposed to abolish the doctrine of common employment
and the other two to modify that doctrine. One o f the latter was
introduced by the Government and was limited in its operation to
66railways, mines, factories, and wTorks.” It made the employer
liable for damages for injuries resulting from the negligence o f
servants with 44managerial ” authority; it failed to pass, as there
was a dissolution o f the Government before it had left committee.
E M P L O Y E E S ’ L IA B IL IT Y A C T OF 1880.
In the following year, 1880, a bill was introduced oy Mr. Glad­
stone’s government, which was finally enacted into law and became
known as the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880. A t the general elec­
tion, following the dissolution of Lord Beaconsfield’s government,
the abolition o f the doctrine o f common employment became an
election cry. Therefore, at the entry o f the next government Mr.
Gladstone said: 44The present law is unsatisfactory and further
protection to workmen is necessary,” and immediately reintroduced
the bill introduced by Lord Brassey in 1879. Mr. Dobson, whose
name was on the back o f the bill, showed, in his statement, that 44the
common law had ended in giving the workmen no compensation at
all unless he could trace the accident to personal negligence on the
part o f his employer.” He stated that the bill reverted to the ancient
state o f the law and would take a middle course, making the
employer liable for injuries resulting from the negligence o f those
to whom he deputed his duties, or from defects in the plant due to
negligence o f his deputies.
Many amendments, which become interesting from their frequent
reappearances in later Parliaments, were introduced. One pro­
vided for a general system o f insurance, and though this amendment
was negatived the Government said that while they did not deem
compulsory insurance practicable, they Avould consider proposals
thereto. Another amendment, which was negatived, allowed a work­
man to recover, if injured by a fellow-servant 44in a separate depart­
ment.” An amendment to extend the benefits of the bill to Her
Majesty’s arsenals and dock yards was negatived on the ground




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

585

that they now had greater benefits, although it was said that the
Government employees would ultimately be treated the same as
others. It was claimed by the opponents o f the bill that if passed
it would result in the ruin o f industries. Mr. Chamberlain strenu­
ously denied this in debate.
When the bill became a law it was restricted to a limit of seven
years, but it was subsequently extended, year by year, until the
passage o f the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1897, and is still
in force. It, however, imposed a limit upon the amount o f damages
(previously unlimited at common law) that could be recovered for
an accident, namely, “ three years’ wages of the injured person, or
of a person in the same grade, in the same district.” This limitation
has operated as a hardship upon injured children, since their earn­
ings were usually only a few shillings weekly.
The act being a compromise was imperfectly drawn, and resulted
“ in a large crop o f litigation.”
While in introducing the bill the Government had intended to
bring back the law to what it was supposed to be in England before
the case of Priestly v. Fowler, and in Scotland, up to the decision
in the Bartonshall Coal Company v. Reed (3 McQ., H. L. Cas. 266),
the result o f the act was to prima facie entitle the workman to
recovery for injuries resulting from the negligent performance of
master’s duties and powers delegated to superintendents and to other
persons. It therefore only obliterated the doctrine o f common em­
ployment, as far as the five causes of injury to a workman mentioned
in section 1 o f the act were concerned. That doctrine, therefore,
remained in force as to accidents from other causes than those men­
tioned in section 1 o f the act, but placed the workman in the same
position as if he had been a stranger to his employer, so far as the
five causes mentioned in that section were concerned. The five causes
mentioned were as follows:
(1) Defective ways, works, machinery, and plant (if due to the
negligence of the employer or of the person to whom had been dele­
gated his duty thereabout).
(2) Negligence o f a superintendent (if superintendence was his
principal duty and he was not ordinarily engaged in manual labor).
(3) Negligence of persons to whom the employer had delegated
his power o f giving orders.
(4) Acts or omissions in obedience to rules or by-laws or in obe­
dience to instructions of persons authorized by employers to give
them.
(5) In the case of railway companies, the negligent management
o f trains, points, and signals.
The act was also at first thought to have taken away the defense o f
volenti non -fit injuria (see Weblin v. Ballard, 17 Q. B. D. 125); how­



586

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

ever, the later leading case of Thomas v. Quartermaine, supra, showed
that this defense still survived, although the subsequent case of Smith
v. Baker (60 L. J. Q. B. 683), in the House of Lords, minimizes its
application.
CO N TRACTIN G OUT.
After the passage of the Employers’ Liability Act of 1880, it was
found that employers were, by special contracts with their men^ free­
ing themselves from the liability imposed by that act, and the case o f
Griffiths v. Earl Dudley (9 Q. B. D. 357) decided that such con­
tracts were “ not contrary to. public policy.” Therefore, in 1881, a
bill was introduced to prevent an employer from contracting himself
out o f the act. The bill failed, and in the following years, 1882 and
1883, similar bills again failed. It was stated that “ it was inexpedi­
ent to interfere with freedom of contract and with private schemes
that made provision for every accident, whether under the Employ­
ers’ Liability Act, or not.” In 1886 a similar bill contained a further
clause that the definition o f a person intrusted with superintendence
was not thereafter to be limited to “ one who is not ordinarily engaged
in manual labor, and whose principal duty is that of superintend­
ence.” The bill was dropped on the appointment of a select com­
mittee to inquire into the workings of the act of 1880.
The committee’s recommendations were as follow s:
(1) The repeal of the 66limiting definition ” o f a superintendent.
(2) .That no contracting out should be allowed, unless for adequate
consideration (namely, a contribution to insurance approved by out­
side authority and guaranteed against deficiency by the employer).
In 1887-88 a bill was introduced by a labor member practically
abrogating the doctrine of common employment, and while not affect­
ing existing “ contracts out,” providing that in future there should be
none, but that the “ court in any suit ” should “ reduce the damage ”
if it was found the plaintiff had received benefits from insurance
funds. The bill was dropped on the Government itself introducing
a bill on the lines o f the select committee’s recommendations. That
bill was emasculated in committee, and thereafter dropped on opposi­
tion by labor members, who insisted on abolishing the defense of
common employment and contracting out.
In 1890 another bill was introduced by a labor member abolishing
common employment as a defense, and repealing the act o f 1880. But
the Government again reintroduced its bill, allowing contracting out
only when “ a written request was made by a workman,” and even
then allowing the court in any subsequent suit to pass on the question
o f the adequacy o f consideration received by him for so doing, and
to see that it was a substantial one, other than “ continuance in
service.”




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587

The following year a labor member introduced a bill, which did
not pass, entirely prohibiting contracting out, and actually invalidat­
ing all such existing contracts.
It will therefore be seen that the Government was on the horns
of a dilemma:
On the one hand it was shown that from the workmen’s standpoint
there seemed to be no equitable reason for the distinction o f the exist­
ing law between accidents, the result of negligence, traced to a supe­
rior servant, and accidents traced to an inferior servant, the neglect
o f one being as liable to cause an accident as the neglect o f the other,
or for the law treating workmen less liberally than strangers, even
where the accident was caused by an inferior servant. Again, if a
distinction were maintained making “ mere authority ” on the part
o f the offending servant the test, it would still be unjust and would
practically amount to no distinction at all. The elimination there­
fore o f the distinction by abolition o f the doctrine of common employ­
ment was put forward as one remedy.
On the other hand, the only other remedy would have been to
change the general law by taking away from the master his liability
to anyone, to a stranger as well as to a servant, for his servant’s acts.
This would have caused altogether too great an upheaval of general
legal relations, and probably could not have been enacted, owing to
opposition not only by the workmen interest but also by the public
interest.
The difficulties that confronted the Government, if they permitted
contracting out were:
(1) Examination of adequacy of contracting out schemes before­
hand would necessitate a Government department.
(2) To allow the adequacy o f contracting out schemes to be passed
on by a court in suits would take from the employers “ the preven­
tion o f suit feature,” their chief incentive to contract out.
The Government found, on inquiring into how far contracting out
had been carried, since the act o f 1880, that as regards mines, a very
large number did contract out, and desired to; in railways contract­
ing out was general; in the building trades, the iron trades, and other
trades there was generally no contracting out.
Among the reasons advanced for prohibiting contracting out were:
(1) That the act tends to safety through exposing negligent
employers in court. But the Government found the number of cases
in court were insignificant, and from such statistics as were available
concluded that the claim was not borne out.
(2) That if allowed to contract out, workmen will be coerced to
contract out for no consideration. The Government found prac­
tically no such cases, and also found that employers’ contributions to




588-

b u l l e t in

OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

benefit societies under contracting-out schemes exceeded vastly the
amount payable under the act.
The contracting-out schemes covered all accidents, both those for
which the master could be held liable and those for which the master
could not be held liable. They seemed to work advantageously to
both parties, the workmen getting larger pecuniary benefits for
every accident, and also having an incentive to insure, while the mas­
ter was freed from suit and was placed on better terms with his men.
Therefore it was felt that an absolute prohibition o f contracting out
wTould be disadvantageous to both parties.
A T T IT U D E OF P O L IT IC A L ECONOM ISTS.
The Government had before it, on the one hand, the view o f law­
yers, employers, and workmen, who argued as if there was then prac­
tically no indemnity recoverable for accident, and further that abol­
ishing the doctrine o f common employment would give such an
indemnity, but that contracting out, if allowed, would take it away
again.
On the other hand was the view, from the political-economy stand­
point, winch admitted that industry ought to bear the cost of all
accidents (as risks as well as labor should be paid fo r), but main­
tained that it actually did so, in whatever state o f the law7, in a frac­
tional reduction o f the current rate o f wages which the employer
took from the men and ultimately paid back to them in occasional
damages recovered against him for accidents. Political economy was
not, therefore, concerned with such changes, since, if the law were
made more drastic by abolishing common employment, a slightly
larger amount would be retained by the employer from the wages,
and if contracting out were permitted again a less amount would be
retained by him.
The political economists’ view was, therefore, that there was no
sound economic reason for making distinctions between accidents
which were the result of negligence and pure accidents; that all
accidents might be properly compensated; that it merely made the
employer an insurer, who took the premiums from the wages in a
greater or less, degree, and that it was only a political and not an
economic question.
TH E A S Q U IT H BILL.
In 1893 the Liberal government, then in power, through the home
secretary, Mr. Asquith, introduced a bill to amend the existing
employers’ liability law. This bill provided for the repeal of the
act o f 1880 and for the abolition of the doctrine o f common employ­
ment entirely and the limit o f damages recoverable; it prohibited
contracting out entirely. Though it did not take away the defense



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

589

o f contributory negligence and acquiescence ( volenti non fit injuria),
it left the servant in the same position as a stranger, thus practically
going to the limit of previous comtemplated legislation.
At once, on the introduction o f this bill, Mr. Chamberlain, who
was a member o f the opposition (the Conservative Party), intro­
duced an amendment to the effect that no change o f the law 44will
be final or satisfactory which does not provide compensation for all
injuries in the ordinary course of employment not caused by
injured’s own act or default.” This departure eliminated the ques­
tion of whether the master was negligent or not.
The attitude toward industrial accidents as expressed in this,
amendment had for some time past found expression in legislation
in Germany and Austria, as well as in other European countries.
There the basis o f recovery for accidents had been changed from that
o f the general common law o f negligence to the principle that,
44workmen should receive certain compensation, but limited in
amount, for all accidents of industry,” irrespective o f whether neg­
ligence attributable to the master caused them or not; contracting
out was prohibited. In one country (Germany), as a machinery
for carrying this out, a general system of insurance had been adopted,,
the industries o f equal degree o f danger being formed into mutual
insurance guilds.
A second bill was therefore introduced by private members making
the employer liable to pay 44compensation for all injuries due to
employment,” excepting the willful default of the injured workman,,
placing limits on such compensation, however, and providing that it
should take the form o f purchase of annuities from the post-office o f
the amounts specified in the schedule of the bill. This bill was onlytentative, and was withdrawn, as was Mr. Chamberlain’s amendment
to the Asquith bill.
PRINCIPLE OP THE BILL.

Mr. Asquith, in debate of the Government bill, said the principle
o f it was exactly similar to the act o f 1880, namely, that 44if a man,,
for his own profit, sets on foot industrial operations he ought to bo
made responsible for the selection o f his servants and the supervision
o f his business, so as to reduce the risks to the smallest possible*
number,” and that this bill would diminish the area o f accidents.
The opposition pointed out that masters could not control the acts:
o f the fellow-servants.
After lengthy debate throughout the session, and the introduction
o f a new clause dealing with employments injurious to health, the*
Government bill passed the House of Commons.
In the House o f Lords an amendment, passed by 148 votes to 28
(known as the Dudley Amendment), permitted the continuance o f



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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

existing contracts out, if subsequently approved by a two-thirds vote
o f the men, and future contracts out on the granting o f a certificate
by the board o f trade 46that the scheme compensates all cases of
injury, that the employer contributes at least one-fourth, and that an
actuary certifies that contributions are proportionate to the liabilities
o f the fund.”
On the House o f Lords refusing to eliminate their amendment and
concede the unrestricted prohibition o f contracting out, on the ground
that the workmen were opposed to the prohibition and that it would
minimize the. prevention of accident feature o f the bill, the House of
Commons rejected the amendment and threw up the whole bill.
It will be seen that the attitude in England toward the subject o f
industrial accidents, and the law in force there at the time o f the
failure o f the Asquith Bill, corresponded very closely to the attitude
toward the subject and to the laws in force in the United States
to-day, with the exception that verdicts higher in amount are ren­
dered here by juries. The law in England then was the common lawr
o f negligence, subject to the defenses o f contributory negligence,
assumption o f risk, and fellow-servant negligence, as modified by the
Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880. The legislation attempted indi­
cated clearly the tendency o f public opinion toward trade compensa­
tion for accident irrespective o f negligence. In the United States
the existing law is the same common law o f negligence, subject to the
same defenses o f contributory negligence, assumption o f risk, and
fellow-servant negligence, as modified in some States by similar
employers’ liability acts, and in others by a more limited interpreta­
tion o f the defense o f fellow-servant negligence. In the United
States, as then in England, in certain States (as in Massachusetts)
there have been suggested changes to laws of compensation irre­
spective o f negligence.
W O RK M EN ’S COM PEN SATION A C T OF 1897.
PRINCIPLE OF THE BILL.

The next serious attempt to deal with the subject o f accidents to
workmen was the introduction by the Conservative Government o f
a bill which became the Workmen’s Compensation Act o f 1897.
The Government in introducing the bill said: “ The present law is
notoriously inadequate; it fails to compensate for accidents if caused
by fellow-servants, i f contributed to by the injured, and if resulting
from the risks o f occupation; it causes costly litigation, 85 per cent
o f the amount recovered being legal expense; it leaves the employer
ignorant o f what his liability is.”
The home secretary said that the Asquith Bill had attempted the
prevention o f accidents by making the master responsible for acci­



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591

dents from the negligence o f fellow-workmen, as well as from his
own, and without limiting the amount o f damage, putting the work­
men ill the same position as strangers; that such legislation rendered
proof o f negligence necessary, which meant increased litigation, and
such a law would still reach only 50 per cent of the accidents that
happened.
The Government held that giving a right o f action for injuries
resulting from negligence could not adequately meet the serious
results o f accidents to workmen, that they should be put in a better
position toward their employers than a stranger and be given a cer­
tain but limited compensation for all accidents, not at the expense
o f taxes or public charity, and that this would tend to prevent acci­
dent, though the true method o f prevention was by criminal statutes.
The Government said the purpose o f their bill was to define and
limit the liability and devise a simple and inexpensive method o f
settling doubtful questions. That the principle was hew, based on
the doctrine that “ When a person on his own responsibility and for
his own profit sets in motion agencies which create risks for others,
he ought to be civilly responsible for the consequences,” but in apply­
ing this and granting compensation it was the general opinion that
a limit o f liability should be adopted with it.
The opposition (Mr. Asquith) admitted the principle of universal
compensation and of giving u some solatium for a pure accident, the
result o f no negligence, to soldiers in the army o f industry.” He said
it was revolting to sentiment and judgment that “ men who met with
accidents through the necessary exigencies of daily occupation should
be a charge upon their own families,” and though the bill created a
new legal right, so did the Poor Law, which recognized everyone’s
right to State food and shelter. He, however, criticised the bill as
drawn.
'
ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE BILL.

The following are the leading arguments, pro and con, of the
extended debates that followed, grouped under their respective heads,
and referred to the different provisions o f the bill.
By its opponents the bill was called “ a radical revolution ” and
“ a plunge into socialism.” It was said to exceed the proper func­
tion o f government, which was the protection o f property and liberty,
transferring the burden of accidents from one set of people to an­
other ; it was said to put legal responsibility where no moral respon­
sibility existed, and to be contrary to the tenets of the Conservative
Party introducing it.
This was answered by Mr. Chamberlain, the author o f the bill, who
admitted that it was a new principle, only applicable if a “ great




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU/ OF LABOR.

public human interest is involved,” but said that the bill dealt with
u a great scandal; ” not with absolute rights, but with questions o f
humanity and expediency. He stated that it contained two prin­
ciples, as follows:
(1) That a workman was entitled for all accidents o f occupation
to a moderate and reasonable compensation.
(2) That the compensation should be a charge on the trade, like
repair o f machinery.
He said, moreover, that the bill distinguished between an employer’s
moral negligence (employer's willful or wrongful act) and an em­
ployer’s technical negligence (his foreman causing an accident) and
an employer’s criminal negligence (employer’s neglect of precaution
after warning).
Mr. Balfour (afterwards prime minister) said that the bill was
consistent with previous legislation, the country felt it desirable to
44 diffuse the shock ” of accidents, and had already granted such a
relief to the public, and it should be granted to a workman in his
vocation. He answered the objection that it put a legal where no
moral responsibility existed by showing that the law already did that,
as it made a railroad responsible for an injury to a passenger, even
where caused by the mistake of a good engineer.
Lord Salisbury (the prime minister) said that the existing law was
socialistic and not the bill, since the existing law made the taxpayer
through the Poor Law pay for a railroad engineer killed by an out­
sider obstructing the track, and so transferring the burden to the
industry itself (the railroad) was less socialistic.
He said that there was a proper distinction between State inter­
ference when saving life as against saving property; that in no wellregulated State wras mere liberty allowed to endanger lives; that it
was the supreme duty o f the State to see that the claims o f property
must bow to the interests of citizens represented by safety, life, and
limb. He added that the bill was part o f the series of old factory
legislation preventing disease and death. He said the history o f the
law o f compensation was a history o f a great machinery for saving
life.
The following objections to the bill and answers to these objections
were also made:
(1) That it was unfair, as it made the employer liable for acts of
strangers, and as a social experiment, if it was expedient for* the
country, the country should pay for it; but it was answered that it
was 44 fair, moral, and right;” that those for whose emolument the
trade was carried on should p a y; that as the employer risked only his
capital, but the workman his life, he had a right to compensation
when injured at his employment; that wear and tear should be borne
by the industry; that a maximum o f one-half wages lost was fair.



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS,

593

(2) That the German system was better, as under it trade respon­
sibility existed, as opposed to individual responsibility under the bill,
and that the State should insure or assume the pensions; but Mr.
Chamberlain answered that the German system was too elaborate
and was impossible for English people, and that State insurance was
a gigantic question.
(3) That it would cause social strife, as it was alleged the German
law had done; but its advocates maintained that it would insure
social peace and diminish litigation, as they alleged the German law
had done.
(4) That the trades unions and friendly societies would suffer
through i t ; but this was denied by the labor-union members.
(5) That it would take away self-reliance and thrift from the
workman; but it was said that individualistic theories about the
rights and habits o f grown men had become obsolete.
(6) That it would reduce wages; but this was not admitted.
(7) That it would increase accidents, as it was alleged the German
law had done; but this was denied.
(8) That it would injure old men, as employers would not employ
them; but (though the Government was willing to limit the pro­
visions o f the bill to men under 60 years) this was strenuously denied
by the representatives of labor, who said older men were more
careful.
(9) That it was illogical, as it excluded health. The Government
admitted this, but said that health was too large a question to tack
onto it.
(10) That it would injure trade, especially export trade, and that
the bill taxed industry; but it was answered that the employers*
liability act o f 1880 had been said to impose “ terrible liabilities on
trade,” which experience had shown to be unsound.
Mr. Chamberlain said the Asquith bill was a punishment bill cov­
ering 10 per cent o f accidents, and this bill was a benefit bill covering
80 per cent o f accidents.
Other members admitted it would relieve poverty, distress, and
ruin to thousands o f workmen through accidents.
Mr. Euegg, a leading English commentator on this subject, states
the principle of the bill to be that “ the pecuniary results from loss
o f life and injury incident to the carrying on o f industrial enter­
prise ” should be regarded as “ a part of the expense of production; ”
that the employer who initiates it should, for convenience sake, pay
this expense in the first instance, and that “ ultimately it will be paid
by the community ” for whose use and enjoyment industry is car­
ried on.




594

BU LLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

SCOPE OF THE BILL.

The act o f 189T is limited in its application to employment on or
in or about a railway, factory, mine, quarry, or engineering work,
and a building which exceeds 80 feet in height being constructed or
repaired by means of a scaffolding, or being demolished, or on which
machinery driven by power is being used for those purposes. (Sec.
7 (1 ).) The act of 1900 added agriculture.
The scope o f the act o f 1897 was criticised generally as being too
exclusive and covering only selected industries; as failing to cover
large classes o f workmen, such as seamen, agricultural laborers, em­
ployees in workshops (factories without mechanical power),and other
small employers’ work people ; as only partially covering building
employees; as failing to cover the first two weeks’ disability from
accident; as failing to cover injuries to health, and as covering trades
like coal mining, which would be ruined by the bill.
Generally the Government said that the bill was a tentative meas­
ure, and as it involved a new principle it was limited to the more
dangerous industries, i. e., to those which had the most accidents;
that it covered 6,000,000 work people (leaving 7,000,000 unprotected),
but it had covered 60 or 70 per cent o f all accidents; that the two
exceptions to liability were serious and willful misconduct on the part
o f the injured employee (sec. 1 (2) ( c ) ) , and the exemption of
employers from liability for the first two weeks o f accidents (sec. 1
(2) ( a) ) , which would foster benefit societies and knock off 25 per
cent o f accidents (which were trivial) and 80 per cent o f the compen­
sation payable; that injury to health was too large a question to add
to this.
In discussion Mr. Balfour indicated that a reason for omitting
small employers and selecting the great' organized trades was to
obviate what would be merely transferring the “ shock o f accident ”
from one individual to another, the shock being diffused if applied
to the great organized trades. It was admitted that when experience
had proved there was no injury to the trades covered, such experience
would be an unanswerable argument in favor o f the extension o f the
scope o f the bill.
In debate it was said that there were three tests o f the scope: (1)
Bisk, (2) capital in industry, (3) insurance feasibility,
SEAM EN .

The arguments against inclusion of seamen, presented by Mr. Cham­
berlain, were that shipping was a great industry “ of special circum­
stances,” and therefore separate legislation was necessary; that the
great steamship lines were different from the merchant service; that




BRITISH W O R K M E N ^ COMPENSATION ACTS.

595

the inclusion o f seamen under the bill would breed opposition; that
already injured sailors were paid their wages and medical attention
according to special laws. It was said that deaths on sailing vessels
were 50 to 1 o f deaths on steamers; that it would kill the sailingvessel industry and the fishing business to include them; that the
owner had no control over accidents at sea. Several owners in big
steamship lines recommended inclusion, and Mr. Havelock Wilson
(who had fought to have the act o f 1880 applied to sailors, but
failed) pointed out, as to payment o f wages when a seaman was
injured, that there was no loss to the owner as the other sailors did
the injured sailor’s work; that shipowners paid no poor-rate tax,
and therefore 44landsmen paid for injured sailors; ” that there was
no medical attention supplied except in the big liners; that the trade
was a most dangerous one.
W O R K SH O P S.

It was urged that women and children were employed in work­
shops, that there wore no 44compassionate allowances ” in workshops,
and that the tendency o f modern legislation was to unite workshop
and factory; but it was answered that they wore not dangerous, the
proportion being only two deaths in workshops to 188 in factories.
B U ILD IN G S.

The Government refused to eliminate the restriction and cover
buildings under 30 feet in height, saying that the inclusion of build­
ings was a compromise, and that 30 feet wTas an arbitrary line, based
on the factory act.
G O VERNM EN T EM PLO YEES.

Persons in the naval and military service of the Crown were ex­
cluded (sec. 8) ; otherwise Government employees wore covered.
M A LIN G ER IN G .

It had been claimed by the opponents of the bill that the German
law had increased malingering on the part o f injured workmen, and
that this bill wrould have the same effect, but the Government felt
that these provisions for medical examination would prevent it, and,
further, that cooperative schemes formed under the contracting-out
clause, as they would be controlled by workmen, would also pre­
vent it.
ACTS OF STR ANG ERS.

In reply to the criticism that the bill was unjust in making an
employer responsible for injuries to his men caused by acts o f
strangers, the answer was made that all employers with their fellowmen in their power through industry should 44be forced to make



596

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

them safe.” The Government said if the employer was not made
liable it would necessitate the inquiry, “ Who caused the accident? ” •
and result in litigation, defeating the object o f the bill, which was
to compensate without inquiry. With a view to this principle, and
chiefly to include under it subcontractors’ workmen (sec. 4) as em­
ployees o f the chief employer, so enabling them to get their benefits,
section 7 (1) provides that “ the act shall apply only to employment
by the undertakers,” though in all cases, except those in section 4,
the injured’s own employer is the undertaker (sec. 7 ( 2)) defining
the undertaker as “ the company ” in a railway, “ the occupier ” in a
factory, quarry, or laundry, “ the owner ” in a mine, “ the person
undertaking the construction, etc.,” in engineering work and in
building. Section 4, however, gives the undertaker a right o f in­
demnity against the subcontractor.
COAL M IN IN G .

It was urged that 80 to 90 per cent of the coal in Northumberland
competed with foreign coal, and that, therefore, employers could not
transfer the burden to the foreign consumer; that any raise in the
price would destroy the glass trade and injure the steel trade; that
the bill would shut down a number o f coal mines. The Government
answered that foreign competitors had compensation laws.
A G R IC U L T U R A L LAB O RERS.

It was urged that agricultural laborers should be covered, as acci­
dents occurred from agricultural machinery, and their poor wages did
not enable them to insure; that they presented the most pathetic figure
in the social system— a life o f unremitting toil, followed by the poorhouse in old age. The Government in 1897 said the bill was only
tentative, and agriculture was not a dangerous trade. They did, how­
ever, by a separate bill in 1900, include agriculture, which covers
horticulture, forestry*, husbandry, inclusive of keeping live stock,
poultry, or bees, and the growth o f fruit or vegetables.
PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS.

The Asquith bill had been put forward as effecting the prevention
o f accidents, and his party urged that this bill would not prevent
accidents; that the criminal law was ineffectual to prevent them;
that there was nothing incompatible in granting universal compensa­
tion, and at the same time providing special liabilities for preventable
accidents; that the German system provided compensation with pre­
vention under its danger schedule; that in Germany the trades had a
remedy against a negligent employer; that under this bill there would



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION L A W .

597

be insurance, and that insurance deprived the master o f incentive to
care.
It was answered that the Asquith bill only made the master
responsible in a greater number of accidents than the preexisting law*
and that the master could not prevent the accidents caused by feliow-servants, by which only that bill increased his responsibility 7
that this bill covered a still greater number of accidents than the
Asquith Bill, and so was more powerful than it to prevent accidents;
that increased responsibility meant increased care; that the employ­
ers’ financial responsibility was a greater preventive than State
financial responsibility; that the true method of prevention was b y
criminal enactment, by factory and workshop acts, and other health:
and safety acts, and that section 1 (5) of the bill made special
reference to the fines applied for the benefit o f the injured workmen^
and provided that the act should in no way restrict proceedings fo r
such fines. In regard to insurance, it was stated that employers had
always been able to insure; that want of care would affect employers*
pockets, as insurance companies would differentiate rates; that they
saw to it that machines were well guarded; that it was cheaper, how­
ever, not to insure at all, which was feasible now that compensation:
was definite and limited.
BURDEN IMPOSED BY THE BILL.

On the question as to where the burden imposed by the bill would
and should fall, Mr. Asquith said that in trades with foreign com­
petition it could not be transferred to the consumer, but that it would
fall on the employer and workman, with consequent injury to tha
small employer. To prevent the latter happening and to insure the
workman getting his benefits, he advocated placing it on the trade asa whole as in Germany, and, to prevent injury to the trades with,
foreign competition, he suggested placing the burden of the bill on
the community as a whole. He admitted it would not be crushingto industries generally, and that it would be perfectly fair even i f
the burden fell on wages.
Other members said that the small employer was being crushed
out o f existence, and advocated some Government scheme o f insur­
ance, as well for small employers as for trades with foreign competi­
tion like the coal trade, which would be ruined, because they could
not stand the burden; the foreigners now (though they already had
accident compensation laws) were winning in competition. They
also said that mine owners would run the risk themselves o f bank­
ruptcy through a mine disaster, since rates of insurance would be sa
heavy to cover them; it was no help to a mine owner wTith an explo304 b — No. 7 0 -0 7 ------9




598

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

sion costing £80,000 ($389,320) on his hands to be told that the
average cost was 1 per cent.
Mr. Chamberlain answered that the cost fell ultimately on the con­
sumer ; that it would not be a burden on wages, but would become a
part o f charges which in foreign countries were called trade charges,
as much as fire insurance, and an addition to the cost o f raw material;
that the price o f wages was settled by the supply o f labor and not by
these charges, unless it could be shown that every business charge
became a charge on wages; that wages in Germany had advanced.
He characterized the cry o f ruining trades as ridiculous and said
that generous employers already made similar contributions, and
they were glad their competitors wTere to be brought up to their level.
The attorney-general said the main criticism, “ that the cost would
be 2d. [4 cents] a ton on coal,” meant that the cost would only be 10
to 20 per cent more than the Asquith Bill, and that catastrophes,
like explosions, were not arguable; that the bill covered every-day
accidents.
Mr. Broadhurst, who had taken a keen interest in labor matters
as a member for twenty years, said that a great principle had been
established by the bill, but there was “ no answer to where the burden
would fall.” Sir EdwTard Clark said the burden would fall first on
the employer, second on the consumer, and third on wages, which was
fair. It was believed that it would only fall on wages when the
bottom price in foreign markets had been reached.
It was pointed out that the income tax showed industrial profit of
£336,000,000 ($1,635,144,000), so that industry could well bear the
bill; that the fears of coal owners in 1860, 1872, and 1877 had not
been borne out by subsequent facts;. that the bill, in reality, was not
a serious burden, as improving the conditions o f labor by shortening
hours, etc., always benefited a trade; that the charitable donations
o f employers, who voluntarily did as much now, would be saved.
COST OF T H E B ILL.

The cost o f the bill to the trades involved was urged as the strongest
argument against it. Mr. Chamberlain -believed that on the basis of
the Government experience, 1 per cent on the wages in coal mining
would cover the cost, and one-fourth o f 1 per cent in factories, less
the cost o f present charitable payments and the cost o f the Employ­
ers’ Liability Act o f 1880, and that in textile trades one-twentieth to
one-tenth o f 1 per cent would be sufficient.
Other estimates advanced showed that the existing English law
cost one-eighth to one-fourth o f 1 per cent, wdiile for the Asquith
bill the cost would have been one-half o f 1 per cent, and that the
cost would be three-fourths o f 1 per cent i f this bill passed.




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

599

One member, an employer in a large engineering firm, said that
examination o f his experience for ten years past showed that the
result o f the bill would be one-eighth o f 1 per cent on his wages,
and another member, the head of another large engineering firm
(also manufacturing iron and steel), reached precisely the same
result. Still another member gave figures o f one-third o f 1 per
cent for a trade involving 15,000 men.
COAL.

On the figures o f the Cheshire Miners’ Permanent Eelief Fund
the result o f practically 1 per cent o f wages on coal was reached, but
other estimates varied from fd. (1.35 cents) a ton (Professor Merivale, Newcastle) to as high as 3d. (6 cents) a ton (Sir William
Lewis, South Wales), and from 1 per cent on wages (Government)
to 4J per cent on wages (Mr. Neison), and it was said that 2 d.
(4 cents) a ton would ruin the trade. The Government answered
that Germany now paid 2 per cent, and Lord Salisbury pointed out
that freights varied from 5s. lid . to 8 s. 3d. ($1.44 to $2.01) a ton, so
that 2d. (4 cents) a ton would be insignificant, and only the equivalent
o f carrying 4 miles farther, as freight cost |d. (1 cent) a ton.
B A N K R U P T C Y OF EM PLO YER.

Bankruptcy o f the employer might be caused by a disastrous acci­
dent or might arise in the ordinary course o f business. In the first
event the workman would lose his benefits and in the latter any
annuity he was receiving.
To deal with the difficulty o f bankruptcy o f the employer reme­
dies were urged ( 1 ) making the whole particular trade responsible
for accidents affecting each individual employer by compulsory
masters’ combination, like the German system, ( 2 ) adopting com­
pulsory insurance, or (3) inaugurating State insurance. It was
answered that though a hardship the workman must take his chance;
that bankruptcy was just as likely through an action for damages for
injuries resulting from negligence as through this bill.
An amendment to allow the substitution o f an approved insurance
for the liability under the bill wTas negatived, as the Government
could not undertake to Certify the solvency o f insurance companies.
To deal with the difficulty o f losing annuities the payment o f
lump sums instead o f annuities was urged, it being pointed out that
those sums could then be invested to produce an annuity.
The Government later accepted amendments to make the undertaker
liable to subcontractors’ men (see. 4) and giving workmen a lien on
any insurance the master had if the master became insolvent (sec.
5 ), but refused an amendment to make him a preferential creditor on
the insolvent master’s total assets.




600

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

CHOICE OF REMEDIES AND LIABILITY OF EMPLOYEE.

The bill left a choice o f remedies to the workmen—i. e., of claim­
ing at his option under the bill or suing under the common law or
under the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880—but did not leave the
employer liable to pay compensation both independently o f and under
the act. (Sec. 1 ( 2 ) (&).)
It was the intention in passing the bill to restrict the workmen’s
rights at common law and under the Employers’ Liability act of
1880 somewhat in inserting the words “ personal ” and “ willful ”
(personal negligence or willful act o f the employer or o f some per­
son for whose act or default the employer is responsible). Mr.
Asquith moved to omit those words and leave the old rights intact,
but Mr. Chamberlain, who had said the bill distinguished between
“ moral, technical, and criminal ” negligence, refused to sanction the
omission, saying the old remedies were only left for cases o f moral
negligence and liability—i. e., where there was deliberate and peculiar
negligence, corresponding to the serious and willful misconduct
which defeated the claim o f the workman. However, the words have
not limited the previous rights to any extent. Mr. Ruegg, who dis­
cusses the point in his treatise, says: u None of the workmen’s rights,
either under the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880 or at common law,
are taken away by the Workmen’s Compensation Act.” As the act
o f 1880 also limited the compensation recoverable for death or dis­
ablement to three years’ wages, Mr. Haldane said, “ There would be
no incentive to sue under it,” and an amendment taking away the
existing rights under that act and the common law, but also taking
away the limits o f compensation under the bill, was lost by only 24
votes.
I f a workman su$d independently of the bill and lost his suit, sec­
tion 1 (4) provided that he should not thereby lose his compensation
under the bill, but the court should then and there on his request
assess it, deducting the costs of suit therefrom, i f justifiable, and give
a certificate o f it, which should be the equivalent of an award under
the act. I f he proceeded under the bill and failed through any
technicality he could not, however, subsequently sue.
I f a stranger was liable for the accident, section 6 gave the work­
men the option o f suing the stranger or o f proceeding under the act,
and, i f he chose the latter course, gave the employer a remedy against
the stranger for indemnity.
DEFENSES OF FELLOW-SEBVANT NEGLIGENCE AND ASSUMPTION
OF BISK.

Amendments to the bill were introduced to eliminate the defenses
o f fellow-servant negligence and assumption o f risk. It was urged
that these defenses still applied in the trades not covered by the bill,



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

601

if suit were brought independently o f the bill, and also in the small
injuries o f less than 2 weeks’ duration excluded by the bill. Mr.
Chamberlain pointed out that the amendments would necessarily be
limited in effect to the trades within the bill, and that, so far as those
trades were covered, the bill practically obliterated those doctrines,
and in no way defended them; that only a small part o f the trivial
injuries were traceable to the negligence o f fellow-servants. The
amendments were lost.
DEFENSE OF CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE.

The question o f eliminating the defense o f contributory negligence
was a difficult one. Mr. Chamberlain said that, morally, cases caused
by the injured’s own negligence should not be compensated, but as a
matter o f expediency, to avoid litigation, they should be.
The Government, however, later approved and passed an amend­
ment to exclude payment for injury to a workman, if it was the
result o f his “ serious and willful misconduct” (sec. 1 ( 2 ) (c))»
Mr. Chamberlain said the wording o f the clause destroyed the old
doctrine o f contributory negligence; but it was unfair to penalize
the employer where grossly negligent and not the employee also,
and it would tend to prevent accident.
Even this amendment was urged to be contrary to the principle
o f the bill, and it was feared would open inquiry into the cause o f
accidents and so promote fictitious defenses and litigation, in an
attempt to provide for cases necessarily rare, and it was said that
the real beneficiaries, i. e., the family o f the negligent employee, were
innocent even if he was negligent.
Amendments were then introduced to define serious and willful
misconduct, but were negatived, as being a question for the arbi­
trator in each case. Lord Salisbury, however, said that any breach
o f rules justifying fine or imprisonment would bar compensation.
ARBITRATION AND LITIGATION

In furtherance o f the Government’s purpose to get rid o f litiga­
tion about accidents o f employment and the friction and expense
involved, and to devise a simple and inexpensive method o f settling
doubtful questions, the bill provided (sec. 1 (3 )) that on a dispute
arising (and then only) it must be settled by arbitration, and the
decision o f the arbitrator be registered as a judgment, in the way
provided in the Second Schedule ( 1 ), ( 2 ), (3 ), namely:
First. By a committee formed by the workmen and their employer
for the purpose. This committee might settle the matter or refer it
to a single arbitrator.




602

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

The Government said the workmen would predominate on the
committee or refuse to form a committee.
Second. I f there be no committee, or if the committee is objected
to by either party before it meets, or if the committee fails to settle
the matter or refers it, by a single arbitrator agreed on by the parties.
Third. In the absence of agreement on an arbitrator, then by the
county court judge of the district sitting as an arbitrator without
fees.
Fourth. I f the county court judge is unable to act, then by an arbi­
trator appointed by him (paid by the State).
APP EALS.

The right o f appeal vras limited to reduce litigation. There was
no appeal from the arbitrator on questions o f fact, but he might, if
he saw fit, submit questions o f law to the county court judge (Sec­
ond Schedule (4) ) wThose decision was final, unless either party ap­
pealed direct to the court o f appeal. At first appeal was not con­
templated, but the appeal on the lavr to the court o f appeal was
admitted as necessary to reduce the numerous county court decisions
to authoritative general principles. It was then intended that such
appeal should be final, but though no appeal to the House o f Lords
lies for Scotch and Irish cases it has been decided that it does for
English cases.
COSTS.

The payment o f the cost o f arbitration by the State was urged,
but the Government said so doing would promote litigation. Second
Schedule ( 6 ) therefore leaves the costs to the discretion o f the arbi­
trator, but limits them to the ordinary county court costs, none to
be paid prior to the award (Second Schedule ( 11 ) ) .
R E G IST R A T IO N .

Second Schedule ( 8 ) provides that all agreements and decisions
by committees or arbitrators shall be recorded by the registrars of
county courts as judgments.
LAW YERS.

Lawyers were entirely barred from the proceedings at first, but
before the passage of the bill the clause barring them was eliminated
on the recommendation o f the attorney-general, as otherwise the con­
duct o f them would fall into the hands o f advisers o f a low type.
Mr. Chamberlain said he had changed his mind on the point and
approved the change, as their fees were restricted, and a clause (Sec­




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS

603

ond Schedule ( 12 ) ) was inserted controlling their fees, in the discre­
tion o f the arbitrator and by the court taxing scale. Any party could
appear in person as advocate, instead o f lawyers, and appearance was
also permitted, on leave o f arbitrator, to others, including tradesunion secretaries, etc., but without any right to fees.
DOCTORS.

The estimate of the disability sustained being one of the most
important questions o f the bill, it was provided (First Schedule (3 ))
that a workman, on giving notice of accident, must submit himself
for examination by the employer’s doctor, and on refusal to do so
his benefits were to be suspended. During disability he must again
submit himself for examination, if required, with the option, how­
ever, if he objected to the doctor or his certificate, o f submitting him­
self to examination by one o f the doctors appointed by the secretary
o f state (First Schedule ( 11 ) ) , the certificate o f the doctor appointed
by the secretary o f state to be final, and his fees to be paid by the
State, as also those of other doctors appointed unde? the same
authority “ to report on any matter arising in the arbitration ”
(Second Schedule (1 3 )).
Against this whole system o f arbitration it was urged in debate
that arbitration was really the equivalent o f litigation, and that in
the previous year in Germany there had been 38,000 appeals from
associations of employers and 12,000 appeals to Berlin, but the
Government felt that the bulk of accidents would not need to be
arbitrated, and that the arbitration machinery wTas simple and wTould
save expense.
COMPENSATION PAYABLE.

The benefits or amount o f compensation under the act were based
on the wages earned by the injured. It was pointed out in debate
that this worked a hardship on children permanently injured, as
their wages are small.
It wTas suggested that if based on the wages at the time of the acci­
dent that might prove too little or too much, so the average weekly
wage was fixed upon as a basis. For the three years’ death benefit,
i f deceased had not been under the same employer for three years,
“ 156 times his average weekly earnings during the period of his
actual employment under the same employer ” was fixed by the First
Schedule ( 1 ) (a ), and for the incapacity benefit, the average weekly
wages over twelve months or such less period as he had been employed
by the same employer, was fixed as a basis by the First Schedule

a ) (&)•




604

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.
D E A T H B E N E F IT S .

Where the deceased leaves persons wholly dependent, the First
Schedule (1) (a) (i) provides a compensation equal to three years*
earnings, but not less than £150 ($729.98) nor more than £300
($1,459.95).
Where the deceased leaves persons partially dependent, First
Schedule (1) (a) (ii) provides a compensation of what may be
agreed on or determined by arbitration as reasonable and propor­
tionate to the injury to the dependents, but not more than three years’
earnings nor £300 ($1,459.95).
Where deceased leaves no dependents, First Schedule ( 1 ) (a) (iii)
provides reasonable medical and burial expenses up to £10 ($48.67).
An amendment to make the death benefits equal, whether there were
any dependents or not, on the ground that inequality would injure
married men and prevent their employment, was lost, Mr. Chamber­
lain pointing out that the friendly societies had the same distinctions
without that result.
The dependents were limited (sec. 7 ( 2 ) (a)) to the persons men­
tioned in the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846, i. e., to wife, husband, parents,
and children (an amendment to add brother and sister having been
negatived, as the Government would not extend the scop e); and ques­
tions as to dependency and amounts payable therefor to be arbitrated
in defaultT)f agreement. (First Schedule (5 ).)
The minimum sum being omitted from the First Schedule ( 1 ) (a)
(ii), dealing with partial dependents, compensation to parents for
the death o f a child who contributed to the family fund could be
properly restricted to the pecuniary loss occasioned, and be fixed by
the arbitrator or otherwise at a proper proportionate sum instead o f
allowing the family to gain by the death. The same rule applied to
amounts payable to other partial dependents, the attorney-general
saying that they got nothing unless they suffered pecuniary loss
through the death.
IN C A P A C IT Y B E N E F IT S .

For injuries causing incapacity, temporary or permanent, and total
or partial incapacity, the First Schedule ( 1 ) (&) provides for a com­
pensation, after the second week, up to a limit of £1 ($4.87) a week,
o f not exceeding 50 per cent o f injured’s average previous weekly
earnings.
In fixing the amount of compensation actually payable within those
limits (which is done by agreement or arbitration), clause 2 provides,
that regard should be had to the difference between his earnings
before and his ability to earn after the accident.




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605

LU M P-SU M PAY M EN TS.

Before adopting the above benefits there was much discussion in
debate as to the merits o f adopting lump sum and weekly payments,
respectively, as the benefits under the bill.
By those advocating lump-sum payments it was said that the bene­
fits under continued weekly payments would aggregate more than the
benefits for death; that payment o f a lump sum would be better
for a man; that investments o f lump sums were possible which would
prevent loss of benefit through the employer becoming insolvent; that
the continuance o f weekly payments during incapacity would be hard
on employers; that lump sums would facilitate the employer obtain­
ing insurance.
Amendments were introduced, but lost, making the benefits o f the
bill for death and permanent injuries lump-sum payments, like an
ordinary accident-insurance policy, namely, a definite sum down,
three years’ wages for death or permanent total disablement, and
six months’ wages for permanent partial disablement.
It was pointed out that payments o f lump sums to widows,
dependents, and persons unaccustomed to manage money would result
in loss and its being quickly squandered, thus defeating the object o f
the bill. Mr. John Burns strongly advocated weekly payments in
lieu o f lump sums. Other members said lump sums would bankrupt
and ruin employers.
Mr. Chamberlain said that the permanent incapacity weekly bene­
fit might be hard on an employer if he had no insurance, but if he
had insurance it would be trivial; that the limits enabled insurance
to be got. He said that disability pajunents should be more than the
death payments, as beneficiaries got the latter.
The views as to lump sums and wTeekly payments were compro­
mised as follows:
First. By giving authority to the arbitrator in his discretion to
invest the lump sums awarded (see First Schedule ( 6 ) to ( 10 ) ) —i. e.,
by agreement or by order o f arbitrator a dependent’s compensa­
tion may be either invested or not. I f invested, to be either by way
o f deposit in or purchase o f annuity through the’Post-Office Savings
Bank, subsequently to be drawn out only on written order o f the
treasury or county court judge, and,
Second. By providing for liberty to commute the weekly benefits
payable.
CO M M U TATIO N OF B E N E F IT S .

Mr. Chamberlain introduced a clause allowing a commutation o f
future weekly benefits to be agreed upon, after weekly benefits had
been paid for twelve months, either at the request of the workmen




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

or at the request o f the employer, limiting such commutation amount,
however, to three years’ full wages.
Strong argument was introduced against this proposal, pointing
out that commutation reduced benefits under the bill, and Mr. John
Burns said it would after seven years “ relegate the injured people
to charity.”
For the clause arguments were advanced that, as the indefinite con­
tinuation o f weekly payment wTas defined by commutation, insurance
would be cheaper; also, that commutation would protect workmen
against insolvent employers. The Government said that commuta­
tion was very different from putting a stop on weekly payments,
since the sum paid down in commutation would purchase an
annuity.
When this clause, however, reached the House o f Lords they took
away from the workmen the power to commute, and as a quid pro
quo eliminated the limit o f three years’ full wages imposed on the
amount o f commutation. The House of Commons approved this
change.
The First Schedule (13), therefore, provides that where any weekly
payment has continued for not less than six months the liability
therefor may be redeemed by the employer by payment o f a lump
sum, fixed by agreement or arbitration, which may be ordered to be
invested or otherwise applied by the committee or arbitrator.
R E V IE W OF A W A R D .

First Schedule ( 12 ) also provides that either the master or the
workman may, on request, have any weekly payment reviewed, so
that it may be ended, diminished, or increased according to the facts
then found by agreement or arbitration.
M A N N ER OF PAY M EN T.

The First Schedule (4) requires death payments to be made “ to the
legal personal representative,” and if none, “ to or for the benefit o f
his dependents; ” and if no dependents are left, “ to the person to
whom the expenses are due; ” while the Second Schedule ( 12 ) speci­
fies that compensation shall be paid on the receipt o f the person to
whom it is payable. The Second Schedule ( 10 ) empowers the county
court to make its necessary rules.
N OTICE OF AC C ID E N T A N D CLAIM .

It was urged that requiring notice o f accident and claim would
protect employers against bogus claims, and would protect employees
against losing their claims; that notice should be given before work­
men left the service.




BRITISH W O R K M E N 'S COMPENSATION ACTS.

607

On the other hand, it was said that requiring notices would cause
litigation, as attorneys would urge they were necessary in order to
have the notices properly given, and further, that no notices were
required under the general law o f negligence.
After considerable debate, following the precedent o f the Em­
ployers’ Liability Act o f 1880, the act provides (sec. 2 ( 1 ) ) for
notice o f accident as soon as practicable thereafter and before the
workman has voluntarily left the service, while claim must be made
in six months from date o f accident, i f not fatal, and in six months
from date o f death, if fatal; but to prevent the claim o f the work­
man from being prejudiced through want o f or any defect or
inaccuracy in notice o f accident by a bona fide mistake or other rea­
sonable cause (as through a trivial accident later developing into a
serious one), the section provides that such want o f or defect in
notice shall not be a bar i f it is found in the claim proceedings that
the employer is not prejudiced in his defense by such want or defect
or that it was occasioned by mistake or other reasonable cause.
CONTRACTING OUT.

Contracting out was the question on which the Asquith Bill had
been wrecked, and was debated at length. The Government intro­
duced a clause into their bill on the lines o f the Dudley Amendment
to the Asquith Bill (which the House of Commons had then re­
jected). The home secretary said that under it the workman could
not deprive himself o f the benefits o f the bill, but was to have
freedom to arrange his own wants in his own way, provided that
such arrangement was not less favorable to him than the benefits
o f the b ill; in the words o f Mr. Chamberlain, that he should have
freedom to “ contract out ” provided he was “ not a pecuniary loser ”
by so doing; that the Government held to the principle o f con­
tracting out with that proviso.
To effect this, the bill as passed repealed existing contracts by
section 9, but by section 3 permitted the employer to substitute, by
contract with his workmen, any “ scheme o f compensation, benefit,
or insurance,” which was certified to beforehand by the registrar
o f friendly societies (a permanent Government official), after taking
steps to ascertain the views o f the employer and workman, as “ not
less favorable to the general body o f workmen and their dependents
than the provisions o f this act; ” but save that, the bill was to apply
notwithstanding any contract to the contrary.
Section 3 ( 2 ) provides that the registrar’s certificate might expire
at the end o f a limited period o f not less than five years, and section
3 (3) prohibited the issue of a certificate for any scheme “ which
contains an obligation upon the workmen to join ” as a “ condition




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

o f their hiring.” Section 3 (4 ), moreover, made it the duty o f the
registrar to examine into any complaint on behalf of the workmen
that the scheme is no longer so favorable or is not being fairly
administered, etc., and revoke his certificate i f good cause exists,
unless such cause is removed.
v It was urged by the opposition (Mr. Asquith) that a workman
should not be permitted to waive advantages given in the interest of
the community, but it was answered there was no objection, i f he
gets better terms. Other objections to the clause were that the
schemes would localize men; that the clause would injure friendly
societies, as the workmen’s contributions to schemes would take the
place of contribution to the benefit and friendly societies whose
income was mainly from that source; that the workmen and trades
unions were against it.
It was answered that the clause would give a great impetus to
friendly societies and would alloW existing associations to use their
own machinery and go further than the bill, since employers would
figure out the cost o f accidents over 5 to 10 years, and contribute
the necessary amount to the existing associations, allowing the work­
men to manage them; that the latter would deal with the slight acci­
dents themselves and prevent malingering, and reduce the cost o f
accidents so as to have more to spend on their sickness features. It
was also urged that friendly societies were based on considerations
other than pecuniary ones, and that the clause compelled the regis­
trar to ascertain the views of workmen and employers before certify­
ing a scheme.
Mr. Chamberlain introduced an amendment to make the employer
liable i f the funds o f the scheme failed, but against this it was urged
that such a liability would prevent the clause being used, as employ­
ers would consider it a “ heads you win, tails I lose ” clause.
Mr. Balfour said the employers’ inducement to form schemes was
the establishment o f better relations with their men, and the work­
men’s inducement to. get more money from their 'employers. But
the clause guaranteeing the solvency o f the fund was ultimately
eliminated by the House o f Lords on the ground that as the work­
men would spend the money it would prevent all contracting out, and
the elimination was subsequently agreed to by the House o f Com­
mons on the ground that the registrar had to be satisfied that the
employers’ liability was the equivalent o f the bill.
The House of Lords passed an amendment allowing the registrar
to consider as a basis for his certificate all the circumstances of the
case, which was disagreed to by the House of Commons, however, and failed.




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

609

P R A C T IC A L W O R K IN G O F T H E ACTS AN D RECOM M EN­
D ATIO N S.
In November, 1903, a committee was appointed by the home sec­
retary to inquire and report to the home office—
( 1 ) What amendments in the law relating to compensation for in­
juries to workmen are necessary or desirable, and
( 2 ) To what classes o f employments not now included in the Workftien’s Compensation Acts those acts can properly be extended with
or without modification.
This committee consisted of the following gentlemen: Sir Kenelm
Digby, K. C. B. (chairm an); Sir Benjamin Browne, D. C. L., Memb.
Inst. C. E .; His Honor Judge Lumley Smith, K. C .; Capt. A. J.
G. Chalmers, of the Board o f Trade; Mr. George N. Barnes, secretary
o f the Amalgamated Society of Engineers; and Mr. Robert Reid
Bannatyne, o f the home office (secretary).
The committee utilized information furnished by the labor depart­
ment o f the Board o f Trade and other Government departments, by
inspectors o f factories and mines and other Government officials, and
by the judges o f the county courts. It took extended evidence from
representatives o f both employers and workmen in the chief industries,
from employers’ associations and trades unions, from mutual and ordi­
nary insurance companies, and from numerous other sources. It
made an exhaustive report in August, 1904, which has been accepted
as a basis for future legislation, and its evidence and findings are
therefore referred to at length here.
SCOPE OF THE ACTS.

The restriction of the scope of the acts to a few industries was
carefully considered by the committee, and they concluded that the
experience justified extension to other industries.
The act o f 1900 including agriculture had taken away the danger­
ous-employment test for inclusion, and that test could not therefore
be adopted as the general principle in extension to other occupations.
The two alternatives presented were to amend the acts ( 1 ) by
a general extension o f their scope to cover all occupations with cer­
tain definite exceptions, such as (a) small employers, ( 6 ) some forms
o f casual labor, ( c ) employments which are not by way o f trade or
for the purpose o f profit, as limited in the factory acts; or ( 2 ) by
extension to further specially specified industries.
The committee recommended the latter course, suggesting inclusion
o f any industries which were dangerous, and also those to which the
advantage o f the act could be applied without imposing an undue
burden on the employers, provided that the industry to be included




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

was not one composed largely of small employers who did not insure.
As to the limitations on the employments already covered in the act,
which had been found to be unsatisfactory, they recommended chang­
ing section 7 ( 1 ) limiting the act to accidents 44 on or in or about ”
the places or works, to cover accidents 44 while on the business o f the
employers,” since they found that, though they were intended to
limit responsibility to places wThich were under the employers’ con­
trol, those words o f the act had resulted in dissatisfaction and incon­
gruity, a mechanical engineer, for instance, being covered in the fac­
tory, but not while superintending erection for his employer. They
recommended covering all building, all quarries, and practically all
laundries (except only those without more than two persons outside
o f the fam ily). They also recommended including under the defini­
tion o f engineering, roadmaking, well sinking, and other excavating
operations, also the construction o f telegraphs, telephones, and other
electric appliances.
T R A D E D ISE A SE S .

The committee did not, however, consider it advisable to include
trade diseases, thinking it better to leave those to special legislation
for sickness, and to still leave to the courts such questions as 44 whether
anthrax is an accident.”
SEAM EN .

Employers urged the hardship and impracticability o f including
seamen under the act, owing to prolonged absence o f ships and
absence o f owners’ control, frequent changes in crew, and consequent
impossibility o f securing evidence, as well as the fact that the 44whole
venture is frequently imperiled through act o f God,” and conse­
quently compensation should be undertaken by the State. On the
other hand, Mr. Havelock Wilson, who has strongly advocated the
cause o f seamen, urged that exactly the same conditions as to compen­
sation should prevail at sea as on shore. He testified that ship­
owners were heavy insurers and could bear a loss.
The committee found that as the principle o f the act established
compensation, whether blame existed or not, the absence o f control,
etc., gave no reason (nor did they find any) why the principle should
not extend to those afloat as well as to those on land. However, after
considering the construction of the existing Merchants’ Shipping
Act, which already amply provided for minor injuries, they recom­
mended an extension o f that act to cover death and permanent total
and partial disablements o f seamen rather than an extension of the
Workmen’s Compensation Act. As coasting and fishing vessel own­
ers frequently had no assets if their vessels were lost, and as the lives
o f master and crew frequently had to be risked at sea in the cause o f




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

611

humanity, the committee recommended compulsory insurance with
State contribution for seamen, recommending, however, further in­
quiry as to the fishing trade.
C A R R IE R S.

They recommended inclusion of all carriers by land or inland
navigation
W O R K SH O PS.

They recommended inclusion o f the larger workshops, excluding all
employing not more than 5 persons.
SHOP A S SIS T A N T S.

They did not recommend inclusion of shop assistants, unless there
was a general extension of the act, as this was not a hazardous occu­
pation, and “ there would also be considerable difficulty as regards
small shops.”
D O M ESTIC SE RVAN TS.

For a similar reason, as well as on the ground of not further ex­
tending the principle to persons not employed in trade or for pur­
pose o f gain, they did not recommend the inclusion o f domestic ser­
vants, unless under special circumstances of danger, such as coach­
man, etc.
PU B LIC SE R VAN TS.

As to public servants, the committee saw no reason for treating
them differently from other workpeople.
D E F E N SE OF SERIOU S AN D W IL L F U L M ISCONDUCT.

Section 1 ( 2 ) (c ).—The evidence of both employer and workman
indicated that this defense had been in practice infrequently enforced
or sustained by the courts (perhaps with the exception o f coal-mine
cases), though employers who desired a more specific definition had
possibly suffered hardship from it rather than the men. The commit­
tee felt it better to leave it open to the arbitrator to look at the sur­
rounding circumstances whenever the defense was set up, and they,
therefore, did not feel justified in recommending any change in the
wording or clause.
TWO

W E E K S ' IM M U N IT Y — M A LIN G ER IN G .

Section 1 ( 2 ) (a) and First Schedule ( 1 ) (&).— In the evidence be­
fore the committee from the workmen’s side it was almost universally
represented that a reduction of the period o f nonpayment from two
weeks to two or three days, and in the case o f serious accidents dating
the compensation back to the day of the accident, would save much



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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

hardship, especially in those trades where women were employed,
where pay was low (in which connection it was stated that 150,000
railroad employees earned less than 18s. ($4.38) a week), or where the
injured people were not members o f any friendly society; while
from the employers’ side it was shown by figures submitted that the
two weeks’ nonpayment prevented malingering by workmen absent­
ing themselves from work for injuries that were trivial and more or
less unreal.
The committee concluded that while it was true that a large num­
ber o f workmen w7ere put to suffering by this provision if it were
eliminated a large number who had also allowances from friendly
societies, etc., would prolong the period for trivial accidents, which
it was impracticable'for employers to supervise, and that dating
back the. compensation if the disablement lasted for two weeks would
also produce malingering. Again, having regard to the additional
cost involved o f including all cases during the first two weeks,
shown by insurance companies to be from 25 to 50 per cent, varying
with the different trades, and by the registrar o f friendly societies
for the schemes he had certified to be 39 per cent o f the total cost,
while dating compensation for disablements lasting two weeks back
to the day o f accident produced estimates of a somewhat less addi­
tion to the cost, the committee found no sufficient reason to justify
them in recommending a departure from the principle of two weeks’
immunity deliberately adopted by the legislature.
AC TS OF STR ANG ERS.

Employers liable under the act being limited by section 7 ( 1 ) to
“ undertakers ” with a view to prevention of the workmen’s loss of
benefits or evasion o f employers’ responsibilities by subcontracting,
it was found that section 4 o f the act, which made the undertaker
liable to subcontractors’ men, might become a dangerous extension
o f liability if the act were changed to cover work being done off the
premises o f the undertaker (for instance it might make a cloth manu­
facturer liable to the cloth dyers’ men), and the committee recom­
mended avoiding the extension o f undertaker’s liability away from
his works.
It was also pointed out that while it was the intention of the act
(sec. 4) that the undertaker should have an indemnity over against
the actual employer of the injured man, technical interpretation of
the wording o f the act had precluded him in many cases from getting
it, as in the case of railways, factories, mines, and quarries. The
committee therefore recommended treating the undertaker more as
a surety in any judgments rendered, etc., and making him, in fact,
merely a guaranty o f compensation payable by subcontractors.




BRITISH W O RKM EN S COMPENSATION ACTS.

615

ACT OF 1900.

This act in adding agriculture was different from the act o f 189 T
in that it attempted to exempt small employers, and was not con­
fined to trade or industry, but extended to persons in private employ­
ment.
One difficulty found in the application o f this act was the legal
interpretation o f the limitation of the act to employers who habitually
employ one workman, and it was recommended that this be changed
to “ employ throughout the year at least one workman in agricul­
ture; ” it Was also recommended that the casual laborer, including;
harvesters, etc., at hay time, be not covered. Another difficulty was:
that the small farmer did not insure, with consequent danger o f ruin
to him financially and failure to compensate his workmen.
PREVENTION OE ACCIDENTS.

As to the effect of the Workmen’s Compensation Act in the direc­
tion o f the prevention of accident, the committee found it extremely
difficult to estimate it.
The evidence o f the chief inspector o f factories showed that the
act somewhat tended to eliminate the probability o f recoveringpenalties for failures to guard machines, etc., owing to the fact that
a provision in the act (the latter part of section 1 (5 )) dealt with
penalties and limited the amount of their payment to the injured
workmen. Other evidence showed that there had been some tendency
to make employees more careless.
On the other hand, a coal mining employers’ association said that
the act had resulted in a great diminution o f real accidents, namely,,
serious cases, but that it had been accompanied by a great rise in
obscure accidents, namely, cases like sprains and trivial accidents;
and other testimony was to the effect that increased precautions to*
avoid accidents had resulted.
The committee, on the whole, came to the conclusion that the act
had not had any marked or ascertainable effect one way or the other
upon the safety o f the workmen. They, however, recommended the
repeal o f the latter part o f section 1 (5 ), as they did not consider
there was any serious objection, where negligence caused an injury,>
to the injured workmen receiving additional compensation by having
a penalty, recovered under criminal enactment, paid over to him in
whole or in part by the secretary o f state.
BURDEN OF THE ACTS.

The committee took testimony as to the extent o f the pecuniary
burden resulting from the acts, with a view to seeing that no excessive
burden was thrown on the employer, with consequent injury to the
trade and ultimate loss to the workmen.
304 b — No. 70— 07------10




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

They expressed the opinion that employers might be reaping an
advantage from having a defined obligation by law imposed on all
employers, instead of trusting to moral obligations, which were met
by some employers and hot by others; that in some instances employ­
ers threw the burden on the consumer (as, for instance, they found
stevedores to be including the cost in their contract prices); that
when labor was unorganized it was sometimes directly thrown upon
wages (which they suggested might be checked by extending legis­
lation in line with the Truck Acts). One of the members of the
committee, Sir Benjamin Browne, had estimated that the act affected
trade profits to the extent of reducing a 5 per cent profit on capital to
4| per cent, saying also that English manufacturers had so much
competition with foreign trade that it would restrict employment
and fall (as permanent burdens do) on workmen. The committee,
however, believed from the evidence submitted that so far as employ­
ers were concerned their chief desire seemed to be for greater cer­
tainty in their liability, as certainty made insurance premiums less,
and they found that the steady growth o f the burden o f the perma­
nent weekly payment benefits was a difficulty preventing employers
arriving with certainty at the cost, as these necessarily go on accumu­
lating year by year until the point is reached at which the number of
new pensioners is balanced by the dropping off o f the old.
COST OF T H E ACTS.

The committee took the effect on the coal-mine industry as a cru­
cial test o f the act. In the evidence before them on the subject of
cost one coal owners’ mutual insurance association, which had been
formed by the large coal owners in the North, after the passing of
the act, testified that the cost o f all the accidents in their mines had
been 0.36d. (0.73 cent) per ton in 1809, increasing to 0.64d. (1.30
cents) in 1903, or a trifle over one-half o f 1 per cent on wages in
1899, increasing to nearly nine-tenths of 1 per cent in 1903, the
increase being attributed to the growth o f the permanent weekly
payments. The association itself paid for the cost of supervision and
for all legal expenses, as well as for all disasters (accidents involving
more than four deaths), and later for all deaths, leaving the employ­
ers individually to pay for nonfatal cases. Another similar asso­
ciation in the Midlands gave similar evidence, namely, that their
increase in cost was most marked in the accidents which fell into
their classification of nonfatal cases over twenty-six weeks’ duration.
, A similar Yorkshire association, covering 20,000,000 tons o f coal
raising yearly, testified that their actuary estimated on their experi­
ence that the cost (including medical), which was a trifle higher than
the first association quoted, would, through the permanent allowances,




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615

COMPENSATION ACTS.

go nearly as high as 1J per cent o f wages before reaching the maxi­
mum. And a South Wales association, covering 80,000 men, showed
that the cost had risen from a little over one-half of 1 per cent on
wages in 1900 to three-fourths of 1 per cent in 1903, attributable to
the permanent allowances, with a guess that it might reach double the
last figure. The committee therefore felt that the rapid growth of com­
pensation in the coal industry, its uncertainty, and the liability to
disasters in that trade were reasons for caution in materially increas­
ing the benefits payable under the act.
One cotton trade mutual insurance association covering 40,000
work people originally estimated the cost at one-'eighth of 1 per cent
on wages for weaving, and three-eighths of 1 per cent for spinning,
but found that one-sixteenth of 1 per cent was adequate for weaving,
and thought a little more than one-fourth o f 1 per cent would suffice
for spinning. The Master Cotton Spinners’ Association, paying
£3,000,000 ($14,599,500) a year wages, which had estimated the cost
o f spinning up to one-half of 1 per cent, gave evidence showing a
similar cost, though it had secured insurance at less.
A mutual builders’ accident insurance company that “ insured some
thousands o f firms,” found without, however, reserving for permanent
injuries, that the cost was one-half o f 1 per cent. A large firm of
building contractors courteously related their own experience. They
stated that they transfer the cost to the purchaser in their contracts,
and that they also protect themselves by contract with their subcon­
tractors against claim by the subcontractors’ men, though in practice
the latter invariably proceed against the subcontractors.
R A T IO OP ACCIDEN TS TO TO T AL W ORKM EN EM PLOYED AND OP COM PENSA­
TION TO T O T A L W AGES P A ID BY A FIR M OP BU ILD ING CONTRACTORS, 1901
TO 1906.
Compensation for
accidents.

Accidents.

Per cent
Per cent
total Amount. of total
Number. ofwork­
wages
men.
paid.
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906

84
72
84
114
133
94

6.6
4.8
5.4
7.8
8.2
6.6

$1,645
3,601
3,256
4,034
5,358
7,412

0.15
.68
.50
.64
.75
1.10

As to the regular commercial insurance companies, the committee
quoted especially the evidence o f Mr. S. Stanley Brown, general man­
ager o f a leading company, who said that rates o f insurance against
accidents charged by an association o f these insurance companies,
which were at first based on the German and Austrian experiences,
had been found too high, and in June, 1899, were reduced one-third,




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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

resulting in the percentage of rates on wages shown in the second
column of the following table, while his own company’s rates for
December 31, 1903, are shown in the last column of the table. His
company gives the average of all rates charged by them as nearly 1
per cent.
R A TE P E R CENT ON W AGES IM POSED FOR INSURANCE A G A IN ST ACCIDENTS
IN VARIOU S IN D U STRIE S BY AN A SSOCIATION OF INSURANCE COM PANIES
IN 1899 AND BY A LE AD IN G COM M ERCIAL INSURANCE COMPANY IN 1903.
Rate per cent on wages
imposed by—
Industry.

Builders, general................................................................................................
Contractors..........................................................................................................
Stevedores............................................................................................................
Quarries...............................................................................................................
Engineers and iron sm elting............................................................................
Textiles.................................................................................................................
Manufactures, lig h t ...........................................................................................
Manufactures, h ea vy..........................................................................................

