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5<>t h O o n g k e .sk . ) HOUSE OF FEPBESENTATIYES.5Boo.Fro.35O,,
1st Session. )
l
Part C.
BULLETIN
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
NO. 31—NOVEMBER, 1900.
ISSUED E V E R Y OTHER M ONTH.
W A SH IN G TO N :
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1900.
EDITOR,
CARROLL D. W E IG H T ,
COMMISSIONER.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS,
G. W . W . H A N G E R ,
CHAS. H . Y E R R IL L , STEPH EN I). JESSEN DEN .
CONTENTS.
Page.
The betterment of industrial conditions, by Victor II. Olmsted, of the De
partment of Labor......................................................................................................... 1117-1156
Present status of employers’ liability in the United States, by Stephen D.
Fessenden, of the Department of Labor.............................................................. 1157-1210
Condition of railway labor in Italy, by Dr. Luigi Einaudi, of the Uni
versity of T u rin ............................................................................................................. 1211-1261
Digest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics:
M ain e............................................................................................................................
Massachusetts.............................................................................................................
New Y o r k ..................................................................................................................
Khode Isla n d .............................................................................................................
Thirteenth annual report of the board of mediation and arbitration of the
State of New Y o r k .......................................................................................................
Digest of recent foreign statistical publications......................................................
Decisions of courts affecting labor...............................................................................
Laws of various States relating to labor enacted since January 1,1896 ____
Eecent Government contracts.....................................................................................
nt
1262,1263
1264-1266
1266-1269
1269,1270
1271
1272-1278
1279-1298
1299-1311
1312
BULLETIN
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
No. 31.
WASHINGTON.
N ovem ber,
1900.
THE BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
B Y VICTOR H . OLMSTED.
In order to ascertain in some degree the character, extent, and effect
of different plans in operation in various parts of the United States,
looking to industrial improvement and the elevation of workingmen,
numerous establishments have been visited in which the practical
workings of such plans have been observed, and from which accounts
concerning them have been secured. There has been no attempt to
make such investigation exhaustive, but merely to present a large
number of examples of typical establishments. No statistical presenta
tion of these different plans can be made, but brief descriptive accounts
of them are given, which it is hoped will induce large employers of
labor, whose attention has not heretofore been called to them, to at
least give consideration to the question as to whether some of the plans
mentioned can not be profitably introduced in their establishments.
The various measures for the improvement of the condition of work
ingmen, found in successful operation in the establishments visited,
may be summarized as follows:
1. Club organizations in which employees are banded together for
social, educational, recreative, and other purposes incident to such
associations.
2. The encouragement of physical culture by means of gymnasiums,
calisthenics, baseball, bicycle, and similar clubs.
3. The improvement of intellectual conditions by means of free
lectures, libraries, kindergartens, and educational classes.
4. The increasing of industrial efficiency through industrial schools
and manual-training classes.
1117
1118
•BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
5. The advancement of spiritual life by means of Sunday schools
and general religious work.
6. The cultivation of musical taste and ability by means of concerts
and musical entertainments for employees, and the encouragement of
musical clubs and organizations among them.
7. The promotion of improved social conditions by means of social
gatherings, summer outings, meeting places, and game rooms for
employees, banquets, dances, etc.
8. The sharing of profits with employees.
9. The promotion of employees’ personal interest in the successful
conduct of the business by encouraging and assisting them to pur
chase shares in it, thus, in effect, taking them into partnership.
10. The improvement of domestic conditions by means of improved
dwellings, instruction in sewing, cooking, and housekeeping, and in
landscape and kitchen gardening and the exterior and interior decora
tion of homes.
11. The care for employees’ health and comfort by means of bath
ing facilities, dining and lunch rooms, the furnishing of hot lunches to
female employees, and by improved sanitary construction and appli
ances.
12. The care of sick and disabled employees and their families by
means or free insurance, free medical attendance or hospital facilities,
and by the encouragement of beneficial organizations.
13. The cultivation of thrift through savings bank facilities, build
ing associations, or provident organizations, and by the giving of
prizes for valuable suggestions of employees and rewards for faithful
service or the manifestation of zeal and interest in their employment.
11. The rendering of financial aid to employees in cases of hardship
or distress.
15. The manifestation of interest in the personal affairs of individ
ual employees, the cultivation of cordial and even confidential rela
tions with them, and the promotion of their welfare in all possible
ways.
A ll the plans and ideas outlined above have been tested, and are
now in successful operation. The experience of the employers who
have adopted such of them as the exigencies or the character of their
business would permit proves that they are worthy of more general
adoption, not only because of their beneficial effect upon the employed,
but also for the reason that they result in decided business improve
ment from a purely financial standpoint. The accounts following,
gathered f rom some of the establishments in which the efficacy of the
plans described have been demonstrated, give ample proof of their
social and economic value.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1119
STEEL WORKS CLUB, JOLIET, ILL.
A number of years ago, sometime in the eighties, several of the prin
cipal stockholders and officers of the Joliet Steel Company decided
to carry into effect the idea that improved social and intellectual condi
tions among the employees would not only promote their welfare but
would advance the material interests of the company. A t first the
plan was simply to furnish a resort for the men during their leisure
hours, and to this end a generous sum of money was offered the city
of Joliet wherewith to equip a public library and reading room. The
proposition was not accepted by the city^ and, other attempts to oper
ate through outside agencies having failed, the company decided to
act for itself, with the result that in 1889 the beautiful structure now
occupied by the Steel Works Club was erected and partially equipped
at a cost of $53,000. The club was organized in December, 1889, with
100 members, a charter was secured, and the clubhouse with its appur
tenances was leased to it for the nominal sum of $1 per year, the com
pany agreeing to make good at any time any deficiencies arising in the
exchequer of the club.
The building is an imposing stone structure with harmonizing sur
roundings and grounds in which a fine tennis court is maintained.
The basement of the building contains a gymnasium 45 feet square and
24 feet high, fully equipped with modern athletic appliances. In another
part of the basement is a hand-ball court, 32 feet square, adjoining
which is a bowling alley. In addition, this part of the building con
tains 16 bathrooms, 6 shower baths, a*pool for plunge baths, all sup
plied with hot and cold water, together with dressing rooms, lockers,
and all necessary conveniences. The basement also contains the sleeping
apartments of the janitors, and a barber shop in which club members
and other employees of the company are served at very low prices.
The main floor consists of a large reception room elaborately fur
nished and decorated with statuary, paintings, and bas-reliefs; a
spacious room devoted, to social games, such as cards, checkers, etc.;
a library containing in the neighborhood of 6,000 volumes; a reading
room; a billiard room with 6 tables, and the superintendent’s office.
The upper floor has a large lecture hall and entertainment room
equipped with stage and dressing rooms and capable of seating 1,100
people. Other rooms on this floor are devoted to educational pur
poses, and there is an art gallery containing many examples of the best
in painting and statuary. There is also a music room with a $1,000
grand piano, which, as well as many of the pictures, statues, and
minor accessories, was presented to the club by individual stockholders
of the company. The building is heated by steam, and is provided
with both gas and electricity for lighting. It is open to members on
week days from 7 a. m. until 9.45 p. m., on Saturdays until 10.45
p. m., and on Sundays and holidays until noon.
1120
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Only employees of the steel company are eligible to membership in
the club. The dues are $2 per year, and the members are subject to
no other charges except a fee of 50 cents per month for participation
in educational classes. The entire expense of maintenance, light, heat,
care, and repair of the property, and all costs of administration, such
as salaries o f the superintendent, librarian, physical director, and jani
tors, are paid by the steel company. The dues paid by members are
devoted to incidental expenses, such as pay of kindergarten teachers,
printing, soap, towels, etc.
During the ten years of the club’s existence its membership has
fluctuated constantly and greatly.
During periods of industrial
depression it has diminished and has correspondingly increased with
the revival of trade. In 1895-96 the club had about 1,200 members
as against 300 in 1893, in 1897 only 500 of the company’s employees
were members, and in the summer of 1899 there were 650.
The club supplements the revenues derived from members in the
shape of dues by giving, at frequent intervals, theatrical and literary
entertainments, which are well attended by the general public. The
funds derived from this source usually provide the club with sufficient
means for its purposes. The privileges of the club are in many cases
extended to the families and friends of the members; for examplej in
the large hall, social affairs, dances, and the like are of frequent occur
rence, and the bathing facilities, at stated times, are free to the
females of members’ families.
The library and reading room are supplied with the leading maga
zines and newspapers, and these, with the billiard and recreation
rooms, the gymnasium, baths, tennis court, and other features give
constant opportunities for mental and physical recreation and culture,
and are largely taken advantage of. Stationery and conveniences for
letter writing are furnished the members free of charge. Instruction
is given, under the direction of competent teachers, in mechanical
drawing, mathematics, vocal music, penmanship, stenography, and
any other branches which the members desire to pursue, and a kinder
garten is maintained to which the children of members may be sent
without charge.
In connection with the club there is an organization known as the
“ Ladies Auxiliary,” composed of the wives and daughters of club
members, who are given free use of the clubhouse for their meetings
and for social gatherings and entertainments conducted under their
direction.
The members of the club are enabled to reduce their family expenses
through the purchase, in large quantities at lowest rates, of domestic
supplies, such as coal or flour. These supplies are bought at whole
sale, through the officers of the club, and are sold to the members at
cost. The business affairs of club members are attended to, when
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1121
desired, by the superintendent of the club, who is always ready to
meet and advise with them upon any subject within the scope of his
experience.
The beneficial effects of this organization upon its members and their
families and the community generally have been incalculable, while
the officers of the steel company are very emphatic in the assertion
that the money they have furnished for erecting and equipping the
clubhouse and in aiding the club has proved a good investment, con
sidered from a purely commercial standpoint.
JOHNSTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB, JOHNSTOWN, PA.
This is a purely athletic organization, composed almost exclusively
of employees of the Cambria Steel Company. It was organized in
1890, and after a varied experience of alternate prosperity and adver
sity was finally reorganized in February, 1898. Its affairs are now in
a highly satisfactory condition, though its membership is not so large
as formerly, numbering 210 as against over 500 two years ago.
The club has the free use and control of a large and well-equipped
gymnasium, which was built and furnished with complete apparatus
by the Cambria Steel Company, in conjunction with Andrew Carnegie,
at a cost of about $15,000, and occupies a large portion of the library
building erected and presented to the city of Johnstown by Mr. Car
negie. The club has also one of the finest bicycle race tracks and
baseball fields in the country, having a grand stand with a seating
capacity of 2,000 and surrounded by an immense level field.
The club is fostered and encouraged in all possible ways by the steel
company. The members pay small fees and dues, which, in connec
tion with the receipts derived from athletic exhibitions, yield a suffi
cient revenue to pay the expenses of the club. That its influence has
been highly beneficial is beyond question.
THE CARNEGIE CLUB OF BRADDOCK, BRADDOCK, PA.
, In January, 1889, the Carnegie Library building was completed,
stocked with books, and presented to the town of Braddock, Pa.
Subsequently Mr. Carnegie added to his original gift, and the edifice
was enlarged so as to make it a superb home for the Carnegie Club
of Braddock.
The club portion of the handsome building was informally opened
in January, 1895, and contains most complete and effective appliances
for its members’ well-being and comfort. It has a beautiful theater,
with an ample stage, full supply of scenery and accessories, and a
seating capacity of 1,200. The swimming pool in the basement is one
of the finest and largest in the country. The gymnasium is spacious,
and is provided with every modern device for the development of
muscle and the promotion of health. There are also a fine billiard
1122
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
room, containing 5 billiard and 1 pool tables, bathrooms, bowling alleys,
separate bath and billiard rooms for ladies, card rooms, reading rooms,
instruction rooms for classes, and dark room for developing photo
graphs by club members—in fact, the club possesses a home perfectly
adapted to its needs and in every way inviting. The general archi
tectural effect of the building is full of dignity and beauty, and its
location is fine and commanding.
The affairs of the club are managed by a superintendent, appointed
by Mr. Carnegie, in conjunction with a board of trustees. The mem
bers have no voice in its management, but are entitled to enjoy all
its facilities and privileges by simply paying their quarterly dues.
Employees of the steel company are admitted to membership upon
payment of dues at the rate of $1 per quarter. Other citizens of
Braddock, not employees, may become members at the rate of $2 per
quarter, and boys, under 18 years of age, who are sons or brothers of
members, are permitted the use of the baths, are given instruction in
gymnastics and swimming, and accorded various other privileges for
50 cents per quarter. Ladies are also given special advantages in the
way of separate bathing and billiard rooms and instruction in swim
ming and gymnastics, with the services of a female attendant, for $1
per quarter. The revenues of the club are supplemented by annual
contributions by its founder of such amounts as may be necessary to
meet its expenses.
Courses of lectures and entertainments are provided, regardless of
expense, which the club members have the privilege of attending at
nominal prices of admission. Educational classes are conducted in
bookkeeping, shorthand, mechanical drawing, commercial arithmetic,
instrumental music, photography, and other subjects, as desired, at a
cost to club members of 50 cents per month. An organ, costing
$15,000, has recently been presented to the club by its founder. A
number of additional features were contemplated when the informa
tion here given was secured, among which may be mentioned an
industrial class for girls, furnishing instruction in sewing, knitting,
etc., a savings bank for the children of members, an orchestra and a
brass band composed exclusively of club members, banking facilities,
a free kindergarten for members’ children, and a barber shop.
The membership of the club in the latter part of 1899 was about
750, of which about 500 were employees of the steel company, the
remainder being principally ladies and boys under 18 years of age.
HOMESTEAD LIBRARY ATHLETIC CLUB, HOMESTEAD, FA.
This club, which was organized in August, 1898, upon the comple
tion and opening of the Carnegie Library at Homestead, Pa., is simi
lar in character to the Carnegie Club of Braddock. Its membership
consists mainly of employees of the Homestead Steel Works, though
citizens of the town, not employees, may be admitted.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1128
The library building occupied by the club was erected and equipped
by Mr. Andrew Carnegie at a cost of about $250,000. The material
of the building is Pompeian brick, and its exterior dimensions are 228
by 133 feet. It consists of three divisions—the music hall, occupying
the eastern end, the club, the western end, and the library, the central
portion of the building.
The portion of the building which is devoted to the uses of the
Library Athletic Club contains in the basement a tile-lined swimming
pool 36 by 68 feet, with accompanying dressing rooms. Connecting
with this is the basement of the library, where there are 18 bathrooms
for men and 4 for women. Besides the pool under the club there are
2 bowling alleys. In the first story of the club are 2 billiard rooms
containing 10 tables with their accompanying seats and racks and 2
recreation rooms. The second story and roof space are thrown open
for one large gymnasium fitted w7ith all necessary equipments.
The entire establishment is under the general supervision of a board
of directors appointed by Mr. Carnegie, but it is the purpose of the
founder of the club to leave its management in the hands of its mem
bers as far as possible, and to this end it is provided that a board of
control consisting of nine members, shall be elected annually from and
by the club membership, which shall regulate the internal affairs of
the club, and, in connection with the superintendent, have control of
field sports and athletic events, selecting players for the various teams
that may be organized and arranging for games, contests, tourna
ments, etc. A competent superintendent is in charge and in constant
attendance, whose duty it is to look after the successful operation of
the club and the athletic department. There is also a trained physical
director for the gymnasium, and various assistants for the care of the
building and grounds and the convenience of the club. It is intended
that the club shall become self-supporting by securing a large mem
bership, but until this is accomplished the income of the club from
membership fees and other sources will be supplemented by appropri
ations out o f the general library fund, contributed by the founder.
The club has three classes of membership, viz, full, junior, and
ladies. Males over 18 years of age are admitted to full membership,
entitling them to all the privileges of the clubrooms and grounds,
upon payment of a fee of $1.50 per quarter, if employees of the steel
company, or $2 per quarter if not such employees; males under 18
years of age are admitted to junior membership by paying 50 cents
per quarter, which entitles them to all the privileges of the club except
the use of the billiard and card rooms. Ladies may become members
by the payment of $1 per quarter, which entitles them to use the clubrooms on at least two afternoons each week, together with the use of
the grounds upon application to the superintendent. The clubrooms,
including the baths and gymnasium, are open daily, except Sundays,
1124
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. from April to September, and from 9 a. m. to
10.30 p. m. from October to March. In addition, the baths are open
Sunday mornings from 9 to 12 o’clock. The club membership has
varied from, approximately, 600 in summer to 1,100 during the winter.
About half the members are employees of the steel company, the
remainder being principally ladies and boys, largely members of
employees’ families.
It is the intention of the management to provide for courses of
instruction, lectures, and entertainments, and for evening classes in
various branches.
METROPOLITAN STREET R AILW AY ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK, N. Y.
This is a beneficial and social club, organized in February, 1897,
with membership confined to employees of the Metropolitan Street Rail
way Company of New York City. It was incorporated under the laws
of New York with 150 members; in July, 1899, its membership had
risen to 2,643, and was constantly increasing. The payment of 50
cents per month as dues entitles a member to receive financial aid in
case of disability arising from sickness or accident, not to exceed $90
in a year, or $150 is paid the representatives of a member in case of
his death. It is mainly through its social features, however, that this
dub has been able to attain its great prosperity and to wield a pow
erful and beneficial influence among the railway company’s employees.
The club holds regular monthly meetings for business and social
purposes in the commodious rooms which the railway company has
provided and furnished for it at the corner of Seventh avenue and
Fiftieth street. These rooms consist of a large assembly hall, with a
seating capacity o f 450, and a library and reading room, which is also
used for correspondence purposes, social games, etc. The rooms are
open daily to the members, except Sundays, from 9 a. m. until 10 p. m.
They are constantly patronized, as a place of regular resort, by the
club members while not on duty, bringing them into friendly inter
course and giving them opportunity for rest, recreation, or intellectual
diversion, and enabling them to spend their leisure hours away from
saloons or other undesirable resorts where they would otherwise be
almost compelled to congregate.
The secretary, who has general control of the club’s affairs, is in
daily attendance, his office being in the club’s library room, and he is
at all times ready to render assistance or give counsel to the men in
their personal affairs. His salary is paid wholly by the railway com
pany as is also that of the librarian, who, in addition to his regular
duties, aids the secretary in his work. The circulating library con
tains 1,500 volumes of miscellaneous literature, together with the
current magazines and papers, all furnished by the railway company.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1125
The rooms are cared for, heated, and lighted by the railway com
pany, without expense to the club; in fact, the club has no expense of
administration whatever, all requirements in that direction being pro
vided for by the company, which also makes frequent cash contribu
tions to the club’s treasury in order to enable it to promptly meet
its obligations in the payment of disability and death benefits for
which its regular revenue from membership dues is insufficient.
The club also employs a physician, for whose services each member
pays a small sum monthly, who gives regular medical attention when
ever it is needed by the members or their families.
A t the regular monthly meetings, after the transaction of its ordi
nary business, the club devotes the evening to social entertainment.
The exercises consist of singing, instrumental music, recitations,
addresses by members or invited guests, and occasionally of vaude
ville features by either members or outside invited talent. The
assembly room is provided with a piano.
Once a year a theatrical entertainment is given in one of the larger
New York theaters, to which all the employees of the company with
their families are invited. This entertainment is managed entirely by
the club, which secures the best theatrical talent from the various
New York theaters, but the entire expense of it is paid for by the
railway company. During the summer of each year an excursion
and picnic is arranged and conducted under the auspices of the club,
and, similarly, each winter a grand ball is given, for which tickets are
sold to the company’s employees, the surplus arising from such sale
being used in the payment of financial benefits to which the members
or their families may be entitled.
This organization, outside of the good accomplished by its insurance
features, has brought about and fostered a very cordial feeling between
the company and its employees; has brought the men into closer
acquaintance and relationship with each other, and promoted a general
feeling of good-fellowship among them; has kept them from the
streets or saloons during their hours of leisure; and has distinctly
benefited them, morally, socially, and intellectually.
THE NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY, DAYTON, OHIO.
The advanced methods and liberal policy pursued by the National
Cash Register Company, of Dayton, Ohio, in its business and social
relations with its employees, who number about 2,000, have attracted
widespread attention and commendation among sociologists and econ
omists; and the example they have established, coupled with the indu
bitable proof they give that “ it pays” to foster and advance the moral,
social, intellectual, and physical well-being of the wage-earner, is result
ing in the practical adoption of their ideas and many of their special
plans by manufacturers in various sections of the country.
1126
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Among the many beneficent things which this company has accom
plished, the organization of its employees into clubs and societies is
prominent. The advantages of these organizations, as stated by one
of the company’s officials, are, first, the creation of an esprit de corps
among the employees, and the improvement of their morale as well as
that of their families and all the neighborhood; second, they result in
more intelligent labor, and enable the company to command a higher
class of people; third, having a better class of people, the company
secures better work and more of it, the employees being rendered more
efficient and capable of performing much more and better work than
formerly; fourth, they have created an atmosphere of good-fellowship
and warm family interest among employees and their families, and
have removed the barriers that ordinarly exist between employer and
employee.; fifth, the character o f the workmen has been elevated, and
throughout the entire city a love of better homes and a desire to do
better work has been brought about; sixth, other employers have been
led to see the value of these methods and to adopt them in their deal
ings with their employees. The principle upon which the whole sys
tem of the company is based is simply the showing of a daily personal
interest in their employees’ comfort and welfare.
The headquarters for the social, intellectual, and moral life of the
employees is the N. C. E. House, a cottage owned by the company,
which consists of the apartments occupied by the deaconess and her
assistant (who are employed by the company and give their entire time
to the man}" interests which center here); the library, the books of
which circulate among the employees, and a large room which serves
as a meeting place for the boys’ and girls’ clubs, the kindergarten, and
the various sewing classes. The house is maintained by the company—
light, heat, janitor’s seiwices, and furnishings all being supplied. Fre
quently as many as sixteen meetings per week are held by the various
clubs and committees, attended by an aggregate of more than 500
people. Brief descriptions follow of the various clubs and organiza
tions in this establishment:
The Advance Club is an organization consisting of the officers of
the company, heads of departments, foremen, assistants, clerks, and
from 75 to 100 of the rank and file from the different departments of the
factory. The club meets at irregular periods, on the call of the presi
dent of the company, in a commodious hall specially provided for the
purpose. The design of the club is to discuss any questions that may
arise of interest to the members regarding the management of the
business; to hear reports of visits to prominent manufacturing estab
lishments by those making them—the company frequently sending
employees to study the work of other factories; and to consider the
best methods of factory and office organization and criticise weak
points therein. This club was organized in 1896. The president of
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1127
the company designates some one to preside at each meeting. The
organization is informal, no elections being held nor dues paid by
members.
The Woman’s Century Club was organized in 1896, and in the
summer of 1899 had 261 members, all female employees. It is a reg
ular literary club, electing its own officers, outlining its own work,
having its own dues for membership, and wholly controlling its own
plans, the company simply furnishing a place of meeting, with light,
heat, and furnishings in the hall of the Advance Club. Its meetings
are of one hour’s duration, bimonthly, and at noon. The meetings are
conducted pursuant to regular programmes such as are usual in the
Federation of Women’s Clubs of which this club is a member. The
club issues an annual calendar outlining its work for the ensuing year.
The programmes include music, recitations, addresses, discussions, and
the reading of original essays. The membership is divided into sec
tions, each section following a particular line of study and taking a
leading part in the programme at regular intervals. The expenses of
the club are met by the dues paid by members, 50 cents being paid
annually by each.
The Progress Club is an organization of male employees founded
in 1896, and has a membership of about 400. It has the usual equip
ment of officers and an executive committee that plans and directs its
work. Its meetings are held bimonthly, in the afternoons, in a hall
provided by the company. Its dues for membership are 50 cents per
year. The programme usually consists of the discussion of practical
topics of interest to men—politics, religion, mechanics, science, travel,
and questions pertaining to factory life. The programmes are
arranged from time to time by the executive committee and are
announced on the bulletin boards throughout the factory.
The Young People’s Club is a social and literary society composed
of the young people in the factory. Its meetings are held weekty,
in the evening, at the N. C. R. House, under the general super
vision of the deaconess. It has a regular organization and prepares
its own programmes, which are, generally, of a literary character
for the first part of the evening, followed by social features. It has
a membership o f 40, who pay monthly dues of 5 cents each, and its
officers are elected, as in all other organizations in this factory, semi
annually.
The Outdoor Art Association was organized in 1899 and has about
50 members, who pay annual dues of $2 each. Its purpose is to
enlarge interest in landscape gardening, flower culture, and photog
raphy. The company furnishes it with whatever printing is necessary
and a place of meeting.
The South Park Girls1 Literary Club was organized in 1897 and
has 150 members. It meets weekly in the N. C. R. House. Its
1128
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
work, carried on under the direction of the deaconess, usually consists
of readings and other literary exercises and in the taking of lessons in
embroidery. It has its own organization and makes and carries out
its own programmes and plans. The members pay weekly dues of 2
cents each.
The Boys’ Garden Club has been in existence since 1896, and con
sists of about 50 boys who are taught during the summer the best
methods of vegetable gardening. The company furnishes two acres
of ground, tools, seed, and competent instructors, and offers prizes
amounting to $50 per year for the best work accomplished by club
members. The results have been remarkable and the interest taken in
the club’s success, by both old and young, highly encouraging.
The Boys’ Club was organized in 1897 and has 120 members. It
includes sons of employees and boys of the neighborhood between 12
and 16 years of age. Its meetings are held one night each week, in
the N. C. R. House, under the direction of the deaconess and her
assistant. It has its own organization and officers, and makes its own
programme o f exercises, which are usually literary and debating. The
members of this club form a part of the Boys’ Military Brigade and
are equipped with quaker guns, and uniforms supplied partly by the
company and partly by the members themselves. They have regular
days for military training and are officered by boys employed in the
factory.
The colored janitors of the factory, 24 in number, have a regularly
organized Glee Club and hold periodical meetings for rehearsal. They
sing popular melodies for their own pleasure and that of employees of
the establishment. There is also an Autoharp Club composed of young
women, who meet every week and practice under a competent leader
ship, and a brass band, known as the N. C. R. Band, of 20 members,
which was organized in 1897. The band is furnished with instruments,
uniforms, and a place to practice by the company, and in return play
on special occasions for the company and employees. The band derives
considerable income from outside engagements.
The N. C. R. Relief Association is a mutual insurance society,
organized in 1896, in which any person who has been in the com
pany’s employ for 30 days is eligible to membership. It pays liberal
disability and death benefits, has a membership approximating 1,000,
and its affairs are in a prosperous condition. The company assists it
by furnishing a place of meeting, light, and heat, doing whatever print
ing is necessary, and giving its officers, without deduction of pay,
whatever time is necessary in attending to its affairs.
The Woman’s Guild is an association of about 100 women, mostly
wives of men employed in the factory, which was organized in 1896.
The guild meets every Thursday afternoon and conducts a literary
programme varied with discussions of practical questions of neighbor
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1129
hood life or addresses by prominent visitors. It has a special commit
tee on outdoor art, whose duty it is to encourage the beautifying of
homes in the neighborhood. It also assists in the work of the boys1
and girls’ clubs.
Among the various beneficent features which this company has;
provided for the improvement of industrial conditions are the educa
tional and other classes. In the fall of 1895 the School of Mechanicswas organized by the company among its employees, and instruction*
was given on light, heat, power, and similar subjects. The purpose
was to instruct the workmen so as to make them better qualified to>
perform the work required of them. Subsequently the organization
of evening classes by the Y. M. C. A. led the company to encourage'
its people to join those classes, and there are now about 150 in regular^
attendance in them. In 1898 a company of young men, some of whom*
were studying at home, some in correspondence schools, and some in>
the city evening classes, organized a club under the leadership of the
best trained men in the factory for the study of algebra and mechanics,,
and this club holds regular weekly meetings, without any expense
except for materials and text-books, the company furnishing a meeting
place and necessary facilities.
The Industrial School for Girls has been conducted since 1895,
under the direction of the Women’s Christian Association, in rooms;
furnished, lighted, and heated by the company. It is composed of thechildren of residents in the vicinity of the factory, mostly employees;
therein. Instruction is given for 3 hours weekly, from October 1 to
June 1, in practical and plain sewing, no other branch being taught..
The school has about 125 pupils.
The training of the younger children of the company’s employees,
and of the neighborhood, is provided for by the Kindergarten Associ
ation, which was organized in 1896 and is composed of a regular mem
bership of 100 women, who pay 50 cents per year as dues, and am
honorary membership of over 100 male employees and officers of the*
company, who pay from $1 to $10 per year. This association supplies
the materials used in the kindergarten. The school is conducted 10
months in the year, and, in addition, a summer kindergarten and
playground has been established, for which purpose the company has
given the use of two cottages which have been united and fitted up as
schools and residences for the instructors. This summer school takes;
care of children from 4 to 12 years of age, the regular limit being fronr
4 to 7. Four teachers are employed in the work of the kindergarten^
2 of whom also teach in the afternoon in the kindergarten extension^
a school open to the children of a small suburb two blocks away from the*
factory. In the school the usual kindergarten work is conducted and
in addition there is a kitchen-garden class, nature-study classes, sew
ing, drawing, modeling, physical culture, and choral classes, with
7170—No. 31-----2
1130
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
sloid work for the small boys, gymnastics, and physical culture. The
grounds connected with the school are fitted with swings, hammocks,
and games, and a small rivulet runs through them, in which the chil
dren take great delight. The importance attached to the work of
these schools by the company is evidenced by a sign hung at the
entrance of the factory reading: “ By the year 1915 no application for
a position in the factory will be considered unless the applicant, when
a child, attended the kindergarten.” There is also a sign reading:
“ Do not apply for any position, either mechanical, requiring special
skill, or clerical, if not a graduate of a high school or its equivalent.”
The Domestic Economy Department of the establishment is under
the direction of a graduate of Pratt Institute, who has charge of the
instruction of the cooking and sewing classes mentioned below, the
arrangement and preparation of the lunches of the company’s officers,
and o f those furnished daily to the female employees, without charge,
in the large and beautiful dining room provided and arranged expressly
for the purpose.
A cottage in the company’s grounds is fitted up for the cooking
school, and is equipped with a range, utensils, and a laboratory. In
this school the Cooking Class for N. C. R. Women and the Cooking
Classes for Girls are conducted. The class for women was organized
in 1897, and is open to all young women of the factory who pay 50
cents a year to partially cover the cost of materials. The course of
study is that of the best institutes, and includes plain and fancy cook
ing, instruction in housekeeping, marketing, and the details of domes
tic economy. This class is divided into two sections, and meets on
Mondays and Fridays from 5.15 to 7.15 p. m. The Cooking Classes
for Girls, of which there are two, are conducted for the benefit of
the children of the employees and of the neighborhood. One of the
classes is arranged specially for girls who work during the day, and is
held each Wednesday evening; the other meets on Saturday afternoons
and is open to younger children and school girls. The course of
instruction covers plain cooking and the simpler details of housekeep
ing; and all materials and supplies for the classes are furnished by the
company, free of charge.
The Sewing Class for N. C. R. Women was organized in 1898.
It meets each Thursday at noon, and receives a regular course of
instruction in plain and fancy sewing, similar to that followed in Pratt
Institute. The instruction and place of meeting are supplied by the
company, and, in 1899, 42 members were enrolled. The Summer
School for Sewing was organized June 1, 1899, and has a member
ship of 100. It meets once each week, on Wednesday, in a room pro
vided for the purpose, and is given instruction by an expert dress
maker, particular attention being given to the making of women’s
garments. On Wednesday mornings the children of employees and of
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1131
the neighborhood are taught, and in the afternoons the mothers.
Each pupil pays 5 cents per lesson, which supplies sufficient funds to
pay the teacher and for materials.
Besides those already described, there are other features in this estab
lishment, all tending toward the betterment of industrial conditions.
The Boys’ and Girls’ Gymnasium Classes, composed of the younger
members of other clubs connected with the factory, meet on Saturday
afternoons. The company supplies instruction and a place of meeting,
either a room or in the open air, according to the season, and a small
amount of apparatus. The practice is largely calisthenics, and no
charge is made for membership.
The Dancing Classes, which were organized in 1898 and 1899, are
open to all the young people in the factory and to members of the
boys’ and girls’ clubs upon payment of 50 cents each per year. The
classes meet in the company’s large dining hall.
The Bicycle Club is supplied with stall room for wheels and a man
to care for them, and holds occasional social meetings.
In the fall of 1898 the Penny Bank was instituted for the purpose
of encouraging savings by the children in the organizations connected
with the establishment. The savings are by means of stamps, after
the manner of the Penny Provident Association, and when the deposits
reach sufficient amounts the depositors are urged to transfer them to
good building associations.
The company also provides for a Sunday school, in which are
enrolled over 600 of the children and youth of the neighborhood. The
teachers of this school are regularly organized, the name of the society
being the South Park Teachers’ Association. The Sunday school is
unique, its purpose being to teach, in addition to the truths of Chris
tianity and their application to daily life, the planting and culture of
flowers, the care of home, music, and similar beneficial things.
The improvement of homes in the neighborhood of the factory is
encouraged, through the South Park Improvement Association, by the
giving of prizes amounting to $250 per year for the best examples of
ornamental planting and vine growing, and for the best-kept houses,
yards, and window boxes. Free instruction is given in the principles
of decorative planting and landscape gardening. By means of free
illustrated lectures examples of good and bad taste in gardening are
shown, together with pictures of beautiful homes and scenes in all
parts of the world.
Especial attention is given to the comfort of female employees, of
whom there are more than 200. 44They go to work an hour later than
the men in the morning and leave 10 minutes earlier in the evening. In
addition to a 10-minutes’ recess each morning and afternoon, they have
regular holidays during the year. This gives them 8 hours’ work per
day, for which they receive 10 hours’ pay. They are furnished with
1132
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
aprons and oversleeves, which are laundered free of charge. In factory
and office rooms alike the women have chairs with high backs and foot
rests. A t the noon hour luncheon is served to the women in the din
ing room, on the fourth floor of the administration building, which is
tastefully fitted up and reached b}^ elevators. Here, free of charge,
are served coffee or tea and hot portions requisite to a satisfactory
luncheon, to which the women add whatever their fancy dictates
from their own luncheon baskets. These luncheons are served from
a model kitchen adjoining the dining room, which is a daily les
son in good housekeeping. On the opposite side of the room is a
curtained rest room, with cots and easy chairs for the comfort of any
of the women who at any time may be indisposed. A piano, purchased
by the young women, offers opportunity for music during the
intervals of the noon hour. There are also a reading room and a
bookcase supplied with good literature, inviting familiarity with the
best writers.55
The company has fitted up a large building in the business center of
the city, with stage and chairs, in which frequent lectures and enter
tainments are given for the employees, who are also at liberty to use
the hall for meetings of their organizations or other purposes. This is
in addition to the large hall in the administration building, which is
handsomely fitted and furnished for similar purposes.
The male employees are given 10 hours5 pay for 9£ hours5 work,
and are allowed time for weekly baths, as are also the women, in com
fortably and conveniently arranged bathrooms.
The emploj^ees of the company are encouraged in every way to make
suggestions, criticisms, or complaints of any kind, either affecting
the construction of machines, the management of the business, or the
relations of employees with their immediate superiors or with each
other. For this purpose autographic registers are placed in every
department, upon which each employee is invited to write his sug
gestions or criticisms, which are collected and carefully considered at
frequent intervals. Many thousands of valuable suggestions have
been made by the workmen and adopted by the company, which gives,
every six months, prizes amounting to $650 in gold, varying from $5
to $50 each, to the employees whose suggestions have been found most
worthy of adoption. The presentation of these prizes is always an
occasion of public interest. In the winter they are given in the opera
house, with appropriate ceremonies and exercises. In summer they
are held in the open air, all employees and their families uniting to
make the occasion a delightful social event. The company contributes
refreshments and amusements of various kinds, including day and
night fireworks, and erects pavilions for dancing, and the thousands
who attend have a day of thorough enjoyment.
The entire arrangement and construction of the factory is such as
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1133
to afford all employees the greatest possible amount of light and pure
air, while rigid rules regarding neatness and cleanliness are enforced.
Attention is constantly given to the health, comfort, convenience,
education, and happiness of employees and their children and families,
and the management is ever on the lookout for new plans and ideas
that will contribute to these ends. The result of the company’s effort
to give pleasant and elevating surroundings and facilities has been a
vastly increased interest and efficiency on the part of employees in
their work and a corresponding increase in the profits of the company.
THE KINNAKD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, DAYTON, OHIO.
President Kinnard, of this company, which is a large manufactur
ing concern of Daj^ton with many female employees, states that dur
ing the summer of 1898 considerable trouble was encountered because
of the fact that the experienced force of the establishment was con
stantly being depleted on account of sudden illness and fainting spells
among the women, as many as seven or eight a day being frequently
compelled to quit work. Physicians were summoned to examine the
factory and its management for the purpose of ascertaining the cause
of these frequent collapses, and they all pronounced the sanitary con
ditions to be perfect. No cause for the excessive rate of sickness could
be found, and it was finally suggested that perhaps the trouble was
caused by too close application on the part of the women to their work,
and that a little rest in the forenoons and afternoons would probably
be found beneficial. The suggestion was promptly acted upon, and
an informal calisthenics club was immediately formed, a competent
instructor employed by the company, and ever since the female em
ployees have been given 15 minutes’ recess each morning and afternoon,
during which all the women join in light gymnastic exercises. The
effect of this has been very marked upon the health and efficiency of
the women. After the calisthenics they resume their work with cheer
fulness and alacrity; buoyancy of spirits and happiness of mind pre
vail where formerly languor and despondency ruled, and much more
and better work is accomplished than before the organization of the
calisthenics club.
About once each month, except during the summer, an entertain
ment of a musical and literary character is given, in which the pro
gramme is participated in and almost wholly carried out by the com
pany’s employees for the enjoyment and education of themselves and
their friends. The company gives its employees one day each year for
a picnic or outing, for which they form a committee of arrangements
among themselves. The company pays all expenses connected with
this annual holiday, and it always proves a very enjoyable occasion for
both employers and employees, who come back to their work with
renewed energy and interest.
1134
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A t the time the foregoing information was furnished (in 1899) the
company was arranging for the equipment of rooms in a building ad
joining their factory to be used for club meetings, reading and rest
rooms, and was encouraging the formation of social and literary clubs
of various kinds among the employees. The effects of the company’s
efforts have been, in addition to improved efficiency of the employees,
to bring them into closer and more pleasant relations with each other
and with their employers, and to greatly enhance their moral, intel
lectual, and physical welfare; to make them feel that they are some
thing more than mere toilers, and to realize that they occupy respon
sible positions in the estimation of the company for which they work
and in the community in which they live.
LEGKLER & CO., DAYTON, OHIO.
The Young Woman’s Progress Club is a club composed of about 60
members, constituting in the neighborhood of three-fourths of the
female employees of the manufacturing establishment of Legler & Co.,
o f Dayton, Ohio. It originated in 1898 through the suggestion and
efforts o f a lady residing in Dayton who had been in the habit of visit
ing the factory at the noon hour and reading to the young women.
The club has a regular organization, with the usual officers, and the
members pay dues of 60 cents per year. It meets daily at the noon
hour— 45 minutes being granted for this purpose by the company
every day except Tuesday, when 1 hour is allowed. The club also
meets twice a month, in the evening, in a pleasant room in the factory
set aside and furnished for its use by the company. It is a literary
and social organization, pursuing special lines of study, upon which
original papers are prepared, read, and discussed by the members,
and its room is provided with most of the current magazines and with
games o f different kinds, which furnish diversion to the members when
not engaged in the more serious work of the club. Their daily noon
meetings are informal, except the ones held on Tuesdays, at which
regular programmes are carried out, as at their semimonthly evening
meetings. They are connected with a larger organization, known as
the Young Women’s League, whose meetings they attend twice a
month. One of the firm members states that the effect of this organ
ization upon the employees has been elevating, morally and intellectu
ally; that they work better than formerly, and have more self-respect,
and that, considered from a purely financial aspect, “ it pays in dollars
and cents.”
ELIAS WEINREICH, DAYTON, OHIO.
The cigar factory of the above-named manufacturer is located in a
large, well-ventilated building, constructed with special reference to
the health and comfort of the employees, of whom about 140 are
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1135
females. The women are organized into a literary club, which meets
for an hour and a half each week and is presided over by a representa
tive of the Women’s League. Various lines of study are pursued by
this club, original papers are prepared and read by the members,
according to prearranged programmes, and interesting and improving
exercises of an educational nature are engaged in. Great interest is
taken in the proceedings of the club by the female employees, all of
whom participate in its meetings. Mr. Weinreich also furnishes a
commodious and well-equipped dining room for the use of his em
ployees at the noon hour. He is convinced that the profits of his
business have been greatty increased, and says that the morale of his
employees has been vastly improved by the features that prevail in
his establishment for their benefit.
JOHN WANAMAKER, NEW YORK, N. Y.
There are three organizations among the employees of this estab
lishment, the Looking Forward Club, the Noonday Club, and the
Employees’ Relief Association.
The first named, the Looking Forward Club, was organized in Feb
ruary, 1898, all female employees being eligible to membership, and
had, in August, 1899, about 300 members, whose literary and social
advancement is the club’s object. It has commodious rooms near the
establishment, fully furnished and equipped, and handsomely deco
rated by the firm, connected with which is a lunch room and kitchen
for the exclusive use of club members. The club has a full organiza
tion, with the usual officers and committees, and meets such minor
expenses as are not provided for by the firm by the collection of dues
from members at the rate of 50 cents for each 6 months. The execu
tive board of the club plans its work. Its meetings are held inform
ally, daily at the noon hour, and regularly, once a month at 8 p. m.,
for business, literary, and social purposes. Other meetings, social or
otherwise, are held from time to time, or may be arranged by the
executive board, while classes in calisthenics and in history are held
weekly. The club has five standing committees, known as the library,
comfort, reception, social, and gymnasium committees, and each of
these looks after the special features indicated by its name. The
comfort committee’s special province is to provide for the care and
comfort of such employees as may be disabled by sickness or other
wise, wrhether club members or not. This club has brought about a
remarkable spirit of friendliness and cooperation among the employ
ees, and the general results accomplished by it have been so highly
beneficial as to cause the firm to take an active interest in it and to
encourage it in every possible wray.
The Noonday Club was organized May 1, 1899, with 85 members,
all males, consisting of department heads, buyers, and aisle managers.
1136
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The club is regularly organized and has rooms near the establishment,
provided with necessary furnishings, materials for correspondence,
daily New York papers, most of the leading magazines, and a lunch
room. The rooms are open daily from 11 to 2 to members, who
spend their lunch hours there. The rooms and their equipment are
supplied by the firm, without expense to the club, the minor expenses
of which are met by the payment of small monthly dues by the mem
bers. The plan of the club contemplates the holding at night o f
regular monthly meetings of a social or literary nature. This organ
ization can not fail of being beneficial to its membership, which
includes all employees who are eligible.
The Relief Association is a beneficial insurance organization with a
membership of about 3,500, including every employee of the estab
lishment. Its funds, which accrue in the ordinary way by the regular
payment of dues by members, are used in paying sick and death ben
efits, and for the care and nursing of sick members, and, occasionally,
for the payment of their traveling expenses when necessary for them
to seek change of climate. Its finances are in a prosperous condi
tion, and many thousands of dollars are collected and disbursed by it
annually.
THE ACME SUCKER ROD COMPANY, TOLEDO, OHIO.
A good idea of what has been accomplished by this company
toward the improvement of industrial conditions and the elimination of
social barriers between employer and employed is given in a letter
addressed by the president of the company, Mr. S. M. Jones, under
date of June 27, 1899, to an agent of the Department of Labor. After
narrating the beginning of the business of the company and describing
the deplorable conditions of the workmen as they then existed, Mr.
Jones says:
From the first I began to break down the senseless, silly social
distinction that exists between employer and employed. I believe in
equality as a fundamental proposition, and have always believed in it,
and have always believed that I had no right to ask a man to work
under conditions under which I myself would not be satisfied to work.
Moreover, I had no inclination to ask any man to do for me what I
would be unwilling to do for others. As I looked about me and saw
the hard conditions of stupefying toil that characterize the lives of
many of my fellow-men, and reflected how impossible it is for thou
sands of them under their conditions to be decent citizens, I felt keenly
the shame and outrage of the social situation. Not having studied very
closely the ethics of the Golden Rule, I one day resolved to put it up
in the shop as the rule governing the place, foolishly thinking that 1
could carry out the Golden Rule while making profit, from the toil o f
my fellow-men. Though I know now that this can not be done, the
Golden Rule still hangs on the wall. It has, at least, been an ideal for
which employer and employed might strive. If there has been
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1137
failure to live up to it, it has been on the part of the employers rather
than on the part of the men who do the work.
W e have continued our policy of breaking down the wicked idea of
social distinction from the beginning; first by little parties, excur
sions down the bay, and so on; then by an occasional word of counsel,
a Washington birthday letter, a Christmas letter; the opening of a
small park and playground for the children adjoining the factory, and
of a comfortable hall upstairs over the shop, park and hall each bearing
the name of “ Golden Rule;” arranging for meetings and music in the
park on Sundays in the summer, ana in the hall during the winter time.
Progressive people in the neighborhood are conducting an ethical Sun
day school in the hall every Sunday afternoon. The meetings in both
places are religious in the best sense of the word, though broadly
catholic. The subjects discussed and studied are the Golden Rule,
brotherhood, patriotism, the wage question, and various phases of the
social problem. * * * In addition to this the men have organized
among themselves a club for the study of social problems. * * *
The men also have a German social club, and a singing club has been
organized.
About a year ago the company proposed to the men to institute an
insurance fund to provide for injuries, sickness, etc., the company pro
posing that the men deposit 1 per cent of their weekly wages to the
credit of the insurance fund and a like amount would be deposited b}^
the company. The fund is under the charge and direction of the men,
who have formed the society with rules for the governing thereof.
Another step looking toward the recognition of larger social obliga
tions has been the extension of a week’s vacation with pay to every
workman, the men being requested to arrange for the time of vacation
with the manager, so as to interfere as little as possible with the work.
For nearly three years we have been running the shorter workday,
not exactly an 8-hour day, but we work a 50-hour week, 9 hours for
5 days and 5 hours on Saturday. W e lay no claim to having done
anything from a charitable motive; the whole aim has been to strive
toward an ideal of justice. There is very little of what is known as the
“ boss” idea about the place—none at all, indeed, except the necessary
direction—and with the disappearance of the 6‘ boss” idea I believe
the alleged necessity for bosses will go also. Simple justice requires
me to say that every step that has been made looking toward just deal
ing has met with a responsive echo on the part of the men, and shorter
hours and better treatment have resulted in better work, better work
men, better men, better citizens.
The Golden Rule Park, with its delightful old trees and its children’s
playground, adjoining the shop where the men can look out of the
windows directly upon it, has had an elevating, moralizing effect, and,
indeed, the whole moral tone of the neighborhood has been improved
by its healthful atmosphere.
No one has a right to hope that a man will improve very rapidly who
feels that he is simply used as a cog in a wheel—as a mere instrument
from which his employer wants to squeeze profit. * * * There is
no room to question but that fair-play treatment pays, from the sordid,
economic point of view. I have not cared to inquire, however, whether
it paid or not; that fact does not concern me as much as the question,
Is it right? But those who are looking at the mere material side o f
the question will be pleased to know that it pays in sordid dollars and
cents.
1138
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In addition to the other features in operation by this company for
the benefit of its employees, it makes a distribution annually of a
portion of its profits among them, each workman receiving a sum
proportional to the amount of his earnings during the year.
THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY, IV ORYD ALE, OHIO.
The methods adopted by this large manufacturing company in deal
ing with its employees are described in a letter from the general man
ager, under date of June 22, 1899, from which the following extracts
are given:
Profit sharing.— Under our system of profit sharing all employees
who have been in the employ of the company for not less than three
months are entitled to receive a profit-sharing dividend upon their
wages equal to that declared upon the common stock; that is to say,
an employee who received wages of $500 a year receives a profit-sharing
dividend equal in amount to that received by the holder of $500 worth,
par value, of common stock of the company. The profit-sharing divi
dend is m id at the same time the dividends are paid upon the common
stock. The company reserves the right to refuse the profit-sharing
dividend to any employee for cause, but the amount of the dividena
to which he would have been entitled is distributed among the other
employees. Since the inauguration of the company in 1890 the profitsharing dividends have been at the rate of 12 per cent, with the excep
tion of the last two years, when they have been at the rate of 20 per
cent per annum. W e consider the system a success, and believe that
the extra interest and care shown by the employees have more than
earned the amount of money that has been paid them in dividends.
Pension fu n d .—The company has established a pension system
whereby the company pays one-naif of the amount necessary and the
employees contribute the other half. The employees’ contribution is
taken each year from the profit-sharing dividend. All employees who
have been in the employ of the company for ten years and then
become disabled from any cause are entitled to receive a pension of
75 per cent of their average wages during this last year of employ
ment, which amount, however, shall not be less than $6 per week.
In order to make the drain on the pension fund as light as possible,
the company as far as possible gives employment to pensioners at
such light work as they are capable of doing and pays them what
such work is worth. The amount necessary to bring their income up
to what they would be entitled to under the pension system is taken
from the pension fund.
Accident insurance.— Any employee of the company who is injured
from any cause while in the employ of the company receives his reg
ular wages until such time as he is able to return to work. No charge
is made against the employees for this accident insurance.
Medical attendance.—The company furnishes free medical service
to all its employees living within 3 miles of the factories.
In addition to the above, the company has assisted the employees
in buying the stock of the companj^. The company will advance the
money to any employee who desires to buy the common stock of the
company and charge him 4 per cent interest upon the unpaid balance.
The employee pays them the money so advanced in installments o f
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1139
not less than $5. Any dividends paid upon the stock accrue to the
employee. In addition to this, some of the officers of the company
have given the employees making such investments in the stock of the
company a written guarantee against loss upon such investments.
W e employ in our facto lies about 700 people, of whom about 300
are boys and girls. Among the 400 men in the employ of the company there is now held, at the present market value, over $220,000
worth of the common stock of the company. W e would especially
call attention to the benefits, both to the employee and to the corpor
ation, of such a scheme. If a plan which affords proper protection to
employees against suffering any financial loss can be devised and
encouragements held out to them to invest their savings in the stock
of the corporation for which they are working, we believe a great deal
of the labor trouble can be avoided. Of course the first consideration
must be the absolute protection of the laborer in such investment.
Any person visiting this company’s establishment can not fail of
being impressed with the fact that their liberal policy in dealing with
their employees and the thoughtful consideration given to their wel
fare have resulted in great moral and social benefits to the employed,
as well as in great financial prosperity.
N. O. NELSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, MO., AND
MOUND CITY AND LECLAIRE, ILL.
This establishment, which employs -between 400 and 500 people,
adopted a profit-sharing scheme in 1886, in pursuance of which, with
out making any changes in management or wages, interest was allowed
on the company’s capital at 6 per cent and the remaining profits were
divided between capital and labor, after setting aside one-tenth thereof
for a reserve fund, one-tenth for a provident fund, and one-twentieth
for an educational fund. Interest was regarded as the proper wages
of capital; the reserve fund was intended to meet the losses of bad
years and to equalize dividends when profits were small; the provident
fund was for the caring for the families of deceased employees, or of
such as should become disabled through sickness or accident; and the
educational fund was designed to establish a free library for employees.
The dividends arising under this plan were paid in cash or in the
company’s stock, according to the wish of the individual employees,
who invested about three-fourths thereof in stock, until 1890, when
the rule Avas adopted of issuing stock for all dividends to employees,
which is redeemed at par AvheneiBr the holder for any cause leaves
the service of the company. In 1894 the rule was adopted of permit
ting only such employees to receive profit-sharing dividends as saved
10 per cent of their Avages Avhen working full time and receiAring full
pay and invested it in the company’s stock, the purpose of the rule
being “ to offer a substantial inducement for men when in good health
and having steady employment to saAre something for the future, and
also to make the sharing in the business profits dependent on each one
doing something toward it in a direct and personal AAray.”
1140
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In 1892 the proportion of the profits given to labor was increased, a
2 per cent dividend being paid on wages to each 1 per cent on capital,
and the original plan of setting aside fixed percentages of profits for
beneficial and educational purposes was superseded by the payment of
whatever amounts should be necessary therefor and charging them
against the profits.
About one-half of the company’s works are located at Leclaire, near
Edwardsville, 111., which was located in 1890 upon a tract of 125 acres
of land, to which several additions have since been made. A beautiful
village has been built by the company, and about one-half of the area
has been laid out in streets. Houses have been built and sold to such
employees as want them. The price charged for land, including
improvements, is $2 per front foot for interior and $2.50 per front
foot for corner lots, and 6 per cent interest from 1892. The company
builds the houses on plans mutually agreed upon, and charges for
them the cost of raw material and labor plus the average profit made
by the manufacturing business. The company has its own planing
mills, woodworking force, and lumber yard, and it is probable that^
the net cost of a house is no more than the cost of raw material and
labor would be when bought in the ordinary retail way. The pay
ments per month range from $10 to $20, depending on the price of the
house and the wages received by the buyer. The attempt is made to
enable everyone to secure a house, and to make the payments such as
he can afford. When, for any reason, a man wishes to remove and
dispose of his property, the company voluntarily takes it back at the
purchase price, refunds the money paid on it, and charges rent for the
time occupied. There is no intention to provide houses for rent,
except a few for temporary occupancy. These houses are rented at
from $6 for a 3-room house to $12 for one of 6 rooms with bath,
including water and electric light. Water is free in all the houses
and for yard purposes. The owners of houses are charged for elec
tric lights 25 cents per month for each lamp. The lots are 100 feet
front by from 120 to 180 feet in depth. The deeds are without restric
tion, save that houses must be built at least 30 feet back from the
sidewalk, to allow for ample front yards; and they are to be used for
residence, benevolent, and educational purposes only. Employees are
free to live where they please. A large portion of them are residents
of the adjoining town of Edwardsville, and many of them own their
homes.
The company has erected and equipped a clubhouse upon its grounds,
with kitchen, dining room, steam heat, electric light, sleeping rooms,
library, and reading rooms, which had heretofore been occupied by a
club o f unmarried men, known as the Cooperative Boarding Club.
This club had been discontinued for various reasons, and the building
is now used by the employees for meetings and other social purposes.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1141
There is a billiard room and bowling alley, of which the employees
have free use. The company maintains a large steam-heated green
house, from which residents are supplied with plants and flowers free
of charge, together with the services of a landscape gardener, to enable
them to make the grounds surrounding their homes attractive.
The employees have a literary society which provides, on alternate
Tuesday nights during the winter, a course of lectures by prominent
lecturers. These cover a wide range of subjects, including illustrated
lectures on history and travel, and are usually given in the clubhouse,
though at times it has been necessary to utilize one of the factory build
ings, owing to the large attendance. The other Tuesday nights are
taken up by musical, literary, and social exercises by the members of
the society. There is also among the employees a well-trained band,
consisting of 30 members, 18 regular and 12 auxiliary, which performs
two nights each week during the summer on the spacious lawn on the
company’s grounds, which is provided with comfortable seats and with
various accessories for the amusement of the children, such as swings,
teeter boards, etc.
The Leclaire School and Library Association, consisting of the home
owning residents of Leclaire, was formed in 1894, and has control o f
the free library and the kindergarten school established by the com
pany and of the educational affairs of the town. The library has
upward of 1,000 volumes, to which additions are constantly being made.
The school fund is endowed with $10,000 of the stock of the company,
and the deed of endowment and articles of incorporation of the associa
tion provide that the school system shall begin with a kindergarten, to
be followed by a regular school system and manual training. A t the
age of 12, boys are given light work for one hour per day in the facto
ries or on the company’s farm, and the hours of labor per day are
increased each year until the age of 18 is reached, when a pupil is sup
posed to graduate from school and to become employed at full time
and wages in the works of the companj7 without being compelled to
seek employment elsewhere.
The Provident Fund, which is used in caring for disabled employees
or for the families of those deceased, is controlled by provident com
mittees of five members each, one for St. Louis and one for Leclaire,
elected by the employees. These committees, as occasion demands,
draw on the treasurer of the company for whatever amounts they find
to be necessary, and the sums thus paid out constitute a part of the reg
ular running expenses of the establishment, the profits being reduced
and the dividends payable to both labor and capital lessened by the
amounts thus expended. These provident committees act under welldefined rules and regulations which have been adopted by the employees
at large.
Concerning the profit-sharing system and other features prevailing
1142
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
in this establishment, it is said that in the opinion of the management
waste of time and material has been reduced and better attention has
been secured; that none of the “ free” things at Leclaire are held out
as charities or gifts—nor are they such in any proper sense—but they
are public facilities similar to schools, libraries, parks, and lights in
any well-ordered city, and are paid for out of the profits earned by the
joint capital and labor of the company, and that the company and its
employees attempt to combine in a practical way a backbone of pro
ductive business with an elastic system of social flesh and muscle.
That the plans upon which the business of this company has been
conducted have resulted satisfactorily both to employer and employed
is well evidenced by the fact that-they have continued in full and suc
cessful force and operation for more than a decade, that the business
is prosperous and profitable, and that the employees are contented
and happy, labor troubles and disturbances being unknown among
them.
PEACEDALE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, PEACEDALE, R. I.
This establishment, one of the oldest manufacturing institutions in
the United States, has long been known for the liberality of its deal
ings with its employees and its constant efforts for their betterment
and happiness. It conducts the only productive business of the village
of Peacedale, and the entire population of 1,600 or more persons is
directly or indirectly dependent upon it. An account of the various
organizations of employees and other beneficial features fostered and
encouraged by the company has been furnished by its treasurer, and
is given below:
The village organizations of Peacedale, which tend to make it a
leasant and valuable place in which to live, are not generally in the
ands of the manufacturing company as such, although they have been
in most cases started, and to a great extent carried along, by the own
ers of the property. The fact that the stockholders of the corporation
have always lived here and been a part of the village life itself has
been an especially useful item in the growth of the place. Most of
the organizations named below are thus village rather than company
matters, but at the same time the company, its owners, and employees
practically make up the village.
The Hazard Memorial harbors most of these organizations. The
building was erected in 1891 to the memory of Rowland Gibson Haz
ard. It contains a library that now holds about 7,000 volumes, a hall
seating 600 people, several class rooms, a gymnasium, etc. The build
ing, o f stone and wood, is an important part of the village architecture,
and cost, perhaps, 140,000 or $50,000.
1.
The library is carried on in the interests of the whole town, and
is managed by a board of directors that represent the different vil
lages. It is used principally by Peacedale and Wakefield, and m the
summer is drawn upon by Narragansett Pier and other near-by sum
mer resorts. It is entirely free. It has not only the library proper,
E
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1143
but a reading room which is open during the season until 8 o’clock
every night. The library has funds that have been given to it from
time to time, and is supported by them and contributions from various
interested people. The town has within the past year for the first
time made an appropriation to buy books.
2.
The Choral Society was organized some ten years ago, and has
grown to be one of the leading features of Peacedale. A conductor
comes down from Providence once a week during the season, and there
is a chorus of 75 to 100 voices who make up the membership of the
society. They give three concerts each year and have done some very
good work. * * * This Choral Society has not only helped the
village in itself, by giving concerts and affording the singers of the
)lace an opportunity, but it has an indirect value in developing the
ocal musical talent, as shown in an excellent church choir, and, especialty, in another feature of Peacedale, which we call the “ Sunda}^
Musics.” The Choral Society is formally organized, has a president,
treasurer, board of directors, etc., and the members pay $3 each per
annum. There is an admission fee to the concerts, but the whole sum
realized from these sources is not sufficient to carry on the work and
the deficiency is made up by the owners of the mill property.
3.
A few years ago the Sunday Musics were begun by Miss Hazard
and her sister, who simply went into the hall on a Sunday afternoon
and played and sang for fifteen or twenty minutes, while a few people
from the outside straggled in. From that it has grown to be an infor
mal concert each Sunday afternoon for the season from November
until Easter. The various Sundays during the time are allotted to
musical people in the village and town, and each one gets up a pro
gramme that will take from half an hour to an hour. The music is not
wholly sacred, but it is attractive to the people of the village and
town, who come in large numbers, and the hall very frequently con
tains from two hundred and fifty to five or six hundred people on a
pleasant Sunday afternoon. The musicians are almost entirely local,
though once in a while we have some first-class performer from the
outside. There is no organization, and no charge of any sort connected
with this work.
4.
The Sewing Society has two rooms upstairs in the building, and
meets every Saturday afternoon during the fall, winter, and spring.
This is also without formal organization, and is carried on by the wife
of the president of the company and a number of other ladies in the
village. The girls are divided into classes and taught the practical art
of sewing. Twice a year they are given a little spread and a frolic.
They number about 100 pupils.
5.
The Boys' Room was started some five years ago, and is a very
simple affair. The membership is confined to boys under 16, nomi
nally, although there are a few over that age who came in several years
ago, and have continued to come. The boys are the village boys, mostly
the sons of mill operatives. They come at half past 7 o’clock Friday
evenings and are kept until 9 o’clock. They are divided into two
parts, and sent down, one part at a time, to the gymnasium, where
they are instructed and led in gymnastics by some competent person.
The other part are kept in the rooms above, where there are games
and reading matter, and a few are drawn into classes, carried on in the
same building, in arithmetic, sometimes in stenography, or in any
study in which sufficient interest is shown to gather a class. The idea
1
1144
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
of the club, if club it may be called, is that the association of the
boys with somewhat more refined and orderly methods will help them
as time goes on. There are some 8 or 10 people who come regularly
to help carry on the work. There is no charge of any sort in connec
tion with this organization. A t the end of the year the boys are
treated to ice cream and cake and a general good time.
6. There are also in the building some special classes in manual
training. The past year the work has been in carpentry, and has been
exceedingly good. The class numbers from 8 to 10 boys, who are
mostly sons of mill operatives. They are furnished with tools by the
trustees of the hall, and charged 5 cents a lesson to cover the cost of
material. The instructor is a village carpenter of unusual skill, who
gives his time.
7. In* the basement of the Memorial Hall there is a gymnasium,
several bathrooms, and a smoking room. These are appropriated by
the athletic association, which consists of some 30 to 40 young men who
each pays $2.50 per annum for the privilege of using the apparatus, the
bathrooms, etc. The work is under the care of the superintendent of
the Memorial Building, who collects the dues and maintains order.
The money is applied toward the expense of maintaining the gymna
sium, and the deficiencies are made up by the trustees of the hall.
8. The village supports a Literary Society, which meets every two
weeks during the season, extending from October to May. It is reg
ularly organized, with a president, secretary, treasurer, etc. It was
begun a good many years ago. The entertainments are not wholly of
a literary character, but are largely contributed by local talent and
consist o f lectures, concerts, dramatic performances, etc. W e fre
quently hire people from outside, and one concert of the Choral Society
is included as a regular number in the Literary Society’s course. One
night a year is given up to the issuing of a number of the South
County Magazine, which is a rather unique production of this society.
Though called a magazine, it is in manuscript, and is simply read and
illustrated by living pictures, drawings, etc. The membership consists
of all those who buy season tickets, and the charges amount to about
10 cents per night.
9. In the Memorial Hall Several local circles of the King’s Daughters
society, which are branches of the regular organization of that name,
hold their regular meetings.
The hall in the Memorial Building is for the general use of the peo
ple of the village, but is not let to any traveling show or organization,
and for no entertainments that are not considered by the trustees to be
for the better interests of the village. The rental to such people as
can hire it is nominal. It is used for fairs, concerts that are gotten up
for special town purposes, etc.
There is also maintained in the village, in another building, a read
ing room which is regularly organized, and is patronized by the young
men entirely. This club is called the Peacedale Reading Association,
and has been in successful operation for a long period of years. It is
supported by a yearly charge from the members, which goes toward
buying newspapers and periodicals, which are placed upon the tables,
and the deficit is made up by the president of the Peacedale Manu
facturing Company. A room and lighting are furnished them free of
charge, and they use this for meetings at all times, smoking, playing
games, and such like harmless entertainment. The dues are about $2
a year.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
11 4 5
The only other general work in this line that the Peacedale Com
pany undertakes is to cultivate a spirit of fairness and just dealing with
its employees, and to make the tenements and the village generally as
attractive, pleasant, and healthful as possible.
The owners of the property feel that the efforts which they have
made, extending now over a long series of years, have aided in bring
ing about a cordial feeling among all parties who work for the com
pany, and in raising the general morale of the village. Certainly
Peacedale has a body of very efficient and steady help, and the changes*
among the emplo}rees are few. A number of families have been here
for several generations, and the company has never experienced any
serious labor difficulties.
THE SOLVAY PROCESS COMPANY, SYRACUSE, N. Y.
The treasurer of this company has furnished a statement of the work
carried on by it during the past thirteen 3^ears in the way of improv
ing the condition and efficiency of employees, from which the follow
ing account has been prepared.
The management, in considering various plans looking to the social
and moral uplifting of its employees, as well as the increasing of their
abilities as workmen, early came to the conclusion that the most effect
ive way of reaching them and improving their condition would be not
so much through efforts directed to the men themselves as through the
work which could be done through their children; and the company’s
experience goes far to show that along this line of effort much may be
accomplished.
In the autumn of 1886 a small sewing school was established in anr
unoccupied room in the office building. The attendance at first was
small, consisting of not more than 25 or 30 girls, ranging in age from
10 to 14 years, almost entirely the children of workmen; though in
this, as in all similar work carried on by the company, no strict line
was drawn between the children of employees and those of others
living in the vicinity. This class was carried on, with increasing num
bers, soon outgrowing the capacity of its original quarters, and in
1890 the company built and furnished a commodious hall and dwelling
house, arranged with special reference to the carrying on of the sew
ing school and other work of similar character. The class has been
continued from year to year and now numbers about 250. The pupils
are divided into classes, each under the care of a competent teacher.
The course of sewing is graded, practically the same system being
used which has been worked out by the Pratt Institute of BrooklynIn connection with the sewing school there are also classes in house
hold work and in cooking, the latter being attended by some of the
older girls, who also have an embroidery class in which they meet
once a week and give their time and labor in the preparation of fine
7170—No. 31-----3
1146
BULLETIN’ OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
work, which is afterwards sold at an annual bazaar, the money thus
derived being used in helping to supply the necessary funds for carry
ing on all this work.
. In 1890 a dancing class was organized among the boys and young
men, which ever since has been carried forward by them. It has
finally absorbed the gymnastic class, which had been previously organ
ized, and has proved so attractive and been conducted so successfully
as not only to support itself but also to furnish a considerable part of
the revenue necessary for carrying on the sewing and other classes
previously mentioned. These classes are all practically under the
direction and control of the King’s Daughters, which consists of ladies
connected with the families of the principal employees and officers
of the works. This association supplies voluntary teachers for the
classes, and such funds as may be required for carrying on all the work.
Concerning the influence of these classes, the treasurer of the com
pany says that their beneficial effect is very marked, and that in look
ing back at the early years and remembering the manners ajid customs
of the children it is plainly to be seen that there has been a great
improvement. Fifteen years ago it was a common and true saying
that a dancing party in this vicinity always ended in a fight, while at
the dancing classes of the present a perfectly well-behaved set of young
people is found. The effect o f these classes is also evident in the
homes and surroundings of the workmen, and it is believed that more
has been accomplished in this direction, through the efforts with the
children, than could reasonably have been expected by any other
method. A t this time a large number of those who were pupils during
the early years have families and homes of their own, in which they
put into practice the lessons and training received in these classes, the
work of which is still going forward with constantly increasing
interest and numbers of attendants.