An associa­ A leading in­
tion of com­ surance com­
panies, 1899. pany, 1903.
1.25
1.67 to 2.38
2.38
1.50
1.00
.33

1.00
1.20to 2.50
2.38 to 10.00
1.20
.50 to 1.00
.20
.55

The reports o f the same insurance company show an almost steady
yearly increase in the average cost o f each accident settled, as follow s:
Each death case cost £113 ($550) during 1901, increasing to £117
($569) during 1905; each permanent disablement case cost £55 ($268)
during 1901, increasing to £87 ($423) during 1905, and in 1906 to £97
($472) ; each temporary disablement case cost about £5 ($24), with
little fluctuation during the period.
The committee said that it was through such associations o f masters
and men, respectively, and the ordinary insurance companies that the
financial burden was removed from the shoulders of the individual
employer and distributed more or less equally throughout the trade.
The actual cost of the compensation acts to the different trades is
not to be had officially, with one exception, that of railways. In the
home office returns it is stated that the total amount paid by the rail­
way companies as compensation under the act in the whole country
was £118,849 ($578,379) in 1899, £146,027 ($710,640) in 1900, £153,928
($749,091) in 1901, £144,155 ($701,530) in 1902, £155,495 ($756,716)
in 1903, and £162,155 ($789,127) in 1904.
B A N K R U P T C Y OF EM PLO YER .

It was found that so far, owing to prosperous times and the act
being limited to the larger employers, there had been little difficulty
from this source; however, the committee felt that the danger o f
distress to workmen through it happening was very real and
should be provided for, especially i f the act were extended to cover
small employers. They advocated substituting for the personal



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

617

responsibility o f the individual employer the security of a solvent
insurance fund. The committee attached great weight to recom­
mendations o f statutory regulation o f all insurance companies under­
taking the risk, such as exist in America, etc., to provide against
dangerous competition, and drew attention to the necessity o f seri­
ously considering a State or compulsory insurance, in some form or
other; especially was this necessary to enable the workmen of the
small employer to get his benefits, since through ignorance or inability
his employer failed to insure in many instances.
The committee concluded that this evidence showed that the bur­
den on employers had as yet not been excessive, but that it tended to
increase. This suggested caution in legislation increasing it and
especially in adding to its indefiniteness or uncertainty.
CHOICE OF REMEDIES AND LIABILITY OF EMPLOYER.

The committee reached the conclusion that the provisions o f section
1 (2) (&) and (4 ), permitting choice o f the remedies of suit under
the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880 or common law, or proceeding
under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, and also allowing the bene­
fits under the latter to be assessed on failure of suit under the
former, had worked largely to the disadvantage of both employers
and workmen and were responsible for a large amount o f illegitimate
litigation, in that they had resulted in the illegitimate use or threat
o f use against the employer of the remedies at common law and under
the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880, either for the purpose of
benefiting the unscrupulous lawyers, who could thereby run up the
costs, or for the purpose of improperly forcing settlement under
'the Workmen’s Compensation Act, and that the judge’s power to
assess the costs o f an unsuccessful suit against the compensation
under the Workmen’s Compensation Act was in practice rarely used,
and was therefore ineffective as a check. That this abuse had assumed
somewhat extended proportions was shown in the fact that, accord­
ing to Mr. Troup’s testimony, in litigated cases in 1902 the cases
under the Employers’ Liability Act amounted to about half the W ork­
men’s Compensation cases in Scotland, as against one-third in Eng­
land, and that the costs under the Employers’ Liability Act aver­
aged £25 ($ 121 .6 6 ) as against £11 ($53.53) under the Workmen’s Com­
pensation Act.
A simple remedy for these abuses would have been to repeal the
Employers’ Liability Act and common law rights or consolidate
them with the Workmen’s Compensation A ct; however, while ad­
mitting that the testimony showed that the advantages to workmen
were great o f proceeding under the Workmen’s Compensation Act
in preference to taking the risks, uncertainty, and costs o f suit under



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BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

the old remedies, they believed repeal o f those old remedies was not
justified, as there were cases where they were the more appropriate
remedies, though they anticipated they would fall more and more
into disuse.
Another suggestion considered was to grant higher benefits under
the Workmen’s Compensation Act where there was much pain or
suffering, disfigurement, extraordinary expenses o f cure, or wrong­
ful act or default of employer. This they believed would only be
reenacting the Employers’ Liability Act as part o f the Workmen’s
Compensation Act and would be more o f an incentive to attorneys
to litigate in a larger number o f cases, on the chance of securing the
higher benefits, than the existing election, which tended to prevent
litigation somewhat.
Therefore to prevent these abuses without preventing recourse to
those old remedies in cases where they were really appropriate, and
at the same time without inflicting any real loss upon the workmen,
the committee recommended the repeal of section 1 (4 ), which gave
the court power to assess compensation after unsuccessful suit under
the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880 or at common law, and the
adoption o f provisions enabling employers to apply to the judge for
a stay o f any such suits (commenced or threatened) on evidence that
the workman had an adequate remedy under the Workmen’s Com­
pensation A c t ; also that a plea to that effect might be made available
as a defense to suits under the Employers’ Liability Act of 1880 or
at common law.
This would leave it open to the court, if it thought the Workmen’s
Compensation remedy inadequate, or that there was good ground for
a suit at common law or under the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880,
to refuse the application, or, if it thought otherwise, to stop the suit.
DEFENSES OF FELLOW-SERVANT NEGLIGENCE, ASSUMPTION OF
RISK, AND CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE.

The committee said that the principle o f the Workmen’s Compen­
sation Act was essentially different from that on which the old rem­
edies were based, and that it had largely superseded the old remedies,
and would in future entirely supersede them; that it was, therefore,
undesirable to bring those old remedies into more active operation,
which would result from any attempt to abolish the doctrine o f
fellow-servant negligence, etc., and that so doing would open the
flood gates to a stream o f litigation without affording any more effect­
ive remedy than now provided by the Workmen’s Compensation
Act. They, therefore, recommended leaving the common law and
Employers’ Liability A ct unchanged, on the expectation that they
would gradually cease to be used.




619

BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

The wisdom o f this is illustrated by the home office returns o f the
figures for death, which is more likely to result in suit than less
serious injury, given in the following table:
A V E RAG E DAM AGES IN CASE O F D EATH UNDER EM PLOYERS’ L IA B IL IT Y ACT
AND AVE R AG E COMPENSATION UNDER W ORKM EN’S COM PENSATION ACTS,
1809 TO 1904.
Employers’ Liability
Act.

Workmen’s Compensa­
tion Acts.

Year.
Cases of
death.

1901....................................................................................

a Including

14
7
9
8
14
9

Average
damages.
$556.18
772.94
436.77
561.55
«1,198.44
575.54

Cases of
death.
219
245
301
264
323
451

Average
compensa­
tion.
$842.29
795.37
916.75
817.59
880.84
864.03

tw o cases o f special damages.

The average amount of lawyers’ costs was approximately £25
($ 122 ) under the Employers’ Liability Act, and £13 ($63) under the
Workmen’s Compensation Act.
ARBITRATION AND LITIGATION.

The committee inquired as to how far criticism o f the act was justi­
fied on the score o f litigation, and how far it was due to preventable
causes.
They found that the vast majority of cases were settled by agree­
ment, without litigation.
Secretaries o f the leading trade unions gave details showing that
many unions had all accidents reported, and settled the bulk of the
cases for the men without any cost, and that some cases o f diffi­
culty were settled by their lawyers. The use o f lawyers varied
somewhat in the different trades, as did the arbitration and court
cases, the latter being covered in most trades by 5 to 10 per cent of
the cases. In the South Wales Miners’ Federation (130,000 men)
the number o f court cases was said to be u infinitesimally small,” and
then were cases only where a question o f principle existed to be set­
tled, or a dispute as to facts, although there had been several disasters
in the trade. Employers’ associations and mutual insurance associa­
tions corroborated the trades union testimony that 95 per cent o f
the cases were settled out of court. Other insurance societies and
two leading railways said that only I f per cent of claims were
arbitrated, the rest being settled by agreement. The secretary of
the Cotton Trades’ Insurance Association (formed after the 1897
act) said that his practice was to settle with the trades union secre­
taries; that he had only 1 per cent o f cases in court, and that only




620

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

two cases had been brought under the Employers’ Liability Act of
1880, and those in the first year of the association’s existence; that
it was in the nonunion trades that men went to attorneys, who ran up
the costs.
The limitations of employment covered by the acts were found to
be responsible for most o f the litigation. In 1902, 43 appeals out of
95 turned on the question as to whether the employment was or was
not within the act. The committee felt that the inclusion of all
building operations under the act, even the small builders, would
obviate litigation arising out of the limit to over 30 feet in height,
the requirement o f scaffolding, and the employment of machinery,
etc., and that the removal of the 20 feet deep limit from quarries and
the removal of the special requirements as to laundries would also
obviate litigation.
Definitions which had also caused litigation were considered, such
as “ accidents arising out o f and in the course o f the employment.”
No change as to these was recommended, however, as they had been so
often judicially passed on and were best left to the courts. The com­
mittee had no recommendation to make as to factories proper, rail­
ways, or mines. As to constructive factories, although the House
o f Lords’ decisions had modified the difficulties as to loading and
unloading on docks, the committee recommended that employment
on docks, wdiarves, quays, and warehouses be specifically stated in
the act, covering also the incidental machinery or plant, and they
recommended a change in the definition o f engineering.
The committee drew especial attention to the fact that in the one
district (the Durham Coal Mining District) where, under Second
Schedule ( 1 ) a committee of employers and men had been formed
and exercised their statutory power of arbitration, a most excellent
example o f satisfactory reduction o f litigation was shown. It re­
sulted in the benefits being paid automatically, even the committee
having/ during five years, to pass only on 205 cases out of 28,000
nonfatal cases, and on 204 out of 664 fatal cases, while o f these only
29 nonfatal and 27 fatal cases were taken into court, and some of
those were accidents in which the men’s own committee told them
they had no case.
A R B IT R A T IO N PRO VISION S.

It was found that the arbitration by the system of committee of
employer and Avorkman (Seconcj. Schedule (1 )), which, however, had
not been extensively used, had been most successful where used,
practically rendering the operation of the act automatic, nor was
there any complaint o f the provision ( 2 ), that the parties appoint a
single arbitrator. But the provisions ( 2 ) and (3) for use o f the
county-court judge or his appointee as arbitrator, had resulted in



BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

621

the arbitrations thereunder being practically county court trials
somewhat simplified; however, no recommendation was made to
change that.
A strong recommendation of change wTas, however, directed to the
clause (Second Schedule ( 8 ) ) as to registration of memoranda of
agreements, with a view to controlling the agreements made; it took
the form o f placing a duty on the employer to register them, empow­
ering the court to enforce a penalty for failure to do so, and render­
ing them, if unregistered, unavailable as a defense to future claim for
weekly payments.
APPEALS.

The creation of a special court (two county-court judges and one
permanent judge) to hear appeals on both law and fact, with appeals
therefrom to both the court o f appeals and the House o f Lords, was
suggested by Mr. Ruegg, in order to obviate the delay of appeals,
and bring the different county court decisions more into harmony.
The committee, however, recommended that no appeal be allowed on
questions o f fact, and no change be made except in the direction of
unification o f decisions on law, by permitting appeal on law to the
House o f Lords from both Scotland and Ireland, the chief dispute
on fact being as to serious and willful misconduct, which was dealt
with by the arbitrator. Greater facility o f appeal would, they
believed, add to delay and expense.
DOCTORS.

As the clauses o f the act dealing with doctors (First Schedule (3 ),
( 11 ), and Second Schedule (13)) made provision for calling in the
official medical referee in arbitration proceedings only after the other
medical testimony had been heard, practically no use was made of him,
nor was he much used when a review of compensation being paid
was contemplated, as then it was only optional with the workman to
go to him at his own expense. The committee, therefore, recommended
that the medical referee should be used at a much earlier stage; that
after the examination by the employer’s doctor, the result should be
communicated to the workman, in order that the workman might then
be examined by his own doctor, and if a dispute existed, it should
then and there be submitted to the medical referee before the dis­
puted case goes to court, and that his decision should be final for any
subsequent proceedings. One modification, however, was suggested
for new accidents, namely, o f leaving to the discretion of the regis­
trar, after the reports of both the doctors o f the employer and the
workman had been filed with him, the question of using the medical
referee.



622

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

It was thought advisable to leave the judge his power o f summoning
the medical referee to sit with him as assessor in the actual trial if
a case reached the court.
It was further suggested that the medical referee should have the
duty o f giving employment certificates as to aged, infirm, or maimed
persons for their special rate o f compensation, which the committee
had recommended.
As to the position of the medical referee himself, it was strongly
urged that he, should be a public officer rather than a medical man
in practice, paid by salary not by fees, in other words, a civil servant
in the permanent civil service— one to act for each district, and, to
prevent making him a partisan by his employment either by one side
or the other, that he should have his salary paid by the State.
The committee found that where the organization of the master
and men was most complete there was the least amount of litigation,
the workmen who had no organization to resort to necessarily having
to call in the assistance o f lawyers. They concluded that authorita­
tive decisions being necessary the actual litigation produced by the
act had been very small, and they felt that providing more effective
machinery for settling doubtful questions and increasing the functions
o f the medical referee would further reduce it.
From the official figures o f the proportion o f cases that reach the
courts, it will be seen that in the home-office statistics for 1904 it
is stated that even in cases o f death (including cases finally settled
out o f court, and also those in court solely to apportion benefits among
beneficiaries) not 25 per cent came in anyway before the courts,
while probably less than 1 per cent o f incapacity cases did,
COMPENSATION PAYABLE.
T H E B E N E F IC IA R IE S .

As to the persons entitled to receive compensation, though the
definition o f workman in the act was wide (covering all employees,
whether in manual labor or otherwise, etc.), the committee recom­
mended the inclusion o f brother and sister in the beneficiaries, in
addition to descendants and ancestors (i. e., the English definition
o f dependents). This was opposed by employers, who said it would
tend to increase their difficulty, in that they now had to pay compen­
sation exceeding what was necessary for the support o f dependents,
as, for instance, to pay a father earning good wages for the death
o f a son, provided as a fact the son contributed slightly to the family
fund.




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

623

Aliens killed or injured within the United Kingdom have the
same right o f recovery (as have their beneficiaries while resident
also) that British subjects have under the act. The committee,
however, recommended that the act be made not to extend to bene­
ficiaries who are nonresident aliens, or to beneficiaries who are non­
resident British subjects, so as to obviate difficulty in determining
the liability involved.
D E A T H B E N E F IT S .

The committee found little criticism, when the deceased left per­
sons wholly dependent, o f the amount o f the limits payable—mini­
mum £150 ($730), maximum £300 ($1,460).—and concluded they
had been found satisfactory in practice, and though they found
some complaint from employers o f decisions as to what constituted
partial dependency and awards that disregarded consideration o f
whether such dependency was for necessaries or not, they concluded
that no change in that definition was desirable.
IN C A P A C IT Y B E N E F IT S .

Interpretation o f the courts as to what constituted average weekly
earnings resulted at one time in excluding all casual labor, through
the difficulty o f reaching an average for a man employed spasmod­
ically, casual labor covering not only men employed for a job, but
large classes, like dock labor. Although the House o f Lords reversed
this decision, the committee recommended that the duty o f “ esti­
mating ” the injured man’s own earnings should be placed upon the
judge, guided somewhat by the standard o f the district for like
employment (as provided by the Employers’ Liability Act o f 1880),
instead o f taking the district standard of wages alone, though the
latter would be a simpler method. They also recommended an
amendment to base it on the net and not on the gross earnings, as
the latter often included pay for helpers, tools, etc.
LUM P SUM PA Y M E N TS.

Evidence submitted showing the squandering and loss o f lump
sums paid to widows and the advantage to them and to children o f
weekly payments in lieu o f lump sums, as well as. evidence showing
the cost to the employer in getting valid releases, led the committee
to recommend more elasticity in the powrers conferred on the arbi­
trator in this regard under First Schedule ( 6 ) by payment of* the
money into court by the employer and granting the arbitrator a
voice in the method o f distribution. They recommended that the
mode o f payment be settled in each case by the county court judge,
with power to reduce the amount o f any weekly payment to a widow




624

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

on remarriage, neglect of children, etc., and to decide on the amount,
time, and mode o f payments to beneficiaries other than the widow,
using the office o f the county court as the machinery for that purpose
whether the amount and compensation was settled by agreement or
otherwise.
O F F IC IA L CO UN TY COURT R ETU R N S.

The official returns o f cases under the Workmen’s Compensation
Acts, dealt with by county court judges and their arbitrators in
England and Wales, show that in the six years, 1899 to 1904, the
average avrard for deaths where there were dependents varied from
£168 8 s. 9d. ($795.37) to £188 7s. 7d. ($916.75); for total incapacity,
from 10s. lid . to 12s. 2d. ($2.66 to $2.96) per week, and for partial
incapacity, from 9s. 2d. to 10s. 9d. ($2.23 to $2.62) per week, while
in 1904 the average lump-sum award for incapacity was £34 12s. 8 d.
($168.54), there being in that year 105 lump-sum against 650 weekly
payment awards.
M IN O RS.

Both employers and workmen agreed that one-half wages paid to
minors permanently injured had proved to be often insufficient com­
pensation. Proposals were made to consider, in fixing compensation,
the full wages earned by the highest grade workmen in the same
employ; to fix a higher scale than one-half wages— say full wages;
to fix a minimum of 10s. ($2.43), with power to increase that on
reaching 21 years of age. The committee recommended fixing a
maximum and leaving it to the discretion of the judge to assess an
amount up to that maximum.
OLD M EN A N D M A IM E D A N D D IS E A S E D PER SO NS.

The committee found from extended evidence o f both employers
and workmen that the acts had largely increased the.difficulty already
existing o f old men getting and retaining employment. They found
further that employers were being compelled to discharge persons
maimed, as, for instance, one-eyed men, and to refuse to reemplov
them after accident. While the case o f Lysons v. Knowles (1 Q. B.
780; 69 L. J. Q. B. 449; 82 L. T. 189), decided by the House o f
Lords, finally settled that casual labor was not excluded from the act,
it was felt, too, that this decision would further operate to bar old
men from employment.
This the committee considered to be such a serious drawback to the
other advantages o f the act that they recommended amendments to
be made enabling employers to hire such persons upon special terms
as to compensation for accidents, and they suggested an age limit of



BRITISH W O R K M E N ^ COMPENSATION ACTS.

625

60 as desirable, if hale, and under that age if infirm or maimed, tc
which the amendment should apply, with a minimum compensation
o f 5s. ($1.22) a week for injury and £25 ($121.66) for death.
CO M M U TATIO N OF B E N E F IT S .

The evidence showed that in practice the employer’s right under
First Schedule (13) to apply for a redemption by arbitration of
weekly payments by a lump sum was rarely used; that few agree­
ments for commutation were registered even under Second Schedule
( 8 ) ; but that great numbers of unregistered commutations had
actually taken place by voluntary agreement. The latter permitted
the defense o f accord and satisfaction to subsequent claim for weekly
payments. These commutations were often made at figures very
much below what the weekly benefits justified, and in many cases
were improvident and also oppressive settlements, brought about by
improper pressure on the workmen. Though it was found undoubt­
edly advantageous to workmen, as well as masters, that commutation
should be possible, the committee said that better control over it
should be adopted. They considered that the evidence showed it
would be disadvantageous to give the workman a right to demand a
commutation, as likely to increase the evils attendant on lump-sum
payment generally, but in order to render the principle of compul­
sory commutation workable, i f demanded by the masters, the com­
mittee recommended the adoption of a maximum limit on the amount
o f commutation o f £500 ($2,433), and urged, after making the obli­
gation to register commutations stringent by rendering an unregis­
tered agreement inoperative, etc., also the giving of discretion to the
registrar as to registering, and to the judge as to reopening an entry
within six months for fraud or undue influence.
R E V IE W OF A W A R D .

The difficulty arose o f determining, under First Schedule (2) and'
(12), when and to what extent the compensation granted should
be reduced.
From the workmen’s standpoint, as they got only one-half o f their
loss to begin with, it was advocated and decided by some judges that
this one-half wage compensation allowance should not be reduced
until they could again earn full wages, and that no reduction o f com­
pensation should take place so long as what they earned, while par­
tially incapacitated, added to the compensation allowed, was not
more than their full wages before the accident. Other judges
divided the loss, holding that the difference between their partial
earnings and their full wages should be divided, the employer bear­
ing one-half the loss and the workman bearing one-half. The com­




626

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

mittee recommended a more explicit clause adopting the latter mode,
thus making the workman share the loss with the employer.
The test o f earning capacity had proved to be another difficulty,
as, for instance, to determine whether a man who had lost one eye was
incapacitated, etc. It was suggested that in the highly-organized
trades something approaching a tariff for injuries might ultimately
be agreed on, apart from parliamentary enactment. The committee
thought earning capacity, not only at the same kind o f work as
before the accident, but at any kind of work should suffice, and
strongly recommended clearer enactment. They advocated bringing
the medical representatives of employer and workman together at
an earlier stage, with the official medical referee as arbiter.
As to increase o f weekly payments, it was found that in practice
the maximum payment had been so universally allowed that the
provision for increase had become unimportant.
N OTICE O F A C C ID E N T A N D C LAIM .

The requirement in section 2 ( 1 ) for notice o f accident as soon as
practicable after the happening thereof caused laxness in practice
and resulted in employers’ complaints that it failed to attain the
object o f enabling them to verify the facts and ascertain the nature
and extent o f the injury. The committee recommended a limit o f six
days for notice. As to the claim for compensation, the House o f
Lords had decided that a mere demand was sufficient to entitle the
workman at any time thereafter to institute proceedings. The com­
mittee recommended that a written notice o f claim be required in
three months after the accident. After the expiry o f these periods,
however, they recommended that leave be given to the workman
to file a sworn statement before the registrar showing sufficient rea­
son for the necessary steps not having been taken within the limited
time, that notice of this action be served on the employer, and if the
latter should object to waiving notice that the registrar should refer
the matter for decision o f the judge.
CONTRACTING OUT.

As to the effect on mutual benefit and friendly societies, the com­
mittee found that where these were supported jointly by the work­
men and employers such schemes had been practically put an end to
by the act, except in those cases where schemes were framed under
section 3 o f the act, through the discontinuance o f employers’ con­
tributions. They found, however, that in some cases voluntary
arrangements continued unaffected by the act, where employers were
already providing benefits on a more liberal scale than the act, and
that workmen’s benefit clubs, which were entirely supported by the




BRITISH W O R K M E N ’S COMPENSATION ACTS.

627

workmen, continued. There was evidence submitted that through
these benefit funds, etc., workmen sometimes received more when
disabled than if working.
The committee in considering the contracting out o f the act by con­
tracting into definite schemes under section 3 found that, owing to
the expense and trouble such schemes entail on both employers and
workmen, no extensive use had been made o f the section, and they also
found that under those schemes which had been certified under the
section, the actual payments exceeded the maximum that the act
would have paid by 75 per cent, 65 per cent o f that excess being pay
for the first two weeks not covered by the act. Both workmen’s and
employers’ representatives testified that the schemes, being based on
the active cooperation o f and being jointly administered by masters
and workmen, brought special advantages over the act provisions,
such as permitting provision for minor accidents, allowances for old
age, and annuities instead of lump sums. They testified that the
schemes led to prevention of accident, to litigation being reduced to a
minimum, and to good feeling being promoted.
Mr. J. D. Stuart Sim, the chief registrar of friendly societies,
characterizes section 3 as a splendid opportunity for regulating the
relations between wrorkmen and masters in a thoroughly satisfactory
manner and on a sound financial basis; while Sir George Livesey, the
chairman o f the extensive South Metropolitan Gas Company, has
succeeded in demonstrating the practicability o f such a regulation in
his ten years’ operation of a successful copartnership arrangement
with all employees, one feature o f which is his jury system, namely,
having all accidents in his plants submitted to a jury of workmen,
resulting in a large reduction o f accidents, which feature was spe­
cially commended by the committee, who thoroughly indorsed the
fact that the above advantages from the section existed, and recom­
mended that it remain practically unchanged.
The following is a summary o f receipts and expenditures of work­
men’s compensation schemes authorized by the Registrar o f Friendly
Societies, under the workmen’s compensation acts o f 1897 and 1900,
for the seven years from 1898 to 1905.




628

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

SUMMARY OF R E C E IP T S AND E X P E N D IT U R E S OF W ORKM EN ’ S COM PENSATION
SCHEMES A U T H O R IZE D BY TH E R E G ISTR A R OF F R IE N D L Y SOCIETIES UNDER
TH E W ORKM EN ’ S COM PENSATION ACT, FOR TH E 7-YEAR PERIO D, 1898 TO
1905.
[F rom R eport o f the Chief R egistrar o f Friendly Societies fo r the year ending December
31, 1905, P art A .]
Items.

Railways.

Factories.

Mines.

Quarries.

Total.

2

24
21,100

28
58,638

$296,185
578,918

$107,054
221,295
8,453
1,649

$995,238
1,334,944
95,846
14,600

$6,370 $1,404,847
12,025 2,147,182
389
104,688
862
17,111

875,103

338,451

2,440,628

19,646

3,673,828

237,101

41,589
1,402

231,475
23,247

501
117

510,666
24,766

542,668
70,482
4,194

138,067
17,534
11,811
4,088
40,344
516
23,125
4,526

928,684
71,153
99,530
13,003
130,680
6,341
38,684
169,004

7,018
365
2,681
453
1,309

1,616,437
159,534
114,022
17,644
176,527
6,857
64,938
174,508

T o ta l.................................. .

854,445

283,002

1,711,801

16,551

2,865,799

Funds on hand at end of period.

20,658

70,725

804,700

6,993

903,076

Number of schem es...................................................
Average number of workmen contracting out —

38,491

2

861

56
119,090

R E C E IP T S .

Contributions of—
W orkm en................
Employers................
Interest on investments
. Other receipts................
Total receipts
E X P E N D IT U R E S .

Benefits for death from—
Injury.....................................
Natural causes......................
Benefits for incapacity—
Weekly payments.................
Lump sum payments............
Medical a i d ..................................
Subscriptions to hospitals, e tc...
Other benefits..............................
Law costs.......................................
Other payments...........................
Management expenses...............

SCHEME ADOPTED BY GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.

Following are the benefits under the scheme authorized by the reg- i
istrar o f friendly societies for Government establishments:
For death o f a workman leaving dependents wholly dependent,
three years’ earnings, or not less than £150 ($729.98) nor more than’
£300 ($1,459.95), payable to the dependents or to a trustee; i f the
dependents are only in part dependent, one-half o f the above; if
there are no dependents, not more than £10 ($48.67), for medical
attendance and burial. In the discretion o f the treasury, a portion o f
the lump sum payable, up to one-half if there is one dependent child
or up to two-thirds if there are more than one, may be set aside, and
a pension equal to the annuity which the remainder o f the lump sum
would purchase granted to the widow or mother.
For incapacity, up to six months, one-half the average wages and
hospital or medical attention while the beneficiary is on the hurt list,
but “ more favorable treatment while on the hurt list” i f he is
entitled to this under the regulations o f his department.
F or incapacity beyond six months, the following proportions o f
his average weekly earnings, according to degree o f incapacity:
Capacity totally destroyed, twenty-four-sixtieths o f his earnings;
materially impaired, eighteen-sixtieths; impaired, twelve-sixtieths;



BRITISH WORKMEN’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

62tf"

slightly impaired, six-sixtieths. I f he continues in or returns to the
Government service after the injury, the above allowance to be paid
in addition to the earnings he then receives, up to the average fullearnings before the injury, with periodical adjustments as sanctionecL
by the treasury. I f he leaves the service and is entitled to a pension,,
the above allowance to be added to the pension, provided both
together shall not exceed his earnings at time of injury or £300"
($1,459.95) a year, whichever is the less.
I f the workman is a minor, the above compensation may be?
increased, in the discretion o f the treasury, upon his reaching the age^
when in ordinary circumstances the pay o f an adult workman would,
be granted him.
Commutation o f allowances to a single payment may be made oix
agreement between the workman and the authorities o f the depart­
ment, with sanction o f the treasury.
A claim for an injury which occurred more than three years before?
such claim was preferred can not be entertained unless such injury
caused the applicant’s discharge from the service or diminished his:
prospects for future employment.
B E N E F IC IA L E F F E C T OF T H E ACT.
As regards workmen, the committee found that the acts had con­
ferred substantial benefits on those included in them; that prior to>
them practically the whole burden o f industrial accident had fallen
on the workmen, and it was right and necessary that some systematic*
provision for relief by law should be provided; that the act gave sub­
stantial relief, not complete indemnity, and there w as little complaint
from workmen o f the limitation to one-half wages and other maxi­
mum limits in them.
Personal inquiry by the author concerning the practical workings
o f the act made during 1906 o f Government officials, of employers,,
and of representatives o f labor disclosed a unanimity o f opinion that:
the principle o f the act wTas sound, the extent to wThich it should be
carried being the only question. The act w*as said to have proved a
great boon to the workmen covered by it, labor strongly advocating"
its extension, while employers generally accepted it. In the building'
trades the secretary of one of the conciliation boards of a large master
builders’ association said that the principle was accepted by employ­
ers; that the burden wras transferred to the building owner and not
to wrages, which had risen; that the act had tended to prevention of'
accident, as it had stimulated employers to have better plants; that
it had reduced litigation, w?hich was largely^ confined to nonunion
workmen. In the cotton trade a gentleman wTho was thoroughly^
304b—N o . 70—07-----11



680

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

informed as to its effect on that trade said that there had been no
risk of injury to the trade through the burden of the act; that it had
not, however, fallen on wages, which had increased 10 per cent; that
the act had operated strongly as a prevention o f accident, the mone­
tary liability for every accident, as well as the trade mutual insurance
inspection, conducing thereto; that it had caused a large reduction in
negligence claims, and that litigation on test cases under the act had
practically disappeared, so that friction was reduced to a minimum,
while the administration cost nothing, as no lawyers were necessary.
As regards railways, an influential employee’s organization said that
the principle was regarded as absolutely just and valuable to the
recipients o f the benefits and had kept many from the poorhouse;
that the burden was generally conceded to have been transferred to
the public; that it did not come out o f wages, which had increased
(only reaching them to the extent of 25 per cent o f the compensation
paid in unorganized trades); that litigation on questions of law had
now practically disappeared, most cases being settled without even
arbitration, and that arbitration cost little, generally under £5 ($24.38)
a case; that the act had tended to prevent accidents, owing to expense
now arising for every accident; moreover, that there had been no case
o f deliberate self-injury on railroads. A representative of the coal
miners corroborated the fact that all labor was in favor of the act
and illustrated the almost automatic working of it in the case of the
Durham miners.
The parliamentary attitude toward workmen’s compensation is
shown by the fact that the Compensation Act o f 1897 had been intro­
duced and passed by the Conservative Party,* while, in 1906, the
opposite party, then in power—the Liberal party—introduced and
passed an amending bill, extending the principles o f the act to prac­
tically every relation o f master and servant, and adding thereto
compensation for certain specified trade diseases. The act of 1906
becomes operative after July 1 , 1907. The text of this act is given
in full in this bulletin.
Laws o f a similar character to the ^workmen’s compensation acts
have superseded the negligence basis for treatment o f industrial
accidents in almost all the countries of Europe, as well as in the
colonies o f England. However, when it is remembered that England
is a free-trade country, with consequent difficulty in transferring the
burden o f the act to their foreign consumers, their nine years’ expe­
rience o f the satisfactory working o f it is the strongest possible argu­
ment in favor o f the feasibility of such legislation. Considering
the overwhelming extent to which the energies of this country are
directed into mechanical industry and the high ratio of accident
to population therefrom, entailing such widespread hardship through
the haphazard treatment o f each accident on the negligence basis,




BRITISH WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACTS.

631

with its result o f serious injustice in so many cases to employer and
workmen alike, as well as the enormous waste o f energy and money
in the ever-increasing volume of personal-injury litigation, which
clogs our courts, it is manifest that the subject requires the earnest
and careful consideration o f serious people. Nor is it unlikely that
the principle o f a wise and practical step toward the solution of this
difficult, but most important, subject may be found in the British
workmen’s compensation acts.
W O K K M EN ’S COM PEN SATION ACT, 1897.
Following is the text of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897,
and o f the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1900, which extends the
benefits o f the act o f 1897 to workmen in agriculture:
A n A ct to amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for acci­
dental injuries suffered in the course o f their employment [6th August 1897].
«

Be it enacted by *
the same , as fo llow s:

*

*

P arliam ent assembled , and by the autho rity of

1.— (1 ) I f in any employment to which this act applies personal injury by
accident arising out o f and in the course of the employment is caused to a
workman, his employer shall, subject as hereinafter mentioned, be liable to pay
compensation in accordance with the first schedule to this act.
(2 ) Provided th a t:—
(a) The employer shall not be liable under this act in respect of any injury
which does not disable the workman for a period of at least two weeks from
earning full wages at the work at which he was employed;
(b) When the injury was caused by the personal negligence or willful act of
the employer, or of some person for whose act or default the employer is respon­
sible, nothing in this act shall affect any civil liability of the employer, but in
that case the workman may, at his option, either claim compensation under this
act, or take the same proceedings as were open to him before the commencement
of this a c t ; but the employer shall not be liable to pay compensation for injury
to a workman by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment
both independently o f and also under this act, and shall not be liable to any
proceedings independently of this act, except in case of such personal negligence
or willful act as aforesaid;
,
(c) I f it is proved that the injury to a workman is attributable to the serious
and willful misconduct of that workman, any compensation claimed in respect
of that injury shall be disallowed.
(3 ) I f any question arises in any proceedings under this act as to the liability
to pay compensation under this act (including any question as to whether the
employment is one to which this act applies), or as to the amount or duration of
compensation under this act, the question, if not settled by agreement, shall,
subject to the provisions o f the first schedule to this act, be settled by arbitra­
tion, in accordance with the second schedule to this act.
(4 ) If, within the time hereinafter in this act limited for taking proceedings,
an action is brought to recover damages independently of this act for injury
caused by any accident, and it is determined in such action that the injury is
one for which the employer is not liable in such action, but that he would have
been liable to pay compensation under the provisions of this act, the action
shall be dism issed; but the court in which the action is tried shall, i f the plain­
tiff shall so choose, proceed to assess such compensation, and shall be at liberty
to deduct from such compensation all the costs which, in its judgment, have
been caused by the plaintiff bringing the action instead of proceeding under
this act.
In any proceeding under this subsection, when the court assesses the compen­
sation it shall give a certificate of the compensation it has awarded and the
directions it has given as to the deduction for costs, and such certificate shall
have the force and effect of an award under this act.




632

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR

(5 )
Nothing in this act shall affect any proceeding for a fine under the enact­
ments relating to mines or factories, or the application o f any such fine, but if
any such fine, or any part thereof, has been applied for the benefit of the person
injured, the amount so applied shall be taken into account in estimating the
compensation under this act.
2.
— (1 ) Proceedings for the recovery under this act of compensation for an
injury Shall not be maintainable unless notice o f the accident has been given as
soon as practicable after the happening thereof and before the workman has
voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured, and unless the cla im ;
for compensation with respect to such accident has been made within six
months from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, or, in case of
death, within six months from the time of death. Provided always that the
want of or any defect or inaccuracy in such notice shall not be a bar to the
maintenance of such proceedings, if it is found in the proceedings for settling
the claim that the employer is not prejudiced in his defence by the want, defect,
or inaccuracy, or that such want, defect, or inaccuracy was occasioned by mis­
take or other reasonable cause.
(2 ) . Notice in respect of an injury under this act shall give the name and
address of the person injured, and shall state in ordinary language the cause
of the injury and the date at which it w’ as sustained, and shall be served on
the employer, or, if there is more than one employer, upon one of such employers.
(3 ) The notice may be served by delivering the same to or at the residence
or place of business of the person on whom it is to be served.
(4 ) The notice may also be served by post by registered letter addressed to
the person on wrhoin it is to be served at his last known place of residence or
place of business, and if served by post shall be deemed to have been served at
the time when the letter containing the same would have been delivered in the
ordinary course of post, and in proving the service of such notice it shall be
sufficient to prove that the notice was properly addressed and registered.
(5 ) Where the employer is a body of persons corporate or unincorporate,
the notice may also be served by delivering the same at, or by sending it by
post in a registered letter addressed to the employer at, the office, or, if there be
more than one office, any one o f the offices o f such body.
3.
— (1 ) I f the registrar of friendly societies, after taking steps to ascertain
the view’ s of the employer and workmen, certifies that any scheme of compensa­
tion, benefit, or insurance for the workmen o f an employer in any employment,
whether or not such scheme includes other employers and their workmen, is
on the whole not less favorable to the general body of workmen and their
dependents than the provisions of this act, the employer may, until the certifi­
cate is revoked, contract with any of those workmen that the provisions of
the scheme shall be substituted for the provisions of this act, and thereupon
the employer shall be liable only in accordance wTith the scheme, but, save as
aforesaid, this act shall apply notwithstanding any contract to the contrary
made after the commencement of this act.
(2 ) The registrar may give a certificate to expire at the end of a limited
period not less than five years.
(3 ) No scheme shall be so certified which contains an obligation upon the
workmen to join the scheme as a condition of their hiring.
(4 ) I f complaint is made to the registrar of friendly societies by or on
behalf of the workmen of any employer that the provisions of any scheme are
no longer on the whole so favorable to the general body of workmen of such
employer and their dependents as the provisions of this act, or that the pro­
visions of such scheme are being violated, or that the scheme is not being fairly
administered, or that satisfactory reasons exist for revoking the certificate,
the registrar shall examine into the complaint, and, if satisfied that good cause
exists for such complaint, shall, unless the cause of complaint is removed,
revoke the certificate.
(5 ) W hen a certificate is revoked or expires any moneys or securities held
for the purpose of the scheme shall be distributed as may be arranged between
the employer and workmen, or as may be determined by the registrar of
friendly societies in the event of a difference of opinion.
(6 ) Whenever a scheme has been certified as aforesaid, it shall be the duty
of the employer to answer all such inquiries and to furnish all such accounts
in regard to the scheme as may be made or required by the registrar of
friendly societies.
(7 ) The chief registrar of friendly societies shall include in his annual
report the particulars of the proceedings of the registrar under this act.




BRITISH WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACTS.

633

4. Where, in an employment to which this act applies, the undertakers as
hereinafter defined contract with any person for the execution by or under
such contractor of any work, and the undertakers would, if such work were
executed by workmen immediately employed by them, be liable to pay com­
pensation under this act to those workmen in respect of any accident arising
out of and in the course of their employment, the undertakers shall be liable to
pay to any workman employed in the execution of the work any compensa­
tion which is payable to the workman (whether under this act or in respect of
personal negligence or willful act independently of this act) by such con­
tractor, or would be so payable if such contractor were an employer to whom
this act applies.
Provided that .the undertakers shall be entitled to be indemnified by any
other person who would have been liable independently of this section.
This section shall not apply to any contract with any person for the execu­
tion by or under such contractor of any work which is merely ancillary or
incidental to, and is no part of, or process in, the trade or business carried on
by such undertakers respectively.
5.
— (1 ) Where any employer becomes liable under this act to pay compen­
sation in respect of any accident, and is entitled to any sum from insurers in
respect of the amount due to a workman under such liability, then in the
event of the employer becoming bankrupt, or making a composition or arrange­
ment with his creditors, or if the employer is a company of the company
having commenced to be wound up, such workiflan shall have a first charge
upon the sum aforesaid for the amount so due, and the judge of the county
court may direct the insurers to pay such sum into the Post Office Savings
Bank in the name of the registrar of such court, and order the same to be
invested or applied in accordance with the provisions of the first schedule
hereto with reference to the investment in the Post Office Savings Bank of
any sum allotted as compensation, and those provisions shall apply accordingly.
(2 )
In the application o f this section to Scotland, the words " have a first
charge upon ” shall mean “ be preferentially entitled to.”
6. Where the injury for which compensation is payable under this act was
caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other
than the employer to pay damages in respect thereof, the workman may, at
his option, proceed, either at law against that person* to recover damages, or
against his employer for compensation under this act, but not against both,
and if compensation be paid under this act, the employer shall be entitled to
be indemnified by the said other person.
7.
— (1 ) This act shall apply only to employment by the undertakers as here­
inafter defined, on or in or about a railway, factory, mine, quarry, or engineer­
ing work, and to employment by the undertakers as hereinafter defined on in
or about any building which exceeds thirty feet in height, and is either being
constructed or repaired by means of a scaffolding, or being demolished, or on
which machinery driven by steam, water, or other mechanical power, is being
used for the purpose o f the construction, repair, or demolition thereof.
' (2 ) In this act—
“ Railway ” moans the railway of any railway company to which the Regula­
tion of Railways Act, 1873, applies, and includes a light railway made under
the Light Railways Act, 1896; and “ railway ” and “ railway company ” have
the same meaning as in the said acts o f 1873 and 1896:
“ Factory ” has the same meaning as in the Factory and Workshop Acts,
1878 to 1891, and also includes any dock, wharf, quay, warehouse, machinery,
or plant, to which any provision o f the Factory Acts is applied by the Factory
and Workshop Act, 1895, and every laundry worked by steam, water, or other
mechanical pow er:
“ Mine ” means a mine to which the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, or the
Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act, 1872, applies:
“ Quarry ” means a quarry under the Quarries Act, 1894:
“ Engineering w o rk ” means any work of construction or alteration or repair
of a railroad, harbor, dock, canal, or sewer, and includes any other work for the
construction, alteration, or repair of which machinery driven by steam, water,
or other mechanical power is u sed:
“ Undertakers ” in the case o f a railway means the railway com pany; in the
case o f a factory, quarry, or laundry means the occupier thereof within the
meaning o f the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 to 1895; in the case of a
mine means the owner thereof within the meaning of the Coal Mines Regula­
tion Act, 1887, or the Metalliferous Mines Regulation Act, 1872, as the. case may




634

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

be, and in the case of an engineering work means the person undertaking the
■construction, alteration, or repair; and in the case o f a building means the persons
undertaking the construction, repair, or demolition:
Employer ” includes any body of persons corporate or unincorporate and
the legal personal representative of a deceased employer:
** Workman ” includes every person who is engaged in an employment to which
this act applies, whether by way of manual labor or otherwise, and whether
his agreement is one o f service or apprenticeship or otherwise, and is expressed
or implied, is oral or in writing. Any reference to a workman who has been
injured shall, where the workman is dead, include a reference to his legal per­
sonal representative or to his dependents, or other person to whom compensa­
tion is payable:
“ Dependents 99 means—
(a) in England and Ireland, such members of the workman’ s family speci­
fied in the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846, as were wholly or in part dependent
upon the earnings o f the workman at the time of his d eath ; and
(b) in Scotland, such of the persons entitled according to the law of Scotland
to sue the employer for damages or solatium in respect o f the death o f the
workman, as were wholly or in part dependent upon the earnings of the work­
man at the time o f his death.
(3 )
,A workman employed in a factory which is a shipbuilding yard shall
not be excluded from this act by reason only that the accident arose outside
the yard in the course of hi^ work upon a vessel in any dock, river, or tidal
water near the yard.
8.
— (1 ) This aet shall not apply to persons in the naval or military service
o f the drown, but otherwise shall apply to any employment by or under the
Crown to which this act would apply if the employer were a private person.
(2 )
The treasury may, by warrant laid before Parliament, modify for the
purposes o f this act their warrant made under section one o f the Superannua­
tion Act, 1887, and notwithstanding anything in that act, or any such warrant,
may fram e a scheme with a view to its being certified by the registrar of
friendly societies under this act.
9. Any contract existing at the commencement of this aet, whereby a work­
man relinquishes any right to compensation from the employer for personal
injury arising out of and in the course of his employment, shall not, for the
purposes of this act, be deemed to continue after the time at which the work­
m an’s contract o f service would determine if notice of the determination
thereof were given at the commencement o f this act.
10.
— (1 ) This act shall come into operation on the first day of July one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
(2 ) This act may be cited as the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897.
SCH ED U LES.
F ir s t S c h e d u l e .
SCALE AND CONDITIONS OF COM PENSATION.

S cale .
(1 )

The amount o f compensation under this act shall be—

{a ) where death results from the injury—
<i) if the workman leaves any dependents wholly dependent upon his earnings
at the time of his death, a sum equal to his earnings in the employment o f the
same employer during the three years next preceding the injury, or the sum of
one hundred and fifty pounds [$729.98], whichever o f those sums is the larger,
but not exceeding in any case three hundred pounds [$1,459.95], provided that
the amount o f any weekly payments made under this act shall be deducted from
such sum, and if the period o f the workman’s employment by the said employer
has been less than the said three years, then the amount o f his earnings during
the said three years shall be deemed to be 156 times his average weekly earnings
during the period of his actual employment under the said employer;
<ii) if the workman does not leave any such dependents, but leaves any de­
pendents in part dependent upon his earnings at the time of his death, such sum,




BRITISH WORKMEN’ S COMPENSATION ACTS.

635

not exceeding in any case tlie amount payable under the foregoing provisions, as
may he agreed upon, or, in default of agreement, may be determined, on arbitra­
tion under this act, to be reasonable and proportionate to the injury to the said
dependents; and
(iii) if he leaves no dependents, the reasonable expenses of his medical attend­
ance and burial, not exceeding ten pounds [$48.67] ;
(&)
where total or partial incapacity for work results from the injury, a
weekly payment during the incapacity after the second week not exceeding
fifty per cent, of his average weekly earnings during the previous twelve months,
if he has been so long employed, but if not, then for any less period during
which he has been in the employment of the same employer, such weekly payment
not to exceed one pound [$4.87].
(2 ) In fixing the amount of the weekly payment, regard shall be had to
the difference between the amount of the average weekly earnings of the
workman before the accident and the average amount which he is able to earn
after the accident, and to any payment not being wages which he may receive
from the employer in respect o f his injury during the period of his incapacity.
(3 ) W here a workman has given notice of an accident, he shall, if so required
by the employer, submit himself for examination by a duly qualified medical
practitioner provided and paid by the employer, and if he refuses to submit
himself to such examination, or in any way obstructs the same, his right to
compensation, and any proceeding under this act in relation to compensation,
shall be suspended until such examination takes place.
(4 ) The payment shall, in case of death, be made to the legal personal repre­
sentative o f the workman, or, if he has no legal personal representative, to or
for the benefit o f his dependents, or, if he leaves no dependents, to the person
to whom the expenses are d u e; and if made to the legal personal representative
shall be paid by him to or for the benefit of the dependents or other person
entitled thereto under this act.
(5 ) Any question as to who is a dependent, or as to the amount payable to
each dependent, shall, in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under
this act.
(6 ) The sum allotted as compensation to a dependent may be invested or
otherwise applied for the benefit of the person entitled thereto, as agreed, or as
ordered by the committee or other arbitrator.
(7 ) Any sum which is agreed or is ordered by the committee or arbitrator
to be invested may be invested in whole or in part in the Post Office Savings
Bank by the registrar o f the county court in his name as registrar.
(8 ) Any sum to be so invested may be invested in the purchase of an annuity
from the national debt commissioners through the Post Office Savings Bank,
or be accepted by the Postmaster-General as a deposit in the name of the reg­
istrar as such, and the provisions of any statute or regulations respecting the
limits of deposits in savings bank, and the declaration to be made by a depositor,
shall not apply to such sums.
(9 ) No part of any money invested in the name of the registrar of any county
court in the Post Office Savings Bank under this act shall be paid out, except
upon authority addressed to the Postmaster-General by the Treasury or by the
judge of the county court.
(10) Any person deriving any benefit from any moneys invested in a post
office savings bank under the provisions of this act may, nevertheless, open an
account in a post office savings bank or in any other savings bank in his own
name without being liable to any penalties imposed by any statute or regulations
in respect o f the opening of accounts in two savings banks, or of two accounts in
the same savings bank.
(1 1) Any workman receiving weekly payments under this act shall, if so
required by the employer, or by any person by whom the employer is entitled
under this act to be indemnified, from time to time submit himself for examina­
tion by a duly qualified medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer,
or such other person; but if the workman objects to an examination by that
medical practitioner, or is dissatisfied by the certificate of such practitioner
upon his condition when communicated to him, he may submit himself for ex­
amination to one of the medical practitioners appointed for the purposes o f this
act, as mentioned in the second schedule to this act, and the certificate of that
medical practitioner as to the condition of the workman at the time o f the ex­
amination shall be given to the employer and workman, and shall be conclusive




686

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

evidence o f that condition. I f the workman refuses to submit himself to such
examination, or in any way obstructs the same, his right to such weekly payments
shall be suspended until such examination has taken place.
(12) Any weekly payment may be reviewed at the request either o f the
employer or of the workman, and on such review may be ended, diminished
or increased, subject to the maximum above provided, and the amount of
payment shall, in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under this
act.
(13) Where any weekly payment has beeif continued for not less than six
months, the liability therefor may, on the application by or on behalf of the em­
ployer, be redeemed by the payment of a lump sum, to be settled, in default
o f agreement, by arbitration under this act, and such lump sum may be ordered
by the committee or arbitrator to be invested or otherwise applied as above
mentioned.
(14) A weekly payment, or a sum paid by way of redemption thereof, shall
not be capable of being assigned, *charged, or attached, and shall not pass to
any other-person by operation of law, nor shall any claim be set off against the
same.
(15) Where a scheme certified under this act provides for payment o f com­
pensation by a friendly society, the provisions of the proviso to the first sub­
section of section eight, section sixteen, and section forty-one of the Friendly
Societies Act, 1896, shall not apply to such society in respect of such scheme.
(16) In the application of this schedule to Scotland the expression “ regis­
trar of the county court ” means “ sheriff clerk of the county,” and “ judge of
the county court ” means “ sheriff.”
(17) In the application of this act to Ireland the provisions of the County
Officers and Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877, with respect to money deposited in the
Post Office Savings Bank under that act shall apply to money invested in the
Post Office Savings Bank under this act.
Second

Schedule.

ARBITRATION.

The following provisions shall apply for settling any matter which under this
act is to be settled by arbitration:
(1 ) I f any committee, representative of an employer and his workmen, exists
with power to settle matters under this act in the case of the employer and
workmen, the matter shall, unless either party objects, by notice in writing sent
to the other party before the committee meet to consider the matter, be settled
by the arbitration of such committee, or be referred by them in their discretion
to arbitration as hereinafter provided.
(2 ) I f either party so objects, or there is no such committee, or the committee
so refers the matter or fails to settle the matter within three months from the
date of the claim, the matter shall be settled by a single arbitrator agreed on by
the parties, or in the absence o f agreement by the county court judge, according
to the procedure prescribed by rules of court, or if in England the Lord Chan­
cellor so authorizes, according to the like procedure, by a single arbitrator
appointed by such county court judge.
(3 ) Any arbitrator appointed by the county court judge shall, for the pur­
poses of this act, have all the powers of a county court judge, and shall be paid
out o f moneys to be provided by Parliament in accordance with regulations to be
made by the treasury.
(4 ) The Arbitration Act, 1889, shall not apply to any arbitration under this
a c t ; but an arbitrator may, if he thinks fit, submit any question of law for the
decision of the county court judge, and the decision of the judge on any question
of law, either on such submission, or in any case where he himself settles the
matter under this act, shall be final, unless within the time and in accordance
with the conditions prescribed by rules of the Supreme Court either party appeals'
to the court of appeal; and the county court judge, or the arbitrator appointed
by him, shall, for the purpose o f an arbitration under this aict, have the same
powers of procuring the attendance of witnesses and the production of docu­
ments as if the claim for compensation had been.made by plaint in the county
court.
(5 ) Rules of court may make provision for the appearance in any arbitration
under this act of any party by some other person.




BRITISH WORKMEN*S COMPENSATION ACTS.

037

(6 ) The costs of and incident to the arbitration and proceedings connected
therewith shall be in the discretion o f the arbitrator. The costs, whether before
an arbitrator or in the county court, shall not exceed the limit prescribed by
rules of court, and shall be taxed in manner prescribed by those rules.
(7 ) In the case of the death or refusal or inability to act of an arbitrator, a
judge of the high court at chambers may, on the application of any party*
appoint a new arbitrator.
(8 ) Where the amount of compensation under this act shall have been ascer­
tained, or any weekly payment varied, or any other matter decided, under this,
act, either by a committee or by an arbitrator or by agreement, a memorandum
thereof shall be sent, in manner prescribed by rules of court, by the said cornmittee or arbitrator, or by any party interested, to the registrar of the countycourt for the district in which any person entitled to such compensation resides*
who shall, subject to such rules, on being satisfied as to its genuineness, record
such memorandum in a special register without fee, and thereupon the said
memorandum shall for all purposes be enforceable as a county court judgment.
Provided that the county court judge may at any time rectify such register.
(9 ) Where any matter under this act is to be done in a county court, or by
to or before the judge or registrar o f a county court, then, unless the contrary
intention appear, the same shall, subject to rules of court, be done in, or by to
or before the judge or registrar of, the county court of the district in which all
the parties concerned reside, or if they reside in different districts the district
in which the accident out of which the said matter arose occurred, without
prejudice to any transfer in manner provided by rules o f court.
(10) The duty of a county court judge under this act, or of an arbitrator
appointed by him, shall, subject to rules of court, be part o f the duties of the
county court, and the officers of the court shall act accordingly, and rules o f
court may be made both for any purpose for which this act authorizes rules o f
court to be made, and also generally for carrying into effect this act so far .as it
affects the county court, or an arbitrator appointed by the judge o f the county
court, and proceedings in the county court or before any such arbitrator, and
such rules may, in England, be made by the five judges o f the county courts
appointed for the making of rules under section one hundred and sixty-four o f
the County Courts Act, 1888, and when allowed by the Lord Chancellor, as pro­
vided by that section, shall have full effect without any further consent.
(11) No court fee shall be payable by any party in respect of any .proceeding
under this act in the county court prior to the award. ,
(12) Any sum awarded as compensation shall be paid on the receipt of the
person to whom it is payable under any agreement or award, and his solicitor
or agent shall not be entitled to recover from him, or to claim a lien on, or
deduct any amount for costs from, the said sum awarded, except such sum as.
may be awarded by the arbitrator or county court judge, on an application made
by either party to determine the amount of costs to be paid to the said solicitor
or agent, such sum to be awarded subject to taxation and to the scale of costs
prescribed by rules of court
(13) The secretary of state may appoint legally qualified medical practi­
tioners for the purpose of this act, and any committee, arbitrator, or judge may,
subject to regulations made by the secretary of state and the treasury, appoint
any such practitioner to report on any matter which seems material to any
question arising in the arbitration; and the expense of any such medical prac­
titioner shall, subject to treasury regulations, be paid out of moneys to be pro­
vided by Parliament.
(14) In the application of this schedule to Scotland—
(a ) “ Sheriff ” shall be substituted for “ county court judge,” “ sheriff court ”'
for “ county court,” “ action ” for plaint,” “ sheriff clerk ” for “ registrar of the
county court,” and “ act of sederunt ” for “ rules of court ” :
(b) Any award or agreement as to compensation under this act may be com­
petently recorded for execution in the books of council and session or sheriff
court books, and shall be enforceable in like manner as a recorded decree
arbitral:
(c) Any application to the sheriff as arbitrator shall be heard, tried, and
determined summarily, in the manner provided by the fifty-second section of the
Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1876, save only that parties may be represented
by any person authorized in writing to appear for them and subject to the
declaration that it shall be competent to either party within the time and in
accordance with the conditions prescribed by act of sederunt to require the




638

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

sheriff to state a case on any question of law determined by him, and his
decision thereon in such case may be submitted to either division of the court
o f session, who may hear and determine the same finally, and remit to the sheriff
with instruction as to the judgment to be pronounced,
(15) Paragraphs four and seven o f this schedule shall not apply to Scotland.
(16) In the application of this schedule to Ireland the expression “ county
court judge ” shall include the recorder of any city or town.

W O R K M E N ’S CO M PEN SATIO N A C T , 1900.
A n A ct to extend the benefits of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897, to
workmen in agriculture [30th July 1900]*

Be it enacted by
same , as fo llow s:

*

*

* p a rlia m e n t assembled , and by the au th o rity of the

1.
— (1 ) From and after the commencement of this act, the Workmen’s Com­
pensation Act, 1897, shall apply to the employment of workmen in agriculture
by any employer who habitually employs one or more workmen in such employ­
ment.
(2 ) Where any such employer agrees with a contractor for the execution by
or under that contractor of any work in agriculture, section four of the W ork­
men’s Compensation Act, 1897, shall apply in respect o f any workman employed
in such work as if that employer were an undertaker within the meaning of
that act.
Provided that, where the contractor provides and uses machinery driven by
mechanical power for the purpose of threshing, ploughing, or other agricultural
work, he, and he alone, shall be liable under this act to pay compensation to any
workman employed by him on such work.
(3 ) Where any workman is employed by the same employer mainly in agri­
culture but partly or occasionally in other work, this act shall apply also to the
employment of the workman in such other work.
The expression “ agriculture” includes horticulture, forestry, and the use of
land for any purpose of husbandry, inclusive of the keeping or breeding of live
stock, poultry, or bees, and the growth of fruit and vegetables.
2. This act may be cited as the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1900, and shall
be read as one with the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897, and that act and
this act may be cited together as the Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1897 and
1900.
3. This act shall come into operation on the first day of July one thousand
nine hundred and one.




BRITISH WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT OP 1906.

In the following pages is given in full the text of the British
Workmen's Compensation Act o f 1906, enacted December 21 , 1906, to
take effect July 1, 1907. It is given here to complete the record to
date o f British legislation in regard to the compensation o f workmen
for injuries received in their employment:
A x A ct to consolidate and amend the law with respect to compensation to work­
men for injuries suffered in the course of their employment [21st December
1900].

Be it enacted by *
the same , as fo llow s:

*

*

P arliam en t assembled , and by the au th o rity of

1.— (1 ) I f in any employment personal injury by accident arising out of and
in the course of the employment is caused to a workman, his employer shall,
subject as hereinafter mentioned, be liable to pay compensation in accordance
with the first schedule to this act.
(2 ) Provided that—
(a) The employer shall not be liable under this act in respect o f any injury ,
which does not disable the workman for a period of at least one week from
earning full wages at the work at which he was employed:
(b) When the injury was caused by the personal negligence or willful act of
the employer or of some person for whose act or default the employer is
responsible, nothing in this act shall affect any civil liability of the employer,
but' in that case the workman may, at ,his option, either claim compensation
under this act or take proceedings independently of this a c t ; but the employer
shall not be liable to pay compensation for injury to a workman by accident
arising out of and in the course o f the employment both independently of and
also under this act, and shall not be liable to any proceedings independently of
this act, except in case of such personal negligence or willful act as aforesaid:
(c) I f it is proved that the injury to a workman is attributable to the
serious and willful misconduct of that workman, any compensation claimed in
respect of that injury shall, unless the injury results in death or serious and
permanent disablement, be disallowed.
(3 ) I f any question arises in any proceedings under this act as to the liability
to pay compensation under this act (including any question as to whether the
person injured is a workman to whom this act applies), or as to the amount or
duration of compensation under this act, the question, if not settled by agree­
ment, shall, subject to the provisions of the first schedule to this act, be settled
by arbitration, in accordance with the second schedule to this a c t
(4 ) If, within the time hereinafter in this act limited for taking proceedings,
an action is brought to i*ecover damages independently of this act for injury
caused by any accident, and it is determined in such action that the injury is
one for which the employer is not liable in such action, but that he would have
been liable to pay compensation under the provisions of this act, the action
shall be dismissed; but the court in which the action is tried shall, if the
plaintiff so choose, proceed to assess such compensation, but may deduct from
such compensation all or part o f the costs which, in its judgment, have been
caused by the plaintiff bringing the action instead of proceeding under this act.
In any proceeding under this subsection, when the court assesses the compensa­
tion it shall give a certificate of the compensation it has awarded and the direc­
tions it has given as to the deduction for costs, and such certificate shall have
the force and effect of an award under this act.
(5 ) Nothing in this act shall affect any proceeding for a fine under the enact­
ments relating to mines, factories, or workshops, or the application o f any such
fine.




639

640

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

2.
— (1 ) Proceedings for the recovery under this act of compensation for an
injury shall not be maintainable unless notice of the accident has been given as
soon as practicable after the happening thereof and before the workman has
voluntarily left the employment in which he was injured, and unless the claim
for compensation with respect to such accident has been made within six months
from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, or, in case of death,
within six months from the time of death :
Provided always that—
(a)
the want of or any defect or inaccuracy in such notice shall not be a bar
to the maintenance of such proceedings if it is found in the proceedings for
settling the claim that the employer is not, or would not, if a notice or an
amended notice were then given and the hearing postponed, be prejudiced in his
defense by the want, defect, or inaccuracy, or that such want, defect, or inaccu­
racy was occasioned by mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, or other
reasonable cause; and
(&)
the failure to make a claim within the period above specified shall not be
a bar to the maintenance of such proceedings if it is found that the failure
was occasioned by mistake, absence from the United Kingdom, or other reason­
able cause.
(2 ) Notice in respect of an injury under th is'a ct shall give the name and
address of the person injured, and shall state in ordinary language the cause
of the injury and the date at which the accident happened, and shall be served
on the employer, or, if there is more than one employer, upon one of such
employers.
(3 ) The notice may be served by delivering the same at, or sending it by post
in a registered letter addressed to, the residence or place of business of the
person on whom it is to be served.
(4 ) 'Where the employer is a body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, the
notice may also be served by delivering the same at, or by sending it by post
in a registered letter addressed to, the employer at the office, or, if there be
more than one office, any one of the offices of such body.
3.
— (1 ) I f the registrar o f friendly societies, after taking steps to ascertain
the views of the employer and workmen, certifies that any scheme o f compen­
sation, benefit, or insurance for the workmen of an employer in any employment,
whether or not such scheme includes other employers and their workmen, pro­
vides scales of compensation not less favorable to the workmen and their
dependents than the corresponding scales contained in this act, and that, where
the scheme provides for contributions by the workmen, the scheme confers
benefits at least equivalent to those contributions, in addition to the benefits to
which the* workmen would have been entitled under this act, and that a majority
(to be ascertained by ballot) of the workmen to whom the scheme is applicable
are in favor of such scheme, the employer may, whilst the certificate is in force,
contract with any of his workmen that the provisions of the scheme shall be
substituted for the provisions of this act, and thereupon the employer shall be
liable only in accordance with the scheme, but, save as aforesaid, this act shall
apply notwithstanding any contract to the contrary made after the commence­
ment o f this act.
(2 ) The registrar may give a certificate to expire at the end o f a limited
period of not less than five years, and may from time to time renew with or
without modifications such a certificate to expire at the end of the period for
which it is renewed.
(3 ) No scheme shall be so certified which contains an obligation upon the
workmen to join the scheme as a condition of their hiring, or which does not
contain provisions enabling a workman to withdraw from the scheme.
(4 ) I f complaint is made to the registrar of friendly societies by or on behalf
of the workmen of any employer that the benefits conferred by any scheme no
longer conform to the conditions stated in subsection (1 ) of this section, or that
the provisions of such scheme are being violated, or that the scheme is not being
fairly administered, or that satisfactory reasons exist for revoking the certifi­
cate, the registrar shall examine into the complaint, and, if satisfied that good
cause exist for such complaint, shall, unless the cause o f complaint is removed,
revoke the certificate.
(5 ) When a certificate is revoked or expires, any moneys or securities held for
the purpose o f the scheme shall, after due provision has been made to discharge
the liabilities already accrued, be distributed as may be arranged between the
employer and workmen, or as may be determined by the registrar of friendly
societies in the event of a difference of opinion.




BRITISH WORKMEN’ S COMPENSATION ACT OF 1906.

641

(6 ) Whenever a scheme has been certified as aforesaid, it shall be the duty
of the employer to answer all such inquiries and to furnish all such accounts in
regard to the scheme as may be made or required by the registrar of friendly
societies.
(7 ) The chief registrar of friendly societies shall include in his annual report
the particulars of the proceedings of the registrar under this act.
(8 ) The chief registrar of friendly societies may make regulations for the
purpose o f carrying this section into effect.
4.
^ - ( l ) W here any person (in this section referred to as the principal), in
the course of or for the purposes o f his trade or business, contracts with any
other person (in this section referred to as the contractor) for the execution
by or under the contractor of the whole or any part of any work undertaken
by the principal, the principal shall be liable to pay to any workman employed in
the execution of the work any compensation under this act which he would
have been liable to pay if that workman had been immediately employed by
h im ; and where compensation is claimed from or proceedings are taken against
the principal, then, in the application of this act, references to the principal
shall be substituted for references to the employer, except that the amount o f
compensation shall be calculated with reference to the earnings of the.w ork­
man under the employer by whom he is immediately employed:
Provided that, where the contract relates to threshing, plowing, or other
agricultural work, and the contractor provides and uses machinery driven by
mechanical power for the purpose of such work, he and he alone shall be liable
under this act to pay compensation to any workman employed by him on such
work.
(2 ) Where the principal is liable to pay compensation under this section, he
shall be entitled to be indemnified by any person who wTould have been liable to
pay compensation to the workman independently of this section, and all ques­
tions as to the right to and amount of any such indemnity shall in default o f
agreement be settled by arbitration under this act.
(3 ) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing a workman
recovering compensation under this act from the contractor instead of the
principal.
(4 ) This section shall not apply in any case where the accident occurred
elsewhere than on, or in, or about premises on which the principal has under­
taken toH execute the work or which are otherwise under his control or
management.
5.
— (1 ) Where any employer has entered into a contract with any insurers
in respect of any liability under this act to any workman, then, in the event o f
the employer becoming bankrupt, or making a composition or arrangement with
his creditors, or if the employer is a company in the event o f the company
having commenced to be wound up, the rights of the employer against the
Insurers as respects that liability shall, notwithstanding anything in the enact­
ments relating to bankruptcy and the winding up o f companies, be transferred
to and vest in the workman, and upon any such transfer the insurers shall have
the same rights and remedies and be subject to the same liabilities as if they
were the employer, so however that the insurers shall not be under any greater
liability to the workman than they would have been under to the employer.
(2 ) I f the liability of the insurers to the workman is less than the liability
o f the employer to the workman, the workman may prove for the balance in
the bankruptcy or liquidation.
(3 ) There shall be included among the debts which under section one of the
Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy Act, 1888, and section four of the Prefer­
ential Payments in Bankruptcy (Ireland) Act, 1889, are in the distribution o f
the property of a bankrupt and in the distribution of the assets of a company
being wound up to be paid in priority to all other debts, the amount, not
exceeding in any individual case one hundred pounds, due in respect of any
compensation the liability wherefor accrued before the date of the receiving
order or the date of the commencement of the winding up, and those acts and
the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy Amendment Act, 1897, shall have
effect accordingly. Where the compensation is a weekly payment, the amount
due in respect thereof shall, for the purposes o f this provision, be taken to be
the amount of the lump sum for which the weekly payment could, if redeem­
able, be redeemed if the employer made an application for that purpose under
the first schedule to this a ct
(4 ) In the case, o f the winding up o f a company within the meaning of the
Stannaries Act, 1887, such an amount as aforesaid, if the compensation is




642

BULLETIN OF THE BUKEATJ OF LABOR.

payable to a miner or the dependents o f a miner, shall have the like priority
as is conferred on wages o f miners by section nine o f that act, and that section
shall have effect accordingly.
(5 ) The provisions of this section with respect to preferences and priorities
shall not apply where the bankrupt or the company being wound up has
entered into such a contract with insurers as aforesaid.
(6 ) This section shall not apply where a company is wound up voluntarily
merely for the purposes of reconstruction or o f amalgamation wTith another
company.
6. Where the injury for which compensation is payable under this act was
caused under circumstances creating a legal liability in some person other than
the employer to pay damages in respect thereof—
(1 ) The workman may take proceedings both against that person to recover
damages and against any person liable to pay compensation under this act for
such compensation, but shall not / be entitled to recover both damages and com­
pensation; and
(2) I f the workman has recovered compensation under this act, the person
by whom the compensation was paid, and any person who has been called on
to pay an indemnity under the section of this act relating to subcontracting,
shall be entitled to be indemnified by the person so liable to pay damages as
aforesaid, and all questions as to the right to and amount of any such indemnity
shall, in default of agreement, be settled by action, or, by consent o f the
parties, by arbitration under this act.
7.
— (1 ) This act shall apply to masters, seamen, and apprentices to the sea
service and apprentices in the sea-fishing service, provided that such persons
are workmen within the meaning of this act, and are members o f the crew of
any ship registered in the United Kingdom, or of any other British ship or
vessel o f which the owner, or (if there is more than one owner) the managing
owner, or manager resides or has his principal place o f business in the United
Kingdom, subject to the following modifications;
(a) The notice o f accident and the claim for compensation may, except where
the person injured is the master, be served on the master o f the ship as if he
were the employer, but where the accident happened and the incapacity com­
menced on board the ship it shall not be necessary to give any notice of the
accident:
(&)
In the case o f the death of the master, seaman, or apprentice, the claim
for compensation shall be made within six months after news of the death
has been received by the claim an t:
(c ) Where an injured master, seaman, or apprentice is discharged or left
behind in a British possession or in a foreign country, depositions respecting
the circumstances and nature of the injury m ay be taken by any judge or
magistrate in the British possession, and by any British consular officer in the
foreign country, and if so taken shall be transmitted by the person by whom
they are taken to the Board of Trade, and such deposition or certified copies
thereof shall in any proceedings for enforcing the claim be admissible in
evidence as provided by sections six hundred and ninety-one and six hundred
and ninety-five of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and those sections shall
apply accordingly:
(d ) In the case o f the death of a master, seaman, or apprentice, leaving no
dependents, no compensation shall be payable, if the owner of the ship is under
the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, liable to pay the expenses o f bu rial:
(e ) The weekly payment shall not be payable in respfect of the period dur­
ing which the owner of the ship is, under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as
amended by any subsequent enactment, or otherwise, liable to defray the
expenses of maintenance of-the injured master, seaman, or apprentice:
( f ) Any sum payable by way of compensation by the owner of a ship under
this act shall be paid in full notwithstanding anything in section five hundred
aqjd three o f the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (which relates to the limitation
o f a shipowner’s liability in certain eases of loss of life, injury, or dam age),
but the limitation on the owner’s liability imposed by that section shall apply
to the amount recoverable by way of indemnity under the section of this act
relating to remedies both against employer and stranger as if the indemnity
were damages for loss of life or personal in ju ry :
(0 )
Subsections (2 ) and (3 ) o f section one hundred and seventy-four o f the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (which relates to the recovery of wages of seamen
lost with their ship), shall apply as respects proceedings for the recovery of
compensation by dependents of masters, seamen, and apprentices lost with their




BRITISH WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION ACT OF 1906.