In addition to the foregoing features, connected directly with the
establishment, the King’s Daughters have for the past ten years inter
ested themselves in securing the introduction of kindergarten and
manual training classes in the public schools of Syracuse and Solvay,
their efforts in this direction, which have been highly successful, being
along the line which contemplates the reaching of workmen through
their children.
The efforts of the company have not been confined exclusively to
work among the children. They have adopted plans which have been
directed toward the men themselves, which have been in the main suc
cessful, though one of their leading ones has not been found to work
satisfactorily and has been abandoned. In 1892 a pension fund was
established, the object of which was to provide a means of support for
employees and their families when by reason of accident, sickness, or
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1147
advanced age labor must cease. The plan contemplated the placing to
the credit of each employee annually a sum of money equal to 10 per
cent of his annual earnings after two full years’ employment, the per
centage increasing with the term of service until 25 per cent of the
annual wages should represent the amount credited. Owing to the
unfavorable attitude of some of the workmen the contributions of the
company to this fund were suspended in 1895, at which time it
amounted to nearly $200,000, in which about 1,500 employees were
interested. This amount is being drawn upon from time to time in
making payments to such as are entitled thereto, and when it is
exhausted, which will be in the near future, it is probable that the plan
will be abandoned.
In 1887 the directors of the company adopted a plan of participation in
profits, to which the chief employees and general officers of the company
were admitted. The theory of this plan was that each one of these men
was in position to increase the prosperity of the company by special
effort and care, and to encourage such effort, and in return therefor, the
directors arranged a scale of participation, depending, first, on the
amount of salary received by each member and, second, upon the rate
of dividends declared to stockholders; thus, if dividends were high
the participation was also high, and if the contrary, the participation
was decreased, always maintaining a fixed relation to the rate of divi
dends. In 1890 a junior class of participation was established, to
which was admitted the foremen and assistant foremen of the works,
based on the same plan as the foregoing, but depending on dividends
in a different and reduced proportion. The object of this plan was
largely to so interest each one in the success of the works as to induce
suggestions for improvement and little economies, and the careful
consumption of supplies and materials. The plan is still in force, and
has worked admirably in the desired direction.
In 1888 a mutual benefit society w7as organized among the employees
for the purpose of rendering financial assistance in case of sickness,
accident, or death of its members; and this society still continues in
active and prosperous condition, with a large membership, and is sup
ported by the regular payment of fees and dues by members, and by
the contributions of the company to its treasury, which have amounted,
since its organization, to more than the contributions of the men. The
operations of the society have been carefully watched and systematic
ally encouraged by the company, and have been productive of great good.
As indicating their extent it may be stated that from its organization
until June 16, 1899, the cash receipts amounted to nearly $150,000 and
the disbursements to about $142,000.
1148
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
JOHN B. STETSON COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
The following statement, relative to the improved industrial con
ditions prevailing in the above-named establishment, was furnished by
the treasurer of the company under date of August 2, 1899:
The factory has been organized, and conducted for many years, on
{he broadest principles of humanity. In the effort to reach this we
have approached each subject with a care that we can only describe as
having been born of experience.
The apprentice system is in full force in this factory. Our appren
tices are required to serve four years of actual service before becom
ing journeymen. During this time we feel that they are more or less
under our control and supervision, and that we are in a large degree
responsible for the habits they form while here. Every precaution is
taken, therefore, from the time that an apprentice enters the factory
to surround him with all possible chances of improvement, mentally
and morally. In order that he may be brought into touch with the
moral influences, a Sunday school room, fully fitted out with parlor
organ, grand organ, and piano, is attached to the factory. Class
rooms within this room make it possible to have here a Sunday school
which frequently reaches as high as 1,400 members. The Christian
Endeavor and Choral societies connected with the school are both
flourishing organizations. The library in connection with this school
is kept open during the week, so that it is possible for the employees
at any time to obtain, if they desire, the best literature of the day.
The books are furnished without charge, a librarian being in attend
ance whose business it is to keep the records.
It has been the custom of the managers, ever since the inauguration
of the apprenticeship system, to give to each apprentice upon his
graduation the amount of $1 per week during his entire stay as an
apprentice in this establishment, in addition to his earnings. This sum
of money is, however, in no way connected with his wages, but is a
gift by the management to those who deserve it. The pay of the
apprentices is by the piece, the amount of wages they receive being
dependent entirety upon their application to their duties. A peculiar
feature of this factory is that a Friday noonday meeting is held weekly,
where the apprentices are assembled for a half hour, and the time is
devoted to music, singing, and to such talks as are calculated to be
beneficial to them, morally and spiritualty.
One of the most important organizations connected with the place is
the John B. Stetson Building Association, which is conducted entirety
by the operatives, and which has been in operation for many years
with uniform success. Many of the operatives, through the medium
of this association, have become the owners of homes which are now
entirety clear and paid for, solely by connection with this association.
In addition to this we have the Stetson Savings Fund, which is
intended to gather in the smaller amounts that could not be conven
iently handled by the building association. There is, however, a limi
tation on the deposits in the savings fund to such portions of the weekly
earnings of each person as the management believe it is possible for
the depositors to permit to remain for their future use. The company
receives these deposits and allows interest upon them, at the present
time, at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. In order to prevent the
withdrawal of deposits without full and proper consideration, it has
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1149
been deemed wise, in case of their desire to withdraw before the end
of 6 months, that depositors may be permitted to do so by losing the
accumulated interest thereon.
The beneficial fund is also an institution which deserves some notice,
and is supported by a contribution from each worker of 25 cents per
month, unless it be an apprentice under 18 years of age, in which case
the amount is 15 cents per month. This secures a fund which is appli
cable to those who may be sick and not able to attend to business, at
the rate of $5 per week for 5 weeks in each year to those over 18
years of age, or $3 per week if under 18 j^ears of age; or, in case of
death, $100 is allotted for funeral expenses to those over 18 years of
age and $75 to those under 18 years of age. This fund has proved
sufficient to meet all the purposes of the object for which it was created.
The company in the management of its business has endeavored to
furnish as much light and air as it is possible to obtain for the opera
tives, and no little trouble and expense has been incurred by the effort
to secure such surroundings. Cleanliness is one of the laws of the
place. Every department throughout the factory, no matter what may
be the work carried on therein, is required to be constantly clean and
tidy.
During the last 2 years it has been found that an investment of 5
per cent additional on the workmen’s wages, in various departments
of the factory, has proved beneficial to the workmen and to the
factory itself, and the possibilities are that this method of rewarding
will further extend itself in the future. A system of rewards for
merit is prevalent throughout the factory. Workmen in all classes
are liable to be benefited at Christmas by being the recipients of
rewards for extra duty performed, or for good work, or for good con
duct, throughout the preceding year. These favors are largely paid
in gold, several thousand dollars being distributed each Christmas upon
this account, the prizes ranging from $100 downward, nothing less
than $2.50 being given. Individual accounts are kept with every
workman in the place, so that by actual comparison exact justice may
be done to every individual. In making up the rewards of these
accounts absolute justice, without partiality, is shown.
The Union Mission Hospital connected with the factory is fully
equipped with all modern appliances for the most effective work.
Many thousand cases have been treated therein during the past 10
years, its services being entirely under the control of the John B.
Stetson Company.
For many years the gymnasium connected with the factory has been
in constant use. It is fully equipped with everything necessary for
the modern ideal athletic improvements.
The officials of the company assert most positively that their efforts
as outlined in the foregoing statement have not only resulted in the
moral, social, and physical upbuilding of the employees, but also in
great improvement in the quality and quantity of their work, and in
substantial increase in the company’s business and profits.
STRAWRRIDGE & CLOTHIER, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
The proprietors of this large mercantile establishment, with more
than 1,000 employees, having a full realization of the fact that their
progress and the prosperity of their business depend largely on the
1150
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
good health, contentment, and interest taken in the firm’s affairs by the
employed, have adopted certain methods tending to accomplish the
desired result. Among these may be mentioned the arrangements
made for the comfort and welfare of female employees, for whose
pleasure and convenience a commodious, well-lighted, and tastefully
furnished dining room has been fitted up, in which they are furnished
with coffee, tea, and milk at lunch hours free of charge. This room
is supplied with cushions and easy-chairs and an extensive library,
and women attendants are employed whose duty it is to minister to
the comfort of the girls in every way possible. A complete stock of
medicines is kept on hand for use in emergencies, and a lady physician
is in attendance three days in a week. Another feature, which like
wise is prevalent in many progressive business houses in various cities
throughout the country, is the granting to all employees of an annual
vacation, with full pay, of either one or two weeks, according to
length o f service. It is generally conceded that the renewed zest and
energy with which empk^ees resume their duties upon returning to
work more than compensate for the amounts paid them during their
absence.
There are two organizations among the employees, known as the
Savings Fund and the Relief Association, the objects of which, as
indicated by their names, are, respectively, to stimulate a desire to
save money and to enable members to lay aside a small fixed sum each
week, and the relief of any member who may be detained from busi
ness on account of sickness, disability, or accident, or the payment of
a fixed sum to his family in case of his death. The affairs of both
organizations are highly prosperous. The funds of the Savings Fund,
which at the close of the last fiscal year amounted to more than
$70,000, are cared for and invested by the firm and earn liberal interest.
The Relief Association has upward of 1,000 members, and its income,
derived from small assessments levied on the membership when
demanded by the condition of its treasury, is supplemented by liberal
donations of money by the firm. Since its organization, in 1880, the
association has collected and disbursed about $69,000.
In this, as in all similarly conducted establishments, business has
been improved and profits increased by just and liberal treatment of
employees and constant care for their well-being.
CINCINNATI MILLING AND MACHINE COMPANY, CINCINNATI,
OHIO.
The managers of this establishment are thoroughly imbued with the
idea that it is necessary, in order to insure the lowest cost of produc
tion in manufacturing industries, to foster a kindly feeling on the part
of the employed for the employer. A manufacturer may be ever so
willing to install in his plant the latest improved machinery, as well as
to adopt special fixtures and tools, but can not hope to gain the full
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1151
measure of benefit to be derived therefrom unless these improved
machines and devices are received in the proper spirit and worked to
their best advantage by the workmen who must use them. If this
proper spirit on the part of the workmen can be cultivated, so that
each individual will utilize every moment and every machine or fixture
to its best advantage, the cost of work will be reduced lower than by
any other method and far less expense will be necessary in the way of
superintendence and inspection.
In order to build up and foster a spirit of friendliness on the part
of its employees and to cultivate a feeling of good-fellowship, the com
pany for a number of years has given annual outings to all its employees
and their families, in which expense has not been spared to render them
occasions of thorough enjoyment, and on each Christmas every employee
receives an appropriate present from the company. On May 1, 1899,
a profit-sharing scheme was put into operation, by virtue of which the
employees receive a quarterly dividend, based on the wages received by
them and upon the increased output of the shops brought about through
their efforts. The cost books of the concern show the gain in produc
tion per man, upon which the wage dividend is based.
The sum of $500 per year is set aside, $250 of which is paid each 6
months in the way of prizes for suggestions made by employees for
improvements of any kind in the conduct o f the shops or business of
the company. The maker of any suggestion which is used, for which
no prize is awarded, is paid for it such a price as it is deemed to be
worth. A t the time the foregoing information was furnished (during
the summer of 1899) the company intended to shortly provide a dining
room and kitchen for the use of employees, as well as club and bath
rooms, and to encourage the formation of social and literary organiza
tions among them.
The managers of the company say they know, by comparing the cost
of work in their shops with that of other shops in similar lines of pro
duction, that they are being directly benefited by the good feeling on
the part of their employees and the interest taken by them in all efforts
looking to the improvement and increase of output and the lessening
of the cost of production, brought about by liberal treatment and a
recognition of the principle that money expended for the betterment
of the lives of employees is money profitably invested.
PELZER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, PELZER, S. C.
This company, which operates the largest cotton-manufacturing
plant in the South, employing 2,800 operatives, conducts its business
and looks after the interests of its employees in such manner as to con
serve the highest and best development of both. The town of Pelzer,
in which the factories are located, has a population of about 6,000, all
o f whom are directly or indirectly dependent upon the mills. Every
dwelling house and building, of which there are about 1,000, belongs
1152
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
to the company. The town is not incorporated, but is held as private
property, and is governed entirely by the rules and regulations of the
mill corporation.
The dwelling houses, which contain an average of 4 rooms each and
which are rented to the mill hands at 50 cents per room per month, are
tasteful and convenient in construction, and each one is provided with
about 15,000 feet of ground which is utilized by the tenants for garden
ing purposes. The tenants are also supplied by the company with
water and with meadow land for the pasturing of several hundred cows,
free of charge. All sanitary and street work is carried on at the com
pany’s expense, and every effort is made to render the village pleasant
and attractive.
There are several mercantile establishments in the town with which
the company has no connection other than the ownership of the build
ings occupied by them. The largest of these is a corporation with a
paid-in capital of $25,000, the shares, of $25 each, being nearly all
owned by the mill operatives, who conduct the business through a
manager elected by themselves. This establishment is very popular
with the employees and its affairs have been prosperous enough to
enable the payment of substantial dividends to its shareholders.
In addition to 5 churches, the town has 2 well-equipped schools,
which were attended by between seven and eight hundred children in
1899, maintained entirely by the company for 10 months in the year
without any expense whatever to the residents of the place. As the
public schools of South Carolina do not run over 4 months per year,
the comparative educational advantages offered at Pelzer are very great.
The company also maintains a “ Lyceum,” a handsome building in
which is housed a circulating library of over 4,000 volumes of approved
standard literature, to which additions are constantly being made. The
books of the library are kept in an apartment designated the “ ladies’
reading room,” which is also provided with newspapers, scientific and
textile periodicals, and all of the popular magazines and pictorial
papers. Another room is fitted out with tables and facilities for car
rying on social games, and a third room of the building is known as the
“ gentlemen’s reading and smoking room.” The Lyceum is kept open
every evening from 6.30 to 10.30 and the use of it is absolutely free to
the residents of the town.
A regular course of free lectures on history and travel, accompanied
by stereopticon illustrations, is provided by the company, which also
takes great interest in the amusements of the inhabitants of their vil
lage. They have uniformed and partly support several baseball clubs,
maintain a race track for bicycle races, and on public holidays furnish
amusement for the people, consisting of out-of-door sports, races of
various kinds, etc. The employees have a regularly organized bicycle
club, known as the Smyth Wheel Club, which gives frequent exhibi
tions of fancy and fast riding, at which the members contend for prizes
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1153
offered by the company. There is also a military company, a part of
the State militia, known as the Smyth Rifles, and a brass band fully
equipped with fine instruments and numbering 36 members. These
organizations are nurtured and helped in all necessary ways by the
company.
The officers of the company conduct a savings bank, in which the
employees are encouraged to deposit their savings, upon which they
receive interest at the rate of 1 per cent per quarter. The deposits in
this bank on July 1, 1899, amounted to nearly $90,000.
The officers of the company believe very strongly that the interest
they take in the health and welfare of their employees, and in provid
ing recreations and amusements, schools, and other facilities for them,
pays as handsome a dividend on the money thus expended as any
investment they could make. A t the same time they feel that they
are doing what lies in their power in fulfilling the duty incumbent
upon them to benefit the condition of their employees and to add
to their pleasure and happiness. One result, perhaps, of this is the
fact that labor difficulties are unknown in this establishment, and that
there has never been the slightest disagreement or unpleasantness
between the company and its employees since its organization in 1881.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Many other examples could be given of manufacturing and mercan
tile establishments throughout the country in the management of which
practical and successful application is made of the principle that
employees render the best service, that labor difficulties are avoided,
and that business can be most profitably conducted by recognition on
the part of the employers of the fact that the employed are something
more than mere machinery; that they are human beings, capable of
suffering and enjoying; that they have social and intellectual ambi
tions and aspirations that should be encouraged and fostered, and that
their efficiency is to be measured by the standard of their advance
ment along these lines, and their moral and physical conditions. It
would be unjust, however, to assume that the efforts of the employers of
labor in these directions are based wholly upon the desire for increased
profits. Such desire is undoubtedly ever present, and its fulfillment
invariably results; but coupled therewith is the knowledge and appre
ciation of the duty that is owing to those whose lives and destinies are
bound up with and largely dependent upon the industrial establishment
to which their labor is sold, and that their happiness as individuals
and advancement as useful citizens are objects more worthy of accom
plishment than any other.
I To give further detailed accounts of such establishments, many o f
|which have been visited in securing the information contained in this
I article, would consist merely in repetitions of what has already been
1154
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Bet forth. Mention may, however, be made of a few prominent con
cerns which are carrying these ideas into operation, in order that such
readers as desire to pursue this subject further may have at least a
partial basis for their investigations.
The J. C. Ayer Company, of Lowell, Mass., assembles its employees
at an annual banquet every winter and gives them an outing every
summer; rewards them with prizes for valuable suggestions; aids them
in the regular publication of a literary periodical; gives pensions to
elderly employees, and provides the female help with free luncheons
and with free conveyances to and from the factory in bad weather.
Fels & Co., of Philadelphia, Pa., assists its employees in the suc
cessful carrying on of beneficial insurance and savings associations;
encourages their organization into social and educational clubs; pro
vides them with comfortable lunch, lounging, and recreation rooms, and
makes special efforts looking to the reduction of the hours of labor
below and the increase of wages above those ordinarily prevailing.
The Niagara Development Company, of Niagara Falls, N. Y ., has
built for such of its employees as desire to avail themselves of its
advantages a beautiful village, known as Echoto, in which the houses
are of the most approved architectural patterns, and provided with
electric lights and all modern conveniences. It has also erected a
spacious assembly hall for the use of its employees in holding meetings
and social gatherings.
The Sherwin Williams Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, aids its
employees in the management of a successful beneficial insurance
society; gives them an annual outing, an annual banquet, and appro
priate presents on Thanksgiving day; gives special and substantial
rewards for long and faithful service, and provides a free library, and
also well-equipped dining rooms and bathrooms.
The Kilbourne & Jacobs Manufacturing Company, of Columbus,
Ohio, makes a Thanksgiving distribution of gifts to employees annually,
and gives them an outing each summer; renders them such financial aid
as may be necessary in case of hardship or need, and gives to such
employees as may be sick, during the continuance of their illness, half
pay and free medical attendance.
The Pope Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Conn., aids its
employees in the management of a prosperous beneficial associatioD;
furnishes free medical attention to such as may need it; provides a
free library and commodious rooms, fitted with tables arid chairs, which
the men use for such purposes as they desire; conducts a modern cafe
in which the employees are provided with food nominally at, but
really below, cost (the annual deficienc}^ in conducting it amounting to
about $1,500), and furnishes various other facilities and conveniences
for their use and enjoyment.
Other well-known establishments in which the features herein
described have been adopted to a greater or less extent are: S. E.
BETTERMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.
1155
Packard & Son, Campello, Mass.; Henry Disston & Son, Philadelphia,
P a.; Gorham Manufacturing Company, Providence, R. I . ; Brown &
Sharpe Manufacturing Company, Providence, R. I.; Elgin National
Watch Company, Elgin, 111.; The A. B. Chase Company, Norwalk,
Ohio; The Ferris Brothers Company, Newark, N. J .; J. H. Williams
& Co., Brooklyn, N. Y .; Syracuse Chilled Plow Company, Syracuse,
N. Y . ; The Warner Brothers Company, Bridgeport, Conn.; H. J.
Heinz Company, Pittsburg, Pa.; The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company,
Columbus, Ohio; R. Hoe & Co., New York; Sckaum & Uhlinger,
Philadelphia, Pa.; Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford,
Conn., and The Werner Company, Akron, Ohio. There are doubtless
many other establishments besides the ones enumerated which have
practically applied these principles and plans of proved economic and
sociologic value. Certain it is that manufacturers in all sections of
the country who have not yet tested their efficiency, but who are con
vinced of the benefits to be derived from them, are constantly inquir
ing as to their methods of application and operation, with a view of
adopting such of them as may be deemed feasible.
This paper would be incomplete without reference to the club organ
ization and life of railway employees which has been brought about
through the cooperation of railway corporations, officials, and
employees, and the Young Men’s Christian Association. So much
information has heretofore been given concerning this movement, in
magazines and newspapers and in the regular publications of the
Y. M. C. A ., as to render only a brief account of it necessary at this
time. These organizations, of which there were 127 in the United
States and 10 in Canada in 1899, are scattered throughout the two
countries, from Idaho to Nova Scotia and as far south as Mississippi.
Their total membership in the year mentioned approximated 35,000,
and their total ownership of real estate, used exclusively for associa
tion purposes, amounted to about a half million dollars, while the
value of the buildings erected or set aside for this use by railroad
corporations and officials amounted to over a half million. These
figures give an idea of the magnitude of this movement, which is
further exemplified by the following facts taken from the Association
Year Book for 1899.
In 118 railroad branches of the association, over $313,000 was paid
out for current expenses during the year; 120 branches reported a
total average daily attendance of 15,202 members; 118 had reading
rooms, provided with current periodical literature; 105 had bathrooms,
in which 369,820 baths were taken; 97 reported 12,718 visits made to
sick and injured members; 56 had rest rooms and sleeping accommo
dations, which were used 218,143 times; 22 had lunch rooms, used
745,727 times; 18 had temporary hospital facilities, which were used
820 times; 36 were provided with gymnasiums, and 43 had other
means of physical training and recreation; 95 had libraries, containing
1156
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
a total of over 70,000 volumes; in 43, 119 educational classes were
conducted with over 1,200 students; 16 reported the existence of lit
erary societies among the membership, with a total average attendance
at their meetings of 354. In addition to the foregoing, lecture courses
were conducted by many of the clubs, and, in all, religious exercises
were carried on to a greater or less extent.
The first of these organizations was effected in 1872, and its benefi
cial results were so apparent that the great railroad corporations of
the country have since then encouraged their formation in the most
substantial way, not only by gifts of real estate or of money for
building purposes, but by regular annual contributions of such sums
as have been necessary, in addition to dues collected from the mem
bers, for the payment of current expenses. About 60 per cent of the
expenses at each point is borne by the railroad company or companies,
all of whose employees are eligible to membership. These expenses
aggregate about $150,000 annually. The remainder is paid by the
railroad men. The financial aid thus given is generally regarded by
railroad officials as a legitimate item of operating expenses, and
directly in the line of economical administration.
A prominent railroad official, in recommending a second appropria
tion of several thousand dollars by the company for the purposes of
this organization, said: “ If you vote this money for this purpose it
means more to the company than the same amount would if invested
in steel rails.” Another prominent railroad official has remarked:
“ I have been familiar with this department of association activity
from its very beginning, and am more and more convinced that it is
for the best interests of both owners and employees that the railroad
corporations should encourage and contribute to this work.” The
report of the Interstate Commerce Commission for 1892 says:
“ Another agreeable showing is that of the Young Men’s Christian
Association in connection with the railway service, a work commend
ing itself, even upon the most practical grounds of pecuniary selfinterest.”
The homes of these organizations, many of which are imposing and
costly structures, fully equipped and furnished with all available means
for promoting the comfort and the physical, moral, and intellectual
well-being of their members, not only supply railway employees with
opportunities for self-improvement and the cultivation of cordial,
social relations, but also afford desirable and convenient places of
meeting for railway officials and employees for the exchange of views
in regard to matters of joint concern. Their establishment and main
tenance have resulted in a better understanding between the employed
and the employer, a clearer conception of the economic fact that the
interests of both capital and labor are best promoted by hearty joint
effort, and that cooperation is more profitable in every way than
selfish antagonism.
PRESENT STATUS OF EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY IN THE
UNITED STATES.
B Y STEPHEN D. FESSENDEN, A . B . , LL . M.
The liability of employers for damages for injuries of their em
ployees incurred while in the performance of duty is regulated in the
United States (1) by the common law, as announced in the decisions of
the Federal and State courts, and (2) by the statutes upon the subject
passed by the different legislative bodies, and for the most part adding
to and extending the rights of the employees as limited by the com
mon law.
Upon most of the points bearing upon this subject there has been a
substantial agreement in the decisions of the courts of the various
States of the Union, and a careful examination of the reports seems to
warrant the use of the following as a fairly correct summarization of
the decisions of the courts upon the common law, and an accurate
statement of the principles of the same.
COMMON L A W .
LIABILITY FOR INJURIES.
An employer is ordinarily liable in damages to his employee who
may sustain an injury through the employer’s negligence. Such neg
ligence may consist in the doing of something by the employer, which,
in the exercise of ordinary care and prudence, he ought not to have
done, or in the omission of any duty or precaution which a prudent,
careful man would or ought to have taken.
An employer is not liable to the employee of his contractor for the
negligence of said contractor, when the employer himself has retained
and exercised no control over the means or methods by which the work
is to be accomplished.
DUTIES OF THE EMPLOYER.
An emploj^er assumes the duty toward his employee of exercising
reasonable care and diligence to provide the employee with a reason
ably safe place at which to work; with reasonably safe machinery,
tools, and implements to work with; with reasonably safe materials to
work upon, and with suitable and competent fellow-servants to work
with him; and, in case of a dangerous or complicated business, to make
such reasonable rules for its conduct as may be proper to protect
the servants employed therein. If he fails to use ordinary care in the
discharge of these duties, his ignorance of the dangerous nature of the
1157
1158
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
working place, of defects in the tools or appliances furnished, or of
the incompetency of the fellow-servants, will not excuse him from
liability for an injury caused thereby.
Although the employer’s duty of seeing that competent and fit per
sons are in charge of any particular work is as positive as are the
other duties owed by an employer to his emploj^ees, yet it is fully dis
charged when reasonable precautions have been taken to fulfill said
duty. No one of the employer’s duties carries with it an absolute
guaranty. Each is satisfied with reasonable effort and precaution.
ASSUMPTION OF RISK BY THE EMPLOYEE.
When the employer has properly discharged these duties then the
employee assumes all the risks and hazards incident to or attendant
upon the exercise of the particular employment or the performance of
the particular work. Where an employment is accompanied with
risks of which those who enter it have, or are presumed to have, notice,
they can not, if they are injured by exposure to such risks, recover
compensation for the injuries from their employer.
By contracting to perform hazardous duties the employee assumes
such risks as are incident to their discharge, and he assumes not only
the risks existing at the beginning of his employment but also such as
arise during its course, if he had or was bound to have knowledge
thereof. He does not, however, assume the risks of dangers arising
from unsafe or defective methods, machinery, or other instrumentali
ties unless he has, or may be presumed to have, knowledge or notice
thereof; and the burden of proving that an injured employee had such
knowledge or notice of the defect or obstruction causing the injury is
upon the employer.
The employee assumes all risks of latent defects in appliances or
machinery, unless the employer was negligent in not discovering the
same; but the experience or lack of experience of the employee is to
be considered in determining whether or not he is chargeable with
knowledge of such defects as are not obvious, and of the danger arising
therefrom.
Another risk assumed by employees is that of the employer’s method
of conducting his business. I f the employee enters upon the service
with knowledge of the risk attending the method, he can not hold the
employer responsible for injuries arising from the use of such method,
though a safer one might have been adopted; but in order to relieve
the employer from liability the method must amount to a custom or
mode of carrying on the business, and not consist merely of an instance
or any number of instances of culpable negligence on the part of the
employer. A ll risks and hazards resulting from the possible negli
gence o r . carelessness of fellow-servants or coemployees are also
assumed by the employee.
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
1159
VICE PRINCIPALS.
Whenever the employer delegates to any officer, servant, agent, or
employee, high or low, the performance of any of the positive duties
devolving upon him, then such officer, servant, agent, or employee
stands in the place of the employer, and becomes a substitute for the
employer, a vice principal, and the employer is liable for his acts and
his negligence to the same extent as though the employer himself had
performed the acts or was guilty of the negligence.
But, where the employer himself has performed his duty, he is not
liable to any one of his employees for the acts or negligence of any
mere fellow-servant or coemployee of such employee, who does not
sustain this representative relation to the employer.
FELLOW-SERVANTS.
The great disagreement in the decisions of the State courts has been
on the test as to who are and who are not fellow-servants. Some of
them, the supreme court of the State of Ohio being the leading one,
have held that where the injured employee is subordinate to the
employee whose negligence caused the injury, and under his control or
direction in the performance of the work, they are not fellow-servants
and the one having control and direction is a vice principal for whose
negligence their common employer is liable.
The courts of the majority of the States hold, however, that the
mere difference in grade of employment, or in authority, with respect
to each other, does not remove them from the class of fellow-servants
as regards the liability of the employer for injuries to the one caused
by the negligence of the other.
It is also held by the courts of some of the States that, as industrial
enterprises have grown, and, because of the division of labor and the
magnitude o f operations, have been divided into separate and distinct
departments, a laborer in one department is not a fellow-servant with
a laborer in another and separate department of the same establish
ment.
44In the absence of State legislation,” this question, as to who are
and who are not fellow-servants, 44is not a question of local law upon
which the Federal courts are bound to follow the decisions of the State
courts, but is one of general law, upon which the Federal courts may
exercise their independent judgment uncontrolled by local decisions.”
Under the above-quoted principle, as announced by the United States
Supreme Court, the decisions of that court have practically settled
this point for the whole country. It has repeatedly decided that while
the heads of separate and distinct departments of a diversified business
may, under certain circumstances, be considered, with respect to
employees under them, vice principals or representatives of the
employer, yet each separate piece of work is not to be considered a
1160
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
separate department nor, necessarily, the one having control of it a
vice principal. That the rightful test to determine whether the negli
gent act complained of was that of a vice principal or of a fellowservant, turns rather on the character of the act than on the relation
of the employees to each other; that if the act is one done in the dis
charge of some positive duty of the employer, then the negligence in
the act is the negligence of the employer for which he is responsible,
but if it be not one in the discharge of such positive duty, then it is
not the negligence of a vice principal for which the employer is
responsible, but that of a coemployee or fellow-servant.
CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE OF THE EMPLOYEE.
It is a general rule that when an employee suffers an injury through
the negligence of his employer, he is not entitled to recover damages
for such injury if his own negligence contributed thereto. But his
right to recover damages for an injury is not affected by his having
contributed thereto unless he was at fault in so contributing, and he
may recover, notwithstanding his contributory negligence, if the
employer, after becoming aware of the danger, failed to exercise
ordinary care or willfully inflicted the damage.
CONTRACTS RELIEVING THE EMPLOYER OF LIABILITY.
Under the common law an employer can not relieve himself from
responsibility to an employee for an injury resulting from his (the
employer’s) negligence by any contract entered into for that purpose
before the happening of the injury.
STATUTE L A W .
In addition to the preceding, which is but a brief summarization
of the chief principles of the common law bearing upon this subject as
they have been laid down in the decisions of the courts, many of the
States have legislated upon the subject, the statutes passed varying
from a mere statement or definition of the common law to a radical
change of the same.
ENACTMENT OF COMMON LAW IN FORM OF STATUTE.
In the first place we will consider such legislation as merely enacts
the common law principles in the form of a statute, or which at the
most can be construed as going but slightly beyond them. There are
many laws upon the statute books of the States which were passed for
the purpose of protecting the life and health of employees, and which,
in the furtherance of such purpose, impose certain duties upon the
employers. O f this nature are the laws regulating the conduct of the
business of mining, providing for the prevention of accidents in the
mines, ventilation of the same, etc.; the factory laws, providing for
em ployers’
l ia b il it y
in
the
u n it e d
states.
1161
guards on machinery, tire escapes on the mills, fixed hours of labor,
sanitary appliances, etc., and the laws requiring the use of safety
apparatus on railroad tracks, engines, and cars, and making it the duty
of the person, company, or corporation owning or operating such
mine, factory, or railroad to see that such provisions are carried out..
NEGLIGENCE OF TH E EM PLOYER.
It is a well-settled principle of the common law that, where such
duties are imposed by legislative enactment or municipal ordinance, it
is negligence on the part of the employer to fail to comply with the
requirements of the laws imposing such duties, and the employer isliable to his employees for all injuries arising from such negligence
unless it can be clearly shown that they assumed the risk. Much o f
the legislation passed has been in line with this principle, some, per
haps, slightly exceeding the common law in imputing negligence ta
the employer. The States of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,,
Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the District of Colum
bia, the Territory of New Mexico, and the United States all have lawsin line with the above. That of Arkansas, now forming a section o f
the Digest of 1891, the original act having been approved April 1 ,1893,
is as follows:
S ection 5058. For any injury to persons or property occasioned by
willful violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or willful failure
to comply with any of its provisions, a right of action shall accrue to
the party injured for any direct damages sustained thereby.
The law of California appears in section 8 of an act approved March,
27, 1871, and section 3 of an act approved March 13, 1872, now to be
found on page 033 of Yol. IY of the Codes and Statutes of 1885, and
in section 3 of chapter 71 of the acts of 1893, approved March 8.1893.
These sections followTin order as mentioned above.
S ection 8. For any injury to person or property occasioned by any
violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or any willful failure tocomply with its provisions, a right of action shall accrue to the party
injured for any direct damages he or she may have sustained thereby,
before any court of competent jurisdiction.
S ection 3. When any corporation, association, owner, or owners of
any quartz mine in this State shall fail to provide for the proper egress
as herein contemplated, and where any accident shall occur, or any
miner working therein shall be hurt or injured, and from such injury
might have escaped if the second mode of egress had existed, such cor
poration, association, owner, or owners of the mine where the injuries
shall have occurred shall be liable to the person injured in all damages
that may accrue by reason thereof; and an action at law in a court of
competent jurisdiction may be maintained against the owner or owners
of such mine, which owners shall be jointly or severally liable for such
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damages. And where death shall ensue from injuries received from
any negligence on the part of the owners thereof, by reason of their
failure to comply with any of the provisions of this act, the heirs or
relatives surviving the deceased may commence an action tor the recov
ery of such damages.
S ection 3. Any person or company failing to carry out any of the pro
visions of this act [providing that mine operators, etc., shall make cer
tain specified rules as to signals] shall be responsible for all damages
arising to or incurred by any person working in said mine during the
time of such failure.
The State of Colorado has her law in this connection in section 3192
of the Annotated Statutes of 1891, originally part of an act approved
February 24, 1883, and in section 2 of chapter 69, of the acts of 1897,
approved April 1, 1897. These statutes read as follows:
S ectio n 3192. For any injury to person or property occasioned by
any violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or any willful failure
to comply with its provisions by any owner or lessee or operator of
any coal mine or opening, a right of action against the party at fault
shall accrue to the party injured for the direct damages sustained
thereby, and in any case of loss o f life by reason of such violation or
failure, a right of action against the owners and operators of such coal
mine or colliery shall accrue to the widow and lineal heirs of the per
son whose life shall be lost, for like recovery of damages for the injury
they shall have sustained.
S ectio n 2. In all trials in all courts in this State, to recover for
personal injury, and in all cases of personal injury to employees,
or other persons, occasioned by, or in any manner directly or indi
rectly resulting from being caught between any of the aforesaid rails,
testimony relative to compliance with the requirements of this act
[providing for the blocking of frogs, and switch, split, and guard rails
on railroad tracks] shall be admitted. And where a failure is shown
on the part of any such corporation, company or person to have safely
and securely blocked such rails in accordance with the provisions of
this act, such failure to have complied with any of the provisions of
this act shall be prima facie evidence of the negligence of any such
corporation, company or other person so failing to comply with any
of the provisions of this act where any such employee, or other per
son, may be caught between such rails not blocked in accordance with
the provisions of this act.
In chapter 45 of the acts of 1886-87, approved January 26, 1887,
Congress passed the following law for the District of Columbia:
S ection 3 (as amended by chapter 178, acts of 1894-95). Provided
also, That the lessee, owner or trustee, as the case may be, of any such
building [factory or mill], who shall fail to erect fire escapes as in
said act provided, shall be liable to an action for damages in case of
death or personal injury resulting from fire in buildings not pro
vided with fire escapes as required by said act, and that such action
may be maintained by any person or persons now authorized by law
to sue, as in other cases of injury or death by wrongful act: Provided
fu rth er, That as to any building which the Commissioners shall deter
mine to be fireproof, they may in their discretion require the erection
of fire escapes.
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
1163
Illinois has embodied its law in sections 14, 24, and 32 of chapter
93 o f the Annotated Statutes of 1896, said sections being originally
parts of acts approved May 28, 1879, June 19.1891, and June 21,1895,
respectively. They read as follows:
S ection 14. For any injury to person or property occasioned by
any willful violations of this act [regulating coal mines] or willful fail
ure to comply with any of its provisions, a right of action shall accrue
to the party injured for any direct damages sustained thereby; and in
case of loss of life by reason of such willful violation or willful failure,
as aforesaid, a right of action shall accrue to the widow of the person
so killed, his lineal heirs or adopted children, or to any other person
or persons, who were before such loss of life dependent for support on
the person or persons so killed, for a like recovery of damages for the
injuries sustained by reason of such loss of life or lives; not to exceed
the sum of five thousand dollars.
S e c . 24. After January 1 , 1892, no owner, operator or agent of
any mine to which this act [providing for State examination, etc., of
mine managers] applies shall employ any mine manager who does not
hold either the certificate of competency or service herein provided
for, and if any accident shall occur in any mine in which a mine mana
ger shall be employed who has no certificate of competency or service
as required by this act, by which any miner shall be killed or injured,
he or his heirs shall have right of action against such operator, owner
or agent, and shall recover the full value of the damages sustained:
^ ^ ^
S e c . 32. After July 1 ,1 8 9 6 , no owner, operator or agent of any coal
mine in this State where hoisting engineers are required to hoist
coal or men out of the mine, or where fire or explosive gas generates,
where the employment of a fire boss is necessary to examine the mine
as to whether or not it is safe for men to enter and pursue their call
ing without danger from explosive gas, shall not employ any person
whatever as hoisting engineer or fire boss unless they have a certificate
of competency or service herein provided for. And if any accident
shall occur at or in any mine where a hoisting engineer or fire boss is
employed who has no certificate of competency or service as required
by this act [providing for State examination of fire bosses and hoisting
engineers], by which any person shall be killed or injured, he, or his
heirs, shall have right of action against such operator, owner or agent,
and shall recover the full value of damages sustained.
In a case, decided in 1893, in which a coal company was sued for
damages for injuries of an employee resulting, as alleged, from the
inexperience and incompetency of an engineer and also from the fail
ure of the company to provide “ safe means” and “ machinery” for the
hoisting of employees from the mine, the appellate court of Illinois
for the third district commented upon section 14 above, as shown by
the following taken from the syllabus of the case:
Section 14 of this chapter declares the liability for injuries when the
mine owner and operator “ willfully ” fails to comply with the provi
sions of the chapter. A willful violation of the statute is a violation
of the statute knowingly and willfully. To constitute willful negli
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
gence the act done or omitted must have been intended. When recov
ery is sought for injuries resulting from mere inadvertence or negli
gence, pure and simple, the defendant may often defeat liability upon
the ground that the plaintiff knew o f the dangers to which he might
be exposed, and voluntarily chose to take the chances of encountering*
them; or upon the other ground that he was injured by the negligence
of a fellow-servant; but neither of these defenses is available when the
injury is the result of the willful act, or the willful failure of the
defendant to act. If the master in employing an engineer, had knowl
edge at the time of his employment, or at any time before an injury
occurs that he was incompetent or inexperienced, and has willfully
kept him in his employment after obtaining such knowledge, he will
be liable.
In another case, decided in 1888, the supreme court of the State
decided that under this section (14, above) a coal-mining companj^ is
liable for a personal injury to a person in its employ, while descending
into the mine, resulting from the employment of an incompetent engi
neer to take charge of the engine used in lowering persons into and
hoisting them out of the mine.
In the Annotated Statutes of Indiana of 1894 the law of that State
is to be found. The original act was approved June 8, 1891, and it is
in the following language:
S ection 7473. For any injury to person or persons or property
occasioned by any violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or any
willful failure to comply with any of its provisions, a right of action
against the owner, operator, agent or lessee shall accrue to the party
injured for the direct injury sustained thereby, and in case of loss of
life by reason of such violation, a right of action shall accrue to
widow, children, or adopted children, or to the parents or parent, or
to any other person or persons who were before such loss of life
dependent for support on the person or persons so killed, for like
recovery for damages for the injury sustained by reason of such loss
of life or lives.
In an action brought under the above section the appellate court of
Indiana held that the doctrine of the assumption of risk does not apply
to a breach of a statutory duty imposed on the master, and the contin
uing of a servant in the employ of a master with knowledge of such a
breach of such duty will not prevent recovery for an injury suffered
by reason of such breach.
The law of Iowa is contained in section 2083 of the Code of 1897,
originally part of an act approved April 5,1890. It reads, in part, as
follows:
S ection 2083. * * * Any railway employee who may be injured
by the running of such engine, train or car contrary to the provisions
of said sections [providing for the placing of safety couplers and power
brakes on engines and cars] shall not be considered as waiving his right
to recover damage by continuing in the employ of the corporation,
company or person operating such engine, train or cars.
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The Kansas statute was approved February 28, 1883, and is now
contained in the following paragraph of the General Statutes of 1889:
P aragraph 3856. For any injury to person or property occasioned
by any violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or any willful fail
ure to comply with its provisions by any owner, lessee or operator of
any coal mine or opening, a right of action against the party at fault
shall accrue to the party injured for the direct damage sustained thereby;
and in any case of loss of life by reason of such violation or willful
failure, a right of action against the party at fault shall accrue to the
widow and lineal heirs of the person whose life shall be lost, for like
recoveiy of damages for the injury they shall have sustained.
Section 7 of chapter 362 of the acts of 1895, approved May 9, 1895,
has the only Massachusetts statute which is properly shown here. Tt
appears below:
S ection 7. Any employee of such corporation who may be injured
by any locomotive, car or train in use contrary to the provision of this
act [providing for the placing of safety couplers and power brakes on
engines and cars] shall not be deemed thereby to have assumed the
risk thereby occasioned, although continuing in the employment of
such corporation after the unlawful use of such locomotive, car or train
has been brought to his knowledge.
All the legislation of Michigan which comes under this head appears
in the following section of the Compiled Laws of 1897. The original
act containing this legislation was approved June 22, 1887:
S ection 5495. If any man or men are allowed to continue work in
any place condemned by the mine inspector, except to do the work
required to be done to insure safety before said place has received the
necessary changes to secure the safety (ordinary risks of mining
excepted) of the laborers engaged therein, the person, persons or cor
poration operating said mine shall be liable for all accidents causing
injuries or death to employees working in or about such place until
the order referred to in the preceding section shall have been complied
with or revoked.
Minnesota has laid down the common-law principle in sections 2242
and 2243 of the General Statutes of 1894, the original act having been
approved March 7, 1885, and in section 2683 thereof, approved March
7, 1887. Said sections read as follows:
S ection 2242. On all lines of railroad operated in this State the
time of labor of the locomotive engineers and firemen empkyed in
running or operating the locomotive engines on or over such roads
shall not at any time exceed eighteen hours during one day: Provided,
hawever, That nothing in this section shall be construed as allowing
any locomotive engineer or fireman to desert his locomotive in case of
accident or other unavoidable delay.
S e c . 2243. Any officer, director, superintendent, master mechanic*,
foreman, agent, or employee who compels any locomotive engineer or
fireman to labor, in running or operating any locomotive engine on or
over such roads for more than eighteen hours during one day, except
1166
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
as provided in section one [2242] of this act, such person so offending
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof
shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five or more than
one hundred dollars: A nd provided, fu rth er ^ That all railroad corpo
rations operating lines or road in this State, shall be liable for all
injuries to its engineers or firemen resulting from their being obliged
to labor for a longer period in any one day than that specified in sec
tion one [2242] of this act, and that nothing in this section shall be
construed as allowing any locomotive engineer or fireman to desert
his locomotive in case of accident or unwarrantable delay.
S ec . 2683. All railroad companies owning or operating railroads,
or portions of railroads, in this State, shall, in addition to tne penalties
prescribed in this act [providing for the blocking of frogs, switches,
and guard rails on railroad tracks], be liable for any damage resulting
from the failure to comply with the provisions thereof, such damage to
be recovered by the persons injured, or his or her legal representatives.
In the following section of the Revised Statutes of 1889 the law of
the State of Missouri is to be found. The law contained in this section
was approved March 30, 1887, and reads as follows:
S ection 7074 (as amended by act approved April 23, 1891, page
182, acts of 1891). For any injury to persons or property occasioned
by any violation of this article [providing regulations for coal mines]
or failure to comply with any of its provisions, a right of action shall
accrue to the party injured for any direct damages sustained thereby;
and in case of loss of life by reason of such violation or failure as
aforesaid, a right of action shall accrue to the widow of the person so
killed, his lineal heirs or adopted children, or to any person or persons
who were, before such loss of life, dependent for support on the per
son or persons so killed, for a like recovery of damages sustained by
reason of such loss of life or lives: Provided, That all suits brought
under this article shall be commenced within one year after any cause
of action shall have accrued under this article and not afterward; A nd,
provided fu rth er, That any person entitled to sue under this section
for loss of life or lives may recover any sum not exceeding ten
thousand dollars.
In regard to this section the supreme court of the State has held
that mere knowledge by the plaintiff of the failure of the defendant to
have the mine provided with the protections required by the law will
not defeat an action for the recovery of damages occasioned by such
failure.
The law of Nebraska, approved April 9, 1891, and now to be found
in a section of the Compiled Statutes of 1895, is in the following
language:
S ection 1799. * * * And any railroad employee who may be
injured by the engine or train or cars contrary to the provisions of
this law [providing for the placing of safety couplers and power
brakes on engines and cars] shall not be considered as waiving his
rights to recover damages by continuing in the employ o f such corpo
ration, company or person running such engine, or train of cars con
trary to this law.
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1167
New Jersey has the following law* approved March 22* 1888, and
now contained in section 78* page 1491 of the General Statutes of 1895:
S ection 78. * * * and any person or corporation failing to
comply with the provisions of tliis act [providing for the placing of
fire escapes on factories, etc.] shall be liable in an action for damages
in case of death or personal injuries sustained because o f the absence
or disrepair of such fire escape, or in case of fire breaking out in any
building upon which there shall be no such efficient fire escape; and
such action may be maintained by any person now authorized by law
to sue, as in other cases of similar injuries.
In an act approved March 1, 1882, New Mexico passed a law of this
nature. It is now contained in a section of the Compiled Laws of 1897
and reads as follows:
S ection 2346. For every injury to person or property occasioned
by any violation of this act [regulating mines]* or any willful failure
to comply with its provisions, a right of action shall accrue to the
party injured for any direct damages he or she may have sustained
thereby before any court of competent jurisdiction.
A law of this character is contained in section 6 of chapter 251 of
the acts of North Carolina of 1897, approved March 9,1897. It reads
as follows:
S ection 6. * * * For any injury to person or property, occa
sioned by any willful or intentional violation of this act [regulating
coal mines], or any willful failure to comply with its provisions by any
owner, agent or manager of the mine* a right of action shall accrue
to the party injured for any direct damage he may have sustained
thereby; and, in any case of loss of life by reason of such willful neg
lect or failure aforesaid, a right of action shall accrue to the personal
representative o f the deceased, as in other actions for wrongful death
for like recovery of damages for the injury sustained.
Section 301 of the Eevised Statutes of Ohio, seventh edition, con
tains legislation of this class, passed April 11, 1888, and reading as
follows:
S ection 301. * * * For any injury to persons or property,
occasioned by any violation of this act [regulating coal mines], or any
willful failure to comply with its provisions by any owner, agent or
manager of any mine, a right of action shall accrue to the party injured,
for any direct damage he may have sustained thereby; and, in any
case of loss of life, by reason of such willful neglect or failure, afore
said, a right of action shall accrue to the widow and lineal heirs of the
person whose life shall be lost, for like recovery of damages for the
injury they shall have sustained.
The supreme court of Ohio, in 1895, held that one can not maintain
an action against his employer for an injury following a violation of
the act regulating coal mines, unless at the time he was injured he was
in the exercise of due care; that one who voluntarily assumes a risk
thereby waives the provisions o f a statute made for his protection, and
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
that where a statute does not otherwise provide, the rule requiring the
plaintiff in an action for negligence to be free from fault contributing
to his injury is the same, whether the action is brought under a statute
or at common law.
Section 2 of an act passed April 2, 1890, to be found on page 149,
acts of Ohio of 1890, contains further legislation of this character. It
reads as follows:
S ection 2. It shall be unlawful for any such corporation to know
ingly or negligently use or operate any car or locomotive that is
defective, or any car or locomotive upon which the machinery or
attachments thereto belonging are in any manner defective. I f the
employee of any such corporation shall receive any injury by reason
of any defect in any car or locomotive, or the machinery or attach
ments thereto belonging, owned and operated, or being run and oper
ated by such corporation, such corporation shall be deemed to have
had knowledge of such defect before and at the time such injury is so
sustained, and when the fact of such defect shall be made to appear in
the trial of any action in the courts of this State, brought by such
employee, or his legal representatives, against any railroad corpora
tion for damages, on account of such injuries so received, the same
shall be prima facie evidence of negligence on the part of such
corporation.
In regard to this section the supreme court of Ohio has held that in the
trial of a personal injury case against a railroad company for injuries
caused by defects in its cars, locomotives, and machinery, or their
attachments, the defects so causing injury are prima facie evidence of
negligence on the part of such corporation; and by force of this sec
tion the burden is thrown upon the company to show, by proof, that
it has used due diligence, and is not guilty of negligence; also the court
held that this section applies to all railroad companies any part of whose
line of railway extends into the State of Ohio, whether the injury com
plained of was received within or without the State.
In the Digest of Pennsylvania of 1895 sections 216, on page 1359,
and 385, on page 1377, belong to this class of laws. These sections
were originally part of an act approved April 18, 1877, and read as
follows:
S ection 216. For any injury to person or property occasioned by
any violation of this act [regulating anthracite coal mines], or any
failure to comply with its provisions by any owner, operator, super
intendent, mine foreman or fire boss of any coal mine or colliery, a
right of action shall accrue to the party injured against said owner or
operator for any direct damages he may have sustained thereby; and
in case of loss of life by reason of such neglect or failure aforesaid, a
right of action shall accrue to the widow and lineal heirs of the person
whose life shall be lost, for like recovery of the damages for the injury
they shall have sustained.
Sec . 385. For any injury to person or property occasioned by any
violation of this act [regulating bituminous coal mines], or any failure
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
11(59
to comply with its provisions by any owner, operator or superin
tendent of any coal mine or colliery, a right of action shall accrue to
the party injured against said owner or operator for any direct damages
he may have sustained thereby, and in case of loss of life by reason of
such neglect or failure aforesaid, a right of action shall accrue to the
widow and lineal heirs of the person whose life shall be lost for like
recovery of damages for the injury they shall have sustained.
In regard to section 216 above, the supreme court of Pennsylvania
has declared that so much of the same as: imposes liability on the mine
owner for the failure of the foreman to comply with the requirements
of those sections of the act which compels his employment and defines
his duties is unconstitutional and void.
The law of the State of Rhode Island, belonging to this classification,
was approved March 28,1890, and is now to be found in the following
section of chapter 108 of the General Laws of 1896:
S ection 8. In all cases in which any person shall suffer injury or in
which the death of any person shall ensue in consequence of the failure
of the owner or owners of any building to provide the same with fire
escapes or stairs and stairways, as required by the provisions of this
chapter, or in consequence of the failure of said owner or owners to
comply with the written notice and requirement of any inspector of
buildings, when made in conformity to the provisions of this chapter,
such owner or owners shall be jointly and severally liable, to any
person so injured, in an action of trespass on the case for damages for
such injury; and in case of death such owner or owners shall be "jointly
and severally liable in damages for the injury caused by the death of
such person, to be recovered by action of trespass on the case, in the
same manner and for the benefit of the same persons as is provided in
sections fourteen and fifteen of chapter two hundred thirty-three;
which action, when the owners are nonresidents, may be commenced
by attachment. It shall be* no defense to said action that the person
injured, or whose death ensued as aforesaid, had knowledge that any
such building was not provided with fire escapes or stairs and stair
ways as required by the provisions of this chapter, or that such person
continued to work in or to occupy said building with said knowledge.
The State of Washington enacted a law of this character in an act
approved February 28, 1890. The following section of Yol. I (Gen
eral Statutes) of the Annotated Statutes and Codes of 1891 contains
the same:
S ection 141. Whenever the mining bureau or the State geologist
shall receive a formal complaint in writing, signed by five or more per
sons, employees in a mine, setting forth that the mine in which they are
employed is dangerous in any respect, the State geologist shall visit
and examine such mine, and if, from such personal examination, he
shall ascertain that the facilities for egress are insufficient, or that from
want of timbering, scaling, or slacking of the ground in such mine so
visited, or from other causes, or that the timber, ladders or ladderways,
pentices, or plats, in any such mine are in a dangerous condition, it
shall become his duty to notify the owners, lessor, or lessee thereof;
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
such notice to be in writing, and to be served by copy on any person
or persons in the same manner as provided by law for the service of
legal notices or process;: said notice shall state in what particulars
timbers, ladders, ladderways, pentiees, or plats are dangerous, and
shall require the necessary changes to be made without delay; and in
case o f any criminal or civil procedure at law against the party or
parties so notified, on account of loss of life or bodily injuries sus
tained by any employee subsequent to such notice and in consequence
of neglect to obey the State geologist’s requirements, a certified copy
o f the notice served by the State geologist shall be prim a fa cie evi
dence of the culpable negligence of the party or parties complained of.
Section 3 of chapter 22 of the acts of 1895, approved March 1,
1895, contains another law of Washington o f the same character. It
reads as follows:
S ection 3. In all actions against any person or persons or corpora
tion engaged in operating any shingle mill or shingle mills in the State
of Washington, for injuries received from any knot saw used in such
shingle mill or shingle mills, it shall be prim a fa cie evidence of negli
gence on the p&rt of the defendant to show that such knot saw causing
the injury was not at the time of receiving the injury complained of
properly protected by a metallic saw guard: Provided, That if any knot
sawyer shall remove any such guard after the same has been placed in
position, and while the same is removed receive injury, he shall not be
entitled to receive damages for any such injuries.
Wisconsin’s law, approved March 21, 1889, and being now a section
of the Annotated Statutes of 1889 is in the following language:
S ection 1809a. 1. Every railroad corporation operating any rail
road, shall erect and maintain sufficient guards or blocks at the front
and rear of every frog in every railroad track of any such corporation
used and operated in this State.
2. If any railroad corporation, its officers, agents or servants, shall
violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this act, or
shall fail to sufficiently guard such frogs, such corporation for each
and every such violation or failure shall forfeit not less than fifty nor
more than five hundred dollars, one-half to the person prosecuting, and
shall in addition be liable to the person injured fo r all damages sus
tained thereby, whether the person so injured shall be a servant or agent
of such corporation or not, and notwithstanding that such violation or
failure shall arise or occur through the negligence of any other agent
or servant thereof.
It has been decided by tbe supreme court of Wisconsin that this
statute does not take away the defense of contributory negligence.
W yoming’s enactments of common law are to be found in sections
2 and 4 of article 9 of its constitution, which went into effect July 10,
1890, and in section 15 of chapter 80 of the acts of 1890-91, approved
January 10,1891. They appear below:
Section 2. The legislature shall provide by law for the proper
development, ventilation, drainage and operation of all mines in the
State,
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
1171
S e c . 4. For any injury to person or property caused by willful
failure to comply with the provisions of this article, or laws passed in
pursuance hereof, a right of action shall accrue to the party injured,
for the damage sustained thereby, and in all cases in this State, when
ever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect or
default, such as would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party
injured to maintain an action to recover damages in respect thereof,
the person who, or the corporation which would have been liable, if
death had not ensued, shall be liable to an action for damages notwith
standing the death of the person injured, and the legislature shall pro
vide by law at its first session for the manner in which the right of
action in respect thereto shall be enforced.
Section 15. * * * No person shall act as fire boss unless granted
a certificate of competency by the State inspector of coal mines. No
owner, operator, contractor, lessee or agent shall employ any miningboss or fire boss who does not have the certificate of competency
required. Said certificate shall be posted up in the office of the mine,
and if any accident shall occur in any mine in which a mining boss or
fire boss shall be employed who has no certificate of competency, as
required by this ( 1 J 1
1* 1
*
shall be killed or injured.
against such operator*
he or his estate
owner, lessee or ro
7
full damages sustained;
in case of death, such action to be brought by the administrator of his
estate, within three years from the date of accident, the proceeds
recovered to be divided among the heirs of the deceased, according to
law.
The Congress of the United States passed a law of this nature in
section 8 of chapter 196 of the acts of 1892-98, approved March 2,
1893. It is as follows:
S ection 8. Any employee of any such common carrier [railroad
companies engaged in interstate commerce] who may be injured by any
locomotive, car, or train in use contrary to the provision of this act
[providing for the placing of safety couplers and power brakes on
engines and cars] 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, car, or train
had been brought to his knowledge.
No case, either in a Federal or State court, has been found which
directly construes the above section, but in two cases arising under the
act of which said section is a part, the supreme court of North Caro
lina has held that the failure of a railroad company to apply safety
.couplers to its cars as required by the act is negligence
se, and that
in such a case there can be no contributory negligence on the part of
an injured employee which will discharge the liability of his employer.
As will be seen a majority of these acts, beginning with those passed
by the legislature of California in 1872 and 1874 and ending with one
passed in North Carolina in 1897, give a right of action to the person
injured, as against the employer whose failure to comply with the law
caused the injury, for all direct damages suffered by him, a few o f
1172
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
them declaring in terms that such employer “ shall be liable.” This
goes no further than the common law would have gone under the
principle that the failure to perform the duties enjoined by law is
negligence. But at common law no action can be maintained for a
personal injury resulting in death, whether the death is caused by the
negligence of an employer or anyone else, and on this point some of
these statutes go beyond the common law, as they provide for main
taining an action for the death of the injured party—for example, those
of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, etc.
Other facts in regard to the above statutes may be noted, as follows:
Colorado makes the fact that the law providing for frogs, etc., on
the railroad track was not complied with prima facie evidence of neg
ligence on the part of the corporation, company, or person responsible
for such violation of the law, and Washington has the same provision
in regard to the failure of operators of shingle mills to protect knot
saws by metallic saw guards. Minnesota holds the employer liable in
damages for failure to block the frogs, etc., on the railroad track; W is
consin does the same, even though the negligence to which such failure
was due was that of an agent or servant of the employer. Iowa, Mas
sachusetts, Nebraska, and the United States decree that where the em
ployer has failed to conform to the provisions of the law as to placing
safety couplers and power brakes upon engines, cars, etc., the employee
who was injured shall not be considered as having assumed the risk
and waived his right to damages by continuing in the service of the
employer after he had so failed to comply with the law. The District
of Columbia and New Jersey give a right of action for the injury or
death of an employee resulting from the failure of the employer to
place fire escapes on factories, etc., in accordance with the provisions
of the law, and Minnesota makes the employer liable for damages for
injuries caused to engineers or firemen on railroads resulting from
making them work longer than 18 hours in any one day.
DUTIES OF TH E EM PLOYER.
Five States have enacted laws which state the common law upon the
subject of the duties the employer owes his employees. They are Cal
ifornia (sections 1969 to 1971, inclusive, of the civil code, Codes and
Statutes of 1885), Minnesota (chapter 173, acts of 1895), Montana (sec
tions 2660 to 2662, inclusive, of the civil code, Codes and Statutes of
1895, Sanders’s edition), North Dakota (sections 4095 to 4097, inclusive,
of the civil code, Revised Codes of 1895), and South Dakota (sections
3752 to 3754, inclusive, of the civil code, Compiled Laws of 1887). The
statutes of California, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota are
practically identical, being based upon a similar provision contained
in the general codes prepared by the late distinguished lawyer, David
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Dudley Field, of New York. That of California, originally enacted
March 27, 1872. will serve as a representation of them all, and reads
as follows:
S ection 1969. An employer must indemnify his employee, except
as prescribed in the next section, for all that he necessarily expends
or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of his duties as such,
or of his obedience to the directions of the employer, even though
unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying such directions,
believed them to be unlawful.
S e c . 1970. A n employer is not bound to indemnify his emploj^ee for
losses suffered by the latter in consequence of the ordinary risks of
the business in which he is employed, nor in consequence of the neg
ligence of another person employed by the same employer in the same
general business, unless he has neglected to use ordinary care in the
selection of the culpable employee.
S ec . 1971. An employer must in all cases indemnify his employee
for losses caused by the former’s want of ordinary care.
The remaining State, Minnesota, covers much the same ground in its
statute approved April 23, 1895. Such statute is, however, couched
in different language and goes somewhat further than the others, in
that it defines the term 44vice principal.” It is as follows:
S ection 1. Every master or employer in this State shall use reason
able care to provide the person or persons in his employ with reason
ably safe, suitable and sufficient tools, implements and instrumentalities
with which to do the master’s work, and also use reasonable care to
provide a reasonably safe and suitable place for his servants to perform
the duties assigned to them by the master.
It shall also be the master’s duty to use reasonable care to establish
safe and suitable rules and regulations or methods for the performance
of the work required of his servants, and to direct and supervise the
performance of the work in a reasonabfy safe and prudent manner.
S ec . 2. Whenever a master or employer delegates to any one the
performance of his duties which he, as master or employer owes to his
servants, or any part or portion of such duties the person so delegated,
while so acting for his master or employer shall be considered the vice
principle [principal] and representative of the master.
The supreme court of California has said of section 1970, above,
that the law of the State respecting the negligence of a fellow-servant,
where there is no want of ordinary care upon the part of the employer,
as set forth in said section, recognizes no distinction growing out of
the grades o f employment of the respective employees, nor does it
give effect to the circumstance that the fellow7-servant through whose
negligence the injury was received was the superior of the injured
employee in the general service in which they both were employed.
The supreme court of Minnesota has held that both under the com
mon law and under the above act it is the duty of a master to use
reasonable care to provide for the employee a safe place to work in
and safe machinery and proper appliances for doing the work, and
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that this duty is an absolute one, which can not be delegated so as to
relieve the employer from liability; and that if the safe place or safe
machinery, etc., which the master has furnished is made unsafe by
the negligence of his servants, whom he has selected with due care,
such negligence is that of a fellow-servant for which the employer is
not liable.
The statute of Montana was enacted February 19, 1895, while those
of North Dakota and South Dakota were originally a part of an act of
the Territory of Dakota, from which Territory both States were formed,
approved February 17, 1877. The supreme court of the Territory
declared in 1882, in the case of Herbert v. Northern Pacific Railroad
Company, that the above-mentioned statutes were but an enactment
of the common law upon the subject of employer’s liability and do not
change the rule. Said decision is binding in the two States.
COEMPLOYEES OR FELLOW-SERVANTS.
In addition to the laws presented and discussed above, many statutes
have been enacted by the legislatures of numerous States which change
the common-law liability and relax the strictness of the common-law
rule as to coemployees or fellow-servants.
AFFECTING RAILROADS ON LY.
Most of these laws, however, affect but one class of employees, those
employed by railroad companies, and the first legislation in this coun
try which changed the common-law rule, and which was also the first
legislation of any kind upon the subject of this article, applied in the
case o f the employees of railroads only. This was a statute enacted
by the State of Georgia in 1856, which is now to be found in the two
following sections of the Code of Georgia of 1895:
S ection 2297. Railroad companies are common carriers, and liable
as such. As such companies necessarily have many employees who
can not possibly control those who should exercise care and diligence
in the running of trains, such companies shall be liable to such
employees as to passengers for injuries arising from the want of
such care and diligence.
S ec . 2323. If the person injured is himself an employee of the com
pany, and the damage was caused by another employee, and without
fault or negligence on the part of the person injured, his employment
by the company shall be no bar to the recovery [of damages].
As was said, these sections change the common-law rule only as
regards railroad employees, and the legislature of Georgia has gone
no further than this since their enactment. The constitutionality of
these sections has been affirmed by the supreme court of the State in
numerous cases. Said court has also held that to recover damages
under these sections the injured employee must himself have been free
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from fault; in other words, that he must not have been guilty of
negligence contributing to his injury, even though in performing the
negligent act he was acting under orders of a superior; that the appli
cation of these sections is not confined alone to cases where the injuries
complained of were connected with the 64running of trains,” and that
the effect of the sections is to put the employees of railroads upon
exaetty the same plane, in respect to their right to recover damages
for injuries that a nonemployee would be on under the common law.
By decisions rendered in 1888 and 1895 the United States circuit
court for the northern district of Georgia decided that sections 2297
and 2323 above did not apply in the case of an injury to an employee
of a receiver operating a railroad under direction of a court of equity.
The supreme court of the State had previously made the same decision.
In order to extend the benefits of these sections to the employees of
all railroads operating in the State, the legislature, by act approved
December 16, 1895, provided that the liability of all receivers and like
officers operating railroads should be the same as that of railroad com
panies as fixed in these sections. Said act, being No. 221 of the acts
of 1895, reads as follows:
S ection 1. The liability of receivers, trustees, assignees, and other
like officers operating railroads in this State, or partially in this State,
for injuries and damages to persons in their employ, caused by the
negligence of coemployees, shall be the same as the liability now fixed
by the law governing the operation of railroad corporations in this
State for like injuries and damages, and a lien is hereby created on the
gross income of any such railroad while in the hands of any such
receiver, trustee, assignee, or other person, in favor of such injured
employees, superior to all other liens against defendant under the laws
of this State.
S e c . 2. Suits may be brought against either of such officers in the
same county, and service may be perfected by serving them or their
agents in the same manner as if the suit had been brought against the
corporation whose property or franchise is being operated by them,
and all such suits may be brought without first having obtained leave
to sue from any court.
The next law of this nature to be passed was enacted by the legisla
ture of the State of Iowa in 1862, and is now contained in section 2071
of the Code of Iowa of 1897, which reads as follows:
S ection 2071. Every corporation operating a railway shall be liable
for all damages sustained by any person, including employees of such
corporation, in consequence of the neglect of agents, or by any mis
management of the engineers or other employees of the corporation,
and in consequence of the willful wrongs, whether of commission or
omission of such agents, engineers, or other employees, when such
wrongs are in any manner connected with the use and operation of any
railway, on or about which they shall be employed, and no contract
which restricts such liability shall be legal or binding.
As will be seen, this law puts the employee of a railroad company
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upon the same level in regard to his right to recover damages for inju
ries as are all other persons not employees. The supreme court of
Iowa has affirmed the constitutionality of this act and has decided that
it applies only in case of injuries due to accidents growing out of the
use and operation of railroads, and is not intended to embrace all classes
of railroad employees, but only to apply to those engaged directly in
the business of operating the railway. In this respect its scope seems
to be more limited than that of the Georgia statute above. Upon the
question as to who may be considered as engaged in the operation of a
railroad, the court has drawn the line quite strictly to those engaged in
the actual movement and operation of trains and such work as is
necessary to provide for the same.
It has also been decided that a receiver who is operating a railroad
under the appointment and direction of a court of equity is included
in the term “ persons owning or operating railways” within the con
templation of this section. A recent amendment to this section is
referred to on page 1208, below.
In the order of time of adopting a law of this class the State of Mon
tana stands next, and its law was originally passed by the legislature
of the Territory of Montana in 1873, having been approved May 7,
1873. In 1895, after the admission of Montana as a State of the Union,
the same law was included in an edition of the codes and statutes
adopted by act of the legislature approved February 19, 1895, as the
law of the State. It forms a section of the civil code, and is as follows:
S ection 905. In every case the liability of a [railroad] corporation
to a servant or employee acting under the orders of his superior, shall
be the same in cases of injury sustained by default or wrongful act of
his superior, or to an employee not appointed or controlled by him, as
if such servant or employee were a passenger.