643

skip as they apply with respect to proceedings for the recovery of wages due
to seamen and apprentices; and proceedings for the recovery of compensation
shall in such a case be maintainable if the claim is made within eighteen months
o f the date at which the ship is deemed to have been lost with all hands:
(2 ) This act shall not apply to such members of the crew o f a fishing vessel
as are remunerated by shares in the profits or the gross earnings of the working
o f such vessel.
(3 ) This section shall extend to pilots to whom Part X . o f the Merchant
Shipping Act, 1894, applies, as if a pilot when employed on any such ship as
aforesaid were a seaman and a member of the crew.
8.— (1 ) Where—
(i) the certifying surgeon appointed under the Factory and Workshop Act,
1901, for the district in which a workman is employed certifies that the work­
man is suffering from a disease mentioned in the third schedule to this act and
is thereby disabled from earning full wages at the work at which he was
em ployed; or
(ii) a workman is, in pursuance of any special rules or regulations made
under the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, suspended from his usual employ­
ment on account of having contracted any such disease; or
(iii) the death of a workman is caused by any such disease;
and the disease is due to the nature of any employment in which the workman
was employed at any time within the twelve months previous to the date o f the
disablement or suspension, whether under one or more employers, he or his
dependents shall be entitled to compensation under this act as if the disease or
such suspension as aforesaid were a personal injury by accident arising out of
and in the course of that employment, subject to the following modifications:—
O ) The disablement or suspension shall be treated as the happening of the
accident;
(k) I f it is proved that the workman has at the time o f entering the employ­
ment willfully and falsely represented himself in writing as not having previ­
ously suffered from the disease, compensation shall not be payable;
(c ) The compensation shall be recoverable from the employer who last
employed the workman during the said twelve months in the employment to the
nature of which the disease was d u e :
Provided that—
(i) the workman or his dependents if so required shall furnish that
employer with such information as to the names and addresses of all other
employers who employed him in the employment during the said twelve months
as he or they may possess, and, if such information is not furnished, or is not
sufficient to enable that employer to take proceedings under the next following
proviso, that employer upon proving that the disease was not contracted whilst
the workman was in his employment shall not be liable to pay compensation;
and
(ii) if that employer alleges that the disease was in fact contracted whilst
the workman was in the employment of some other employer, and not whilst in
his employment, he may join such other employer as a party to the arbitration,
and if the allegation is proved that other employer shall be the employer from
whom the compensation is to be recoverable; and
(iii) if the disease is of such a nature as to be contracted by a gradual proc­
ess, any other employers who during the said twelve months employed the
workman in the employment to the nature of which the disease was due shall
be liable to make to the employer from whom compensation is recoverable such
contributions as, in default of agreement, may be determined in the arbitration
under this act for settling the amount of the compensation;
(d) The-amount of the compensation shall be calculated with reference to
the earnings of the workman under the employer from whom the compensation
is recoverable;
(e ) The employer to whom notice of the death, disablement, or suspension is
to be given shall be the employer who last employed the workman during the
said twelve months in the employment to the nature of which the disease was
due, and the notice may be given notwithstanding that the workman has vol­
untarily left his employment.
( f ) I f an employer or a workman is aggrieved by the action of a certifying or
other surgeon in giving or refusing to give a certificate of disablement or in sus­
pending or refusing to suspend a workman for the purposes o f this section, the
matter shall in accordance with regulations made by the secretary of state be
referred to a medical referee, whose decision shall be final.




644

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

(2 ) I f tlie. workman at or immediately before the date o f the disablement or
suspension was employed in any process mentioned in the second column of the
third schedule to this act, and the disease contracted is the disease in the first
column of that schedule set opposite the description of the process, the disease,
except where the certifying surgeon certifies that in his opinion the disease was
not due to the nature of the employment, shall be deemed to have been due to
the nature o f that employment, unless the employer proves the contrary.
(3 ) The secretary of state may make rules regulating the duties and fees of
certifying and other surgeons (including dentists) under this section.
(4 ) For the purposes o f this section the date o f disablement shall be such date
as the certifying surgeon certifies as the date on which the disablement com­
menced, or, if he is unable to certify such a date, the date on which the certificate
is given :
Provided that—
(a) W here the medical referee allows an appeal against a refusal by a certi­
fying surgeon to give a certificate of disablement, the date of disablement shall
be such date as the medical referee may determine:
(b) Where a workman dies without having obtained a certificate of disable­
ment, or is at the time of death not in receipt of a weekly payment on account
of disablement, it shall be the date of death.
(5 ) In such cases, and subject to such conditions as the secretary o f state
may direct, a medical practitioner appointed by the secretary of state for the
purpose shall have the powers and duties of a certifying surgeon under this
section, and this section shall be construed accordingly.
(6 ) The secretary of state may make orders for extending the provisions of
this section to other diseases and other processes, and to injuries due to the
iiature of any employment specified in the order not being injuries by accident,
either without modification or subject to such modifications as may be contained
in the order.
(7 ) Where, after inquiry held on the application of any employers or work­
men engaged in any industry ’to which this section applies, it appears that a
mutual trade insurance Company or society for insuring against the risks under
this section has been established for the industry, and that a majority of the
employers engaged in that industry are insured against such risks in the com­
pany or society and that the company or society consents, the secretary o f state
may, by provisional order; require all employers in that industry to insure in
the company or society upon such terms and under such conditions and subject
to such exceptions as may be set forth in the order. Where such a company or
society has been established, but is confined to employers in any particular
locality or of any particular class, the secretary of state may for the purposes of
this provision treat the industry, as carried on by employers in that locality or
of that class, as a separate industry.
(8 ) A provisional order made under this section shall be of no force what­
ever unless and until it is confirmed by Parliament, and if, while the bill con­
firming any such order is pending in either House o f Parliament, a petition is
presented against the, order, the bill may be referred to a select committee, and
the petitioner shall be allowed to appear and oppose as in the case of private
bills, and any act confirming any provisional order under this section may be
repealed, altered, or amended by a provisional order made and confirmed in like
manner.
(9 ) Any expenses incurred by the secretary of state in respect of any such
order, provisional order, or confirming bill shall be defrayed out o f moneys pro­
vided by Parliament.
(10) Nothing in this section shall affect the rights of a workman to recover
compensation in respect of a disease to which this section does not apply, if the
disease is a personal injury by accident within the meaning of this act.
9.— (1 ) This act shall not apply to persons in the naval or military service of
the Crown, but otherwise, shall apply to workmen employed by or under the
Crown to whom this act would apply if the employer were a private person:
Provided that in the case of a person employed in the private service of the
Crown, the head of that department of the royal household in which he was
employed at the time of the accident shall be deemed to be his employer.
(2 ) The treasury may, by warrant laid before Parliament, modify for the
purposes of this act their warrant made under section one of the Superannua­
tion Act, 1887, and notwithstanding anything in that act, or any such warrant,
may frame schemes with a view to their being certified by the registrar of
friendly societies under this act.




BRITISH WORKMEN’ S COMPENSATION ACT OP 1906.

645

10.
— (1 ) The secretary of state may appoint such legally qualified medical
practitioners to be medical referees for the purposes of this act as he may,
with the sanction of the treasury, determine, and the remuneration of, and other
expenses incurred by, medical referees under this act shall, subject to regula­
tions made by the treasury, be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.
Where a medical referee has.been employed as a medical practitioner in
connection with any case by or on behalf of an emploj^er or workman or by
any insurers interested, he shall not act as medical referee in that case.
(2 ) The remuneration of an arbitrator appointed by a judge of county courts
under the second schedule to this act shall be paid out of moneys provided by
Parliament in accordance with regulations made by the treasury.
11.
— (1 ) I f it is alleged that the owners of any ship are liable as such
owners to pay compensation under this act, and at any time that ship is found
in any port or river of England or Ireland, or within three miles of the coast
thereof, a judge of any court of record in England or Ireland may, upon its
being shown to him by any person applying in accordance with the rules of the
court that the owners are probably liable as such to pay such compensation,
and that none of the owners reside in the United Kingdom, issue an order
directed to any officer of customs or other officer named by the judge requiring
him to detain the ship until such time as the owners, agent, master, or consignee
thereof have paid such compensation, or have given security, to be approved
by the judge, to abide the event of any proceedings that may be instituted to
recover such compensation and to pay such compensation and costs as may be
awarded thereon; and any officer of customs or other officer to whom the order
is directed shall detain the ship accordingly.
(2 ) In any legal proceeding to recover such compensation, the person giving
security shall be made defendant, and the production of the order of the judge,
made in relation to the security, shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of
the defendant to the proceeding.
(3 ) Section six hundred and ninety-two of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894,
shall apply to the detention of a ship under this act as it applies to the deten­
tion of a ship under that act, and, if the owner of a ship is a corporation, it
shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to reside in the United Kingdom
if it has an office in the United Kingdom at which service of writs can be
effected.
12.
— (1) Every employer in any industry to which the secretary of state
may direct that this section shall apply shall, on or before such day in every
year as the secretary of state may direct, send to the secretary of state a cor­
rect return specifying the number of injuries in respect of which compensation
has been paid by him under this act during the previous year, and the amount
of such compensation, together with such other particulars as to the compensa­
tion as the secretary o f state may direct, and in default of complying with this
section shall be liable on conviction under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts to a
fine not exceeding five pounds [$24.33].
(2 ) Any regulations made by the secretary of state containing such direc­
tions as aforesaid shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may
be after they are made.
13. In this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
“ Employer ” includes any body of persons corporate or unincorporate and
the legal personal representative of a deceased employer, and, where the serv­
ices of a workman are temporarily lent or let on hire to another person by the
person with whom the workman has entered into a contract of service or
apprenticeship, the latter shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed to con­
tinue to be the employer of the workman whilst he is working for that other
person;
“ Workman ” does not include any person employed otherwise than by way of
manual labor whose remuneration exceeds two hundred and fifty pounds
[$1,216.63] a year, or a person whose employment is of a casual nature and
who is employed otherwise than for the purposes of the employer’s trade or
business, or a member of a police force, or an outworker, or a member of the
employer’s family dwelling in his house, but, save as aforesaid, means any
person who has entered into or works under a contract of service or apprentice­
ship with an employer, whether by way of manual labor, clerical work, or other­
wise, and whether the contract is expressed or implied, is oral or in w riting;
Any reference to a workman who has been injured shall, where the workman
is dead, include a reference to his legal personal representative or to his

304b— No. 70—07----- 12




646

BU LLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

dependents or other person to whom or for whose benefit compensation is pay­
able ;
44 Dependents ” means such of the members of the workman's family as were
wholly or in part dependent upon the earnings of the workman at the time of
his death, or would but for the incapacity due to the accident have been so
dependent, and where the workman, being *the parent or grandparent of an
illegitimate child, leaves such a child so dependent upon his earnings, or, being
an illegitimate child, leaves a parent or grandparent so dependent upon his
earnings, shall include such an illegitimate child and parent or grandparent
respectively;
“ Member of a family ” means wife or husband, father, mother, grandfather,
grandmother, step-father, step-mother, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter,
stepson, step-daughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister;
44 Ship,” “ vessel,” 44 seaman,” and 44 port ” have the same meanings aft in the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1894;
44 Manager,” in relation to a ship, means the ship’s husband or other person
to whom the management of the ship is intrusted by or on behalf o f the ow ner;
44 Police force ” means a police force to which the Police Act, 1890, or the
Police {Scotland) Act, 1890, applies, the City of London Police Force, the Royal
Irish Constabulary, and the Dublin Metropolitan Police F orce;
“ Outworker ” means a person to whom articles or materials are given out to
be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, or repaired, or
adapted for sale, in his own home or on other premises not under the control or
management of the person who gave out the materials or articles;
The exercise and performance of the powers and duties of a local or other
public authority shall, for the purposes o f this act, be treated as the trade or
business o f the authority.;
44County court,” 44 judge of the county court,” 44 registrar of the county court,”
“ plaintiff,” and “ rules of court,” as respects Scotland, mean respectively sheriff
court, sheriff, sheriff clerk, pursuer,* and act o f sederunt.
14. In Scotland, where a workman raises an action against his employer inde­
pendently of this act in respect of any injury caused by accident arising out
o f and in the course o f the employment, the action, if raised in the sheriff
court and concluding for damages under the Employers’ Liability Act, 1880, or
alternatively at common law or under the Employers’ Liability Act, 1880, shall,
notwithstanding anything contained in that act, not be removed under that act
or otherwise to the court of session, nor shall it he appealed to that court other­
wise than by appeal on a question of la w ; and for the purposes of such appeal
the provisions o f the second schedule to this act in regard to an appeal from
the decision o f the sheriff on any question of law determined by him as arbi­
trator nnder this act shall apply.
15.
— (1 ) Any contract (other than a contract substituting the provisions of a
scheme certified under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897, for the pro­
visions of that act) existing at the commencement of this act, whereby a work­
man relinquishes any right to compensation from the employer for personal
injury arising out o f and in the course of his employment, shall not, for the
purposes of this act, be deemed to continue after the time at which the work­
man’s contract o f#service would determine if notice of the determination thereof
were given at the commencement of this act.
<2) Every scheme under the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897, in force at
the commencement of this act shall, if recertified by the registrar of friendly
societies, have effect as if it were a scheme under this act.
(3 )
The registrar shall recertify any such scheme if it is proved to his
satisfaction that the scheme conforms, or has been so modified as to conform,
with the provisions of this act as to schemes.
<^4) I f any such scheme has not been so recertified before the expiration of
six months from the commencement of this act, the certificate thereof shall be
revoked.
16.
— (1 ) This act shall come into operation on the first day of July, nineteen
hundred and seven, but, except so far as it relates to references to medical
referees, and proceedings consequential thereon, shall not apply in any case
where the accident happened before the commencement o f this act.
(2 ) The Workmen's Compensation Acts, 1897 and 1900, are hereby repealed,
but shall continue to apply to cases where the accident happened before the
commencement of this act, except to the extent to which this act applies to those
cases.
17. This act may be cited as the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1903.




BBITISH W O R K M E N ’ s COMPENSATION ACT OP 1906.
F ir s t

647

Schedule!

SCALE AND CONDITIONS OF COMPENSATION.

(1 ) The amount of compensation under this act shall he—
(a) where death results from the injury—
(1) if the workman leaves any dependents wholly dependent upon his earn­
ings, a sum equal to his earnings in the employment of the same employer
during the three years next preceding the injury, or the sum of one hundred and
fifty pounds [$729.98J, whichever of those sums is the larger, but not exceeding
in any case three hundred pounds [$1,459.95], provided that the amount of any
weekly payments made under this act, and any lump sum paid in redemption
thereof, shall be deducted from such sum, and, if the period of the workman’s
employment by the said employer has been less than the said three years, then
the amount of his earnings during the said three years shall be deemed to be
one hundred and fifty-six times his average weekly earnings during the period
of his actual employment under the said employer;
(ii) if the workman does not leave any such dependents, but leaves any
dependents in part dependent upon his earnings, such sum, not exceeding in any
case the amount payable under the foregoing provisions, as may be agreed upon,
or, in default of agreement, may be determined, on arbitration under this act,
to be reasonable and proportionate to the injury to the said dependents; and
(iii) if he leaves no dependents, the reasonable expenses of his medical
attendance and burial, not exceeding ten pounds [$48.67] ;
(ft) where total or partial incapacity for work results from the injury, a
weekly payment during the incapacity not exceeding fifty per cent, of his aver­
age weekly earnings during the previous twelve months, if he has been so long
employed, but if not then for any less period during which he has been in the
employment of the same employer, such weekly payment not to exceed one
pound [$4.87] ;
Provided that—
( a ) if the incapacity lasts less than two weeks no compensation shall be pay­
able in respect of the first w eek; and
(b) as respects the weekly payments during total incapacity of a workman
who is under twenty-one years of age at the date of the injury? and whose
average weekly earnings are less than twenty shillings [$4.87], one hundred per
cent, shall be substituted for fifty per cent, of his average weekly earnings, but
the weekly payment shall in no case exceed ten shillings [$2.43].
(2 ) For the purposes of the provisions of this schedule relating to “ earn­
ings ” and “ average weekly earnings ” of a workman, the following rules shall
be observed:—
(a) average weekly earnings shall be computed in such manner as is best
calculated to give the rate per week at w^hich the workman was being remuner­
ated. Provided that where by reason of the shortness of the time during which
the workman has been in the employment of his employer, or the casual nature
of the employment, or the terms of the employment, it is impracticable at the
date of the accident to compute the rate of remuneration, regard may be had to
the average weekly amount which, during the twelve months previous to the
accident, was being earned by a person in the same grade employed at the same
work by the same employer, or, if there is no person so employed, by a person
in the same grade employed in the same class of employment and in the same
district;
(b) where the workman had entered into concurrent contracts of service
with two or more employers under which he worked at one time for one .such
employer and at another time for another such employer, his average weekly
earnings shall be computed as if his earnings under all such contracts were
earnings in the employment of the employer for whom he was working at the
time of the accident;
(c) employment by the same employer shall be taken to mean employment
by the same employer in the grade in which the workman was employed at the
time of the accident, uninterrupted by absence from work due to illness or any
other unavoidable cau se;
((?) where the employer has been accustomed to pay to the workman a sum to
cover any special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment,
the sum so paid shall not be reckoned as part of the earnings.
(3 ) In fixing the amount of the weekly payment, regard shall be had to any
payment, allowance, or benefit which the workman may receive from the em­
ployer during the period of his incapacity, and in the case of partial incapacity




648

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

the weekly payment shall in no ease exceed the difference between the amount
of the average weekly earnings of the workman before the accident and the
average weekly amount which he is earning or is able to earn in some suitable
employment or business after the accident, but shall bear such relation to the
amount of that difference as under the circumstances o f the case may appear
proper.
(4 ) Where a workman has given notice of an accident, he shall, if so re­
quired by the employer, submit himself for examination by a duly qualified
medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer, and, if he refuses
to submit himself to such examination, or in any way obstructs the same, his
right to compensation, and to take or prosecute any proceeding under this act
in relation to compensation, shall be suspended until such examination has
taken place.
,
(5 ) The payment in the case of death shall, unless otherwise ordered as
hereinafter provided, be paid into the county court, and any sum so paid into
court shall, subject to rules of court and the provisions of this schedule, be
invested, applied, or otherwise dealt with by the court in such manner as the
court in its discretion thinks fit for the benefit of the persons entitled thereto
under this act, and the receipt of the registrar of the court shall be a sufficient
discharge in respect of the amount paid i n :
Provided that, if so agreed, the payment in case of death shall, if the work­
man leaves no dependents, be made to his legal personal representative, or, if
he has no such representative, to the person to whom the expenses of medical
attendance and burial are due.
(0 ) Rules of court may provide for the transfer of money paid into court
under this act from one court to another, whether or not the court from which
it is to be transferred is in the same part of the United Kingdom as the court
to which it is to be transferred.
(7 ) Where a weekly payment is payable under this act to a person under
any legal disability, a county court may, on application being made in accord­
ance with rules of court, order that the weekly payment be paid during the
disability into court, and the provisions of this schedule with respect to sums
required by this schedule to be paid into court shall apply to sums paid into
court in pursuance of any such order.
(8 ) Any question as to who is a dependent shall, in default of agreement, be
settled by arbitration under this act, or, if not so settled before payment into
court under this schedule, shall be settled by the county court, and the amount
payable to each dependent shall be settled by arbitration under this act, or, if
not so settled before payment into court under this schedule, by the county
court. Where there are both total and partial dependents nothing in this
schedule shall be construed as preventing the compensation being allotted partly
to the total and partly to the partial dependents.
(9 ) Where, on application being made in accordance with rules of court, it
appears to a county court that, on account of neglect of children on the part
of a widow, or on account of the variation of the circumstances of the various
dependents, or for any other sufficient cause, an order of the court or an award
as to the apportionment amongst the several dependents of any sum paid as
compensation, or as to the manner in which any sum payable to any such
dependent is to be invested, applied, or otherwise dealt with, ought to be varied,
the court may make such order for the variation of the former order or the
award, as in the circumstances of the case the court may think just.
(10) Any sum which under this schedule is ordered to be invested may be
invested in whole or in part in the Post Office Savings Bank by the registrar of
the county court in his name as registrar.
(11) Any sum to be so invested may be invested in the purchase of an annuity
from the national debt commissioners through the Tost Office Savings Bank,
or be accepted by the postmaster-general as a deposit in the name of the
registrar as such, and the provisions of any statute or regulations respecting
the limits o f deposits in savings banks, and the declaration to be made by a
depositor, shall not apply to such sums.
(12) No part of any money invested in the name of the registrar of any
county court in the Post Office Savings Bank under this act shall be paid out,
except upon authority addressed to the postmaster-general by the treasury or,
subject to regulations of the treasury, by the judge or registrar o f the county
court.
(13) Any person deriving any benefit from any moneys invested in a post
office savings bank under the provisions of this act may, nevertheless, open an
account in a post office savings bank or in any other savings bank in his own




BRITISH WORKMEN’ S COMPENSATION ACT OP 1906.

649

name without being liable to any penalties imposed by any statute or regula­
tions in respect of the opening of accounts in two savings banks, or of two
accounts in the same savings bank.
(14) Any workman receiving weekly payments under this act shall, if so
required by the employer, from time to time submit himself for examination
by a duly qualified medical practitioner provided and paid by the employer. I f
the workman refuses to submit himself to such examination, or in any way
obstructs the same, his right to such weekly payments shall be suspended until
such examination lias taken place.
(15) A workman shall not be required to submit himself for examination by
a medical practitioner under paragraph (4 ) or paragraph (14) of this schedule
otherwise than in accordance with regulations made by the secretary of state,
or at more frequent intervals than may be prescribed by those regulations.
Where a workman has so submitted himself for examination by a medical
practitioner, or has been examined by a medical practitioner selected by himself,
and the employer or the workman, as the case may be, has within six days
after such examination furnished the other with a copy of the report of that
practitioner as to the workman's condition, then, in the event of no agreement
being come to between the employer and the workman as to the workman’s
condition or fitness for employment, the registrar of a county court, on applica­
tion being made to the court by both parties, may, on payment by the applicants
of such fee not exceeding one pound [.$4.87] as may be prescribed, refer the
matter to a medical referee.
The medical referee to whom the matter is so referred shall, in accordance
with regulations made by the secretary of state, give a certificate as to the
condition of the workman and his fitness for employment, specifying, where
necessary, the kind of employment for winch he is fit, and that certificate shall
be conclusive evidence as to the matters so certified.
Where no agreement can be come to betwreen the employer and the workman
as to whether or to w hat extent the incapacity of the workman is due to the
accident, the provisions of this paragraph shall, subject to any regulations made
by the secretary of state, apply as if the question wTere a question as to the
condition of the workman.
I f a workman, on being required so to do, refuses to submit himself for
examination by a medical referee to whom the matter has been so referred as
aforesaid, or in any way obstructs the same, his right to compensation and to
take or prosecute any proceeding under this act in relation to compensation, or,
in the case of a workman in receipt of a weekly payment, his right to that
weekly payment, shall be suspended until such examination has taken place.
Rules of court may be made for prescribing the manner in which documents
are to be furnished or served and applications made under this paragraph and
the forms to be used for those purposes and, subject to the consent of the
treasury,*as to the fee to be paid under this paragraph.
(16) Any weekly payment may be reviewed at the request either of the
employer or of the workman, and on such review may be ended, diminished,
or increased, subject to the maximum above provided, and the amount of pay­
ment shall, in default of agreement, be settled by arbitration under this a c t :
Provided that wrliere the workman was at the date of the accident under
twTenty-one years of age and the review takes place more than twelve months
after the accident, the amount of the w eekly payment may be increased to any
amount not exceeding fifty per cent, of the weekly sum which the workman
would probably have been earning at the date of the review7 if he had remained
uninjured, but not in any case exceeding one pound [$4.87].
(17) Where any weekly payment has been continued for not less than six
months, the liability therefor may, on application by or on behalf of the em­
ployer, be redeemed by the payment of a lump sum of such an amount as,
where the incapacity is permanent, would, if invested in the purchase of an
immediate life annuity from the national debt commissioners through the Post
Ofiice Sayings Bank, purchase an annuity for the workman equal to seventyfive per cent, of the annual value of the w7eekly payment, and as in any other
case may be settled by arbitration under this act, and such lump sum may be
ordered by the committee or arbitrator or judge o f the county court to be
invested or otherwise applied for the benefit of the person entitled thereto:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as preventing agree­
ments being made for the redemption of a weekly payment by a lump sum.
(18) I f a workman receiving a weekly payment ceases to reside in the United
Kingdom, he shall thereupon cease to be entitled to receive any wreekly pay­
ment, unless the medical referee certifies that the incapacity resulting from the




650

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

injury is likely to be of a permanent nature. I f the medical referee so certifies,
the workman shall be entitled to receive quarterly the amount of the weekly
payments accruing due during the preceding quarter so long as he proves, in
such manner and at such intervals as may be prescribed by rules o f court, his
identity and the continuance of the incapacity in respect of which the weekly
payment is payable.
(19) A weekly payment, or a sum paid by way o f redemption thereof, shall
not be capable of being assigned, charged, or attached, and shall not pass to any
other person by operation of law, nor shall any claim be set off against the same.
(20) Where under this schedule a right to compensation is suspended no
compensation shall be payable in respect of the period of suspension.
(2 1) W here a scheme certified under this act provides for payment of com­
pensation by a friendly society, the provisions of the proviso to the first sub­
section of section eight, section sixteen, and section forty-one o f the Friendly
Societies Act, 1896, shall not apply to such society in respect o f such scheme.
(22) In the application of this act to Ireland the provisions of the County
Officers and Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877, with respect to money deposited in the
Post Office Savings Bank under that act shall apply to money invested in the
Post Office Savings Bank under this act.
S econd

Schedule.

ARBITRATION, &C.

(1) For the purpose of settling any matter which under this act is to be
settled by arbitration, if any committee, representative o f any employer and his
workmen, exists with power to settle matters under this act in the case of the
employer and workmen, the matter shall, unless either party objects by notice
in writing sent to the other party before the committee meet to consider the
matter, be settled by the arbitration of such committee, or be referred by them
in their discretion to arbitration as hereinafter provided.
(2 ) I f either party so objects, or there is no such committee, or the committee
so refers the matter or fails to settle the matter within six months from the
date o f the claim, the matter shall be settled by a single arbitrator agreed on
by the parties, or in the absence of agreement by the judge of the county court,
according to the procedure prescribed by rules o f court.
(3 ) In England the matter, instead o f being settled by the judge of the county
court, may, if the lord chancellor so authorizes, be settled according to the like
procedure, by a single arbitrator appointed by that judge, and the arbitrator so
appointed shall, for the purposes of this act, have all the powers of that judge.
(4 ) The Arbitration Act, 1889, shall not apply to any arbitration under this
a c t ; but a committee or an arbitrator may, if they or he think fit, submit any
question o f law for the decision o f the judge o f the county court, and the
decision of the judge on any question o f law, either on such submission, or in
any ease where he himself settles the matter under this act, or where he gives
any decision or makes any order under this act, shall be final, unless within the
time and in accordance with the conditions prescribed by rules of the Supreme
Court either party appeals to the court o f appeal; and the judge of the county
court, or the arbitrator appointed by him, shall, for the purpose of proceedings
under this act, have the same powers of procuring the attendance of witnesses
and the production of documents as if the proceedings were an action in the
county court.
(5 ) A judge o f county courts may, if he thinks fit, summon a medical referee
to sit with him as an assessor.
(G) Rules of court may make provision for the appearance in any arbitration
under this act o f any party by some other person.
(7 ) The costs o f and incidental to the arbitration and proceedings connected
therewith shall be in the discretion o f the committee, arbitrator, or judge of
the county court, subject as respects such judge and an arbitrator appointed
by him to rules of court. The costs, whether before a committee or an arbi­
trator or in the county court, shall not exceed the limit prescribed by rules of
court, and shall be taxed in manner prescribed by those rules and such taxation
may be reviewed by the judge o f the county court.
(8 ) In the case o f the death, or refusal or inability to act, of an arbirtator,
the judge of the county court may, on the application of any party, appoint a
new arbitrator.
(9 ) W here the amount of compensation under this act has been ascertained,
or any weekly payment varied, o f any other matter decided under this act,
either by a committee or by an arbitrator or by agreement, a memorandum




BRITISH W O R K M E N S

COMPENSATION ACT OF ,1906.

651

thereof shall be sent, in manner prescribed by rules of court, by the committee
or arbitrator, or by any party interested, to the registrar o f the county court
who shall, subject to such rules, on being satisfied as to its genuineness, record
such memorandum in a special register without fee, and thereupon the memo­
randum shall for all purposes be enforceable as a county court judgment.
Provided that—
(a ) no such memorandum shall be recorded before seven days after the
despatch by the registrar of notice to the parties interested; and
(b) where a workman seeks to record a memorandum of agreement between
his employer and himself for the payment of compensation under this act and
the employer, in accordance with rules of court, proves that the workman has in
fact returned to work and is earning the same wages as he did before the
accident, and objects to the recording of such memorandum, the memorandum
shall only be recorded, if at all, on such terms as the judge of the county court,
under the circumstances, may think ju s t ; and
(c) the judge of the county court may at any time rectify the register; and
(d ) where it appears to the registrar of the county court, on any informa­
tion which he considers sufficient, that an agreement as to the redemption of
a weekly payment by a lump sum, or an agreement as to the amount of com­
pensation payable to a person under any legal disability, or to dependents,
ought not to be registered by reason of the inadequacy of the sum or amount,
or by reason of the agreement having been obtained by fraud or undue influence,
or other improper means, he may refuse to record the memorandum of the
agreement sent to him for registration, and refer the matter to the judge who
shall, in accordance with rules of court, make such order (including an order
as to any sum already paid under the agreement) as under the circumstances
he may think ju s t ; and
(e) The judge may, within six months after a memorandum of an agreement
as to the redemption o f a weekly payment by a lump sum, or of an agreement
as to the amount o f compensation payable to a person under any legal disability,
or to dependents, has been recorded in the register, order that the record be
removed from the register on proof to his satisfaction that the agreement was
obtained by fraud or undue influence or other improper means, and may make
such order (including an order as to any sum already paid under the agree­
ment) as under the circumstances he may think just.
(1 0) An agreement as to the redemption of a weekly payment by a lump
sum if not registered in accordance with this act shall not, nor shall the pay­
ment of the sum payable under the agreement, exempt the person by whom the
weekly payment is payable from liability to continue to make that weekly pay­
ment, and an agreement as to the amount of compensation to be paid to a
person under a legal disability or to dependents, if not so registered, shall not,
nor shall the payment of the sum payable under the agreement, exempt the
person by whom the compensation is payable from liability to pay compensa­
tion, unless, in either case, he proves'that the failure to register was not due
to any neglect or default on his part.
(11) Where any matter under this act is to be done in a county court, or by,
to, or before the judge or registrar of a county court, then, unless the contrary
intention appear, the same shall, subject to rules of court, be done in, or by, to,
or before the judge or registrar of, the county court of the district in which all
the parties concerned reside, or if they reside in different districts the district
prescribed by rules of court, without prejudice to any transfer in manner pro­
vided by rules of court.
(12) The duty of a judge of county courts under this act, or in England of
an arbitrator appointed by him, shall, subject to rules of court, be part of the
duties o f the county court, and the officers of the court shall act accordingly,
and rules of court may be made both for any purpose for which this act author­
izes rules of court to be made, and also generally for carrying into effect this
act so far as it affects the county court, or an arbitrator appointed by the judge
o f the county court, and proceedings in the county court or before any such
arbitrator, and such rules may, in England, be made by the five judges of
county courts appointed for the making of rules under section one hundred and
sixty-four of the County Courts Act, 1888, and when allowed by the lord chan­
cellor, as provided by that section, shall have full effect without any further
consent.
(1 3) No court fee, except such as may be prescribed under paragraph (15)
o f the first schedule to this act, shall be payable by any party in respect of any
proceedings by or against a workman under this act in the court prior to the
award.




652

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

(14) Any sum awarded as compensation shall, unless paid into court under
this act, be paid on the receipt of the person to whom it is payable under any
agreement or award, and the solicitor or agent of a person claiming compensa­
tion under this act shall not be entitled to recover from him any costs in
respect of any proceedings in an arbitration under this act, or to claim a lien
in respect of such costs on, or deduct such costs from, the sum awarded or
agreed as compensation, except such sum as may be awarded by the committee,
the arbitrator, or the judge of the county court, on an application made either
by the person claiming compensation, or by his solicitor or agent, to determine
the amount of costs to be paid to the solicitor or agent, such sum to be awarded
subject to taxation and to the scale of costs prescribed by rules of court.
(15) Any committee, arbitrator, or judge may, subject to regulations made
by the secretary of state and the treasury, submit to a medical referee for
report any matter which seems material to any question arising in the
arbitration.
(16) The secretary of state may, by order, either unconditionally or subject
to such conditions or modifications as he may think fit, confer on any com­
mittee representative of an employer and his workmen, as respects any matter
in which the committee act as arbitrators, or which is settled by agreement
submitted to and approved by the committee, all or any of the powers conferred
by this act exclusively on county courts or judges of county courts, and may
by the order provide how and to whom the compensation money is to be paid
in cases where, but for the order, the money would be required to be paid
into court, and the order may exclude from the operation of-provisos (cl) and
(e )o f paragraph (9 ) of this schedule agreements submitted to and approved
by the committee, and may contain such incidental, consequential, or sup­
plemental provisions as may appear to the secretary of state to be necessary
or proper for the purposes of the order.
(17) In the application of this schedule to Scotland—
(a ) “ County court judgm ent” as used in paragraph (9 ) of this schedule
means a recorded decree arbitral :
(&)
Any application to the sheriff as arbitrator shall be heard, tried, and
determined summarily in the manner provided by section fifty-two of the
Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1876, save only that parties may be represented
by any person authorized in writing to appear for them and subject to the
declaration that it shall be competent to either party within the time and in
accordance with the conditions prescribed by act of sederunt to require the sheriff
to state a case on any question of law determined by him, and his decision
thereon in such case may be submitted to either division of the court of session,
who may hear and determine the same and remit to the sheriff with instruc­
tion as to the judgment to be pronounced, and an appeal shall lie from either
of such divisions to the House of Lords.
(c) Paragraphs ( 3 ), (4 ), and (8 ) shall not apply.
(18) In the application of this schedule to Ireland the expression “ judge
of the county cou rt” shall include the recorder of any city or town, and an
appeal shall lie from the court of appeal to the House of Lords.
T h ir d S c h e d u l e .
Description of disease.

Description of process.

Anthrfnr ............................................... Handling of wool, hair, bristles, hides, and skins.
T,p^d pnis.m iiTig- or its sequela*.............. Any process involving the use of lead or its preparations or
compounds.
Mercury poisoning or its sequelae....... Any process involving the use of mercury or its preparations
or compounds.
Phosphorus poisoning or its sequelae.. Any process involving the use of phosphorus or its prepara­
tions or compounds.
Arsenic poisoning or its sequehe......... Any process involving the use of arsenic or its preparations or
compounds.
Ankylostomiasis..................................... Mining.

Where regulations or special rules made under any act of Parliament for
the protection of persons employed in any industry against the risk of con­
tracting lead poisoning require some or all of the persons employed in certain
processes specified in the regulations or special rules to be periodically exam­
ined by a certifying or other surgeon, then, in the application of this schedule
to that industry, the expression “ process ” shall, unless the secretary of state
otherwise directs, include only the processes so specified.




RECENT REPORTS OP STATE BUREAUS OP LABOR STATISTICS.

NEW YO RK .
Fifth Annual Report o f the Department o f Labor, fo r the twelve months
ended September 30, 1905 . Transmitted to the legislature January

2, 1906. P. Tecumseh Sherman, Commissioner. Part I, 216 pp.;
Part II, 301 pp.; Part III, 423 pp.; Part IY, clxxxix, 810 pp.
Part I consists of the annual report of the commissioner of labor
relative to the operation of the department of labor, withrecom'mendations on labor questions; preliminary reports of the bureau of factory
inspection, the bureau of mediation and arbitration, and the free
employment bureau in New York City; legislation and decisions of
courts on questions affecting the interest of working people, and labor
laws in force in the State January 1, 1906; Part II, Twentieth annual
report of the bureau of factory inspection; Part III, Nineteenth
annual report of the bureau of mediation and arbitration; Part IY,
Twenty-third annual report of the bureau of labor statistics.
F r e e P u b l i c E m p l o y m e n t B u r e a u .— During the year 1905
there were 6,032 applicants (3,530 males and 2,502 females) for
positions, and 4,072 applications (784 for males and 3,288 for females)
for help. The number of situations filled was 4,384, of which 858
were filled by males and 3,526 by females.
Twenty-third Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics, fo r the
year ending September 30, 1905 .

This part embraces the following subjects: Protection of labor
employed on public work, 112 pages; economic conditions of labor,
43 pages; trade unions in 1905,19 pages; appendix (statistical tables),
795 pages.
P r o t e c t io n o f L a b o r
E m ployed on
P u b l ic
W o r k .— This
chapter is a history of legislation in the leading European countries,
in the United States, and the several States regarding the protection
of labor employed on public work, together with a reproduction of
Federal and State laws and-constitutional provisions in force on
this subject. The discussion relates to the fixing of wages, salaries,
hours of work, and provisions for the protection, welfare, and safety
of persons employed by the State, municipality, or by any contractor
performing work for either.
T h e S t a t e o f E m p l o y m e n t .— This chapter presents a continuous
record, showing the number and percentage of members of labor




653

654

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

unions unemployed in 1905, causes of and duration of idleness as
reported by approximately one-fourth of the total number of mem­
bers of trade unions in the State, and comparative statistics for
preceding years. The smallest number of unions reporting for any
month in 1905 was 191 and the largest number w;as 199, and the
work people embraced by these monthly reports varied from 91,088
to 97,345. From the returns it appears that the state of employ­
ment was more favorable in 1905 than in either 1902, 1903, or 1904.
The percentage of unemployment for those reporting for the four years
being as follows: 1902, 14.8; 1903, 17.5; 1904, 16.9, and 1905, 11.2.
The percentage of unemployment in the building trades was higher
in January, February, April, May, and June, in 1905, than for
the same months of 1904, but from July to December, 1905, the per­
centage showed a marked decline from the earlier months and from
the corresponding months of 1904. The mean percentage of unem­
ployment for 1905 was 15.3, as compared with 21.4 in 1904. In
printing, binding, etc., the percentage of unemployment was lower in
1905 than in 1904, for the first five months and for July and August.
The percentage of unemployment was higher during the remainder
of the year, but for the entire year the average percentage of unem­
ployment was 9.9 as compared with 11.2 in 1904. The average per­
centage of unemployment excepting in the metals, machinery, and
shipbuilding trades; theaters and music; tobacco; restaurants and
retail trade, and public employment, was lower in 1905 than in 1902.
In one industry only was it higher than in 1903, and in every industry
the percentage of unemployment in 1905 fell below that of 1904.
The following table shows the number and percentage of unionists
idle at the end of March and September, 1904 and 1905, by causes:
NUM BER AND PE R CENT OF MEMBERS OF LABO R UNIONS IDLE A T THE END OF
MARCH AND SEPTEM BER, 1904 AND 1905, B Y CAUSES.
End of March,
1904.
Cause.

Number
idle.

Per
cent.

End of Septem­
ber, 1904.
Number
idle.

Per
cent.

End of March,
1905.
Number
idle.

Per
cent.

End of Septem­
ber, 1905.
Number
idle.

Per
cent.

Lack of work..........................
Lack of material....................
The weather...........................
Labor disputes.......................
Disability...............................
Other causes..........................
Reason not stated.................

34,685
1,213
36,600
25,723
3,898
1,573
303

33.3
1.2
35.2
24.7
3.8
1.5
.3

21,718
952
966
10,593
1,873
1,140
136

58.0
2.5
2.6
28.4
5.0
3.1
.4

28,759
1,343
16,005
4,814
2,942
794
259

52.4
2.4
29.1
8.8
5.4
1.4
.5

11,525
655
739
2,403
2,577
438
93

62.5
3.6
4.0
13.0
14.0
2.4
.5

T otal.............................

103,995

100.0

37,380

100.0

54,916

100.0

18,430

100.0

Of the 54,916 unionists idle at the end of March, 1905, 26,407 were
in the building trades, 9,240 were in transportation trades, and 6,055
in clothing and textile trades. Of the 18,430 unionists idle in Sep­
tember, 1905, 3,341 were reported by the building trades, 5,217 by
the clothing and textile trades, and 1,998 b y the transportation
trades.



REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- N E W YORK.

655

W a g e s a n d E a r n i n g s . — Returns received from trade unions for
the year 1905 show that an average weekly increase of $1.82 in wages
was obtained by 34,711 males, and that 55 females obtained an
average weekly increase of $1.60, while 286 males suffered an average
weekly decrease of $3.96 in wages. The average net weekly increase
for the 34,997 males for whom changes in wages were reported was
$1.77. The following table shows the average earnings for the first
and third quarters and for six months, as reported by trade unions
in 1905.
NUMBER AND AVERAG E EARNINGS OF ORGANIZED W ORKIN G PEOPLE R EPO RTIN G
FOR THE FIR ST AND TH IR D QUARTERS OF 1905, B Y SEX AND GROUPS OF INDUS­
TRIES.
Females.

Males.

Industry group.

Number report­
ing.
First
quar­
ter.

Building, stone work­
ing, etc.....................
Transportation..........
Clothing and textiles.
Metals, machinery,
and shipbuilding. . .
Printing, binding, etc.
W ood working and
furniture..................
Food and liquors.......
Theaters and m usic. .
Tobacco.......................
Restaurants and re­
tail trade.................
Public employment-..
Stationary
enginemen ..........................
Miscellaneous.............

Third
quar­
ter.

Average earnings.
First
quar­
ter.

Number re­
porting.

Third
First Third
Six
quar­ quar­
quar­ months
ter.
ter.
ter.

Average earnings.
First
quar­
ter.

Third
Six
quar­
ter. months

121,581 132,069 $170.50 $245.72 $416.22
63,072 62,132 205.16 210.36 415.52
26,588 27,695 143.61 154.51 298.12

90
5,638

144 $138.86 $121.35
5,524
77.48
82.83
57' 61.13
1,215 113.21

$260.21
160.31

33,429
24,717

33,896
24,902

205.63
223.43

213.62
225.92

419.25
449.35

49
1,192

11,764
13,676
9,579
9,086

10,709
13,576
10,115
9,187

171.93
177.04
363.57
140.80

197.21
186.75
299.97
144.72

369.14
363.79
663.54
285.52

54

45

574
2,650

604
2,707

9,369
9,054

9,715
9,130

178.38
210.37

179.86
218.36

358.24
428.73

279
130

406
93

84.06
122.80

11,963
9,837

11,995
9,622

219.45
170.53

239.27
177.22

458.72
347.75

173

169

75.05

89.48

155.53

T otal................. 353,715 364,743

187.29

218.79

406.08 10,829 10,964

112.01

113.43

225.44

69.50
106.86

130.63
220.07

96.74

109.48

206.22

428.48
129.64

382.43
132.69

810.91
262.33

71.23
124.69

155.29
247.49

T r e n d o f R e a l W a g e s .— Under this title the value of wages rela­
tive to their real purchasing power is discussed. A table is presented
for the year 1897 and the years 1902 to 1905, showing the average
daily wages of trade unionists in the several occupations. The aver­
age yearly earnings, based on the average daily earnings in connection
with the average days of work per year, were $581 in 1897, and in
1905, $794, an increase of 37 per cent.
H o u r s o f L a b o r . — The reduction in weekly working hours con­
tinued in 1905. Of the 857,000 operatives employed in factories
visited during the year, 53 per cent were working less than 58 hours
per week. In 1901 the percentage of such employees working less
than 58 hours per week was 38. Returns from workingmen’s asso­
ciations show that during the year 1905, 5,959 working people had
their hours of labor reduced, while for 722 working people the hours
of labor were increased. The number of persons benefited by reduc­
tion of hours in 1905 was less than for any other year of the 5-year
period, 1901 to 1905. The number of persons affected by decrease of




656

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

hours of labor for each of the preceding years of the period was in
1901, 26,147; in 1902, 61,853; in 1903, 21,636, and in 1904, 6,896.
The number of working people affected by an increase in the weekly
schedule of hours of labor in 1905 was exceeded in but one other year
of the period. The number affected by increase of hours of labor for
each of the four years preceding 1905 was 319 in 1901, 5,234 in 1902,
342 in 1903, and 66 in 1904.
The following table shows, by industries, the changes in hours of
labor per week and the number of organized workers affected:
CHANGES IN W E E K L Y HOURS OF LABO R OF MEMBERS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS,
AND MEMBERS AFFECTED, AS R E PO RT E D B Y LABO R UNIONS FOR THE Y E A R
ENDING SEPTEM BER SO, 1905.

j
Industry.

Mem- Total
1,-ers af­ hours.
fected.

j

Increase.

Decrease.

! Aver­
Mem­ Total
age
hours bers af­ hours.
per
fected.
week.

Building, etc..........................
Transportation.....................
Clothing and textiles...........
Metals, machinery, etc.........
Printing.................................
Wood working......................
Food and liquors......... : ----Stationary enginemen...........
Miscellaneous........................

861
1,854
125
461
1,198
172
274
84
930

6,588
11,684
530
2,350
4,638
1,065
2,730
1,386
3,191

7.7
6.3
4.2
5.1
3.9
6.2
10.0
16.5
3.4

T otal............................

5,959

34,162

5.7

Net decrease.

Aver­ Total
age
mem­ Total
hours bers
af­ hours.
per
fected.
week.

558
31

2,133
217

3.8
7.0

50

125

2.5

9
26

54
364

6.0
14.0

48

816

722 | 3,709

Aver­
age
hours
per
week.

17.0

1,419
1,885
125
511
1,198
181
300
84
978

4,455
11,467
530
2,225
4,638
1.011
2 ,366
1,386
2,375

3.1
6.1
4.2
4.4
3.9
5.6
7.9
16.5
2.4

5.1

6,681

30,453

4.6

Of the 1,069 working people who obtained an 8 -hour day, 547
were in the building trades, 300 in the printing trades, 14 in the wood­

working trades, 106 were stationary engineers and firemen, and 102
were paper makers.
T r a d e U n i o n s .— The decline in the number of unions and in mem­
bership shown in 1904 continued during 1905. On September 30,
1905, there were in the State 2,402 organizations having a member­
ship of 383,236. The following table shows the number of unions,
and the number of members by sex, in each year from 1894 to 1905:
NUMBER OF TRADE UNIONS AND MEMBERSHIP, B Y SE X, 1894 TO 1905.

Date.

July 1, 1894............
July 1, 1895............
October 31, 1896...
September 30,1897.
September 30,1898.
September 30, 1899.
September 30,1900.
September 30,1801.
September 30, 1902.
September 30,1903.
September 30,1904.
September 30,1905.




Membership.

Number
,of unions.

!
1
!
i
i
i

Males.

860
927
962
1,009
1,087
1,320
1,635
1,871
2,229
2,583
2,504
2,402 !
i

a Not separately reported.

149,709
170,129
(«)
162,690
163,562
200,932
233,553
261,523
313,592
380,845
378,859
370,971

Females.
7,488
10,102
(«)
5,764
7,505
8,088
11,828
14,618
15; 509
14,753
12,817
12,265

Total.
157,197
180,231
170,296
168,454
171,067
209,020
245,381
276,141
329,101
395,598
391,676
383,236

REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- N E W YORK.

657

The above figures show that there was a falling off of 102 organiza­
tions and 8,440 members; but owing to the fact that previous to 1905
three unions in the marine trades had reported their entire member­
ship, while in that year they returned their New York City membership
alone and in one case failed to report, the actual falling off in member­
ship was only about 2,840. The decline in total membership was
confined to the latter part of 1904 and the earlier months of 1905.
In the spring of 1905 an increase of membership was noticed and
continued through the balance of the year, increasing 8,705 in the
six months from April 1 to September 30.
Of the 2,402 unions, with a total membership of 383,236 on Sep­
tember 30, 1905, 667 unions having a membership of 251,277 were
located in New York City. There were 18 unions with a membership
of 3,764 composed entirely of women, and in the unions composed of
both males and females there were 8,501 female unionists, making a
total of 12,265 female members of trade unions, of whom 6,653 were
in the clothing and textile industries, 2,729 in the tobacco industries,
1,217 in the printing, binding, etc., industries, and 732 in the theaters
and music industries.
The following table gives the membership of trade unions, by
industries, on July 1 for the years 1894 and 1895, October 31, 1896,
and September 30, for the years from 1897 to 1905.
MEMBERSHIP OF TRAD E UNIONS, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1894 TO 1905.(«)
1894.

1395.

Building, stone working, etc.....................
Clothing and textiles..................................
Metals, machinery, and shipbuilding.......
Transportation............................................
Printing, binding, etc.................................
Tobacco........................................................
Food and liquors........................................
Theaters and m usic....................................
Wood working and furniture....................
Restaurants and retail trade....................
Public employment.....................................
Stationary enginemen...............................
Miscellaneous...............................................

49,131
39,162
8,309
18,773
11,059
8,722
5.340
5,688
5,169
1,564
1,964
975
1.341

53,683
51,921
9,328
19,134
11,998
9,089
6,210
7,327
4,477
1,860
1,964
1,105
2,135

T otal...................................................

157,197

Industry.

| 1896.
I

1897.

1898.

56,363
30,093
11,333
23,469
13,948
9,799
7,153
7,306
4,059
2,437
993
1,239
2,104

53,303
32,147
10,124
23,933
13,413
9,097
6,621
6,920
3,975
2,217
1,667
2,948
2,089

59,676
26,444
11,621
19,065
15,090
8,889
6,469
9,346
4,468
2,419
1,880
3,738
1,962

70,031
29,644
17,779
25,981
16,051
8,886
7,935
9,518
6,571
3,551
3,797
5,204
4,072

180,231 | 170,296

168,454

171,067

209,020

1899.

1900.

1901.

1C02. '

1903.

1904.

Building, stone working, etc.....................
Clothing and textiles..................................
Metals, machinery, and shipbuilding.......
Transportation............................................
Printing, binding, etc.................................
T obacco........................................................
Food and liquors........................................
Theaters and music....................................
W ood working and furniture....................
Restaurants and retail trade....................
Public employment.....................................
Stationary enginemen...............................
Miscellaneous...............................................

79,705
28,783
24,153
32,979
17,145
12,349
8,987
9,698
8,037
5,156
7,148
5,666
5,575

84,732
41,843
25,616
37,923
18,061
10,210
8,729
11,688
8,113
6.394
8,142
7,566
7,124

90,817
46,954
38,201
42,824
21,170
11,049
12,528
11,588
12,247
8,810
9,160
8,111
15,642

110,173
40,981
48,230
63,791
23.915
12,435
15,757
11,674
16.916
12,389
9,753
11,166
18,418

118,879
36,090
36,971
72,965
25,348
12,354
15,394
13,614
12,771
12,764
9,538
12,702
12,276

133,698
34,406
34,163
62,871
26,192
12,115
13,603
13,224
11,179
10,307
9,346
12,037
10,095

T otal...................................................

245,381

276,141

329,101

395,598 6 391,676

383,236

Industry.

1905.

i

a The detailed figures in this table do not in all cases agree with figures presented in reports for
earlier years; no explanation is given.
6 This is not the correct total of the items shown, but is the total given in the original report.




658

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

The number and m e m b e r s h i p of trade unions in New York City
and for the State exclusive of New York City for the years ending
September 30, 1898 to 1905, are shown in the following table:
NUMBER AND MEMBERSHIP OF TR AD E UNIONS IN NEW Y O R K C IT Y AND OTHER
LOCALITIES IN THE STATE, Y EA R S ENDING SEPTEM BER £0,1898 TO 1905.
Number of unions in—
Year ending September 30—

1898................................................................
1899................................................................
1900................................................................
1901................................................................
1902................................................................
1903................................................................
1904................................................................
1905................................................................

New
Y ork
City.
440
477
502
515
579
653
670
667

Other
localities.
647
843
1,133
1,356
1,650
1,930
1,834
1,735

The
State.
1,087
1,320
1,635
1,871
2,229
2,583
2,504
2,402

Membership of unions in—
New
Y ork
City.
125,429
141,687
154,504
174,022
198,055
244,212
254,719
251,277

Other
localities.
45,638
67,333
90,877
102,119
131,046
151,386
136,957
131,959

The
State.
171,067
209,020
245, £81
276,141
329,101
395,598
391,676
383,236

OHIO.
Twenty-ninth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics o f the
State o f Ohio, for the year 1905 . M. D. Ratchford, Commissioner.

620 pp.
The subjects presented in this report are: Laws governing the
labor bureau, and recent court decisions relating to labor, 25 pages;
manufactures, 326 pages; prison labor, 5 pages; coal mining, 213
pages; free public employment offices, 17 pages; list of bureaus of
labor in the United States, 3 pages.
M a n u f a c t u r e s .— Tables are given for 1904, showing, by industries
for each of the five principal cities, the remaining cities and villages,
and totals for the State, the number of establishments reported, cap­
ital invested, value of goods manufactured, amount paid for rent,
taxes, and insurance; amount of wages paid, number of employees
and of salaried office help; number of males and females employed;
number of persons employed, b y occupations; average number of
days worked, average daily wages, average yearly earnings, and hours
of labor. Other tables show, by industries, the number in each occu­
pation affected by a change of wages during the year.
The 7,761 establishments from which returns were received for 1904
reported an invested capital of $405,832,627; goods produced or
manufactured to the value of $720,662,642.75. Wages paid 268,716
males and 53,562 females, or a total of 322,278 employees, aggregated
$164,316,934.90, and salaries aggregating $35,179,399.20 were paid to
32,498 employed as office helpers, etc. During the year 22,368 per­
sons received an average increase in wages of 0.5 per cent, and 21,322
persons suffered an average reduction in wages of 1.8 per cent.
The number of establishments reporting in 1904 was 200 less than in
1903; the value of manufactured products was $38,376,916.50 below
that of 1903, and the amount paid in wages decreased $8,168,342.79.



REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- OHIO.

659

The aggregate invested capital exceeded that reported for 1903 by
$19,937,302, and the salaries paid superintendents, office help, etc.,
showed an increase of $1,335,203.88.
P r i s o n L a b o r . — In the twelve penal and reformatory institutions
investigated there were found 5,151 prisoners, of whom 2,220 were
employed in productive labor, 2,733 in unproductive labor, and 198
were idle. Tables are given showing the class of goods or wares
manufactured, systems of labor, and number o f prisoners engaged in
each trade compared with the number of free laborers engaged in like
industries in the State.
C o a l M i n i n g .— Tables are given b y counties showing mines report­
ing, average employees, capital invested, rent, taxes and insurance
paid, wages and salaries paid, value of output, etc.
The following comparative table presents a summary of these sta­
tistics for the years 1903 and 1904:
STATISTICS OF COAL MINING IN OHIO, 1903 AND 1904.
Items.

1904.

1903.

575
Number ol mines reporting.............................................
Average number of employees (m onthly).....................
36,460
901
Average number of salaried employees (m onthly).......
Invested capital................................................................. $32,854,018.00
Value of production.......................................................... $28,135,893.33
Amount paid for rent, taxes, and insurance.................
$888,580.30
Amount of wages paid...................................................... $19,113,466.75
$900,286.92
Amount of salaries paid...................................................
Average days worked per employee................................
191
$2.60
Average daily wages per employee.................................
Average yearly earnings per employee...........................
$496.60
8
Average hours of daily w ork..........„ ...............................
Number affected by advance in wages...........................
26,950
Number affected by reduction in wages.........................
12.5
Average per cent advance in wages................................
Average per cent reduction in w ages....................................

Increase + ,
decrease —.

596 +
21
37,004 +
544
1,014 4*
113
$36,661,245.00 +$3,807,227.00
$24,703,137.47 -$3,432,755.86
$778,159.40 - $110,420.90
$18,718,249.43 - $395,217.32
$984,220.56 +
$83,933.64
173 18
$2.46 v $0.14
$71.02
$425.58
8
64 26,886
29,343 +
29,343
9.4
3.1
5.6 +
5.6

F r e e P u b l i c E m p l o y m e n t O f f i c e s .— In addition to an itemized
statement of the expense of each office for the year ending October 31,
1905, and text reports from each of the five offices, tables are given
showing by years the results of the operation of each office from its
organization, and for each week of the year ending October 26, 1905.
The following table shows the operations of the five free public
employment offices of the State for the year ending October 26, 1905:
OPERATIONS OF FREE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT OFFICES, Y E A R ENDING OCTOBER
26, 1905.
Situations wanted. |
City.

Males.

Females.

Help wanted.
Males.

Females.

Positions secured.
Males.

Females.

Cleveland....... - .............................................
Columbus.....................................................
Cincinnati.....................................................
D ayton.........................................................
Toledo...........................................................

2,078
1,943
3,071
3,292
2,832

2,565
2,561
1,993
2,005
1,256

2,306
2,230
2,684
3,416
2,971

3,076
3,751
2,387
5,275
1,629

1,629
1,808
2,665
3,014
1,223

2,299
2,341
1,714
1,937
1,020

T otal...................................................

13,216

10,380

13,607

16,118

10,339

9,311




660

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

Since the organization in 1890 of the five free public employment
offices there has been a total of 406,920 applications for situations
wanted, 355,753 applications for help wanted, and 240,865 positions
secured. Of applications for situations 59.20 per cent were filled,
and of applications for help 67.75 per cent were filled.
The expenses of the five offices for the year ending October 31,
1905 (excluding salaries), were $2,250.89; of which the expenses of
the Cleveland office were $407.52; the Columbus office, $416.05; the
Cincinnati office, $515.77; the Dayton office, $454.99; and the Toledo
office, $456.56.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Annual Report o f the Secretary o f Internal Affairs o f the Commonwealth
o f Pennsylvania . Vol. X X X I I I , 1905. Part III, Industrial Statis­

tics.

Robert C. Bair, Chief of Bureau.

622 pp.

The following subjects are presented in this report: New legislation,
22 pages; comparative statistics of manufactures, 400 pages; statis­

tics of iron, steel, and tin-plate production, 24 pages; statistics of
coal mining, 37 pages; strikes and lockouts, causes given for days
lost in manufacturing industries, and comments on trade conditions
in 1905, 20 pages; labor statistics, 43 pages; textile industries, 36
pages; collated summaries, 1896-1905, 27 pages.
N e w L e g i s l a t i o n . — The text of a law regulating the employment
of minors in anthracite coal mines or collieries, and also one regulating
the employment, in all kinds of industrial establishments, of women
and children emploj^ed at w^ages or salary, and to provide for the safety
of all employees in certain nonindustrial buildings, etc., passed by
the legislature in 1905, are reproduced.
C o m p a r a t i v e S t a t i s t i c s o f M a n u f a c t u r e s .— In this chapter a
series of tables is given showing for each of 84 manufacturing indus­
tries, capital invested, cost of basic materials, days in operation,
persons employed, aggregate wrages, value of product, and other data
for each year from 1896 to 1905, as reported by 710 identical establish­
ments. The following summary shoves the more important items:
COM PARATIVE STATISTICS OF 710 IDEN TICAL MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS,
1896 TO 1905.

Year.

Capital in­
vested in
plants and
working
capital.

1896................................................ $170,169,195
1897................................................ 173,405,857
178,588,674
1898..:..........................................
1899................................................ 209,542,208
1900................................................ 225,955,539
1901................................................ 233,312,008
1902................................................ 237.915,740
1903................................................ 266,387,285
1904................................................ 306,507,455
1905................................................ 286,552,433




Per cent of
Cost of basic Market value cost of basic Average days
material of in operation.
material.
of product.
value of
product.
$81,679,955
88,837,529
101,497,555
142,864,640
163,347,771
167,294,827
194,788,437
197,556,575
165,441,999
208,193,788

$169,806,501
182,572,176
217,514,078
287,635,100
325,161,818
339,027,496
388,806,566
390,224,148
334,343,735
400,311,210

48.1
48.7
47.1
49.6
50.2
49.3
50.0
50.6
49.5
52.0

267
286
286
289
289
292
293
290
286
296

REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- PENNSYLVANIA.

661

COM PARATIVE STATISTICS OF 710 IDEN TICAL M ANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS,
1896 TO 1905—Concluded.
Persons
employed.

Year.

122,138
127,461
141,819
163,683
175,501
183.183
194,945
203,838
183,833
202,401

1896........................
1897........................
1898........................
1899........................
1900........................
1901........................
1902........................
1903........................
1904........................

Average
yearly
earnings.

Aggregate
wages paid.
$46,736,124
47,852,604
57,312,659
70,944,181
76,838,628
82,160,337
93,947,766
98,259,805
84,483,863
97,463,104

Average
daily wages.

Value of
product per
employee.

$1.43
1.32
1.41
1.50
1.52
1.53
1.64
1.66
1.60
1.63

$1,390.28
1,432.37
1,533.74
1,754.05
1,852.76
1,850.76
1,994.44
1,914.38
1,818.74
1,977.81

$382.65
375.43
404.12
433.42
437.82
448.52
481.92
482.04
459.57
481.54

Per cent of
wages of
value of
product.
27.5
26.2
26.4
24.7
23.8
24.3
24.1
25.2
25.3
24.3

i

Other tables show the‘increase or decrease in the principal items for
each year as compared with the next preceding year, and for 1905
compared with 1896; average yearly earnings, 1896 and 1905, and
the difference in earnings in 77 industries in which an increase was
reported and in 7 industries in which a decrease was reported; aver­
age yearly and daily earnings of males, females, and minors in 1905,
by industries.
I r o n , S t e e l , a n d T i n - P l a t e P r o d u c t i o n .— The following sum­
mary statements show the more important items for the year 1905
relating to the production of pig iron, steel, rolled iron and steel, and
tin plate:
PIG IRON.

Capital invested........................................................................................................... $133,136,135
Gross tons of production............................................................................................
10, 570, 803
Realized value............................................................................................................. $162, 716,176
Value of basic material.............................................................................................. $81,370,127
Average days in operation........................................................................................
330
Total employees...........................................................................................................
16,747
Aggregate wages paid................................................................................................. $10, 502, 928
Average yearly earnings............................................................................................
$628. 94
Average daily wages....................... ................. .........................................................
$1. 91
Cost of labor per ton...................................................................................................
$1.00
Tonnage per man per day........................................................................................
1. 91
STEEL.

Gross tons of production:
Bessemer............................................................................................................
Open-hearth, acid process...........................................................................
Open-hearth, basic process..........................................................................
Crucible and other processes......................................................................

4,494,268
778,434
5, 323,182
82, 951

Total................................................................................................................

10, 678, 835

ROLLED IRON AND STEEL.

Capital invested.......................................................................................................... $275,728,193
Gross tons of production:
Rails..................
Iron and steel structural shapes................................................................
304b — N o. 70— 07------ 13




1,113,841
1,389,709

662

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Gross tons of production— Continued.
Plates and sheets (« ).......................................................................................
Cut nails and spikes............................. .........................................................
Other rolled products....................................................................................

2,310,478
34,212
4,361,820

Total................................................................................................................

9,210,060

Value of product (not including the tin-plate works).................................... $285, 248,007
Adult male employees (not including those in tin-plate works)................
I l l , 983
Total employees (not including those in tin-plate works)............................
113,295
Aggregate wages paid adult male employees..................................................... $70, 612,050
Aggregate wages paid all employees....................................................................
$70,943, 628
Average days in operation.....................................................................1.................
297
Average yearly earnings of adult male employees..........................................
$630.58
Average yearly earnings of all employees..........................................................
$626.19
Average daily wages of adult male employees..................................................
$2.12
Average daily wages of all employees..................................................................
$2.11
Average value per to m .............................................................................................
$30.97
Cost of labor per ton...................................................................................................
$7.70
TIN PLATE (BLACK-PLATE W O R K S ).

Capital invested (19 plants).....................................................................................

$8,734,180

Pounds of production of black plate:
Tinned................................................................................................................
Not tinned............................................... : .......................................................

599,281,700
28,838, 659

Total................................................................................................................

628,120,359

Value of product..........................................................................................................
Adult male employees...............................................................................................
Total employees..........................................................................................................
Aggregate wages paid adult male employees.....................................................
Aggregate wages paid all employees....................................................................
Average days in operation........................................................................................
Average yearly earnings of adult male employees..........................................
Average yearly earnings of all employees..........................................................
Average daily wages of adult male employees..................................................
Average daily wages of all employees..................................................................

$19, 966, 608
7,967
8,280
$5', 166, 395
$5,269,152
269
$648.47
$636.37
$2.41
$2.36

TIN PLATE (DIPPING W O R K S ).

Capital invested (3 plants).......................................................................................
Pounds of production of tin and terne plate.....................................................
Value of product...................................................................... *..................................
Male employees............................................................................................................
Total employees...........................................................................................................
Aggregate wages paid male employees.................................................................
Aggregate wages paid all employees....................................................................
Average days in operation........................................................................................
Average yearly earnings of male employees......................................................
Average yearly earnings of all employees..........................................................
Average daily wages of male employees..............................................................
Average daily wages of all employees..................................................................

a Including 294,172 tons




$1, 309,080
33,068,950
$1,560,582
204
247
$114,181
$126,912
288
$559.75
$517.86
$1.94
$1.80

of black plate and other sheets made by the tin-plate works.

REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- PENNSYLVANIA.

663

S t a t i s t i c s o f C o a l M i n i n g . — The following tables give a statis­
tical summary of the operations of the anthracite and bituminous
coal mines in the State for 1905:
AN TH RACITE AND BITUMINOUS COAL OPERATIONS, 1905.
Items.
Number of mines in operation............................................................................

Anthracite
coal.

291
I
40,186
Inside w orkm en..................................................................................................
72,536
Outside w orkm en...............................................................................................
54,744
Aggregate wages paid to miners....................................................................... $27,742,023
Aggregate wages paid to inside workmen........................................................ $35,964,046
Aggregate wages paid to outside workmen.................................................... $23,472,188
Average days in operation.................................................................................
232
$520.57
Average yearly earnings (all em ployees)........................................................ 11
Average yearly earnings (miners o n ly )...........................................................
$690.34
$2.24
Average daily wages (all em ployees)...............................................................
$2.97
Average daily wages (miners o n ly )..................................................................
61,634,226
Number of tons mined and marketed...............................................................
Market value of product on board cars............................................................. $143,048,605
Market value of product at mines.....................................................................
(»)
1,533.72
Average tons mined per miner per year...........................................................
6.61
Average tons mined per miner per clay.............................................................
Number of coke ovens.........................................................................................
Tons of coked coal................................................................................................
M i n e r s .............................................................................................................................................................................................. !