In a decision rendered by the supreme court in November, 1895, it
declared that the above statute established the principle that there is a
difference in the grade of the employees in a common employment,
and that it gave a right of action to a servant, injured through the
negligence of a superior employee, against a master, when such injured
servant was without fault or negligence on his part. Subsequently a
rehearing of this case was had, and as a result thereof the court decided
that this Territorial statute had been annulled by the provisions of the
State constitution, for the reasons that it applied to domestic corpora
tions only; that, therefore, it placed a greater burden upon domestic
corporations than upon foreign ones operating in the State, and that
being so, was necessarily in conflict with section 11 of article 15 of the
constitution of the State, which prohibited the giving to any foreign
corporation, or the exercise by the same, of any greater rights or priv
ileges than those possessed by domestic corporations. In the sense as
used above, the words “ domestic” and “ foreign” apply, the one to
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corporations created by the State of Montana, the other to corpora
tions created outside said State, whether within the limits of the United
States or not. From the above it is clear that said section, while a law
of the Territory of Montana, never really became a law of the State,
and Montana is, in effect, at the present time, without legislation
changing the common-law rule.
In this particular kind of legislation Kansas modifies the common
law in paragraph 1251 of the General Statutes of 1889, the original
act having been approved March 4, 1874. The paragraph is in the
following language:
P aragraph 1251. Every railroad company organized or doing busi
ness in this State shall be liable for all damages done to any employee
of such company in consequence of any negligence of its agents, or by
any mismanagement of its engineers or other employees to any person
sustaining such damage.
The supreme court of Kansas has repeatedly held this act to be
constitutional; it has decided that the statute affects only those per
sons engaged in the hazardous business of railroading; that it has
changed the rule as to the employer’s liability for the negligence o f
employees, and has made railroad companies liable to one employee
for injuries caused by the negligence of a coemployee, but the act or
conduct, knowledge or notice for which the company is responsible in
any given case must be that of some employee having duty or author
ity in the premises; that the application of this statute is not limited
to cases where the injuries were caused in the movement of trains, and
that a receiver or other officer operating a railroad under authority o f
a court is liable to the same extent as are railroad companies under
this law.
The court also held that contributory negligence of the injured
employee will bar a recovery of damages under this statute as it does
under the common law, and that the paragraph applies to every rail
road organized in the State or doing business in the State, but that its
provisions do not include firms, partnerships, or individuals having
servants or employees engaged in work upon the road or trains of a
railroad corporation.
Wisconsin next, by chapter 173, acts of 1875, enacted legislation of
this class. The language of the act was as follows:
Every railroad corporation shall be liable for all damages sustained
by any agent or servant thereof by reason of the negligence of any
other agent or servant thereof, without contributory negligence on
his part, when sustained within this State, or when such agent o r
servant is a resident of and his contract of employment was made
in this State, and no contract, rule or regulation between any such
corporation and any agent or servant shall impair or diminisn such
liability.
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This act was repealed by chapter 232, acts of 1880, and from that
time until 1889 the courts of the State were governed by the commonlaw rule.
A new law on this subject was enacted in chapter 138, acts of 1889,
which was rather more limited in its application than the former law,
as it embraced only those cases where the injury complained of was
caused by the negligence of any employee having charge or control of
“ any stationary signal, target point, block or switch.”
This act was in turn repealed by chapter 220, acts of 1893, the pres
ent law of the State upon this subject. Said act was approved April
17, 1893, and is expressed in the following words:
Section 1. Every railroad or railway company operating any rail
road or railway, the line of which shall be in whole or in part within
this State, shall be liable for all damages sustained within this State by
any employee of such company, without contributory negligence on
his part; first, when such injury is caused by any defect in any loco
motive, engine, car, rail, track, machinery or appliance required by
said company to be used by its employees in and about the business of
such employment, when such defect could have been discovered by
such company by reasonable and proper care, tests or inspection, and
proof of such defect shall be presumptive evidence of knowledge
thereof on the part of such company; second, or while any such
employee is so engaged in operating, running, riding upon or switch
ing, passenger or freight or other trains, engines or cars, and while
engaged in the performance of his duty as such employee, and which
such injury shall have been caused by the carelessness or negligence
of any other employee, officer or agent of such company in the dis
charge of, or for failure to discharge his duties as such.
Se c . 3. No action or cause of action now existing shall be affected
by this act.
S ec . 4. N o contract, receipt, rule or regulation between any employee
and a railroad company, shall exempt such corporation from the full
liability imposed by this act.
In interpreting this statute the supreme court of Wisconsin holds
that it applies only in cases where the injured employee is one o f that
class engaged in operating moving trains, engines, and cars, and who
was injured while actually so engaged. The court has also held that
contributory negligence of the injured employee is a proper defense
under this statute as it is at common law.
In this group of States which have passed special legislation affect
ing the liability of railroad companies, Massachusetts comes next,
and in an amendment to section 212 of chapter 112 of the Public
Statutes o f 1882, the amending act being approved June 16, 1883, its
legislature enacted the following:
And if an employee of such corporation [railroad] being in the
exercise o f due care is killed under such circumstances as would have
entitled the deceased to maintain an action for damages against such
corporation, if death had not resulted, the corporation shall be liable
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in the same manner and to the same extent as it would have been if the
deceased had not been an employee.
It is clear that this law did not so change the rule of the common
law as to make the railroad company liable for the death of an
employee caused by the negligence of a fellow-servant, and, in fact,
the supreme court of the State has expressly so decided. It does
nothing more than to give the right to the heirs or legal representa
tives of a deceased employee to maintain an action for damages for
his death, a right which did not exist at common law, in such cases as
would have entitled him to have recovered damages for his injuries
had he lived.
Minnesota was next in order to pass a law of this character in an act
approved February 21, 1887, and now contained in section 2701 of the
General Statutes of Minnesota of 1891. Said section is as follows:
S ection 2701. Every railroad corporation owning or operating a
railroad in this State shall be liable for all damages sustained by any
agent or servant thereof by reason of the negligence of any other agent
or servant thereof, without contributory negligence on his part, when
sustained within this State, and no contract, rule, or regulation
between such corporation and any agent or servant shall impair or
diminish such liability: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so
construed as to render any railroad company liable for damages sus
tained by any employee, agent, or servant while engaged in the con
struction of a new road, or any part thereof, not open to public travel
or use.
In language this somewhat resembles the Iowa law above, although
not containing the Iowa provision limiting the application of the law
to those cases where the injuries were 64connected with the use and
operation” of the road. The supreme court of the State has, however,
decided that the application of the statute is so limited, and that unless
the employee was engaged in the operation of the road when injured
he can not recover damages under this section. It has also held dis
tinctly and on numerous occasions that damages can be recovered
under this section when the negligence, which was the proximate
cause of the injury, was that of a fellow-servant. Two other points
have been settled by the same court to the effect that the act does not
apply to street railways, and that it does include within its provisions
a receiver operating a railroad under the appointment and direction of
a court of equity as well as “ railroad corporations.”
In this connection Minnesota has enacted a statute which stands by
itself as the only law of its kind in this country. It is chapter 321,
acts of 1895, was approved April 24, 1895, and reads as follows:
S ection 1. In any action where a verdict is hereafter rendered
awarding damages on account of the negligence of a coemployee or
coemployees, fellow-servant or fellow-servants of the injured party,
the court, upon request of either party, made before the case is sub
mitted to the jury, shall direct the jury to name and it shall be their
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duty to name in their verdict such coemployee or coemployees, fel
low-servant or fellow-servants, if the evidence shall disclose their name
or names; and if the evidence does not disclose the name or names,
then such coemployee or coemployees, fellow-servant or fellow-serv
ants shall be designated by words of description, having reference to
class of service, nature of employment or otherwise, so as to identify
them as far as possible under the evidence.
Provided further, That this act shall not appty to cases where the
name or description of such person or persons is not disclosed by the
evidence.
This act can only apply in the case of suits against railroad compa
nies, as only against such companies can verdicts be legally rendered
which award damages on account of the negligence of fellow-servants.
Its object appears to be to fix the responsibility for the negligence
which caused the injury upon some particular employee or employees
for the benefit of the railroad company.
Next to follow Minnesota in the order of legislating upon this sub
ject was the State of Florida which, in an act approved June 7, 1887,
provided that if an employee of a railroad company was injured with
out fault or negligence on his part, and the damage was caused by
another employee, his employment by the railroad company should be
no bar to his recovery of damages. By an amendment approved May
4, 1891, the wording of the act was changed so as to limit the injuries
for which damages can be recovered in such cases to those caused “ by
the running of the locomotives, or cars, or other machinery” of the
railroad company. The following, to be found on page 1008 of the
Revised Statutes of 1892, is the law in its present form:
S ection 3. If any person is injured by a railroad company by the
running of the locomotives, or cars, or other machinery of such com
pany, he being at the time of such injury an employee of the company,
and the damage was caused by negligence of another employee, ana
without fault or negligence on the part of the person injured, his
employment by the company shall be no bar to a recovery. No con
tract which restricts such liability shall be legal or binding.
The supreme court of Florida has decided that under the provisions
of this statute an employee of a railroad company can not recover
damages from such company for injuries sustained bjThim on account
of the negligence of another employee, unless wholly without fault
himself, even though in performing the act that resulted in the injury
he was acting under the orders of a superior.
Ohio’s law, the next in order of passage, is contained in section 3 of
an act passed April 2, 1890, to be found on page 149, acts of Ohio of
1890. It is in language as follows:
S ection 3. In all actions against the railroad company for personal
injury to, or death resulting from personal injury, of any person, while
in the employ of such company, arising from the negligence of such
company or any of its officers or employees, it shall be held in addition
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to the liability now existing by law, that eveiy person in the employ
of such company, actually haying power or authority to direct or con
trol any other employee of such company, is not the fellow-servant,
but superior of such other employee, also that every person in the
employ of such company having charge or control of employees in any
separate branch or department, shall be held to be the superior and
not fellow-servant of employees in any other branch or department
who have no power to direct or control in the branch or department
in which they are employed.
The next State to pass a law of this character, affecting railroad
companies only, was Mississippi, and in section 193 of its present con
stitution, adopted November 1, 1890, it greatly relaxed the severity of
the common-law rule, and declared that the legislature might extend
the benefits provided therein to any other class of employees. Said
section is in the following language:
Section 193. Every employee of any railroad corporation shall have
the same right and remedies for any injuries suffered by him from the
act or omission of said corporation or its employees, as are allowed by
law to other persons not employees, where the injury results from the
negligence of a superior agent or officer, or of a person having the
right to control or direct the services of the party injured, and also
when the injury results from the negligence of a fellow-servant engaged
in another department of labor from that of the party injured, or of a
fellow-servant on another train of cars, or one engaged about a different
piece of work. Knowledge by any employee injured, of the defective
or unsafe character or condition of any machinery, ways, or appliances,
shall be no defense to an action for injury caused thereby, except as to
conductors or engineers in charge of dangerous or unsafe cars, or
engines voluntarily operated by them. Where death ensues from any
injury to employees, the legal or personal representatives of the person
injured shall have the same right and remedies as are allowed by law
to such representatives of other persons. Any contract or agreement,
express or implied, made by any employee to waive the benefit of this
section shall be null and void; and this section shall not be construed
to deprive any employee of a corporation or his legal or personal rep
resentative, o f any right or remedy that he now has by the law of the
land. The legislature may extend the remedies herein provided for to
any other class of employees.
The supreme court of Mississippi, in a case decided in 1892, held
that this section abolished the defense of contributory negligence in
actions against railroad companies by employees for damages for inj uries,
unless the negligence was willful or reckless. In a later case, decided
in 1895, it held that the statute did not go so far as to abolish this
defense, but merely abrogated the common law rule to the effect that
knowledge by the employee of the defective or unsafe character of the
machinery or appliances should preclude his recovery of damages for
an injury. It has also been decided by the court that an engineer or
conductor of a train while engaged in the routine duties of operating
the train can not be considered to be “ the superior agent or officer”
1182
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or “ the person having the right to control or direct the services” within
the meaning of the section.
In the Code of Mississippi, edition of 1892, which was adopted as
official by the legislature of that year, first appears, in section 3559,
what was practically a duplicate of section 193 of the constitution.
By a subsequent amendment, passed by the legislature in 1896, the
form of this section was changed, and it was made to apply against all
classes of corporations, not being confined to railroads alone. This
law will be discussed further along.
In this group of States Texas next appears, having passed an act,
approved March 10, 1891, and amended in 1893, which defines the
meaning of the terms “ vice principal” and “ fellow-servant” in the
case of railroad companies, changing the common-law rule thereon.
Said act is now contained in the following sections of the Revised
Statutes of Texas of 1895:
S ection 4560f. All persons engaged in the service of any railway
corporation, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, or in
the service of a receiver, manager, or of any person controlling or
operating such corporation, who are intrusted by such corporation,
receiver, or person in control thereof, with the authority of superin
tendence, control, or command of other persons in the employment of
such corporation, or receiver, manager, or person in control of such
corporation, or with the authority to direct any other employee in the
performance of the duty of such employee, are vice principals of such
corporation, receiver, manager, or person controlling the same, and
are not fellow-servants of such employee.
S ec . 4560g. All persons who are engaged in the common service
of such railway corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control
thereof, and who, while so employed, are in the same grade of employ
ment and are working together at the same time and place, ana to a
common purpose, neither of such persons being intrusted by such cor
poration, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof, with any
superintendence or control over their fellow-employees, or with the
authority to direct any other employee in the performance of any duty
of such employee, are fellow-servants with each other: Provided, That
nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make employees
of such corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control thereof,
fellow-servants with other employees engaged in any other department
or service of such corporation, receiver, manager, or person in control
thereof. Employees who do not come within the provisions of this
section shall not be considered fellow-servants.
S ec . 4560h. No contract made between the employer and employee,
based upon the contingency of death or injury of the employee, limit
ing the liability of the employer under this act, or fixing damages to
be recovered, shall be valid and binding.
The supreme court of Texas has affirmed the constitutionality of this
statute. It decided that the original act did not include the employees
of a receiver of a railroad, but the amendment of 1893, approved May
4, 1893, provided that it should so apply. In decisions rendered in
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1895 and 1896 the court held that the act did not include street rail
ways within its provisions, and in 1897, b}r an act approved June 18,
of that year, the legislature enacted a law very similar to the above,
but applying to street railways as well as to trunk lines. Said act,
being chapter 6 of the acts of 1897, is as follows:
S e c t io n . 1. Every person, receiver, or corporation operating a rail
road or street railway the line of which shall be situated in whole or in
part in this State, shall be liable for all damages sustained by any serv
ant or employee thereof while engaged in the work of operating the
cars, locomotives, or trains of such person, receiver, or corporation,
by reason of the negligence of any other servant or employee of such
person, receiver, or corporation, and the fact that such servants or
employees were fellow-servants with each other shall not impair or
destroy such liability.
Sec . 2. All persons engaged in the service of any person, receiver,
or corporation, controlling or operating a railroad or street railway the
line of which shall be situated in whole or in part in this State, who are
intrusted by such person, receiver, or corporation with the authority
of superintendence, control, or command of other servants or employees
of such person, receiver, or corporation, or with the authority to direct
any other employee in the performance of any duty of such employee,
are vice principals of such person, receiver, or corporation, and are not
fellow-servants with their coemployees.
S ec . 3. All persons who are engaged in the common service of such
person, receiver, or corporation, controlling or operating a railroad or
street railway, and who while so employed are in the same grade of
employment and are doing the same character of work or service and are
working together at the same time and place and at the same piece of
work and to a common purpose, are fellow-servants with each other.
Employees who do not come within the provisions of this section shall
not be considered fellow-servants.
Sec . 4. No contract made between the employer and employee based
upon the contingency of death or injury of the employee and limiting
the liability of the employer under this act or fixing damages to be
recovered shall be valid or binding.
S ec . 5. Nothing in this act shall be held to impair or diminish the
defense of contributory negligence when the injury of the servant or
employee is caused proximately by his own contributory negligence.
S ec . 6. The short duration of the special session of the legislature,
and the fact that the existing fellow-servant law is inadequate to accom
plish its purposes, and the fact that a large portion of our citizens have
no adequate remedy for personal injuries sustained, create an emer
gency, and an imperative public necessity exists, that the constitutional
rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be, and the same is
hereby suspended, and that this act take effect and be in force from
and after its passage, and it is so enacted.
This act would appear to practically supersede the older law, but as
it contains no repealing clause, either general or special, the older law
must be considered, in theory at least, still in force.
The next law of this character was passed by the Territory of New
Mexico and was approved February 17, 1893. It is now contained in
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the three following sections of the Compiled Laws of New Mexico of
1897:
S ection 3216. Every corporation operating a railway in this Terri
tory shall be liable in a sum sufficient to compensate such employee for
all damages sustained by any employee of such corporation, the per
son injured or damaged being without fault on his or her part, occur
ring or sustained in consequence of any mismanagement, carelessness,
neglect, default or wrongful act of any agent or employee of such cor
poration, while in the exercise of their several duties, when such mis
management, carelessness, neglect, default or wrongful act of such
employee or agent could have been avoided by such corporation through
the exercise of reasonable care or diligence in the selection of compe
tent employees, or agents, or by not overworking said employees or
requiring or allowing them to work an unusual or unreasonable num
ber of hours; and any contract restricting such liability shall be deemed
to be contrary to the public policy of this Territory and therefore void.
S ec . 3217. It shall be unlawful for any such corporation knowingly
and willfully to use or operate any car or locomotive that is defective,
or any car or locomotive upon which the machinery or attachments
thereto belonging are in any manner defective, or shops or machinery
and attachments thereof which are in any manner defective, which
defects might have been previously ascertained by ordinary care and
diligence by said corporation.
I f the employee of any such corporation shall receive any injury by
reason of such defect in any car or locomotive or machinery or attach
ments thereto belonging, or shops or machinery and attachments thereof,
owned and operated, or being run and operated by such corporation,
through no fault of his own, such corporation shall be liable for such
injury, arid upon proof of the same in an action brought by such
employee or his legal representatives, in any court of proper jurisdic
tion, against such railroad corporation for damages on account of such
injury so received, shall be entitled to recover against such corporation
any sum commensurate with the injuries sustained: Provided, That it
shall be the duty of all the employees of railroad corporations to
promptly report all defects coming to their knowledge in any such car
or locomotive or shops or machinery and attachments thereof to the
proper officer or agent of such corporation and after such report the
doctrine of contributory negligence shall not apply to such employee.
S ec . 3218. Whenever the death of an employee shall be caused under
circumstances from which a cause of action would have accrued under
the provisions of the two preceding sections, if death had not ensued,
an action therefor shall be brought in the manner provided by section
2310 of the Compiled Laws of New Mexico, as amended by chapter
X L I X of the Session Laws of 1891 of New Mexico, and any sum
recovered therein shall be subject to all of the provisions of said sec
tion 2310 as so amended.
This act differs in form from most of those preceding, and apparently
does not wholly do away with the common law fellow-servant rule, but
only holds the railroad corporation liable when the negligence of the
employee on account of which the injury was incurred could have
been avoided by the use of reasonable care and diligence by the cor
poration. It also makes it unlawful for the corporation to use defective
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cars or locomotives, defective machinery and attachments thereto, and
to operate defective shops or machinery and attachments thereof, and
makes the corporation liable for injuries incurred by employees which
were due to such use and operation, providing the defects might have
been ascertained by the corporation by the use of ordinary care and
diligence. No decisions of the supreme court of the Territory bearing
upon this statute can be found.
By act approved February 28,1893, the State of Arkansas next fell
in line and removed railroad employees from the operation of the
fellow-servant rule of the common law. This statute was practically
a copy of the original Texas statute of 1891, above referred to, and is
now to be found in the three following sections of the Digest of Arkan
sas of 1894:
S ection 6248. A ll persons engaged in the service of any railway
corporations, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, who
are intrusted by such corporation with the authority of superintendence,
control or command of other persons in the employ or service of such
corporation, or with the authority to direct any other employee, in the
performance of any duty of such employee, are vice principals of such
corporation, and are not fellow-servants with such employee.
S ec . 6249. A ll persons who are engaged in the common service of
such railway corporations, and who, while so engaged, are working
together to a common purpose, of same grade, neither of such persons
being intrusted by such corporations with any superintendence or con
trol over their fellow-employees, are fellow-servants with each other;
Provided, Nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to make
employees of such corporation in the service of such corporation
fellow-servants with other employees of such corporation engaged in
any other department or service of such corporation. Employees
who do not come within the provisions of this section shall not be
considered fellow-servants.
S ec . 6250. No contract made between the employer and employee
based upon the contingency of the injury or death of the employee
limiting the liability of the employer under this act, or fixing damages
to be recovered, shall be valid and binding.
In three recent cases the supreme court of the State has held that
under this statute if neither of two employees of a railroad company
has superintendence over the other they are fellow-servants, and the
corporation is not liable for an injury to one caused by the negligence
of the other, but if one of them did exercise such superintendence or
control then he is a vice principal, for whose negligence the corpora
tion is liable. Under this interpretation an engineer was held to be a
vice principal as to his fireman and the foreman of a section gang a
vice principal as to the members of the gang.
By section 15 of article 9 of its present constitution, ratified Decem
ber 4, 1895, South Carolina seems to have made her first departure
from the common-law rule, and provided that railroad companies
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
should be liable for the injuries of their employees when, in any par
ticular Case, the injury resulted from the negligence of (1) a superior
agent or officer, (2) a person having the right to control or direct the
services of the injured party, or (3) a fellow-servant engaged in another
department of labor from that of the party injured, or engaged on
another train of cars or about another piece of work.
This statute appears in full below:
S ection 15. Every employee of any railroad corporation shall have
the same rights and remedies for any injury suffered by him from the
acts or omissions of said corporation or its employees as are allowed
by law to other persons not employees, when the injury results from
the negligence of a superior agent or officer, or of a person having a
right to control or direct the services of a party injured, and also when
the injury results from the negligence of a fellow-servant engaged in
another department of labor from that of the party injured, or of a
fellow-servant on another train of cars, or one engaged about a differ
ent piece of work. Knowledge by any employee injured of the defect
ive or unsafe character or condition of any machinery, ways or appli
ances shall be no defense to an action for injury caused thereby, except
as to conductors or engineers in charge of dangerous or unsafe cars
or engines voluntarily operated by them. When death ensues from
any injury to employees, the legal or personal representatives of the
person injured shall have the same right and remedies as are allowed
by law to such representatives of other persons. Any contract or
agreement, expressed or implied, made by any employee to waive the
benefit of this section shall be null and void; and this section shall not
be construed to deprive any employee of a corporation, or his legal or
personal representative, of any remedy or right that he now has by
the law of the land. The general assembly may extend the remedies
herein provided for to any other class of employees.
Next in order of passage in this class of laws is the statute of Mis
souri, to be found on page 96 of the acts of 1897, and approved Febru
ary 9, 1897. The last three sections of this act are quite similar to
the acts, previously discussed, of Texas and Arkansas defining vice
principals and fellow-servants, and the first section resembles the laws
of Iowa and Minnesota already referred to. Said act reads as follows:
S ection 1. Every railroad corporation owning or operating a rail
road in this State shall be liable for all damages sustained by any agent
or servant thereof while engaged in the work of operating such rail
road by reason of the negligence of any other agent or servant thereof:
Provided, That it may be shown in defense that the person injured
was guilty of negligence contributing as a proximate cause to produce
the injury.
S ec . 2. All persons engaged in the service of any such railroad cor
poration doing business in this State, who are intrusted by such corpo
ration with the authority of superintendence, control or command of
other persons in the employ or service of such corporation, or with
the authority to direct any other servant in the performance of any
duty of such servant, or with the duty of inspection or other duty
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
1187
owing by the master to the servant, are vice principals of such corpo
ration, and are not fellow-servants with such employees.
S ec . 3. A ll persons who are engaged in the common service of such
railroad corporation, and who while so engaged, are working together
at the same time and place, to a common purpose of same grade, neither
of such persons being intrusted by such corporation with any super
intendence or control over their fellow-employees, are fellow-servants
with each other: Provided.■, That nothing herein contained shall be so
construed as to make any agent or servant of such corporation in the
service of such corporation a fellow-servant with any other agent or
servant of such corporation engaged in any other department or serv
ice of such corporation.
S ec . 4. No contract made between any railroad corporation and any
of its agents or servants, based upon the contingency of the injury or
death of any agent or servant, limiting the liability of such railroad
corporation for any damages under the provisions of this act, shall be
valid or binding, but all such contracts or agreements shall be null and
void.
The reporters as yet contain no decisions of the supreme court of
Missouri which interpret or construe this statute.
In the order of time of enacting legislation of this character North
Carolina comes next, and its statute, being chapter 56 of Yol. II, acts
of North Carolina of 1897 (Private Laws) was ratified February 23,
1897. This act permits an employee of any railroad company who
has been injured, owing to the negligence of a fellow-servant, or, in
case of his death from such injuries, his personal representative, to
maintain an action against the company. Its wording is as follows:
S ection 1. Any servant or employee of any railroad company
operating in this State, who shall suffer injury to his person, or the
personal representative of any such servant, or employee who shall
have suffered death, in the course of his services or employment with
said company by the negligence, carelessness or incompetency of any
other servant, employee or agent of the company, or by any defect in
the machinery, ways or appliances of the company shall be entitled to
maintain an action against such company.
S ec . 2. Any contract or agreement expressed or implied, made by
any employee of said company to waive the benefit of the aforesaid
section, shall be null and void.
The supreme court of North Carolina has sustained the constitu
tionality of this act, and has decided that it is a public act in spite of
the fact that it was published by the State among the private acts of
the year 1897.
The last of the States, up to this time, to pass a law of this nature,
confined in its application to railroads, is North Dakota. Its statute,
chapter 129 of the acts of 1899, was approved March 6, 1899, and is
in the following language:
Section 1. Every railroad corporation owning or operating a rail
road in this State shall be liable for all damages sustained by any
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agent or servant thereof while engaged in switching or in the opera
tion of trains by reason of the negligence of any other agent or serv
ant thereof, without contributory negligence on his part when sus
tained within this State, and no contract, rule or regulation between
such corporation and any agent or servant shall impair or diminish
such liability. In actions brought under the provisions of this act, if
the jury find for the plaintiff they shall specify in their verdict the
name or names of the employee or employees guilty of the negligent
act complained of.
The common-law rule is relaxed by this statute only when the
injury complained of was incurred 46in switching or in the operation
of trains” and the last provision of the act to the effect that the jury
must name the coemployee or coemployees to whose negligence the
injury was due, is contained in the law of but one other State, Minne
sota, as shown on page 1179, above.
GENERAL IN APPLICATION.
As will have been noted, the laws which have been quoted and dis
cussed above modify the common-law rule as to the employers’ liabil
ity for injuries caused by the negligence of a coemployee or fellowservant only in those cases where the servants injured are in the
employ of railroad companies and corporations. A number of the
States have passed laws of this nature which go much further, and
apply not only in the case of railroad employees but to many or all
classes of employees. Of these Alabama, in an act approved February
12, 1885, was the first to make so radical a departure from the com
mon law. Said statute, being originally act No. 51 of the acts of
1881-85, and having been later rewritten and its wording changed by
the compilers of the Code of Alabama of 1886, is now contained in
three sections of the State code of 1897, which read as follows:
S ection 1749. When a personal injury is received by a servant or
employee in the service or business of the master or employer, the
master or employer is liable to answer in damages to such servant or
employee, as if he were a stranger, and not engaged in such service or
employment, in the cases following:
1. When the injury is caused by reason of any defect in the condi
tion of the ways, works, machinery, or plant connected with, or used
in the business of the master or employer.
2. When the injury is caused by reason of the negligence of any
person in the service or employment of the master or employer, who
has any superintendence intrusted to him, whilst in the exercise of
such superintendence.
3. Wnen such injury is caused by reason of the negligence of any
person in the service or employment of the master or employer, to
whose orders or directions the servant or employee, at the time of the
injury,was bound to conform, and did conform, if such injuries resulted
from his having so conformed.
4. When such injury is caused by reason of the act or omission of
any person in the service or employment of the master or employer*
EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY IK THE UNITED STATES.
1189
done or made in obedience to the rules and regulations or by-laws of
the master or employer, or in obedience to particular instructions given
by any person delegated with the authority of the master or employer
in that behalf.
5. When such injury is caused by reason of the negligence of any
erson in the service or employment of the master or employer, who
as the charge or control of any signal, points, locomotive, engine,
switch, car, or train upon a railway, or of any part of the track of a
railway.
But the master or employer is not liable under this section, if the
servant or employee knew of the defect or negligence causing the
injury, and failed in a reasonable time to give information thereof to
the master or employer, or to some person superior to himself engaged
in the service or employment of the master or employer, unless he was
aware that the master or employer, or such superior already knew of
such defect or negligence; nor is the master or employer liable under
subdivision one, unless the defect therein mentioned arose from, or
had not been discovered or remedied owing to the negligence of the
master or employer, or of some person in the service of the master or
employer, and intrusted by him with the duty of seeing that the ways,
works, machinery, or plant, were in proper condition.
Sec . 1750. Damages recovered by the servant or employee, of and
from the master or employer, are not subject to the payment of debts,
or any legal liabilities incurred by him.
S ec . 1751. If such injury results in the death of the servant or
employee, his personal representative is entitled to maintain an action
therefor, and the damages recovered are not subject to the payment of
debts or liabilities, but shall be distributed according to the statute of
distributions.
This act, as far as it goes, is a substantial copy of the well-known
English act of 1880. It applies to all classes of employees with no
exceptions. While the first clause of section 1749 goes but a little
further than the common law, which imposed a positive duty upon
the employer of providing a safe place in which to work, safe tools,
appliances, etc., and rendered him liable for negligence in this respect,
either his own or that of anyone to whom he had intrusted the per
formance of any of his positive duties, the four remaining clauses go
far beyond the rule of the common law. This act makes the employer
liable for the negligence of the following classes of servants:
1.
Persons intrusted by the employer with the duty of seeing that
the ways, works, machinery, or plant are in proper order.
2.
Persons who have any superintendence intrusted to them by their
employer.
8. Persons authorized to give the order or direction which occa
sioned the injury.
4. Persons acting in obedience to rules, regulations, or by-laws,
obedience to which caused the accident.
5. Persons obeying particular instructions given by any persons
duly authorized in that behalf by the employer.
6. Persons in charge of any signal, points, locomotives, engines,
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
switches, cars, or trains upon a railway or upon any part of a track of
a railway.
Said act also provides that damages recovered by the servant or
employee from his employer are not subject to the payment of his
debts or legal liabilities, and that if the injuries result in the death of
the employee an action may be maintained by his personal representa
tives.
In cases arising under this statute the supreme court of Alabama
has decided that contributory negligence of the injured employee is as
good a defense under the statute as it was at common law; that the com
mon-law doctrine of volenti non fit injuria is not changed by the pro
visions of this law, and that an employee, with knowledge of a defect
in the “ ways, works, machinery, or plant,” who continues in the serv
ice of the employer after the lapse of a reasonable time for its remedy,
assumes the risk incident to such defect and can not recover for inju
ries which he receives in consequence thereof; that if the defect which
was the cause of the injury was a hidden or latent one which could not
have been discovered or remedied with reasonable care and inspection
the employer is not liable, and that the common-law rule to the effect
that it is a sufficient fulfillment of the employer’s duty to adopt such
machinery or appliances as are in ordinary use by prudently conducted
concerns engaged in like business and surrounded by like circumstances
applies also in cases arising under this act.
The court has also held that a servant injured in another State by
the negligence of a fellow-servant, under such circumstances as would
create no right of action against the employer under the law of said
State, can not recover against said employer in Alabama, although the
contract of employment was entered into and the services partly per
formed in Alabama.
The act declares that the employer is liable to the employee “ as if
he was a stranger, and not engaged in such service or employment.”
In construing this clause the supreme court has said that “ the pur
pose of the statute is to protect the employee against the special
defenses growing out of and incidental to the relation of employer and
employee, and the result is to take from the employer such special
defenses, but to leave him all the defenses which he has by the com
mon law against one of the public, not a trespasser nor a bare licensee.”
The State of Massachusetts next, in chapter 270, acts of 1887,
enacted by its legislature a statute of this character, and very similar
to the Alabama statute, although differing in details. This law was
approved May 14, 1887, and, as amended to date, it reads as follows:
S ection 1 (as amended by chapter 260, acts of 1892, and by chapter
359, acts of 1893, and by chapter 499, acts of 1894). Where, after the
assage of this act, personal injury is caused to an emploj^ee, who is
imself in the exercise of due care and diligence at the time:— (1) By
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reason of any defect in the condition of the ways, works or machinery
connected with or used in the business of the employer, which arose
from or had not been discovered or remedied owing to the negligence
of the employer or of any person in the service of the employer and
intrusted by him with the duty of seeing that the ways, works or machin
ery were in proper condition; or (2) by reason of the negligence of any
person in the service o f the employer, intrusted with ana exercising
superintendence, whose sole or principal duty is that of superintend
ence, or, in the absence of such superintendent, of any person acting
as superintendent with the authority or consent of such employer; or
(3) by reason of the negligence of any person in the service of the
employer who has the charge or control of any signal, switch, locomo
tive engine or train upon a railroad, the employee, or in case the injury
results in death the legal representatives of such employee, shall have
the same right of compensation and remedies against the employer as
if the employee had not been an employee of nor in the service of the
employer, nor engaged in its work. And in case such death is not
instantaneous, or is preceded by conscious suffering, said legal rep
resentatives may in the action brought under this section, except as
hereinafter provided, also recover damages for such death. The total
damages awarded hereunder, both for said death and said injury, shall
not exceed five thousand dollars, and shall be apportioned by the jury
between the legal representatives and the persons, if any, entitled
under the succeeding section of this act, to bring an action for instan
taneous death. I f there are no such persons then no damages for such
death shall be recovered, and the damages, so far as the same are
awarded for said death, shall be assessed with reference to the degree
of culpability of the employer herein, or the person for whose negli
gence he is made liable. A car in use by or in the possession of a
railroad company shall be considered a part of the ways, works or
machinery o f the company using or having the same in possession,
within the meaning of this act, whether such car is owned by it or by
some other company or person.
S ec . 2. Where an employee is instantly killed or dies without con
scious suffering, as the result of the negligence of an employer, or of
the negligence of any person for whose negligence the employer is
liable under the provisions of this act, the widow of the deceased, or
in case there is no widow, the next of kin, provided that such next of
kin were at the time of the death of such employee dependent upon
the wages of such employee for support, may maintain an action for
damages therefor and may recover in the same manner, to the same
extent, as if the death of the deceased had not been instantaneous, or
as if the deceased had consciously suffered.
Sec . 3 (as amended by chapter 155, acts of 1888, and by chapter 260,
acts of 1892). Except in actions brought by the personal representa
tives under section one of this act to recover damages for both the
injury and death o f an employee, the amount of compensation receiv
able under this act in cases of personal injury shall not exceed the sum
of four thousand dollars. In case of death which follows instantane
ously or without conscious suffering, compensation in lieu thereof may
be recovered in not less than five hundred and not more than five
thousand dollars, to be assessed with reference to the degree of culpa
bility of the employer herein, or the person for whose negligence he
is made liable; and no action for the recovery of compensation for
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
injury or death under this act shall be maintained, unless notice of the
time, place and cause of the injury is given to the employer within sixty
days, and the action is commenced within one year, from the occur
rence of the accident causing the injury or death. The notice required
by this section shall be in writing, signed by the person injured or by
some one in his behalf; but if from physical or mental incapacity it is
impossible for the person injured to give the notice within the time
provided in said section, he may give the same within ten days after
such incapacity is removed, and in case of his death without having
iven the notice and without having been for ten days at any time after
fadministrator
is injury of sufficient capacity to give the notice, his executor or
may give such notice within sixty days after his appoint
ment. But no notice given under the provisions of this section shall
be deemed to be invalid or insufficient solely by reason of any inac
curacy in stating the time, place or cause of the injury: Provided, It
is shown that there was no intention to mislead, and that the party
entitled to notice was not in fact misled thereby.
S ec . 4. Whenever an employer enters into a contract, either written
or verbal, with an independent contractor to do part of such employer’s
work, or whenever such contractor enters into a contract with a sub
contractor to do all or any part of the work comprised in such con
tractor’s contract with the employer, such contract or subcontract
shall not bar the liability of the employer for injuries to the employees
o f such contractor or subcontractor, by reason of any defect in the
condition of the ways, works, machinery or plant, if they are the
property of the employer, or furnished by him, and if such defect
arose or had not been discovered or remedied, through the negligence
of the employer or of some person intrusted by him with the duty of
seeing that they were in proper condition.
S ec . 5. An employee or his legal representatives shall not be entitled
under this act to any right of compensation or remedy against his
employer in any case where such employee knew of the defect or neg
ligence which caused the injury, and failed within a reasonable time
to give, or cause to be given, information thereof to the employer, or
to some person superior to himself in the service of the employer, who
had intrusted to him some general superintendence.
S ec . 6. Any employer who shall have contributed to an insurance
fund created and maintained for the mutual purpose of indemnifying
an employee for personal injuries for which compensation may be
recovered under this act, or to any relief society formed under chap
ter two hundred and forty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hun
dred and eighty-two, as authorized by chapter one hundred and twentyfive of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-six, may prove,
in mitigation of the damages recoverable by an employee under this
act, such proportion of the pecuniary benefit which has been received
by such employee from any such fund or society on account of such
contribution of said employer, as the contribution of such employer to
such fund or society bears to the whole contribution thereto.
S ec . 7. This act shall not apply to injuries caused to domestic serv
ants, or farm laborers, by other fellow-employees, * * *.
This does not apply, as did the Alabama statute, to all classes of
employees, but excepts from its operation, by its own terms, domes
tic servants and farm laborers. It makes the employers liable for the
negligence of the following classes of servants only:
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1. Persons intrusted by the employer with the duty of seeing that
the ways, works, or machinery were in proper condition.
2. Persons intrusted with and exercising superintendence whose
sole and principal duty is that of superintendence.
3. Persons acting as superintendent with the authority and consent
of the employer.
1. Persons in charge of any signal, switch, locomotive engine, or
train upon a railroad.
In this respect, also, the act is narrower than the Alabama act, as it
does not make the employer liable for the negligence of as many
classes of employees.
In its provisions allowing damages for the death of the injured
employee, and allowing damages for the injuries to be collected by the
legal representatives of the employee in case of his death, this statute
is more liberal than any other passed by other States. And no other
State except Colorado, as will be seen later on, has a similar provision
to that contained in section 4 of this act, which makes the employer
liable in damages for the injuries of an employee of his contractor or
subcontractor.
The supreme court of Massachusetts has held that clause 1 of sec
tion 1 of the employers’ liability act, above, does not give a right of
action against an employer for injuries sustained by an employee
through the negligence of a fellow-servant in handling or using a
machine, tool, or appliance which is in itself in proper condition;
that it is not necessary, in order to render an employer liable for an
injury occurring to an employee through a defect in the ways, works,
or machinery, that said ways, etc., should belong to him, if it at least
appear that he has control of them, and that they are used in his busi
ness, by his authority, express or implied; that loaded freight cars
received by a railroad company from and belonging to other roads, to
be hauled by such company over part of its road in due course of busi
ness, are a part of the works and machinery of such company within
the meaning of said clause; that a track in the yard of a third party,
owned, maintained, and repaired by him, and used b}^ a railroad under
contract with him for the delivery of freight in the yard is no part of
the railroad’s “ ways” under this clause; that an unsuitableness of
ways, works, or machinery for the work intended to be done, and
actually done, by means of them, is a defect within the meaning of
this clause, although the ways, etc., are perfect of their kind, in good
repair, and suitable for some other work done in the employer’s busi
ness; that even if there was a defect in the ways, etc., yet an employee
can not recover, under this clause, unless his injury was caused by the
defect; that under this clause the employer is not required to furnish
the safest or best known machinery in use, or that with the latest
improvements as to safety appliances, but he performs his full duty
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when he furnishes machinery which is reasonably safe, and adapted to
the purpose for which it is used; that the words “ ways” and “ works”
in this clause apply only to ways and works of a permanent or quasi
permanent character. It has also decided in regard to clause 2 of
section 1 that the negligence for which this clause makes the employer
liable is that of a person not only intrusted with but exercising super
intendence, and that the employer is not answerable for the negligence
of a superintendent, who, at the time of, and in doing the act com
plained of, is not exercising superintendence, but is engaged in mere
manual labor, or the duties of a common workman; that evidence that
an employee exercised some acts of superintendence within a narrow
scope of employment will not warrant a finding that his “ sole or
principal” duty was that of superintendence; that the fact that the
negligent employee has the charge or control of the ways, works, or
machinery does not make him a superintendent within this clause;
that the failure of a superintendent to take proper precautions to pro
tect employees who are engaged in the process of constructing the
defendant’s ways, works, or machinery is negligence under this clause;
that where the injury was caused by the negligence of a superintendent
the employer can not escape liability by showing that his own act
contributed to the injury; that the temporary absence of the superin
tendent from his post of duty may be negligence under this clause in
spite of the rule that the negligence must occur during the exercise of
superintendence; that under this clause it is no defense to show that
the superintendent was a careful workman or that the employer had
exercised due care in selecting him, and that the fact that the injured
employee is not subject to the orders or under the superintendence of
the superintendent whose negligence caused the injury will not pre
vent a recovery of damages under this clause. Again, as to clause 3
of section 1, the court has decided that a locomotive and one or more
cars, connected together and run upon a railroad constitute a “ train”
within the meaning of this clause, as is also a number of cars coupled
together and moving from one point to another from an impetus
imparted by a locomotive which has been detached; that a street rail
way car, operated by electricity upon a street railway track is not a
locomotive engine or train upon a railroad within the meaning of this
clause; that a locomotive engine at rest upon the rails of a railroad
roundhouse, where it had been left for temporary repairs, is not
“ upon a railroad” within this clause; that to constitute a person one
in “ charge or control” of a train, etc., within this clause it is not
necessary that he should have the general or usual charge or control
of any signal, etc., but it is sufficient if he have charge or control for
a temporary purpose, or for the time being; that by the words “ any
person * * * who has charge or control” is meant a person who,
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movements and management of the train as a whole, and of the men
engaged upon it; that it is not necessary that the person in charge or
control should have any particular office.
Under the provisions in the last part of the first section of this act
the legal representatives of a deceased employee are empowered to sue
for and recover damages for the conscious suffering of the deceased
from the time of his injury to his death, and also, if he left a widow,
or dependent next of kin, to recover damages for such death as a sub
stantive cause of action. The damages recovered for the conscious
suffering of the deceased have been held to constitute assets of his
estate, and are therefore subject to the claims of his creditors and to
the operation of his will, while the damages recovered for the death
itself belong to the widow or next of kin. Section 2 of the act pro
vides for the recovery of damages for the death of an employee who
is instantly killed or dies without conscious suffering, and the supreme
court has decided that u the effect of such provisions as to the distri
bution of the damages is to say that they shall not be assets for the
payment of debts, and shall not pass by the will of the deceased, but
shall be applied to the compensation of the persons who are presumed
to have suffered the most by the death of the person injured ; that if
no widow or dependent next of kin are in existence upon the death of
the employee instantly or without conscious suffering, no action for
such death can be maintained under this section.” In regard to the
third section the court has held that the u next of kin dependent upon
the wages of such employee for support” need not come within the
class of persons whom the deceased, if able, was legally bound to sup
port, but the fact of dependence is sufficient. As to the fourth section
its meaning has been declared by the supreme court to be that the
employer shall be liable when a contractor does part of his work and
an employee of the contractor is injured by reason of a defect in the
condition of the ways, etc., furnished by the employer to the con
tractor which has not been discovered or remedied through the negli
gence of the employer, or of some person intrusted by him with the
duty of seeing that they were in proper condition, and that section 5
does not require an employee to prove his ignorance of danger, or the
fact that he gave information concerning the same, before he can
recover, but puts the burden of the proof to the contrary upon the
defendant.
In connection with this act and as interpreting the meaning of the
word u train” and the phrase “ person in charge or control,” etc., con
tained in clause 3 of section 1 of this act, the legislature enacted
chapter 491 of the acts of 1897, which was approved June 10, 1897,
and is expressed in the following words:
S ection 1. One or more cars in motion, whether attached to an
engine or not, shall constitute a train within the meaning of clause
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three of section one of chapter two hundred and seventy of the acts
of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-seven [the employers’ liability
act] and acts in addition thereto or in amendment thereof.
S ec . 2. Any person who, as a part of his duty for the time being,
physically controls or directs the movements of a signal, switch or
train shall be deemed to be a person in charge or control of a signal,
switch or train within the meaning of clause three of section one of
chapter two hundred and seventy of the acts of the year eighteen hun
dred and eighty-seven and acts in addition thereto or in amendment
thereof.
In 1893, two States, Indiana and Colorado, by acts approved March
4, and April 8, respectively, enacted similar law to that contained in
the statutes of Alabama and Massachusetts above. The Indiana stat
ute in its present form, as it is to be found in the Annotated Statutes of
Indiana of 1894, is as follows:
S ection 7083. Every railroad or other corporation, except munici
pal, operating in this State, shall be liable for damages for personal
injury suffered by any employee while in its service, the employee so
injured being in the exercise of due care and diligence, in the following
cases:
First. When such injury is suffered by reason of any defect in the
condition of ways, works, plant, tools and machinery connected with
or in use in the business of such corporation, when such defect was
the result of negligence on the part of the corporation, or some person
intrusted by it with the duty of keeping such way, works, plant, tools
or machinery in proper condition.
Second. Where such injury resulted from the negligence of any per
son in the service of such corporation, to whose order or direction the
injured employee at the time of the injury was bound to conform, and
did conform.
Third. Where such injury resulted from the act or omission of any
person done or made in obedience to any rule, regulation or by-law of
such corporation, or in obedience to the particular instructions given
by any person delegated with the authority of the corporation in that
Fourth. Where such injury was caused by the negligence of any
person in the service of such corporation who has charge of any signal,
telegraph office, switch yard, shop, roundhouse, locomotive engine or
train upon a railway, or where such injury was caused by the negli
gence of any person, coemployee or fellow-servant engaged in the same
common service in any of the several departments of the service of any
such corporation, the said person, coemployee or fellow-servant, at the
time acting in the place, and performing the duty of the corporation
in that behalf, and the person so injured, obeying or conforming to the
order of some superior at the time of such injury, having authority
to direct; but nothing herein shall be construed to abridge the liability
of the corporation under existing laws.
S ec . 7085. The damages recoverable under this act, shall be com
mensurate with the injury sustained unless death results from such
injury, when, in such case, the action shall survive and be governed in
all respects by the law now in force as to such actions: Provided, That
where any such person recovers a judgment against a railroad or other
corporation, and such corporation takes an appeal, and, pending such
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appeal, the injured person dies, and the judgment rendered in the court
below be thereafter reversed, the right of action of such person shall
survive to his legal representatives.
S ec . 7086. In case any railroad corporation which owns or operates
a line extending into or through the State of Indiana and into or through
another or other States, and a person in the employ of such corpora
tion, a citizen of this State, shall be injured as provided in this act, in
any other State where such railroad is owned or operated, and a suit
for such injury shall be brought in any of the courts of this State, it
shall not be competent for such corporation to plead or prove the
decisions or statutes of the State where such person shall have been
injured as a defense to the action brought in this State.
S ec . 7087. All contracts made by railroads or other corporations
with their employees, or rules or regulations adopted by any corpora
tion releasing or relieving it from liability to any employee having a
right of action under the provisions of this act are hereby declared null
and void. The provisions of this act however shall not apply to any
injuries sustained before it takes effect, nor shall it affect in any man
ner any suit or legal proceedings pending at the time it takes effect.
This law applies only to corporations, excepting municipal, and not
in those cases where the employer is an individual or an unincorpo
rated company. Within the sphere of its operation it renders all
employers liable for the negligence of the same classes of employees
as does the Alabama statute, and it does not limit the amount of dam
ages to be recovered as does the Massachusetts act. It also provides
that where death ensues from the injury the action shall survive.
The supreme court of Indiana has decided the above statute to be
constitutional and valid; that it does not impose liability upon the
employer for injuries resulting from the act or omission of the party
injured, but that such party must be free from fault, and that a failure
of the employee to show such freedom from fault would result in
defeating an action under the act. It will be noted that the fourth
clause of the first section makes an employer liable for the u negli
gence of any person * * * who has charge of any * * * switch
yard,” etc., while the acts of Alabama and Massachusetts, above, and
of Colorado, soon to be discussed, use the term 66switch.” It was
urged upon the supreme court that it was intended by the legislature
that a comma should have been placed between the words 66switch ”
and “ yard,” that making the sense and meaning of the clause to be
that the employer should be held liable for the negligence of a person
in charge of a switch or of a yard; but the court held that the words
meant the same as “ railroad yard,” and that the employer could not be
held liable under this act for the negligence of a person in charge of a
switch.
The Colorado act, forming chapter 77 of the acts of 1893, is as fol
lows:
S ection 1. Where, after the passage of this act, personal injury is
caused to an employee, who is himself in the exercise of due care and
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diligence at the time: (1) By reason of any defect in the condition of
the ways, works or machinery connected with or used in the business
of the employer, which arose from or had not been discovered or
remedied owing to the negligence of the employer, or of any person
in the service of the employer, and intrusted by him by with the duty
of seeing that the ways, works and machinery were in proper condi
tion; or (2) By reason of the negligence of any person in the service
of the employer, intrusted with or exercising superintendence whose
sole or principal duty is that of superintendence. (3) By reason of
the negligence of any person in the service of the employer who has.
the charge or control of any switch, signal, locomotive engine or train
upon a railroad, the employee, or in case the injury results in death
the parties entitled by law to sue and recover for such damages shall
have the same right of compensation and remedy against the employer,
as if the employee had not been an employee of or in the service of
the employer or engaged in his or its works.
S ec . 2. The amount of compensation recoverable under this act, in
case of a personal injury resulting solely from the negligence of a
coemployee, shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars. No
action for the recovery of compensation for injury or death under this
act shall be maintained unless written notice of the time, place and
cause of the injury is given to the employer within sixty daj^s, and
the action is commenced within two years from the occurrence of the
accident causing the injury or death. But no notice given under the
provisions of this section shall be deemed invalid or insufficient solely
by reason of any inaccuracy in stating the time, place or cause of injury:
Provided, It is shown that there was no intention to mislead, and that
the party entitled to notice was not in fact misled thereby.
S ec . 3. Whenever an employee enters into a contract, either written
or verbal, with an independent contractor to do part of such employ
er’s work, or whenever such contractor enters into a contract with a
subcontractor to do all or a part of the work comprised in such con
tract or contracts with the employer, such contract or subcontract
shall not bar the liability of the employer for injuries to the employees
of such contractor or subcontractor, by reason of any defect in the
condition of the ways, works, machinery or plant, if they are the
property of the employer or furnished by him, and if such defect
arose or had not been discovered or remedied through the negligence
of the employer or of some person intrusted by him with the duty of
seeing that they were in proper condition.
S ec . 4. An employee or those entitled by law to sue and recover,
under the provisions of this act, shall not be entitled under this act to
any right of compensation or remedy against his employer in any case
where such employee knew of the defect or negligence which caused
the injury, and failed within a reasonable time to give or cause to be
given information thereof to the employer or to some person superior
to himself in the service of his employer, who had intrusted to him
some general superintendence.
S ec . 5. I f the injury sustained by the employee is clearly the result
of the negligence, carelessness or misconduct of a coemployee the
coemployee shall be equally liable under the provisions of this act,
with the employer, and may be made a party defendant in all actions
brought to recover damages for such injury. Upon the trial of such
action, the court may submit to and require the jury to find a special
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verdict upon the question as to w[h]ether the employer or his vice
principal was or was not guilty of negligence proximately causing the
injury complained of; or w[h]ether such injury resulted solely from
the negligence of the coemployee, and in case the jury by their special
verdict find that the injury was solely the result of the negligence of
the employer or vice principal, then and in that case the jury shall
assess the full amount of plaintiff’s damages against the employer, and
the suit shall be dismissed as against the employee; but m case the
jury by their special verdict find that the injury resulted solely from
the" negligence of the coemployee, the jury may assess damages both
against the employer and employee.
Like the Alabama act this statute applies to employees of all classes
of employers, whether individuals, companies, or corporations. It
renders the employer liable for the negligence of only four classes of
employees, the same as enumerated in discussing the Massachusetts
statute above, and it further resembles the statute of Massachusetts in
that it limits the amount of damages to be recovered and declares the
employer liable to the employees of a contractor or subcontractor. It
contains one provision unlike any in the statutes of the States previ
ously mentioned to the effect that the coemployee through whose neg
ligence the injury was caused shall be equally liable with the employer,
and may be made a party defendant in all actions, and that damages
may be assessed against the employer alone, or against both the
employer and employee. In the recent case of Mitchell v. Colorado
Milling and Elevator Company it was sought by a mother to recover
damages for the death of her son, an employee of the company, under
the provisions of section 2 of this act, and the court of appeals of Colo
rado in its decision held that no part of the act applied to or in any man
ner affected the right to recover or the recovery of damages sustained
by any person other than an agent, servant, or employee of the party
against whom a recovery is sought. In the course of its decision it
used the following language:
The title of the * * * act is decisive of this case. It is “ An act
concerning damages sustained by agents, servants, and employees.”
This action is not founded upon any damages sustained by either an
agent, servant, or employee, nor does it seek to recover any such.
The damages sought to be recovered were those solely sustained and
suffered by the plaintiff, who was neither an agent, servant, or
employee of the defendant. It is true that the damages accrued to
her by reason of the death of an employee, but they did not accrue to
the employee, nor were they sustained or suffered by him. Again,
and as conclusive of this case, * * * section 21 of article 5 of the
constitution of the State provides that “ No bill except general appro
priation bills shall be passed containing more than one subject, which
shall be clearly expressed in its title; but if any subject shall be
embraced in any act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act
shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed.”
It is clearly manifest, therefore, that this act of 1893 is obnoxious to
this provision of the constitution in so far as it attempts to regulate,
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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
restrict, or in any manner affect actions like those at bar, to recover
damages by one who was in no capacity in the employ of the defendant.
Upon appeal of this case to the supreme court of the State this view
of the statute was overruled, and the court said:
If, in the title to the act, * * * the word “ damages” is used
in its technical sense to express simply compensation for injuries
received, or the amount which the injured party is entitled to recover,
the construction given to the title by the court of appeals is manifestly
correct. If, on the other hand, we give to it the meaning with which
it is frequently used, and of which it is also susceptible as a law term,
as expressing “ the injury for which compensation is sought;” in other
words, as synonymous with “ injuries,” the title sufficiently expresses
the subject treated in the body of the act. W e are inclined to accept
the latter view, and for the purpose of this review assume the act to be
constitutional.
The succeeding State to legislate in this line was Utah, which
included its law in chapter 24 of the acts of 1896, approved Febru
ary 21, 1896. This act is patterned upon the model of the Texas
“ fellow-servant act” above, but it is not confined, as is that act, to
railroad employees, but applies in the case of employees of “ any per
son, firm, or corporation.” It defines vice principals and fellowservants* including within the former title many who, under the
common law, would have been classed with the latter, making the fact
of control over or power to command the employee the test. Its
language is as follows:
S ection 1. All persons engaged in the service of any person, firm
or corporation, foreign or domestic, doing business in this State, who
are intrusted by such person, firm or corporation as employer with
the authority of superintendence, control or command of other per
sons in the employ or service of such employer, or with the authority
to direct any other employee in the performance of any duties of such
employee are vice principals of such employer and are not fellowservants.
S ec . 2. All persons who are engaged in the service of such employer,
and who, while so engaged, are working together at the same time and
place to a common purpose, of the same grade of service, neither of
such persons being intrusted by such employer with any superintend
ence or control over his fellow-employees, are fellow-servants with
each other: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so con
strued as to make employees of such employer in the service of such
employer fellow-servants with other employees engaged in any other
department of service of such employer. Employees who do not come
within the provisions of this section shall not be considered fellowservants.
Section 3559 of the annotated Code of Mississippi of 1892 was prac
tically identical with section 193 of the constitution of Mississippi,
previously noted, and confined the departure from the common-law
rule to the case of railroad employees. By an amendment made in an
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act approved March 11, 1896, the reading of said section was so
changed as to make it apply in the case of the employees of all corpo
rations. In its present form, as again amended by chapter 66, acts of
1898, approved January 31, 1898, it is given below:
S ection 3559 (as amended by chapter 87, acts of 1896, and chapter 66,
acts of 1898). Every employee of any corporation shall have the same
rights and remedies for an injury suffered by him from the act or omis
sion of the corporation or its employees, as are allow ed by other persons
not employees where the injury results from the negligence of a supe
rior agent or officer, or of a person having the right to control or direct
the services of the party injured; and also when the injury results
from the negligence of a fellow-servant engaged in another depart
ment of labor from that of the party injured, or of a fellow-servant
on another train of cars, or one engaged about a different piece of
work. Knowledge by an employee injured of the defective or unsafe
character or condition of any machinery, ways or appliances, or of
the improper loading of cars, shall not be defense to an action for
injury caused thereby, except as to conductors or engineers in charge
of dangerous or unsafe cars or engines voluntarily operated by them.
When death ensues from an injury to an employee an action may be
brought in the name of the widow of such employee for the death of
the husband, or by the husband for the death of his wife, or by the
parent for the death of a child, or in the name of the child for the
death of an only parent, for such damages as may be suffered by them
respectively by reason of such death, the damages to be for the use
of such widow, husband or child, except that in case the widow should
have children the damages shall be distributed as personal property of
the husband. The legal or personal representative of the person
injured shall have the same rights and remedies as are allowed by law
to such representatives of other persons. In every such action the
jury may give such damages as shall be fair and just with reference to
the injury resulting from such death to the persons suing. Any con
tract or agreement, expressed or implied, made by an employee to
waive the benefit of this section shall be null and void; and this sec
tion shall not deprive an employee of a corporation or his legal per
sonal representative of any right or remedy that he now has by law.
It appears that this act recognizes and lays down the principle of dif
ferent departments of labor in the same business and that an employee
does not assume the risk of the negligence of a coemployee engaged
in a different department of labor from himself. This principle, as
has already been mentioned, was engrafted into the common law by
the courts of several of the States, notably Ohio and Kentucky, but has
been repudiated as a common-law principle by the Supreme Court of
the United States. This statute also provides that the knowledge by
the employee of the unsafe condition of machinery, etc., shall be no
defense, excepting in certain specifically enumerated cases, and that in
case of the death of the employee the widow, husband, next of kin,
and legal representatives, as the case may require, may recover dam
ages. This subject of the bringing of suits to recover damages for the
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death of an employee is treated more fully in an act first passed in 1880
and forming section 663 of the Annotated Code of Mississippi of 1892.
This law as amended by acts approved March 23, 1896, and January
27, 1898, is in form as follows:
S ection 1. Whenever the death of any person shall be caused by
any real, wrongful or negligent act, or omission, or by such unsafe
machinery, way or appliances, as would, if death had not ensued, have
entitled the party injured or damaged thereby to maintain an action
and recover damages in respect thereof, and such deceased person shall
have left a widow or children, or both, or husband, or father, or
mother or sister, or brother, the person or corporation, or both, that
would have been liable if death had not ensued, and the representa
tive of such person shall be liable for damages, notwithstanding the
death, and the fact that death is instantaneous, shall, in no case, affect
the right of recovery. The action for such damages may be brought in
the name of the widow for the death of the husband, or by the husband
for the death of the wife, or by a parent for the death of a child, or
in the name of a child for the death of a parent, or by a brother for
the death of a sister, or by a sister for the death of a brother, or by a
sister for the death of a sister, or a brother for the death of a brother,
or all parties interested may join in the suit, and there shall be but
one suit for the same death, which suit shall inure for the benefit of
all parties concerned, but the determination of such suit shall not bar
another action unless it be decided on its merits. In such action the
party or parties suing shall recover such damages as the jury may, tak
ing into consideration all damages of every kind to the decedent and all
damages of every kind to any and all parties interested in the suit.
Executors or administrators shall not sue for damages for injury caus
ing death except as below provided; but every such action shall be
commenced within one year after the death of such deceased person.
S ec . 2. This act shall apply to all personal injuries of servants or
employees received in the service or business of the master or employer,
where such injuries result in death.
S ec . 3. Damages recovered under the provisions of this act shall
or liabilities of the deceased,
follows: Damages for the
a ^
>e equally distributed to his
wife and children, and if he has no children all shall go to his wife;
damages for the injury and death of a married woman shall be equally
distributed to the husband and children, and if she has no children all
shall go to the husband; if the deceased has no husband nor wife, the
damages shall be distributed equally to the children; if the deceased
has no husband, nor wife, nor children, the damages shall be distributed
equally to the father, mother, brothers and sisters, or to such of them
as the deceased may have living at his or her death. If the deceased
have neither husband, or wife, or children, or father, or mother, or
sister, or brother, then the damages shall go to the legal representa
tives, subject to debts and general distribution, and the executor may
sue for and recover such damages on the same terms as are prescribed
for recovery by the next of kin in section 1, of this act, and the fact
that deceased was instantly killed shall not affect the right of the legal
representative to recover.
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S ec . 4. All suits pending in any court at the time of the approval
of this act and which were also pending at the time said chapter went
into effect, shall not be affected by any of its provisions; but all such
suits shall be conducted and concluded under the laws in force prior to
the time of the approval of said act, on March 23, 1896.
No other States have passed laws similar to those just discussed
above.
CONTRACTS RELIEVING THE EMPLOYER FROM LIABILITY.
In order to avoid the effect of the law of employers’ liability both
common and statute, it has become more or less the custom among
employers to require of an employee as a condition of employment the
making of a contract relieving the employer from the liability imposed
by the law. In England it has been held that it is not contrary to the
policy of the employers’ liability act to waive the benefit of the same by
contract, and that such contract is binding not only upon the emploj^ee
himself but also upon his representatives in case of his death.
The supreme court of the State of Alabama, whose statute is, as has
been noted, much the same as the English statute, holds a contrary
view, and in a case heard in 1890 it decided that a stipulation in a con
tract of employment to the effect that the compensation paid “ shall
cover all risks incurred and liability to accident from any cause what
ever, and if an employee is disabled by accident or other cause, the right
to claim compensation for injuries will not be recognized,” was in con
travention to the provisions of the statute, opposed to public policy,
and did not secure to the railroad company, in whose interest the stip
ulation in the contract had been made, exemption from statutory lia
bility. A similar decision was rendered by the supreme court of the
State of Kansas in 1883 when it held that a railroad company can not
contract in advance with its employees for the waiver and release of
the statutory liability imposed by its liability act upon every railroad
company organized or doing business in the State, and a contract in
contravention of the act is void and no defense to an action brought by
an employee of a railroad company for damages done to him in conse
quence of the negligence or mismanagement of a coemployee.
Irrespective of statute, it has generally been held by the courts of the
United States that a contract made in advance, whereby an employee
agrees to release and discharge his employer from liability for any
injury he may receive by reason of the negligence of his employer, or
o f his servants, is contrary to public policy, and void. This principle
has been announced by a Federal court in the following well-chosen
language: “ As a general proposition, it is unquestionably true that an
employer can not relieve itself from responsibility to an employee for
an injury resulting from his own negligence by any contract entered
into for that purpose before the happening of the injury.”
1204
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
A contrary rule to the above prevailed in the State of Georgia. In
a decision rendered by the supreme court of that State in 1873 it was
held that where an employee of a railroad company, by special written
contract, made at the time he was employed, and in consideration of
said employment, agreed “ to take upon himself all risks connected
with or incident to his position on the road, and that he would in no
case hold the company liable for any damage he might sustain by acci
dents or collisions on the trains or road, or which may result from the
negligence, or carelessness, or misconduct of himself or other employee
or person connected with such road, or in the service of the company,”
such a contract, so far as it did not waive any criminal neglect of the
company or its principal officers, was a legal contract and binding upon
the employee, and in effect waived all his rights under the law. In
other words, the court held that it was legal for an employee to con
tract with his employer, before the happening of an injury caused by
the negligence of the employer, to relieve such employer of all liabil
ity in damages for said injury.
STATUTES FORBIDD IN G SUCH CONTRACTS G E N E R AL L Y .
If the above ruling of the Georgia court is a correct interpretation
of the law, a little thought will make it clear that an employer of labor
might refuse employment to a would-be employee unless he would sign
a contract of this nature; and, either for this or some other reason, the
legislature of the State, by act approved December 16, 1895, declared
such contracts to be null and void. The act, No. 184 of the acts of
Georgia of 1895, is in the following language:
S ection 1. * * * A ll contracts between master and servant,
made in consideration of employment, whereby the master is exempted
from liability to the servant arising from the negligence of the master
or his servants, as such liability is now fixed by law, shall be null and
void as against public policy.
It will be seen that this law is general in its terms, and declares con
tracts to be null and void which exempt the employer from the liabil
ity as “ now fixed by law,” not confining the prohibition to the contracts
exempting an employer from the liability as defined by any particular
statute.
Another act as general in its application as that of Georgia, above,
is a statute of the State of Massachusetts, which, prior to the passage
of its employers’ liability act, by section 3 of chapter 101, acts of 1877,
enacted a law providing that no employer should by special contract
with persons in his employ exempt himself from liability for injuries
of such persons which resulted from his negligence, etc. Said statute
has continued to be the law of the State, and is to be found at the
present time in section 6 of chapter 508 of the acts of 1894, approved
June 22, 1894. Its language is as follows.
em ployers’
l ia b il it y
in
the
u n it e d
states.
1205
S ection 6. No person or corporation shall, by a special contract
with persons in his or its employ, exempt himself or itself from any
liability which he or it might be under to such persons for injuries
suffered by them in their employment and which result from the
employer’s own negligence or from the negligence of other persons in
his or its employ.
But one other State, Ohio, has a statute of this nature, and that,
while general in the sense that it declares void an agreement to waive
the right to damages for injuries which arise under either statute or
common law, is still restricted in its application to contracts made by
railroad employees. This statute is contained in section 1 of an act
passed April 2, 1890, to be found on page 149 of the acts of Ohio of
1890. It reads as follows:
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any railroad or railway corpora
tion or company owning and operating, or operating * * * a rail
road in whole or in part in this State, to adopt or promulgate an}^ rule
or regulation for the government of its servants or employees, or
make or enter into any contract or agreement with any person engaged
in or about to engage in its service, in which, or by the terms of
which, such employee in any manner, directly or indirectly, promises
or agrees to hold such corporation or company harmless, on account
of any injury he may receive by reason of any accident to, breakage,
defect or insufficiency in the cars or machinery and attachments
thereto belonging, upon any cars so owned and operated, or being run
and operated by such corporation, or company being defective, and
any such rule, regulation, contract or agreement shall be of no effect.