« Average number of days coke workers were employed was 261.

Bituminous
coal.
1,166
102,216
23,743
16,148
$50,387,074
$12,220,620
$8,411,296

a 225

$502.58
$491.29
$2.21
$2.18
116,263,504
$104,231,121
1,137
5
38,959
27,041,826

&Not reported.

In addition to the above coal-mining operations, there were 53
plants employing 1,490 persons, engaged in washing coal from culm
banks at the mines. The plants washed 2,904,900 tons of coal, which
had a market value of $1,818,062. Wages paid in this industry
aggregated $574,329, making the average yearly earnings per
employee $397. There were also 48 plants engaged in dredging coal
from the Susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers, giving an average
employment of 200 days to 174 men, to whom wages amounting to
$33,320 were paid. There were 84,924 tons of coal raised, having a
market value of $73,849.
S t r i k e s a n d L o c k o u t s . — Data relative to strikes and lockouts
are reported for several industries. The information given showTs for
each strike reported the time lost, cause of dispute, method of settle­
ment, result, and number of persons involved.
L a b o r S t a t i s t i c s . — Statistics are presented for the different
industries, showing the number of establishments making returns and
data relative to employees as follows: Number, number owning their
own homes, average rent paid by those renting, hours of daily work,
and nationality.
Returns from 47 pig-iron companies showed that 429 working
people owned their homes, that the average annual rental for those
paying rent was $75, and that the average hours the furnaces were
in blast were 148 per w^eek; that of the 8,665 persons for whom
nationality was reported 3,373 were Americans. Returns from 156
iron and steel companies showed that 3,393 working people owned
their homes, that the average annual rental for those renting was
$127, that the average hours of work per week were 65, and that of



664

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

the 42,004 employees for whom nationality was reported 23,468 were
Americans. Returns from 116 anthracite coal companies reporting
showed that 5,401 working people owned their homes, that the
average annual rental for those renting was $78, that the average
weekly working hours were 53, and that of the 92,485 employees for
whom nationality was reported 25,905 were Americans. In the
bituminous coal mining 479 companies, employing 74,461 persons
over 16 years of age, report 6,802 men as owning their homes, and 469
companies repqrt that the average annual rental for those paying
rent was $65. The average working hours per week, as reported by
429 companies, were 49. Of the 55,583 persons for whom nation­
ality was reported 17,347 were Americans.
T e x t i l e I n d u s t r i e s .— Returns made in 1905 b y 487 establish­
ments engaged in the textile industries in Philadelphia showed the
average number of employees to be 54,834 (22,583 males, 26,733
females, and 5,518 children), to whom were paid an aggregate of
$22,571,872 in wages. The average yearly earnings were as follows:
Of all employees, $411.64; males, $5 5 5 .0 2 ; females, $339.60, and of
children, $173.84. The establishments were in operation during the
year an average of 281 days, the average hours of labor per week were
58, and the total value of product (not including 40 dyeing, bleaching,
and finishing plants not reporting value of product) was $99,671,003.
Of the 24,244 persons employed in these industries for whom nation­
ality was reported 16,375 were Americans.




RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.

AUSTRIA.
Die Arbeitseinstellungen und Aussperrungen in Osterreich wahrend des
Jahres 1904- Die Arbeitseinstellungen und Aussperrungen in
Osterreich wahrend des Jahres 1905 . Herausgegeben vom k. k.

Arbeitsstatistischen
564 pp.

Amte

im

Handelsministerium.

394

p p .;

These are the eleventh and twelfth annual reports of the Austrian
Government on strikes and lockouts. The information, which is
compiled by the Austrian bureau of labor statistics, is given in the
form of an analysis and six tables, showing for the years 1904 and
1905, respectively: ( 1) Strikes according to geographical distribu­
tion; (2 ) strikes according to industries; (3) general summary of
strikes; (4) comparative summary of strikes for the ten-year period
ending with the yeai covered by the report; (5) details for each strike
in the year covered b^ the report; (6 ) details for each lockout in the
year covered by the report. An appendix to each volume gives a
brief review of industrial and labor conditions in Austria, statistics of
trade unions, and notes concerning the strikes and lockouts reported
in the preceding pages of the report.
S t r i k e s i n 1904.— The number of strikes, the number of estab­
lishments affected, and the number of strikers in 1904 were consid­
erably above the average for the eleven-year period beginning with
1894. There were 606,629 days lost by the persons directly affected
in 1904 on account of strikes, or 21.2 per cent more than in the pre­
ceding year. During the year there were 414 strikes, which affected
2,704 establishments. Of a total of 99,828 employees in the estab­
lishments affected, 64,227 participated in the strikes and 9,301 others
were thrown out of employment on account of them, the strikers
representing 64.3 per cent of the total number of employees in the
establishments affected. The average number of strikers in each
strike was 155. Of the total strikers, 90.9 per cent were males and
9.1 per cent were females. After the strikes 58,907 strikers were
reemployed and 2,817 new employees took the places formerly occu­
pied by strikers.




665

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

666

The following table shows, by industries, the number of strikes,
establishments affected, strikers and others thrown out of employ­
ment, etc., during the year 190*4:
STRIK ES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1904.
Strikers.
Industry.

Mining and metallurgical. . .
Quarrying, products of
* stone, clay, glass, etc.........
Metal working........................
Machinery, instruments, ap­
paratus, etc.........................
W ood working, caoutchouc,
carved materials, etc.........
Leather, hides, hair, feath­
ers, etc.................................
Textiles...................................
Upholstering and paper
hanging................................
Wearing apparel, cleaning,
etc.........................................
Paper......................................
Foods and drinks (including
tobacco) .............................
Chemical products...............
Building trades......................
Printing..................................
Commerce...............................
Transportation......................
Other.......................................
Total.............................

Estab­ Total
Strikes.
em­
lish­
ments. ployees.

Num­
ber.

Percent
of total
em­
ployees.

Others
thrown Strikers New
employ­
out of
ees
reem­
em­
ployed.
after
ploy­
strikes.
ment.

36

192

30,091

19,614

65.2

777

18,952

243

38
-44

122
74

7,923
6,672

.4,788
4,211

60.4
63.1

339
554

4,381
3,873

325
137

27

27

4,447

1,400

31.5

145

1,260

77

41

177

2,207

1,756

79.6

13

1,514

110

8
37

10
48

431
6,994

363
3,483

84.2
49.8

16
329

332
3,270

13
77

1

3

20

20

100.0

35
10

210
33

3,595
1,166

2,582
909

71.8
78.0

226
74

2,444
891

69
14

31
4
80
8
6
7
1

359
4
457
10
81
896
1

2,131
929
25,896
296
2,144
4,816
70

1,408
912
15,947
108
2.014

120

4,700
12

66.1
98.2
61.6
36.5
93.9
97.6
17.1

6,614
10
50
25
9

1,116
894
13,169
98
1,994
4,688
11

231
12
1,477
5
12
15

414

2,704

99,828

64,227

64.3

9,301

58,907

2,817

20

The building trades had the largest number of strikes (80) in 1904,
while the largest number of strikers (19,614) was in the mining and
metallurgical group of industries. Next in importance with regard
to the number of strikers involved was the group of building trades
with 15,947 persons. Of all the strikers during the year, 55.4 per
cent were engaged in these two groups of industries.




667

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----AUSTRIA.

The following table shows the causes of the strikes for 1904, by
industries:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES AND CAUSES, 1904.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the industry totals
for this table, if computed, would not agree with those for the preceding table.]
For
Against
dis­
For
For charge
Against dis­ Against
Against For
change
in­
reduc­
obnox­
reduc­
in
obnox­ Other
of fore-| ious charge
of
tion of crease method tion
men,
ious causes.
of
of
em­
wages. wages. of pay­ hours. work­ treat­
rules.
ploy­
ment.
men,
ment.
ees.
etc.

Industry.

Mining and metallurgical........
Quarrying, products of stone,
clay, glass, etc.......................
Metal working..........................
Machinery, instruments, ap­
paratus, etc...........................
W ood working, caoutchouc,
carved materials, etc. . .......
Leather, hides, hair, feathers,
etc...........................................
Textiles.....................................
Upholstering and paper hang­
ing...........................................
Wearing apparel, cleaning, etc.
Paper.........................................
Foods and drinks (including
tob a cco )................................
Chemical products...................
Building trades........................
P rinting...................................
Commerce..................................
Transportation........................
Other.........................................
Total................................

2

15

1

2

3
1

16
23

3

1
14

1
1

6

10

3

2

15

17

6

1
4

4
19

2
2

1
1

1
26
5

1
6
3

1
2

22

1

16
3
51
3
3
3
213

3

5

10

4
7

5
3

6
3

7

1

2

6

4

4

1
1

2
5

2

6

2
1

4
2
1

7
25
1
3
3
1
5

91

2

4

1
1

1

I i
1

20

6

3

5
1
18
2
1
3

5

5

2
2

4

70

30

1
43

As in previous years, the most frequent causes of strikes were the
demands for increased wages and for reduction of hours. The de­
mand for increased wages alone or in conjunction ^ith other demands
figured in 213 strikes, and that for reduction of hours in 91 strikes.
The following table shows the results of strikes, by industries:
STRIKES, BY INDUSTRIES AND RESULTS, 1904.
Strikes.
Industry.

Mining and metallurgical..................
Quarrying, products of stone, clay,
glass, etc...........................................
Metal working.....................................
Machinery, instruments, appara­
tus, etc..............................................
Wood working, caoutchouc, carved
materials, etc...................................
Leather, hides, hair, feathers, e tc ...
Textiles................................................
Upholstering and paper hanging___
Wearing apparel, cleaning, e tc.........
Paper....................................... .............
Foods and drinks (including tobacco)
Chemical products..............................
Building trades....................................
Printing ..............................................
Commerce............................................
Transportation....................................
Other....................................................
T otal...........................................




Strikers.

Suc­
Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total.
Failed'. Total. ceeded.
ceeded. partly.
partly.
2

12

22

36

586

3,171

15,857

19,614

16
16

14
17

8
11

38
44

2,553
351

1,629
2,647

606
1,213

4,788
4,211

1

17

9

27

44

1,125

231

1,400

1,158
316
1,948
20
1,729
-410
1,242
70
8,909
32
2,009
136
12

251
23
944
349
274
64
798
5,102

1,756
363
3,483
20
2,582
909
1,408
912
15; 947
108
2,014
4,700
12

26,563

25,739

11
1
7
12
5
8
1
15
4
2
101

17
5
18
1
17
1
12
1
39
4
5
3
1
184

13
2
12
6
4
11
2

m

1
2
129

41
8
37
1
35
10
31
4
80
8
6
7
1
414

347
24
591
504
225
102
44
1,936
76
4,542
11,925

5
22

64,227

668

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Of the total number of strikes in 1904, 24.4 per cent succeeded,
44.4 per cent succeeded partly, and 31.2 per cent failed. Of the
total number of strikers, 18.6 per cent were engaged in strikes which
succeeded, 41.3 per cent in strikes which succeeded partly, and 40.1
per cent in strikes which failed.
The following table shows the results of the strikes in 1904, accord­
ing to their duration:
STRIKES, B Y DU RATIO N AND RESULTS, 1904.
Strikes.
Days of duration.

1 to 5 ....................................................
6 to 10...................................................
11 to 15..................................................
16 to 20..................................................
21 to 25..................................................
26 to 30..................................................
31 to 40.................................................
41 to 50 ................................................
51 to 100................................................

63
21
9
2
5

1

101 nr over .............. ....................................

T otal..........................................

Strikers.

Suc­
Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total. ceeded.
Failed. Total.
ceeded. partly.
partly.

101

85
39
19
9
5
5
7
3
4
8

70
17
13
6
6
5
4
1
5
2

218
77
41
17
16
10
11
4
10
10

8,915
2,501
165
30
252

184

129

414

11,925

62

8,144
10,785
1,629
1,640
446
846
354
198
1,144
1,377

4,888
8,403
4,302
423
1,991
853
4,500
11
340
28

21,947
21,689
6,096
2,093
2,689
1,699
4,854
209
1,546
1,405

26,563

25,739

64,227

S t r i k e s i n 1905.— The number of strikes, the number of estab­
lishments affected, and the number of strikers in 1905 were not only
considerably above the average for the twelve-year period beginning
with 1894, but also showed a marke'd increase over the preceding year.
There were 1,151,310 days lost by the persons directly affected in
1905 on account of strikes, or 89.8 per cent more than in the year 1904.
During the year there were 686 strikes, which affected 3,803 establish­
ments. Of a total of 156,596 employees in the establishments
affected, 99,591 participated in the strikes and 11,340 others were
thrown out of employment on account of them, the strikers rep­
resenting 63.6 per cent of the total number of employees in the estab­
lishments affected. The average number of strikers in each strike
was 145. Of the total strikers, 84.4 per cent were males and 15.6
per cent were females. After the strikes, 92,922 strikers were reem­
ployed and 3,276 new employees took the places formerly occupied
b y strikers.




FOREIGN

669

STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— AUSTRIA,

The following table shows, by industries, the number of strikes,
establishments affected, strikers and others thrown out of employ­
ment, etc., during the year 1905:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1905.
Strikers.
Industry.

Strikes.

Estab­
Total
lish­
em­
ments. ployees.

Num­
ber.

Others
New
Strikers employ­
Per cent j thrown
reem­ ees after
out of
of total employ­
ployed. strikes.
em­
ployees. ment.

43

45

25,031

10,100

40.3

911

9,738

96

76
65

235
419

13,692
12,773

9,832
7,406

71.8
58.0

466
597

9,168
6,595

313
391

Mining and metallurgical___
Quarrying, products
of
stone, clay, glass, etc.........
Metal working.......................
Machinery, instruments, ap­
paratus, etc........................
W ood working, caoutchouc,
carved materials, etc.........
Leather, hides, hair, feath­
ers, etc.................................
Textiles...................................
Upholstering and paper
hanging................................
Wearing apparel, cleaning,
etc.........................................
Paper.......................................
Foods and drinks (including
tobacco) .............................
Chemical products...............
Building trades......................
Printing............................. *...
Commerce............................. .
Transportation......................
Other.......................................

4

49

46
13

589
114

30
10
188
12
10
21
1

215
10
.810
19
92
685
1

T o ta l..»........................

686

3,803

45

45

9,648

4,660

48.3

197

4,481

78

53

404

4,083

67.0

237

2,218

340

15
54

17
54

782
11,263

2,736 1
1
397 !
5,866

50.8
52.1

18
1,730

269
5,603

115
130

131

99

75.6

95

4

9,490
5,819

7,525
4,502

79.3
77.4

76
54

7,209
4,108

171
120

7,347
1,361
48,730
625
1,228
4,578
15

4,442
1,211
35,024
426
994
4,359
12

60.5
89.0
71.9
68.2
80.9
95.2
80.0

15
38
6,994

4,292
1,164
32,732
337
684
4,217
12

129
49
1,085
54
160
41

156,596

99,591

63.6

11,340

92,922

3,276

4
3

The group of building trades had the largest number of strikes,
strikers, and establishments affected; of the total strikers during 1905,
35,024, or 35.2 per cent, were persons engaged in this industry. Next
in importance with regard to the number of strikers involved was
the group of mining and metallurgical industries, with 10,100 persons.
Of all the strikers during the year, 45.3 per cent were engaged in
these two groups of industries.




670

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

The following table shows the causes of the strikes for 1905, by
industries:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES AND CAUSES, 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the industry totals
for this table, if computed, would not agree with those for the preceding table.]

Against For
reduc­
in­
tion
crease
of
of
wages. wages.

Industry.

Mining and metallurgical........
Quarrying, products of stone,
clav, glass, etc.......................
Metal working..........................
Machinery, instruments, ap­
paratus, etc...........................
W ood working, caoutchouc,
carved materials, etc...........
Leather, hides, hair, feathers,
etc...........................................
Textiles......................................
Upholstering and paper hang­
ing...........................................
Wearing apparel, cleaning, etc.
Paper.........................................
Foods and drinks (including
tobacco) ................................
Chemical products...................
Building trades........................
Printing.....................................
Commerce..................................
Transportation........................
Other.........................................
T otal................................

For 1
change, For
in
reduc­
meth­ tion
od of
of
pay­ hours.
ment.

For
dis­
charge Against
of fore­ obnox­
ious
men, treat­
work­ ment.
men,
etc.

Against
dis­ Against
charge obnox­ Other
ious causes.
of em­
ploy­ rules.
ees.

1

22

1

1

1

6

3

9

7
2

46
35

1

8
31

5
1

12
15

4

4
1

3

26

21

2

1

8

2

2

36

18

4

1

7

6

2
2

g
28

4
6

1
2

3
13

3

2
7

1
1

2
30
6

3
7
4

4
5

1

3

2
2
45
3

1

6

2

9
1
1
1

16

52

1
1
1
2
24

18
7
115
3
6
13
1
402

1

7
2
29
7
3

3

151

1
7 1______
1 !
!
1
i............
16
•i
4

1

!
1 !

46 1

i

5
3 !

130

1

As in previous years, the most frequent causes of strikes were the
demands for increased wages and for reduction of hours. The
demand for increased wages alone or in conjunction with other
demands figured in 402 strikes, and that for reduction of hours in 151
strikes.
The following table shows the results of strikes, by industries:
STRIK ES, B Y IN DU STRIES AND RESULTS, 1905.
Strikers.

Strikes.
Industry.

Mining and metallurgical..................
Quarrying, products of stone, clay,
glass, etc................ ..........................
Metal working.....................................
Machinery, instruments, apparatus,
etc......................................................
W ood working, caoutchouc, carved
materials, e t c ..................................
Leather, hides, hair, feathers, etc___
Textiles................................................
Upholstering and paper hanging___
Wearing apparel, cleaning, etc..........
Paper....................................................
Foods and drinks (including tobacco)
Chemical prod ucts.............................
Building trades....................................
Printing..............................................
Commerce............................................
Transportation....................................
Other....................................................
Total




Suc­
Suc­
Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total. ceeded. ceeded Failed. Total.
ceeded. partly.
partly.

2

28

13

43

769

7,736

1,595

10,100

18
15

40
35

18
15

76
65

897
1,397

7,830
4,495

1,105
1,514

9,832
7,406

5

32

8

45

436

3,777

447

4,660

53
15
54
4
46
13
30
10
188
12
10
21
1

281
68
722
32
707
60
1,551

2,013
164
4,083
67
5,316
4,278
2,750
1,211
24,243
87
859
2,361
12

442*
165
1,061

2,736
397
5,866
99
7,525
4,502
4,442
1,211
35,024
426
994
4,359
12

13
3
12

2

8

1

5
53

1

~ 4
8
150 i

28
4
30
2
24
10
16
10
76
3
4
8
1
351

12
8
12
14
2
9
59
8
2
5
185

686

5,252
57
131
1,631
13,991

71,282

1,502
164
141
5,529
282
4
367
14,318

99,591

671

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- AUSTRIA.

Of the total number of strikes in 1905, 21.8 per cent succeeded,
51.2 per cent succeeded partly, and 27 per cent failed. Of the total
number of strikers, 14 per cent were engaged in strikes which suc­
ceeded, 71.6 per cent in strikes which succeeded partly, and 14.4 per
cent in strikes which failed.
The following table shows the results of the strikes in 1905, accord­
ing to their duration:
STRIKES, B Y DU RATIO N AND RESULTS, 1905.
Strikes.

Strikers.

SucSuc­
Suc­ eeeded
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total. ceeded.
Failed. Total.
ceeded. 1partly.
partly.

Days of duration.

1 to 5.....................................................
6 to 10...................................................
11 to 15.................................................
16 to 20.................................................
21 to 25.................................................
26 to 30.................................................
31 to 40..................................................
41 to 50..................................................
51 to 100................................................
101 or over............................................
T otal...... ....................................

95
28
9
5
2
1
5
2
2
1

157
64
33
22
19
9
14
8
19
6

114
25
10
10
7
5
3
4
4
3

366
117
52
37
28
15
22
14
25
10

8,724
1,476
1,029
1,297
78
14
1,315
28
27
3

24,286
8,840
10,017
5,163
9,156
1,142
1,862
1,481
5,984
3,351

8,004
2,273
789
1,629
451
99
135
192
* 643
103

41,014
12,589
11,835
8,089
9,685
1,255
3,312
1,701
6,654
3,457

150 1
1

351

185

686

13,991

71,282

14,318

99,591

S t r i k e s d u r i n g T w e l v e Y e a r s . — The summaries for the years
1894 to 1905 were compiled partly from the report for 1905 and partly
from previous reports. The following table shows the number and
extent of the strikes in Austria for the period during which the minis­
try of commerce has published reports on strikes:
STRIKES, B Y YEARS, 1894 TO 1905.

Year.

1894................................................................................
1895................................................................................
1896................................................................................
1897................................................................................
1898................................................................................
1899................................................................................
1900................................................................................
1901...............................................................................
1902...............................................................................
1903................................................................................
1904................................................................................
1905................................................................................

Strikes.

Estab­
lish­
ments Strikers.
affected.

172
209
305
246
255 1
[
311
303
270
264
324
414 |
686

2,542
874
1,499
851
885
1,330
1,003
719
1,184
1,731
2,704
3,803

67,061
28,652
66,234
38,467
39,658
54,763
105,128
24,870
37,471
46.215
64; 227
99,591

Per cent
of
strikers Days lost.
of total
em­
ployees.
69.5
59.9
65.7
59.0
59.9
60.2
67.3
38.5
44.0
60.5
64.3
63.6

795,416
300,348
899,939
368,098
323,619
1,029,937
3,483,963
157,744
284,046
500,567
606,629
1,151,310

The number of strikes and the number of strikers for each year
for the twelve-year period are shown by industries in the following
two tables:




672

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1S94 TO 1905.
QuarryMa- |
ing,
chinery, , Wood,
Mining products
caout­
instru1 chouc,
and
Metal
stone, working.
ments, j carved
metal­ ofclay,
appaj
lurgical.
materi­
glass,
ratus, i als,
etc.
etc.
etc.
j

Year.

1894 ..............
1895..............
1896..............
1897..............
1898..............
1899..............
1900..............
1901..............
1902..............
1903..............
1904..............
1905.............. !
Total___ !

:
23
37 |
33 ,
26
26
32
26
22
18 !
34
44 !i

22
29
29
27
27
21
19
29
24
18
38
76 |
!

13
4
11
25
29
26
40
40
63
40
36
43
370 |

359

:;

w j

6
14
20
13
24
13
15
15
13
27
45

6 5 1

386

1
!

212

Textiles. Building
trades.
1

i

j

23
38
55
28
28
35
34
27
20
48
41
53

34
29
43
28
28
84
56
28
34
44
37
54

:

430 i

499

!
i
i
I
|
i
1
i

i
1
Other. 1 Total.
1
!

ii

!
!

11
24
42
34
49
33
23
24
22
37
80
188

39
42
78
58
55
56
92
85
68
90
111
162

567

938

|
!
1
!
i
j

I
1
'

172
209
305
246
255
311
303
270
264
324
414
686
3,759

STRIK ERS, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1S94 TO 1P05.

Year.
i
i

1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905

Quarry­
ing,
Mining products
Metal
and
stone, working.
metal- ofclay,
lurgical.
glass,
etc.

1

Ma­ I
ood,
chinery, l| W
caoutinstru­
i chouc,
ments,
carved
appa­ ! materiratus, ]j als,
etc.
etc.

!
i
i

i

Textiles. ,; Building
trades. i Other.

..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........

22,986
626
30,120
3,632
7,046
3,477
78,791
7,496
13,573
12,341
19,614
10,100

6,415
9,943
3,217
3,053
4,491
2,112
574
1,698
1,819
2,740
4,788
9,832

2,752
3,694
2,973
1,568
991
2,459
1,977
1,393
741
2,936
4,211
7,406

194
253
2,058
4,689
2,471
1,356
519
889
1,013
705
1,400
4,660

9,793
2,336
5,972
1,382
1,318
3,198
1,391
2,925
1,312
2,846
1,756
2,736

6,317
4,085
9,791
11,275
3,171
30,249
12,010
2,675
2,599
5,220
3,483
5,866

Total___

209,802

50,682

33,101

20,207

36,965

96,741

14,975
5,361
5,434
4,995
13,961
7,842
4,849
3,214
10,476
9,645
15,947
35,024 1
131,72a

Total.

67,061
28,652
66,234
38,467
39,658
54,763
105,128
24,870
37,471
46,215
64,227
99,591

3,629
2,354
6,669
7,873
6,209
4,070
5,017
4,580
5,938
9,782
13,028
23,967
93,116

672,337
i

The causes of strikes for the twelve-year period are shown in the
following table, the cause and not the strike being made the unit:
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES, 1894 TO 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the yearly totals
for this table, if computed, would not agree with those for the preceding tables.]

Year.

For
change
Against
For
in
reduc­
increase
tion of of wages. method
wages.
of pay­
ment.

For
reduc­
tion of
hours.

For dis­
charge
of
foremen,
work­
men, etc.

1894...........
1895...........
1896...........
1897...........
1898...........
1899...........
1900...........
1901...........
1902...........
1603...........
1604...........
1905...........

23
19
28
26
33
29
26
28
28
30
22
24

53
89
140
116
124
143
152
116
127
151
213
402

5
6
8
7
8
5
6
7
7
6
5
3

151 !|

12
22
32
26
29
17
13
28
9
36
20
46

Total..

316

1,826

73

761 |

290




19
31
67
47
54
73
69
46 |
52 |
i
61

91

Against
obnox­
ious
treat­
ment.

!1 Against
i dis| charge
; of em: ployees.

5
2
5
13
9
5
10
4
2 !
26 i!;
3 1
;

35
:1
40
32
36
40
36
36
37
5i
70
130

66

574

Against i
obnox­ j Other
ious | causes.
rules.

16
8
12
18
20
18
14
15
25
15
30
16

'
I
1
;

207 |

31
37
34
45
39
40
53
33
36
33
43
52
476

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— AUSTRIA.

6 73

The following table shows, for both strikes and strikers, during
each year of the period, the results expressed in percentages:
STRIKES, B Y RESULTS, 1894 TO 1905.
Strikes.
Year.

Strikers.

cent
cent
Per cent Per
cent Per
suc­
Per cent Number. Per
suc­
Per cent
Number.
suc­
suc­
failed.
ceeded
failed.
ceeded
ceeded.
ceeded.
partly.
partly.

1894.............................
1895.............................
1896.............................
1897.............................
1898.............................
1899.............................
1900.............................
1901.............................
1902.............................
1903.............................
1904.............................
1905.............................

172
209
305
246
255
311
303
270
264
324
414
686

25.0
26.8
21.0
17.5
18.8
15.4
20.2
20.7
19.7
17.3
24.4
21.8

27.9
24.9
36.4
37.0
41.2
45.0
44.9
36.3
39.0
43.5
44.4
51.2

47.1
48.3
42.6
45.5
40.0
39.6
34.9
43.0
41.3
39.2
31.2
27.0

67,061
28,652
66,234
38,467
39,658
54,763
105,128
24,870
37,471
46,215
64,227
99,591

9.2
12.8
4.6
15.7
8.4
10.2
4.7
20.1
13.8
10.0
18.6
14.0

37.3
60.7
62.8
47.8
66.4
72.0
85.5
47.8
52.7
68.0
41.3
71.6

53.5
26.5
32.6
36.5
25.2
17.8
9.8
32.1
33.5
22.0
40.1
14.4

Total....................

3,759

20.7

41.7

37.6

672,337

10.9

62.3

26.8

L o c k o u t s . — There were 6 lockouts reported in 1904, 1 each being
due to the attempts of employees to form a union, to the demand of
employees for the abolition of piecework and for a nine-hour day,
and to the demand for reduction of hours, while 3 were undertaken to
force strikers in other departments to resume wrork.
In 1905 there were 17 lockouts, of which 8 were undertaken to
compel strikers to return to work, 3 were against unionism, 4 against
demands of employees for increase of wages, and in 2 cases the lock­
outs were caused by cessation of work by the employees, without
obtaining the permission of the employers.
The summary relating to lockouts wras compiled from the reports
of 1904 and 1905.
The following table contains statistics of lockouts for the period
1894 to 1905:
LOCKOUTS, B Y YEARS, 1894 TO 1905.

Year.

1894.................................................................................
1895
....................................................................
1896
....................................................................
1897
....................................................................
1898
....................................................................
1899.................................................................................
1900.................................................................................
1901.................................................................................
1902.................................................................................
1903.................................................................................
1904.................................................................................
1905.................................................................................




Lock­
outs.

Estab­ Persons
lishments locked
involved.
out.

Per cent
of per­
sons
locked
out of
total em­
ployees.

Persons
locked
out and
reem­
ployed.

8
10
11

17
211
12

2,317
5,445
1,712

51.2
79.5
54.4

2,183
4,589
1,647

5
10
3
8
8
6
17

38
58
3
9
71
605
448

3,457
4,036
302
1,050
1,334
23,742
11,197

60.9
75.8
70.4
49.9
51.8
99.2
75.2

3,448
3,703
302
1,003
905
23,717
9,614

674

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

FRANCE.
Statistique des Greves^et des Recours d la Concilation et d VArbitrage
Survenus Pendant VAnnee 1905 . Direction du Travail, Ministere

du Commerce, de lTndustrie et du Travail,

xix, 684 pp.

The present volume is the fifteenth of a series of annual reports on
strikes and conciliation and arbitration issued by the French labor
bureau. The information is presented in the same form as in previous
reports.
S t r i k e s . — During the year 1905 there were 830 strikes, involving
5,302 establishments, 177,666 strikers, and 18,146 other persons thrown
out of work on account of strikes. Of the strikers, 144,127 were men,
26,606 were women, and 6,933 were children. The strikes caused a
total loss of 2,522,030 working-days by strikers and 224,654 by other
employees thrown out of work, or a total of 2,746,684 working-days.
In 1904 there were 1,026 strikes, in which 271,097 strikers were
involved and 37,943 other employees were thrown out of work, caus­
ing an aggregate loss of 3,934,884 working-days. The average number
of days lost per striker in 1905 was 14, as compared with 12 in 1904.
Of the 830 strikes in 1905, 604 involved but 1 establishment each,
86 involved from 2 to 5 establishments, 37 from 6 to 10 establishments,
50 from 11 to 25 establishments, 33 from 26 to 50 establishments, and
9 from 51 to 100 establishments. Of the remaining strikes, 10
involved over 100 establishments each, while for 1 strike the number
of establishments could not be ascertained. In 677 strikes, all or a
part of the striking employees were organized. The employers were
organized in 337 strikes. Thirty-four workingmen’s unions and 9
employers’ associations were organized during the progress of or
immediately following strikes. In 56 strikes regular aid was given
by labor organizations to their striking members, and in some cases
to strikers not members.
Of the 830 strikes, 184, or 22.2 per cent,-involving 22,872 strikers,
succeeded; 361 strikes, or 43.5 per cent, involving 125,016 strikers,
succeeded partly, and 285 strikes, or 34.3 per cent, involving 29,778
strikers, failed. The percentage of strikers involved in the three
classes of strikes was 12.9 per cent, 70.4 per cent, and 16.7 per cent,
respectively. In 343 strikes, the striking employees were time
workers, while in 209 they worked by the piece, and in the remaining
278, by both time and piece.
The two tables following show, by groups of industries, the number
of strikes, strikers, and establishments involved, according to the




6 75

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- FRANCE,

results of strikes; also tlie days of work lost by all employees, and the
number of strikers per 1,000 working people in each group o f '
industries:
STRIKES AND ESTABLISHMENTS INVOLVED, B Y INDUSTRIES AND RESULTS, 1905.
Succeeded
partly.

Succeeded.
Industry.
Strikes.

Agriculture, forestry, and fish­
eries............................................
M i n i n g .......................................................................

Quarrying.....................................
Foods and drinks.........................
Chemical products (including
t o b a c c o )...................................
Paper and printing......................
Leather and hides........................
Textiles.........................................
Wearing apparel,cleaning,etc...
W ood working, carved mate­
rials, etc.....................................
Building trades (woodwork)___
Metallurgical.................................
Metal working, machinery, in­
struments, apparatus, etc.......
Jewelry, gold and silver working.
Stonecutting, products of stone,
clay, glass, etc...........................
Building trades (stone and
earth w ork )...............................
Transportation, commerce, e tc ..
Total....................................

Failed.

Total.

Estab­
Estab­
Estab­
EstabIish- Strikes. lish­ Strikes. lish­ Strikes. lish­
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.
4

6
3
2
3

83
3
2
48

15
8
9
13

510
12
34
325

9
6
9
12

97
6
12
55

30
17
20
28

690
21
48
428

8
7
34
33
5

38
7
141
33
5

13
12
35
54
7

15
76
106
190
123

13
13
25
43
16

-13
13
30
64
32

34
32
94
130
28

66
96
277
287
160

6
6
3

13
80
3

23
6 :
7

284
74
16

17
6
4

19
16
7

46
18
14

316
170
26

17
1

26
1

49
1

132
1

46
2

170
2

112
4

328
4

4

9

22

114

7

7

33

130

22
24

369
73

54
33

1,071
516

27
30

50
176

103
87

1,400
765

184

934

361 | 3,599

285

769

830

5,302

STRIK ER S AND DAYS OF W O R K LOST B Y A L L EMPLOYEES THROW N OUT OF W O R K
B Y STRIK ES IN 1905, B Y INDUSTRIES.
Strikers in strikes
which—

Industry.

Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries......................
Mining................................................................... .
Quarrying................................................................
Foods and. drinks....................................................
Chemical products (including t o b a c c o )............
Paper and printing.................................................
Leather and hides...................................................
Textiles..... .............................................................
Wearing apparel, cleaning, e t c ............................
W ood working, carved materials, e t c .................
Building trades (woodwork)................................
Metallurgical...........................................................
Metal working, machinery, instruments, appa­
ratus, etc..............................................................
Jewelry, gold and silver working.........................
Stonecutting, products of stone, clay, glass, etc.
Building trades (stone and earth w o r k ).............
Transportation, commerce, etc............................

Strikers
per
1,000
Total working
strikers. people
Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
in each
Failed.
ceeded. partly.
indus­
try, (a)

Days of
work
lost by
all em­
ployees
thrown
out of
work.

527
239
1,568
135
1,725
1,270
4,377
2,816
322
206
604
836

2,127
3,878
1.179
1,677
3,549
1,107
8,559
18,722
1,132
14,050
366
2.179

995
1,048
1,979
1,080
1,419
514
3,2983,908
579
662
237
2,536

3,649
5,165
4,726
2,892
6,693
2,891
16,234
25,446
2,033
14,918
1,297
5,551

1.10
33.20
85.01
4.81
63.08
23.94
96.07
39.92
4.66
66.36
(*>)
. 99.63

34,722
89,658
84,102
13,989
50,215
21,609
246,515
647,894
17,498
462,262
16,626
52,007

3,173
10
415
3,014
1,545

19,839 *3,528
55
25
12,392
293
2,436
25,605
5,241
8,600

26,540
90
13,100
31,055
15,386

63.90
4.41
89.90
C62.20
24.62

237,096
2,760
201,752
473,011
94,968

177,666

d 41.43

2,746,684

Total............................................................... 22,872

125,016

29,778

a Based on the census of 1896.
&Included in building trades (stone, and earth work),
c Including building trades (woodwork).
d Based on the total number of Industrial working people in France.

Of the 17 groups of industries above shown, 3, namely, textiles,
metal working, etc., and building trades (stone and earth work),



676

BULXiETTK OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

together furnished 41.6 per cent of the total number of strikes dur­
ing the year. With regard to the number of strikers, these 3 groups
furnished 46.7 per cent. The principal data as to strikes are shown
by causes in the two tables following:
STRIKES, BY CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the totals for this
table, if computed, would not agree with those for preceding tables.]
Succeeded
partly.

Succeeded.
Cause or object.
Strikes.

For increase of wages................
Against reduction of w ages___
For reduction of hours with
present or increased wages. . .
Relating to time, method, etc.,
of wage payments...................
For or against modification of
conditions of work..................
Against piecework......................
For or against modification of
shop rules.................................
For abolition or reduction of
fines...........................................
Against discharge or for rein­
statement of workmen, fore­
men, or superintendents.........
For discharge of workmen, fore­
men, or superintendents.........
For limitation of number of ap­
prentices...................................
Relating to deductions from
wages for support of insur­
ance and aid funds..................
Other causes................................

Failed.

Total.

EstabEstab­
Estab­
Estab­
lish- Strikes.
lish­
Strikes. lish­ Strikes. lish­
ments.
ments.
ments.
ments.

113
17

791
110

225
11

2,997
18

133
13

48
01

1,018

47

1,207

38

490

26

278

46

19
21

85
621

13
13

125
284

24
33

84
181

26

405

7

92

34

10

166

9

14

7

33

51

23

50

32

42

23

52

2

136

10
12

334
124

3
11

311
15

471
41

4,099
143

443

133

2,668

179

133

947

56
67

294
1,086

80

67

577

11

26

191

86

333

142

434

74

179

129

273

5

141

7

277

3
35

3
403

16
58

342
627

5
100

ST RIK ER S AND DAYS OF W O R K LOST B Y A L L EM PLOYEES TH ROW N OUT OF W O R K
ON ACCOUNT OF STRIKES IN 1905, B Y CAUSES.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the totals for this table,
if computed, would not agree with those for preceding tables.]
Strikers in strikes
which—

Cause or object.

For increase of wages.............................................................
Against reduction of wages...................................................
For reduction of hours of labor with present or increased
wages....................................................................................
Relating to timd, method, etc., of wage p aym ents..........
For or against modification of conditions of w o r k ...........
Against piecework..................................................................
For or against modification of shop rules...........................
For abolition or reduction of fines.......................................
Against discharge or for reinstatement of workmen, fore­
men, or superintendents....................................................
For discharge of workmen, foremen, or superintendents .
For limitation of number of apprentices.............................
Relating to deductions from wages for support of insur­
ance and aid funds...............................................................
Other causes............................................................................

Days of
work
lost by
Total
all em­
Suc­
strikers. ployees
Suc­
ceeded Failed.
thrown
ceeded. partly.
out of
work.
13,941
2,011

92,502
1,305

17,529
2,080

123,972
5,396

2,025,595
97,333

20,947
11,749
2,459
22,421
16,999
15,334

27,019
6,515
9,254
3,923
8,917
3,341

4,952
13,457
2,960
8,038
7,733
2,566

52,918
31,721
14,673
34,382
33,649
21,241

1,137,040
549,961
500,208
695,175
929,297
553,443

4,392
11,145
4,544

5,487
12,848

30,458
29,629
6,417

40,337
53,622
10,961

490,188
479,820
145,567

4,355
7,806

767
16,570

499
10,603

5,621
34,979

90,605
458,968

The most frequent causes of strikes during the year were wage
disputes, the demands for increased wages, alone or in conjunction




677

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----FRAN C E.

with other demands, having figured in 471 strikes (56.7 per cent of
the total number of strikes for the year), involving 123,972 strikers
(69.8 per cent of the total number of strikers) and causing a loss of
2,025,595 working days, which includes days lost by persons other
than strikers who were thrown out of employment on account of
strikes. Of these demands, 113 were successful for 13,941 strikers,
225 partly successful for 92,502 strikers, and 133, involving 17,529
strikers, failed. The next two tables show, respectively, the results
of strikes by duration and the duration and results of strikes by
number of strikers involved.
STRIKES, B Y DU RATIO N AND RESULTS, 1905.
Strikes.
Days of duration.

Strikers.

Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total.
ceeded. partly.

Suc­
ceeded.

Suc­
ceeded
partly.

Failed.

Total.

7 or under.................................
8 to 15........................................
16 to 30......................................
31 to 100....................................
101 or over...............................

142
23
8
11

173
79
56
48
5

171
57
30
24
3

486
159
94
83
8

16,879
1,623
2,632
1,738

42,809
21,055
25,851
34,554
747

9,448
8,083
2,907
8,666
674

69,136
30,761
31,390
44,958
1,421

T otal...............................

184

361

285

830

22,872-

125,016

29,778

177,606

STRIKES IN WHICH EACH CLASSIFIED NUMBER OF STRIK ERS W ERE INVOLVED, B Y
RESULTS AND DU RATION , 1905.
Strikes Strikers involved in each
strike.

Strikes which lasted—

Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
Failed. Total.
ceeded. partly.

7 days 8 to 15 16 to 30 31 to
or un­ days. days.
100
der.
days.

101
days or
over.

25 or under............................
26 to 50...................................
51 to 100.................................
101 to 200................................
201 to 500................................
501 to 1,000.............................
1,001 or over..........................

45
40
45
23
22
8
1

65
70
77
49
61
* 16
23

I ll
67
41
35
20
7
4

221
177
163
107
103
31
28

162
107
100
53
45
13
6

34
41
26
20
26
5
7

17
14
20
17
16
4
6

8
14
15
15
14
8
9

1
2
2
2
1

T otal............................

184

361

285

830

486

159

94

83

8

Considered by their duration, the largest percentage of successful
strikes was found in strikes which las'ted 7 days or under. In strikes
of this class 29.22 per cent were successful, while of those which
continued for more than 7 days only 12.21 per cent terminated
favorably to the strikers. In the classes 8 to 15 days and 16 to 30
days, the percentages of successful strikes were 14.47 and 8.51,
respectively. Of strikes lasting more than 30 days, 12.09 per cent
were successful. The following table gives a summary of the most
important strike statistics for each of the years 1894 to 1905. The
figures for the years 1894 to 1904 have been compiled from previous
reports and those for 1905 from the present report.
304 b — No. 70— 07------ 14




678

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
STRIKES, B Y Y EA R S, 1894 TO 1905.

Year.

Strikes.

1894..........
1895..........
1896..........
1897..........
1898..........
1899..........
1900..........
1901..........
1902..........
1903..........
1904..........
1905..........

Estab­
lish­
ments.

391
1,731
1,298
405
476
2,178
356
2,568
368
1,967
4,288
739
902
10,253
523
6,970
512 |
1,820
3,246
567 1i
1,026
17,250
5,302
830
1

Strikers in strikes
Aggregate
Strikes which—
which—
days of
work lost
Strikers. by employ­
Suc­
Suc­
ees thrown Suc­
Suc­ ceeded
ceeded Failed. ceeded.
Failed.
out of
ceeded. partly.
partly.
work.
54,576
45,801
49,851
68,875
82,065
176,772
222,714
111,414
212,704
123,151
271,097
177,666

1,062,480
617,469
644,168
780,944
1,216,306
3,550,734
3,760,577
1,862,050
4,675,081
2,441,944
3,934,884
2,746,684

84
100
117
68
75
180
205
114
111
122
297
184

129
117
122
122
123
282
360
195
184
222
394
361

178
188
237
166
170
277
337
214
217
223
335
285

12,897
8,565
11,579
19,838
10,594
21,131
24,216
9,364
23,533
12,526
53,555
22,872

24,784
20,672
17,057
28,767
32,546
124,767
140,358
44,386
160,820
89,736
168,034
125,016

16,895
16,564
21,215
20,270
38,925
30,874
58,140
57,664
28,351
20,889
49,508
29,778

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 .— During the year recourse to the
law of December 27, 1892, relating to the conciliation and arbitra­
tion (°) of labor disputes, was had in 246 disputes. In 16 cases
recourse was had to the law before entire cessation of work had
occurred, in 3 of which the demands of the employees were acceded
to, in 3 cases a compromise was effected, and in 4 cases the employees
receded from their demands. In 2 cases, upon the refusal of the
employers to present themselves, strikes were declared,, resulting in 1
compromise and 1 failure. In the remaining 4 cases committees of
conciliation were formed, but in none of these was a strike averted. The
number of disputes in which the application of the law was requested
in 1905 is equal to 29.64 per cent of the number of strikes that actu­
ally occurred during the year. During the preceding twelve-year
period such recourse was had in a number of disputes, equal to 23.97
per cent o f the total strikes for the period. Requests for the applica­
tion of the law during 1905 were made by employees in 88 disputes,
by employers in 4 disputes, and by employees and employers united
in 6 disputes. In the 148 other disputes in which recourse was had
to the law the initiative was taken by justices of the peace.
As for results, it was found that 7 strikes had terminated by agree­
ment between employers and employees before committees of con­
ciliation were formed. The offer of conciliation was rejected in 68
of the 239 remaining disputes, the rejection coming from employers in
51 cases, from the employees in 8 cases, and from both employers and
employees in 9 cases. In 10 of the 68 eases in which conciliation was
rejected the dispute was terminated by the employees withdrawing
their demands or accepting concessions previously offered, while in
the 58 other cases strikes were declared or continued.
Committees of conciliation were constituted for the settlement of
the remaining 171 disputes. Ninety-six of these disputes were
a For the provisions of this law see Bulletin of the Department of Labor, No. 25,
pp. 854-856.




679

FOREIGN* STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----FRAN CE.

settled directly by such committees, and of the 75 disputes remain­
ing 7 were settled by arbitration and 14 were settled by the parties
themselves, after having appeared without success before commit­
tees of conciliation. Strikes were declared or continued after the
failure of conciliation and arbitration in the 54 remaining disputes.
The following is a summary statement in regard to (Jisputes in
which recourse was had to the law concerning conciliation and arbi­
tration during 1905 and for the preceding twelve years, taken
collectively:
SUMMARY OF CASES IN WHICH RECOURSE WAS HAD TO THE LAW CONCERNING
CONCILIATION AND A R B ITR A T IO N , 1893 TO 1904 AND 1905.
1893 to
1904.

Item.

1905.

Total number of strikes....................................................................................................
Disputes in which recourse was had to the law of 1892................................................

6,893
1,652

830
246

Disputes settled:
Before the creation of committees of conciliation...............................................
After refusal of request for conciliation...............................................................
Directly by committees of conciliation...................... .........................................
By arbitration.........................................................................................................
Directly by the parties, after having had recourse to conciliation..................

90
82
462
62
41

7
10
96
7
14

Total cases settled through the application of the law ..................................

737

134

Strikes resulting or continuing:
After refusal of request for conciliation...............................................................
After failure of recourse to conciliation and arbitration...................................

533
382

58
54

Total cases of failure after application of the law...........................................

915

112

The above summary shows that of 246 disputes considered in 1905,
134 were settled directly or indirectly through the application of the
law of 1892, and in the case of 112 the recourse to the law proved
fruitless. Of the 134 disputes settled, 19 were favorable to the
demands of the employees, 97 resulted in a compromise, and 18 were
unfavorable to the employees. In the 112 disputes which continued
after the failure of attempts at conciliation and arbitration the
employees succeeded in 9, partly succeeded in 60, and failed in 43
cases.
GERMANY.
Streiks und Aussperrungen im Jdhre 1905.

lichen Statistischen Amt.

Rearbeitet im Kaiser-

558 pp.

This is the seventh annual report on strikes and lockouts issued
by the German imperial statistical bureau. The report contains
analyses and summaries of the strikes and lockouts in 1905, copies of
schedules of inquiry, an outline of the methods pursued by the bureau
in the collection and compilation of strike and lockout data, a descrip­
tive account of the principal disputes in 1905, and tables showing in
detail, by locality and industry for each dispute, the duration, num­
ber of establishments affected, total number of employees, strikers,
and others thrown out of employment, causes, results, manner of
settlement, etc. .The data relate to disputes ending in 1905.



680

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

S t r i k e s . — During 1905 there were 2,403 strikes reported, affecting
14,481 establishments. Operations were completely suspended in
3,665 establishments. Of a total of 776,984 employees in the estab­
lishments affected, 408,145 participated in the strikes and 12,015
others were thrown out of employment.
The following table shows the results of the strikes in 1905:
STRIKES, B Y RESULTS, 1905.
fThe column headed "Strikers” shows the maximum number of strikers at any time during strike.]
Total em­
Establish­ ployees in
ments
establish­
affected.
ments
affected.

Strikes.

Result.

Strikers.

Others
thrown out
of work.

Succeeded......................................................
Succeeded partly..........................................
Failed.............................................................

528
971
904

1,704
9,076
3,701

58,771
306,149
412,064

‘ 25,034
122,351
260,760

2,185
6,870
2,960

T otal....................................................

2,403

14,481

776,984

408,145

12,015

The number of strikes that failed was 37.6 per cent of the total, while
the proportion of persons participating in unsuccessful strikes was 63.9
per cent of the total number of strikers. Only 6.1 per cent of the
strikers, representing 11.8 per cent of the establishments affected,
. were engaged in successful strikes.
The following table shows, by principal groups of industries, the
number and results of strikes, the number of establishments and
strikers involved, and the number of other employees thrown out of
work on account of strikes during the year 1905:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1905.
[The column headed “ Strikers” shows the maximum number of strikers at any time during strike.]
Striikes whi<;h—

Industry.

Total
strikes.

....................

9
44
121
187
160
9
9
86
27
76
372
54
171
865
39
4
73
92
2
3

Total........................................................

2,403

Gardening, florist, and nursery trades..........
Mining, metallurgical, salt, etc.......................
Quarrying, products of stone, clay, glass, etc.
Metal working...................................................
Machinery, instruments, apparatus, e tc.......
Chemical products............................................
Oil, fat, soap, gas, etc......................................
Textiles..............................................................
Paper..................................................................
Leather...............................................................
W ood working, carved materials, etc............
Foods and drinks (including tobacco)..........
Wearing apparel, cleaning, etc........................
Building trades.................................................
Printing..............................................................
Ai*t trades
.
................. ^..... ................
Commerce..........................................................
Transportation.................................................
Hotels
etc____________ _______
other

Testa.nrs.rits,




Other
em­
Estab­ Strik­ ployees
Suc­
lish­
ers.
thrown
Suc­ ceeded
ceeded. partly. Failed. ments.
out of
work.
1
6
32
32
29
16
4
15
75
7
29
228
11
20
22

.

5
23
43
67
72
3
4
36
9
39
163
18
98
316
13
2
24
35
1

3
15
46
88
59
6
5
34
14
22
134
29
44
321
15
2
29
35
1
2

125
370
282 231,453
346
5,751
1,607 12,159
331 19,502
541
19
11
438
158 12,526
67
1,449
838
4,674
2,122 17,939
574
5,380
1,928 25,195
5,408 59,893
47
1,332
41
10
330
5,575
271
3,819
2
49
5
59

56
546
81
85
318
42
758
6,612
58

971

904

14,481 408,145

12,015

1
528

972
873
908
368

208
116
14

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----GERM ANY,

681

The group of building trades, as in previous years, had the largest
number of strikes and establishments affected, 865, or 36 per cent of
all the strikes, and 5,408, or 37.3 per cent of all the establishments, being
in this industry. Of the strikes in the building trades, 37.1 per cent
were failures. The largest number of strikers are found in the group
of mining, .metallurgical, salt, etc., industries, 231,453, or 56.7 per
cent of the total strikers during 1905, being persons engaged in these
industries. The number of strikers in these two groups of industries
constituted 71.4 per cent of the total.
The next two tables show, respectively, the results of strikes accord­
ing to their duration and according to the number of strikers involved:
STRIKES, B Y DU RATIO N 1905.
[The column headed 4‘ Strikers ” shows the maximum number of strikers at any time during strike.]
Strikes which—
Days of duration.

Total
strikes.

Suc­
ceeded.

Suc­
ceeded
partly.

Failed.

Estab­
lish­
ments.

Strikers.

Other
em­
ployees
thrown
out of
work.

Less than 1.................................
1 to 5............................................
6 to 10..........................................
11 to 20........................................
21 to 30........................................
31 to 50.......................................
51 to 100......................................
101 or over..................................

169
879
392
327
199
190
171
76

60
258
89
59
27
13
18
4

30
319
182
146
98
91
76
29

79
302
121
122
74
86
77
43

223
3,340
2,038
2,185
1,490
2,201
1,378
1,626.

4,796
54,314
23,591
25,660
28,419
229,808
24,396
17,161

262
4,395
1,507
1,229
1,419
1,830
521
852

T otal.................................

2,403

528

971

904

14,481

408,145

12,015

STRIKES, B Y NUMBER OF STRIK ERS INVOLVED, 1905.
[The column headed “ Strikers” shows the maximum number of strikers at any time during strike.]
Strikes which—
Total
Strikers involved in each strike. strikes.

Suc­
ceeded.

Suc­
ceeded
partly.

Failed.

Estab­
lish­
ments.

Strikers.

Other
em­
ployees
thrown
out of
work.

2 to 5...........................................
6 to 10..........................................
11 to 20........................................
21 to 30........................................
31 to 50........................................
51 to 100......................................
101 to 200.....................................
201 to 500.....................................
501 or over..................................

167
357
466
352
319
361
207
106
68

35
91
110
85
72
80
32
20
3

40
76
173
130
149
177
119
57
50

92
190
183
137
98
104
56
29
15

189
438
738
887
961
1,954
1,809
3,512
3,993

633
2,841
7,107
8,875
12,482
25,770
28,298
31,851
290,288

194
416
818
683
1,022
2,108
1,845
1,994
2,935

Total.................................

2,403

528

971

904

14,481

408,145

J2,015




6 82

BULLETIN OE TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR,

The foDowing table shows the results of strikes in 1905, by causes:
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence totals for this table, if
computed, would not agree with those for the preceding tables.]
Strikes which
Total
strikes.

Cause or object.

Against reduction of wages............................................................
For iAcrease of wages......................................................................
For extra rate for overtime...........................................................
For extra pay for secondary work................................................
Other cause® affecting wages.........................................................
Against increase of hours...............................................................
For reduction of hours....................................................................
For abolition or limitation of overtime work..............................
For reduction of hours on Saturday.............................................
Against introduction of overtime work.......................................
For regular hours............................................................................
Other causes affecting hours of labor...........................................
For change in method of payment................................................
Against change in method of payment.........................................
For reinstatement of discharged employees................................
For discharge or against employment of certain persons.........
For discharge of foremen, etc........................................................
Against being compelled to work on holidays.............................
For better sanitary conditions, e tc...............................................
Against use of material from establishment in which strike was
pending.............................. .........................................................
F or better treatment.... .................................................................
For recognition of committee of employees.................................
F or adoption, retention, or change of wage scale........................
Other causes...................................... «.............................................

Suc­
ceeded.

91
1,558
328
157
317
•11
482
77
109
4
54
112
92
13
331
105
55
18
82

30
291
45
24
60
7
51
8
11

33
48
170
356
441

Suc­
ceeded ' Failed.
partly, j

16

30
794
210
97
172
1
289
47
73
3
28
65
47
8
79
15
18
12
32

31
473
73
36
85
3
142
22
25
1
15
33
30
3
194
71
33
6
34

7
8
22
79
67

9
20
90
188
233

17
20
58
89
141

11
14
15
2
58
19
4

The results of strikes for the seven-year period 1899 to 1905 are
shown in the following table:
STRIKES, B Y RESULTS, 1899 TO 1905.
Strikes which—
Year.

1899.......
1900.......
1901.......
1902.......
1903.......
1904.......
1905.......

Total
strikes.

1,288
1,433
1,056
1,060
1,374
1,870
2,403

Succeeded,

j Succeeded partly.

cent | NumNum­ Per
of total j! ber.
ber.
strikes, j
331
275
200
228
300
449
528

25.7
19.2
18.9
21.5
21.8
24.0
22.0

429
505
285
235
444
688
971

Total
em­
Estab­
ployees
lish­
in
estab­ Strikers.
ments
lish­
Per cent affected.
ments
of total
affected.
strikes.

Failed.

Per cent
of total
strikes.

Num­
ber.

33.3
35.2
27.0
22.2
32.3
36.8
40.4

528
653
571
597
630
733
904

41.0
45.6
54.1
56.3
45.9
39.2
37.6

7,121
7,740
4,56i
3,437
7,000
10,321
14,481

256,858
298,819
141.220
131,086
198,636
273,364
776,984

99,338
122,803
55,262
53,912
85,603
113,480
408,145

L o c k o u t s . — During 1905 there were 254 lockouts reported, affect­
ing 8,859 establishments. Of a total of 188,526 employees in the
establishments affected, 118,665 were locked out and 3,739 others
were thrown out of employment on account of the lockouts.




FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G E R M A N Y .

683

The following table shows the results of the lockouts in 1905:
LOCKOUTS, B Y RESULTS, 1905.
[The column headed “ Persons locked o u t” shows the maximum number of persons locked out at any­
time during lockout.]

Lockouts.

Result.

Total em- ;1
Others
Establish­ |ployees in
Persons thrown
ments
establish­ locked
out
out. of work.
ments
affected.
! affected.

Succeeded......................................................
Succeeded p artly..........................................
Failed............................................................

65
147
42

622
2,597
640

42,548
136,847
9,131

T otal...................................................

254

3,859 |
I

188,526

i

|

23,533
91,515
3,617

646
3,053
40

118,665

3,739

Of the lockouts in 1905, 25.6 per cent were successful from the
standpoint of the .employers, 57.9 per cent were partly successful, and
16.5 per cent were complete failures.
The following table shows, by principal groups of industries, the
number and results of lockouts, the number of establishments and
persons involved in lockouts, and the number of other employees
throwm out of work on account of lockouts during the year 1905:
LOCKOUTS, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1905.
[The column headed “ Persons locked ou t” shows the maximum number of persons locked out at any
time during lockout.]

Industry.

Loci :outs wh ich—
Other
em­
Total
Estab­ Persons ployees
lish­
lock­
Suc­
locked thrown
Suc­
outs. ceeded. ceeded Failed. ments.
out.
out of
partly.
work.

Quarrying, products of stone, clay, glass,
etc.................................................................
Metal working................................................
Machinery, instruments, apparatus, etc---Textiles...........................................................
Leather.................................. ........................
Wood working, carved materials, e t c .........
Foods and drinks (including tobacco).......
Wearing apparel, cleaning, etc....................
Building trades..............................................
Printing..........................................................
Commerce.......................................................

12
11
19
38
3
21
37
20
89
1
3

7
5
10
8
1
4
11
1
16
2

2
6
8
29
1
10
3
19
67
1
1

Total.....................................................

254

65

147

3
i
1
1
7
23
6

42

72
233
62
221
20
1,159
133
496
1,451
1
11

1,547
7,400
54,197
24,187
794
5,424
1,157
4,546
18,883
18
512

3,859

118,665

591
1,128

1
2,019

3,739

The group of building trades had the largest number of lockouts
and establishments affected, 35 per cent of all the lockouts and 37.6
per cent of all the establishments affected belonging to this industry.
Of the lockouts in this group of trades, 18 per cent were successful,
75.3 per cent were partly successful, and 6.7 per cent were complete
failures. The largest number of persons locked out are found in the
group of machinery, instruments, apparatus, etc., industries, 54,197,
or 45.7 per cent of the total number of persons locked out, being
engaged in these industries. Next in importance with regard to the
•number of persons involved are the groups of textiles and the building
trades. Of all the persons locked out, 82 per cent belonged to these
three groups of industries.



684 '

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

The next two tables show, respectively, the results of lockouts
according to their duration and according to the number of persons
locked out:
LOCKOUTS, B Y DURATION, 1905.
[The column headed “ Persons locked ou t” shows the maximum number of persons locked out at any
time during lockout.]
Loci routs which—

Total
lock­
outs.

Days of duration.

Other
em­
Estab­ Persons ployees
lish­
Suc­
locked thrown
Suc­ ceeded
out.
ceeded. partly. Failed. ments.
out of
work.

Less than 1 .....................................................
1 t o 5 ..1 ...........................................................
6 to 10...............................................................
11 to 20..........................- .................................
21 to 30.............................................................
31 to 50.............................................................
51 to 100..................................... t....................
101 or over....................................... •..............

6
22
23
51
25
29
71
27

3
11
8
10
7
5
6
15

5
13
40
17
22
43
7

3
6
2
1
1
2
22*
5

35
93
145
607
776
410
688
1,105

148
3,589
8,916
25,694
45,989
13,095
8,307
12,927

15
631
148
186
70
977
1,712

Total......................................................

254

65

147

42

3,859

118,665

3,739

LOCKOUTS, B Y NUMBER OF PERSONS LOCKED OUT, 1905.
[The column headed “ Persons locked ou t” shows the maximum number of persons locked out at any
time during lockout.]

Persons locked out in each lockout.

Lockouts which—
Other
em­
Total
Estab­ Persons ployees
lock­
Suc­
lish­
locked thrown
Suc­
outs. ceeded. ceeded Failed. ments.
out.
out of
partly.work.

2 to 5................................................................
6 to 10...............................................................
11 to 20.............................................................
21 to 30.............................................................
31 to 50............................................................
51 to 100...........................................................
101 to 200..........................................................
201 to 500..........................................................
501 or over......................................................

16
18
25
16
20
37
44
32
46

6
3
9
4
10
2
11
10
10

1
8
10
10
6
29
28
21
34

9
7
6
2
4
6
5
1
2

17
25
50
34
99
302
519
603
2,210

44
139
385
409
797
2,648
6,296
10,217
97,730

24
4
55
41
343
528
2,744

Total......................................................

254

65

147

42

3,859

118,665

3,739

The following table shows the causes and results of lockouts in 1905,
the cause and not the lockout being taken as a unit:
LOCKOUTS, B Y CAUSES, 1905.
[Lockouts due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence totals for this
table, if computed, would not agree with those for the preceding tables.]
Lockouts which—
Cause or object.

Against increase of wages.............................................................
For reduction of wages..................................................................
Other causes affecting wages............................. ..........................
Against reduction of hours...........................................................
For increase of hours.....................................................................
For retention of overtime w ork...................................................
For introduction of contract w ork.............................................
T o compel employees to leave union...........................................
To force settlement of strikes.......................................................
Other causes....................................................................................




Total
lockouts.

18
2
10
10
1
2
3
22
193
43

Suc­
ceeded.

Suc­
ceeded
partly.

3
1
3
3
1
1

13

1

2
9
124
24

6
42
9

Failed.

2

1

7
7
1
7

V

10

FOREIGN

685

STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G E R M A N Y .

The results of lockouts for the seven-year period 1899 to 1905 are
shown in the table following:
LOCKOUTS, B Y KESULTS, 1899 TO 1905.
Lockouts which—

Year.

1899.......
1900.......
1901.......
1902.......
1903.......
1904.......
1905.......

Total
lock­
outs.

23
35
35
46
70
120
254

Succeeded.

Succeeded
partly.

Total
Estab­ employ­
ees
in Persons
lish­
estab­
locked
ments
lish­
out.
Per cent affected.
ments
of total
affected.
lock­
outs.

Failed.

Num­
ber.

Per cent
of total
lock­
outs.

Num­
ber.

Per cent
of total
lock­
outs.

Num­
ber.

6
13
16
30
36
44
65

26.1
37.1
45.7
65.2
51.4
36.7
25.6

9
17
8
7
15
33
147

39.1
48.6
22.9
15.2
21.4
27.5
57.9

8
5
11
9
19
43
42

34.8
14.3
31.4
19.6
27.2
35.8
16.5

427
607
238
948
1,714
1,115
3,859

8,290
22,462
7,980
18,705
52,541
36,312
188,526

5,298
9,085
5,414
10,305
35,273
23,760
118,665

GREAT BRITAIN .
Report on Strikes and Lockouts and on Conciliation and Arbitration
Boards in the United Kingdom in 1905 . 1906. 152 pp. (Pub­

lished by the Labor Department of the British Board of Trade.)
This report is the eighteenth of a series of annual reports, begun in
1888, on strikes and lockouts. It presents statistics for strikes and
lockouts beginning in 1905, and of trade disputes settled by con­
ciliation or arbitration boards. Summary tables are also given
making general comparison of results in 1905 with the results of each
of the four previous years, 1901 to 1904.
Figures are given showing by industries, causes, and results the
number of strikes and lockouts, persons directly and indirectly
involved, and days lost. A list of trade disputes (involving cessation
of work) settled in 1905 by conciliation or arbitration is given and
tables are presented summarizing, by industries, the work of the per­
manent and district conciliation and arbitration boards.
Strikes and lockouts in which the number of persons involved was
less than 10 , or which lasted less than one day, unless the aggregate
days lost exceeded 100 days, are not included in the report.
Appendixes show the method used in classifying causes of trade
disputes, rules of conciliation boards formed in 1905, trade dispute
statistics for each year of the period 1893 to 1905, great labor disputes
1888 to 1904, etc.
S t r i k e s a n d L o c k o u t s i n 1905.— The number of strikes and lock­
outs and the number of work people affected by them in 1905 were
slightly in excess of those for the year 1904, but were less than for any
year during the period 1893 to 1903. The aggregate days lost in 1905
by reason of strikes and lockouts exceeded the number for 1903 and
1904, but was less than in any year during the period from 1893 to
1902.



686

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

During the year there were 358 strikes and lockouts recorded,
affecting 93,503 persons, and entailing an aggregate loss of 2,470,189
working days. These items are considerably below the averages for
the five-year period, 1900 to 1904.
The following tables show the number of strikes and lockouts, the
number of strikers and persons locked out and of other persons
thrown out of work by reason of strikes and lockouts in 1905, and the
number of working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work,
classified according to principal causes and results:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, AND W ORKIN G-DAYS LOST, 1905.
[“ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” includes the aggregate duration
in 1905 of disputes which began in previous years, and excludes the duration in 1906 of disputes
which began in 1905.]
Strikes and lockouts, the
results of which were—

Principal cause or object.

Aggregate
Total workingstrikes days lost
In
In
Indefi­
and
by all em­
favor favor Com­
or lock­
ployees
pro­ nite
of em­ of em­ mised.
unset­ outs. thrown out
ployees. ployers.
tled.
of work.

Wages.........................................................................
Hours of labor...........................................................
Employment of particular classes or persons___
Working arrangements, rules, and discipline.......
Trade unionism.........................................................
Other causes..............................................................
Total

44
3
9
5
9

105
5
26
17
10
3

70

166

84
2
6 ............
10
2
15 .......... .

2 ............
1 ............

118

4

235
14
47
37
4

2,063,404
38,368
89,780
162,412
105,080
11,145

358

2,470,189

21

STRIK ERS AND EM PLOYEES LOCKED OUT, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1905.
Strikers and employees locked
out in disputes, the results
of which were—

Total
strikers
and em­
In
In
Indefi­ ployees
favor favor Com­ nite or locked
pro­
of em­ of em­ mised.
unset­
out.
ployees. ployers.
tled.
1

Principal cause or object.

Other
em­
ployees
thrown
out of
work.

Wages.........................................................................
Hours of labor..........................................................
Employment of particular classes or persons----Working arrangements, rules, and discipline.......
Trade u n i o n i s m ..............................................
Other causes..............................................................

6,155
1,307
1,052
319
7,869

11,137
629
2,553
3,026
1,358
4,240

20,958
1,209
2,746
2,201
150
200

487
57

38,737
3,145
6,408
5,546
9,377
4,440

17,086
2,882
3,347
2,455
80

T otal................................................................

16,702

22,943

27,464

544

67,653

25,850

As in previous years, disputes .relative to wages were the most
numerous, forming 65.6 per cent of all disputes for the year and involv­
ing 57.3 per cent of all striking and locked-out employees. Of this
class of disputes 18.7 per cent resulted in favor of employees, 44.7
per cent in favor of employers, 35.7 per cent were compromised, and
in 2 cases, or 0.9 per cent, the results were indefinite. Of the total
employees engaged in wages disputes 15.9 per cent were in disputes
settled in favor of the employees, 28.8 per cent in those settled in
favor of the employers, and 54.1 per cent in those that were compro­
mised. Of disputes relative to hours of labor, 2 1 .4 per cent were settled




FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G R EAT B R IT A IN .

687

in favor of the employees, 35.7 per cent in favor of the employers, and
42.9 per cent were compromised. Of the disputes relative to trade
unionism and employment of particular classes or persons, 26.5 per
cent were settled in favor of employees, 52.9 per cent in favor of employ­
ers, 17.7 per cent were compromised, and 2.9 per cent were indefinite
or unsettled; while 56.5 per cent of the employees involved were in
disputes settled in favor of the employees, 24.8 per cent in those set­
tled in favor of the employers, and 18.3 per cent in those that were
compromised, indicating that the disputes in which the employees
were successful were conducted by unions having a large member­
ship. Considering all disputes, 19.5 per cent were settled in favor of
the employees, 46.4 per cent in favor of employers, 33 per cent were
compromised, and 1.1 per cent were indefinite or unsettled.
Of all employees directly affected by labor disputes 24.7 per cent
were involved in disputes settled in favor of the employees, 33.9 per
cent in those settled in favor of the employers, 40.6 per cent in those
that were compromised, and 0.8 per cent in those the results of which
were indefinite or unsettled.
The following table shows the number of strikes and lockouts,
employees thrown out of work, and working-days lost, according to
classified groups of employees thrown out of work:
STRIK ES AND LOCKOUTS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
THROW N OUT OF W ORK, 1905.
[“ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” refers exclusively to disputes
which began in 1905, and includes working-days lost in 1906 due to disputes which extended
beyond 1905.]