* * * And no railroad company, insurance society or association, or
other person shall demand, accept, require, or enter into any contract,
agreement, stipulation with any person about to enter, or in the employ
of any railroad company whereby such person stipulates or agrees to
surrender or waive any right to damages against any railroad company,
thereafter arising for personal injury or death, or whereby he agrees
to surrender or waive in case he asserts the same, any other right what
soever, and all such stipulations and agreements shall be void, and
every corporation, association or person violating or aiding or abet
ting in the violation of this section shall for each offense forfeit and
pay to the person wronged or deprived of his rights hereunder the
sum not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred dol
lars ($500) to be recovered in a civil action.
This act has been declared unconstitutional by the court of common
pleas of Warren County, Ohio, on the ground that it violated section
1 of article 1 of the constitution of the State, as interfering with the
right of private contract, and in a case decided in 1896 by the United
States circuit court for the northern district of Ohio, the same decision
was made, and the court held that this statute, in denying to the
employees of a railroad corporation the right to make their own con
tracts concerning their own labor, is depriving them of “ liberty,” and
of the right to exercise the privileges of manhood,44without due proc
ess of law;” that, being directed solely to employees of railroads, it is
1206
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
class legislation of the most vicious character, and that for the above
reasons the statute is unconstitutional. This decision does not seem
to accord with the common-law principle, above referred to, to the
effect that a contract made in advance, whereby an employee agrees to
release and discharge his employer from liability for any injury he
may receive, due to said employer’s negligence or that of his servants,
is null and void.
STATUTES FORBIDDING SUCH CONTRACTS W H E R E TH E L IA B IL IT Y IS
IMPOSED B Y STATUTE.
Many of the States have included in their statutes regulating the
liability of the employer a provision to the effect that no contract
restricting the liability imposed by the statute, or waiving the benefit
of the same, shall be legal or binding. They are Arkansas, Florida,
Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North
Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, to be
found on pages 1185, 1180, 1197, 1175, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1187, 1181,
1187, 1188, 1186, 1182, 1183, 1177, and 1178, above, respectively.
An examination of these laws will reveal the fact that, in addition to
declaring the illegality of a contract of this nature, the laws of Indiana,
Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin include under the same ban
any “ rule or regulation” exempting the employer from full liability
under the act.
R E LIE F ASSOCIATIONS.
It will be seen by a reference to section 1 of the act of Ohio passed
April 2,1890, on page 1205, above, that the last paragraph of the same
provides that “ no railroad company, insurance society or associa
tion, * * * shall demand, accept, require, or enter into any
contract * * * with any person about to enter, or in the employ
of any railroad company whereby such person stipulates or agrees to
surrender or waive any right to damages * * * thereafter arising
for personal injury or death,” etc. This paragraph appears to be
aimed at a practice which has grown up in recent years, and which is
now quite common, among railroad companies at least. It may be
described briefly as follows: A relief association is organized by a rail
road corporation, designed to furnish money benefits and often free
hospital treatment to employees of such corporation when disabled by
accident or sickness and to provide a certain sum of money for their
families upon their death. Its affairs are exclusively under the man
agement of the corporation which contributes to its funds. A certain
proportion of the wages of each employee who is a member of such
association is retained by the company and turned over to the benefit
fund of the association. It has become the custom to include in the
application for membership in such association the following or a sim
em ployees’
l ia b il it y
in
th e
u n it e d
states.
1207
ilar agreement on the part of the employee: c6The said applicant agrees
that, in consideration of the contributions of the said company to the
relief and hospital department, and of the guaranty by it of the pay
ment of the benefits aforesaid, the acceptance of the benefits from the
said relief and hospital department for injury or death shall operate as
a release of all claims against said company for damages by reason of
suchi injury or death.” Many of these applications, in addition to the
above agreement, contain the following: 6 And I, or my legal represent
atives, will execute such further instrument as may be necessary form
ally to evidence such acquittance.” This sort of an agreement, con
tained as it usually is in the printed application for membership which
must be signed by each employee who desires to join such association,
is evidently designed to relieve the railroad corporation of its legal
liability for damages for injuries, and at first thought seems plainly
antagonistic to the principles of the common law and the provisions
of the various statutes which prohibit contracts, etc., waiving the
employer’s liability.
Such agreements, coupled with the fact of the actual acceptance of
aid from the benefit fund after receipt of injury, have frequently been
set up as matter of defense in suits brought against railroad companies
for damages for injuries. The result of the decisions of the courts of
different States seems to be to hold such contracts valid. It has been
generally held that while a contract by which an employer attempts to
relieve himself from a future liability for injuries or death of an
employee would be void as against public policy and frequently as
being in violation of statute, yet the agreements or contracts now being
considered are not of that class, but are only contracts for a choice
between sources of compensation for the injury, where but a single
source of compensation existed prior to the making of such a contract;
that such an agreement recognizes that enforceable liability may arise,
and only stipulates that, if the employee shall prosecute a suit to final
judgment against the company, he shall thereby forfeit his right to the
relief fund, and, if he accepts compensation from the relief fund, he
shall thereby forfeit his right of action against the company, and that
it is the final choice, the acceptance of one against the other, that gives
validity to the transaction.
In the case previously referred to, in which the Ohio statute forbid
ding the making of a contract by an employee with a railroad com
pany, in which he waives any future right to damages which might
arise, was declared unconstitutional by the United States circuit court
(see page 1205, above), the court in its decision used the following
language:
It will be observed that it is the acceptance of benefits from this
relief fund which, by the agreement, releases the railroad company
from a claim for damages. If the employee injured does not accept
1208
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
such benefits, but chooses to sue for damages, his right of action is
unimpaired and in no respect waived. This is the case as presented
by the pleadings and admitted facts. It is not a question of whether
a railroad company, by contract with its employees, can exempt itself
from suits for personal injuries caused by its negligence. That, as a
general rule, can not be done.
In a similar case involving a contract of this kind and its legality,
when tested by the provisions of section 7087 of the Annotated Stat
utes of 1894 (see page 1197, above), the supreme court of Indiana held
thatu the contract forbidden by the statute is one relieving the company
from liability for the future negligence of itself and employees. The
contract pleaded does not provide that the company shall be relieved
from liability. It shows that if disabled * * * by the fault of
the corporation, he (the injured employee) may, after injury, elect
whether he will accept the benefits from the fund or pursue his remedy
at law against the company, and that when he signs the contract the
only obligation assumed is that, if injured by the fault of the corpo
ration, he will not seek double compensation by pursuing both the
relief fund and the company.”
In deciding upon the validity of a contract or agreement of this
nature the supreme court of Iowa has held that it was a legal and
binding contract, not void as being against public policy, and not
invalid under the concluding clause of section 2071 of the Code of 1897
(see page 1175, above). Subsequent to the rendering of this decision,
and apparently for the purpose of preventing the making of such
agreements, chapter 49 of the acts of 1898, amending section 2071,
above referred to, was passed by the State legislature and was approved
March 8, 1898. It reads as follows:
S ection 1. Section number two thousand and seventy-one of the
code [shall] be amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
6Nor shall any contract of insurance, relief, benefit, or indemnity in
case of injury or death, entered into prior to the injury, between the
person so injured and such corporation, or any other person or asso
ciation acting for such corporation, nor shall the acceptance of any
such insurance, relief, benefit, or indemnity by the person injured,
his widow, heirs, or legal representatives after the injury, from such
corporation, person, or association, constitute any bar or defense to
any cause of action brought under the provisions of this section, but
nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent or invalidate
any settlement for damages between the parties subsequent to injuries
received.5
This legislation stands by itself, as no other State has so far attempted
by statute to declare, as does this amendment, that such an agreement
and the acceptance of benefits from a relief fund shall constitute no
bar to any cause of action, etc. Whether such a provision can stand
the test of constitutionality may well be doubted, and it will be interest
ing to observe whether, should the question come up in the courts, it
EMPLOYERS7 LIABILITY IN THE UNITED STATES.
1209
will not be held to deny to the employees affected thereby the right to
make contracts, and consequently to deprive them of liberty, etc.,
without due process of law. In the sixth section of the employers’
liability^ act (chapter 270, acts of 1887—see page 1192, above), the State
of Massachusetts attacks the subject of how far the acceptance of
benefits by an employee from a fund to which his employer has con
tributed should relieve such employer from liability for injury of said
employee, and provides that such employer may prove in mitigation
of the damages recoverable by an employee “ such proportion of the
pecuniary benefit which has been received by such em pk^ee from any
such fund or society on account of such contribution of said employer,
as the contribution of such employer to such fund or society bears to the
whole contribution thereto.” No case appears to have been decided
in the courts of Massachusetts in which the validity of such an agree
ment as that now being considered was called in question, and it can
not therefore be stated with certainty whether the above provision of
section 6 would preclude the employer from escaping all liability in
case an employee had agreed to elect between the benefit fund of a
relief association or a suit for damages against the employer.
The supreme court of Nebraska has decided that such a contract of
an employee did not lack consideration; that the promise made by the
employee to the relief department for the benefit of the railroad com
pany was available to the latter as a cause of action or defense; that
such contract was not contrary to public policy ; that the effect of such
contract was not to enable the railroad company to exonerate itself by
contract from liability for the negligence of itself or servants; that
the employee did not waive his right of action against the railroad
company, in case he should be injured by its negligence, by the execu
tion of the contract; and that it is not the execution of the contract
that estops the injured employee, but his acceptance of moneys from
the relief department on account of his injury after his cause of action
against the railroad on account thereof arises.
The supreme courts of the States of Illinois, New Jersey, and South
Carolina have also rendered decisions upholding the legality of such
agreements or contracts as those we have been considering, and na
decision of the highest court of any State can be found which holds to
a contrary view.
CONCLUSION.
The above is believed to be a fairly clear and comprehensive state
ment of the present state of the law of employers’ liability in the United
States. Owing to the multiplicity of the statutes passed by the legis
latures of the different States, together with the fact that they are all
applied and interpreted by courts composed of many different indi
viduals whose intellectual faculties do not all work in the same groove*
7170—No. 31----- 7
1210
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and whose judgments, therefore, do not always coincide, and also to
the further fact that in no two cases are the facts precisely the same,
there is always an uncertainty as to the outcome in each particular
action brought for the recovery of damages for injuries.
For the above reason it is no doubt true that many cases are com
promised or are dropped altogether by employees rather than to incur
the expense of a suit at law and to risk the uncertain outcome thereof;
and on the other hand many employers are put to much trouble and
expense in defending suits which never should have been brought, the
employees having, as the results demonstrated, no legal case.
That this condition of affairs—this uncertainty as to whether the law
affords a remedy—can ever be improved while the human intellect con
tinues to be fallible and the present line o f legislation continues to be
followed is greatly to be doubted, and it is this fault of the law in its
application which led to the radical changes in the plan of legislation
which have been made by Great Britain in her recent workman’s com
pensation act and by Germany in her law of compulsory insurance
against accidents.
Whether legislation upon these lines, viz, the making the employer
responsible for all injuries of his employees, regardless o f the question
o f the employer’s negligence, as has been done in England and other
countries, and the system o f compulsory insurance of the employees
against accidents, as adopted in Germany, will ever be adopted in this
country or not, or whether some other and at present unknown remedy
for the faults of the present system will be discovered and formulated
in legislation is a question which the future only can determine. No
special agitation toward this end has been made in any State of the
Union, nor has any such legislation yet been enacted. I f any radical
changes in the plan of legislation upon this subject are made it seems
most probable that they will come about through action of the State
legislatures and not of the Federal Congress.
CONDITION OP R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
B Y DR. L U IG I E IN AU D I.
The present article treats of the condition of railway labor in Italy.
The reader will notice quite a difference between this article and the
one relating to the condition of railway labor in other countries of
Europe (Bulletin No. 20). The most important reason for this differ
ence must be found in the railway legislation enacted in Italy in the
year 1881.
The railways in Italy were originally in the hands of private com
panies. The Government gradually acquired them all, some on one
ground, some on another, and administered them directly. The sys
tem of governmental administration of the railways, however, does
not appear to have been satisfactory, and for this reason the so-called
“ conventions ” or contracts were made in 1884. By the terms of these
contracts the railways remained the property of the State, and were
divided into three great systems: The Mediterranean system, which
includes the railways running to ward the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Med
iterranean Sea or the western part of the peninsula; the Adriatic sys
tem, which includes the railways running toward the Adriatic Sea or
the eastern part of the peninsula, and the Sicilian system, which com
prises all the railways of Sicily.
These three systems were turned over to the management of three
companies, which were called the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Sicil
ian companies, respectively. The lease of these governmental railways
to the companies was for a term of sixty years, beginning with July
1,1885. However, at the end of each period of twenty years the State
as well as the companies can abrogate the contract, and in that case the
railways will revert to the State. The State as proprietor owns the
lines, the stations, and the rolling stock, and provides for the exten
sion of the system, the maintenance of that now existing, the pur
chasing of new rolling stock, etc. The companies must provide for
the current expenses of operating the roads. Of the gross income
32£ per cent goes to the State and 67i per cent to the operating
companies.
As can be seen from this short review of the railway contracts now
in force in Italy, the existing relations between the State, the compan
ies, and the railway employees are necessarily very complicated.
1. It will be observed that the principal result of this arrangement
is that the State, not operating the railways directly, finds it to its
advantage not to renew the rolling stock which it must pay for, and,
on the other hand, the companies find it to their interest to reduce the
1211
1212
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
operating expenses as much as possible without regard to the condi
tion of the railways at the expiration of the contract. The companies,
therefore, find it to their advantage to reduce the number of employees
and to depart from the fixed wage lists which were established before
1885, and which according to the terms of the contract were to remain
intact. Great difficulty, therefore, is met with in trying to obtain data
relating to wages, and such information as has been obtained is imper
fect and incomplete. This difficulty exists notwithstanding the fact
that during the year 1899 the commission of inquiry on the relations
between the railway employees and the companies presented its report
in four large volumes, from which have been taken most of the facts
used in the present article. The companies publish only such docu
ments as can not injure them, and those documents throw very little
light on the condition of the Italian railway employees.
2. The tendency of the companies to economize on the railway per
sonnel has led to the adoption of systems of remuneration which help
to increase the amount of labor performed by the individual employee
and to diminish the cost of that labor. Of these systems some, like
the supplementary wage system and the task system, are still used by
nearly all other European railways, but there is one system which out
side of Italy seems to have been adopted only, and that to a slight
extent, by the Austrian Southern Railway (Siidbahn), but which in
Italy has acquired the greatest importance, viz, the system of gainsharing in the stations. This system presents some new characteristics,
and as this is a highly interesting form of remuneration of labor, it has
been thought worth while to devote considerable space to its discus
sion. It is believed that it may prove of value to those who occupy
themselves with the problems of labor and the methods of dividing
the total products of industry between labor and capital.
3. The tendency of the companies to introduce economies in all
branches of the railway service has led to a discontent which pervades
all the railway employees. Although it is a fact that railway employees
are better paid than other Italian workingmen, they still contend that
they are being robbed by the companies who have obtained the railway
concessions. The most important external manifestations of discon
tent are shown by the organization of railway labor and by strikes.
To these two points have been assigned two special subdivisions.
For the present it may be simply mentioned that Italian railway
employees .are placed in a peculiar position both as to organization
of labor and as to strikes. In theory Italian workingmen are per
mitted to organize and to strike, and this might also be conceded
to railway employees in the service of private companies. But
employees in the service of a railway system which is owned by the
State may be regarded as being attached to a public service of the
State which for the time has been delegated to a private company.
Acting upon this principle the Government of Italy, which has always
1213
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
denied the right of its employees to organize or strike, has intervened
by dissolving railway labor organizations and by repressing any attempt
at railway strikes. It succeeded in this by introducing a system of
militarism among the railway employees and by declaring strikes to be
criminal offenses.
4.
The complicated relations existing between the State and these
companies, and the lack of clearness in some points of the contracts
of concession, are the causes which render it impracticable for the
time being to consider the pension fund for railway employees. It is
true that there are some funds in existence out of which pensions
should be paid to superannuated and disabled railway employees, but
as no attention has ever been given to these funds either by the com
panies or by the State they are meeting with tremendous deficits and it
is not known how this evil can be remedied. It is hardly proper to
speak of these pension funds, at least until they are reorganized and
present some guarantee of stability and good management. A bill for
the reorganization of the pension funds is now being discussed by
Parliament.
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES.
As to the number of persons employed in the Adriatic, the Mediter
ranean, and the Sicilian systems, the tables following give an idea suf
ficiently exact.
The initial personnel of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic systems
was that which in 1885 belonged to the various railway administrations
in the State and amounted to 72,961 persons, of which 41,098 belonged
to the upper Italian railways, 12,616 to the Roman railways, 17,692 to
the southern and Calabrese railways, and 1,555 to the establishments
of Pietrarsa and of the Granili. O f these 72,961 persons, 39,724 were
assigned to the Mediterranean system and 33,237 to the Adriatic system.
The division of the employees among the three great systems, from
1885 to 1897, follows in detail:
TOTAL EMPLOYEES, AND EMPLOYEES PER MILE IN OPERATION, ON MEDITERRANEAN
SYSTEM JULY 1, 1885, TO JULY 1, 1897.
Year.
1885...........
1886...........
1887...........
1888...........
1889...........
1890...........
1891...........
1892...........
1893...........
1894...........
1895...........
1896...........
1897...........
Miles in
opera
tion.
2,615.97
2.709.17
2,827.23 .
2,854.57
2,949.02
3,006.19
3,044.71
3,232.99
3,277.11
3,415.67
3,547.40
3,685.35
3.692.18
Permanent em
ployees.
Temporary em
ployees.
Total employees.
Physicians not Females
included
Per
mile
Per
mile
Per
mile
included
In serv
serv in opera In serv
in opera Inice.
in opera in total. in total.
ice.
ice.
tion.
tion.
tion.
39,629
39,754
39,849
41,248
43,339
43,731
43,652
42,876
43,432
43,165
44,247
44,622
45,222
15.15
14.67
14.09
14.45
14.70
14.55
14.34
13.26
13.25
12.64
12.47
12.11
12.25
3,173
5,665
6,583
6,741
5,639
4.390
3,010
2,853
2,965
2,836
4.390
4,407
4,359
1.21
2.09
2.33
2.36
1.91
1.46
.99
.88
.91
.83
1.24
1.19
1.18
42,802
45,419
46,432
47,989
48,978
48,121
46,662
45,729
46,397
46,001
48,637
49,029
49,581
16.36
16.76
16.42
16.81
16.61
16.01
15.33
14.14
14.16
13.47
13.71
13.30
13.43
96
528
559
619
695
739
747
780
806
840
861
889
898
1,482
1,564
1,584
1.496
1,966
2,236
2,442
2.497
2,941
2,921
3,148
3,154
3,082
1214
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
TOTAL EMPLOYEES, AND EMPLOYEES PER MILE IN OPERATION, ON ADRIATIC SYSTEM
JANUARY 1,1885, TO JANUARY 1, 1897.,
Year.
Miles in
opera
tion.
1885(a) . . .
1886...........
1887...........
1888...........
1889...........
1890............
1891...........
1892...........
1893...........
1894...........
1895...........
1896...........
1897(a) . . .
2,642.85
2,699.30
2,862.40
2,937.58
3,095.27
3,174.65
3,196.16
3,214.49
3,334.55
3,403.95
3,382.39
3,444.81
3,444.81
Permanent em
ployees.
Temporary em
ployees.
Per mile
Per mile
In serv in opera In serv in opera In serv
ice.
ice.
ice.
tion.
tion.
28,077
31,625
32,184
33,064
34,583
35,465
36,923
36,574
34,826
33,706
32,572
31,730
32,207
10.62
11.71
11.24
11.25
11.18
11.17
11.55
11.38
10.45
9.90
9.63
9.21
9.35
4,960
2,695
3,075
3,224
3,692
3,752
3,362
3,434
3,947
4,172
4, M3
4,682
3,589
1.88
1.00
1.08
1.10
1.19
1.18
1.05
1.07
1.18
1.23
1.34
1.36
1.04
Nonsalaried phy
sicians Females
Per mile not in included
in total.
in opera cluded in
tion.
total.
Total employees.
33,037
34,320
35,259
36,288
38,275
39,217
40,285
40,008
38,773
37,878
37,115
36,412
35,796
12.50
12.71
12.32
12.35
12.37
12.35
12.60
12.45
11.63
11.13
10.97
10.57
10.39
173
564
598
597
582
588
591
614
626
639
640
651
654
2,324
2,885
3,001
3,110
3,241
3,351
3,339
3,470
3,590
3,735
3,724
3,794
3,880
a July 1.
TOTAL EMPLOYEES, AND EMPLOYEES PER MILE IN OPERATION, ON SICILIAN SYSTEM
JULY 1,1885, TO JULY 1, 1897.
Year.
1885..................................................
1886................................................ .
1887.................................................
1888..................................................
1889..................................................
1890..................................................
1891..................................................
1892..................................................
1893..................................................
1894..................................................
1895..................................................
1896..................................................
1897..................................................
Miles in
opera
tion.
372.20
395.81
415.08
418.18
438.69
447.39
489.64
532.51
623.23
653.06
692.83
697.80
697.80
Permanent em
ployees.
Per mile
In serv in opera
ice.
tion.
3,917
3,849
3,750
3,628
3,595
3,464
3,438
3,535
3,844
3,964
4,126
4,172
4,238
10.52
9.72
9.03
8.68
8.20
7.71
7.02
6.64
6.17
6.07
5.96
5.98
6.07
Temporary em
ployees.
In serv
ice.
175
202
199
156
137
139
119
62
42
80
35
75
186
Total employees.
Per mile
serv
in opera Inice.
tion.
Per mile
in opera
tion.
4,092
4,051
3,949
3,784
3,732
3,603
3,557
3,597
3,886
4,044
4,161
4,247
4,424
10.99
10.23
9.51
9.05
8.51
8.05
7.26
6.75
6.24
6.19
6.01
6.09
6.34
0.47
.51
.48
.37
.31
.31
.24
.11
.07
.12
.05
.11
.27
It will be seen from the tables given that in the Adriatic system
the figures representing the relation between the number of employees
and the mileage in operation remained high and even increased during
the period from 1885 to 1892, but in 1893 there was a marked decrease,
and the downward tendency continued until 1897, when the lowest
point was reached. A similar fluctuation occurred in the Mediterra
nean system. The figures remained high, some years increasing, until
1890, after which they decreased quite rapidly to reach finally in 1896
and 1897 the lowest points. This decreasing tendency, which for the
companies of the mainland manifests itself only in a second period of
operation, manifests itself immediately in the Sicilian system. It com
menced with 1886 and continued until the last few years— infallible
signs, without doubt, of the intention of this company from its begin
ning to gradually diminish the expenditures for employees.
It is thus shown that on July 1, 1897, the date on which are based
all the calculations published by the commission of inquiry, the num
ber of employees per mile operated by the three principal Italian sys
1215
CONDITION OF KAILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
terns was 13.13 for the Mediterranean, 10.39 for the Adriatic, and
6.31 for the Sicilian system, or 11.16 for the three systems combined.
It certainly can not be contended that the number of employees on
Italian railways is excessive. The number of men employed per mile
is inferior to that of many other European railways. This is due to
the persevering efforts made by the various companies to reduce the
number of their employees in order to obtain greater profits in the
operation of the railways, the cost of which in Italy is very high. The
fact remains that whether caused by the nature of the country traversed
by the roads, by the numerous tunnels, or by the malaria existing in
many regions traversed by the railways, the expenditures in payment
of employees are greater than those of many other foreign railways,
as can be seen from the following table:
PER CENT OF EXPENDITURES IN PAYMENT OF EMPLOYEES. ON EUROPEAN R A IL W A Y
SYSTEMS OF TOTAL RECEIPTS AND OF TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES.
Railway systems.
Austrian State system (1891)...................................................................................................
Belgian State system (1894).....................................................................................................
Imperial system of Alsace-Lorraine (1894-95)....................................................................
Italy:
Mediterranean system (1893)..........................................................................................
Adriatic system (1893).......................................................................................................
Sicilian system (1893).........................................................................................................
Prussian State system (1894-95)..............................................................................................
Swiss system of the Gothard (1894).......................................................................................
Per cent Per cent
of total
of total
receipts. operating
expenses.
34.37
31.59
36.51
58.53
55.84
63.11
47.96
44.93
55.31
36.22
23.10
69.82
68.48
59.30
65.35
48.55
The size of these expenditures explains the reason why the three
companies have tried to diminish the number of their employees, either
by adopting the system of gain-sharing in the stations or by having
recourse to temporary employees at certain periods of the year when
there is increased railway activity, as, for instance, during the time of
transporting the grape crop in the months of September and October.
The system of gain-sharing will be treated further on. So far as the
temporary employees are concerned, they are engaged only from day
to day when there is a necessity for their services, and only for the
length of time that necessity exists. It will be seen that in the year
1897, in the Adriatic system, there were 32,207 persons more or less
regularly employed, while there were 3,589 temporary employees; in
the Mediterranean system the proportion was 45,222 regular to 4,359
temporary employees, and in the Sicilian system there were 4,238
regular and 186 temporary employees. It will be seen that about onetenth of the employees are temporary, and it is among these working
men, who have very little hope of retaining their positions, that the
discontented are mostly found. On the other hand, the companies
contend, and with reason, that they can not afford to employ regularly
a large personnel when the increased number can be used only in cer
tain extraordinary emergencies, as, for instance, the time of vintage,
which lasts from 30 to 40 days in a whole year.
1216
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
HOURS OF LABOR.
The Italian law of March 20, 1865, regarding public works, while it
treats specifically of the numerical sufficiency and the proficiency of
the personnel, is silent so far as hours of labor are concerned. Article
10 simply provides that “ the companies must fix a time schedule of
service for the employees so as to allow them the necessary hours of
continuous rest.” This article is the only one now actually in force,
and is so vague that it has no real bearing and importance.
As to the state o f affairs actually existing, there is a marked differ
ence between the statements of the companies and those of the railway
employees. The three companies uniformly affirm that the time sched
ules are so arranged as to provide for the necessary rest. Accord
ing to the statement of the Adriatic company, the hours of labor vary
from 7 hours per day for the office employees to 10 or 12 hours for
those at the stations and 10 for the employees in the workshops. In
no case can the hours of labor exceed 11 per day. For the traveling
employees, working periods are established with such hours of duty
arid of rest as are compatible with the exigencies of the service. In
establishing these working periods a distinction is made between chief
conductors (with a daily average of 8 hours and 21 minutes for the
working days) and conductors (8 hours and 11 minutes), and between
chief brakemen (8 hours and 21 minutes) and brakemen (8 hours and
38 minutes). The hours of service are not consecutive, and provision
is made (1) to keep employees as short a time as possible away from
their homes; (2) to secure to the train employees an interval of contin
uous rest of at least 7 hours in every 21, besides the necessary time for
meals; (3) whenever the arrangement of the time-table of trains does
not permit this interval of rest, to have the hours of excessive duty
preceded and followed by long intervals of rest and of light service;
(1) to insert between successive working periods days of complete rest
and to have a number of employees in reserve at their homes who may
be called upon when needed for extra duty or in cases of absence on
account of sickness, furloughs, etc.
About the same rules obtain for the other two companies. The
Mediterranean company contends that sufficient rest is allowed.
According to the Sicilian company engineers and firemen have 2
days of rest after working periods of 7 to 10 days (broken, of course,
by shorter rests for eating and sleeping), and the other traveling
employees have for each working period 1 day of rest and some
times 1 of reserve duty. In the workshops the hours of labor are
10 per day.
But the railroad employees strenuously contradict the truth of the
statements of the companies. The engineers and firemen of the Adri
atic system complain that they are obliged to work during 21 consecu
tive hours, and sometimes longer when there are delays in the trains, so
CONDITION OF K AILW AY LABOR IN ITALY.
1217
that the necessary hours of rest between one turn and another are cur
tailed. The engineers and firemen of the Mediterranean system complain
that they have to work even up to 36 hours continuously. The League
of Italian Railway Employees in one of its memorials affirms that the
companies, in order to diminish expenses, are continually looking, out
for reductions in the number of employees, particularly of the lower
grades, who, in consequence, are burdened with much more labor.
Speaking of the working days of some classes of employees, they
claim that in several stations the reduction of the number of employ
ees has increased the hours of labor considerably beyond the normal
limit, not infrequently up to 16, 17, 18, and 19 hours per day. As
regards the traveling employees, cases are cited of working periods in
which the hours of continuous labor are excessive, as well on account
of the way the periods are arranged as through accidental causes, such
as delays, reserve service, etc., which frequently disturb the regularity
of the service and thereby cause the intervals of rest to become insuf
ficient or to be entirely eliminated.
The locomotive employees make similar complaints, particularly in
view of the fatiguing service which they perform. Besides the delays
which cause a diminution of the hours of rest, the league reports that
the working periods of the locomotive employees are more exacting
than they were in the past, particularly for the three following rea
sons: (1) The suppression on the part of the Adriatic company of the
days of rest, and the existence on the part of the Mediterranean of many
days called days of rest, which in reality are not such; (2) the unin
terrupted service of the personnel from the first to the last day of the
working period, including the hours of reserve duty between one train
and another, during which the personnel is always liable to be called
to work; (3) the withdrawal of many reserve locomotives. From sev
eral working periods reported, it was ascertained that on certain days
the hours of labor amounted to 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, including the
accessory work which the employees must perform.
It is difficult to harmonize these contradictory statements of the
companies and of the railway employees. The declarations of the
Government inspectors ought to be impartial by virtue of their office.
According to these inspectors the labor in general can not be called
excessive, but they agree in the statement that, for various reasons,
the service may become extremely arduous during times of delay on
the railways, due to defects in the machinery, accidents, the vintage
season, etc. According to the statements of these inspectors, the labor
in the stations varies from a minimum of 10 hours to a maximum of
14 hours per day; but in special cases this time is increased, and in
some stations, which are affected by the system of gain sharing, the
time of rest is ordinarily reduced to less than 5 consecutive hours.
In these cases the employees do not obtain sufficient rest, and they are
1218
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
therefore deprived of that clearness of mind and degree of vigor which
is necessary for the security and regularity o f the railway service. In
some stations the labor is so hard that it would fatigue the most robust
constitution.
As to the train crew, the inspectors acknowledge that the time
schedules are arranged so as to leave the necessary hours of continuous
rest, but in practice the time is extended until the hours of duty often
become more or less excessive. This is due to time lost in preparatory
•work before the departure of the trains, and in the subsequent work
after their arrival, such as turning over the rolling stock, etc.; the
distance of the homes of employees from the stations, which is some
times considerable, and the failure to provide a sufficient reserve force.
Nearly all mention cases of time schedules of 14, 16, 17, 18, and 19
hours, although some of the inspectors consider them less of a hard
ship than appears at first sight, because they are a source of gain to
the personnel. Certainly one can not but be unfavorably impressed
when it is learned from one of the best inspectors that there are time
schedules which allow conductors but 4 hours of rest. As to the loco
motive employees, the average daily hours of labor vary, according to
the inspectors, from 8 to 12 hours. So far as the higher limit is con
cerned, some inspectors have reported the hours to be from 15 to 20,
while others report them at a lower figure. It is certain, however,
that during periods of increased traffic, or when delays occur, there is
not a sufficient continuous rest to permit the engineers and firemen to
recuperate.
Reasoning from the results obtained by the investigation, which cer
tainly have not thrown a very favorable light on the condition of the
railway employees, the commission of inquiry, after having thoroughly
examined the legislative enactments adopted in other countries, has
presented to the Government the following suggestions relative to the
hours of labor of railway employees: “ The Government should
modify article 10 of the regulations of railway labor (which has
already been cited), establishing definitely the number of hours of con
tinuous rest, which must not be less than 7, and making such provi
sions as may be necessary to prevent any evasions of the law what
ever, for which purpose the laws and regulations of other States
should be consulted and adopted.” These*provisions, which the com
mission wishes to see adopted in Italy, must regulate the distribution
o f labor so that it will not cause extreme fatigue by its excessive
duration. The labor should, therefore, alternate from time to time so
that the employees may be permitted to sufficiently recuperate. The
proposed rules should be so framed that their application will preserve
that flexibility which is necessary in the interest both of the per
sonnel and of a well regulated service. Distinction must therefore be
made between a continuous rest which can be had at home and a brief
CONDITION OF BAIL W A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1219
rest which can be enjoyed away from home. The latter can be lim
ited to the time necessary to recuperate for the time being the
strength of the employees, provided that later a better rest at home
will be allowed. The commission recommends the special study and
the imitation of the laws now in force in Germany, France, England,
and Switzerland, (a)
WAGES.
Of all matters relating to the condition of the railway employees
that of wages is the most obscure and complicated. This is due to the
following circumstances: According to the terms of the contracts by
which the operation of the roads was given over by the State to the
companies, the latter agreed to formulate an organic roll in which all
a Since the above was written the Government has embodied a new set of regula
tions in the decree of June 10, 1900, which is as follows:
Regulations to be observed by the railway companies in formulating the schedule o f working
turns, so as to insure the safe operation of the road .
I . — L o c o m o t iv e P e r s o n n e l .
ENGINEERS, FIREMEN.
1. The hours of labor will be considered as:
(a) The time required for service on the train, computed from the moment when
the employee is required to be present on duty, or at the station to take charge of the
locomotive, until the time when he is permitted to leave, including rests of not more
than one and one-half hours’ duration;
(b) The time required to go on the train to a given locality to take service and to
return;
(c) The time required for switching and making up the train;
(d) The fourth part of any time during which the personnel must remain on duty
simply in reserve and during which they are not required to remain near the locotive; and also the time during which the personnel must remain on the spot subject
to call, the interval, however, during which the personnel is required to be present
on the locomotive and in readiness to start to the relief of any train wTill be counted
as a full period of labor;
(e) Any time whatever that is required for work about the locomotive.
Art. 2. The average duration of daily labor, determined as above, inclusive of the
reserve days and the rests, as in following articles, must not exceed 10 hours.
Art. 3. In any one period of 24 hours the duration of labor, calculated according
to article 1, must not exceed 13 hours.