Groups of employees thrown out of work.

Strikes
and
lockouts.

Aggregate workingEmployees thrown days lost by all em­
out of work.
ployees thrown out
of work.
Number. Percent.

Number.

Percent.

2,500 or under 5,000....................................................
1,000 or under 2,500....................................................
500 or under 1,000.......................................................
250 or under 500.........................................................
100 or under 250.........................................................
50 or under 100...........................................................
25 or under 50.............................................................
Under 25 (« )................................................................

4
14
38
36
92
47
62
65

14,100
19,696
26,057
12,381
14,677
3,341
2,212
1,039

15.1
21.0
27.9
13.2
15.7
3.6
2.4
1.1

115,700
1,147,142
637,194
245,515
393,482
83,306
58,697
22,415

4.3
42.4
23.6
9.1
14.5
3.1
2.2
.8

T otal.................................................................

358

93,503

100.0

2,703,451

100.0

a Disputes involving fewer than 10 work people and those which lasted less than one day have been
omitted, except when the aggregate duration exceeded 100 working-days.

In 1904 there were 2 disputes in each of which the number of
employees involved exceeded 5,000; in 1905 there was no dispute of
such magnitude. Most of the disputes affected a comparatively small
number of employees. The disputes affecting fewer than 250 persons
formed 74.3 per cent of all disputes, and the number of employees
affected by this class of disputes formed but 22.7 per cent of all per­
sons affected b y disputes.



688

BULLETIN

of

the

bureau

of

labor,

In the following table are given the number of strikes and lockouts,
employees thrown out of work, and working-days lost, classified ,
according to duration of the disputes:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, EM PLOYEES THROW N OUT OF W ORK, AND AGGREGATE
W ORKIN G-DAYS LOST, B Y DURATION, 1905.
[ “ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” refers exclusively to disputes
which began in 1905, and includes working-days lost in 1906 due to disputes which extended beyond
1905.]
Aggregate
Number Employees workingthrown out days lost
of
disputes. of work.
by all
employees.

Duration of strikes or lockouts.

Under 1 week.............................................................................................
1 week or under 2 weeks...........................................................................
2 weeks or under 4 weeks.........................................................................
4 weeks or under 6 weeks.........................................................................
6 weeks or under 8 weeks.........................................................................
8 weeks or under 10 weeks.......................................................................
10 weeks or under 15 weeks......................................................................
15 weeks or under 20 weeks.......................................................... *..........
20 weeks or under 25 weeks......................................................................
25 weeks or over........................................................................................

124
60
47
17
16
18
38
14
8
16

37,243
13,927
8,043
3,312
5,590
3,822
7,672
4,102
1,966
7,826

87,903
103,095
130,759
83,038
167,674
158,641
429,964
273,175
204,630
1,064,572

Total.................................................................................................

358

93,503.

2,703,451

The number of strikes and lockouts which lasted less than two
weeks^ formed 51.4 per cent of all disputes, and the number of persons
thrown out of work in these groups formed 54.7 per cent of all persons
thrown out of work by strikes and lockouts. There were but 16 dis­
putes, or 4.5 per cent of all disputes, which had a duration of 25 weeks
or more. While the number of employees involved in disputes in
this group formed but 8.4 per cent of all employees affected by strikes
and lockouts, yet the aggregate days lost by strikers and locked-out
employees was 39.4 per cent of the aggregate working-days lost by all
employees engaged in the disputes of the year.
The following tables, in which the disputes are classified by results,
show the number of disputes and of persons affected in each group of
industries:
STRIK ES AND LOCKOUTS, B Y INDUSTRIES AND RESULTS, AND W OR KIN G-DA YS LOST,
1905.
[“ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” includes the aggregate duration
in 1905 of disputes which began in previous years, and excludes the duration in 1906 of disputes which
began in 1905.]
Strikes and lockouts the results
of which were—

Industry.

Building trades.........................................................
Mining and quarrying........................... .................
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding.....................
Textile trades............................................................
Clothing trados
___ •..........................................
Transportation.........................................................
Miscellaneous trades................................................
Employees of public authorities............................
T otal................................................................




Aggregate
Total workingstrikes days lost
and
by all em­
In
In
Indefi­
ployees
favor favor Com­ nite or lock­
pro­ unset­ outs. thrown out
of em­ of em­ mised.
of
work.
ployees.! ployers.
tled.
6
18
15
12
7
2
8
2

12
37
38
37
14
7
20
1

13
50
16
17
8
2
10
2

'7 0 |

166

118

1
1
1
1
4

31
106
70
67
29
11
39
5

412,633
1,255,514
467,571
126,483
71,435
67,089
64,290
5,174

358

2,470,189

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- GREAT BRITAIN.

689

STRIK ER S AND EMPLOYEES LOCKED OUT, B Y INDUSTRIES AND RESULTS, 1905.
Strikers and employees locked
out in disputes, the results
of which were—

Total
strikers
and em­
Indefi­ ployees
In | In
favor 1 favor Com­
or locked
pro­ nite
of em- |of em­ mised.
unset­
out.
ployees. ployers.
tled.

Industry.

Building trades.........................................................
Mining and quarrying............ .................................
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding....................
Textile trades...........................................................
Clothing trades.........................................................
Transportation.........................................................
Miscellaneous trades................................................
Employees of public authorities.............................

805
9,938
1,409
1,881
1,156
200
768
545

1,446
10,389
4,120
3,280
722
1,607
1,355
24

3,810
13,685
1,901
4,814
1,112
305
1,765
72

Total................................................................

16,702

22,943

27,464

57
28
430
29
544

Other
employ­
ees
thrown
out of
work.

6,061
34,069
7,458
10,405
2,990
2,112
3,917
641

576
10,722
5,295
5,381
550

67,653

25,850

3,242
84

The number of disputes, persons directly affected, persons indirectly
affected, and aggregate working-days lost in the mining and quarry­
ing group of industries exceed similar items in every other group of
industries. The four items formed, respectively, 29.6 per cent, 50.4
per cent, 41.5 per cent, and 50.8 per cent of the corresponding totals.
In each group of industries, excepting employees of public authorities,
the number of disputes resulting in favor of the employers, was much
larger than the number resulting in favor of the employees, and in
only 2 groups, clothing trades and employees of public authorities,
did the number of employees affected by disputes resulting in favor
of employees equal the number affected by disputes resulting in
favor o£ employers.
S t r i k e s a n d L o c k o u t s d u r i n g F i v e Y e a r s . — During the five-year
period, 1901 to 1905, there was a yearly average of 437 disputes, affect­
ing an average of 146,765 employees yearly, and entailing an average
yearly loss of 2,782,924 working-days.
The following table shows the number of strikes and lockouts,
employees thrown out of work, and working-days lost in each year
of the period named:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, EMPLOYEES THROW N OUT OF W ORK, AND W ORKIN G-DAYS
LOST, 1901 TO 1905.
[ “ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” includes the aggregate dura­
tion in each year of disputes which began m previous years and extended beyond the year in which
they began, and excludes the duration in 1906 of disputes which began in 1905.]

Year.

1901....................................................................
1902....................................................................
1903....................................................................
1904....................................................................
1905....................................................................




Aggregate
workingOther
Total
Strikers employees
days lost
Strikes
employees
and
em­
by
all em­
and
thrown
thrown
ployees
ployees
lockouts. locked
out
of
out of
out.
thrown
work.
work.
out of
work.
642
442
387
' 355
358

111,437
116,824
93,515
56,380
67,653

68,109
139,843
23,386
30,828
25,850

179,546
256,667
116,901
87,208
93,503

4,142,287
3,479,255
2,338,668
1,484,220
2,470,189

690

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

The number of strikes and lockouts, and employees thrown out of
work in each year from 1901 to 1905 are shown in the following table,
by industries:
STRIK ES AND LOCKOUTS AND EMPLOYEES THROW N OUT OF W ORK, B Y INDUSTRIES,
1901 TO 1905.
Strikes and lockouts.
Industry.

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905.

Employees thrown out of work.
1901.

.1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

Building trades................................. 104
Mining and quarrying...................... 210
Metal,engineering,and shipbuilding 103
Textile trades................................
96
Clothing tra d e s................................ 39
Transportation................................. 20
Miscellaneous trades......................... 65
Employees of public authorities___
5

39
168
71
82
23
14
41
4

44
125
87
55
25
15
32
4

37
113
75
52
26
10
41
1

9,797
5,356
31
106 112,981 208,520
70 22,489 15,914
67 16,609 16,706
4,135
2,790
29
2,682
1,590
11
3,679
39 10,489
364
2,106
5

3,663
63,578
32,380
9,458
2,476
2,172
2,463
711

8,697
46,287
12,130
13,048
1,448
1,759
3,794
45

6,637
44,791
12,753
15,786
3,540
2,112
7,159
725

T otal......................................... 642

442

387

355

358 1179,546 256,667 116,901
1

87,208

93,503

The following table shows, by groups of industries, the aggregate
working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work for the period
1901 to 1905:
AGGREGATE DU RATIO N IN W ORKIN G-DAYS OF STRIK ES AND LOCKOUTS, B Y INDUS­
TRIES, 1901 TO 1905.
[“ Aggregate working-days lost by all employees thrown out of work” includes the aggregate duration
in each year of disputes which began in previous years and extended beyond the year in which they
began, and excludes the duration in 1906 of disputes which began in 1905.]

Industry.

Aggregate working-days lost by all employees
thrown out of work.

Building trades....................................
Mining and quarrying........................
Metal, engineering, and shipbuilding.
Textile trades......................................
Clothing trades....................................
Transportation....................................
Miscellaneous trades...........................
Employees of public authorities.......
T otal...........................................

1902.

1904.

1905.

345,513
657,285
185,429
121,554
13,202
42,343
118,804
90

412,633
1,255,514
467,571
126,483
71,435
67,089
64,290
5,174

4,142,287 3,479,255 j2,338,668 1,484,220

2,470,189

1901.

1903.

115,860
114,371
574,848
2,086,113 2,550,047 1,397,898
420,362
481,016
601,553
238,380
276,363
117,038
87,384
54,044
136,182
38,312
10,027
26,779
64,892
84,133
460,903
6,402
492
7,811

With the exception of 1905, each year, as compared with the pre­
vious year of this period, shows a decrease in the number of strikes
and lockouts. The last year shows but slight increase over 1904 in
the number of disputes and work people affected, yet the number of
days lost shows an increase of 66.4 per cent, indicating that the dis­
putes were more protracted. The number of disputes in the mining
and quarrying group continues to be larger than in any other group.
With the exception of 1904 the number of persons affected by dis­
putes in this group of industries exceeded 50 per cent of all employees
affected by all disputes. Since 1901 there has been a noticeable
decrease in the number of disputes and number of persons affected
in the building trades, but while the years 1902 and 1903 show a large
decrease in days lost there was a considerable increase in the last two
years of the period. While the number of disputes and of strikers



FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G B EAT B R IT A IN .

691

and employees locked out in the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding
trades during 1905 show a material decrease, the aggregate days lost
was much greater than in 1904.
The aggregate working-days lost in all trades in 1901 was 4,142,287.
The number for each of the three next succeeding years shows a
marked decrease, in 1904 falling to 1,484,220, but in 1905 an increase
is shown over the years 1903 and 1904.
The number of strikes and lockouts and the number of strikers and
employees locked out during the period 1901 to 1905 are shown in
the next table, by principal causes:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS AND STRIK ERS AND EM PLOYEES LOCKED OUT, B Y PR IN ­
CIPAL CAUSES, 1901 TO 1905.
Strikes and lockouts.
Principal causes or objects.

Strikers and employees locked out.

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905.

1901.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

267
20

232
17

58,865
4,198

56,733
3,044

49,557
4,108

32,783
1,970

38,737
3,145

58

54

46

47

10,524

U,436

7,822

6,081

6,408

64
29
1
3

56
25

47
15
1

37
21
2
2

23,185
11,531
1,890
1,244

19,849
25,489
14
259

13,609
17,602

7,601
7,925
20

5,546
9,377
243
4,197

Total......................................... 642* 442

387

358 111,437 116,824

93,515

56,380

67,653

Wages................................................. 402
Hours of labor................................... 29
Employment of particular classes
or persons....................................... 84
Working arrangements, rules, and
discipline......................................... 79
Trade unionism................................. 38
Sympathetic disputes......................
6
Other causes......................................
4

3

233
13

355

235
14

817

While the number of disputes relative to wages remained com­
paratively the same during the years 1903 to 1905, there was a
material decrease as compared with 1901, and while the number of
strikers and employees locked out was somewhat greater in 1905 than
in 1904, there was a decrease, year by year, for the rest of the
period. Disputes on account of trade unionism and the closely
related question of employment of particular classes or persons, con­
sidered together, showed a decrease in number of disputes from year
to year up to' 1904 and a small increase in 1905, and for the years 1903
to 1905 a considerable decrease in the number of employees involved.
The following table shows, by results, the number of strikes and
lockouts and employees directly affected during each year, 1901 to
1905:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS AND STRIK ER S AND EM PLOYEES
RESULTS, 190KTO 1905.

LOCKED OUT, BY

[The figures for years previous to 1905 have been revised to include the results of disputes terminated
after the reports o f those years were published.]
Strikes and lockouts.
Result.

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905.

In favor of employees....................... 163
In favor of employers....................... 284
Compromised..................................... 193
Indefinite or unsettled.....................
2
T otal......................................... 642




Strikers and employees locked out.
1901.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

30,591
38,701
41,575
570

108' 90
206 185
125 111
1
3

62
180
112
1

70
166
118
4

37.187
37.187
42,141
309

29,167
44,956
19,370
22

15,413
23,500
17,441
26

16,702
22,943
27,464
544

442

355

358 111,437 116,824

93,515

56,380

67,653

387

692

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

This table shows that for each year during the period the number of
disputes resulting in favor of the employees was less than the number
in which the employers were successful. The number compromised
also exceeds the number which were settled in favor of the employees,
but is less in each year than the number settled in favor of the employ­
ers. The total number of disputes during the five-year period was
2,184, of which 493 or 22.6 per cent were settled in favor of the employ­
ees, 1,021 or 46.7 per cent in favor' of the employers, 659 or 30.2 per
cent were compromised, and 11 or 0.5 per cent were indefinite or
unsettled. In 1905,19.5 per cent were favorable to the employees and
46.4 per cent to the employers, 33.0 per cent were compromised, and
1.1 per cent were indefinite or unsettled at the end of the year.
During the five-year period there were in the aggregate 445,809
employees directly affected by strikes and lockouts. Of this number
129,060 employees, or 29.0 per cent of all employees directly affected,
were involved in disputes in which employees were successful,
167,287 or 37.5 per cent in disputes in which the employers were suc­
cessful, 147,991 or 33.2 per cent in disputes which were compromised,
and 1,471 or 0.3 per cent in those of which the settlement was indefi­
nite, or which were unsettled. The corresponding percentages for
1905 were 24.7, 33.9, 40.6, and 0.8, respectively.
In the following table the number of strikes and lockouts, and the
number of strikers and employees locked out, are shown b y methods of
settlement for each year of the period, 1901 to 1905:
S T R IK E S

AND

LOCKOUTS AND STRIK ER S AND EM PLOYEES LOCKED OUT, B Y
METHOD OF SETTLEMENT, 1901 TO 1905.

{The figures lor the years previous to 1905 have been revised to include the results of disputes termi­
nated after the reports for these years were published.]
Strikes and lockouts.
Method of settlement.

1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905.

Strikers and employees locked out.
1901.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1905.

Arbitration........................................ 25
Conciliation........................................ 18
Direct arrangement or negotiation
between parties or their repre­
sentatives ...................................... 456
Submission of employees.................
45
Replacement ot employees............... 92
Closing of works................................
5
Indefinite or unsettled......................
1

16
13

18
8

15
12

9
21

7,609
7,851

2,418
2,641

18,047
1,401

1,832
3,179

2,224
8,322

319
40
50
3
1

270
36
50
5

227
27
67
6
1

220
47
53
3
5

85,087
4,492
4,765
1,093
540

98,270
9,310
3,928
228
29

64,459
6,989
2,378
241

43,589
4,495
2,587
672
26

48,155
5,550
2,126
714
562

T otal......................................... 642

442

387

355

358 111,437 116,824

93,515

56,380

67,653

In each year most of the disputes were settled by direct arrange­
ment or negotiation, the percentage of disputes settled b y this method
being 71.0, 72.2, 69.8, 63.9, and 61.5 per cent of all disputes for the
respective years 1901 to 1905. The number of disputes settled by
submission of employees was larger in 1905 than in any previous
year of the period, and the number settled by submission of employees,
by replacement of employees, and by closing of works in 1905 was larger



FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G REAT B R IT A IN .

693

than in any other year, excepting 1901, when the number of disputes
was much larger than in subsequent years. Disputes settled by
these three methods formed 22.1, 21.0, 23.5, 28.2, and 28.8 per cent
of all strikes for the respective years. Only 30 disputes, involving
15.6 per cent of all persons directly affected, were settled by arbitra­
tion and conciliation in 1905, a number smaller than the number
settled by any one method, excepting that of closing the works.
Report o f the Royal Commission on Trade Disputes and Trade Com­
binations. 1906. IV, 132; X II, 350; V II, 93.

This volume contains a report of a special commission of five mem­
bers appointed by the Crown “ to inquire into the subject of trade
disputes and trade combinations and as to the law affecting them,
and to report on the law applicable to the same and the effect o f any
modifications thereof.”
Circular letters, inviting evidence, were sent to 317 representatives
of employers, leading representatives of trade unions, and other
persons desiring to be heard, or who had expert knowledge on certain
specific points upon which the commission decided to center its
investigation. The scope of the inquiry was limited to the following
points:
1. As to the consequences of the judicial decisions which bear on
the subject of trade combinations and the conduct of trade disputes,
and the status and liability of trade unions, particularly with reference
to cases relative to the Trade Union Acts, 1871 and 1876, and the
Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, 1875, and the common
law of conspiracy.
2. As to facts of importance in connection with trade disputes and
trade combinations which have occurred since the Royal Commission
on Labor issued their report in 1894.
Certain decisions of the courts, and especially of the House of
Lords, were alleged to have created hardship, and various proposals
for alterations of the law so as to nullify or modify the effects of these
decisions had been proposed. In order to decide whether any amend­
ment to the existing law, civil or criminal, relating to the subjects
under consideration, was desirable, and if so what, an opportunity
to be heard was given to both the advocates and opponents of such
proposals.
Of the 58 witnesses examined during the course of the investiga­
tion the great majority were representatives of employers, because
the trade unions, by representatives in their congress, resolved to
give to the commission no information on the subjects of the inquiry.
The objections and proposals of the unions were before the commis­
sion, however, as they had been stated in various speeches by their
members and in the bills introduced in Parliament in their behalf.
304 b — No. 70— 07------15




694

BULLETIN OE TH E BUREAU OE LABOR,

In regard to the first and main proposition under investigation the
inquiry was divided into three branches, as follows: (1) The liability
of trade union funds to be taken in execution for the wrongful acts
of agents of the union; (2) the statute law relating to picketing and
other incidents of strikes; (3) the law of conspiracy as affecting
trade unions.
In the discussion of the liability of trade unions a historical resume
of trade-union legislation and numerous decisions of various courts
are presented, showing the status of registered trade unions. The
opinion is expressed that the funds of nonregistered trade unions, like
those of registered unions, can be made liable in actions of tort by
means of a representative action, provided the two conditions fol­
lowing are satisfied: “ (1) Such agents must be persons who can
properly be considered to be the agents of all the members and must
be acting within the scope of their agency; (2) the funds must be
property which would have been taken in execution or attached in
an action in which all the members had been made defendants.” *
Evidence as to the effect of the decision of the courts, holding a union T
responsible for the acts of its agents, was proffered by employers only
and was practically unanimous in asserting that it had made trade
unions more careful than heretofore in seeking not to infringe the
\a>w; strikes have been less frequent and accompanied wdth less vio­
lence and intimidation, and disputes have been easier to settle.
Trade unions, whether of employers or employees, are at common
law illegal associations and are enfranchised only so far as the words
of the statute go. While the Trade Union Act of 1871 provides that:
“ The purposes of any trade union shall not, by reason merely that
they are in restraint of trade, be unlawful so as to render void or
voidable any agreement or trust,” yet this provision is qualified by a
subsequent section specifically forbidding any court to entertain any
legal proceeding instituted with the object of directly enforcing or
recovering damages for the breach of “ any agreement made between
one trade union and another.” A good deal of evidence was submit­
ted from parties well disposed to trade unions to the effect that it
would be of great advantage that trade unions should be able to enter
into binding agreements with associations of employers and with
their owTn members to enable them to carry out their agreements.
The commission recommended the passage of an act embodying
the following provisions:
(1) To declare trade unions legal associations.
(2) To declare strikes from whatever motive or for whatever pur­
poses (including sympathetic or secondary strikes), apart from crime
or breach of contract, legal and to make the act of 1875 to extend to
sympathetic or secondary strikes.
(3) To declare that to persuade to strike— i. e., to desist from
working— apart from procuring breach of contract, is not illegal.



FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----G REAT B R IT A IN .

69&

(4) To declare that an individual shall not be liable for doing any
act not in itself an actionable tort only on the ground that it is an
interference with another person’s trade, business, or employment.
(5) To provide for the facultative separation of the proper benefit
funds of trade unions, such separation, if effected, to carry immunity
from these funds being taken in execution.
(6) To provide means whereby the central authorities of a union
may protect themselves against the unauthorized and immediately
disavowed acts of branch agents.
(7) To provide that facultative powers be given to trade unions,
either (a) to become incorporated subject to proper conditions or (&)
to exclude the operation or section 4 of the Trade Union Act of 1871
[prohibiting the court from entertaining legal proceedings to enforce
certain agreements] or of some one or more of its subsections, so as
to allow trade unions to enter into enforceable agreements with
other persons and with their own members.
(8) To alter the seventh section of the Conspiracy and Protection of
Property Act, 1875, by repealing subsection 4 and the proviso [mak­
ing it a criminal offense for a person to watch or beset the house or
ther place where another person resides, or works, or carries on busi­
ness or happens to be, or the approach to such house or place, with a
view to compel such person to abstain from doing any work which
such person has a legal right to do], and in lieu thereof enacting as a
new subsection (which would also supersede subsection 1) [relating
to intimidation, etc.]: “ Acts in such a manner as to cause a reasonable
apprehension in the mind of any person that violence will be used to
him or his family, or damage be done to his property.”
(9) To enact to the effect that an agreement or combination by
two or more persons to do or procure to be done any act in contempla­
tion or furtherance of a trade dispute shall not be the ground of a civil
action, unless the agreement or combination is indictable as a con­
spiracy notwithstanding the terms of the Conspiracy and Protection
of Property Act, 1875.
Several memoranda and minority reports by different members
follow the majority report. In one of these the member,, after dis­
cussing the injurious effects of industrial disputes, refers to the appar­
ent advantages of the various conciliation and arbitration laws of
New Zealand and Australia which appear “ to offer, to the general
satisfaction of employers and employed, both a guarantee against
conditions of employment that are demonstrably injurious to the
community as a whole, and an effective remedy for industrial war.”
Another memorandum by four of the five members consists of a
discussion of the question of the civil action of conspiracy. It is
argued that “ conspiracy can not be the foundation of a civil action
unless it be a criminal conspiracy.” Several cases before the courts
are* cited in support of this view. It is further argued that because
the common law relating to criminal conspiracy was “ indirect and
deluding,” the legislature passed the act of 1875 with a view to pre­
vent its application to disputes between workmen and employers,
and for the same reason the legislature should exclude the action for
civil liability in such cases.



696

BULLETIN OF TH E BUKEAU OF LABOB.

As appendixes to the majority report, the acts of Parliament relat­
ing to the subject under investigation are reproduced, together with
a record of cases referred to in the report.
Part 2 of the report consists of the minutes of evidence taken before
the commission; index of evidence adduced before the commission,
and of appendixes showing statements handed in by witnesses during
the investigation. These statements show the membership of trade
unions, 1902, and membership and accounts of 100 principal unions,
1892-1902; statistics relating to strikes and lockouts in the United
Kingdom, 1893-1902, and statistics of employers' associations.
Copies of proposed legislation relating to trade unions and statements
of the attitude of trade unions with regard to existing law are repro­
duced, as Veil as much other matter relating to the questions under
discussion.
ITALY.
Statistica degli Scioperi A w enuti nelV Industria e nelV Agricoltura
duranti gli anni 1902 e 1903 . Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria

e Commercio, Direzione Generale della Statistica.
, 510 pp.

1906.

Ixxvi,

This is the eleventh of a series of reports on strikes and lockouts
published by the bureau of statistics of the Italian department of
agriculture, industry, and commerce. The report presents in detailed
tables and text statements the most important facts in reference to
each strike or lockout that occurred during the years 1902 and 1903,
the strikes being separated into two categories: (1) Those occurring
in industries other than agriculture, and (2) those taking place in agri­
cultural industries alone. The report also contains summary tables
of strikes for 1902'and 1903 and for a period of more than two previ­
ous decades.
S t r i k e s a n d L o c k o u t s i n 1902.— During the year 1902 there were
1,031 strikes, of which 221 were agricultural and 810 occurred in other
industries. The 221 strikes among agricultural workers involved a
total of 146,592 strikers and caused a loss of 2,024,833 working days.
Of the strikers, 70.79 per cent were men, 19.89 per cent were women,
and 9.32 per cent were children. The 810 strikes in other industries
involved 197,514 strikers, of whom 71.13 per cent were men, 18.34
per cent were women, and 10.53 per cent were children. The, aggre­
gate time lost by these strikers was 2,539,331 days.
The largest strike of the year occurred among agricultural workers
in the province of Rovigo, involving 18,317 strikers and causing a
loss of 451,299 working days. This strike was for increased wages
and more liberal terms of employment and was partly successful. A




697

FO REIG N STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----IT A L Y

strike of silk weavers in Como and vicinity involved 14,955 persons
and lasted 28 days. Increase of wages and reduction of hours of
labor were the demands made. The strike was partly successful.
In eleven other strikes the number of persons involved was 5,000 or
more.
The following table shows, for the year 1902, the number of strikes,
strikers, and working-days lost, by industries:
STRIKES, BY INDUSTRIES, 1902.
Strikers.
Industry.

Adults.

Strikes.

Males.
Agriculture..............................................................
Mining and quarrying............................................
Foundry products, machinery, and car and ship
building.................................................................
Stone, clay, glass, and building trades..................
Chemical products..................................................
W ood-working........................................................
Paper........................................................................
Printing...................................................................
Textiles....................................................................
Leather and hides...................................................
Dyeing (skins and textiles)...................................
Clothing...................................................................
Foods.......................................................................
Transportation.......................................................
Miscellaneous...........................................................
Total..............................................................

Chil­
dren of
Fe­
both
males. sexes.

Work­
ingdays
lost.
Total.

221
52

103,772
13,295

29,163

13,657
1,604

146,592
14,899

2,024,833
174,544

77
220
13
27
9
21
160
19
8
44
60
49
51

15,842
39,196
578
1,731
602
732
12,788
1,858
898
4,032
5,242
15,836
27,857

219
87
694
228
129
320
23,162
32
139
695
2,500

879
2,199
23
288
47
124
5,177
51
43
1,054
601

8,013

8,719

16,940
41,482
1,295
2,247
778
1,176
41,127
1,941
1,080
5,781
8.343
15,836
44,589

265,524
647,233
12,424
30,560
4.312
26; 464
702,339
35,966
9,210
77,601
98,929
247,716
206,509

1,031

244,259

65,381

34,466

344,106

4,564,164

The strikes were mostly among agricultural workers and employees
in the groups of stone, clay, glass, and building trades, and in textiles,
over 58 per cent of all the strikes and 66 per cent of the strikers belong­
ing to these three groups.
The following table shows for the agricultural and for the other
industries, separately, the number and per cent of strikes and strikers,
by principal causes:
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES, 1902.
Agricultural occupations.
Cause or object.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Num­
ber.

Per
cent.

Num­ | Per
ber.
cent.

For increase of wages.....................
Against reduction of wages...........
For reduction of hours...................
Against increase of hours...............
Other causes....................................

166
2
11

75.11
.91
4.98

128,662
54
738

42

19.00

17,138

T otal.......................................

221

100.00

146,592




Other industries.
Strikes.

Strikers.

Num­
ber.

Per
cent.

Num­
ber.

11.69

469
30
39
8
264

57.90
3.70
4.82
.99
32.59

123,397
4,607
7,115
1,684
60,711

62.48
2.33
3.60
.85
30.74

100.00

810

100.00

197,514

100.00

87.77
.04
.50

Per
cent.

698

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OE LABOR,

The next two tables show, for the agricultural and for the other
industries, respectively, the results of strikes, arranged according to
causes:
STRIK ES IN AGRICU LTU RAL OCCUPATIONS, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1902.
Succeeded.
Strikes.

Cause or object.

Failed.

Succeeded partly.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.
For increase of wages...........
Against reduction of wages
For reduction of hours.........
Other causes (<*).....................

29

Total ( a ) .......................

37

8

18 24,552

19

2,086

13

92
2
3
9

17 26,638

18

96

22

49
100
27
24

76,551
54
290
1,913

60
100
39
12

55

33 27,559

21

8
20

73
448
54 12,251

61
75

45

78,808

54

83

38 40,258

28

a Results of 5 strikes, involving 888 strikers, not reported.
STRIKES IN IN DU STRIES OTHER THAN AGRICU LTU RE, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS
1902.
Succeeded partly.

Succeeded.
Cause or object.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Failed.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.
For increase of wages...........
Against reduction of wages..
For reduction of hours.........
Against increase of hours ...
Other causes ( « ) ....... *............

88
5
13
1
58

18 15,434
187
17
33 1,087
121
70
23 7,425

13
4
15
4*
12

250
15
11
4
83

54
50
28
50
33

76,524
3,732
2,471
144
23,574

62
81
35
9
40

131
10
15
3
112

28 31,439
33
688
39 3,557
37| 1,470
44 28,613

25
15
50
87
48

Total (o ) .......................

165

21 24,203

12

363

45 106,445

54

271

34 65,767

34

a Results of 11 strikes, involving 1,099 strikers, not reported.

In 23 instances in 1902 employers closed their establishments for
the purpose of accomplishing certain objects, sometimes of a political
and sometimes of a business nature. Of these shut downs, only 3
were directed against employees and can be properly classed as lock­
outs. These 3 lockouts affected 823 employees and caused a loss of
7,940 working days.




699

FO REIG N STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----IT A L Y .

The following table shows the method of settlement of the strikes
and lockouts, arranged according to results:
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, B Y METHOD OE SETTLEMENT, 1902.
Strikes and lockouts settled—
By intervention of—

Result.

Public
Trade Councils Ecclesias­ Private
authori­ associa­ of prud- tical au­ parties.
ties.
tions. hommes. thorities.
Strikes in trades and industries
which—
Succeeded............................
Succeeded partly.................
Failed...................................

43
120
57

22
58
19

2
4
6

1
1

7
15
11

91
165
183

165
363
271

2

33

439

o799

1
1

13
51
59

37
96
83

2

123

&216

1
1

2
3
5

5
6
12

2

10

23

T otal.................................

220

99

Strikes in agricultural occupa­
tions which—
Succeeded............................
Succeeded partly.................
Failed...................................

17
40
17

5
5
6

1

1

T otal.................................

74

16

Lockouts which—
Succeeded.............................
Succeeded partly.................
Failed...................................

2
1
5

1
2

Total
Without strikes
and
outside
lockouts.
inter­
vention.

Total ( c ) ...........................

8

3

Strikes and lockouts which—
Succeeded.............................
Succeeded p artlv................
Failed.... ..........*..................

62
161
79

27
64
27

2
4

1
1
1

9
16
12

106
219
247

207
465
366

Total ( c ) ...........................

302

118

6

3

37

572

d 1,038

a Results not reported in 11 strikes.
&Results not reported in 5 strikes.
c Of the disputes classed as lockouts only 3 were lockouts proper;
directed against employees.
d Not including 16 strikes for which results were not reported.

the others were shut downs not

S t r i k e s a n d L o c k o u t s i n 1903.— The number of strikes occurring
in 1903 was 596, of which 47 were in agricultural pursuits and 549
were in other industries. The 47 strikes among agricultural workers
were participated in by 22,507 persons and caused a loss of 341,847
working-days.
Of the strikers, 66.54 per cent were men, 23.18 per
cent were women, and 10.28 per cent were children. In the 549
strikes occurring in industries other than agriculture there were involyed 109,327 strikers, of whom 73.30 per cent were men, 17.16
per cent were women, and 9.54 per cent were children. The aggre­
gate time lost by these strikers amounted to 1,539,298 working-days.
The most important strike of the year occurred in the shoe industry
o f Milan, involving 8,240 persons and causing a loss of 222,480 workingdays. The demands of the strikers for increase of wages and reduc­
tion of hours of labor were acceded to in part by the employers. A
strike of employees of the Government arsenal at Spezia involved
7,800 persons and entailed a loss of 23,400 working-days. Modifica­
tion of the contract of employment was demanded by the strikers.




700

BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR,

The strike was a failure. A general strike in the city of Rome, fol­
lowing a strike of employees in the printing trades, involved more
than 5,000 persons.
The number of strikes, strikers, and working-days lost in 1903,
arranged by industries, are shown in the following table:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1903.
Strikers.
Industry.

Strikes.

Work­
Chil­
ing-days
dren of
lost.
Total.
Fe­
both
Males. males.
sexes.
Adults.

Agriculture...................................................................
Mining and quarrying.................................................
Foundry products, machinery, and car and ship
bu ildin g.................
......
Stone, clay, glass, and building trades.....................
Chemical products.......................................................
W ood working.............................................................
Paper.............................................................................
Printing........................................................................
Textiles.........................................................................
Leather and hides........................................................
Dyeing (skins and textiles)........................................
Varnishing and gilding...............................................
Clothing.........................................................................
Foods.............................................................................
Transportation............................................................
Miscellaneous................................................................

47
58

14,977
14,606

5,217
81

2,313
3,207

22,507
17,894

341,847
363,234

46
125
4
22
4
21
117
16
4
3
22
43
28
36

13,486
25,940
327
1,137
50
1,349
2,811
884
121
48
5,561
3,565
5,135
5,118

100
152

404
1,637
10
72
31
167
2,497
95
3
6
379
459

13,990
27,729
337
1,301
132
1,783
14,347
1,044
146
54
10,220
6,026
5,295
9,029

104,572
371,568
5,279
11,812
852
63,870
144,981
29,953
356
898
243.326
63,313
49,923
85,361

T otal....................................................................

596

95,115

92
51
267
9,039
65
22
4,280
2,002
160
2,448
j
1

23,976

1,463

12,743 131,834 1,881,145

The strikes were most numerous in 1903 among the employees in
the groups of stone, clay, glass, and building trades, textiles, and mining
and quarrying, 300 strikes, or slightly more than 50 per cent of the
total number reported for the year, being found in these three groups.
The number of strikers belonging to the same groups constituted
45.55 per cent of the entire number reported.
The number and per cent of strikes and strikers, by principal causes,
are shown in the following table, the facts for the agricultural and for
the other industries being presented separately:
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES, 1903.
Agricultural occupations.
Cause or object.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Other industries.
Strikes.

Num­
ber.

Per
cent.

Num­
ber.

Per
cent.

Num­
ber.

For increase of wages.........................
Against reduction of wages..............
For reduction of hours......................
Against increase of hours........- ........
Other causes........................................

27
1
2

57.45
2.13
4.25

9,022
240
1,340

40.09
1.07
5.95

17

36.17

11,905

52.89

264
46
38
8
193

T otal..........................................

47

100.00

22,507

100.00

549




Strikers.

Per
cent.

Num­
ber.

4& 09
a38
a 92
1.46
35.15

55,995
4,602
4,836
644
43,250

51.22
4.21
4.42
.59
39.56

100.00 109,327

100.00

Per
cent.

FOREIGN

701

STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----ITA L Y,

The next two tables show, for the agricultural and for the other
industries, respectively, the results of strikes, arranged according to
causes:
STRIKES IN AGRICU LTU RAL OCCUPATIONS, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1903.
j
Cause or object.

Succeeded.

Succeeded partly.

Strikers.

i Strikes*

Strikes.

Failed.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Strikers.

!Num-| Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per
: ber. jcent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.
For increase of wages........... 1 5
Against reduction of wages .1
1
For reduction of hours......... j.........
Other causes(o).....................i
5
T otal(a)........................!
;

882
240

19
100
31

702

11 j 24
i

1,824

a Result of 1 strike,

13

48

7,117

79

9

33

1,023

11

6

2
7

100
44

1,340
10,340

100
87

4

25

850

7

8

22

18,797

84

13

28

1,873

8

10
100

48

involving 13 strikers, not reported.

STRIKES IN INDUSTRIES OTHER THAN AGRICU LTU RE, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS,
1903.
Succeeded.
Cause or object.

Strikes.

Succeeded partly.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Failed.

Strikers.

Strikes.

Strikers.

Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber; eent.
For increase of wages...........
Against reduction of wages .
For reduction of hours.........
Against increase of h ours. . .
Other causes(o)....................

53
8
11
1
33

20 9,025
459
18
29 2,142
22
121
18 4,239

16
10
44
3
11

116
19
8
1
51

44 33,573
1,960
41
1,106
21
36
12i
28 13,421

60
43
23
6
35

95
19
19
6
99

36 13,397
41 2,183
50 1,588
586
75
54 21,003

24
47
33
91
54

Total (o )........................

106

20 15,887

15

195

36

50,096

48

238

44 38,757

37

a Results of 10 strikes,

involving 4,587 strikers, not reported.

During 1903 there were 20 instances of establishments being closed
by employers. These shut downs were mostly of a political or busi­
ness nature, only 4 being directed against employees, and therefore
capable of being properly classed as lockouts. These 4 lockouts
affected 219 persons, of whom 140 were men, 57 were women, and 22
were children.
The following table shows the method of settlement of the strikes
and lockouts, arranged according to results:




702

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS, B Y METHOD OF SETTLEMENT, 1903.
Strikes and lockouts settled—
Total
________ Without strikes
and
outside
Trade
Councils Ecclesias­
lockouts.
Private
inter­
associa­ of prud- tical au­ parties.
vention.
tions.
hommcs. thorities.
By intervention of-1-

Result.
Putlic
authori­
ties.
Strikes in trades and indus­
tries which—
Succeeded........................... .
Succeeded partly................
Failed...................................
T otal............................... .
Strikes in agricultural oecupapations which—
Succeeded.............................
Succeeded p a r tly ...............
Failed...................................
T otal............................... .
Lockouts which—
Succeeded........................... .
Succeeded partly................
Failed................................. .
T o ta l(c )......................... .
Strikes and lockouts which—
Succeeded.............................
Succeeded partly. . . . . . . . . .
Failed..................................
T o ta l(c )......................... .

40
75
46

12
15
18

161

45

2

2

...............
1
2

4
11
5

50
92
168

106
194
239

3

20

310

a 539

2
2

7
9
10

22

26

&46

2 ..............
2
1
1 ..............

3

3
8

6

12

5

3

11

20

9
1

4

...............
12
6

44

86

48
178

1

11

13

2

14 ...............
20
1
18
2

11

10

57
104
186

222

52

25

347

d 605

4

3

119

264

a Results not reported in 10 strikes.
&Result not reported in 1 strike.
c Of the disputes classed as lockouts only 4 were lockouts proper; the others were shut downs not
directed against employees.
d Not including 11 strikes for which results were not reported.

S t r i k e s d u r i n g T w e n t y - f i y e Y e a r s . — The following two tables
contain a summary of the more important facts in relation to strikes
in agricultural occupations for the years 1881 to 1903, and in the
other industries for the years 1879 to 1903, respectively:
STRIKES IN AGRICU LTU RAL OCCUPATIONS, B Y Y EA R S, 1881 TO 1903.

Year.

Total
strikes.

Strikes for
which
strikers
were
reported.

Strikers.

Aggregate
days of
work lost.

1881......................................................................................
1882......................................................................................
1883......................................................................................
1884......................................................................................
1885......................................................................................
1886......................................................................................
1887......................................................................................
1888......................................................................................
1889......................................................................................
1890......................................................................................
1891......................................................................................
1892......................................................................................
1893......................................................................................
1894......................................................................................
1895......................................................................................
1896......................................................................................
1897......................................................................................
1898......................................................................................
1899......................................................................................
1900......................................................................................
1901......................................................................................
1902......................................................................................
1903......................................................................................

1
2
3
10
62
17
9
5
4
8
24
10
18
8
7
1
12
36
9
27
629
221
47

1
2
3
2
36
16
8
5
4
7
24
9
18
8
6
1
12
36
9
26
629
221
47

100
2,200
262
245
8,857
3,846
2,275
1,366
a 1,087
1,950
7,795
3,504
12,390
4,748
1,765
100
24,135
8,495
1,895
12,517
222,985
146,592
22,507

200
4,400
1,812
245
53,761
9,623
3,785
1,366
2,880
8,420
33,877
7,123
1,718,370
43,058
20,565
100
322,020
82,833
7,475
72,057
2,931,766
2,024,833
341,847

T otal.........................................................................

1,170

1,130

a 491,616

7,692,416

a In one strike the number of families taking part was reported.




FOREIGN

703

STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----IT A L Y

STRIKES IN INDUSTRIES OTHER THAN AGRICULTURE, B Y YEARS, 1879 TO 1903.
Strikers.

Strikes which—
Year.

Total Suc­
strikes. ceed­
ed.

Suc­
ceed­
ed
part­
ly.

Strikes
for
which
strikers
Fail­ were
ed.
re­
ported.

1879....
a 32
1880 . . . .
c27
1881....
<*44
1882....
e 47
1883....
/ 73
1884....
.<781
1885 . . . .
* 89
1886....
*96
1887....
*69
1888....
J101
1889....
/126
1890....
*139
* 132
1891....
1892....
o ll9
1893....
*131
1894....
3 109
1895....
126
1898....
210
1897....
217
256
1898....
1899....
259
383
1900....
1901.... ml; 042
1902....
*810
1903....
*549

2
4
4
5
10
16
22
14
9
22
12
23
15
24
34
35
41
79
70
70
80
112
294
165
106

10
9
11
16
29
34
32
39
29
40
63
58
51
33
46
29
39
51
60
68
69
143
428
363
194

15
13
22
24
26
27
25
41
28
33
43
47
57
57
41
39
46
80
87
118
110
128
295
271
239

T o ta l.. «5,267

1,268

1,944

1,912

Men.

Women.

Chil­
dren.

' (&)
(*>)
(*)
(*)
(*)
(*>)
(*>)
(6)
(»)
<*)
<*)
<*)
(*)
(*)
(*>
19,766
11,788
39,955
21,809
22,112
28,228
59,750
137,389
140,487
80,138

(&)
<*)
(*)
(*)
(6)
(*>)
(>)
(*)
(*)
(6)
<*)
<*)
<*)
(6)
(6)
3,890
5,192
34,264
38,435
9,571
11,280
16,292
40,683
36,218
18,759

(6)
(*)
(&)

Total.

Strikes
for
which Aggre­
gate
days
days of
lost
work
were
lost.
re­
ported.

4,011
5,900
8,272
5,854
12,900
23,967
34,166
16,951
25,027
28,974
23,322
38,402
34,733
30,800
32,109
27,595
19,307
96,051
76,570
35,705
43,194
80,858
196,540
197,514
109,327

28
21,896
26
91,899
95,578
38
45
25,119
65
111,697
149,215
78
82
244,393
56,772
95
218,612
66
191,204
95
123
215,880
167,657
129
123
258,059
114
216,907
234,323
122
103
323,261
125,968
126
210 1,152,503
217 1,113.535
256
239; 292
259
231,590
493,093
383
1,042 2,146,184
810 2,539,331
549 1,539,298

<>5,220 P561,422 P214,584 Pl06,655 1,208,049

5,184 12,203,260

28
26
39
45
67
81
86
96
68
99
125
133
128
117
127
103
126
210
217
256
259
383
1,042
810
549

(P)

(&)
(*)
(*>)
(*)
<*)
(*>)

(P)

(&)
(*>
(&)
(f>)
3,939
2,327
21,832
16,326
4,022
3,686
4,816
18,468
20,809
10,430

a Including 5 strikes the results of which were not reported.
* N ot reported.
c Including-1 strike the result of which was not reported.

A Including 7 strikes the results of which were not reported.

« Including 2 strikes the results of which were not reported.
/ Including 8 strikes the results of which were not reported.

g Including 4 strikes the results of which were not reported.

* Including 10 strikes the results of which were not reported.
* Including 3 strikes the results of which were not reported.
i Including 6 strikes the results of which were not reported.
* Including 11 strikes the results of which were not reported.
i Including 9 strikes the results of which were not reported.
m Including. 25 strikes the results o f which were not reported.
n Including 143 strikes the results of which were not reported.
o This total does.not agree with the totals in the tables showing strikes by duration and by number
of strikers involved, page 704; the computation is made, however, from figures in the original reports.
V Not including figures for 1879 to 1893.

The other data concerning strikes for a series of years are shown
only for the industries other than agriculture. The following table
shows the number and result of strikes and the number of strikers, by
industries, for the period 1892 to 1903:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, FOR THE PE RIO D , 1892 TO 1903.

Industry.

Mining and quarrying....................................
Foundry products, machinery, car and ship
building.........................................................
Stone clay, glass, and building trades.........
W ood working;...............................................
P rinting...........................................................
Textiles.............................................................
Leather and hides...........................................
Dyeing (skins and textiles), varnishing and
gilding............................................................
Clothing............................................................
Foods................................................................
Transportation...............................................
Miscellaneous...................................................
T otal.............................. .........................




Strikes which.—
Strikes
for
Total which
Suc­
strikes. results Suc­ ceeded Failed.
were re­ ceeded. partly.
ported.

Strikes
for
which
Total
strikers strikers.
were re­
ported.

403

392

151

109

132

397

132,770

346
965
120
108
1,040
113

340
958
119
107
1,021
111

70
274
32
28
257
29

107
376
61
28
375
39

163
308
26
51
389
43

346
962
120
108
1,040
113

66,642
168,935
10,240
7,293
198,301
7,958

46
209
221
275
365

45
209
217
270
355

8
52
54
77
78

15
80
81
119
134

22
77'
82
74
143

46
209
221
274
364

6,393
116,730
32,075
77,446
120,787

4,211

4,144

1,110

1,524

4,200

945,570

1,510

704

BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OE LABOR,

The next table shows the causes of strikes, by years, from 1879-1891
to 1903:
STRIK ES IN INDUSTRIES OTHER THAN AGRICU LTU RE, B Y CAUSES, 1879-1891 TO 1903.
For increase of
wages.

Year.

Against reduction
of wages.

For reduction of
hours.

Strikes. Strikers. Strikes. Strikers. Strikes. Strikers.
1879-1891(0) .......................................................
1892(6) ...............................................................
1893(c)...............................................................
1894(d) ...............................................................
1895.....................................................................
1896.....................................................................
1897.....................................................................
1898.....................................................................
1899.....................................................................
1900.....................................................................
1901.............................................................. .
1902.....................................................................
1903....................................................................

516
39
51
46
45
111
106
113
113
181
657
469
264

151,678
6,642
13,386
17,685
8,513
78,722
60,559
16,779
19,539
26,370
117,492
123,397
55,995

Against increase
of hours.

Year.

22,992
7,551
3,931
1,498
3,093
5,723
4,426
6,902
4,325
2,998
3,824
4,607
4,602

106
23
22
12
22
26
27
44
28
29
27
30
46

68
4
11
12
9
6
16
12
17
31
67
39
38

Other causes.

9,884
1,790
1,519
2,539
1,239
980
3,551
891
3,631
3,516
13,158
7,115
4,836

Total.

Strikes. Strikers. Strikes. Strikers. Strikes. Strikers.
1879-1891(0)......................................................
1892(6) ...............................................................
1893(c)...............................................................
1894(d) ...............................................................
1895.....................................................................
1896.....................................................................
1897.....................................................................
1898.....................................................................
1899.....................................................................
1900.....................................................................
1901.....................................................................
1902..................................... : ..............................
1903.....................................................................

a The causes were not
6 The causes were not
c The causes were not

20
4
1
2

5,646
630
300
330

2
1
7
5
6
4
8
8

267
230
908
2,384
694
475
1,684
644

reported
reported
reported
d The causes were not reported

in the case
in the case
in the case
in the case

61,384
13,571
12,492
5,293
6,462
10,359
7,804
10,225
13,315
47,280
61,591
60,711
43,250

270
44
36
31
50
65
67
80
96
136
287
264
193
of
of
of
of

980
114
121
103
126
210
217
256
259
383
1,042
810
549

251,584
30,184
31,628
27,345
19,307
96,051
76,570
35,705
43,194
80,858
196,540
197,514
109,327

76 strikes.
5 strikes.
10 strikes,
6 strikes.

In the two following tables are shown the strikes for the period 1879
to 1891 and for each year 1892 to 1903, classified according to duration
and the number of strikers involved, respectively:
STRIK ES IN IN DU STRIES OTHER THAN AGRICULTURE, B Y DURATION, 1879-1891 TO
1903.
Days of du­
ration.

18791891.

3 or u n der..
4 to 10.........
11 to 30........
Over 30.......

633
256
112
16

1892. 1893. 1894. 1895.!11896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. Total.
I
104
161
52
153
208
60
67
61
91
481
325 219 2,615
44
56
57
70
70
105
330
36
39
33
255
169
1,520
177
12
42
33
55
167
19
37
23
19
119
11
826
54
2
7
13
15
42
1
8
19
5
63
7
252

T o t a l... «1,017 a 116 a 125 a 104

126

210 a 216

256

259

383 1,042

810

549 a 5,213

a This

total does not agree with the figures given in the general table of strikes, page 703; the
figures are reproduced, however, as shown in the original report.
STRIK ES IN INDUSTRIES OTHER THAN AGRICU LTU RE, B Y NUMBER OF STRIK ERS
INVOLVED, 1879-1891 TO 1903.
Strikers in­
volved.

18791891.

1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. Total.
!

265
203
195
219
86
53

27
18
26
27
11
8

28
24
22
41
6
6

40
16
18
18
5
7

39
34
21
27
3
2

54
35
46
52
14
9

70
52
44
31
14
6

92
55
63
35
6
5

98
51
48
39
15
8

T o ta l... <*1,021

117

127

a 104

126

210

217

256

259

1 to 49.........
50 to 99........
100 to 199...
200to 499...
500 to 999...
1,000 or over.

a This total does not

406
214
176
157
55
34

319
162
148
114
37
30

223
104
97
82
19
24

383 1,042

810

549 a 5,221

116
95
88
62
13
9

1,777
1,063
992
904
284
201

agree with the figures given in the general table of strikes, page 703; the figures
are reproduced, however, as shown in the original report.




705

FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS-----N ETH E R LA N D S.

NETHERLANDS.
UitgeX I, 65 pp.

WerTcstdkingen en Uitsluitingen in Nederland gedurende 1905.

geven door het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek.

This is the fifth annual report of the Central Bureau of Statistics of
the Netherlands on strikes and lockouts. The information is given in
the form of an analysis, with summary tables and a tabular statement,
showing in detail the important facts concerning each strike and lock­
out. Comparative tables, giving the principal data for the years 1901
to 1905, are shown.
S t r i k e s .— There were 126 strikes reported in 1905.
The number of
establishments involved and the number of strikers were not reported
in the case of all of these strikes. In 124 strikes there were 318 estab­
lishments involved, while the number of strikers reported for 125 strikes
was 4,657.
The following table shows the number of strikes, establishments
involved, strikers, and aggregate days lost by strikers and by other
employees in each group of industries:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES, 1905.

Industry.

Strikes for
Strikes for
Strikes for
which aggre­
which number
Strikes for
which
aggre­
gate
days lost
of establish­
which number gate days lost by employees
ments in­
of strikers was by
strikers
was
other
than
volved was
reported.
Total
reported.
strikers was
reported.
i
strikes.
reported.
Strikes.

Products of stone, clay,
glass, etc.............................
Cutting of diamonds and
other precious stones........
Printing.................................
Building trades.....................
Chemical products...............
W ood working, cork, straw,
etc........................................
Clothing, cleaning, etc.........
Leather, oilcloth, rubber,
etc.......................................
Mining....................................
Machinery, instruments, etc.
Car and snip building..........
Textiles..................................
Foods and drinks (includng tobacco).......................
Agriculture...........................
Commerce..............................
Transportation.....................
Total............................

Estab­
Days
Days
lish­ Strikes. Strik­
ers. Strikes. lost. Strikes. lost.
ments.

8 i
3
4
35
1

8

8

8

384

3
4
34
1

3
4
107
1

3
4
34
1

68
44
1,467
5

1,326

7

3
172
3
101
33 24,902
1
60

6

3
4
32
1

426£

2
2

2
2

2
2

2
2

22
81

2
2

1,264
2,914

2
2

1
1
1
1
8

1
1
1
1
8

1
3
1
1
8

1
1
1
1
8

8
60
40
30
211

1
1
1
1
7

292

17

1
1
1
1
8

70
20
2,559

478

37
2
2
18

37
2
2
17

37
101
2
37

37
2
2
18

479
460
38
1,260

37
2
2
18

9,603*
2,260
44
8 ,126£

36

1,474*

126

124

318

125

4,657

120 53,439

2,479

80

2
18 39,24ij
119 44,471i

From the foregoing table it will be observed that the greatest num­
ber of strikes in 1905 occurred in the manufacture of foods and drinks,
while the building trades furnished the largest number of establish­
ments and persons affected. The greatest loss in working-days to
all employees took place in the transportation industry.



706

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

The table which follows shows the results of strikes in 1905, arranged
by industries:
STRIKES, B Y INDUSTRIES AND RESULTS, 1905.
Result.
Succeeded
partly.

Succeeded.

Industry.

Failed.

Not
reported.

Total.

Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per Num­ Per
ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent. ber. cent.
Products of stone, clay; glass, etc.........
Cutting of diamonds and other precious
stones.....................................................
Printing....................................................
Building trades........................................
Chemical prod ucts..................................
W ood working, cork, straw, e t c ...........
Clothing, cleaning, etc.............................
Leather, oilcloth, rubber, etc.................
Mining.......................................................
Machinery, instruments, etc..................
Car and ship building..............................
Textiles.....................................................
Foods and drinks (including tobacco)..
Agriculture...............................................
Commerce.................................................
Transportation........................................
Total...............................................

5

14

1

50

4

50

4

50

8

100

2
1
15

67
25
43

1
3
12
1

1
2
1
1
1

50
100
100
100
100

33
75
34
100

4
15

50
41

3
4
35
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
8
37
2
2
18

100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100

126

100

3

9

3

2

j

7
1

18
50

8

45

1
6

50
33

1
4
15
1
1
4

22

18

54

43

47

100
50
41
50
50
22
37

In the following table are shown the number of strikes, establish­
ments involved, strikers, and aggregate days of duration of strikes,
classified by causes. The apparent discrepancy in the totals for this
table as compared with those previously shown is explained in the
note which precedes the table.
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES, 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the totals for this
table do not agree with those for other tables.]

Total strikes.

Cause or object.
Num­
ber.

For increase of wages....................
Against reduction of wages..........
Other disputes concerning wages.
Hours of labor...............................
Trade unionism..............................
For reinstatement of employees..
Regulations governing w ork........
Other causes...................................
Not reported..................................
Total.....................................

Strikes for
which number
of establish­
ments involved
was reported.

Strikes for
which number
of strikers
was reported.

Per
cent of
total Strikes. Estab­
lish­ Strikes.
report­
ments.
ing
cause.

Strik­
ers.

Strikes fpr
which aggregate
days of dura­
tion was. •
reported.
Aggre­
gate
Strikes. days of
dura­
tion.

65
8
25
7
6
23
22
40
2

32.83
4.04
12.63
3.53
3.03
11.62
11.11
20.20.
1.01

64
8
24
6
6
23
20
40
2

256
8
35
45
17
23
20
52
2

65
8
25
7
6
23
22
40
1

2,647
126
953
457
244
393
1,187
1,096
15

62
8
23
6
4
22
22
37
1

1,262
345
339*
145
210
477*
558*
838*

198

100.00

193

458

197

7,118

185

4,176&

&

The most frequent cause of strikes in 1905 was disagreement con­
cerning wages, more than 49 per cent of the strikes occurring during
the year, involving 52 per cent of the total number of strikers, being
due wholly or in part to wage disputes.



707

FOREIGN STA TISTIC A L PUBLICATIONS-----N E TH E R LA N D S.

The results of strikes are shown in the following table:
STRIK ES, B Y RESULTS,

Total
strikes.

im .
Strikes for
Strikes for
wnich aggre­
which aggre­ gate days lost
gate days lost by employees
by strikers
other than
strikers was
was reported.
reported.

Strikes for
Strikes for
which number which
number
of establish­
of stiikers
ments involved was
reported.
was reported.

T > A M .f T X

AvSSu.lt.
Per
cent
Estab­
of
Days
Days
Num­ total
Strikes. lish­ Strikes. Strik­
ers. Strikes. lost. Strikes. lost.
ber. report­
ments.
ing
result.
17.46
42.86
37.30
2.38

22
52
47
3

141
65
109
3.

22
54
47
2

979
2,274
1,348
56

126 100.00

124

318

125

4,657

22
54
47
3

Succeeded.....................
Succeeded partly.........
Failed............................
Not reported................
T otal...................

22 3,560
54 35,902|
42 13,940!
2
36

294
21
53 42,642
43 1,535|
2
119 44,471|

120 53,439

Of the 4,601 strikers who took part in the 123 strikes for which the
results were reported, 21.28 per cent were in strikes which succeeded,
49.42 per cent wrere in strikes which succeeded partly, and 29.30 per
cent were in strikes which failed.
Strikes by causes and results are shown in the following table, the
cause being taken as the basis for the tabulation:
STRIKES, B Y CAUSES AND RESULTS, 1905.
[Strikes due to two or more causes have been tabulated under each cause; hence the totals for this
table do not agree with those for other tables.]
Suc­
ceeded.

Cause or object.

For increase of wages...................................................
Against reduction of wages.........................................
Other disputes concerning wages...............................
Hours of labor........................................._....................
Trade unionism.............................................................
For .reinstatement of employees.................................
Regulations governing work.......................................
Other causes........................ ..........................................
Not renorted____________________________________
Total_______________________

Suc­
ceeded
partly.

Failed.

Not re­
ported.

Total.

1

2
5
7

33
6
11
4
4
10
9
22

25
1
9
3
2
11
8
11
1

1

65
8
25
7
6
23
22
40
2

25

99

71

3

198

6
1
4

1

The next table shows the strikes in 1905 by duration and results:
STRIK ES, B Y DU RATIO N AND RESULTS, 1905.

Result.

Succeeded................
Succeeded p a r tly .. .
Failed.......................
Not reported...........
T otal..............

Over
8 to 14 15 to 28 29 to 42 43 to 91
91
days. days. days. days. days.

Less
than
1 day.

1 to 2
days.

3 to 7
days.

8
3
4
1

5
19
17
1

7
16
7

X
6
3

1
6.
2

4
1

7
5

2
3

16

33

30

10

9

5

12

5

.

Dura­
tion
not re­ Total.
ported.

5
1

22
54
47
3

6

126

From the above table it will be seen that of strikes which succeeded,
90.91 per cent lasted seven days or less; of strikes which succeeded
partly, 53.70 per cent lasted seven days or less, while of those which
failed, 59.57 per cent lasted seven days or less.



7 08

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR,

The following table shows the number of strikes and their results,
also the number of strikers, classified according to method of
settlement:
STRIKES, B Y METHOD OF SETTLEMENT, 1905.
[Where two or more methods of settlement have been employed, the data were reported in each case;
hence the totals for this table do not agree with those for other tables.]
Strikes.

Strikes for which
number of strikers
was reported.

Strikes w hich-

Strikers.
End­
Per
ed
cent of
Suc­
Per
with
total Suc­ ceed­
cent of
Num­ report­
Num­
ceed­ ed Failed. result
total
ber.
not
ber.
Num­
ing
ed. part­
re­
ber. report­
meth­
ing
ly.
port­
od.
meth­
ed.
od.

Method of settlement.

Direct negotiation between employer
and employees.......................................
Negotiation m which one or both parties
were represented by their organiza­
tions ........................................................
Mediation of third parties.......................
Arbitration. : . : .........................................
Employment of other workmen.............
Disintegration of strike...........................
Defeat of one of the parties without ne­
gotiation. .. 1..........................................
Other means..............................................
Not reported.............................................
T otal................................................

31

23.14

5

15

10

45
9
3
18
7

33.58
6.72
2.24
13.43
5.22

10

30
7
2

5
2

19
2
2

14.18
1.49

5
1

136

100.00

22

1

1

918

18.89

45 1,296
9
795
3
177
18
308
7
146

26.66
16.35
3.64
6.34
3.00

2

19 1,158
2
63
1
16

23.83
1.30

3

135 4,877

100.00

18
7
14
1
54

57

31

Negotiations in which one or both parties were represented by their
trade organizations resulted in the greatest number of strike settle­
ments, direct negotiation between employer and employees being
next in frequency.
L o c k o u t s .— The number of lockouts reported in 1905 was 6,
involving 2,707 persons. With regard to the number of persons
affected, the most important lockout of the year occurred in the pot­
tery industry. This lockout involved 2,000 persons and lasted one
day. A lockout of masons and plasterers involved 650 workmen and
lasted forty days, causing an aggregate loss of 22,750 working days.
In the table which follows is presented a summary of the principal
lockout data for the years 1901 to 1905:
SUMMARY OF LOCKOUTS, 1901 TO 1905.

Year.

1901.............
1902.............
1903.............
1904...........
1905.............

Total
lock­
outs.

Lockouts for
Lockouts for
which number which number
of persons
of establish­
ments involved locked out was
reported.
was reported.

Lockouts for
which aggre­
gate days of
duration was
reported.

Lock­
outs.

Estab­
lish­
ments
in­
volved

Lock­
outs.

Per­
sons
locked
out.

Lock­
outs.

5
14
13
17
5

5
15
24
74
5

6
14
14
16
6

361
2,381
1,021
6,754
2,707

6
12
11
14
6

7
14
14
17
6

a Including 1 lockout



Lockouts which-

Aggre­
Ended
gate
Suc­
with
Suc­ ceeded
days ceeded.
Failed. result
of du­
partly.
not re­
ration.
ported.
380
519
293|
355|
163£

2
5
7
9
2

reported as indefinite or unsettled.

4
5
6
1

2
5
2
2
3

az

DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
[Except in cases of special interest, the decisions here presented are restricted to
those rendered by the Federal courts and the higher courts of the States and Territories.
Only material portions of such decisions are reproduced, introductory and explanatory
matter being given in the words of the editor. Decisions under statutory law are
indexed under the proper headings in the cumulative index, page 783 et seq.].

DECISIONS UNDER STATUTORY LAW.
B

l a c k l is t in g —

C o m b in in g

to

Prevent

E

m ploym ent—

C o n s t i­

Joyce v. Great Northern Railway Company
(two cases). Supreme Court o f Minnesota, 110 Northivestem Reporterr
page 975 .— Thomas S. Joyce sued the railroad company on two sep­
t u t io n a l it y o f

Statute—

arate causes of action— one for injuries to his person, caused b y the
alleged negligence of the company and its employees, and one for the
wrongful and unlawful conduct of the company in preventing the said
Joyce from obtaining employment with the Union Depot Company
of St. Paul. Only the latter case presents matter of special interest.
The Union Depot Company is a separate corporation, owning and
operating a union station in the city of St. Paul, into which the
trains of the Great Northern Railway run. Joyce's action was based
on the act of 1895, chapter 174, which prohibits blacklisting or other
combinations between employers to prevent workmen from obtain­
ing employment, but his case was dismissed in the district court o f
Ramsey County, whereupon he appealed to the supreme court.
Judge Brown, for the court, delivered an opinion sustaining the
law and Joyce's right of action thereunder, and granting a new trial.
A syllabus prepared by the court sets forth both the facts and the
law in the case, and the paragraphs relating to this cause of action
are reproduced herewith:
1. Rev. Laws 1905, sec. 5097, declaring it unlawful for two or
more employers of labor to combine or confer together for the pur­
pose of preventing any person from procuring employment, con­
strued, and held a valid legislative enactment.
2. If one employer by conference with another employer preventsr
without excuse or justification, a third person from procuring
employment with such other employer, he is liable for damages
under the statute to the person so interfered with.
3. A malicious motive or purpose is essential to give rise to a~
cause of action under the statute; not actual malice, but such as
the law implies from the fact that the act complained of was unlawful
and without justification.
304 b — No. 70— 07----- 16




709

710

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

4.
Plaintiff had been in the employ of the Union Depot Company
as a track repairer. He was injured while engaged in the discharge
of his duties by being struck by a switch engine of defendant, then
being operated in the depot company’ s yards. On recovering from
his injury, he sought reemployment of the depot company. Defend­
ant interfered, and by its act induced the depot company to refuse
him further employment, except upon the condition that he release
defendant from, all claim for damages on account of his injury. He
declined to release his claim, and the depot company, in consequence
of the interference of defendant and plaintiff’s refusal to release, refused
to reemploy him. Held, That the act of defendant, on the evidence
disclosed, was a violation of the statute, and constituted, unex­
plained by matters in justification, an actionable tort, and the
question snould have been submitted to the jury under the second
cause of action.
B

oycotts—

C o m b in a t io n s

in

R

e s t r a in t

of

I nterstate

Com ­

— Loewe v. Lawlor, United States Circuit Court, District o f
Connecticut, 1/+8 Federal Reporter, page 924-— Lawlor and his asso­
ciates were members of a local branch of the United Hatters of North
America, and had undertaken to compel the plaintiffs to unionize
their factory. To this end they withdrew from employment in such
factory and prevented, as far as they could, others from taking
service therein. They also sought to curtail, and, if possible, to
destroy the trade of plaintiffs in other States. The plaintiffs allege
that these efforts have resulted in an interference with interstate
commerce, in violation of the Sherman antitrust act, prohibiting
combinations in restraint of such commerce, and entered a complaint
based on this allegation. The complaint was demurred to on general
grounds as well as in detail. It was on a consideration of the former,
however, that it was dismissed for reasons that appear from the fol­
lowing quotation from the opinion of the court, which was delivered
by Judge P latt:
There is no allegation which suggests that the means of transporting
plaintiff’s product, or the product itself while being transported, were
touched, handled, obstructed, or in any manner actually interfered
with. There is no allegation that the defendants are m a n y way*
engaged in interstate commerce. The argument for the plaintiffs
is that b y entering into a scheme to curtail the production at home,
and the distribution by customers abroad, the defendants have
formed a combination to limit and restrain plaintiffs’ trade between
the two points, which is interstate trade, and that such restraint is
the direct, positive, and inevitable result of the general scheme.
The manufacture of the hats'before they leave the factory in Danbury
is not interstate commerce, nor are the hats themselves up to that
time the subject of interstate commerce. The distribution of the
hats from the hands of the customers in other States to the ultimate
consumer is not interstate commerce, nor are the hats themselves
during such distribution the subject of interstate commerce.
m erce




711

DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

The real question is whether a combination which undertakes to
interfere simultaneously with both actions is one which directly affects
the transportation of the hats from the place of manufacture to the
place of sale. It is. not perceived that the Supreme Court has as yet
so broadened the interpretation of the Sherman act (Act July 2, 1890,
c. 647, 26 Stat. 209 [u. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3200]), that it will fit
such an order of facts as this complaint presents.

E

ig h t - H o u r

L aw —

C o n s t it u t io n a l it y — I n d e f in it e n e s s

of

L an­

guage—

State v, Livingston Concrete Building and Manufacturing Com­
pany, Supreme Court o f Montana, 87 Pacific Reporter, page 980 .—

This case was before the supreme court of Montana on an appeal from
the district court of Park County. The defendant company had been
accused of violating the so-called eight-hour law, and, on the claim
that the law was unconstitutional, had obtained a ruling in its favor.
The State appealed and secured a reversal of the judgment of the
lower court, the statute being held constitutional by the supreme
court.
The following quotations from the opinion of Judge Holloway, who
spoke for the court, present the principal grounds on which this con­
clusion was reached:
The information states facts sufficient to constitute a public offense,
if chapter 50 above is a valid legislative enactment capable of being
enforced; but on behalf of respondent it is urged (1) that the act is so
indefinite as to be incapable of enforcement, and (2) that, even if
sufficiently definite, the act is unconstitutional and void..
The provisions of chapter 50, above, are as follows:
“ S e c t i o n 1. A period of eight (8) hours shall constitute a day's
work on all works or undertakings carried on or aided by any munici­
pal, county or State government, and on all contracts let by them,
and in mills and smelters for the treatment of ores, and in under­
ground mines.
‘ 1Sec. 2. Every person, corporation, stock company or association
of persons who violate any of the provisions of section one (1) of this
act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof
shall be punished by fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100)
nor more than five hundred ($500) dollars or by imprisonment in the
county jail for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or
by both such fine and imprisonment."
1. It is said that the statute is too indefinite to be enforceable, in
that (1) it can not be determined whether it intends to impose the
penalty prescribed upon the man who works less than eight hours in a
day, or upon the man who works more than eight hours in a day, or
upon botn; (2) it can not be determined whether it is intended to
punish the employer, the employee, or both; and (3) it is so indefinite
that, in fact, it can not be said to forbid the employment of a laborer
for more than eight hours in a day. While it may be conceded that
the intention of the lawmakers might have been expressed in plainer
terms, we can not hold a solemn legislative enactment of no force or
effect because o f the indefinite language in which it is couched, unless




712

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

we find ourselves unable to divine the purpose or intent of the legis­
lature.
(Hochheimer, Criminal Law (2d Ed.) Sec. 28.) For, after
all, the function of the court is to determine and make known, if pos­
sible, such purpose or intent; for the intention of the legislature is
the essence of the law. In Edwards v. Morton, 92 Tex. 152, 46 S. W.
792, it is said: “ The intention of the legislature in enacting a law is
the law itself, and must be enforced when ascertained.” In Man­
hattan Co. v . Kaldenberg, 165 N. Y . 1, 58 N. E. 790, it is said: “ In
construing statutes the proper course is to start out and follow the
true intent of the legislature, and to adopt that sense which harmo­
nizes best with the context, and promotes in the fullest manner the
apparent policy and objects of the legislature.” (2 Lewis’ Sutherland
on Statutory Construction (2d Ed.) Sec. 363.)
(1) The history of labor legislation makes clear the evil to suppress
which such statutes are enacted. It is the continuous employment of
workingmen for such length of time as to imperil their lives or health
that is sought to be avoided, and, in the interest of the general welfare
of its citizens, the State undertakes to correct the evil as far as it may;
or it may have been the purpose of the State to stamp with its approval
the view now entertained h y many, that, all things considered, the
general welfare of workingmen, upon whom rests a portion of the bur­
dens of government, will be best subserved if labor performed for
eight hours continuously be taken as the measure of a full day’s work;
that the restriction of a day’s work to that number of hours will so far
promote the morality and improve the physical and intellectual con­
dition of workingmen as to enable them the better to discharge the
duties of citizenship. With these objects in view, it can not be sup­
posed that the legislature intended to impose punishment upon every
laborer engaged m any of the designated employments who fails to
work for the full period of eight hours in every working-day. But,
on the other hand, it is apparent that the object and purpose in view
were to prevent the employment of a laborer in any of such employ­
ments for more than eight hours in a day; that number of hours of
continuous labor beiiig fixed by the statute as the maximum for a
day’s work.
(2) As it is the purpose of the statute to conserve the health and
promote the happiness of the workingman— not to curtail his capacity
to earn money or to set bounds upon the greed of his employer— the
statute is written in terms broad enough to include within its inhibi­
tion both the employer and the employee. The language is: “ Every
person, ’corporation, stock company or association of persons who
violates any of the provisions of section one of this act shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor,” etc. In Short v. Bullion-Beck & C. N. Co., 20
Utah 20, 57 Pac. 720, 45 L. R. A. 603 [Bulletin No. 24, p. 729], a
similar statute of the State of Utah was considered, and it was there
held that the statute applies both to the employer and employee, and
that the protection which the State throws around the citizen b y the
enactment of such a law can not be waived even by the employee, the
person for whose benefit the statute is primarily enacted. We do not
think that in this respect the statute is at all indefinite, but, on the
contrary, the meaning of the language employed seems to be plain.
(3) It is said that the statute does not m terms prohibit the work­
ingman from engaging in any of the designated employments for more
than eight hours in a day, nor does it specifically prohibit the employer



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

713

from hiring him to do so, and that, in fact, at most, the statute does
not do more than define a working day. But the courts have not
had difficulty in reaching an altogether different conclusion. * * *
The declared purpose of our statute is to impose a penalty upon every
one who violates the provisions of section 1 of the act. And how
may those provisions be violated? Manifestly in no other way than
by "the employee working more than eight hours in a day in any of
the designated employments, or by the employer causing him to do
so. The information in this case charges that the defendant com­
pany did unlawfully and willfully cause, suffer, and permit its servants
to work for a longer period than eight hours in a day, and, if this be
true, there was a clear violation of the statute by the defendant com­
pany; and it was no less a crime that its servants might also be
equally guilty of the same offense.
In this connection it is said that the statute is exceedingly harsh
and arbitrary, in that it limits the number of hours of labor, even
though the employee is working by the hour and paid according to
the number of hours he works. But, when the purpose of the law
is kept in mind, we think this criticism can not be made. The object
of the law is to conserve the health and promote the happiness of
the workingmen by such reasonable regulations as will save them
in the one instance from overwork, ana, in the other, afford them
ample time for rest, recreation, and their physical and mental improve­
ment ; and therefore it is quite immaterial whether the labor is per­
formed by the day or by the hour. Its object is to limit the number
of hours of labor in a day so far as the State may do so. The same
criticism might be made of many other public statutes. Every law
is a restraint upon some one, and the question of its harshness is
only a relative one, depending largely upon the disposition of the
person restrained, or the character or the business in which he is
engaged.
It is further urged that the statute is harsh, in that no provision
is made for cases of emergency where life or property is in peril;
and it may be conceded that the act would be more consonant with
our ideas of a reasonable regulation if provisions had been made for
such emergencies. But neither of these criticisms affects the validity
of the act. If it was the legislative will that no exception be made
to the rule announced, the courts can not say that a different policy
should have been pursued. In fact, these objections only raise the
uestion of legislative policy, with which the courts have nothing to
o, unless it should be made to appear that in its operation the act
would be so unreasonable that it could not be supposed that the
legislature ever intended it to have such effect. (20 Enc. Law (2d
Ed.) 599.) Whether this statute in its operation will in fact prove
to be harsh can only be determined by experience, and a probability
that it will do so is not sufficient to condemn the act in advance.
We are not called upon in this connection to decide whether or
not, in the event a workingman had practically completed his eight
hours of work upon one of the designated employments, and some
emergency should suddenly arise whereby life or property was placed
in imminent danger, such employee might not prolong his labor beyond
the allotted time without violating the spirit of the statute. That
question is not presented in this case, and it is therefore not consid­
ered nor decided.

a




714
E

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.
ig h t - H o u r

L aw —

T

e r r it o r ia l

Ju r is d ic t io n — C o m m is s io n

of

P roof—

United States v.
Sheridan-Kirk Contract Company, United States District Court, South­
ern District o f Ohio, Western Division, 1/+9 Federal Reporter, page 809 .—
O ffense— E

x t r a o r d in a r y

E

m ergency—

The company named above was indicted by the Federal grand jury
for a violation of the Federal law of August 1,1892, which limits the
hours of labor on public vjorks of the United States to eight per day,
except in cases of extraordinary emergency, and provides a penalty
for any contractor or subcontractor who shall intentionally violate
said law b y requiring or permitting service in excess of such limit.
The fact of employment for more than eight hours was admitted,
and, on hearing, the company was found guilty. Various grounds for
a new trial were submitted, but none were deemed valid by the court,
and the motion for a new trial was overruled.
Judge Thompson, who delivered the opinion of the court, spoke in
part as follows:
It was urged by counsel for the defendant:
(1) That the court erred in its instruction to the jury upon the
question whether the offense charged was committed within the terri­
torial jurisdiction o f the court, and in refusing to give to the jury a
special instruction upon this question requested by the defendant.
The defendant insists that, in order to warrant a conviction, it was
not sufficient to show that the laborers and mechanics named in the
indictment were required or permitted to work on dam No. 37 more
than eight hours in a calendar day, but that it was necessary to show
that at the instance of the defendant they worked more than eight
hours in a calendar day on that part of the dam which is within the
southern district of Ohio, and that the court should have so instructed
the jury. If this be the true construction of the statute, then the con­
tractor may, at will, defeat its operation by limiting the hours of
labor to less than eight hours on each side of the boundary line
between the States of Ohio and Kentucky, and may with impunity
require or permit laborers and mechanics to work seven hours in
Omo and seven hours in Kentucky in any one calendar day. But
what is the offense charged in the indictment ? It is that the defend­
ant on given days within the territorial jurisdiction of this court did
unlawfully and intentionally require and permit certain named
laborers and mechanics in the employ of the defendant to work upon
a public work of the United States more than eight hours in a calendar
day, and is the offense defined b y the statute of August 1, 1892. It is
not the doing of the work which constitutes the offense. It is not an
offense for the laborer or mechanic to work more than eight hours in a
calendar day upon a public work of the United States, but it is an
offense for the contractor to require or permit it to be done. In this
case the work was done on a public work of the United States, and it
is immaterial whether it was clone in Ohio or Kentucky, but, to justify
a conviction, it was necessary for the Government to show that the
act of the defendant in requiring or permitting it to be done was com­
mitted within the territorial jurisdiction of this court, and the jury
was so instructed.




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

715

( 3) That the court erred in its instruction to the jury that the burden
of proof was upon the defendant to show that the employment of the
laborers and mechanics for more than eight hours in a calendar day
was justified by an extraordinary emergency. The statute, appar­
ently in furtherance of a general policy sought to be established,
limits and restricts the services of laborers and mechanics upon public
works of the United States to eight hours in any one calendar day, and
declares that it shall be unlawful for any contractor to require or per­
mit such laborers and mechanics to work more than that time, except
in case of extraordinary emergency. The restriction is general and
absolutely prohibitory, save in the single instance of an extraordinary
emergency which threatens injury or destruction of property, or
other loss and injury. The fact of such an emergency would be
especially within the knowledge of, and should be shown by, the con­
tractor as a matter of defense. To require the Government to show
that no emergency had arisen to excuse noncompliance with the stat­
ute would practically defeat its enforcement. It would compel the
Government to anticipate and be prepared to prove the nonexistence
of all probable or possible emergencies which might be suggested to
the jury by the defendant. During the trial it was urged that a
scarcity of labor, due to the prosperity of the country, presented an
extraordinary emergency, which' as long as it continued, if for years,
would suspend the operation of the statute for the benefit of the con­
tractor, and according to the contention of the defendant would
require the Government to anticipate the defense and be prepared to
prove the nonexistence of the emergency. The administration of
justice would not be promoted, but hmdered, by such course of pro­
cedure. An examination of the decisions of the courts bearing upon
the point, as a rule, will show that the burden is placed upon the
party who, under the circumstances of the case, is best able to make
the proof. (Nelson v. United States (C. C.), 30 Fed. 116, 117;
Moody v . State of Ohio, 17 Ohio St. 110; United States v. Cook, 17
Wall. 173, 21 L. Ed. 538.)
(4)
That the court erred in its instruction to the jury explaining
the meaning of the phrase “ extraordinary emergency/'’ as used in
the statute. The claim of the defendant is, and was urged during
the trial, that the phrase “ extraordinary emergency” should be con­
strued (1) to cover not only the time of its happening, but also the
time spent in repairing the injuries to the work caused by it and in
restoring the work to its former condition, and (2) to cover the entire
time employed in constructing the dam in question.
The words “ extraordinary” and “ emergency” are defined in the
Century Dictionary as follows:
“ Extraordinary: 1. Being beyond or out of the common order or
rule; not of the usual, customary, or regular kind; not ordinary.
4. Exceeding the common degree or measure; hence, remarkable;
uncommon; rare; wonderful.
“ Emergency: 2. A sudden or unexpected happening; an unfore­
seen occurrence or condition; specifically, a perplexing contingency
or complication of circumstances. 3. A sudden or unexpected
occasion for action; exigency; pressing necessity.”
The contract does not recognize the work of constructing dam No. 37
as a continuing extraordinary emergency, a work undertaken to meet




71(3

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

an unexpected happening, one out of the common order or rule, nor
as presenting a sudden or unexpected occasion for action. It con­
templates and makes reasonable provision for the delay caused by the
supervention of extraordinary and unforeseeable conditions, and
excludes the assumption that the work itself is one of continuing
extraordinary emergency which wholly suspends the operation of
the eight-hour law. When confronted with an “ extraordinary
emergency” within the meaning of the statute, the laborers and
mechanics may be required or permitted to work overtime in protect­
ing property during the emergency, but not afterwards for the purpose
of minimizing the losses of the contractor.
The defendant, as bidder on the contract, was required to visit the
locality of the work, and to make its own estimates of the facilities
and difficulties attending the execution of the contract, including
uncertainty of weather and all other contingencies, and, to assist it
in doing so, it was invited to visit the United States engineer’s office
at Cincinnati, where it could obtain valuable information respecting
floods, high and low water periods, and other data concerning the
general character of the river necessary for the preparation of intelli­
gent proposal,' before it entered into a contract. The contract
required the defendant to complete the work within 350 fair working
days, but in computing fair working days allowance was made for a
total suspension of work from December 1st to June 1st, and for all
other days when Yvork was stopped by ice, freshets, etc., including
the necessary stoppage to protect or remove plant just before floods
and to pump out and replace plant after floods. And the department
had authority to waive, for a reasonable period, the time limit origi­
nally set for completion, and to remit the charges for expense of
superintendence and inspection for so much time as in the judgment
of the said engineer officer in charge may actually have been lost on
account of unusual freshets, ice, rainfall, or other abnormal force or
violence of the elements, or by epidemics, local or State quarantine
restrictions, or other unforeseeable cause of delay arising through no
fault of the contractor, etc.
In short, reasonable provisions were made to meet and protect the
defendant against the difficulties and hindrances incident to the work,
which experience might be expected, but did not, as a remedy for
these difficulties, contemplate or confer upon the defendant the privi­
lege of working the men overtime, but only an extension of the time
limit and a remission of charges for inspection, etc. Nevertheless,
the contract also recognized tne fact that extraordinary emergencies
might arise, and, in addition to the overtime which might be required
of the men under the statute, provided that they might also be required
to work on Sundays and holidays. The contract, however, in recogni­
tion of the eight-hour law* also provided that, excepting Sundays and
holidays and cases of extraordinary emergency, the work should be
carried on continuously during the 24 hours of each day by three
shifts of 8 hours *each. Neither the law nor the contract justify the
assumption that the work was one of continuing extraordinary
emergency, or that a case of extraordinary emergency would cover
the time employed in repairing the injuries, and in removing the
obstacles caused by the flood. The phrase “ continuing extraordinary
emergency” is self-contradictory. A condition or conditions which
necessarily must continue for years can not be called an uncom­




717

DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

mon, sudden, unexpected happening, which presents a sudden and
unexpected occasion for action.

E

m ployers’

L

ia b il it y —

R

a il r o a d

C o m p a n ie s — L

o g g in g

R

a il ­

— Hemphill v. Buck Creek Lumber Comparty, Supreme Court o f North Carolina, 54 Southeastern Reporter, page
Jj.20.— This case was before the supreme court of the State on appeal
road—

F

ellow

-S e r v a n t L a w

from the superior court of Buncombe County, in which A. W. Hemp­
hill had been awarded judgment for damages for injuries received
while in the service of the company named. Hemphill was a brakeman on a private railroad owned by the company and was injured
by reason of defects in the road. The action was brought under the
fellow-servant act (Revisal 1905, section 2646), which deprives “ any
railroad operating in this State” of the defense of assumption of risk
|as to “ any defect in the machinery, ways or appliances of the com­
pany.” The lumber company contended that this section had no
application to private roads. The court denied this contention,
however, and affirmed the judgment of the court below.
- From the remarks of Judge Clark, who delivered the opinion of
the court, the following is quoted:
In Schus v. Power-Simpson Co., 69 L. R. A. 887, 85 Minn. 447, 89
N. W. 68 [see Bulletin No. 42, p. 1104], this point was raised und§r
the Minnesota “ fellow-servant act,” which is very similar to that in
this State, and the court held that the words “ every railroad corpo­
ration owning or operating a railroad in this State” embraced a
“ logging road,” that, though it is not a common carrier of freight
and passengers, its employees engaged in the operation of its trains
are exposed to the same dangers and risks as are employees of rail­
roads operating as common carriers, and come within the spirit and
intent of the act, and that the wider signification of the word “ rail­
road ” meaning any road operated by steam or electricity on rails
was intended by the legislature. Both street railways and logging
roads are railroads— i. e., roads whose operations are conducted by
the use of rails— and come within the general term “ railroads,” cer­
tainly within the meaning of the fellow-servant act, which sought to
protect all employees, engaged in this dangerous avocation, by requir­
ing safe ways, machinery, and appliances, and taking away from
such companies the defense that an employee had been injured or
killed by the negligence of a fellow-servant.

E

m ployers’

eral

L

ia b il it y —

R

a il r o a d

G overnm ent— I nterstate

C o m p a n ie s — P o w e r s

of

F ed­

C o m m e r c e — C o n s t it u t io n a l it y

o f S t a t u t e — Kelley v. Great Northern Railway Company,
United
States Circuit Court, District o f Minnesota, Fifth Division .— (Copy of

opinion obtained from the Department of Justice.) John Kelley was
injured while in the employment of the railway company above
named as a track repairer. The company is a common carrier



718

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

engaged in interstate commerce, and suit was brought to recover
damages under the act of June 11, 1906, relating to the liability of
common carriers carrying interstate commerce. The complaint was
demurred to on the ground that the law in question is unconstitu­
tional and void. The demurrer was overruled, however, Judge
Morris, speaking for the court, maintaining the constitutionality of
the law and the consequent sufficiency of the complaint under it.
(For the law in full see Bulletin No. 64, page 909.)
Having cited the law and the provision of the Constitution relat­
ing to the power of Congress to regulate commerce among the States,
Judge Morris said:
The first ground on which that contention is based is that the
subject-matter of the act is the creation and enforcement of liabili­
ties growing out of the negligence of common carriers engaged in
interstate or foreign commerce to their employees, and it is therefore
not a regulation or commerce among the States or with foreign nations
within the meaning of that clause of the Constitution, and hence not
within the power of Congress.
As preliminary and leading up to a more direct consideration of
the power of Congress in reference to such legislation as that embod­
ied m this act, it may be well to call attention very briefly to some
of the decisions, State and Federal, as to the power of the State leg­
islatures in reference thereto, a proper understanding of which will
prepare us to correctly apprehend the true doctrine in reference to
the extent of the power reposed in Congress.
It can no longer be questioned, in the face of these decisions, that
the common-law rules which are affected by this act are simply rules
of decisions enunciated by the courts, according to their iaeas of
justice and public policy, and are necessarily subject to the control
of the State legislatures in the exercise of what is commonly termed
the police power. But when the State legislation is directed to par­
ticular occupations, such, for instance, as that of railroad companies,
it is subject to certain limitations growing out of the constitutional
provisions of the fourteenth amendment prohibiting the taking of
property without due process of law, or the denying to any person
the equal protection or the laws, or an interference with the liberty
of contract. It seems that the contributory-negligence rule has
never been directly modified by State legislation; at least none such
has been called to my attention. But the reasoning of the cases
would apply with equal force to that rule.
The judge then cited Missouri Pacific By. Co. v. Mackey, 127 U. S.
205, and other cases, after which he said:
All of these decisions are to the effect that it is competent for a
State, in the exercise of the police power, to change or modify the rules
of decision determining the liability of employers to their employees,
as applied to particular pursuits or callings, and that legislation to
that effect is not obnoxious to the fourteenth amendment to the
Constitution, if all persons brought under its influence are treated
alike under similar circumstances and conditions, and if, with a wide
legislative discretion, the classification is practical and not palpably
arbitrary. In other words, the liability of those in particular occu­



DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

719

pations, as, for instance, railroad companies, for injuries to their
employees, is a proper subject for governmental regulation, and a
State may make such reasonable regulations on the subject with
respect to all within its territorial jurisdiction as the legislature
thereof may think that the public welfare demands, subject only to
the limitations above indicated.
Counsel for defendant, as I have understood them, not only admit
but urge that such is the well-established law; but they contend that
such legislation is within the power of the State legislatures only, and
that it is not within the power of Congress under the commerce clause
of the Constitution to enact such a statute as that here under consid­
eration with reference to common carriers engaged in interstate com­
merce, because it merely changes or modifies the common-law rules
determining the liability, and thus merely creates a liability of such
earners to their employees for their negligence or for the negligence
of the fellow-servants of the injured employee, and in no way pre­
scribes, rules for carrying on traffic or commerce among the States,
and therefore in no way regulates such commerce.
As I have said above, I have referred to and given the effect of the
foregoing decisions because I think they prepare us to correctly appre­
hend the effect of those which more nearly touch the above contention
and from which the true doctrine in reference to the extent of the
power of Congress may be ascertained.
In this latter class are those decisions in which the Supreme Court
of the United Stated has had under consideration State statutes whose
validity was attacked on the ground that they affected interstate
commerce, and were regulations of such commerce, and were there­
fore within the exclusive power of Congress. While it might be said
that in none of these cases was the exact question raised which is here
being considered, yet, as I think, they not only throw light upon it,
but indicate beyond question the views entertained thereon by the
justices of our highest court.
But before proceeding to the consideration of these cases let us first
ascertain, as far as we can, from other decisions, the meaning and
scope of the commerce clause of the Constitution!
In determining the meaning and scope of that clause the Supreme
Court has, from the time of the delivery of the opinion of the great
Chief Justice in Gibbons v. Ogden until now, seemed to think it unde­
sirable to give to tfie words therein any hard and fast definition, or
to mark with absolute certainty the extent of the power thereby con­
ferred. It has been declared that interstate commerce is a term of
very large significance (Hopkins v. U. S., 171 U. S. 578, 597, citing
many cases), and that the constitutional power conferred b y the
Constitution is, as to interstate and foreign commerce, one without
limitation. “ It authorizes legislation with respect to all the subjects
of foreign and interstate commerce, the persons engaged in it, and
the instruments by vdiich it is carried on. ” (Sherlock v. Ailing, infra.)
In Lottery Cases (188 TJ. S. 321, 346) Mr. Justice Harlan, deliver­
ing the opinion of the majority of the court, reviews at great length
the cases in which the court has considered the meaning of the term
“ commerce among the several States” in the commerce clause of
the Constitution and the power of Congress thereunder, and very
completely summarises the effect of the decisions. I can only quote




720

BULLETIN OF TH E BUEEAU OE LABOE.

a small portion of what lie says, but an examination of the case will
show the very large significance of the term and the difficulty of giv­
ing it a precise definition and the wide scope of the power. He says:
“ The leading case under the commerce clause of the Constitution
is Gibbons v. Ogden (9 Wheat. 1,189,194). Keferring to that clause,
Chief Justice Marshall said:
“ 6W e are now arrived at the inquiry—what is this power? It is
the power to regulate; that is, to prescribe the rule by which com­
merce is to be governed. This power, like all others vested in Con­
gress, is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent, and
acknowledges no limitations, other than are prescribed in the Consti­
tution. These are expressed in plain terms, and do not affect the
questions which arise in this case, or which have been discussed at
the bar. If, as has always been understood, the sovereignty of Con­
gress, though limited to specified objects, is plenary as to those
objects, the power over commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several States, is vested in Congress as absolutely as it would be
in a single government, having in its constitution tne same restric­
tions on the exercise of the power as are found in the Constitution of
the United States/ ”

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

“ This reference to prior adjudications could be extended if it were
necessary to do so. The cases cited however sufficiently indicate the
grounds upon which this court has proceeded when determining the
meaning and scope of the commerce clause. They show that com­
merce among the States embraces navigation, intercourse, commu­
nication, traffic, the transit of persons, and the transmission of mes­
sages by telegraph. They also show that the power to regulate com­
merce among tne several States is vested in Congress as absolutely
as it would be in a single government, having in its constitution the
same restrictions on the exercise of the power as are found in the
Constitution of the United States; that such power is plenary, com­
plete in itself, and may be exerted by Congress to its utmost extent,
subject only to such limitations as the Constitution imposes upon
the exercise of the powers granted by it; and that in determining
the character of the regulations to be adopted Congress has a large
discretion which is not to be controlled by the courts, simply because,
in their opinion, such regulations may not be the best or most effec­
tive that could be employed.”
Decisions sustaining the validity of State laws affecting commerce
and stating the relations of State and Congressional powers were
then cited, after which the court said:
In all of-these cases the State legislation has been sustained as a
valid exercise of the police power of the State, although it may affect
interstate commerce, against the contention that it was an invasion
of the power given by the Constitution to Congress to regulate inter­
state commerce. But in all of them the court has been careful to
indicate that, as to interstate commerce, Congress also has the power
to enact such legislation; that while the power of Congress to regu­
late such commerce is plenary, it is competent for the States to pass




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

7 21

such legislation until Congress acts; and that such State legislation,
in so far as it may conflict therewith, must yield to similar legisla­
tion by Congress, whenever it chooses to exercise its power.
In M., K. and T. Ry. v. Haber, at page 635, the court says:
“ These cases all proceed upon the ground that the regulation of
the enjoyment of the relative rights, and the performance of the
duties, of all persons within the jurisdiction of a State belong primar­
ily to such State under its reserved power to provide for the safety
of all persons and property within its limits; and that even if the
subject of such regulations be one that may be taken under the exclu­
sive control of Congress and be reached by national legislation, any
action taken b y the State upon that subject that does not directly
interfere with rights secured by the Constitution of the United
States or by some valid act of Congress must be respected until Con­
gress intervenes.”
In Pierce v. Van Dusen, (78 Fed. Rep. 693) the circuit court, com­
posed of Mr. Justice Harlan and Judges Taft and Lurton, had under
consideration the Ohio statute which changed or modified the fellowservant rule, thus, as is contended here, creating a liability which did
not theretofore exist. After citing and commenting upon many of the
cases which I have above cited, the court says, at page 700:
“ Undoubtedly, the whole subject of the liability of interstate rail­
road companies for the negligence of those in their service may be cov­
ered by national legislation enacted by Congress under its power to
regulate commerce among the States. But as Congress has not dealt
with that subject, it was competent for Ohio to declare that an
employee of any railroad corporation doing business here, including
those engaged m commerce among the States, shall be deemed, in
respect to his acts within this State, the superior, not the fellow-ser­
vant, of other employees placed under his control. If the effect of the
Ohio statute be, as undoubtedly it is, to impose upon such corpora­
tions, in particular circumstances, a liability for injuries received by
some of its employees which would not otherwise rest upon them
according to the principles of general law, that fact does not release
the Federal court from its obligation to enforce the enactments of the
State. Of the validity of such State legislation we entertain no
doubt.”
It is difficult to understand why, if Congress may regulate the
liability of common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to
strangers, it may not regulate their liability to their employees, the
rotection of interstate commerce and of the persons engaged therein,
eing as much involved in the one case as in the other.
Nor are these cases to the effect that the power of Congress can only
be exerted by prescribing that some particular thing shall be done.
And it would seem to be apparent that this act is none the less a rule
or regulation under which the business of such carriers is to be con­
ducted and by which it is to be governed, because it does not prescribe
that some specific thing should be done or some specific appliance
used.
In Johnson v. Southern Pacific Co. (196 U. S., 1) [Bulletin No. 56, p.
303], the court had under consideration the act of Congress known as
“ the safety appliance act” of March 2, 1893 (U. S. Stats., vol. 27,
531), requiring railroads engaged in interstate commerce to equip

E




722

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

their locomotives, trains, and ears with air brakes, automatic couplers,
etc. The plaintiff claimed that he was relieved of assumption of risk
under common-law rules b y section 8 of that act, which provided—
“ That any employee or any such common earner who may be
injured b y any locomotive, car, or train in use contrary to the pro­
vision of this act shall not be deemed thereby to have assumed the
risk thereby occasioned, although continuing in the employment of
such carrier after the unlawful use of such locomotive, ear, or trainhad been brought to his knowledge.”
That this act was squarely within the power of Congress under the
commerce clause of the Constitution was not questioned. And that
in connection with such a regulation as that requiring the use of such
appliances Congress had the power, under the commerce clause of the
Constitution, to change the common-law rule as to the assumption of
risk seems to have been thought too clear for argument.
In that case the court said:
“ The object was to protect the lives and limbs of railroad employees
by rendering it unnecessary for a man operating the couplers to go
between the ends of the cars, and that object would be defeated, not
necessarily by the use of automatic couplers of different kinds, but if
those different kinds would not automatically couple with each
other.”
And again:
“ The primary object of the act was to promote the public welfare
by securing the safety of employees and travelers.”
The court here recognizes that the public welfare, as involved in
interstate commerce, may be promoted by legislation o f Congress for
the protection o f persons employed in carrying it on.
While the act here under consideration does not state either in its
title or body, as did that act, what the object of it is, it seems to me
that such object is plain upon its face. It will be apparent, I think,
from a mere reading of the statute that Congress had in contempla­
tion much more than the mere creation and imposition of the liability
mentioned upon common carriers engaged in interstate commerce to
their employees. It seems to me to be apparent that it had in con­
templation the protection of the lives and persons of the employees
of such carriers whose employment had any relation to such com merce, and that it enacted the statute for that purpose, and by its
provisions changed certain common-law rules determining liability
m order to promote that object by securing a more careful selection
of employees, a closer and more careful supervision of them-, and a
more rigid enforcement of their duties, and thus to promote the
public welfare.
Now, if Congress has power,* as a regulation of commerce, having
in view the promotion of the public welfare by securing the safety
of employees and travelers, to pass an act like the safety-appliance
act, requiring the use of specific appliances, and can in connection
therewith and to promote tlie objects o f the statute change the com­
mon-law rule as to the assumption of risk, has it not power as a
regulation of commerce to pass such an act as the one we are here
considering?
Must Congress be obliged, in order to bring its legislation within
the commerce clause of the Constitution, to provide specifically and
definitely for all the conditions that may exist and for all of the




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

723

almost infinite situations and circumstances that m a y arise affect­
ing the safety of employees in the conduct of the business of com­
mon carriers ? Must it specifically and definitely provide what pre­
cautions should be taken for the safety of employees under all such
conditions and in all these almost innumerable situations? Can it
not say generally, as it has in effect said in this act, we can not
anticipate all of these conditions and situations; we can not provide
for all the precautions which ought to be taken for the safety of em­
ployees by common carriers engaged in interstate commerce; but in
order to secure, under all conditions and in all situations, a more
diligent and thorough performance of the duties of such carriers,
and in order to compel and insure that every proper precaution shall
be taken for the safety of their employees, both as to the agencies
and instrumentalities used and as to the selection apd supervision of
such employees, and in order to minimize as far as possible the dan­
gers to such employees, we will not permit such carriers, in case of
the death or injury of an employee resulting from their negligence
or the negligence of any of then servants, to invoke certain commonlaw rules for the purpose of escaping liability, but they shall be
overned by and their liability snail be ascertained by the rules
erein laid down? May not Congress say, as it has, in effect, said in
this act, we declare that interstate commerce, including those en­
gaged therein and the public to be served thereby, must be safe­
guarded by the rules of liability herein prescribed and that such
commerce must bear the burden hereby imposed? It seems to me
there can be but one answer to these questions, and that is that Con­
gress need not provide specifically and definitely for all such con­
ditions and situations, and that it has power under the commerce
clause to pass such an act.
Undoubtedly if Congress may prescribe specific rules it may pre­
scribe general rules, and may prescribe the consequences which shall
follow m case of a violation o f either. There is no suggestion in the
Constitution or in reason to the contrary. The field belongs to Con­
gress and it may, if it sees fit, occupy all of it. Congress has by the
statute here in question in effect said: The employees of those engaged
in interstate commerce are too frequently placed in peril of life and
limb through the negligence of their employers and through the
negligence of their own fellow-servants. Such commerce itself is
subject to unnecessary hazards for the same reason. This must be
prevented, or at least reduced to a minimum. The negligence of
fellow-servants is in large measure under the control of the employers,
if the latter but exercise proper care in the selection of such servants
and in their supervision and require of them the performance of
tasks only which will impose reasonable tests upon their skill or
powers or endurance. Increasing the liability of the employer will
tend to decrease those perils and hazards. The duties of such carriers
as declared by the courts and as prescribed by particular statutes are
well known and understood, and such duties must be more' faithfully
performed and such carriers must see to it that greater precautions
are taken to safeguard such commerce and to protect their employees
engaged therein, and in order to secure this the rules of their liability
shall be as herein provided.
If it be contended that the creation of such liabilities is an exercise
of the police power, and that such power belongs to the States, the

f




724

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

answer is, that while as a general rule the police power belongs to
the States, and was by the Constitution reserved to the States, yet
Congress may, in the exercise of its power to regulate commerce,
impose upon such commerce regulations which are in their essential
nature police regulations. Upon no other theory can the decisions
in Johnson v. Southern Pacific Co., supra, and in Lottery Cases, supra,
be justified and sustained.
I am therefore of the opinion that the first ground on which the
constitutionality of this act is denied is not well taken.
The second ground on which the constitutionality of the act is
attacked is: That, if it be admitted that the act does regulate inter­
state commerce, it also regulates commerce that is exclusively within
the several States, and that the latter is so inseparably combined with
the former as to ^condemn the whole act as unwarranted by the Con­
stitution. The contention, as I understand it, is that a common car­
rier engaged in interstate commerce may be engaged in intrastate
commerce also, and the language of the act being so broad as to
cover all the employees of such carrier, without reference to the
nature of their employment, it is not only a regulation of interstate
commerce, but also a regulation of intrastate commerce, and as it is
impossible to so construe it as to separate the two it must be held
invalid.
This contention is, I think, answered by what I have already said,
and by the decisions to which I have referred, and others to which
I shall call attention.
Congress evidently intended that the act should embrace all the
employees to whom its power under the commerce clause of the Con­
stitution extends, and if the power of Congress over interstate com­
merce is one without limitation, plenary and complete in itself, and
which may be exerted to its utmost extent, subject only to such limi­
tations as the Constitution of the United States imposes, and if it
authorizes legislation with respect to all the subjects of foreign and
interstate commerce, the persons engaged in it, and the instruments
b y which it is carried on; and if under such power Congress can,
for the purpose of promoting the safety of employees engaged therein,
and of persons and property carried therein, enact legislation such as
that contained in this act under which the liability of carriers engaged
in such commerce to their employees shall be determined (and
the cases cited fully sustain all the foregoing propositions), it would
seem to be apparent that it can make such legislation applicable to all
employees of such carriers whose employment relates to such com­
merce. And if such carrier is also engaged in intrastate commerce,
using therein the same means and agencies, such as railroad tracks,
switches, cars, etc., it would also seem to be apparent that Congress
can make such legislation applicable to all employees of such carrier
whose employment relates to such means and agencies. In such case
it may be said that the employment of such employees relates to
interstate commerce.
It seems to me that, as to a carrier engaged in both interstate and
intrastate commerce, the act applies and was intended to apply,
where such carrier uses, in whole or in part, the same means and
agencies in both, and where the employment of the injured employee
has some relation to such interstate commerce or to such means and




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

72£

If the carrier's Dusmess is carried on in such a way that the act
must apply to all its employees for the reason that the employment of
all of them relates to interstate commerce, it can make no difference,,
so far as the power of Congress to pass the act is concerned.
That it is within the power of Congress to regulate the liability
of common carriers engaged at the same time in both interstate and
intrastate commerce, and using the same means and agencies for both,,
to all their employees whose employment has some relation to such
means and agencies, and that Congress so intended, would seem to be
apparent when we reflect that the safety of interstate commerce, and
the protection of the lives and persons of those engaged therein, and
of the persons and property carried therein, may depend as much
upon the taking of proper precautions for the safety of employees*
engaged upon intrastate traffic as upon the taking of such precautions,
for the safety of those engaged upon interstate traffic only.
The fact that a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce*
may also be engaged in intrastate commerce, using therein in whole
or m part the same means and agencies, can not defeat the power o f
Congress to regulate such carrier. The regulation of intrastate com­
merce which may result in such a case (if indeed in such case there
can be said to be any regulation of intrastate commerce by such an.
act as this) is due to the fact that the carrier is at the same time and
with the same means and agencies engaged in both kinds of com­
merce; and it seems to me that it could not possibly be said that
because the legislation of Congress may operate upon intrastate com­
merce on account of the carrier being thus engaged in both kinds o f
commerce it must be declared unconstitutional, and thus the power o f
Congress defeated. The cases cited show that the States may enact
legidation of the kind here in question when Congress has not already
spoken, and that such legislation will be valid, although it may affect
interstate commerce. Is it possible, then, if such legislation i&
within the power of Congress as a regulation of interstate commerce,,
that Congress can not exercise that power as to those engaged in.
such commerce merely because at the same time and with the same
means and agencies tney are engaged in intrastate commerce ? The
question, it seems to me, answers itself.
In an able article on the act here in question in the Central L aw
Journal of October 12, 1906, volume 63, page 284, cited by counsel
here and very largely quoted from, the authors say:
“ The general and sweeping terms ‘ every common carrier/ ‘ any o f
its employees/ ‘ any of its officers, agents, or employees/ ‘ all instru­
mentalities/ ‘ any common carrier/ and ‘ any employee* must estab­
lish the proposition that there was but one idea in the mind o f
Congress, namely, that as to commerce there shall be no States.”
To say that because Congress, as a regulation of interstate com­
merce, and for the purpose of promoting the public welfare by pro­
tecting life and person therein, has seen fit to abolish or modify
certain rules of decision founded on the common law upon considera­
tions of public policy, in reference to those engaged in such com­
merce, it has thereby in effect meant that as to commerce there shall
be no States, seems to me to be very extreme, if not absurd. The
plain answer to any such assertion is that a person or corporation,
engaged in both interstate commerce and intrastate commerce, and
using therein the same means and agencies, and employing those
304 b — No. 7 0 -0 7 ------ 17



726

BULLETIN OF TH E BUBEAU OF LABOR.

whose employment relates to such interstate commerce or to such
means ana agencies, must submit to such conditions as that branch
of the Government to which plenary power over such commerce has
been given by the Constitution may prescribe, even though such con­
ditions may affect the intrastate commerce in which such person or
corporation is engaged.
In the same article its authors seem to look upon the changes made
b y this act in the fellow-servant rule, the contributory-negligence
rule, the rule as to the freedom of a carrier to contract with its
employees concerning its liability for an injury to [an employee, and
the removal of the limit to the amount of recovery for an injury
resulting in death, so often prescribed by State statutes, as startling
and dangerous. They do not so impress me. I think it has come to
be generally recognized that the reasoning of the cases in which the
fellow-servant rule has been laid down by the courts has, in view
of modem methods and the many dangerous mechanical means and
appliances used in almost every branch of modem industry, lost
much, and in some cases all, of its force. I think it may be fairly
asserted that the contributory-negligence rale, as laid down and
applied by the courts, is, in view of modem conditions, certainly
as applied to those engaged in certain occupations, a harsh, cruel,
and unjust rale, and ought long since in the furtherance of justice
and in the interest of humanity to have been greatly modified.
It has never been the rale in admiralty, to which one of the text­
books on the Law of Negligence refers as being certainly nearer
ideal justice, “ if juries could be trusted to act upon it.” This act
at least leads in the direction of the admiralty law, and certainly if
a rule is an ideal one its adoption should be striven tor in any intelli­
gent judicial system, and even if it were admitted that juries could
not be trusted to act upon it, to which I do not at all agree, that
would not be a condemnation of the rale, but of a part of that sys­
tem of jurisprudence which has come down from our forefathers,
and which is, and let us devoutlv hope always will be, firmly rooted
in our Constitution and laws. And is it not absurd that a common
maximum standard should be established to measure the value of
the lives of men to their families, especially when that standard is
as low as some of the legislatures have fixed it? It would seem
that the value of the life of a man to his family, or to those depend­
ent upon him, should be determined, as all other damages are deter­
mined, by the particular circumstances of each case. And there
are substantial reasons why an employer, especially one engaged in
certain occupations, should not be permitted to relieve himself by
contract with his employees from liability for injuries caused by his
negligence or the negligence of his other employees.
Again, let us remember that it is the carrier, one engaged in inter­
state commerce, which the act here in question regulates in relation to
its duty to its employees, and that if it may be said (as I do not think
it can be) to regulate interstate commerce by reason of the fact that it
may apply to an employee who at the time of his injury is engaged
upon intrastate traffic, it is because of the manner or method in which
the carrier conducts its business, combining or commingling its inter­
state with its intrastate commerce. The act here in question is
directed to common carriers engaged in interstate or foreign com­
merce, and over such carriers Congress has plenary power.



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

727

This act on its face relates to carriers engaged in interstate com­
merce. It extends to all such carriers. It extends to no others. Its
fair meaning and interpretation is that it applies to all those em­
ployees of such carriers, and to those only, who have some relation to
such commerce or to the means and agencies employed therein. Cases
may possibly arise where a carrier engaged to some limited extent in
interstate commerce may not be an interstate carrier within the mean­
ing of this act, as respects a particular employee, or as respects the cir­
cumstances of some particular case. That remains to be declared
when the case arises. Extreme cases which may have no existence,
and which may never exist, are not to be conjured up for the purpose
of defeating the obvious intention of Congress. Extraordinary situ­
ations are usually not in the minds of the lawmakers, and legislation
is not to be held bad with reference thereto. If the general purpose
of the law, as fairly indicated by its terms, is within constitutional
limits, it will not be defeated by applying to it the test of some
extreme case, possibly within the literal provisions of the act, but
entirely beyond its spirit and meaning as a whole.
In the foregoing discussion reference has been made principally, if
not altogether, to railroads engaged in interstate commerce, but the
same principles and the same reasoning would apply as well to other
common carriers engaged in such commerce.
I am therefore of the opinion that the second ground on which the
objection to the constitutionality of this act is based is not well taken.
The contention that the act is void because it denies the equal pro­
tection of the laws is, I think, without merit. It is beyond question
that a State legislature can change the common-law rules determin­
ing the liability of employer to employee as to all employers within
its jurisdiction, and that such legislation would not be contrary to
the fourteenth amendment because the danger to employees is greater
in some occupations than in others, or because in the same occupation
some of the employees may be exposed to greater danger than others.
It was the evident intention of Congress that the act here in ques­
tion should embrace all employers ana all of their employees to whom
its power under the commerce clause of the Constitution extends, and,
considering the extent of that power, the fact that it .applies to all
such employees, irrespective o f the danger of their particular em­
ployments, no more affects its constitutionality than would such fact
affect the constitutionality of a similar State enactment whose pro­
visions were made applicable to all employers under its jurisdiction.
But if the foregoing position is unsound, and if this Congressional
enactment is subject to the equal-protection paragraph of the four­
teenth amendment, I am still of the opinion that, bearing in mind
the object of the statute, the peculiar character of the business of
the carriers affected and the public nature of their functions, and
the fact that they are all treated alike under similar circumstances
and conditions, it is valid, because the classification therein made
is within the range of the legislative discretion and is practical and
not palpably arbitrary. (Missouri Pacific Ry. Co. v. Mackey, 127
U. S. 205; Tullis v. Lake Erie and Western R. R., 175 U. S. 348;
St. L., I. M. and S. Ry. Co. v. Paul, 173 U. S. 404.)
Nor can it be said that for this reason the law is harsh and inequit­
able, because where the danger is less the liability will less frequently
arise, and if there be practically no danger, there will be practically




7 28

BULLETIN OF TH E BUKEAU OF LABOR.

no liability. But if it is, that would furnish no just cause for declar­
ing it invalid. The remedy would lie not with the courts, but with
Congress.
In Lottery Cases, supra, Mr. Justice Harlan says:
“ But, as often said, the possible abuse of a power is not an argu­
ment against its existence. There is probably no governmental power
that may not be exerted to the injury of the public. If what is done
by Congress is manifestly in excess of the powers granted to it, then
upon the courts will rest the duty of adjudging that its action is
neither ’ egal nor binding upon the people. But if what Congress does
is within the limits of its power, and is simply unwise or injurious, the
remedy is that suggested by Chief Justice Marshall in Gibbons v.
Ogden, when he said: 'The wisdom and the discretion of Congress,
their identity with the people, and the influence which their constitu­
ents possess at elections, are, in this, as in many other instances, as
that, for example, of declaring war, the sole restraints on which they
have relied, to secure them from its abuse. They are the restraints
on which the people must often rely solely, in* all representative gov­
ernments/ ”
The contention that the act violates the tenth amendment of the
Constitution, is but another way of saying that it is not within the
power of Congress under the commerce clause. And I think that no
argument is necessary to refute the contention that it violates the
fifth and seventh amendments.
I am therefore of the opinion that the act in question is constitu­
tional and valid, and the demurrer must be overruled.
I am not unmindful of the fact that the foregoing opinion, in so far
as it relates to the commerce clause of the Constitution, is in conflict
with opinions already pronounced by other Federal judges of the
highest learning and ability [see Bulletin No. 68, pages 188-197], and
I have approached and considered the questions involved with a just
and real respect for decisions supported by such authority. But,
feeling that I must exercise my own understanding and judgment with
that independence which is expected from this department of the
Government, I find myself unable to reach any other conclusions than
those above indicated. (a)
E

mploym ent

O f f ic e s — L

abor

A

gents—

L

ic e n s e —

Co n stru c­

Watts v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court o f Appeals
o f Virginia, 56 Southeastern Reporter, page 223 .— This case was

t io n o f

St a t u t e —

before the court of appeals on appeal from the corporation court of
Danville, in which Albert Watts had been convicted of conducting
business as a labor agent without a license. The law under which the
action was brought defines a labor agent as “ any person who hires or
a Similar conclusions as to the constitutionality of this law were arrived at in a case
decided by Judge Hanford, Plummer v. Northern Pacific Railway Company, United
States Circuit Court, Western District of Washington, Northern Division (March 2,
1907), another by Judge Trieber, Spain v. St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Com-'
pany , United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas (March 13, 1907), and
a third by Judge Speer, Snead v. Central of Georgia Railway Company, United States
Circuit Court, Southern District of Georgia, Eastern Division (March 25, 1907), 151
Fed. Rep. 608. The cases in which adverse decisions were rendered are at the time of
the publication of this Bulletin before the Supreme Court of the United States on appeal.




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

729

contracts with laborers, male or female, to be employed by persons
other than himself; ” and provides that no person shall engage in such
business without a license.
Watts vras employed by a railway construction company as a day
laborer, and was sent by his employers to undertake to secure addi­
tional help in Danville, without, however, taking out a license under
the statute. The appeal resulted in a reversal of the judgment of
the lower court. The opinion of Judge Whittle, who spoke for the
court, is given herewith. After a statement of the facts he said:
It thus appears that the single question presented by the record for
our determination is, whether or not the plaintiff in error was engaged
in the business of a labor agent within the meaning of the foregoing
statute; it being admitted mat he had no license.
W e have no difficulty in resolving that question in the negative.
Indeed, it would seem clear that nothing more can be predicated of the
transaction than that it constituted a hiring of laborers by the con­
struction company, the principal, through the medium of its own
agent, for the lawful prosecution of its business. The case is con­
trolled by the maximum, “ Qui facit per alium, facit per se” (Broom’s
Max. 818), a failure to observe which, in such case, would impose
impossible restrictions upon corporations and natural persons
throughout the Commonwealth, whose businesses necessitate the
employment of large numbers of laborers. Corporations must of
necessity act through agents; and it is wholly impracticable for
individuals engaged in large affairs personally to hire laborers to
carry on their work. If the doctrine contended for were maintained,
contractors and others of that class would be compelled either to
rely on labor agents to secure necessary labor or else go out of busi­
ness. It can not be inferred that the legislature, if within its com­
petency, intended to place such unreasonable limitations upon these
essential factors in the internal improvement of the State. The
purpose of the statute is to reach a class of persons who, for compen­
sation, conduct the business of employing laborers for other persons,
with respect to whom they bear no other contractual relation; but it
can have no application to a principal (whether a corporation or
natural person) who in good faith employs such laborers for his own
service by means of his own employee. In such case, under the
maxim referred to, the acts of the agent are the acts of the principal.
The differentiating features between the two transactions of hiring
laborers by labor agents and by one’s own agent may be illustrated
by the instances o f a purchase of real estate through a real estate
agent, whose business it is to negotiate sales for any one who may
choose to engage his services, with whom and his patron no other
contractual relation exists, on the one hand, and a purchase by a
principal through his own private agent, on the other. From the
former the State exacts a license, but not from the latter. In our
opinion, the statute in question is plainly not susceptible of the
interpretation placed upon it by the trial court; but, even if it were
of doubtful import, being a law imposing a license tax, upon familiar
principles, it would have to be construed strictly, and most strongly
against the State and in favor of the citizen.




730
E

BULLETIN OF THE BUKEATT OF LABOB.
x a m in a t io n

and

L

ic e n s in g

of

P l u m b e b s — Sp e c ia l

L

aw s—

Douglas v. People ex rel. Ruddy,
Supreme Court o f Illinois, 80 Northeastern Reporter, page 3^1.—J. J.
C o n s t it u t io n a l it y

of

Statu te—

Ruddy filed a petition in the circuit court of Kane County, Illinois, for
writ of mandamus to the mayor and aldermen of the city of Aurora,
directing them to appoint and confirm a board of examiners of plumb­
ers, in accordance with the provisions of an act approved June 10,
1897, Hurd’s R. S., 1905, p. 403, c. 24. (See Tenth Special Report
of the Commissioner of Labor, p. 295.) The mayor had refused to
proceed with the appointment, contending that the law in question
was unconstitutional and void. The law provided that all plumbers
in cities, towns, or villages of 5,000 inhabitants or more should pro­
cure a license as a condition precedent to engaging in their trade.
Boards of examiners are provided for in cities and towns having a pop­
ulation of 10,000 jot more, and the subjects of examination are pre­
scribed, as well as the fees, penalties, and other details.
The ruling of the lower court was in favor of the petitioner, where­
upon the mayor appealed to the supreme court, in which the law was
sustained and the judgment of the lower court affirmed.
From the remarks of Judge Hand, who delivered the opinion of the
court, the following is quoted:
It is first contended that the act hereinbefore referred to is in con­
flict with those provisions of the constitution of this State and of the
United States which provide that no person shall be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law. The right of the citi­
zen to follow any legitimate busmess, occupation, or calling which he
may see fit to engage in, and to use such right as a means of livelihood,
is fully recognized m the constitutions of this State and of the United
States. (Gillespie v. People, 188 111. 176, 58 N. E. 1007, [Bulletin No.
35, p. 797]; Bessette v. People, 193 111. 334, 62 N. E. 215 [Bulletin
No. 41, p. 842].)
Such right, however, is subject to the paramount
right of the State to impose upon the enjoyment thereof any reason­
able regulation the public welfare may require, and the courts have
frequently held that the legislatures of the several States may impose
any restraint and prescribe any requirement they may deem proper
for the protection of the public against the evils resulting from the
incapacity and ignorance of persons engaged in the plumbing business,
as master plumbers, employers of plumbers, or journeymen plumbers.
(Singer v. State of Maryland (Md.) 19 Atl. 1044, 8 L. R. A. 551; Peo­
ple v . Warden of the City Prison (N. Y.) 39 N. E. 686, 27 L. R. A. 718;
State v . Gardner, 58 Ohio St. 599, 51 N. E. 136, 41 L. R. A. 689, 65 Am.
St. Rep. 785.)
It is generally held that the legislature of a State may pass laws for
the protection of the health, comfort, safety, or welfare or society, and
in view of the right to exercise this general power, and the holdings
of the courts in the cases from which the citations hereinbefore set out
are made, we think it clear the subject-matter covered by the statute
whose constitutionality is here assailed was properly incorporated into
law by the legislature under an exercise of the police power of the
State.



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

731

It is next contended that the classification by said statute of the
different cities, towns, and villages of the State into three classes,
namely, those having less than 5,000 inhabitants, those of 5,000 inhab­
itants or more, and those of 10,000 inhabitants or more, is an arbitrary
classification, and that by reason of that fact said act is special ana
class legislation, and void. The general rule is that a classification of
the cities, towns, and villages of the State by population as a basis for
legislation may be made if such classification is based upon a rational
difference of situation or condition found in the municipalities placed
in the different classes; otherwise legislation based upon such classi­
fication will not be sustained. (Peojffe v. Knopf, 183 111. 410, 56 N. E.
155; L ’Hote v. Village of Milford, 212 111. 418, 72 N. E. 399, 103 Am.
St. Rep. 234.)
The statute under consideration does not apply to cities, towns, or
villages whose inhabitants number less than 5,000, but does require
master plumbers, employing plumbers and journeymen plumbers
who engage in or work at the business of plumbing in cities, towns,
or villages of 5,000 or more inhabitants, to pass an examination and
obtain a certificate, in accordance with the provisions of the act,
before engaging in business or in work; and in cities, towns, or vil­
lages of less than 10,000 inhabitants no board of examiners are required
to be appointed and maintained, while in cities, towns, or villages of
10,000 inhabitants or more such boards are required to be appointed
and maintained. W e think it clear that there is a rational difference
in the situation or circumstances, so far as the plumbing business
and the appointment of a board of examiners of plumbers are con­
cerned, between a city, town, or village of less than 5,000 inhab­
itants and a city, town, or village of 5,000 inhabitants or more, and
between a city, town, or village of less than 10,000 inhabitants and
a city, town, or village of 10,000 inhabitants or more— that is a
city, town, or village of less population than 5,000 usually does
not have a complicated system of sewers and is often without a sys­
tem of water supply, and has but little use for a complicated system
of plumbing in its buildings or otherwise, while in a city, town, or
village of 5,000 inhabitants or more a system of water supply and
sewerage is likely to be established and a complicated system of
plumbing made necessary, and the workmen who are to perform the
work of supplying the plumbing to connect with said complicated
system of water supply and system of sewers must necessarily have
more experience and knowledge than it would be necessary to possess
to install the plumbing in a house in a small city, town, or village—
and, while the maintaining of an examining board might be burden­
some and unnecessary in a city, town, or village whose inhabitants
number less than 10,000, in a city, town, or village of that number
of inhabitants or more such examining board would be necessary and
the expense of maintaining the board not burdensome.
It is also urged that the act is not general in terms, and does not
apply to all persons in the State alike, and for that reason, it is said,
it is class or special legislation. The act does not apply uniformly
to the persons engaged in or working at the business or plumbing as
master plumbers, employing plumbers or journeymen plumbers in
the several classes of cities, towns, and villages created by the act
throughout the State, and we think, therefore, it is not subject to the
criticism of want of uniformity in its application. A law is said to be



732

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

general and uniform not because it operates upon every person in the
State alike, but because it operates alike upon every person in the
State who is brought within the conditions and circumstances pre­
scribed by the law. (People v. Board of Supervisors, 223 111. 187>
79 N. E. 123.) In People v. Hazelwood, 116 111. 319, 329, 6 N. E.
480, 486, it was said: “ Laws are general and uniform and hence not
obnoxious to the objection that they are local or special, when they
are general and uniform in their operation upon all in like situation.”
It is also urged that arbitrary powers are conferred by the statute
upon the board of examiners provided for by said act. W e can not
discover wherein such can be said to be the fact. The act provides
that the board, when created, as soon as may be, shall meet, and
designate a time and place for the examination of all applicants desir­
ing to engage in or work at the business of plumbing within their
jurisdiction. The examination it is provided, may be oral or in whole
or in part in writing, and is to be conducted with a view to test the
practical knowledge of plumbing, house drainage, and plumbing
ventilation of the applicant, and if, upon such examination the exam­
ining board shall be satisfied of the competency of the applicant, they
shall issue to him a certificate authorizing him to engage in or work
at the business of plumbing as a master plumber or employing plumber
or a journeyman plumber, as the case may be. While the act may
not be perfect in all its details, we think it a step in the right direction,
and that it is not unconstitutional.

L

abor

O r g a n iz a t io n s — P r o c u r in g

D

is c h a r g e —

M

a l ic e —

D

am

­

Wyeman v. Deady et al., Supreme Court of Errors of
Connecticut, 65 Atlantic Reporter, page 129 .— In this case William E.

ages—

P roof—

Wyeman sued John M. Deady and the Painters, Decorators and Paper
Hangers of America, Local Union No. 481, to recover damages for
unlawfully procuring his discharge; he also charged malicious and
unlawful conspiracy. Wyeman was a painter and decorator and had
been employed by D. and F. Hawley until his discharge was procured,
“ because of the threats and intimidation of the defendants,” Deady
being the business agent of the labor union.
Wyeman sued in the superior court of Hartford County to recover
$1,500 damages, and was awarded a judgment for $425, from which
an appeal was taken. The supreme court of errors affirmed the
judgment of the lower court, as shown by the following quotation
from its opinion, which was delivered by Judge Hall:
The defendants contend that the record contains no evidence of
the alleged conspiracy, nor of the alleged malice, at least, upon the
part of the union, nor of any authority of Deady from the union to
make the claimed threats; and that as it appears from the plaintiffs
own testimony that he was unemployed but 86 days during the period
between the day of his discharge, and the date of the commencement
of this action, and could have earned but $3 a day, the damages
recoverable could not have exceeded $258. Section 1296 of the




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

733

General Statutes of 1902 makes it a criminal offense to threaten or
use any means to intimidate any person to compel him to do or
abstain from doing against his will any act which such person has a
right to do. To deprive a workman or his employment by threaten­
ing and intimidating his employer is a criminal offense under this
statute.* (State v. Glidden, 55 Conn. 46-74, 8 Atl. 890, 3 Am. St.
Rep. 23.) That one who, by such means, has so injured an employee
would also be liable in damages in a civil action is not questioned in
this action. When such an injury results from the execution of a
conspiracy it is the wrongful act done in carrying out the concerted
plan, and not the conspiracy itself which furnishes the real ground
for a civil action. (Savill v. Roberts, 1 Ld. Raymond, 374; Hutchins
v. Hutchins, 7 Hill (N. Y .) 107.)
The gist, therefore, of the present action is not the alleged con­
spiracy, but the injury to the plaintiff caused by the unlawful acts of
the defendants in procuring his dismissal by threatening and intimi­
dating his employers. (Bulkley v. Storer, 2 Day 531.) To entitle
the plaintiff to a verdict against both defendants no further proof of
a conspiracy was required than that they were joint tort-feasors in
procuring the dismissal of the plaintiff by means of such threats and
intimidation; and had the proof been that but one of the defendants
so procured the discharge the plaintiff, under section 760 of the
General Statutes of 1902, w~ould have been entitled to a verdict against
that one.
Neither was it necessary for the plaintiff, to entitle him to a verdict
under the allegations of the complaint, to prove any other malice than
that which the law might imply from the unlawful act proved. The
allegations of conspiracy and of malice contained in the complaint were
neither of thepi essential to a sufficient statement of the plaintiff's
cause of action. The former may be regarded either as an averment
of a fact, the proof of which might aid the plaintiff in establishing a
joint liability of the defendants, or like the averment of malice, as
an allegation of a fact in aggravation of the injury complained of.
(Robertson v. Parks, 76 Md. 118, 24 Atl. 411; Garing v. Frazer, 76
Me. 37.)
Upon the question of whether the procurement of the plaintiff's
discharge by the means alleged, was the joint act of the defendants,
the testimony of the plaintiff, or his said employers, of the defendant
Deady, and of other officers and members of the union, and the
records of the doings at various meetings of the union were presented
in the trial court. It is not our purpose to repeat that evidence here.
It is sufficient for us to say of it that the record shows that there was
evidence before the jury from which, in our opinion, they might
reasonably have concluded that the plaintiff was discharged "from his
employment on account of the threats to his employers, and the
means to intimidate them made and used by the defendant Deady for
the purpose of compelling the plaintiff's discharge; that Deady was
the business agent and so-called walking delegate of the defendant
union, and did said acts not only with the knowledge and approval,
but by the authority of the union. Such facts would render both
defendants liable as joint tort-feasors. The damages awarded are not
necessarily excessive. Punitive damages might have been awarded
even against the union if it either directed Deady to do the particular




734

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

acts complained of, or if it afterwards approved them (Maisenbacker
v . Society Concordia, 71 Conn. 369-379, .42 Atl. 67, 71 Am. St. Rep.

213), or the jury may have found, as alleged in the complaint, that
the plaintiff was otherwise injured in his business, than by the loss of
employment during said period.

L

abor

t iv e —

O r g a n iz a t io n s — S t r ik e s — I n j u n c t io n — P

P u n is h m e n t

for

Contem pt— L

ia b il it y o f

U

ic k e t in g —

M o­

n in c o r p o r a t e d

n i o n s — Allis-Chalmers Company v. Iron
Molders’ Union No. 125
et-al., United States Circuit Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 150
Federal Reporter, page 155 .— This case was before the court on pro­

U

ceedings to punish for contempt. An injunction was applied for
by the company named in June, 1906, against four unions of iron
molders in Milwaukee and South Milwaukee, to restrain them from
obstructing the company’s business by coercion, intimidation, vio­
lence, etc. The unions complained of are voluntary associations of
workmen, associated in the usual manner of trade unions, and were
made parties by name, all the members not being joined, nor one or
more members joined as representing all the members. There is no
statute of Wisconsin providing for bringing actions against such
voluntary associations as these, except section 2604, R. S. 1898,
which provides that when the question is one of common or general
interest to many persons, or when the parties are very numerous,
one or more may sue or defend for the benefit of all. Union No. 125
contains about 1,000 members.
A restraining order was granted on the bill of complaint and accom­
panying affidavits, but on hearing for a preliminary injunction the
latter was denied. A supplemental complaint was filed September
11, 1906, and on the hearing on this bill, ten days later, an injunction
issued, which prohibited the defendants—
(1) From in any manner interfering with, hindering, obstructing,
or stopping the business of the said company complainant, or its
agents, servants, or employees, in the maintenance, conduct, manage­
ment, or operation of its business.
(2) From compelling or inducing, or attempting to compel or
induce by threats, intimidation, force, or violence, any of the said
company’s employees to fail or refuse to work for it, or to leave its
service.
(3) From preventing, or attempting to prevent any person or
persons by threats, intimidation, force, or violence, from freely enter­
ing into or continuing in the said company’s service.
(4) From doing any acts whatever in furtherance of any con­
spiracy or combination to interfere with or obstruct the business of
the said company, its officers, agents, or employees.
(5) From congregating upon or about the company’s premises or
the streets, approaches, and places adjacent or leading to said premises,
for the purpose of intimidating its employees, or preventing or hinder­




DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

785

ing them from fulfilling tlieir duties as such employees, or for the
purpose, or in such manner as to induce or coerce by threats, violence,
intimidation, or persuasion, any of the said company’s employees to
leave its service, or refuse to enter its service.
(6) From maintaining at or near the premises of said company any
picket or pickets in a threatening or intimidating manner.
(7) From interfering with the said company’s employees in going
to and from their work.
(8) From going singly or collectively to the homes of said company’s
employees for the purpose of intimidating or threatening them or
collectively persuading them to leave its service.
(9) From enforcing, maintaining, or aiding any illegal boycott
against the said company, its agents or employees.
(10) From endeavoring to illegally induce people not to deal with
the said company, its agents and employees; which commands and
injunctions you are respectively required to observe and obey.
The court commented on the subject of picketing, stating that too
many men had been employed for that purpose. Persuasion was held
to be allowable, while a show of power, tending to coerce, vrould be
objectionable. The suggestion had been made that the two men
who stood at the gate as the representatives of the union, “ for the
peaceful and honorable purpose of discussion,” be distinguished by
some badge. A picket’s badge or button was accordingly adopted,
but in such numbers— about two hundred in all— as to depart com­
pletely from the idea of the court in making the suggestion.
Proceedings were begun on October 23, 1906, citing the defendant
unions and certain individuals named to appear and show cause why
they should not be punished for contempt in violating the injunction
of September 24. Judge Sanborn, who delivered the opinion of the
court, reviewed the evidence in considerable detail and discussed a
number of cases in the course of a somewhat extended review of the
principles involved. The action was held not to lie against the unions
as such, and proceedings were continued against certain individuals
named, while against others a penalty was assessed.
The following quotations present the principal features of the
opinion, and reproduce in part the facts and cases on which the court
relied in reaching its conclusions:
The right to strike for any cause or no cause is clear arid fully sus­
tained b y all authority. Even a conspiracy to strike, followed by legal
damage, is not unlawful if formed to better labor conditions. The
right of workmen to combine in trades unions in order to secure the
economic advancement of their members is also unquestioned; and such
unions are generally regarded as beneficial institutions for bettering the
conditions of labor, and the relations between employer and employed.
(Wabash R. Co. v. Hannahan (C. C.) 121 Fed. 563 [See Bulletin No.
49, p. 1374]). Whether a threat to strike, or bring about a strike,
when made by a number of persons acting in concert, is lawful, is an
entirely different question. The right to strike being clear, the first
question which comes up is how far may the union and its members



736

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

go to make the strike effective by preventing the employer from
engaging other workmen, so that he will eventually be compelled to
yield to the demands of the strikers? This is usually the pinch of
the situation. Here is the point where two equally clear and valu­
able constitutional rights come into opposition— the right of the
workman to get as much as possible for himself on the best terms,
and the right of the employer to use his capital and ability as he
pleases to secure whatever profit his investment and skill may bring.
The legal right involved is single, but asserted by two independent
and conflicting interests, and the question is, which one must yield
his right to that of the other, so far as they conflict. The general
answer to this question is that neither must be permitted to
maliciously injure the other without just cause or excuse. A
more special answer is that so long as each, in the conflict between
them, pursues only his own fair interest or advantage, and not the
injury of the other, he is not liable for any injury which is merely
incidental. As said by the supreme court of Wisconsin in the news­
paper advertising case (State v. Huegin, 110 Wis. 189, 85 N. W. 1046,
62 L. R. A. 700), stating their conclusion negatively, a combination
of persons to do acts to promote their own legitimate interests is not
liable for injury which is only the incidental result of such acts, and
such a combination is not a conspiracy to inflict malicious injury,
within section 4466a, Rev. St. 1898. In other words, indirect inter­
ference by a labor union with the employer’s business, not amounting
to coercion, by preventing him from getting workmen to carry on his
shop, is not unlawful so long as the combination is merely taking
measures to secure its own legitimate advantage or economic advance­
ment, although harm may incidentally result to the employer. So
long as the betterment of labor conditions is the main object sought,
even though the strikers may succeed in persuading all the available
laborers to join their union, and support the strike, and, having thus
secured a monopoly of the labor market, compel the employer, after
long struggle and great loss of profit, to yield to the demands or go
out of business, yet such injuries can not be regarded as malicious,
or such acts as criminal or unlawful, either at the common law or
under section 4466a of the Wisconsin Revised Statutes of 1898. This
conclusion is well expressed by Judge Adams in Wabash R. Co. v.
Hannahan (C. C.) 121 Fed. 563. It is upon this principle that the act
permitting picketing in England was passed, and many cases per-‘
mitting “ peaceful picketing” have been decided, as well as other
cases holding serious injury caused by sharp competition in business
not to be actionable. While “ peaceful picketing” is very much of
an illusion, yet it is at least theoretically possible, and entirely lawful.
It is expressly permitted by act of Parliament (St. 38 and 39 Yict. c.
86, section 7); Lyons v. Wilkins (1896) 1 Ch. 811; (1899) 1 Ch. 255.
The recent case of Karges Furniture Co. v. Amalgamated W ood­
workers Local Union, 165 lnd. 421, 75 N. E. 877, 2 L. R. A. (N. S.)
788 [Bulletin No. 63, page 564], discusses the question of lawful and
unlawful combination, and holds that a strike by concerted action,
followed b y an agreement that the strikers would take peaceable
means to induce other employees to join the union and strike, it
being expressly resolved that under no circumstances should any
striker endeavor by violence or intimidation to influence any work­
man, did not constitute a conspiracy. Peaceful persuasion of men



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

737

to prevent them from taking the places of strikers, and paying their
return railroad fare, held not unlawful. [Cases cited.] Members of
labor unions may, for the purpose of strengthening their organiza­
tion, persuade and induce others in the same occupation to join their
union, and, as a means to that end, refuse to allow their members to
work in places where nonunion workmen are employed. There
would be nothing wrongful or unlawful in their going upon the prem­
ises of the owner, with his permission, where their associates were
engaged at work, for the purpose of ordering them or notifying them
to desist from work thereon, unless their conduct in that respect be
so persistent and annoying as to constitute a nuisance. (Gray v.
Building Trades' Council, 91 Minn. 171, 97 N. W. 663 [Bulletin No.
53, page 955.])
Whatever may be thought of the soundness of these views there
can be no doubt that the injunction in this case permitted all such
picketing as should not be done in a threatening or intimidating
manner. But, though interference by strikers causing damage may
not be unlawful, and be permitted by the injunction, it is equally
true that immunity ceases where coercion, intimidation, violence,
or malicious interference with contract rights begin. (Wabash R.
Co. v. Hannahan, supra.) Where peaceful picketing develops, as it
generally does in a strike, into “ strong, persistent, and organized
persuasion," and social pressure of every description, making the
condition of workmen disagreeable and intolerable, followed by hints
of injury, veiled threats, offensive or abusive language, and occasional
instances of assault and personal violence— all of which conditions
are shown in the evidence in this case— then we have a condition
condemned by the injunction, a compelling or inducing by threats,
intimidation, force, and violence, the quitting of workmen, a pre­
venting by threats, etc., workmen from entering the service, and the
maintaining of picket lines in a threatening and intimidating manner.
The condition has passed from that of the peaceful purpose of pro­
moting the economic ends of the union men, and has entered the
unlawful stage of malicious injury, without just cause or excuse, to
rights just as important, and as fully protected by the Constitution,
as those on whose, behalf these acts are committed.
I understand the word intimidation to denote two kinds of coercion:
(1) A threat by word or act of an individual, or by a combination of
persons, to do' something unlawful, reasonably calculated to compel
the person threatened to do or not to do something; and (2) request
or persuasion by or on behalf of a combination of persons to do or not
to do something, resulting in coercion of the will from the mere force
of numbers. In the first case the nature of the act, and the coercion,
determine liability; in the second the conspiracy or concerted act
and the coercion determine it. A. threatens B. with assault unless
he quits work, and thus coerces him. A number of men, representing
themselves and a larger number, request B. to quit work, and by the
force of numbers coerce him to do so. Civil liability follows in both
cases— in the first, from the nature of the act threatened; in the
second from the coercion by force of numbers. In this case, however,
it is unnecessary to go to the extent of holding that coercion of the
second description would be a violation of the injunction, as I find
that the company's workmen, and those about to become workmen,
were coerced by threats of unlawful acts. The view of the law herein



738

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

expressed is not only the well-settled rule in the Federal courts, and
in Wisconsin by the decisions construing section 4466a of the Wisconsin
Revised Statutes of 1898 (binding on this court), but is the strongly
noticeable trend of decision both in England and the United States.
Section 44<?6a reads as follows:
“ Any two or more persons who shall combine, associate, agree,
mutually undertake or concert together for the purpose of willfully
or maliciously injuring another in his reputation, trade, business or
profession by any means whatever, or for the purpose of maliciously
compelling another to do or perform any act against his will, or
preventing or hindering another from doing or performing any lawful
act, shall be punished/’ etc.
All agreements to maliciously injure another are unlawful. A con­
spiracy to wrongfully injure another is actionable-at the common law
if it is so carried out as to cause damage, whether or not the person
injured would have had a remedy if the act had been done by a single
person. The doctrine that an act which is not actionable ir done by
one is not when done by many is not the law of Wisconsin. A combi­
nation to produce injury not the incidental effect of the promotion of
the legitimate interests of the members of the combination, is a con­
spiracy to inflict a malicious injury under section 4466a. The ele­
ment of malice may make that act an actionable injury which
would not otherwise be so. The union of individual forces by agree­
ment, to accomplish injury, gives to such agreement or combination
the character of a purpose to reach the end b y violence, and the
accomplishment thereof the character of a purpose effected by
violence.
The Huegin Case was taken to the United States Supreme Court
to test the constitutionality of section 4466a. The opinion was
written by Justice Holmes, whose dissent in Vegelahn v. Guntner, 167
Mass. 92, 44 N. E. 1077, 35 L. R. A. 722, 57 Am. St. Rep. 443
[Bulletin No. 9, p. 197], has given rise to much comment in later cases.
The statute was held not to violate the fourteenth amendment of the
Federal Constitution, providing that no person shall be deprived of
liberty or property without due process or law. Justice Holmes lays
down the following propositions: Malicious' injury means, to harm
malevolently for the sake of the harm, and not merely as a means to
some further end legitimately desired. The intentional infliction of
damage creates liability, unless the defendant had a just cause or
excuse. A statute may properly punish a combination to do a
malicious injury. Liberty of persons to combine in order to inflict
malicious damage was not among the rights which the fourteenth
amendment was intended to preserve. I conclude, therefore, that
where persuasion reaches the stage of intimidation and coercion, as
I believe it has in this case, -it becomes malicious injury if harm or
damage results, and is within section 4466a, as thus construed by
the courts of Wisconsin and the Supreme Court of the United States.
The court then reviewed a number of American and English cases
in which the motive of the parties complained of was considered, and
continued as follows:
Coming now to the question whether the picketing was maintained
in a threatening and intimidating manner, were the workmen coerced
by threats of unlawful acts to quit work, or not to enter service?



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

739

Were they so coerced by individual acts or by a combination of per­
sons with threats of personal injury, etc.? Excluding the case of
coercion b y mere force of numbers without threats of unlawful acts,
as indicated above? Were the acts of the pickets, and those aiding
them, reasonably calculated to constrain, overcome the will, destroy
freedom of action, coerce the volition, by putting the workmen in fear
of injury by violent means ? It is established by the evidence that the
conduct or the pickets calculated to persuade, induce, or force the
workmen, consisted entirely of the concerted action of two or more.
The pickets were in groups of two, four, six, and sometimes more.
Their words and acts, as well as the silent but powerful influence of
the badges or buttons were all on behalf of the unions, for the benefit
of union molders, the asserted betterment of labor conditions as rep­
resented by the unions. Indeed, as has been already said, this benefit
to the cause of union labor is the only just cause or excuse which could
relieve their acts from the charge of illegality; this is the only way
they can possibly justify combined interference with the company’s
busmess. Consequently, acts of interference, obstruction, organized,
constant and persistent persuasion, social pressure and similar meth­
ods, when they reach such a point as to be clearly and (in a criminal
case) beyond reasonable doubt coercion, making the situation of
the workmen so unpleasant, disagreeable, and intolerable that they
are constrained to quit work or not go to work, are unlawful, even
though there is no direct or positive threat to do an act in itself unlaw­
ful. The combination or concert of action, resulting in coercion,
stamps conduct as illegal, without such a threat of harm or bodily
injury as would be necessary to make intimidation by one illegal.
In this case, after giving full scope to the presumption of innocence
and the rule of reasonable doubt, I am thoroughly convinced that
intimidation has been shown, mainly by coercion through constant
threat of unlawful harm, exerted by the concerted action of the pick­
ets. The picket line has been systematically, constantly, and long
maintained. The pickets have officers, a marshal, and picket cap­
tains, and they wear emblems of authority, white picket buttons.
While the use of these buttons was suggested by the court when grant­
ing the injunction, to afford means of detection of those committing
unlawful acts, and thus designed to deter violations of the injunction,
yet, although they may have been of use in this respect, they have, on
the other hand, much increased the efficiency and pressure of the
coercion. These buttons, like the uniform of the soldier, are emblems
of a mysterious and powerful organized authority, and greatly increased
the potency of the picket line. The pickets were always on hand,
exercising constant, systematic, and persistent pressure. There were
many specific acts of violence, vile and offensive language, threats of
injury and bodily harm, and one homicide. The workmen became
terrorized and intimidated, resulting in serious injury to the employer.
It is said that there have been many arrests and convictions of non­
union workmen for the crime of carrying concealed weapons, but this
is only additional evidence that the men feared bodily harm. Under
these circumstances it makes no difference that the pickets, as a gen­
eral rule, spoke politely to the workmen. Under such circumstances,
the mere constant presence of the pickets, their buttons, and numbers,
even if they said nothing, would carry with it constant threat, produc­
ing fear and alarm among the workmen. Thus the picketing was




740

BULLETIN OF TH E BUEEAU OF LABOR.

maintained in a mreatening and intimidating manner, in violation of
the sixth paragraph of the injunction; also in violation of the second
paragraph, restraining the constraint of workmen to quit by threats,
intimidation, force, or violence; also the fourth and seventh para­
graphs restraining all acts in furtherance of conspiracy and unlawful
interference with workmen. A simple “ request” to do or not to do
a thing, made by one or more of a body of strikers under circumstances
calculated to convey a threatening intimation, with a design to hinder
or obstruct workmen, is unlawful intimidation, and not less obnoxious
than the use of physical force for the saipe purpose. (In re Doolittle
(C. C.) 23 Fed. 545.) A like method of “ peaceful picketing” is vig­
orously condemned by Judge McPherson, in Atchison R. Co. v. Gee
(C. C.) 139 Fed. 582.
There can be no doubt, as it seems to me, that the constant and
regular maintenance of the pickets after repeated acts of violence by
pickets, the use of abusive epithets, the creation of an unfriendly
atmosphere surrounding the workmen, with the other conditions
mentioned, constitutes a clear case of a conspiracy among the pickets
to unlawfully intimidate and coerce the workmen. While I do not
find a conspiracy on the part of the unions at the beginning of the
strike, yet I am satisfied from the testimony that all the pickets after­
wards combined and conspired to intimidate workmen, and that such
conspiracy existed at the time of filing the original bill in this case. I
find a conspiracy existed as defined by section 4466a, Rev. St. Wis.
1898, as construed and limited by the Supreme Courts of Wisconsin
and the United States. It still remains to consider wrhat particular
pickets should be punished for violation of the injunction, whether
their officers and the strike committee should be so punished, and
whether the unions are shown to have become identified with the
conspiracy of the pickets, or can in any event be punished.
As to the unions: I shall assume, without particularly examining
the evidence, that it sufficiently appears that the unions, by their
continued support of the strike through the strike committee, and
otherwise, have approved of the picketing as actually carried on.
Upon this assumption, it becomes necessary to consider whether the
unions, as unincorporated voluntary associations, can be made parties
to a suit, fined, or punished for violating an injunction. A trade
union, in this State, is simply an assemblage of persons. It is in no
manner recognized by the law as an entity separate from its members,
except to the extent that a partnership is so recognized. No statute
has permitted it to sue or be sued in its common name. Its members
may sue or be sued, either by joining all of them or one or more for all,
where the members are so numerous that it is impracticable to bring
them all in, but it is the suit of the members, not or the union. I have
no doubt that an injunction may properly go against a trade union by
name, and will operate to restrain all of its members who have knowl­
edge of it; Consolidated Steel & Wire Co. v. Murray (C. C.) 80 Fed.
811; United States v. Coal Dealers’ Ass’n (C. C.) 85 Fed. 252, 260;
but that is a very different thing from fining the union, or rendering
judgment for damages against it. It is also true that such a judg­
ment or fine may go against a trade union in England; but this
liability has been taken away by the statute passed in December, 1906.
The bill of complaint names four unions as defendants, and 59




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

741

individual members of such unions, and alleges that some of the
defendants are also officers of the unions. It does not expressly make
the individual defendants parties on behalf of the unions, nor indi­
cate which defendants belong to a particular union. A general
appearance was entered in the names of the four unions and the
individual defendants, who all answered the bill. Such appearance
of course operated as a waiver of any objection of nonjoinder of
parties. After such general appearance the defendants could not
stop the proceedings until other parties defendant should be brought
not operate to bring in persons not named as parties. Individual
members of the unions not mentioned in the bill, or sued either in a
personal or representative capacity, were not, by the general appear­
ance of all the defendants, brought in or joined in any manner.
The status of persons represented in equity suits by others is dis­
cussed in Pomeroy's Remedies, sections 396-398 of the second
edition and in Code Remedies, sections 296, 297. It appears from
his discussion that such represented parties plaintiff are not actually
before the court unless they assent in some way; though a slight act
of assent is enough; nor are they bound by the decree without such
assent. As to represented defendants, he says that where the pro­
ceedings assume a hostile character, even as to a represented plain­
tiff, he must either have taken the steps necessary to make him an
actual party, or, having notice and an opportunity to come in, he
refuses or neglects to do so. And he lays down the same rule as to
defendants. The matter, however, seems to be set at rest by equity
rule 48, which follows:
“ Where the parties on either side are very numerous, and can not,
without manifest inconvenience and oppressive delays in the suit, be
all brought before it, the court in its discretion may dispense with
making all of them parties, and proceed in the suit, having sufficient
parties before it to represent all the adverse interests of the plaintiffs
and defendants in the suit properly before it. But in such cases the
decree shall be without prejudice to the rights and claims of all the
absent parties."
It will be seen that the decree does not bind the absentees or
represented defendants, as it is required to be made without prejudice
to their rights. (See Coann v. Atlanta Cotton Factory (C. C.) 14 Fed.
4.) No case was cited on the argument in which a judgment or
decree for damages, or a fine for contempt of court, went against an
unincorporated society or trade union, except Barnes v. Chicago
Typographical Union, where Judge Holdom or the superior court of
Cook County, 111., imposed a fine of $1,000 upon the defendant union,
which was composed of 2,800 members, was named as a party defend­
ant, and whose officers and executive committee were also joined as
defendants. The case is now pending on appeal in the appellate
court of Illinois. In the Racine Boycott Case, decided by Judge
Fowler, judge of the eighteenth Wisconsin circuit, August 27, 1906,'
the final injunction went against the unions, but the decree for dam­
ages was limited to individual defendants. In Guilfoil v. Arthur, 158
111. 600, 41 N. E. 1009, and Fitzpatrick v. Rutter, 160 111. 282, 43
N. E. 392, there was no personal judgment against the union. (See,
304 b — No. 70— 07----- 18




7 42

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

also, Franklin Union v. People, 220 111. 355, 77 X. E. 176, 4 L. R. A.
(N. S.) 1001,110 Am. St. Rep. 248 [Bulletin No. 65, p. 347] and Flan­
nery v. People, 225 111. 62, 80 N. E. 60.)
“ A voluntary association, unincorporated, which is not organized
to carry on some trade or business, or to hold property in this State,
and does not in fact carry on a trade or business or hold property
therein, can not sue or be sued as such. (Railroad Co. v. Dick, 7 Neb.
246.) The individual members are to be sued in such cases, not the
association.” (Cleland v. Anderson, 66 Neb. 252, 92 N. W. 306, 96
N. W. 212, 98 N. W. 1075.) The St. Paul Typothetse, an association
of employers formed to promote and protect the firms, corporations,
and persons composing it in controversies with their workmen, and the
St. Paul Bookbinders’ Union, a trade union formed for similar pur­
poses, can not sue or be sued in the association name. “ It is well
settled that, in the absence of a statute otherwise providing, to be
entitled to conduct judicial proceedings in court, a party litigant must
be either a natural or artificial person.” They have no legal entity
distinct from that of their numbers. “ The rule is followed by an
unbroken line of authorities, though a different rule has been applied
in many of the courts in actions purely of an equitable nature.”
(Citing Niblack on Soc. and several cases; 22 Pl. & Pr. 242; St. Paul
Typothetse v. St. Paul Bookbinders’ Union 94 Minn. 351, 102 N. W.
725 [Bulletin No. 59, p. 355]). Voluntary association can not be
made liable to a personal judgment in an equity suit to foreclose a
lien. (M. E. Church South v. Clifton (Tex. Civ. App.) 78 S. W. 732.)
Suit may be brought against two or more members of a voluntary
association to represent the interests of all. (Pearson v. Anderburg,
28 Utah 495, 80 Pac. 307; Niblack on Soc. 181.)
I think therefore that no fine can go against the unions named and
who have answered as defendants.
In respect to the punishment of individual defendants who have
been served with process or have appeared, for participating or tak­
ing part in the picketing or any particular act of intimidation or
coercion, it is clear that those members of the strike committee who
have been made parties and were served or appeared on the order to
show cause are also liable to be punished for violating the injunction.
Those defendants who, although they have done picket duty, yet are
not shown to have taken part m any specific act of coercion or intimi­
dation, will only be punished by a nominal fine. Being members of
the picketing combination, the act of any one picket is technically the
act of all, but this will not make them liable to more than a nominal
fine. The marshal and captains of the pickets at the three foundries,
so far as they are before the court, have clearly violated the injunc­
tion by maintaining the picket system, and should be punished
accordingly.
In regard to the punishment of persons who are not made parties
defendant, but who have been brought into the contempt proceed­
ings as having violated the injunction after having obtained notice
of it, I adopt the rule stated by Judge Kohlsaat in Employers’ Team­
ing Co. v. Teamsters (C, C.) 141 Fed. 679. A further hearing for the
purpose of argument will be necessary in order that the proper pun­
ishment may be fixed, and the proper persons who have violated the
injunction clearly ascertained. At the same time the question of
costs in favor of those cited in these proceedings, who have already



743

DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

been or should hereafter be entirely dismissed from the proceedings,
will be disposed of. The necessity of a formal finding of facts and
conclusions will also be considered at the same time.
N o t e .— In Flannery v. People, supra, several of the defendants
had been sentenced to imprisonment for contempt, and after the
decrees were affirmed, and on January 17, 1907, they commenced
serving their terms. They were convicted of the violation of an
injunction, and an order continuing it, issued on a bill in equity filed
in the superior court of Cook County, in the name of Chicago Typothetse, an unincorporated trade union, against Franklin Union (incor­
porated) and others. The bill recited that it was brought on behalf
of nine members of the union, who signed and sealed a paper, attached
to the bill, requesting it to be filed in the name of the union. An
injunction was issued at the time of filing the bill. The defendants
Flannery and others appeared and answered. Six weeks after filing
the bill the court gave leave to amend it by joining as complainants
all the persons who signed the written statement and one other, and
by the same order the injunction was continued. Flannery and
others were convicted of violating both injunctions. Flannery and
Shea, two of those undergoing imprisonment, applied to the United
States Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois for a writ of
habeas corpus, alleging that they were deprived of their liberty with­
out due process of law, on the ground that the superior court had no
jurisdiction to issue the injunction, or allow the amendment, because
no person was named as complainant. They relied on the cases
cited above, and Proprietors of the Mexican Mill v. Yellow Jack Sil­
ver Min. Co., 4 Nev. 40, 97 Am. Dec. 510, Barbour v. Albany Lodge,
73 Ga. 474, Richardson v. Smith & Co., 21 Fla. 336, Seely v. Schenck
& Denies, 2 N. J. Law, 75, Steamboat v. Wilson, 11 Iowa, 479, and
Steamboat Bums, 9 Wall. 237, 19 L. Ed. 620. The writ was quashed
and the petition dismissed February 25, 1907.

R

a il r o a d

ees—

Co m p a n ie s — L

Co n s t it u t io n a l it y

of

ia b il it y

to

St a tu te — R

W

orkmen

not

e g u l a t io n o f

E

m ploy­

Co m m er ce—

Martin v. Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railroad Company, Supreme Court
o f the United States, 27 Supreme Court, page 100.— Reuben L. Martin,

a railway postal clerk, was injured by the derailing of a train of the
above-named company on which he was employed. This derailment
took place in the State of Pennsylvania, in consequence of the negli­
gence of the crew of a work train. Among other defenses offered
by the company was a statute of Pennsylvania limiting the right of
recovery for personal injury or loss of life of persons other than pas­
sengers, “ lawfully engaged or employed on or about the roads, works,
depots, and premises of a railroad company or in or about any train
or car therein or thereon, of which company such person is not an
em ployee/7 to such rights as the person would Lave if he were an
employee of the company. The suit wras brought in the court of
common pleas of Mahoning County, Ohio, and wrent on appeal to
the circuit court of the county and the supreme court of the State,




744

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

in all of which the judgment was in favor of the railroad company.
Martin then appealed the case to the Supreme Court of the United
States, which affirmed the judgment of the lower courts.
The case was considered in the Supreme Court solely as it depended
on the validity and application of the Pennsylvania statute above
mentioned, the constitutionality of which was disputed by the plain­
tiff. The grounds on which the law was upheld are disclosed in the
following extracts quoted from the opinion of the court, as delivered
by Judge White:
As the application of the statute, if valid, presents no Federal ques­
tion, we are unconcerned with that matter, although it may be ob­
served in passing that it is conceded in the argument at bar that
tinder the settled construction given to the statute by the supreme
court of Pennsylvania the plaintiff, as a railway postal clerk, was not
a passenger, and had no greater rights in the event of being injured
in the course ot his employment than would have had an employee
of the railroad company.
Was the application of the statute thus construed to a railway
postal clerk of the United States in conflict with the power of Con­
gress to establish post-offices and post-roads ?
In Price v, Pennsvlvania R* Co., 113 U. S. 221, 28 L. ed. 981, 5
Sup. Ct. Rep. 427, this question was in effect foreclosed against the
plaintiff in error. That case was brought to this court from a judg­
ment of the supreme court of Pennsylvania (96 Pa. 258), holding
that a railway postal clerk was not a passenger within the meaning
of the Pennsylvania act, and hence had no right to recover for inju­
ries suffered by him in consequence of the negligence of an employee
of the company. The Federal ground there relied upon was sub­
stantially the one here asserted; that is, the power ot the Govern­
ment of the United States to establish post-offices and post-roads,
and the effect of the legislation of Congress and the act of the Post­
master General in appointing mail clerks thereunder. After fully
considering the subject the case was dismissed because no substantial
Federal ground was involved, the court saying (113 U. S. 221, 28
L. ed. 98\, 5 Sup. Ct. Rep. 428):
“ The person thus to be carried with the mail matter, without extra
charge, is no more a passenger because he is in charge of the mail,
nor because no other compensation is made for his transportation,
than if he had no such charge; nor does the fact that he is in the
employment of the United States, and that defendant is bound, by
contract with the Government, to carry him, affect the question. It
would be just the same if the company had contracted with any
other person who had charge of freight on the train to carry him
without additional compensation. The statutes of the United States
which authorize this employment and direct this service do not,
therefore, make the person so engaged a passenger, or deprive him
of that character, in construing the Pennsylvania statute. Nor does
it give to persons so employed any right, as against the railroad com­
pany, which would not belong to anv other person in a similar
employment, by others than the Unitect States.”
This brings us to the second contention,— the repugnancy of the
Pennsylvania statute to the commerce clause of the Constitution.



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

745

It is apparent from the decision in the Price case, just previously
referred to, that in deciding that question we must determine the
application of the statute to the plaintiff in error, wholly irrespec­
tive of the fact that at the time he was injured he was a railway
postal clerk. In other words, the validity or invalidity of the stat­
ute is to be adjudged precisely as if the plaintiff was, at the time of
the injury, serving for hire in the employment of a private individual
or corporation.
Cases were then cited in which the power of the States to regulate
the liability of common carriers was affirmed, after which Judge
White said:
The contention that because, in the cases referred to, the opera­
tion of the State laws which were sustained was to augment the
liability of a carrier, therefore the rulings are inapposite here, where
the consequence of the application of the State statute may be to
lessen the carrier's liability, rests.upon a distinction without a differ­
ence. The result of the previous rulings was to recognize, in the
absence of action by Congress, the power of the States to legislate,
and of course this power involved the authority to regulate as the
State might deem best for the public good, without reference to
whether the effect of the legislation might be to limit or broaden the
responsibility of the carrier. In other words, the assertion of Fed­
eral right is disposed of when we determine the question of power,
and doing so does not involve considering the wisdom with which
the lawful power may have been, under stated conditions, exerted.
And the views previously stated are adequate to dispose of the
assertion that the Pennsylvania statute is void for repugnancy to
the 14th Amendment. If it be conceded, as contended, that the
plaintiff in error could have recovered but for the statute, it does not
follow that the legislature of Pennsylvania, in preventing a recovery,
took away a vested right or a right of property. As the accident
from which the cause of action is asserted to have arisen occurred
long after the passage of the statute, it is difficult to grasp the con­
tention that the statute deprived the plaintiff in error of the rights
just stated. Such a contention, in reason, must rest upon the propo­
sition that the State of Pennsylvania was without power to legislate
on the subject,— a proposition which we have adversely disposed of.
This must be, since it would clearly follow, if the argument relied
upon were maintained, that the State would be without power on
the subject. For it can not be said that the State had authority in
the premises if that authority did not even extend to prescribing a
rule which would be applicable to conditions wholly arising in the
future.
The contention that because plaintiff in error, as a citizen of the
United States, had a constitutional right to travel from one State to
another, he was entitled, as the result of an accident happening in
Pennsylvania, to a cause of action not allowed by the laws of that
State, is in a different form to reiterate that the Pennsylvania stat­
ute was repugnant to the commerce clause of the Constitution of the
United States. Conceding, if the accident had happened in Ohio,
there would have been a right to recover, that fact did not deprive
the State of Pennsylvania of its authority to legislate so as to affect
persons and things within its borders. The commerce clause not



746

BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OE LABOR,

being controlling in the absence of legislation by Congress, it follows,
of necessity, that the plaintiff in error, as an incident of his right to
travel from State to State, did not possess the privilege, as to an
accident happening in Pennsylvania, to exert a cause of action not
given by the laws of that State, and had no immunity exempting
him from the control of the State legislation.
The proposition that the statute denied to the plaintiff in error the
equal protection of the laws because it “ capriciously, arbitrarily,
and unnaturally,” by the classification made, deprived railway mail
clerks of the rights of passengers, which they might have enjoyed if
the statute had not been enacted, is without merit. The classifica­
tion made by the statute docs not alone embrace railway mail clerks,
but places in a class by themselves such clerks and others whose
employment in and about a railroad subjects them to greater peril
than passengers in the strictest sense. This general difference ren­
ders it impossible in reason to say, within the meaning of the 14th
Amendment, that the legislature of Pennsylvania, in classifying pas­
sengers in the strict sense in one class and those who are subject
to greater risks, including railway mail clerks, in another, acted so
arbitrarily as to violate the equal protection clause of the 14th
Amendment.
Judgment affirmed.
DECISIONS UNDER COMMON LAW.
L

O r g a n iz a t io n s — P r o c u r in g

abor

D

is c h a r g e —

V

io l a t io n

of

Brennan v. United Hatters o f North
America , Local No. 17, et al., Court o f Errors and Appeals o f New
Jersey, 65 Atlantic Reporter, page 165.— This was an action to recover
R

ules—

M

a l ic e —

D

am ages—

damages from the Hatters’ Union because of interference with em­
ployment. Brennan was a hatter by trade and a member of the
union named, and was fined for an alleged violation of its rules. He
claimed that the rules of procedure in such cases had been violated
and refused to pay the fine, whereupon his membership card was
taken up, which resulted, under the terms of agreement between
the union and Brennan’s employers, in his discharge. Judgment for
damages was awarded in the circuit court of Essex County, from
which this appeal was taken. Judge Pitney, who announced the judg­
ment of the court, sustained the finding of the court below in an
opinion in which he discussed with much fullness the principles
involved and cited a number of cases, both British and American, in
support of the position taken. A syllabus, prepared by the court,
announced the conclusions of law in the case, and is reproduced
herewith:
1. Plaintiff was a member of a trade union (a voluntary associa­
tion), whose rules provided for fining and otherwise punishing any
member violating the laws of the association or the rules of trade.
The rules provided for a trial of the accused member before a tri­
bunal established within the association, at the same time providing
that he should be entitled to “ due notice and a fair trial,” and should



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

747

not be put on trial unless charges were submitted in writing by a
member of the association. Plaintiff, having been put on trial with­
out the submission of written charges and without due notice, wras
sentenced to pay a fine and to give up his place of employment for one
year. Held, that this course of procedure, unless consented to by
plaintiff, furnished no justification for the subsequent action of the
association and its officers in procuring his discharge from employ­
ment.
2. Whether plaintiff did consent to be put on trial without charges
or notice was, under the evidence in this case, a question for the jury.
3. The constitution of this State (article 1, par. 1) establishes the
unalienable right of all men to acquire property and pursue and
obtain safety and happiness. Included in this is the right of making
contracts for personal services as a means of acquiring property. It
is therefore the right of every man to engage in such lawful business
or occupation as he may choose, free from hindrance or obstruction
by his fellow-men, saving such as may result from the exercise of equal
or superior rights on their part.
4. Whoever intentionally and without legal justification or excuse
>rocures an employer to discharge his employee, to the damage of the
atter, is liable to an action for damages at the suit of the employee;
and this, although there was no binding contract of employment.
5.
Malice, in the law, is the intentional doing of a wrongful act,
without justification or excuse. A “ wrongful act,” within the mean­
ing of this definition, is any act which in the ordinary course will
infringe upon the rights of another, to his damage, except it be done
in the exercise of an equal or superior right.
6.
Where a party has entered into an agreement that is void,
because contrary to public policy, he may, on repudiating such
agreement, recover upon a ground of action that exists independent
thereof. His suit is not barred by the operation of the maxim “ in
pari delicto.”

I

L

abor

O r g a n iz a t io n s — R

ig h t

to

S t r ik e — S y m p a t h e t ic

Pickett v. Walsh, Su­
preme Judicial Court o f Massachusetts, 78 Northeastern Reporter, page
758.— Robert H. Pickett and others prayed for an injunction against

S t r ik e s — U

n in c o r p o r a t e d

A

s s o c ia t io n s —

one Walsh, walking delegate of the Stone Masons’ Union No. 9, one
Driscoll, walking delegate of the Bricklayers’ Union No. 3, and other
officers of these unions, all of the city of Boston. The plaintiffs also
undertook to make the two unions named and the Bricklayers’ Union
No. 27 defendants in the case, all being unincorporated associations
of wTorkingmen. The prayers were three in number, asking that the
defendants might be enjoined (1) “ from combining and conspiring in
any way to compel L. P. Soule & Son Company, or any other per­
son, firm, or corporation, by force, threats, intimidation, or coercion,
to discharge the complainants in the bill of complaint, to wit: Robert
H. Pickett, Charles A. Pickett, Thomas J. Lally, and Walter H. Wil­
kins, or to refrain from further employing them in and about their




748

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

trade and occupation; ” (2) “ from combining and conspiring to com­
pel the owners of the so-called Ford Building on Ashburton Place in
the city of Boston to break or to decline to carry out their said con­
tract with the complainant Robert H. Pickett; ” and (3) “ from com­
bining and conspiring to interfere with said complainants, or any of
them, in the practice of their trade and occupation, or to prevent
them from obtaining further employment thereat.” An injunction
to the intent indicated was granted b y the superior court of Suffolk
County, whereupon an appeal was taken, resulting in a modification
of the decree.
The plaintiffs were by trade brick and stone pointers, whose work
it was to clean the walls of buildings (usually when first erected), and
to finish the mortar at the joints. These men commonly worked
under contract, and at a less cost to the contractors than where the
pointing and cleaning were done by the masons. It was also claimed
that they were more skillful in the use of the acids used in cleaning
the walls than were the bricklayers and masons. The latter, however,
had agreed that members of their unions would do no work on any
building where the contractor would not agree to have the pointing
done by them. On the day set for the agreement to go into effect,
the owners of the Ford Building, for the erection of which L. P. Soule
& Son Company were the general contractors, had made a separate
agreement with Robert H. Pickett, one of the complainants, to do the
work of pointing on the building named. When this was discovered
by walking delegates Walsh and Driscoll, they notified the masons
and bricklayers on other buildings which L. P. Soule & Son Company
were constructing, whereupon these workmen struck. It was shown
also that another firm had been told that it must dismiss the pointers
in its employment if it wished to avoid a strike on all the buildings
then being erected by it in the city of Boston.
These facts having been reviewed by Judge Loring, who delivered
the opinion of the court, he then proceeded as follows:
There seem therefore to be three causes of action upheld b y the
decree.
In the first place, Robert H. Pickett, one of the plaintiffs, had a
contract with the owners of the Ford Building and was at work under
it when the defendants struck. He seeks protection from a strike on
L. P. Soule & Son Company to force the owners of the Ford Building
to give this work to the unions and to take it away from him. Except
for the fact of this contract in which the plaintiff Robert H. Pickett
was alone concerned, the first and second causes of action are alike.
The second cause of action consists in the effort of all the plaintiffs
to be protected from being discharged or not employed b y the L. P.
Soule & Son Company because the defendants struck work for that
corporation so long as that corporation worked on a building on
which Robert H. JPickett was employed by the owners of that
building.




DECISIONS OE COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

749

Finally, the plaintiffs sought to be protected against a strike by the
defendants in order to get the work of pointing for the members of
their unions.
No objections have been taken to the bill on the ground of multi­
fariousness. We shall therefore consider all three causes of action.
We will consider first the last of the three causes of action.
The question, so far as this the third cause of action goes, apart
from a question of fact which we will deal with later, is whether the
defendant unions have a right to strike for the purpose for which they
struck; or, to put it more accurately and more narrowly, it is this:
Is a union of bricklayers and stone masons justified in striking to
force a contractor to employ them by the day to do cleaning and
pointing at higher wages than pointers are paid, where the contractors
wish to make contracts with the pointers for such work to be done by
the piece, because they think they get better work at less cost with
no liability for accidents, and where the pointers wish to make con­
tracts for that work with the contractors on terms satisfactory to
them ?
In other words, we have to deal with one of the great and pressing
questions growing out of the powerful combinations, sometimes of
capital and sometimes of labor, which have been instituted in recent
years where their actions come into conflict with the interests of indi­
viduals. The combination in the case at bar is a combination of
workmen, and the conflict is between a labor union on the one hand
and several unorganized laborers on the other hand. It is only in
recent years that these great and powerful combinations have made
their appearance, and the limits to which they may go in enforcing
their demands are far from being settled. It is settled however that
laborers have a right to organize as labor unions to promote then
welfare. Further, there is no question of the general right of a labor
union to strike.
On the other hand it is settled that some strikes by a labor union
are illegal. It was held in Carew v. Rutherford, 106 Mass. 1, 8 Am.
Rep. 287, that a strike by the members of labor unions was illegal
when set on foot to force their employer to pay a fine imposed upon
him by the union of which he was not a member, for not giving the
union all his work. To the same effect see March v. Bricklayers’ &
Plasterers’ Union No. 1 (Conn.) 63 Atl. 291 [Bulletin No. 67, p. 884].
Again, it was held in Plant v. Woods, 176 Mass. 492, 57 N. E. 1011
[Bulletin No. 31, p. 1294], that a labor union could not force other
workmen to join it by refusing to work if workmen were employed
who were not members of that union. To the same effect see Erdman
v . Mitchell, 207 Pa. 79, 56 Atl. 327 [Bulletin No. 51, p. 450]; O’Brien
v . People (111.) 75 N. E. 108 [Bulletin No. 62, p. 324]; Loewe v. Cali­
fornia State Federation of Labor (C. C.) 139 Fed. 71 [Bulletin No. 61,
p. 1067]. And' see in this connection Giblan v. National Amalga­
mated Laborers Union (1903) 2 K. B. 600.
When and for what end this power of coercion and compulsion
commonly known as a strike may be legally used is the question which
this case calls upon us to decide. In the present state of the authori­
ties it becomes necessary to consider the general principles governing
labor unions and strikes by labor unions.
The right of one or more citizens to pursue his or their calling as
he or they see fit is limited by the existence of the same right in all



750

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

other citizens. The right and the result are accurately stated by Sir
William Erie in his book on Trade Unions in these words: “ Every
person has a right under the law, as between him and his fellow sub­
jects, to full freedom in disposing of his own labor or his own. capital
according to his own will. It follows that every other person is
subject to the correlative duty arising therefrom, and is prohibited
from any obstruction to the fullest exercise of this right which can
be made compatible with the exercise of similar rights by others.”
We have now arrived at the point where a labor union, being an
organization brought about by the exercise on the part of its members
of the right of every citizen to pursue his calling as he thinks best is
limited in what it can do by the existence of the same right in each
and every other citizen to pursue his and their calling as he or they
think best.
In addition to the limitation thus put on labor unions there is a
fact which puts a further limitation on what acts a labor union can
legally do. That is the increase of power which a combination of
citizens has over the individual citizen. Take for example the power
of a labor union to compel by a strike compliance with its demands.
Speaking generally a strike to be successful means not only coercion
and compulsion but coercion and compulsion which, for practical
purposes, are irresistible. A successful strike by laborers means, in
many if not most cases, that for practical purposes the strikers have
such a control of the labor which the employer must have that he has
to yield to their demands. A single individual may well be left to
take his chances in a struggle with- another individual. But in a
struggle with a number of persons combined together to fight an
individual, the individuals chance is small, if it exist at all. It is plain
that a strike by a combination of persons has a power of coercion
which an individual does not have.
The result of this greater power of coercion on the part of a com­
bination of individuals is that what is lawful for an individual is not
the test of what is lawful for a combination of individuals; or to state
it in another way, there are things which it is lawful for an individual
to do which it is not lawful for a combination of individuals to do.
Take for example the case put in Allen v. Flood [1898] A. C. 1 , 165,
of a butler refusing to renew a contract of services because the cook
was personally distasteful to him, whereupon, in order to secure the
services of the butler, the master refrains from reengaging the cook
whose term of service also had expired. We have no doubt that it is
within the legal rights of a single person to refuse to work with
another for the reason that the other person is distasteful to him, or
for any other reason however arbitrary. But it is established in this
Commonwealth that it is not legal (even where he wishes to do so) for
an employer to agree with a union to discharge a nonunion workman
for an arbitrary cause at the request of the union. (Berry v. Donovan,
188 Mass. 353, 74 N. E. 603 [Bulletin No. 60, p. 702].) A fortiori a
labor union can not by a strike refuse to work with another workman
for an arbitrary cause. For the general proposition that what is
lawful for an individual is not necessarily lawful for a combination of
individuals see Quinn v. Leathern [1901] A. C. 495, 511; Mogul
Steamship Co., Limited, v. McGregor, Gow & Co., 23 Q. B. D. 598, 616,
on appeal [1892] A. C. 25, 45; Gregory v. Brunswick, 6 M. & G. 205,
on appeal 3 C. B. 481. It is in effect included by Plant v. Woods
[supra].



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

751

These being the general principles, we are brought to the question
of the legality of the strike in the case at bar, namely, a strike of
bricklayers and masons to get the work of pointing, or, to put it more
accurately, a combination by the defendants, who are bricklayers and
masons, to refuse to lay bricks and stone where the pointing of them
is given to others. The defendants in effect say we want the work of
pointing the bricks and stone laid by us, and you must give us all or
none of the work.
The case is a case of competition between the defendant unions and
the individual plaintiffs for the work of pointing. The work of point­
ing for which these two sets of workmen are competing is work which
the contractors are obliged to have. One peculiarity of the case
therefore is that the fight here is necessarily a triangular one. It
necessarily involves the two sets of competing workmen and the con­
tractor, and is not confined to the two parties to the contract, as is
the case where workmen strike to get better wages from their employer
or other conditions which are better for them.
The right which the defendant unions claim to exercise in carrying
their point in the course of this competition is a trade advantage,
namely, that they have labor which the contractors want, or, if you
please, can not get elsewhere; and they insist upon using this trade
advantage to get additional work, namely, the work of pointing the
bricks and stone which they lay. There are things which an indi­
vidual can do which a combination of individuals can not do. But
having regard to the right on which the defendants7 organization as a
labor union rests, the correlative duty owed by it to others, and the
limitation of the defendants7 rights coming from the increased power
of organization, we are of opinion that it was within the rights of
these unions to compete for the work of doing the pointing and, in the
exercise of their right of competition, to refuse to lay bricks and set
stones unless they were given the work of pointing them when laid.
The result to which that conclusion brings us in the case at bar
ought not to be passed by without consideration.
The result is harsh on the contractors, who prefer to give the work
to the pointers because (1) the pointers do it by contract (in which
case the contractors escape the liability incident to the relation of
employer and employee); because (2) the contractors think that the
pointers do the work better, and if not well done the buildings may
be permanently injured by acid; and finally (3) because they get
from the pointers better work with less liability at a smaller cost.
Again, so far as the pointers (who can not lay brick or stone) are con­
cerned, the result is disastrous. But all that the labor unions have
done is to say you must employ us for all the work or none of it. They
have not said that if you employ the pointers you must pay us a fine,
as they did in Carew v. Rutherford. They have not undertaken to
forbid the contractors employing pointers, as they did in Plant v.
Woods. So far as the labor unions are concerned the contractors can
employ pointers if they choose, but if the contractors choose to give
the work of pointing the bricks and stones to others, the unions take
the stand that the contractors will have to get some one else to lay
them. The effect of this in the case at bar appears to be that the
contractors are forced against their will to give the work of pointing
to the masons and bricklayers. But the fact that the contractors are
forced to do what they do not want to do is not decisive of the legality



7.52

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

of the labor union’s acts. That is true wherever a strike is successful.
The contractors doubtless would have liked it better if there had been
no competition between the bricklayers and masons on the one hand
and the individual pointers on the other hand. But there is com­
petition. There being competition, they prefer the course they have
taken. They prefer to give all the work to the unions rather than get
nonunion men to lay bricks and stone to be pointed by the plaintiffs.
Further, the effect of complying with the labor unions’ demands
apparently will be the destruction of the plaintiff’s business. But the
fact that the business of a plaintiff is destroyed by the acts of the
defendants done in pursuance of their right of competition is not deci­
sive of the illegality of them. It was well said by Hammond, J., in
Martell v. White, 185 Mass. 255, 260, 69 N. E. 1085 [Bulletin No. 53,
p. 958], in regard to the right of a citizen to pursue his business with­
out interference by a combination to destroy it: “ Speaking generally,
however, competition in business is permitted, although frequently
disastrous to those engaged in it. It is always selfish, often sharp,
and sometimes deadly.”
We can not say on the evidence that pointing is something foreign to
the work of a bricklayer or a stone mason, and therefore something
which a union of bricklayers and stone masons have no right to com­
pete for or insist upon and so to bring the case within Carew v. Ruther­
ford; March v. Bricklayers’ and Plasterers’ Union No. 1 (Conn.); and
Giblan v. National Amalgamated Laborers’ Union. On the contrary
the evidence shows that in Boston the pointing is done to some extent
by bricklayers and stone masons, and there is no evidence that the
trade of pointing exists outside that city.
The protest of the defendant unions against the plaintiffs’ being
allowed to organize a pointers’ union is not an act of oppression. It
is not like the refusal of the union in Quinn v. Leathern to work with
the nonunion men or to admit the nonunion men to their union. The
defendants’ unions are not shown to be unwilling to admit the
plaintiffs to membership if they are qualified as bricklayers or stone
masons. But the difficulty is that the plaintiffs are not so qualified.
They are not bricklayers or masons. The unions have a right to
determine what kind of workmen shall compose the union, and to
insist that pointing shall not be a separate trade so far as union work
is concerned. They have not undertaken to say that the contractors
shall not treat the two trades as distinct. What they insist upon is
that if the contractors employ them they shall employ them to do
both kinds of work.
The application of the right of the defendant unions, who are com­
posed of bricklayers and stone masons, to compete with the individual
plaintiffs, who can do nothing but pointing (as we have said), is in
the case at bar disastrous to the pointers and hard on the contractors.
But this is not the first case where the exercise of the right of compe­
tition ends in such a result.^ The case at bar is an instance where the
evils which are or may be incident to competition bear very harshly
on those interested but in spite of such evils competition is necessary
to the welfare of the community.
So far as previous decisions go the case which comes nearest to the
case at bar in the kind of question raised is that of Allen v. Flood. In
that case there was a dispute between shipwrights and boiler makers
as to iron work in shipbuilding. It was stated by some of the judges



DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

753

that it was lawful for either to strike to get this work from the other.
But the decision in Allen v. Flood went off on another ground. (See
Lord Halsbury, Ch. in Quinn v. Leathern [1901] A. C. 495.)
The plaintiffs have asked us to find on the evidence that the actions
of the unions and of the business agents and other officers and of the
members in compelling L. P. Soule & Son Company to discharge “ the
plaintiffs was due in part to a desire to further and protect their own
interests, or what they conceived to be such, but more to a reckless
and wanton, if not malicious, disregard of the rights of the plaintiffs
and of others engaged in the business of pointing and to a determi­
nation to force them out of business and thereby deprive them of their
accustomed means of earning a livelihood.”
We find on the evidence that the plaintiffs have not made out the
fact that the defendants’ action was due to a reckless and wanton
if not malicious disregard of the rights of the plaintiffs and of others
engaged in the business of pointing. Under these circumstances we
do not find it necessary to decide what would have been the result
had we found that fact.
It follows that the third clause of the decree, which follows the
third prayer of the bill, must be stricken out.
This brings us to the legality of the strike by the union bricklayers
and masons employed by the L. P. Soule & Son Company on other
buildings because that corporation was doing work on a building on
which work was being done by pointers employed not by the L. P.
Soule & Son Company but by the owners of the building.
That strike has an element in it like that in a sympathetic strike,
in a boycott and in a blacklisting, namely: It is a refusal to work
for A., with whom the strikers have no dispute, because A. works
for B., with whom the strikers have a dispute, for the purpose of
forcing A. to force B. to yield to the strikers’ demands. In the case
at bar the strike on the L. P. Soule & Son Company was a strike
on that contractor to force it to force the owner of the Ford Building
to give the work of pointing to the defendant unions. That passes
beyond a case of competition where the owner of the Ford Building
is left to choose between the two competitors. Such a strike is in
effect compelling the L. P. Soule & Son Company to join in a boycott
on the owner of the Ford Building. It is a combination by the union
to obtain a decision in their favor by forcing third persons who have
no interest in the dispute to force the employer to decide the dispute
in their (the defendant unions’ ) favor. Such a strike is not a justi­
fiable interference with the right of the plaintiffs to pursue their
calling as they think best. In our opinion organized labor’s right
of coercion and compulsion is limited to strikes on persons with whom
the organization has a trade dispute; or to put it m another way, we
are of opinion that a strike on A., with whom the striker has no trade
dispute, to compel A. to force B. to yield to the striker’s demands,
is an unjustifiable interference with the right of A-. to pursue his
calling as he thinks best. Only two cases to the contrary have come
to our attention, namely: Bohn Mfg. Co. v. Hollis, 54 Minn. 233, 55
N. W. 1119; and Clothing Co. v. Watson, 168 Mo. 133, 67 S. W. 391
[Bulletin No. 44, p. 157]. The first of these two cases was overruled
on this point in Gray v. Building Trades Council, 91 Minn. 171, 97 N.W.
663 [Bulletin No. 53, p. 955]. The conclusion to which we have come
is suoported by My Maryland Lodge v. Adt, 100 Md. 238, 59 Atl.



754

BULLETIN OE THE BUEEAU OP LAB OP.

721; Gray v. Building Trades Council [supra]: Purington v. Hinchliff (111.) 76 N. E. 47 [Bulletin Xo. 64, p. 892]; Beck v. Railway Team­
sters’ Protective Union, 118 Mich. 497, 77 X. W. 13 [Bulletin Xo. 22,
p. 457]; Crump v. Commonwealth, 84 Ya. 927, 6 S. E. 620; State v.
Glidden, 55 Conn. 46, 8 Atl. 890; Purvis v. United Brotherhood of
Carpenters (Pa.) 63 Atl. 585 [Bulletin Xo. 67, p. 897]; Gatzow v.
Buening, 106 Wis. 1, 81 X. W. 1003 [Bulletin Xo. 40, p. 625]; Barr
v . Essex Trades Council, 53 X. J. Eq. 101, 30 Atl. 881; Tempcrton v.
Russell [1893], 1 Q. B. 715; Taft, J., in Toledo, Ann Arbor & Xorth
Michigan Railway v. Pennsylvania Railroad, 54 Fed. 730; Loewe v.
California State Federation (C. C.), [supra]; Hopkins v. Oxley Stave
Co., 83 Fed. 912 [Bulletin X o .1 6 , p. 459] ; Casey v. Cincinnati Typo­
graphical Union (C. C.) 45 Fed. 135. It is settled in this Common­
wealth by a long line of cases that a defendant is liable for an inten­
tional and unjustifiable interference with the pursuit on the part of
the plaintiff of his calling, whether it be of labor or business.
For the reason that the strike on the buildings being erected by
the L. P. Soule & Son Company was not a strike in a trade dispute
between the union and that corporation, the first and second clauses
of the decree were in substance correct. Robert H. Pickett, how­
ever, is the only plaintiff who is shown to have had any interest in
the work on the Ford Building, and therefore the second clause of
the decree alone should stand.
A few matters of detail remain to be dealt with.
All that the Bricklayers’ Union Xo. 27 seems to have done was to
adopt working rules making pointing a part of the trade of brick­
laying. There is no evidence that they authorized the sending of the
circular letter or took part in the strike. That union and the mem­
bers of it should be stricken from the decree.
X o objection has been taken to the decree in favor of Robert II.
Pickett on the ground that damages would have given him adequate
compensation for breach of his contract. For that reason it is not
necessary to consider whether his proper remedy was an action at
law, for damages as in Carew v. Rutherford; Berry v. Donovan; and
Quinn v. Leathern.
There is a point of practice which must be noticed. As we have
said, the plaintiffs have undertaken to make three unincorporated
labor unions parties defendant. That is an impossibility. There is
no such entity known to the law as an unincorporated association,
and consequently* it can not be made a party defendant. That was
conceded in Taff Yale Railway v. Amalgamated Societies of Railway
Servants [1901] A. C. 426. The point'decided in that case was that
the labor union defendant in that case could be sued because it was
registered under Trades Union Act 1871, c. 31, and Trades Union Act
1876, c. 22. At law, if the objection is properly taken, eveyy member
of an unincorporated association must be joined as a party defendant.
In equity, if the. members are numerous, a number of members may
be made parties defendant as representatives of the class. The
iractice in Massachusetts in suits against members of unincorporated
abor unions generally has been in accordance with these well settled
principles. The judge who entered the decree in the case at bar
made it apply to the unions “ and each and every member thereof.”
He seems to have treated the case as a case where a numerous body
had been properly represented by defendants joined for that pur­

f




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

755

pose. Possibly, so far as the trial of the case was concerned, the
members of these two unions were in fact represented by the individual
defendants. But there is nothing on the record which justifies a
decree against “ each and every member” of the three unions on the
ground that the defendants were joined as representing the individual
members of the unions constituting a numerous class of defendants.
The three unions should be stricken from the bill as parties defendant,
and proper allegations should be made to bind the members of the two
unions as parties defendant. If the individual defendants were
proper representatives of the members of the unions in question,
and these members would suffer no damage from the bill being so
amended now, that can be done. The cases are collected in Fav v.
Walsh, 190 Mass. 374, 77 N. E. 44.
Upon the bill being so amended within 60 days the decree may be
modified as hereinbefore set forth, and on being so modified, affirmed;
otherwise the decree must be reversed.

L

abor

O r g a n iz a t io n s — R

ig h t s

of

M

em bers—

E

x p u l s io n —

R

e­

— B y - l a w s — Dingwall v. Amalgamated Association of
Street Railway Employees of America , Court of Appeal, First District
of California, 88 Pacifc Reporter, page 597 .— George Dingwall had
been expelled from the labor organization above named on a charge
of conspiring against the welfare of the union and against its president,,
and, after exhausting his remedies under the constitution and rules
of the organization, had sued for reinstatement. This suit was
successful, the superior court of the city and county of San Francisco
granting an order to compel such reinstatement, which judgment was
affirmed on appeal.
Judge Harrison, who spoke for the court, used in part the following
language:
The constitution and general laws of the Amalgamated Association
of Street Railway Employees of America, by which the appellant is
governed in exercising control over its members, contain the following
provisions for the expulsion of a member, and no others, v iz:
“ S e c t i o n 69. All business of the local division must be strictly
private from persons outside of the association, unless publication be
authorized by the local division, and persons giving out information
contrary to the local divisiomshall be fined, suspended or expelled.
“ S e c . 70. Any member who divulges the quarterly password for
any purpose other than to enter the meetings shall be expelled.”
The appellant has also enacted the following by-law:
“ S e c . 62. The president shall have power to fine any member who
in any way disturbs a meeting while in session, but for all other
offenses the executive board shall have the power to impose a fine
according to their judgment. Such fine not to exceed fifteen dollars
($15), and no member shall be entitled to his working card until all
dues, assessments and fines are paid.”
Tne constitution and rules and by-laws of a voluntary unincorpo­
rated association constitute a contract between the association and
its members, and the rights and duties of the members as betwreen
in s t a t e m e n t




756

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

themselves and in their relation to the association, in all matters
affecting its internal government and the management of its affairs,
are measured by the terms of such constitution and by-laws. Mem­
bership in a social or beneficial association is in itself a personal
rights especially when the purposes of the association include the
amelioration or improvement of the condition under which the
members obtain their livelihood, and the holder of such right is
entitled to be protected in its enjoyment against any unauthorized
act or proceeding on the part of his fellow-members, either as indi­
viduals or in their official or collective capacity, by which his enjoy­
ment of such right will be impaired or destroyed. The right of a
member to retain his membership is subject to the terms and con­
ditions contained in the constitution or articles of association, and
such by-laws or rules of conduct as may be adopted under these
provisions, and, whenever it is sought to deprive him of his member­
ship, he has the right to insist upon a strict observance of the pro­
ceeding therefor which may have been prescribed in such articles or
rules.
Under the provisions of sections 69 and 70 of the constitution of
the appellant above set forth, its right to expel a member is provided
for certain offenses, none of which is included in the charges which
were presented against the respondent herein, and by section 62 of
the by-laws, a right is given to the president to fine a member for
disturbing a meeting while in session. But for “ all other offenses”
the appellant has declared, in section 62, that the executive board
shall nave the power to impose a fine “ according to their judgment”
not to exceed $15. The parties to the association having by agree­
ment thus limited and declared the penalty to be imposed, for all
offenses, it was not within the power of the appellant to impose a
different penalty for the offense with which the respondent was
charged. (See Allnutt v. Subsidiary High Court, 62 Mich. 110, 28
N. W. 802; Meurer v. Association, 95 Mich. 451, 54 N. W. 954.)
By enumerating certain offenses for which the penalty of expulsion
may be imposed, the right to inflict such penalty for any other
offense is impliedly excluded and the further provision that for
“ all other offenses” the penalty shall be a fine not to exceed $15 is a
positive declaration that the only penalty which could be imposed
upon respondent for the offenses with which he is charged is such
pecuniary fine.
The failure of the respondent to appear at the hearing on December
13th did not confer upon the appellant any further authority than
was given by its constitution ana rules. The charges served upon
him contained no proposition for expulsion, and as he had the right
to assume that the only penalty would be a fine within the limits
rescribed by the above by-law, he may have been willing to submit
is case to the determination of the executive board upon such proof
as might be presented in support of the charges.
The affirmance of the order of expulsion upon the appeal taken ’
therefrom by him did not validate the order. If provision was
made by the association for any review of the proceeding, it was
incumbent upon him to exhaust his remedies within the association
before making application to the courts, but, as the order of expul­
sion was void, by reason of a want of jurisdiction in the appellant to
make it, its affirmance did not give it any vitality.

E




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

75

r

The action of the appellant in expelling the respondent from its*
membership was therefore without authority, and the order of the
superior court directing that he be reinstated in his membership was;
correct.
S t r i k e s — P i c k e t i n g — I n j u n c t i o n — Pope Motor Oar Company v~
Keegan, United States Circuit Court, Northern District o f Ohio, Western
Division , 150 Federal Reporter, page H 8 .— This was a hearing on the

question as to the issuance of a preliminary injunction against certain
persons named, among whom were J. J. Keegan and J. M. Keck,,
officials of the International Association of Machinists, and a con­
siderable number of other persons, former employees of the Pope
Motor Car Company, at the time engaged in a strike against the com­
pany. Judge Taylor in granting the injunction said in part:
There is little controversy among counsel as to the law applicable
to a case of this kind; the chief contention arising as to the application
of the law to the facts in this case. The rules of law which I conceive
to be well established, and which I shall apply to the consideration and
determination of the questions now before the court, are, substan­
tially, as follows: To interfere, by violence, by threats or by intimi­
dation, with others who are pursuing their natural and constitutional
right to labor when and where they please, is always wrong, and
always unlawful. No sense of personal wrong, however great, how­
ever natural, or however excusable, can justify such interference..
No offended sense of right, as, for instance, that another is unjustly
“ taking his job,” gives warrant to such interference. The strikers’
themselves are entitled to no more rights than those whom they find
working in their old places. Individual freedom is the chief of the
rights of each. It can not be said that a job is held except by mutual,
consent. It can not be claimed by any intelligent man that one holds
his job whether his employer desires it so or not. As well might we
say that the workman, against his will, can be held to service by his
employer.
But nothing can be better settled, either in law, in conscience, or
in common sense, than that every man may seek or refuse work,
wheresoever he will; that workmen may combine for their mutual
advantage; that they may persuade fellow-workmen, or others, to
leave their employment; but such persuasion must be such as to per­
suade by reason, and not compel by threat, or violence, or intimida­
tion. One of the forms of persuasion which, under proper circum­
stances, the law recognizes as permissible, is “ picketing” b y strikers*
that is to say, the detachment of men in suitable places for the purpose
of coming into personal relations with the new workmen, in order, if
possible, to induce them, by means of peaceful argument, to leave
the places which they have taken, for such natural and proper reasons,
as may appeal to men in such circumstances.
Much has been said by the courts, and by others, as to the peacedisturbing quality of picketing; and it is claimed by many that
picketing, though intended to be peaceable, and engaged in by no
more than two or three at each station, necessarily results in violence1
or intimidation, and is itself intimidating. A learned judge, in 1867,,
304 b — No. 70— 07 -------19




7 58

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

said that, in his opinion, “ it was impossible to have an effectual sys­
tem of picketing without being guilty of that alarm, intimidation, and
obstruction which is a breach of the law.” Possibly that may still
be true, but it can not now be said without qualification, as it then
could. In knowledge of their rights, in law-abiding spirit, in general
intelligence, there has been a great advance, especially among skilled
artisans. In this country, at least, they make up a large part of our
intelligent and law-abiding citizens.
If we can apprehend anything, we must observe that a better prac­
tice is prevailing, due, doubtless, to the increasing intelligence and
good sense of those involved, and also to the fact that courts have
come lo be recognized as ready to protect persons in their rights, and
to punish those who unlawfully interfere with them. Undoubtedly
violence and intimidation have, to some extent, been associated with
picketing in this case; not always, though perhaps generally, at .the
hands of the strikers themselves. The idle, the dissolute, and the law­
less are likely to take advantage of such a situation as this to commit
unlawful acts, and the state of mind into which striking mechanics
are likely to come, in such a case as we have here, is more or less likely
either to make them indifferent to these acts when committed by
others, or, in some instances, to encourage them. Nevertheless, I
can not believe that, under proper circumstances, and with such a
sense of self-restraint as men can exercise, picketing may not be prop­
erly conducted.
A very instructive case in this connection is Karges Furniture Co.
v . Amalgamated W oodw ork er Local Union et al. (Ind. Sup.) 75 N. E.
877, 2 L. R. A. (N. S.) 788. [Bulletin No. 63, page 564.]
Some of the defendants named in this [present] case are shown to
have participated in violence and intimidation. As to most of the
defendants, there is a total absence of testimony respecting them.
True, it is stated by some of the witnesses that large numbers of
strikers were congregated in the neighborhood of the works, and used
threatening and intimidating language to employees and officers of
the complainant. Undoubtedly such conduct is unlawful. The
presence of a large number of strikers, under such circumstances, is
m itself intimidating. But no proof has been offered identifying any
of the persons who made up this intimidating crowd of strikers. It
is, as I have said, menacing .and intimidating for any considerable
number of strikers to assemble for the purpose of “ picketing” or
“ persuading.” And so, also, would be the establishing of many
picketing stations in the same neighborhood, for the effect of the mass
would be the same, in either case. No intelligent man fails to under­
stand what is meant by picketing which is solely for the purpose of
lawful persuasion.
Some claim is made on the part of the complainant that, in view of
the testimony of the general character to which I have just referred,
any injunction allowed in this case ought to reach all of the defend­
ants named in the bill; and the chief ground upon which the propri­
ety of this claim is rested is that, except Keegan and Keck, all of the
men went out on strike, and that, if they were law-abiding and did
not intend to participate in acts of intimidation or violence, they
would not be harmed by the issuance of an injunction against them.
I can not escape the conclusion that, under the circumstances of
this case, where the defendants are made such in their individual




DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.

759

capacity, and not in any organized capacity, it would be a gross
injustice to attach to persons who have not been shown to be par­
ticipants in these transactions the stigma of an injunction, or to
make them— as they might be without further order of the court—
subject to the payment of any costs which necessarily accrue in such
a case. In the case in Indiana, to which reference has just been made,
a somewhat similar situation arose, and there the injunction was
allowed against such of the defendants as were shown to have par­
ticipated in the violence or intimidation. Those who were not thus
found to be unlawful participants in wrongful acts were not enjoined.
That will be the order in this case. Nor is it necessary, in order to
hold the defendants who are not enjoined to a strict compliance with
the terms of such an injunction as will be issued in this case, that
they should be named as defendants who ought to be enjoined.
The Supreme Court of the United States, in Ex parte Lennon, 166
U. S. 548, 17 Sup. Ct. 658, 41 L. Ed. 1110, has definitely determined
the law under such circumstances. It is there held that, to render a
person amenable to an injunction, it is neither necessary that he
should have been a party to the suit in which the injunction was
issued, nor to have been actually served with a copy of it, so long as
he appears to have had actual notice. That was a case which arose
in this jurisdiction, and the question to which I have just referred
was distinctly made and decided. That rule would applv, not only
to persons named in this bill who are not found guilty or any viola­
tion of the rights of the complainant, but also to any other persons
who, with knowledge of the issuance of the injunction, violate its
terms.
As to those who are parties to this bill, and not included by name
within its terms as violators of the rights of others, they must be
held to have knowledge of this opinion, and of the decree herein.
(Union Pacific Ry. Co. (C. C.) v. Ruef, 120 Fed. 116.) I can not
help but believe that the officers of the International Association of
Machinists, and the leading and influential spirits among the men
who have gone on strike, will fully understand the views of the court
as to their rights and duties, and that a real and successful effort
will be made to keep the conduct of those with whom they are asso­
ciated within the limits which are defined in this opinion. The pro­
priety of the rule as to picketing .as I have laid it down is, as to them,
on trial.




LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR, ENACTED SINCE
JANUARY 1, 1904.
[The Tenth Special Report of this Bureau contains all laws of the various States and Territories and
of the United States relating to labor, in force January 1, 1904. Later enactments are reproduced in
successive issues of the Bulletin, beginning with Bulletin No. 57, the issue of March, 1905. A cumulative
index of these later enactments is to be found on page 783 et seq. of this issue.]

KENTUCKY.
ACTS OF 1906.
Ch a pte r

52.— Employment of children—Hours of labor— Age limit—Factory inspection.

S e c t io n 1. No child under sixteen years of age, employed in any manufacturing
establishment, mine, mill or workshop in this Commonwealth, shall be required, per­
mitted or suffered to work therein more than sixty hours in any one week, nor more
than ten hours in any one day, unless for the purpose of making a shorter work day on
any one day of the week, and in no case shall any child under sixteen years of age work
in any manufacturing establishment-, mine, mill or workshop after seven o’ clock in
the evening or before six o’ clock in the morning of any day; and every person, firm,
corporation or company employing any child under sixteen years of age in any manu­
facturing establishment, mine, mill or workshop shall post, and keep posted, in a
conspicuous place in the office, a printed notice, stating the number of hours of labor
per day required of such persons for each day of the week, and the number of hours
of labor exacted or permitted to be performed by such persons shall not exceed the
number of hours of labor so posted as being required. The time of beginning and
ending the day’s labor shall be the time stated in such notice.
Sec. 2. No child under fourteen (14) years of age shall be employed at any time in
any factory, workshop, mill or mine, unless said child shall have no othfer means
of support. No such child shall be employed in any mercantile establishment,
nor in any service of any telegraph, telephone or public messenger company, laundry,
printing establishment, except during the vacation of the public schools. No child
under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed at any occupation dangerous or
injurious to health or morals. And in event of disagreement between the labor
inspector and proprietor, the city or county physician shall be called in as referee, and
his decision shall be final. It shall be the duty of every person employing children
to keep a register in which shall be recorded the name, birthplace, age and place of
residence of every person employed by him under the age of sixteen years; ana it shall
be unlawful for any proprietor, agent, foreman or other person in or connected with a
manufacturing establishment, mine, mill or workshop to hire any child under the age
of sixteen years to work therein without there is first provided and placed on file in the
office an affidavit made by the parent or guardian, stating the age, date and place of
birth of said child. If said child has no parent or guardian, the said affidavit shall be
made by the child, which affidavit shall be kept on file by the employer, and said
register and affidavit shall be produced for inspection on demand by the labor inspector.
There shall be posted conspicuously in every office of every factory, mill, workshop or
mine, where children under sixteen years of age are employed, a list of their names,
with their ages, respectively. The labor inspector shall nave the power to demand a
certificate of physical fitness from the city or county physician in the case of children
whom he deems physically unable to perform the labor at which they may be em­
ployed, and shall have the power to prohibit the employment of any child that can
not obtain such a certificate.

Sec. 3. No person, firm or corporation shall employ or permit any child under the
age*of sixteen years to have the care, custody, management of, or to operate any ele­
vator, nor shall any person under sixteen years of age be employed at sewing belts or
[to] assist in sewing belts.
760




LABOR LAWS---- KENTUCKY-----ACTS Ob1 1906.

761

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the owner of any manufacturing establishment, or his
agents, superintendents or other person in charge of the same, to furnish and supply,
when practicable, or cause to be furnished and supplied therein, belt shifters, or other
safe mechanical contrivances for the purpose of throwing belts on or off pulleys; and,
whenever practicable, machinery therein shall be provided with loose pulleys. A ll
vats, pans, saws, planes, cogs, gearing, belting, set screws and machinery of every de­
scription therein, which is palpably dangerous, where practicable, shall be properly
guarded, and no person shall remove or make ineffective any safeguard around or
attached to any planer, saw, belting, shafting or other machinery, or around any vat
or pan, while the same is in use, unless for the purpose of immediately making repairs
thereto, and all such safeguards shall be promptly replaced. No person under eighteen
years of age shall be allowed to clean machinery while in motion.
Sec. 5. Suitable and proper wash rooms and water-closets shall be provided in each
manufacturing establishment, and such water-closets shall be properly screened and
ventilated and be kept at all times in a clean condition; and if women and girls are
employed in any such establishment, the water-closets shall have separate approaches
and be separate and apart from those used by men. All closets shall be kept free
[from] obscene writing and marking. A dressing room shall be provided for women
and girls when required by the labor inspector m any manufacturing establishment
in which women and girls are employed.
Sec. 6. Every person, firm, corporation, association, individual or partnership
employing girls or adult women in any manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile
industry, laundry, workshop, renovating works or printing office in this Common­
wealth shall provide seats for the use of the girls and women so employed, and shall
permit the use of such by them when not necessarily engaged in the active duties for
which they are employed.
Sec. 7. The walls and ceilings of each room in every manufacturing establishment
shall be lime washed or painted, when, in the opinion of the labor inspector, it shall be
conducive to the health or cleanliness of the person working therein.
Sec. 8. The grand jury shall have inquisitorial powers to investigate violations of
this act, and judges of the circuit courts of the State shall specially charge the grand
jury at the beginning of each term of the court to investigate violations of this act.
Sec. 9. The words “ manufacturing establishment,” wherever used in this act, shall
be construed to mean any mill, factory or workshop where labor is employed.
Sec. 10. A copy of this act shall be conspicuously posted and kept posted in each
workroom of every manufacturing establishment, mill, mine or workshop in this
Commonwealth.
Sec. 11. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this act, or who suffers or
permits any child to be employed in violation oi its provisions, shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty
dollars for the first offense and not more than two hundred dollars for the second offense.
Sec. 12. The provisions of this act shall not apply to the handling of fruits and vege­
tables in season, and the delivery of tobacco'at the warehouses, and preparing same for
the manufacturer.
Approved March 17, 1906.
C h a p t e r 108.— Mine
S e c t io n 1.

regulations— Inspectors .

* * * The governor is hereby authorized and directed to appoint
two additional assistant inspectors of mines, who shall hold office for four years and
until their successors are appointed and qualified. Said assistants shall have a thor­
ough knowledge of the different systems of working and ventilating coal mines and of
the nature and properties of mine gases, especially of explosive gas, and shall have a
thorough and practical knowledge of mining gained by at least five years experience
at and in such mines. Said assistant inspectors before entering upon the discharge of
their official duties, shall be sworn to discharge them faithfully and impartially, which
oath shall be certified by the officer administering it and said certificate shall be filed
with the secretary of state in his office and each of said assistants shall give bond in the
penal sum of two thousand dollars, with surety to be approved by the governor, for the
faithful discharge of his official duties. Each of said assistants shall give his entire
time and attention to the duties of his office, which shall consist of aiding, under the
directions of the chief inspector of mines, in carrying out the provisions of this act and
of all other acts relating to the inspection of mines. He shall keep a record of all inspec­
tions made by him and make monthly report of the same to the chief inspector, and he
shall at all times in all things pertaining to the duties of his office be subject to the
orders of the chief inspector. Said assistants shall not be interested in operating any
mine in this State, ana they shall each be liable to dismissal for willful neglect of duty
or malfeasance in office.




762

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOE.

Each assistant inspector shall receive an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars,
payable monthly, and shall likewise be allowed and paid his necessary traveling
expenses when engaged in the discharge of his official duties.
Sec. 2. In order that the work of inspection of the mines may be systematized and
expedited, the State is hereby divided into two inspection districts, the main line of
that division of the Louisville and Nashville railroad, which extends from Louisville,
Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee, being the division line between them. That part
of the State west of the said railroad line shall be known as the first, or western, district,
and that part east of said line shall be known as the second, or eastern, district. But,
whenever he may deem it advisable to do so, the chief inspector of mines may divide
the eastern district into two districts, thus making three inspection districts in all.
One of the assistant inspectors shall reside in the western district and have as his
especial assignment the inspection of the coal mines thereof; one shall reside in and
have as his especial work the inspection of the coal mines of the eastern, or second,
district; and one shall work in both districts, as the chief inspector may direct. When­
ever the chief inspector may deem it expedient to divide the second district into two
districts, he shall assign one of the assistant inspectors to work in the third district
resulting therefrom, so that each of the three assistant inspectors (and the two addi­
tional ones herein provided for and the one already provided for by law) shall have
charge of a district; but all the assistants shall be subject to the rules and regulations
laid down by the chief inspector for the general conduct of the office of inspector of
mines, and whenever the chief inspector may deem it necessary, in the interest of
efficient supervision of the mines, to temporarily employ the services of two or of all
three assistants at the same time in one and the same district, or whenever he may
deem it desirable in the interest of efficient inspection to temporarily change assistants
from one district to another, he shall have authority so to do.

Sec. 3. The owner, agent or operator of every coal mine in this State at which the
miners are paid by weight shall provide at such mines suitable and accurate scales for
the weighing of the coal for which the miners are to be paid; and when differences
arise between the owner, agent or operator of the mine and the miners employed in the
same as to the accuracy or capacity of the scales, the question shall be referred to the
chief State inspector of mines, whose duty it shall be to inspect and test said scales in

E

erson or b y an assistant inspector of mines, as early as practicable after receiving notication; and should said inspector find the scales inaccurate or defective beyond the
limit admitted in scales of standard manufacture, he shall notify the owner, agent or
operator of the mine and said scales shall forthwith be repaired and made accurate or
accurate scales substituted therefor. Any owner, agent or operator of a coal mine who
refuses or fails to comply with instructions to render his mine scales accurate shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, shall be fined not less than five dollars
nor more than fifty dollars.
Sec. 4. All mines known to generate fire-damp or explosive gas shall, as nearly as
practicable, be inspected every sixty days; and the chief inspector of mines is hereby
directed to procure the most efficient ana modern appliances and instruments, includ­
ing a Shaw or other equally efficient gas tester, for detecting and estimating the amount
of explosive gas in the mines, the same to be paid for upon the order of the inspector,
approved by the governor, and they shall be the property of the State.
Sec. 5. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, or any agent, or
employee of same, to sell or furnish any oil to be used for illuminating purposes in coal
mines in this State, unless the same shall have been inspected, approved and certified
as hereinafter provided; and any person, firm or corporation, or the agent or employee
of same, violating the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdeameanor and
fined not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense; and for each sub­
sequent offense shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred
dollars.
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the State inspector of mines, in person or b y an assist­
ant inspector of mines, to inspect all miners’ oil or equivalent material used for illumi­
nating purposes in (foal mines, and when said oil complies with the requirements and
tests of the seventh section of this act, he shall stencil, or otherwise plainly mark, each
barrel, cask or package in which it is contained substantially as follows: “ Approved
th is -------day o f -------------------- by Inspector------------------------ , ” the blanks to be filled out
with the date and name of the inspector making the inspection; but if the oil does
not come up to the said requirements and tests, the barrel, cask or package shall be so
marked substantially as follows: “ Rejected for illuminating purposes in the coal mines
of the State of Kentucky th is-------day o f --------------------b y Inspector----------------------- , ”
the blanks to be filled out with the date and name of the person making the inspection.
A record shall be kept in the office of the chief inspector of mines, showing the num­




LABOR LAW S---- KENTUCKY-----ACTS OF 1906.

763

ber of barrels or other packages or gallons inspected, whether approved or rejected, and
giving date, place of business and name of the person, firm or corporation for whom
inspection was made.
Sec. 7. The requirements and tests which will authorize the approval provided for in
the preceding section are as follows: It shall be a pure animal or vegetable oil or other
material as free from smoke and bad odor and of equal merit as an llluminant as pure
animal or vegetable oil, and not the product or by-product of rosin. The oil must be
tested at sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Its specific gravity must not exceed twenty-four
degrees Tagliabue. The test must be made in a glass jar one and five-tenths inches in
width and seven inches in depth. Should the oil to be tested be below forty-five
degrees Fahrenheit in temperature, it must be heated until it reaches eighty degrees
Fahrenheit; and should the oil be at or over forty-five degrees Fahrenheit, but below
sixty degrees, it must be raised to a temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and
then, after being well shaken, it is to be allowed to cool gradually to a temperature of
sixty degrees Fahrenheit before finally being tested. In testing the gravity of the oil,
the Tagliabue hydrometer must be, when possible, read from below, and the last line
which appears under the surface of the oil shall be regarded as the true reading.
Should the oil be opaque or turbid, one-half of the capillary attraction shall be deemed
and taken as the true reading. When the oil is tested under difficult circumstances, an
allowance of one-half a degree may be made for possible errors in parallax before con­
demning the oil for use in the mine. All oil or other material used for illuminating
purposes in mines shall be contained in barrels, casks or packages branded conspicu­
ously with the name of the dealer, the specific gravity and date of shipment.
Sec. 8. The inspection herein proviaed for shall be made at all reasonable times and
places on request of any person, firm or corporation engaged in selling or furnishing
illuminating oil for use in the coal minesbf this State.

Sec. 9. Any person using any barrel, cask or package marked with the inspector’s
approval for the storage of any other oil than that which was contained therein at the
time said barrel, cask or package was so marked, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
punished as provided in the fifth section of this act.
Sec. 10. There shall be provided for the office of inspector of mines all the instru­
ments and appliances necessary for carrying out the provisions of this act, which shall
be paid for*on the order of the chief inspector, approved by the governor, and which
shall belong to the State.
Approved March 21, 1906.

LOUISIANA.
ACTS OF 1906.

A ct N o. 5.—

A ssign m en t o f wages.

S e c t io n 1. No sale, transfer or assignment of salary or wages of an employee to be
earned in the future, that is subsequent to the date of said sale, transfer or assignment,
shall be valid or binding upon the employer unless the said employer shall consent
to same in writing.
Sec. 2. In the event of any employee of any person, firm or corporation shall make
a sale, transfer or assignment of any salary or wages to be earned in the future, to
any person, firm or corporation, that the employer can in no manner or form be held
responsible unless said employer shall have consented in writing to said sale, transfer
or assignment.
Approved June 15, 1906.

A ct N o . 13 (Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the constitution).—Inspection
of factories—Appointment of female inspectors.
Section 1. The following amendment to the constitution of the State [shall] be
submitted to the electors of the State at the next general election for representatives
in Congress to be holden on the 4th [6th] day of November, 1906, to-wit: Article 210
of the constitution of the State of Louisiana * * * is hereby amended so as to
allow the appointment or election to office of factory inspectors, of either male or
female persons, as provided for by an act entitled “ An act to regulate the employment
of children, young persons and women in certain cases, and to provide penalties for
violations of the provisions of this act,” adopted by the general assembly at its session
of the year 1906.
Approved June 221 1906.
(The above amendment was adopted November 6, 1906.)




764

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

A ct No. 34.— E m p lo ym en t

o f wom en and children— A g e
In sp ection o f factories , etc.

lim it— H o u rs

of

labor—

Section 1. No boy under the age of twelve years, and no girl under the age of
fourteen years, shall be employed in any factory, mill, warehouse, workshop, or
manufacturing establishment where the manufacture of any goods whatever is carried
on, or where any goods are prepared for manufacturing.
Sec. 2. No child or person under the age of eighteen years, and no woman, shall be
employed in any factory, mill, warehouse, workshop, clothing, dressmaking or
millinery establishment, or any place where the manufacture of any kind of goods is
carried on, or where any goods are prepared for manufacturing, for a period longer
than an average of ten hours in a day, or sixty hours in any week, ana at least one
hour shall be allowed in the labor period of each day for dinner.
Sec. 3. Every person who shall employ any female in any factory, mill, warehouse,
manufacturing establishment, workshop, or store, shall provide suitable seats, chairs,
or benches, for the use of the females so employed, which shall be so placed as to be
accessible to said employees, and shall permit the use of such seats, chairs or benches
by them when they are not necessarily engaged in the active duties for which they
are employed.
Sec. 4. Every factory, mill, manufacturing establishment, workshop, warehouse
or store in which five or more persons are employed, and every such institution in
which two or more children, young persons, or women, are employed, shall be supplied
with proper wash and dressing rooms, and kept in a cleanly state and free from effluvia
arising from any drain, privy, or other nuisance, and shall be provided, within rea­
sonable access, with a sufficient number of proper water-closets, earth closets or privies,
for the reasonable use of the persons employed therein, at least one of such closets for
each twenty-five persons employed, and wherever two or more persons, and one or
more female persons, are employed as aforesaid, a sufficient number of separate and
distinct water-closets, earth closets or privies, shall be provided for the use of each
sex, and plainly so designated, and no person shall be allowed to use any such closet
or privy assigned to persons of the other sex.
Sec. 5. Stairways with substantial hand rails shall be provided in factories, mills,
and manufacturing establishments, for the better safety of persons employed in said
establishments. Wherever practicable the doors of such establishments shall swing
outwardly, or slide, as ordered by the factory inspector, and it shall be neither-locked,
bolted, or fastened during working hours.
Sec. 6. In incorporated cities and towns the mayor, with the consent of the council,
and in parishes the police jury, shall appoint a factory inspector, who may be either
male or female, to see that the regulations of this act are observed, and also to prosecute
all persons who shall violate the same. Such inspector shall be paid a salary of not
more than seven hundred and fifty dollars ($750) per annum. Said factory inspectors
are hereby empowered to visit and inspect, at all reasonable hours, the factories, mills,
manufacturing establishments, workshops and other establishments in this State,
where the manufacture of goods is carried on, and all stores employing ten or more
persons. It shall also be the duty of the factory inspectors to enforce all the provisions
of this act, and to prosecute for all violations or the same before any magistrate, in any
court of competent jurisdiction in this State, in the city or town, in which the said
inspector is appointed and in which he exercises his powers.
Sec. 7. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed
guilty of an offense for each violation thereof, and upon conviction for the same, shall
be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars, or by
imprisonment in the parish jail (parish prison in New Orleans) not more than thirty
days, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Sec. 9. The word “ person ” wherever used in this act shall be deemed to mean firms
and corporations as well as individuals.
Sec. 11. This act shall apply only to cities and towns in this State having a popula­
tion of ten thousand or more persons and shall take effect from and after January 1st,
1907. Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to apply to domestic or agri­
cultural laborers or industries.
Approved June 29, 1906.

A ct N o. 54.— Contracts o f employment— Violation — Interference.
Section 1. Whoever shall willfully violate a hire, tenant or share contract, condi­
tioned on the cultivation of land in this State, upon the faith of which contract money
or goods have been advanced, by leaving the employ of the person or abandoning the
land, the subject of the contract, without first tendering to the person by whom said




LABOR LAW S— LOUISIANA---- ACTS OF 1906.

765

money or goods was advanced, the amount of money or the value of the goods obtained;
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in
a sum not less than ten ($10) dollars nor more than two hundred ($200) dollars, and in
default of the payment of the fine shall be imprisoned in the parish jail for not more
than ninety days at the discretion of the court.
Sec. 2. Whoever shall willfully interfere with, entice away, intimidate or induce a
hired person, tenant or share hand to leave the service of the employer or to abandon
the land the subject of the contract, or who shall knowingly take into his employ any
such person before the expiration of the contract, shall be deemed guilty of a mis­
demeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in a sum not less than ten ($10) dollars
nor more than two hundred ($200) dollars for each offense, and shall be liable in a civil
action for damages to double the amount of any debt due by said hired person, tenant
or share hand to the person, who had made the advances.
Sec. 3. Any person taking advantage of the provisions of this act who shall falsely
or fraudulently cause the arrest of, or otherwise unlawfully detain a hired person,
tenant or share hand, who has not violated the contract, or after its expiration, such
person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in a sum not
less than two hundred ($200) dollars nor more than five hundred ($500) dollars or
imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days.
Sec. 4. * * * None of the penalties prescribed by this act, shall apply to any
farming contract which may be made for a period longer than one year.
Approved July 2, 1906.
M ARYLAND.
ACTS OF 1906.
C h a p t e r 192.—Hours

of labor in factories—Employment o f children.

Section 1. Section 4 of article 100 of the Code of Public General Laws of Maryland,
title “ Work hours of, in factories,” as amended by chapter 566 of the Acts of the
General Assembly of Maryland for 1902, is hereby repealed and reenacted, with amend­
ments, so as to read as follows:
Section'4. No proprietor, owner, superintendent, manager, or foreman, or other
subordinate or agent of any mill, factory, workshop, office, restaurant, hotel, apart­
ment house, store, telephone or telegraph office, or other establishment or business
shall, after the first day of September, in the year 1906, employ for wages or hire, or
retain in employment in any such mill, factory, workshop, office, restaurant, hotel,
apartment house, store, telephone or telegraph office, or other establishment or busi­
ness, any person or persons under twelve (12) years of age, except in the counties,
from June 1st to October 15th, in every year.
S e c . 2. Certain new sections to come in after said section 4 and to be known as
sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, are hereby added to said article 100 of the said
Code of Public General Laws of Maryland, the same to read as follows:
Section 5. No child between the age of twelve (12) and sixteen (16) shall be
employed, permitted or suffered to work in any offices, establishment or business
mentioned in the preceding section unless the person or corporation employing him
or her produces and keeps on file and accessible to the inspectors authorized by this
act and the attendance officer of the public schools, an employment permit, and keep
a complete list of all such children employed therein on file, and in the case of children
employed in factories, workshops, mills or messenger service, a duplicate of said list
shall be conspicuously posted near the principal entrance of the building in which
such children are employed.
Sec. 6. The employment permit for all employments in Baltimore City under the
provisions of this act shall be issued by the Maryland Bureau of Statistics and Informa­
tion, and for employment in other cities or in the counties of this State, by any member
of the board of health or principal health officer of the city or county in which the
employment is sought.
Sec. 7. The employment permit shall not be issued unless satisfactory evidence is
furnished by duly attested transcript of the certificate of birth or baptism of such
child, or other religious records, or the register of birth, or the affidavit of the parent
or guardian or custodian of the child, which latter affidavit shall be required, however,
only in case it is certified by the proper authorities that the birth certificate showing
the place and date of birth of such child is not on record, which affidavit must be taken
before the officer issuing the employment permit, who is hereby authorized and
required to administer such oath and who shall not demand or receive a fee therefor.
Sec. 8. The employment permit shall read as follows:




7 66

BULLETIN OE THE BUREAU OE LABOR.
EMPLOYMENT PERMIT.

The birth certificate giving the name, date and place o f ---------------------- (name of
child) is attached hereto. (If there be no birth certificate, then a certificate to that
effect, i. e., that there is none from the proper authorities of the city or county where
said child was born, shall be attached.) This certifies that I am t h e ---------- father,
mother, guardian or custodian o f-------;----------- (name of child) and that (he or she)
was born a t ---------- (name of town or city) in the county o f ------------(name of county)
and State o f ---------- , on t h e -------day o f ------------, in y e a r -------, and is n o w --------------(number of years and months) old. Signature of (father, mother, guardian o r ---------custodian.)
Signature o f ---------- child.
(Date.)
There personally appeared before me the above-named (name of father, mother,
guardian or custodian of) and made oath that the aforegoing certificate by (him or her)
signed, is true to the best of (his or her) knowledge and belief.

I hereby approve the foregoing certificate of (name of child), height (feet and inches),
eye3 (color), complexion (fair or dark), hair (color); having no sufficient reason to
doubt that (he or she) is oi the age therein certified I hereby certify that (he or she)
can read at sight and write legibly simple sentences in the English language, and that
(he or she) has reached the normal development of a child of (his or her) age, and is in
sound health and is physically able to perform the work which (he or she) intends
to do.
This certificate belongs to (name of child in whose behalf it is drawn) and is to be
surrendered to (him or her) whenever (he or she) leaves the service of the corporation
or employer holding the same; but if not claimed by said child within thirty days
from such time it shall be returned to the Maryland Bureau of Statistics and Informa­
tion (if the employment be in Baltimore City) or the board of health or principal
health officer o f (if the employment be in any of the counties or other cities outside
of Baltimore City).
Signature of (person authorized to prove and sign with official character or authority.)
D a te------------------ .
A duplicate of each employment permit shall be filled out and kept on file by the
Maryland Bureau of Statistics and Information or board of health or principal health
officer of the county or city outside of Baltimore City, as the case may be.
Sec. 9. Whoever employs a child in violation of the provisions of this act, and who­
ever having under his or her control a child, permits such child to be employed in
violation of the provisions of this act, shall for such offense be fined not less than five
(5) nor more than fifty ($50) dollars, and whoever continues to employ any child in
violation of the provisions of this act, after being notified bv an inspector authorized
by this act or an attendance officer of the public schools, shall for every day thereafter
tnat such employment continues be fined not less than five (5) nor more than twenty
($20) dollars. A failure to produce to an inspector authorized by this act or an attend­
ance officer of the public schools any employment permit or list required by this act
shall be prima facie evidence of illegal employment of any person whose employment
permit is not produced, or whose name is not so listed. Any corporation or employer
retaining any employment permit in violation of the provisions of this act shall be
fined ten ($10) dollars. Every person authorized to sign the employment permit
prescribed in this act who knowingly certifies to any materiallyialse statement therein
shall be fined not more than fifty ($50) dollars. The chief of the Maryland Bureau of
Statistics and Information or any member of the board of health or principal health
officer of any county or city outside of Baltimore City is hereby authorized to sign the
employment permit mentioned herein and to administer the necessary oath without
cost to the applicant.
Sec. 10. The inspectors authorized by this act and the attendance officers of the
public schools may visit any office, establishment or place of business contemplated
by this act throughout the State of Maryland and city of Baltimore and ascertain
whether any minors are employed therein contrary to the provisions of this act, and
they shall report any cases of such illegal employment or other violations of this act
to the justice of the peace having criminal jurisdiction in the locality where such
illegal employment or other violations of this act occur, and which justices of the peace
shall have full authority to try and determine all cases arising under this act. Inspect­
ors authorized by this act, and the attendance officers of the public schools may
require that the employment permits and lists provided for in this act of minors
employed in any such office, establishment or business, shall be produced for their
inspection. They shall also be authorized to require a birth certificate or other record
evidence of the date of birth of any child, which they have reason to believe is being




LABOR LAW S---- MARYLAND---- ACTS OF 1906.

767

employed contrary to the provisions of this act, to be produced by either parents,
guardian or custodian of said child, and in the absence of such record, evidence of the
date of birth of such child, they may require an affidavit from either parent, guardian
or custodian of such child as to its age, name, place and date of birth.
Sec. 12. This act shall not include farm labor.
S e c . 3. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith be and the same are hereby
repealed.
Approved March 30, 1906.
C h a p t e r 228.— Exemption

of wages— Unlawful assignment of claims.

S e c t io n 1. Article 83 of the Code of Public General Laws of Maryland, 1888, is
amended by adding thereto a section to be known as section 17 A , to come in after
section 17, and to read as follows:
Section 17 A . In addition to being liable in action of debt as provided in section 15,
the person sending, assigning or transfering any claim for debt against a resident of
this State in violation of the provisions of said section 15, shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding
fifty dollars for each offense.
[The section named makes it unlawful for any citizen of the State to assign or transfer
any claim for debt against a resident of the State for the purpose of having such claim
collected outside the State with the intent of depriving the debtor of the right to have
his personal earnings or property exempt from application to the payment of his debts
according to the provisions of the State law, where both parties are within the juris­
diction of the courts or justices of the peace of the State.]
Approved March 30, 1906.
C h a p t e r 399.— Assignment

of ivages.

S e c t io n 1. Article 8 of the Code of Public General Laws, title “ Assignment of
choses in action,” * * * is hereby amended by adding thereto certain sections,
to follow section 10 of said article, to be known as sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
and 18, and to read as follows:
Section 11. No assignment of wages or salary shall be valid so as to vest in the
assignee any beneficial interest, either at law or in equity, unless such assignment
be in writing, signed by the assignor and acknowledged in person by him or her before
a justice of the peace in and for the city or county, as the case may be, in which the
assignor resides, and entered on the same day by said justice of the peace upon his
docket; and unless further, within three days from the execution and acknowledg­
ment of said assignment a true and complete copy thereof, together with the certifi­
cates of its acknowledgment, be served upon the person, firm or corporation by whom
said wages or salary are due or to become due, in the same manner that the summons
in chancery is now required by law to be served: Provided, however, That no assignment
of wages or salary by a married person shall be valid unless the same is also executed
and acknowledged as above by the assignor’s wife or husband, as the case may be.
Sec. 12. Proof of said service, as provided for in the preceding section, shall be by
an admission thereof in writing by the person, firm or corporation, his, their or its
agent on the original assignment, which admission of service shall also be entered by
said justice of the peace upon his docket within two days thereafter.
Sec. 13. In addition to said acknowledgment to be made by said assignor, he or
she, as the case may be, shall make affidavit that he or she has not paid, and will not,
directly or indirectly, pay more than the legal rate of six per centum per annum on
any sum borrowed, or permit a deduction from said sum so loaned to him or her at
the time, of said loan, or any time thereafter, of more than a sum equivalent to six
per centum per annum for the time said loan is made.
Sec. 14. The term “ assignment” as used in this act, shall include every assign­
ment, transfer, sale, pledge, mortgage or hypothecation, however made or attempted,
of the wages or salary of any person, or of any interest therein.
Sec. 15. Whenever any assignment of the wages or salary of any person or persons
shall be given as security for a loan tainted with usury, or shall be given to secure the
payment or fulfillment of a contract or th6 payment of the principal or interest of a
usurious debt, such assignment shall be absolutely void.
Sec. 16. Every assignment of wages to be earned in whole or in part more than six
(6) months from and after the making of such assignment, shall be absolutely void.
Sec. 17. Whenever any person, firm or corporation shall bring, or threaten to bring
any action or suit to enforce any assignment of wages or salary which has not been
duly executed, acknowledged, sworn to and served upon the employer in conformity




768

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU OF LABOR.

with the provisions of this act, or which is declared invalid by the provisions of this
act, courts of equity shall have full power, upon the application either of the assignor
of such wages or salary, or of the person, firm or corporation from whom such wages
or salary is, or is to become due, to perpetually enjoin the threatened or attempted
enforcement of any such assignment; and the fact that the complainant has a com­
plete and adequate remedy at law shall constitute no defense to the maintenance of
a suit in equity for the purpose aforesaid.
Approved April 3, 1906.

MASSACHUSETTS.
ACTS OF 1906.

Chapter 151.— Employment of children—Street trades.
Section 1. Section seventeen of chapter sixty-five of the Revised Laws, as amended
b y chapter five hundred and thirty-one of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and
two is hereby further amended * * * so as to read as follows: Section 17. The
mayor and aldermen or selectmen may make regulations relative to the exercise of
the trade of bootblacking by minors and to the sale by minors of any goods, wares
or merchandise the sale of which is permitted by section fifteen, and may prohibit
such sales or such trade, or may require a minor to obtain from them a license therefor
to be issued on terms and conditions prescribed in such regulations: Provided, That
in the case of persons under the age of fourteen years in the cities of the Common­
wealth the foregoing powers shall be vested in and exercised by the school commit­
tees of said cities. A minor who sells such articles or exercises such trade without a
license if one is required or who violates the conditions of his license or any of the
provisions of said regulations shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten dollars
for each offense.
Approved March 9, 1906.
Chapter 250.— Inspection of factories— Toilet rooms in foundries.
Section 1. The proprietor of every foundry engaged in the casting of iron, brass,
steel or other metal, and employing ten or more men, shall establish and maintain,
except in cities or towns where to do so would be impracticable by reason of the absence
of public or private sewerage or of any running water system, toilet room of suitable
size and condition for the men to change their clothes therein, and provided with
wash bowls, sinks or other suitable set appliances connected with running hot and
cold water, and also a water-closet connected with running water and separated from
the said toilet room. The said water-closet and toilet room shall be connected directly
with the foundry building, properly heated, ventilated and protected, so far as may
be reasonably practicable, from the dust of the foundry.
Sec. 2. Whoever fails to comply with the provisions of this act, after being requested
so to do by a member of the district police, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars
for each offense.
Approved April 5, 1906.
Chapter 284.—Employment of children—School attendance— Work on Saturday .
Section 1. The ability to read at sight and to write legibly simple sentences in the
English language, which is required by chapter two hundred and sixty-seven of the
acts of the year nineteen hundred and five, amending section twenty-eight of chapter
one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, as a condition of the employment of certain
minors in factories or otherwise, shall be construed as meaning, in the year nineteen
hundred and six, such ability to read and write as is required for admission to the
second grade, in the year nineteen hundred and seven such as is required for admis­
sion to the third grade, and in the year nineteen hundred and eight and thereafter
such as is required for admission to the fourth grade of the public schools of the city or
town in which such minors live.
Sec. 2. Minors to whom the said chapter two hundred and sixty-seven applies shall
be permitted to wqrk on Saturdays between the hours of six in the morning and seven
in the evening, in mercantile establishments.
Approved April 14, 1906.




LABOR L A W S -----MASSACHUSETTS-----ACTS OF 1906.
C h a p t e r 370.— Liability

769

of employers fo r injuries to employees.

S e c t io n 1. Section seventy-two of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised
Laws is hereby amended * * * so as to read as follows: Section 72. If the injury
described in the preceding section results in the death of the employee, and such
death is not instantaneous or is preceded by conscious suffering, and ij there is any
person who would have been entitled to bring an action under the provisions of the
following section, the legal representatives of said employee may, in the action brought
under the provisions of the preceding section, recover damages for the death in addi­
tion to those for the injury; and in the same action under a separate count at common
law, may recover damages for conscious suffering resulting from the same injury.
Approved May 8, 1906.
C h a p t e r 387.— Inspection

of steam boilers.

S e c t io n 1. Every steam boiler in this Commonwealth, except those which, under
the provisions of section seventy-eight of chapter one hundred and two of the Revised
Laws may be operated by an unlicensed person, shall be inspected internally and
externally once each year, between the first day of June and the first day of October,
by the licensed engineer or fireman in charge of or operating the same, except such
boilers as are inspected by properly authorized inspectors of insurance companies
or by the State inspectors. The engineer making the inspection shall forward to the
chief of the district police within ten days after such inspection a report of every
boiler so inspected by him. Such reports shall be made on blanks furnished by the
chief of the district police and shall be made in conformity therewith.
Sec. 2. In case any boiler which is required under the provisions of section one to
be inspected is not in use or operation between the first day of June and the first day
of October in any year, such boiler shall not be operated until the inspection required
by this act has been made and the report thereof has been forwarded to the chief of
the district police.
Sec. 3. If it appears to the chief of the district police from any report of such an
inspection that safety requires changes to be made in any boiler so inspected, notice
shall be given by the chief of the district police to the owner or user of such boiler of
the changes required. Any owner or user failing to comply with the requirements
of the chief of the district police respecting his boiler, after receiving notice thereof,
shall be liable to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for such failure, and the
use of such boiler may be enjoined in the manner provided in section four of chapter
one hundred and five of the Revised Laws.

Sec. 4. Any owner or user failing to have made any inspection required by this
act shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one
hundred dollars for each offense.
Sec. 5. Any owner or user who interferes with an engineer while making such
inspection or who seeks to prevent or hinder the same shall be liable to a fine of not
less than twenty-five dollars and not more than one hundred dollars.
Sec. 6. The district police shall have authority in the discharge of their duty to
enter upon any premises where steam boilers are located, for the purpose of enforcing
the provisions of this act.
Approved May 11, 1906.
C h a p t e r 390.— Assignment

of wages.

Section 1. No assignment of future wages shall be valid for a period exceeding two
years from the date thereof, nor unless made to secure a debt contracted prior to or
simultaneously with the execution of said assignment, nor unless executed m writing
in the standard form herein set forth and signed by the assignor in person and not by
attorney, nor unless such assignment states the date of its execution, the money or
the money value of goods actually furnished by the assignee and the rate of interest,
if any, to be paid thereon.
Sec. 2. N o such assignment shall be valid unless a copy thereof is delivered to the
assignor by the assignee at the date of the execution of such assignment. No such
assignment shall be binding on the employer of the assignor until a copy of the assign­
ment and an account, which shall conform to the requirements hereinafter stated, have
been delivered to said employer. Said account shall be in writing and shall contain
a statement of the balance due and of the sums of money received by the assignee,
together with the date of every such payment and a statement as to whether such pay­
ment is interest, a payment on the principal, or, in case of a loan, a payment on the
charge for making ana securing the loan.




770

BULLETIN OF TH E BUREAU" OF LABOR.

Sec. 3. The term “ assignment,” as used in this act, shall include every instrument
purporting to transfer an interest in or an authority to collect the future wages of a
person.
Sec. 4. Said standard form of assignment shall be as follows:
Know all men b y these presents:
That I , ----------------------o f----------- , in the county o f---------- , for a valuable consideration,
to me paid by*------------------- , of--------- , the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge,
do hereby assign and transfer to sa id ---------------------- all claims and demands [which I
now have, and all] which within a period o f ---------- from the date hereof I may and
shall have against m y present employer, and against any person whose employ I shall
hereafter enter [for all sums of money due and] for all sums of money and demands
which, at any time within said period may and shall become due to me, for services as
---------- . To have and to hold the same to the said —1----------------- , his executors, admin­
istrators and assigns, to secure a debt
(1) o f ---------- dollars [with interest thereon from ----------- at the rate o f -------- per cent
per annum], for money [or goods] actually furnished by the assignee amounting
t o ---------- dollars.
(2) Contracted prior to the execution of this assignment, [or contracted simultane­
ously with the execution of this assignment.]
In witness whereof, I have set m y hand th is-------day o f --------------------.
Signed and delivered, in presence o f ----------------------h----------- m----------- M. Received
and entered in records of assignment of wages in the clerk’s office of th e---------- o f----------- ,

book------, page----- .
----------------------, Cleric.
Sec. 5. An assignment of wages made in accordance with the provisions of
this act shall bind all wages earned by the assignor within the period named in such
assignment.
Approved May 15, 1906.
Ch a p t e r

414.—Examination and licensing o f engineers and firemen.

Section 1. Section eighty-two of chapter one hundred and two of the Revised Laws,
as amended by section two of chapter three hundred and ten of the acts of the year
nineteen hundred and five, is hereby further amended * * * so as to read as fol­
lows: Section 82. Licenses shall be granted according to the competence of the appli­
cant and shall be distributed in the following classes: Engineers’ licenses: First class,
to have charge of and operate any steam plant. Second class, to have charge of and
operate a boner or boilers, and to have charge of and operate engines, no one of which
shall exceed one hundred and fifty horse power, or to operate a first class plant under
the engineer in direct charge of the plant. Third class, to have charge of and operate
a boiler or boilers not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and fifty horse power,
and an engine nof exceeding fifty horse power, or to operate a second class plant under
the engineer in direct charge of the plant. Fourth class, to have charge of and oper­
ate hoisting and pprtable engines and boilers. Firemen’s licenses: Extra first class,
to have charge of and operate any boiler or boilers. First class, to operate any boiler
or boilers. Second class, to have charge of and operate any boiler or boilers where the
pressure carried does not exceed twenty-five pounds to the square inch, or to operate
high pressure boilers under the engineer or fireman in direct charge thereof. A person
holding an extra first or first class fireman’s license may operate a third class plant
under the engineer in direct charge of the plant. A person holding an engineer’s or
fireman’s license who desires to have charge of or to operate a particular steam plant
or type of plant may, providing he holds an engineer’s or fireman’s license, if he files
with his application a written request signed by the owner or user of said plant for such
examination, he examined as to his competence for such service and no other, and if
found competent and trustworthy shall be granted a license for such service and no
other. No special license shall be granted to give any person charge of a plant over
one hundred and fifty horsepower.
Approved May 24,1906.
Ch a p t e r

427.—Payment o f wages— Weekly pay day.

[Section 62 of chapter 106, Revised Laws, as amended by chapter 450 of the Acts of
1902, is by this chapter further amended so as to direct the weekly payment of wages
to employees of counties, instead of leaving such payment to the option of the employee
as heretofore.]




LABOR L A W S -----MASSACHUSETTS— ACTS OF 1906,
C h a p t e r 435.— Free

771

'public employment offices.

S e c t io n 1. There shall be established and maintained, under the care and direction
of the chief of the bureau of statistics and labor, in such cities as may be selected after
proper investigation by said bureau, and with the approval of the governor and coun­
cil, offices for the purpose of bringing together those who seek employment and those
who desire to employ.
Sec. 2. The chief of the bureau of statistics of labor is hereby authorized and directed
to organize and establish within three months after the passage of this act, in the city
or cities selected, a free public employment office, which office shall be provided with
suitable rooms, furniture and equipment required for the transaction of the business
provided for in this act, and shall appoint a superintendent and clerk for each of said
offices, to discharge, under the direction of said chief, the duties hereinafter set forth,
.or which may be required by said chief.
S ec . 3. It shall be the duty of such superintendents to receive and record in properly
arranged books, devised by the bureau of statistics of labor, all applications from those
seeking employment and also from those desiring to employ, and to take such other
action as may be deemed best by the chief of said bureau to promote the purpose of
said offices. Such records shall show plainly in brief the qualifications of all appli­
cants and such other facts as shall be deemed necessary by the chief of said bureau,
who shall furnish to each superintendent all such record books, forms, blanks, or other
stationery and postage as may be required in conducting the office. Each superin­
tendent shall plainly indicate by a proper sign or signs the location of his office, and he
shall be allowed such additional clerical assistance as the chief shall deem necessary.

Sec. 4. No fees, direct or indirect, shall in any case be taken from those seeking the
benefits of the offices herein provided for.
Sec. 5. The privilege of registration shall be confined to residents of the Common­
wealth. Proof of residence, when necessary, may be required from a selectman of a
town or the mayor of a city.
Sec. 6. Each superintendent shall make to the chief of said bureau a semiweekly
report of such applications for labor or employment as may be registered in his office,
with such details as may be required by the chief. The said chief shall cause all such
reports to be printed at regular intervals, and to be exchanged between the said offices,
and shall supply them to the newspapers and to citizens upon request; and the several
superintendents shall cause such reports to be posted in a conspicuous place in their
offices so that they may be open to public inspection.
Sec . 7. Any clerk or superintendent who directly or indirectly charges or receives
any fee in the performance of his duties shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
shall be subject to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or to imprisonment in
the county jail for a term not exceeding thirty days. Such fine or imprisonment shall
disqualify him from holding further connection with said offices.
Sec. 8. There shall be paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth, on the approval
of the chief of the bureau of statistics of labor, for salaries and for contingent expenses
in connection with such free employment offices and for the expenses of the bureau of
statistics of labor in connection with the requirements of this act, a sum not exceeding
five thousand dollars. The annual salary of the superintendents and clerks shall be
fixed by the chief of said bureau, with the approval of the governor and council.
Approved May 31, 1906.
C h a p t e r 463.

P a r t I .— Accidents

on railroads.

S e c t io n 62. Every railroad corporation and street railway company shall give imme­
diate notice of an accident on its/railroad or railway, which results in a loss of life, to
the medical examiner of the county who resides nearest to the place of accident, and
shall also, within twenty-four hours, give notice to the board of railroad commissioners
of any such accident or of any accident of the description of accidents of which said
board may require notice to be given. For each omission to give such notice, the cor­
poration or company shall forfeit not more than one hundred dollars.
Approved June 7, 1906.
C h a p t e r 463.

P a r t I I I .— Street

railways—Allowing newsboys on cars—Inclosed plat­
forms—Hours of labor.

S e c t io n 89. If a street railway company, its agent or servant, allows a child under
the age of ten years to enter upon or into any of its cars for the purpose of selling news­
papers or other articles therein or offering them for sale, it shall forfeit fifty dollars for
each offense, which shall be recovered by any person by an action brought within three
months after the offense has been committed.




772

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

S e c . 92. Every street car in use for the transportation of passengers in December,
January, February and March, which, while in motion, requires the constant care or
service of an employee upon its platforms or upon one of them, shall, except as provided
in the following section, have said platforms or platform inclosed in such manner as
to protect the motormen, conductors or other employees who operate such car from
exposure to wind and weather in such manner as theboard of railroad commissioners
shall approve.

Sec. 94. A street railway company which fails or neglects to comply with the pro­
visions of either of the two preceding sections shall be punished by a fine of not more
than one hundred dollars for each day during which such neglect continues.
^
S e c . 95. A day’s work for all conductors and mototmen who are employed by or on
behalf of a street railway company shall not exceed ten hours, and shall be so arranged
b y the employer that it may be performed within twelve consecutive hours. No
officer or agent of any such company shall require from said employees more than ten
hours’ work for a day’s labor; but on legal holidays, on days when the company is
required to provide for extraordinary travel, and, in case of accident or unavoidable
delay, extra labor may be performed for extra compensation.
S e c . 158. * * * Section twenty-two of chapter one hundred and six of the
Revised Laws [relating to hours of labor of employees on street railways], chapter
one hundred and twelve of the Revised Laws [relating to enclosed platforms for the
protection of employees on street railways]; * * * are hereby repealed.
Approved June 7, 1906.
C h a p t e r 499.—Employment

of children—Requirements as to age, etc.— Enforcement.

S e c t io n 1. Whoever employs a minor under the age of sixteen years, and whoever
rocures or, having under his control a minor under such age, 'permits such minor to
e employed in violation of the provisions of sections twenty-eight or twenty-nine of
chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, as amended by chapter two hun­
dred and sixty-seven of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five [relative to
requirements as to age and school attendance], shall for each offense be punished by a
fine of not more than three hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than six
months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and whoever continues to employ a
, minor in violation of the provisions o f either of said sections as so amended, after being
notified thereof by a truant officer or by an inspector of factories and public buildings,
shall for every day thereafter while such employment continues be punished by a fine
of not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not
more than six months.
S e c . 2. Inspectors of factories and public buildings shall visit all factories, workshops
and mercantile establishments within their respective districts, and ascertain whether
any minors are employed therein contrary to the provisions of chapter one hundred
and six of the Revised Laws and amendments thereof or additions thereto, or contrary
to the provisions of this act, and shall enter complaint against whomever is found to
have violated any of said provisions. Any inspector of factories and public buildings
who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this section may be punished
by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
S e c . 3. A truant officer may apprehend and take to school, without a warrant, any
minor under the age of sixteen years who is employed in any factory, workshop or
mercantile establishment in violation of the provisions of sections twenty-eight or
twenty-nine of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, and of any amend­
ments thereof or addition thereto, and such truant officer shall forthwith report to the
.police, district or municipal court or trial justice within whose judicial district the
illegal employment occurs, the evidence in his possession relating to the illegal employ­
ment of any child so apprehended, and shall make complaint against whomever the
court or trial justice may direct. Any truant officer who knowingly and willfully
violates any provision of this section may be punished by a fine of not more than one
hundred dollars for each offense.
S e c . 4. Inspectors of factories and public buildings, and truant officers may require
that the age and schooling certificates and lists of minors who are employed in factories,
workshops or mercantile establishments shall be produced for their inspection. A
failure to produce to an inspector of factories and public buildings or to a truant officer
an age and schooling certificate or list required by law shall be prima facie evidence
of the illegal employment of any person whose age and schooling certificate is not
produced or whose name is not so listed. A corporation or other employer or any
agent or officer thereof, who retains an age and schooling certificate in violation of the
provisions of s^id certificate shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more
than one hundred dollars.

E




LABOR L A W S -----MASSACHUSETTS-----ACTS OE 1906.

77a

Sec. 5. Police, district and municipal courts and trial justices shall have jurisdic­
tion of offenses arising under the provisions of this act. A summons or warrant issued
by any such court or justice may be served, at the discretion of the court or magistrate,
by an inspector of factories and public buildings, or by a truant officer, or by any officer
qualified to serve criminal process.
Approved June 20, 1906.
C h a p t e r 517.—Hours

of labor on 'public worTcs— Eight-hour day.

Section 1. Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work for all laborers, workmen and
mechanics now or hereafter employed by or on behalf of the Commonwealth, or of any
county therein, or of any city or town which has accepted the provisions of section,
twenty of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws; but in cases where a.
Saturday half-holiday is given the hours of labor upon the other working days of the
week may be increased sufficiently to make a total of forty-eight hours for the week’s
work.
Sec. 2. Every contract, excluding contracts for the purchase of material or supplies,
tofwhich the Commonwealth, or of any county therein, or of any city or town which
has accepted the provisions of section twenty of chapter one hundred and six of the
Revised Laws, is a party which may involve the employment of laborers, workmen or
mechanics shall contain a stipulation that no laborer, workman or mechanic in the
employ of the contractor, sub-contractor or other person doing or contracting to do the
whole or a part of the work contemplated by the contract shall be required to work
more than eight hours in any one calendar day.
Sec. 3. This act shall apply to all laborers, workmen or mechanics engaged upon
any works which are or are intended to be the property of the Commonwealth, or of
any county therein, or of any city or town which has accepted the provisions of section
twenty of chapter one hundred and six of the Revised Laws, whether such laborers,
workmen or mechanics are employed by public authority or by a contractor or other
private person.
Sec. 4. Any agent or official of the Commonwealth or of any county, city or town
who violates any provision of this act shall be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars for
each offense.
Sec. 5. The provisions of this act shall hot apply to or affect contractors or sub­
contractors for work, contracts for which were entered into prior to the passage of
this act.
Approved June 22, 1906.
Chapter 521.—Inspection of steam boilers— Chief inspector.
Section 1. The governor is hereby authorized to appoint, as hereinafter provided,
one of the members of the boiler inspection department of the district police as chief
inspector of said boiler inspection department. Said chief inspector shall have super­
vision over the members of said boiler inspection department in order to secure the
uniform enforcement throughout the Commonwealth of all acts relative to the inspec­
tion of boilers and the examination of engineers and firemen. Said chief inspector
shall receive an annual salary of two thousand dollars* and his actual and necessary
traveling expenses.
Sec. 2. As soon as practicable after the passage of this act the civil service com­
missioners shall hold an examination to determine the qualifications of applicants for
the position of said chief inspector. The commissioners shall certify to the governor
the names of the three persons receiving the highest percentage on such examination,
and the percentage obtained by each, and the governor shall appoint one of said three
persons as chief inspector of the boiler inspection department.
Approved June 26, 1906.
Chapter 522.—Inspection of steam boilers— Inspector.
Section 1. The governor is hereby authorized and directed to appoint five addi­
tional members of the inspection department of the district police, who shall be not
above forty-five years of age. Said age limit shall apply to all new appointments to
said boiler inspection department, but shall not apply to any reappointment thereto.
They shall be detailed for the inspection of boilers, and shall receive the same com­
pensation now received by the present inspectors of boilers. The governor is also*
hereby authorized to appoint one clerk, at an annual salary of eight hundred dollars,
to serve in the said department, and four additional clerks, at an annual salary of six
hundred dollars each, to serve at branch offices in the said department.

304b— No. 70—07---- 20



774

BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOR.

Sec. 2. Upon every boiler which has been inspected and approved by the district
police, or upon the fittings of the said boiler, there shall be attached by the inspector,
by a seal or otherwise, a metal tag, and upon the tag or seal shall be inscribed the
number of the boiler, the year, month ana date of the inspection and the number
of the district.
Sec. 3. Any person, excepting a member of the district police, who defaces or
removes the tag or seal specified in section three, shall be punished by a fine of not
less than five nor more than one hundred dollars.
Approved June 26, 1906

NEW JERSEY.
ACTS OF 1906.
C h a p t e r 26.—

Trade-marlcs of trade unions .

S e c t io n 1. Section ten of the said act [chapter 50, Acts of 1898] is hereby amended
so as to read as follows:
i Section 10. Any person or persons, association, organization or corporation, that
shall violate any of the provisions of this act, shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred
dollars, to be recovered in an action of debt in any court of law of this State having
jurisdiction in civil causes, by any such person, association, organization or corpora­
tion, that has adopted and filed, or caused the same to be done as aforesaid, any such
label, trade-mark, term or design; which action may be commenced by summons as
in ordinary cases, and shall be proceeded with therein as in other civil actions, in
said courts, and in case any execution shall be issued upon any judgment obtained
against the defendant or defendants in any such action at law, and the same be re­
turned unsatisfied, the court, on application and two days’ notice to the defendant, may
award an execution to take the body of the defendant or defendants as in other cases
where a capias may issue out of the circuit or supreme courts of this Statej and
thereafter the rights, remedies and liabilities of the parties, and the proceedings m the
case shall be the same, or as nearly as may be, as in other actions in the said courts
where an execution to take the body^of the defendant or defendants has been issued;
and it shall be the duty of the court in which any such action at law may be brought
to make all proper and necessary orders to restrain and prevent any defendant or
defendants from continuing the committing of any violation of any of the provisions
of this act.
Approved March 24, 1906.
C h a p t e r 91.— Inspection

of steam vessels—Examination and licensing o f engineers, etc.

S e c t io n 1. The provisions of this act shall be applicable to all vessels navigating
the waters, above tide waters, exclusively within the jurisdiction of this State.
S e c . 2. The term “ master” as used in this act shall include every person having for
the time the charge, control or direction of any power vessel of any kind, and the term
“ power vessel ” shall include every vessel not propelled wholly by sails or by muscular
power.
S e c . 3. (As amended by chapter 174.) The governor shall, within thirty days after
this act becomes a law, and thereafter when vacancies shall occur, appoint one chief
inspector and one assistant inspector of power vessels, each of whom snail have a prac­
tical knowledge of the construction and management of power vessels and an expe­
rience of at least two years as a licensed master, licensed pilot or licensed engineer of
steamboats, and shall have a practical knowledge of the use and construction of boilers,
engines and other machinery and appurtenances used in propelling vessels, and he
shall be otherwise properly qualified to perform the duties prescribed by this act.
Each inspector shall hold office for the term of three years from the date of his appoint­
ment, and thereafter until his successor has been appointed. * * *
S e c . 4. The chief and assistant inspectors shall annually, or oftener, if they have
good cause therefor, inspect every power vessel engaged in carrying passengers or
freight for hire, or towing for hire, examine carefully her hull and other equipments,
and may require such changes, repairs and improvements to be adopted and used as
they may deem expedient for the contemplated route. They shall also fix the number
of passengers that may be transported. The chief inspector shall also, whenever he
may deem it expedient, visit any vessel licensed under this act and examine into her
condition for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not any party thereon having a
certificate from said inspectors has conformed to and obeyed the conditions of such
certificates and the provisions of this act, and the owner, master, pilot, captain or
engineer of such vessel shall answer all reasonable questions and give all the informa­
tion in his or their power in regard to said vessel, her machinery and the manner of




LABOR L A W S -----N E W

JERSEY----- ACTS OF 1906.

775

managing the same. In case of any accident from any cause whatsoever, either the
chief inspector or assistant inspector may investigate the cause thereof, and if found
bv him to have been occasioned by a violation of any of the provisions of this act, or
of the orders, regulations and requirements of said inspector, he shall so certify to the
prosecutor of the pleas of the county where such violation occurred, together with the
names of the persons guilty thereof and the witnesses. The chief inspector provided
for in this act is authorized to make further rules and regulations applying generally
to all power vessels, or especially to one or more of them, and on framing the rules for
the government of managers and employees of boats, but he, the said inspector, so far as
practicable, shall be governed by the general rules and regulations prescribed by the
United States Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels.
S e c . 5. The chief and assistant inspectors shall also, annually, or oftener, if they
deem necessary, examine the boilers and all other machinery of any power vessel car­
rying passengers or freight, for hire, or towing for hire. In the case of boilers, they
shall determine from their examination, and the data submitted by the manufacturers
of each of said boilers, the pressure of steam which it is safe for the boiler to carry, and
shall apply to the boiler a hydrostatic test, using a pressure fifty per centum greater
than the working pressure to be allowed; but should inspectors be of the opinion that
such boiler, by reason of its construction or material, will not safely allow so high a
working pressure, they may fix the working pressure of such boiler at less than twothirds of said test pressure, and no boiler* or pipe, or any of the connections therewith
shall be approved which is made in whole or in part of bad material, or is unsafe in its
form, or dangerous from defective workmansnip, age, use or other cause. In addition
to the hydrostatic test, as herein provided, the inspectors may cause a hammer test to
be made, and an internal examination of such boiler or boilers so tested, whenever
deemed necessary. Any boiler may be drilled at the bottom or shell of boiler, and
also at such other point as the inspectors may direct, to determine the thickness of
such material at those points, and the general condition of such boiler or boilers at the
time of inspection and the steam pressure allowed shall be determined by such ascer­
tained thickness and general condition of the boiler. They shall also see that all con­
nections to the said boiler or engines are of suitable material, size and construction,
and that the boiler, machinery and appurtenances are such as may be employed with
safety in the service to be performed. They shall also satisfy themselves that the
safety valves are of suitable dimensions and are properly adjusted, so as to allow no
greater pressure than the maximum amount prescribed by them; and that there is a
sufficient number of gauge cocks properly attached to the boiler, so as to indicate the
height of water therein, and suitable steam gauges to correctly show the pressure of
steam carried; and as to any other matter connected with such power vessel or the
machinery thereof, that to said inspectors shall appear necessary to the safety of her
passengers and crew.
S e c . 6. The chief and assistant inspectors, if satisfied that such vessel is in all
respects safe and conforms in every respect to the requirements of this act, shall make
and subscribe duplicate certificates, setting forth the age of the vessel and date of
inspection, the name of the vessel, the name of the owner, the master, the number of
licensed officers and crew deemed necessary to manage the vessel with safety, the num­
ber of boats and life preservers required, and the number of passengers that she can
safely carry, and, if a steam vessel, the age of the boiler, and the pressure of steam she
is authorized to carry. One of said certificates shall be kept posted in some conspic­
uous place on the vessel, to be designated by the inspectors in the certificate, and the
other copy shall be kept by the chief inspector and by him to be recorded in a book
to be kept for that purpose. If the inspectors refuse to grant a certificate of approval,
they shall make a statement in writing giving the reasons for such refusal, and deliver
the same to the owner or master of the vessel.
S e c . 8. All power vessels to which this article is applicable shall hereafter be so con­
structed that the woodwork about the boilers, chimneys, fire boxes, cook houses,
stove and steam pipes, exposed to ignition, shall be so shielded by some incombustible
material, that the air may circulate freely between such material and woodwork, or
other ignitable substances; and before granting a certificate of inspection the inspect­
ors shall require that all necessary provisions be made throughout such vessel as they
may judge expedient to guard against loss or damage by fire.
S e c . 15. Whoever intentionally loads or obstructs or causes to be loaded or
obstructed, in any way, the safety valve of any boiler, or employs any other means or
device whereby the boiler may be subjected to a greater pressure than the pressure
allowed by the inspector’s certificate, or^intentionally deranges or hinders the opera­
tion of any machinery or device employed to denote the stage of the water or steam
in any boiler, or to give warning of approaching danger, or intentionally permits the
water to fall below the prescribed low water limit of the boiler, shall forfeit to the
people of the State the sum of five hundred dollars for each violation.




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Sec. 16. Every person employed as either master, pilot or engineer on board of a
power vessel carrying passengers or freight for hire, or towing for hire, shall be exam­
ined by the inspectors as to his qualification, and, if satisfied therewith, they shall
grant him a license for the term of one year [as master, pilot, or engineer] of sucn boat,
boats or class of boats as said inspectors may specify in such license. In a proper case,
the license may permit and specify that the master may act as pilot, and in case of
small vessels also as engineer and pilot. The license shall be framed under glass and
posted in some conspicuous place on the vessel on which he may act. Whoever acts
as master, pilot or engineer, without having first received such license, or upon a
boat or class of boats not specified in his license, shall be liable to a penalty oi fifty
dollars for each day that he so acts, except as in this article otherwise specified, and
such license may be revoked by the inspectors for intemperance, incompetency or
willful violation of duty.
Sec. 20. No master, engineer or other person having charge of any boiler or appara­
tus for the generation of steam of any power vessel shall create, or allow to be created,
an undue or unsafe quantity of steam m order to increase the speed of such power ves­
sel or to excel another boat in speed. Any person violating the provision of this sec­
tion shall forfeit to the people of the State the sum of five hundred dollars for every
such violation.
Sec. 25. Whenever any vessel coming under the provision of this act is placed upon
the dock for repairs it shall be the duty of the owner to report the fact to the chief
inspector, so that a thorough inspection may by him be made to determine what is
necessary to make such vessel seaworthy, if the condition or age of the vessel, in the
judgment of the chief inspector renders such examination necessary. Before making
general repairs to a boiler of a steam vessel coming under the provisions of this act the
engineer or master in charge of such vessel shall report in writing the nature of such
repairs to the chief inspector. And it shall be the duty of all engineers, when an acci­
dent occurs to a boiler in their charge tending to render such boiler unsafe, to report
the same to the chief inspector.
Sec. 26. It shall be the duty of every owner of a power vessel and navigating the
waters, above tide waters, exclusively within the jurisdiction of this State, where it
is the intent to use such vessel for carrying passengers or freight for hire, or to tow for
hire, to notify the chief inspector of such intention, at least ten days before it is desired
to use such vessel, and to request an inspection of such vessel. It shall be the duty
of the owner of a vessel having a certificate of inspection from the inspectors provided
for in this act to notify said inspector of the expiration of such certificate at least twenty
days before said certificate shall expire.
Sec. 27. All power vessels carrying passengers or freight for hire, or towing for hire,
must comply with all the terms and provisions of the preceding section, and with all
orders, regulations and requirements of the inspectors. If any such vessel is navi­
gated without complying with the terms and provisions of this act, or without the
requisite certificates of the inspectors, the owners and master shall forfeit to the peo­
ple of the State the penalties prescribed in this article, and the vessels so navigated
shall also be liable therefor, and may be attached and proceeded against in any court
having jurisdiction. Every master of a power vessel who shall violate any of the pro­
visions of this act shall, for every such violation, forfeit to the people of the State the
sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, unless a different penalty is prescribed herein.
The chief inspector shall investigate all violations of the provisions of this act, and
for such purpose shall have the power and is hereby authorized to subpoena witnesses
and compel their attendance; and they may also administer all necessary oaths to
any witnesses thus summoned.
Sec. 28. The owner of a vessel inspected and certified as provided in this act shall
pay to these inspectors for each vessel under ten tons burden, ten dollars; for each
vessel over ten and under twenty tons burden, fifteen dollars; for each vessel over
twenty and under fifty tons burden, twenty dollars; for each vessel over fifty, forty
dollars; each person licensed shall pay five dollars for each original license and three
dollars for each renewal thereof. All moneys received by the inspectors for exam­
inations, licenses or renewals of licenses shall be by them turned over to the treasury
of the State of New Jersey for the use of the State.
Approved April 9, 1906.
Chapter 206.—Protection of employees as voters.
Section 4. Any employer of any workmen, or any agent, superintendent or overseer
of any company or corporation employing workmen, or any person whosoever, who
shall directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person in his behalf or by his
direction, make use of or threaten to make use of any force, violence or restraint, or




LABOR L A W S -----N E W

JERSEY----- ACTS OF 1906.

777

inflict or threaten to inflict by himself or by any other person any injury, damage,
harm, or loss against any person or persons in his employ, in order to induce or com­
pel such employee or employees to vote or refrain from voting for any particular can­
didate or candidates at any election, or on account of such employee or employees
having voted or refrained from voting for any particular candidate or candidates at
any election, or who shall, by any sort of duress, constraint or improper influence or
by any fraudulent or improper device, contrivance or scheme, impede, hinder or pre­
vent the free exercise of the franchise of any voter at any election, or shall thereby
compel, induce, or prevail upon any voter to vote for or against any particular can­
didate or candidates at any election, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on convic­
tion thereof shall be sentenced to disfranchisement for a period of five years from the
date of conviction.

Sec. 5. Any person who, having once been convicted of a violation of any of the
provisions of this act, shall again be convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of
this act, whether such conviction be for the same offense or not, shall, on such sec­
ond conviction, be sentenced to disfranchisement and to pay a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both,
at the discretion of the court.
Approved May 3, 1906.

OHIO.
ACTS OF 1906.

Protection of employees on street railways.
(Page 5.)
S e c t io n 1. Section 1

ox an act entitled, “ An act requiring persons, associations and

corporations owning or operating street cars to provide for the well-being of employ­
ees,” passed April 20, 1893, [shall] be amended to read as follows:
Section 1. Every electric street car other than trail cars, which are attached to
motor cars, shall be provided, during the months of November, December, January,
February and March of each year at the forward end with a screen constructed of glass
or other material, which shall fully and completely protect the driver or motorman
or gripman or other person stationed on such forward end, and guiding and directing
the motor power by which they are propelled, from wind and storm, and the space
provided on such car for such person shall during the said months be provided with
a sufficient heating device to maintain a temperature at all times not below 60 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Passed February 8, 1906.

Safety appliances on railways— Self-cleaning ash pans on locomotives.
(Page

46.)

S e c t io n 1. Any person, firm or corporation, owning, operating or controlling any
railroad running through or within the State of Ohio, shall in all cases where practi­
cal, cause each and every locomotive now in use upon such railroad, to be equipped
with a self-cleaning ash dump pan of modern and approved pattern and design; and
all engines or locomotives now in course of construction or that shall be built or con­
structed in the future, shall be so equipped. And in no case shall any engineer or
fireman be compelled to go under any locomotive for the purpose of removing ashes
from the same, except in cases of emergency.
S e c . 2. Any person, or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this
act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be
fined for each offense in any sum not less than $500 or more than $1,000: Provided ,
That this act shall not apply to any person, firm or corporation owning, operating or
controlling any railroad or division thereof running through or within this State, who
do not require engineers or firemen to go under the engine for the purpose of removing
ashes from the same except in cases of emergency.

Sec. 3. Any person, firm or .corporation failing to comply with the provisions of this
act, shall not be allowed to set up or make the defense of contributory negligence, or
assumption of risk, in any action for personal injury to, or death of, any engineer or
fireman resulting from the failure of such person, firm or corporation to comply with
the provisions of this act.
S e c . 4. This act shall take effect and be in force on and after January 1, A . D. 1907.
Passed March 8, 1906.




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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR.

Safety appliances on railways — Brakes, couplers, etc.
(Page 75.)
S e c t io n 1. It shall be unlawful for any common carrier engaged in moving traffic
b y railroad between points within this State to use on its line any locomotive in moving
such traffic not equipped with power driving wheel brakes and appliances for oper­
ating the train brake system, or to run any train in such traffic that has not seventyfive per centum of its cars in such train having their brakes used and operated by the
engineer of the locomotive drawing such train, and all power brake cars in such train
shall be associated together and have their brakes used and operated. The com­
missioner of railroads and telegraphs, or any board or railroad commission, which may
by law assume the authority and perform the duties of the commissioner of railroads
and telegraphs, may from time to time, after full hearing and for good cause shown,
increase the minimum percentage of cars in any train required to be operated by
power or train brakes and failure to comply with any such requirement of said com­
missioner, or commission, shall be subject to a like penalty as failure to comply with
any requirement of this act.
S e c . 2. It shall be unlawful for any such common carrier to haul, or permit to be
hauled or used on its line, any locomotive, car, tender, or similar vehicle used in
moving State traffic, not equipped with couplers coupling automatically by impact,
and which can be uncoupled, without the necessity of men going between the ends
of the cars.

Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful for any such common carrier to haul or permit to be
hauled or used on its line any locomotive, car, tender, or similar vehicle used in mov­
ing State traffic, not provided with secure grab irons or handholds in the sides and
ends thereof; each and every car used in the movement of State traffic shall be pro­
vided with secure sill steps on each end of each side thereof.
S e c . 4. It shall be unlawful for any such common carrier to use any locomotive,
tender, ear, or similar vehicle used in the movement of State traffic, that is not pro­
vided with drawbars of the standard height, to-wit, standard gauge cars, 34J inches;
narrow gauge cars, 26 inches, measured perpendicular from the level of the tops of
the rails to the centers of the drawbars; the maximum variation from such standard
heights between drawbars of empty and loaded cars shall be three inches.

Sec 5. Any such common carrier may refuse to receive from connecting lines or
from any shipper any car not equipped in accordance with the foregoing sections of
this act.
Sec. 6. Any such common carrier using or permitting to be used or hauled on its
line any locomotive, tender, car, or similar vehicle, or train, in violation of any of the
provisions of this act shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each and
every such violation, to be recovered in a suit or suits to be brought by the prosecuting
attorney in the common pleas court of the county having jurisdiction in the locality
where such violation shall have occurred; and it shall be the duty of such prosecuting
attorney to bring such suits U])on duly verified information being lodged with him
of such violation having occurred; and it shall be the duty of the commissioner of
railroads and telegraphs, or any board or railroad commission, which may by law
assume the authority and perform the duties of the commissioner of railroads and
telegraphs, to lodge with the proper prosecuting attorneys information of any such
violations as may come to its knowledge: Provided, That nothing in this act contained
shall apply to locomotives, tenders, cars, or trains, exclusively used in the move­
ment of logs, and when the height of the drawbars on such locomotives, tenders and
cars does not exceed 25 inches, or to street cars, or to locomotives, tenders, cars, simi­
lar vehicles, or trains, while any of which are in actual use in interstate commerce.
Sec. 7. Any employee of any such common carrier who may be killed or injured by
any locomotive, tender, car, similar vehicle, or train, in use contrary to the provi­
sions of this act, shall not be deemed thereby to have assumed the risk thereby occa­
sioned, although continuing in the employment of such carrier after the unlawful use
of such locomotive, tender, car, similar vehicle, or train had been brought to his
knowledge, nor shall such employee be held to have contributed to his injury in any
case where the carrier shall have violated any provision of this act, when such viola­
tion contributed to the death or injury of such employee.
S e c . 8. The commissioner of railroads and telegraphs, or any board or railroad com­
mission, which may b y law assume the authority and perform the duties of the com­
missioner of railroads and telegraphs, is hereby authorized to grant to any common
carriers, upon full hearing and for good cause, a reasonable extension of time in which
to comply with the provision of this act: Provided , That in no case shall such exten­
sion or extensions in the aggregate exceed the period of one year from the passage of
this act.




LABOR L A W S -----OHIO-----ACTS OF 1906.

779

S e c . 9. Section 1 of an act entitled “ An act to require railroad corporations to equip
and furnish all cars used in their service with air brakes and automatic couplers and
their engines with power brakes,” passed April 14, 1893, as amended April 23, 1904,
is hereby repealed.
Passed March 19, 1906.

Mine regulations—Sprinkling dusty entries, etc,
(Page 169.)
S e c t io n 1. In case any entry or air way of any mine is so dry that the air becomes
charged with dust the operator, or whoever is operating said mine, as owner, lessee,
agent or in any capacity shall have such entry or air way regularly and thoroughly
sprayed and sprinkled with water or cleaned in such manner that the air will not
become charged with dust.
S e c . 2. It shall be the duty of the State mine inspectors to enforce all possible pre­
ventive measures necessary to maintain the safety of the persons employed in any
mine against the gathering or accumulating of any combustible matter that is explo­
sive in its nature, and shall cause the operator or whoever is operating such mine as
owner, lessee, agent or in any capacity, to immediately remove any such gathered or
accumulated matter.
S ec . 3. Any operator, or whoever is operating such mine as owner, lessee, agent or
in any capacity, who shall neglect or refuse to comply with the conditions required
to be performed by sections one (1) and two (2) of this act shall be deemed guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five
hundred dollars ($500) nor less than two hundred dollars ($200), at the discretion of
the court.
Passed March 31, 1906.

Mine regulations—Employment of miners.
(Page 259.)
S e c t io n 1. Every person desiring to work by himself as a miner in the coal mines
of this State shall first produce satisfactory evidence to the mine boss of the mine in
which he is employed, or desires to be employed, that he has worked at least one
year with, or as a practical coal miner. Until said applicant has so satisfied the mine
boss of the mine in which he seeks such employment of his competency, he shall not
be allowed to mine coal unless accompanied by some competent coal miner, until he
becomes duly qualified: Provided, That this act shall not [only] apply to mines gener­
ating fire damp, gas or combustible matter.
S ec . 2. Any person violating section one of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction be fined, not more than two hundred dollars, nor
less than twenty-five dollars, at the discretion of the court.
Passed April 2, 1906.

Accidents on railroads.
(Page 356.)
S e c t io n 29. Every railroad shall, whenever an accident attended with loss of
human life occurs within this State, upon its line of road or on its depot grounds or
yards, give immediate notice thereof to the commission. In the event of any such
accident, the commission, if it deem the public interest requires it, shall cause an
investigation to be made forthwith, which investigation shall be held in the locality
of the accident, unless, for greater convenience of those concerned, it shall order such
investigation to be held at some other place, and said investigation may be adjourned
from place to place as may be found necessary and convenient. The commission
shall seasonably notify an officer or station agent of the company of the time and place
of the investigation. The cost of such investigation shall be certified by the chairman
of the commission, and the same shall be audited and paid by the State in the same
manner as other expenses are audited and paid and a record or file of said proceedings
and evidence shall be kept by said commission.
Passed April 2, 1906.




780-

BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR,

PENNSYLVANIA.
ACTS OF 1906— E X T R A SESSION.
A ct N o . 18.— Civil

service in cities of the first class—Labor ser vice.

S e c t io n 1. On and after the first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and six,
appointments to, and promotions in, the civil service of the cities of the first class shall
be made only according to qualifications and fitness, to be ascertained b y examinations,
which so far as practicable shall be competitive, as hereinafter provided. On and after
the said date, no person shall be appointed, transferred, reinstated, or promoted as an
officer, clerk, employee, or laborer in the civil service, under the government of any
city of the first class, in any manner or b y any means other than those prescribed in
this act: Provided , That the provisions of this act shall not apply to any soldier, sailor,
or marine honorably discharged from service in any war for the United States Govern­
ment, nor to their widows or children.
S e c . 9. All examinations for positions in the classified service shall be practical in
their character, and shall relate to those matters which will fairly test the qualifications
and fitness of the persons examined to discharge the duties of the office or employment
sought b y them. A ll examinations shall be free, and open to all applicants who have
fulfilled the preliminary requirements stated in section ten of this act. The examina­
tions of applicants for employment as laborers shall relate to their capacity for labor,
their habits as to sobriety and industry, and their experiences in the kind of work for
which they apply. A ll applicants for any position in the classified service may, sub­
ject to the regulations adopted by the civil sendee commission, be required to submit
to a physical examination before being admitted to the regular examinations held by
the commission. Adequate public notice of the time and place of every examination
held under the provisions of thi