W hen, however, the duration of labor exceeds 12 hours the intervals of rest pre
ceding and following the period of labor must be at least 10 hours.
A rt. 4. The personnel must be allowed a continuous rest of 8 hours’ duration
between each turn when at home and of 7 hours when away from home, utilizing in
the latter case, wThen occasion arises, the time when simply in reserve or subject to
call, as specified in article 1, (d ).
The continuous rests must be separated by intervals (actual labor, presence on
duty, brief rest during working hours, etc.) of not more than 17 hours, and the
number in each working turn must not be less than the number of days over which
the turn extends.
W hen it is not possible to accord 8 hours of rest at home the difference must be
compensated for by a longer period of rest either before or after the deviation from
this rule, and also by a brief rest during working hours, but the repose must not be
less than 7 hours.
Art. 5. Among the continuous rests at home prescribed by the preceding article
there must be at least 12 per year of the duration of 24 hours each, without preju
dice to the annual vacation prescribed by the regulations.
A r t ic l e
1220
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the employees were to be classified, the roll showing their number and
their respective remuneration. The companies have never complied
with this obligation, because they wish to retain the liberty to aug
ment or diminish the salaries and wages, anticipate or delay promo
tions, etc. The figures which are published in the transactions of the
commission of inquiry are not sufficiently complete or satisfactory to
give any exact idea of the mode in which railway employees are paid.
Taking into consideration all the data in existence, the following points
I I .— T r a i n
P ersonnel.
CONDUCTORS, GUARDS, BRAKEMEN.
A rt. 6. The hours of labor will be considered as:
fa) The time employed on the trip according to the train schedule;
(b) The time required for accessory occupations before the departure and after the
arrival of the train, counting the whole interval between the arrival of a train and
the departure on a subsequent train when this interval is not longer than one hour;
(c) One-fourth of the time during which the employee, while not en route,
remains in reserve at the station subject to call when needed.
A rt. 7. The average duration of daily labor as determined above must not exceed
11 hours per turn (including time in reserve and rest during working hours).
A rt. 8. In any one period of 24 consecutive hours the duration of labor, computed
as specified in article 6, must not exceed 15 hours.
W hen, however, the duration of labor exceeds 14 hours the intervals of rest
between which the said period of labor is comprised must be at least 10 hours.
A rt. 9. The personnel must be accorded a continuous rest of at least 8 hours’
duration between each turn when at home, and of at least 7 hours when away from
home.
The continuous rests must be separated by intervals (actual labor, presence on
duty, rest during work, etc.) of not more than 17 hours, and the number in each
working turn must not be less than the number of days over which the turn extends.
W hen, however, the time is interrupted by one or more periods of inaction of not
less than 4 hours, the intervals between the periods of continuous rest may be pro
longed, exceptionally, to 19 hours, in which case the rest following must be at least
10 hours long.
W h en it is not possible to accord the 8 hours’ rest at home, the difference must be
compensated for by a longer period of rest either before or after the deviation from
this rule, and also by a brief rest during working hours. But the rest must be not
less than 7 hours.
Art. 10. Among the continuous rests at home prescribed by the preceding article,
there mustbe at least 12 per year of the durationof 24 hours each, without prejudice
to the annual vacation prescribed by the regulations.
III.
— S t a t io n P e r s o n n e l .
CHIEF AND ASSISTANT STATION MASTERS, CLERKS AND ASSISTANTS, TELEGRAPHERS,
YAR D MASTERS, SWITCHMEN, BLOCK-SIGNAL MEN, FOREMEN OF LABORERS, GANG BOSSES,
LABORERS.
Art. 11. For every period of 24 hours the duration of labor must be established
according to the nature, intensity, and continuity of the normal labor of the per
sonnel:
N
Up to 10 hours, in cases where the conditions of work are more severe or difficult.
U p to 14 hours, in cases of ordinary work, in which there must be included an
intermission of 2 hours or 2 intermissions of 1 hour each.
In exceptional cases, up to 16 hours, in small stations, when there must be an
intermission of 4 hours, either at one time or at smaller intervals of not less than 1
hour each.
To the provisions of this article will be added special regulations establishing the
maximum time that the switchmen may be put to work in the signal cabins.
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1221
will be discussed: (1) Salaries and wages in general; (2) supplementary
wages; (3) task wages; and (4) the gain-sharing system in the stations.
So far as salaries and wages in general are concerned, the table fol
lowing shows the annual salaries and wages paid in the Adriatic system
at two periods, namely, in 1885 and in 1896. The figures are given
according to the groups of railways formerly known as the Southern
and Calabro-Sicilian, the Roman, and the Upper Italian, by the combi
nation of which the Adriatic system was created.
A rt. 12. Whenever the day and night turns of service alternate, the personnel
may not be assigned to continuous night service for more than 7 consecutive nights.
The change of turns is affected by prolonging the service of one day up to 16 hours,
preceded or followed by a continuous rest of equal duration.
A rt. 13. In every period of 24 hours there must be accorded the personnel a con
tinuous rest of 7 or 8 hours, according as the homes of the personnel are in the
vicinity of the station or not.
IY.—Road Personnel.
GATE KEEPERS.
Art. 14.
Art. 15.
The regular hours of service are 14 in every 24.
The personnel must be accorded daily a continuous rest of a minimum
duration of 7 hours, in addition to the time required for going to and from their
homes.
Art. 16. In the case of track men, who also serve as gate keepers, the regular hours
of service per day must not exceed 13 and the continuous rest must be not less than
8 hours, besides the time necessary to go to and from their homes.
FEMALE GATE KEEPERS.
Art. 17. The regular hours of service must not exceed 12 per day, with a continu
ous rest at night of not less than 9 hours, which time may be reduced to 8 hours
during the summer season.
Y . — G e n e r a l P r o v is io n s .
Art. 18. The present regulations apply to the personnel expressly specified in the
same, also when employed in other work not having a direct connection with the
safety of the train service. They apply moreover to employees of other classes
when assigned to the performance of the duties above specified.
Art. 19. In exceptional instances and when special circumstances require it in the
case of the locomotive and train personnel when away from home and in the case of
stations having but one administrative employee, a deviation from the minimum of 7
hours of continuous rest may be made, if the difference is compensated for by a longer
rest either before or after the deviation from the rule,.but it must not be below 6
hours.
In this case the working turns of the locomotive and train personnel and that of
the stations to which this provision applies must be approved by the governmental
inspector-general.
Art. 20, In case of inclement weather, accidents, delays, and other exceptional
circumstances extraordinary services may be required of the personnel.
The personnel must not in any case quit the service on account of a prolongation
of labor for such a cause.
Art. 21. The operating company must post a schedule and notice of the working
turns in such a way that the personnel may take cognizance of it.
It must also transmit a copy of this schedule and notice to the district offices of
the royal inspector-general of railways.
Rome, June 10, 1900.
1222
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
ANNUAL SALARIES AND WAGES OF EACH CLASS OF EMPLOYEES OF ADRIATIC SYSTEM,
BY FORMER GROUPS OF RAILWAYS, FOR YEARS ENDING JUNE 30, 1885, AND JUNE 30,
1896.
Salaries and wages.
Number
Classes of employees June 30,1896. of em
ployees.
Year ending June 30,
1885.
Total.
Average.
Year ending June 30,
1896.
Total.
Average
increase.
Average.
S O U T H E R N A N D C A L A B R O -S I C I U A N
L IN E S .
Administrative...............................
Operating*..........................................
Laboring............................................
Females (a)..................................
1,768
1,493
3,882
$599,772.40
264.982.05
480,384.14
$339.24
177.48
123.75
$926,118.99
365,044.45
562,883.54
$523.82
244.50
145.00
$184.58
67.02
21.25
Total.........................................
7,143
1,345,138.59
188.32
1,854,046.98
259.56
71.24
Administrative...............................
Operating...........................................
Laboring............................................
Females (a )...........................................
937
630
1,842
109
308,737.08
118,510.11
246,170.34
3,196.08
329.50
188.11
133.64
29.32
457,896.36
158,077.04
288,500.07
4,460.62
488.68
250.92
156.62
40.92
159.18
62.81
22.98
11.60
Total.........................................
3,518
676,613.61
192.33
908,934.09
258.37
66.04
1,684
2,043
5,468
330
503,163.74
364,385.54
749,297.80
10,091.97
298.79
178.36
137.03
30.58
741,379.39
490,506.22
860,012.83
12,771.58
440.25
240.09
157.28
38.70
141.46
61.73
20.25
8.12
9,525
1,626,939.05
170.81
2,104,670.02
220.96
50.15
Administrative...............................
Operating..................................... .
Laboring............................................
Females (a) ........ ........................
4,389
4,166
11,192
439
1,411,673.22
747,877.70
1,475,852.28
13,288.05
321.64
179.52
131.87
30.27
2,125,394.74
1,013,627.71
1,711,396.44
17,232.20
484.25
243.31
152.91
39.25
162.61
63.79
21.04
8.98
Total.........................................
20,186
3,648,691.25
180.75
4,867,651.09
241.14
60.39
R O M A N L IN E S .
U PP ER IT A L IA N
L IN E S .
Administrative................................
Operating...........................................
Laboring............................................
Females (a ) .......................................
Total.................................
TOTAL.
a Track watchers and toilet-room keepers.
The table does not include all the employees o f the Adriatic system,
but only those who came from the companies mentioned. It shows,
however, the average earnings of railway employees. Those employees
who form a part of the management and administration, such as station
masters, etc., receive an average yearly salary of $484.25; the clerical
or operating force, including copyists, accountants, controllers, ticket
distributers, telegraphers, etc., as well as conductors and locomotive
engineers, receive an average of $243.31; employees belonging to the
class of laborers such as porters, switchmen, brakemen, gate keepers,
etc., receive an average of $152.91, and females receive an average
compensation of $39.25 per year. It may be stated that the females
are employed either in guarding the tracks along the line or in the
toilet rooms. They are mostly married women whose husbands are
employed as laborers on the railways, and they are granted, besides
their wages, the use of a small house free of rent, with a small piece
of land on which to grow vegetables.
It may be stated here that the difference in average wages paid to
the employees of the several systems is not due to locality. The
1223
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR TN ITALY.
employees of the Italian railways are all paid in the same manner, no
matter in what locality they belong. The difference is due to the fact
that, in order to create the administrative personnel of the Adriatic
system, nearly the whole administrative personnel of the Southern
and Calabro-Sicilian, a part of the Roman, and a very few highergrade employees of the Upper Italian roads have been taken.
With regard to the Sicilian system, the minimum salaries and wages
paid to the principal classes of employees, according to the schedule
existing at the time of the cession, June 30, 1885, and according to
the graduated table afterwards reported by the company, March 18,
1887, are shown in the following table:
MINIMUM SALARIES AND WAGES PAID EMPLOYEES OF THE SICILIAN SYSTEM, JUNE 30,
1885, AND MARCH 18, 1887.
Minimum salaries and wages.
Occupation.
June 30, 1885.
•Chief d i r e c t o r ........................ ......................... ..............„ .. ...................
Technical director................................................. .................................... Chief managers____ - ..................................................................................
Manflgfirs
..............................................................................................
Station masters............................................................................. ...............
$32.81 per month.
27.99 “
27.02 “
19.30 “
21.23 “
. 39 per day . . .
Clerical help...................................................................................................
.39 “
“
Station gate keepers.....................................................................................
Yard masters____ . . . . . . __________ ____ _____________________. . . . ____
.58 “
“
.39 “
“
Yard m en............................- ..........................................................................
.35 “
“
Switchm en....................................................................................................
.39 “
“
Underservants ( a ) . ........................................................................ .
.31 “
“
Laborers............................ .............................................................................
Mar. 18,1887.
$36.67 per month.
28.95 “
32.81 “
21.23 “
23.16 “
fl4.48 “
\ . 48 per day.
.43 “
“
.68 “
“
.46 “
“
.39 “
“
.42 “
“
.35 “
“
a The nnderseryants (inscrvienti) attend gates and perform messenger and similar service for the
administrative employees.
Following are given the exact amounts of wages annually paid to
locomotive engineers and firemen, the two most important classes of
employees in the railway personnel of the Mediterranean s}Tstem, for
the period 1886-87 to 1893-91:
AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGES PAID TO LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS BY THE MEDITERRANEAN
SYSTEM, 1886-87 to 1893-94.
Premiums for—
Year.
188687 ..................................................
1887-88.............. ...............................................
1888-89 ...............................................................
1889- 90 ...............................................................
1890- 91 ...............................................................
1891- 92 ...............................................................
1892- 93 ..............................................................
1893-94 ...............................................................
Fixed
wages.
$326.17
321.35
320.38
318.45
318.45
315.56
314.59
312.66
Econom
ical use
of mate Distance
run.
rial and
time
gained.
$120.63
128.35
111.94
110.01
107.12
109.05
113.87
112.91
$52.11
52.11
52.11
51.15
51.15
51.15
53.08
52.11
Good
care of
engine.
$17.37
21.23
24.13
24.13
24.13
24.13
24.13
24.13
Work
away
from
home.
$99.40
94.57
93.61
88.78
84.92
82.03
82.03
81.06
Total
wages
and pre
miums.
$615.68
617.61
602.17
592.52
585.77
581.92
587.70
582.87
1224
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
AVERAGE ANNUAL WAGES PAID TO FIREMEN BY THE MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM, 1886-87
TO 1893-94.
Premiums
Total
(distance
wages
run and
and
others.) premiums.
Fixed
wages.
Year.
1886-87....................................................................................................................
1887-88....................................................................................................................
1888-89....................................................................................................................
1889-90....................................................................................................................
1890-91....................................................................................................................
1891-92....................................................................................................................
1892-93....................................................................................................................
1893-94....................................................................................................................
$197.83
200.72
200.72
201.69
202.65
199.76
201.69
200.72
$166.95
151.51
150.54
143.79
136.07
136.07
146.68
141.86
$364.78
352.23
351.26
345.48
338.72
335.83
348.37
342.58
As will be seen, there is in both classes a tendency toward a reduc
tion of wages, due to the system of economy inaugurated by the com
pany and also to the unprosperous condition of Italy, which forces
many workingmen to be satisfied with much lower wages than they
formerly received. But, taken all in all, it can not be said that the rail
way employees are poorly paid as compared with employees in other
industries. To demonstrate this it will be sufficient to examine the
following data showing the wages paid in 1897 in the principal groups
o f workers in Italy:
WAGES PAID IN CERTAIN LOCALITIES AND OCCUPATIONS IN 1897.
Occupation.
Locality.
Sardinia.....................................
Sardinia.....................................
Sardinia.....................................
Sicily...........................................
Romagna...................................
Turin..........................................
Turin..........................................
Turin_ __ ................................
Gfinoa.........................................
G enoa.........................................
G enoa.........................................
Genoa.........................................
Naples.... ... ...............................
Naples...... ..................................
Naples.........................................
Naples........................................
■Riella
.................... ..........
Biella..........................................
Biella .
.................
Biella.................._.......................
Biella...........................................
Biella...........................................
Miners........................................................................
Masons......................................................................
Teamsters.................................................................
Miners in sulphur m ines.....................................
Miners in sulphur m ines.....................................
Joiners......................................................................
Horseshoers.............................................................
Laborers....................................................................
Blacksmiths.............................................................
Boilermakers...........................................................
Casters or founders (fonditori) ..........................
Common and ordinary laborers........................
Blacksmiths.............................................................
Boilermakers...........................................................
Casters or founders (fonditoi'i) ..........................
Common or ordinary laborers............................
Dyers, wool...............................................................
Carders, wool...........................................................
Spinners, wool.........................................................
Winders, w ool.........................................................
Weavers, w ool.........................................................
Burlers (pinzatrici) ................................................
Sex.
Male. . . .
M a le ....
Male___
M a le ....
Male___
Male___
M a le ....
M ale.. . .
M a le ....
M a le ....
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Male___
Female.
Female.
Female.
Daily wages.
$0.52 to $0.78
.59
.41
. 48 to .68
.41
.58
.62
.42
.77
.87
.97
.58
.94
.83
.91
.44
.43
.58
.77
.29
.48
.29
The employees of railways, besides being better paid than working
men in other industries, have also a more continuous and secure remu
neration, since they are employed during the whole year, and in addition
to their fixed wages have other allowances which contribute to aug
ment their total earnings.
SUPPLEMENTARY WAGES.
There are many classes of supplementary wages. Following is the
classification adopted by the Mediterranean system:
Supplementary W
ages
W
hich
A re O ptional
in
C haracter .—
Extra compensation paid to employees on the clerical force; premiums
CONDITION OF R AILW AY LABOR IN ITALY.
1225
granted for meritorious service, for promptly turning in lost or for
gotten objects, for acts tending to prevent accidents or delays in the
running of trains, for discovering abuses in the use of freight cars*
for proving violations of the railway regulations, for lubricating and
repairing railway stock, for economy in the use of supplies in the sta
tions, and to the warehouse employees for regularity in the distribu
tion of fuel; gratuities for telegraphic service; compensation for
extraordinary labor; warm drinks.
S upplementary W ages P aid on A ccount of P eculiar C ondi
T ime and L ocality . —Indemnity on account of malaria,
tions of
compulsory sojourn away from home, isolation, wagon and horseback
service, transfers, night service; increased pay on account of greater
cost of necessaries of life, employment in thickly settled localities, con
fining service, for wood during the winter season.
S upplementary W
ages
D epending
upon
S ervices P erformed .—
Indemnity corresponding to hours of labor, compensation for labor
which prevents an uninterrupted rest of at least 6 hours, for lodgings,
for distance run, for tunnel service, for services as substitutes, for
labor of a character superior to that pertaining to the grade of the
employee, for the services of some classes of employees such as store
keepers, gate keepers, and switchmen; premium for economy in the
use o f fuel and lubricating material, for time gained, for keeping loco
motive in good condition, for careful use of materials, for careful
handling of freight; compensation for helping at the turntables or side
tracks, for care in the use and preservation of tools.
The Sicilian company allows its employees the following supplemen
tary wages: Compensation for increased labor and rewards for zeal
and diligence on the part of the employees in the fulfillment of their
respective functions; gratuities for such acts on the part of the
employees as may merit special mention whether performed directly
or indirectly in the line of service.
The sums distributed on these grounds among the employees from
July 1,1885, to June 30,1896, amounted to 351,253.36 lire ($67,791.90).
In the prepayment of wages to employees to meet unforeseen
expenses, either of the family or individual, such as expenses of mov
ing, sickness, taxes, etc., the company during the above-mentioned
period has advanced wage payments amounting to 249,314.69 lire
($48,117.74).
The traveling employees are compensated for distance run and fo r
nights necessarily spent away from their homes. For example, a con
ductor who has run 4,750 kilometers (2,951.51 miles)—an average
which nearly all of them surpass—receives, outside of his regular
monthly wages, a total indemnity for distance run amounting to 32.75
lire ($6.32).
7170—No. 31------ 8
1226
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Premiums are given locomotive engineers and firemen for economy
in the use of fuel and lubricating materials. In order to cover this
allowance a monthly reward of 80 lire ($15.44) for locomotive engineers
and 40 lire ($7.72) for firemen, which may not exceed 130 lire ($25.09)
for the former and 65 lire ($12.55) for the latter, is given.
Premiums are also given to locomotive engineers and firemen who
have been particularly attentive in keeping their locomotives in good
condition during the year and who have never caused delays in the
train schedules. For these a premium has been set aside amounting to
6,580 lire ($1,269.94), distributed as follow s:
Locomotive engineers
Locomotive engineers
Locomotive engineers
Locomotive engineers
Firemen..........................
Firemen..........................
4 premiums
10 premiums
20 premiums
26 premiums
28 premiums
32 premiums
of 140 lire ($27.02)
of 120 lire ($23.16)
of 80 lire ($15.44)
of 50 lire ($ 9.65)
of 40 lire ($ 7.72)
of 25 lire ($4.82|)
Semiannual premiums are granted for meritorious services on the
part of the station employees. Premiums are also given to the station
employees for the careful use of the personal property in their Bare
and for economy in the use of supplies.
As indemnity on account of malaria, the three classes of employees
(administrative, operating, and laboring) who live in the more malarial
zone receive an average annual extra compensation of 228 lire ($44);
those residing in the less malarial zone receive 132 lire ($25.48). As
to the traveling personnel, the daily extra compensation of controllers,
locomotive engineers, chief conductors, and conductors during the
summer months amounts to 0.45, 0.40, and 0.35 lira (8TV, 7TV, and 6f
cents), according to the location of their homes, and of brakemen and
firemen to 0.35, 0.30, and 0.25 lira (6f, 5 f, and 4 f cents). Besides this
the company furnishes at an annual expense of 10,000 lire ($1,930),
free o f cost to all who apply, the fluid extract of lemon especially pre
pared for the company, this extract having been recognized as a
superior remedy against malarial infection.
During the period from 1885 to 1896 there was distributed as assis
tance to the employees in cases of sickness 121,981.90 lire ($23,542.51).
As assistance given to families of deceased employees, there was
expended during the above-mentioned period a total of 88,677.20 lire
($17,114.70), or an average of more than 500 lire ($96.50) per family for
the employees in the administrative department, 300 lire ($57.90) per
family for operating employees, and 200 lire ($38.60) per family for the
laboring classes.
The company allows a final indemnity to employees when they leave
the service, the total sum granted for such purposes up to the present
amounting to 253,786.86 lire ($48,980.86). At an average, this repre
sents an indemnity of 1,500 lire ($289.50) for each administrative
CONDITION OF RAILW A Y LABOR m
ITALY.
1227
employee, 830 lire ($160.19) for each operating employee, and about 600
lire ($115.80) for employees performing ordinary labor.
A premium is given for keeping the road in good condition. This
is allowed to the employees detailed to look after the condition of the
road and roadbed. By this means a double purpose is secured—that
o f increasing the pay of supervisors, gang bosses, and track walkers,
and of securing increased activity on their part in looking after such
minor work along the line as cleaning and clearing drains, removing
weeds, piling1 stones, taking care of embankments, trimming hedges,
etc. For such purposes the following scale of compensations was
established: Six lire ($1.16) per month for supervisors, 3 lire ($0.58)
for gang bosses, and 2 lire ($0.39) for track walkers. During the
period from 1885 to 1896 the sum of 150,297.40 lire ($29,007.40) was
expended for this purpose.
Premiums for lubricating and repairing cars are also granted.
Through these premiums, for which 8,179 lire ($1,578.55) were dis
tributed during the years 1894 and 1895, the purpose was accomplished
of making the employees engaged in lubricating more economical in
the use of the material. It also made them more careful in their work,
and thus diminished the number of hot boxes.
Recently premiums were given for good service on the part of the
lamplighters and laborers attached to the lighting department. This
new reward secured to the employees premiums varying from 5 to 9
lire ($0.97 to $1.74) per month.
A residence indemnity is granted to the lower grade employees in
the main stations of the system, and, in general, to those obliged to
live in the great centers, where the cost of living is high.
So far as the Adriatic company is concerned it is not necessary to
repeat the enumeration of the various supplementary wage items which
it allows to its employees, especially as they are similar to those allowed
by the other companies. Instead of this the importance of all these
supplementary allowances, as a whole, as compared with the regular
wages, will be considered. Thus it can be determined whether sup
plementary wages increase the earnings in a marked degree or not.
The two tables following will show the amounts of supplementary
wages during the two periods from 1878 to 1884, and from July 1,
1885, to June 30, 1896. During the first period the railways were
operated partly by the State and partly by private companies; during
the second period the railways were all operated by the Adriatic com
pany. From these tables it will be seen whether the condition of
railway employees has improved or otherwise during recent years.
The two tables follow.
1228
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
TOTAL FIXED AND SUPPLEMENTARY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES OF THE ADRIATIC
SYSTEM, COMPARED, 1878 TO 1884.
Year.
Salaries,wages, Supplemen
tary wages,
and fixed
indemnities,
allowances.
premiums, etc.
Per cent of
supplementarywages,.
etc., of sala
ries,wages,
and fixed
allowances.
1878.......................................................................................................
1879................................... ..................................................................
1880.......................................................................................................
1881.......................................................................................................
1882.......................................................................................................
1883.......................................................................................................
1884............... .......................................................................................
$9,159,342.08
9,258,572.07
9,908,587.38
10,387,109.07
11.034.259.88
11,773,887.41
12.444.852.88
$1,548,106.27
1,596,326.74
1,782,876.68
1,944,427.52
2,087,424.31
2,411,347.79
2,566,448.19
16.90
17.24
17.99
18.72
18.92
20.48
20.62
Average...................................................................................
10,566,658.68
1,990,993.93
18.84
TOTAL FIXED AND SUPPLEMENTARY EARNINGS OF EMPLOYEES OF THE ADRIATIC
SYSTEM, COMPARED, JULY 1, 1885, TO JUNE 30, 1896.
Year.
Per cent of
supplemenSalaries, wages, Supplemen tarywages,
tary wages,
and fixed
indemnities, etc., of sala
allowances.
premiums, etc. ries, wages,
arid fixed
allowances.
1885 (a )................................................................................................
1886.......................................................................................................
1887.......................................................................................................
1888.......................................................................................................
1889.......................................................................................................
1890.......................................................................................................
1891.......................................................................................................
1892.......................................................................................................
1893.......................................................................................................
1894.......................................................................................................
1895.......................................................................................................
1896 (b)................................................................................................
$2,858,468.77
6.305.310.00
6.549.455.00
7,078,685.51
7.535.129.74
• 7,777,668.40
7,842,287.31
7,445,521.19
7,464,925.22
7,252,298.66
7.200.246.75
3,603,656.24
$607,424.65
1,510,752.28
1.746.650.00
1,840,855.04
1,878,799.22
2,007,694.08
2.020.787.01
1,857,775.15
1,778,300.84
1,897,302.33
1,909,256.94
945,181.60
21.25
23.96
26.67
26.01
24.93
25.81
25.77
24.95
23.82
26.16
26.52
26.23
Average...................................................................................
7,173,968.44
1,818,252.65
25.35
a For the last 6 months.
b For the first 6 months.
From these tables it will be seen that the percentage of supplemen
tary wages of the fixed wages has increased so that while before 1885
the average percentage was 18.81, in the period from 1885 to 1896 the
average had risen to 25.35 per cent.
It can not be contended that the increase of the supplementary wages
is due to contemporaneous diminution of the fixed wages, because the
average of the latter has increased from 929.26 lire ($179.35) to
1,015.73 lire ($196.01). This shows that the supplementary wages
have increased absolutely as well as relatively.
Before closing this discussion it seems opportune to make a compar
ison between the various companies, so far as the supplementary
wages are concerned. As it is impossible to consider all the different
classes, only indemnities for malaria are shown. Unfortunately, the
greater part of Italy is infected with malaria. A ll three companies
have, therefore, fixed upon an indemnity to their employees whenever
they are obliged to live in malarial regions.
1229
CONDITION OF B AILW AY LABOB IN ITALY.
In the following table are indicated the annual indemnities paid to
the various classes of the employees in the more malarial as well as in
the less malarial zones:
ANNUAL ALLOWANCES FOR LIVING IN THE MORE AND LESS MALARIAL DISTRICTS.
i
Adriatic system.
Mediterranean sys
tem.
Sicilian system.
Class of employees.
More ma Less ma More ma Less ma More ma Less ma
larial.
larial.
larial.
larial.
larial.
larial.
F irst..................................................................
Second...............................................................
T h ird ................................................................
Fourth...............................................................
$44.58
29.53
20.84
13.90
$10.42
6.95
4.63
3.47
$33.97
23.16
16.21
9.26
$6.95
4.63
3.47
2.32
$43.43
27.21
19.69
13.90
$10.42
6.95
4.63
3.47
THE TASK WAGE SYSTEM.
The task wage system has been extensively adopted by the three
companies, but the Sicilian company does not apply it to the station
service and uses it more rarely than the other two companies, particu
larly the Adriatic company, which, owing to its very active industrial
traffic, has seen proper to give it a greater development, and has applied
it to such branches of the service as the supervision and labor of road
construction and maintenance, which the Mediterranean company after
a trial has abandoned.
The task wage system is applied to the following branches of service:
F reight H andling on S low F reight T rains . —The employees
engaged in this class of labor are credited with a fixed amount for a cer
tain unit of labor. A t the end of the month the amounts so credited for
labor performed are summed up; from this total are then deducted the
amounts set down as the regular and supplementary wages of the per
manent force (not including wages of temporary employees), the cost
of the yard service, expenditures due to losses or damages, and finally
a fixed amount for wear and repair of tools. If after the deduction
of the amount of these items there remains a surplus, a portion of it,
usually yarying from 20 to 35 per cent, is distributed semiannually
among the employees. The distribution of this part of the surplus is
based upon the quantity and quality of the labor performed by each
participant. This basis of distribution is not made known to the
employees. They know the value of each unit and the number of units
of labor performed, but are ignorant of the proportion of the surplus
which each will receive, which amount should really be regarded as a
gratuity rather than a participation in the profits.
W ork of G eneral I nspection of the R oadway . —The gain in
this case is computed according to the days of labor saved as compared
with the number considered necessary and just. The calculation is
1230
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
made on the basis that each employee must examine daily a certain
length of track. An amount equal to a part of the value of the time
thus saved is distributed among the employees.
L abor in the W orkshops. —The gain by the task wage system in
this branch of work consists of the difference between the price of a
piece of work as agreed upon between the company and the working
men and the actual cost of the labor necessary to execute it. If this
difference should be against the workingmen, which occurs only in
exceptional cases, then the participants in the task must reimburse the
company to that extent. This reimbursement may, however, be
remitted if it can be shown that the deficit was due to lack of skill and
not to negligence.
Besides this task wage depending upon the cost of a piece of work
there is still another, called a premium, which depends upon the time
required to perform the task. This premium increases the wages of
each participant (by from one-tenth to one-fifth in the Adriatic system)
if the work is completed before a stipulated time.
L abor in the C oal D epots. —Task wrages were also introduced in
the coal depots, the premium consisting of a uniform allowance for
each ton handled above a fixed number of metric tons established as a
normal day’s work. The allowance of this premium is optional.
Supervision
and
nance . —In
L abor
of
R oad C onstruction
and
M ainte
the first division of the Mediterranean system the personnel
formerly had a right to as many times 750 lire ($144.75) as there were
less employees in each class than were established by the organic roll.
E conomy in the U se of S tation and O ffice Supplies . —To each
office or station an annual allowance is made for certain objects of
regular consumption and for stationery. The personnel is entitled to
50 per cent of the amount saved over and above this allowance.
O ffice W ork . —In the auditing division of the Adriatic system the
work is done outside the normal working hours and even at the homes
o f the employees. The compensation for this work is agreed upon
from time to time between the division chief and the task worker and
must not exceed a certain sum allowed semiannually for this purpose
exclusive of the regular salary allowance from one semiannual period
to another.
In the Mediterranean system this work is performed outside the
regular hours and is paid for according to an established tariff of
remuneration. The work is not obligatory.
The work of copying contracts and tariffs in the Mediterranean
system is paid for according to a fixed scale and is optional.
In order to give a correct idea of the results of the task wage system,
there is shown in the following table, for a series of years, the total
task-system wages paid to office employees in 5 Italian cities.
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1231
TOTAL TASK WAGES PAID TO RAILW AY OFFICE EMPLOYEES IN 5 ITALIAN CITIES,
1885 TO 1895.
Year.
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
Total..........................
Turin.
Naples.
Milan.
Siena.
$55,402.10
117,275.97
128,591.89
143,942.28
153,221.18
152,469.84
147,718.55
150,730.81
136,149.15
140,011.96
154,278.60
$42,625.24
46,923.50
49,638.25
54.210.15
55,890.37
60,410.19
64,059.29
68.042.15
75,693.74
$5,700.17
13,156.63
14,798.28
17,126.62
17,456.78
16,841.94
16,550.14
17,321.72
17,914.49
19,365.19
19,785.99
$4,587.25
11,109.88
15,603.90
17,166.72
19.991.97
21,890.04
22,584.27
20,886. 68
27.711.98
31,203.67
1,479,792.33
517,492.88
176,017.95
Rivarolo.
Total.
$1,931.75
14,841.93
23,029.41
24,354.68
23,053.09
$61,102.27
135.019.85
197.125.29
223.596.30
237,482.93
243,513.90
243.980.85
265,888.92
262,039.02
279,485.96
304,015.09
192,736.36 j 87,210.86
2,453,250.38
It may be stated in this connection that the Mediterranean system
has, through the adoption of the task wage system, effected a saying
of 1,638,172 lire ($316,167.20) in yard service and ordinary labor in
the stations alone. O f this sum 415,143 lire ($80,122.60) was distrib
uted among the employees as their share.
Likewise, in consequence of the adoption of this task wage system
by the Mediterranean company, the following premiums were paid
during 3 fiscal years, 1893-94 to 1895-96, to the employees participat
ing in the profits arising from the economic use of materials of con
sumption:
PREMIUMS PAID TO EMPLOYEES OF MEDITERRANEAN SYSTEM OUT OF SAVINGS FROM
ECONOMIC USE OF MATERIALS, 1893-94 TO 1895-96.
Year.
Amount al Amount con Premium to
lotted.
sumed.
personnel.
1893-94.....................................................................................................
1894-95 ..................................................................................................
1895-96 ...................................................................................................
$706,786.37
612,031.77
585,804.10
$669,011.74
552,361.98
533,651.68
$34,747.71
29,898.09
26,076.27
T otal............................................................................................
1,904,622.24
1,755,025.40
90,722.07
The results of the task wage system seem, therefore, to be suffi
ciently satisfactory, as well for the company, which was enabled to
save considerable amounts of money on the current expenses, as for
the employees, who, through the generosity of the company, were
enabled to participate in these sayings. That the task wage system is
approved by a great majority of the employees of the three great sys
tems was evident to the commission of inquiry at Turin when it inter
rogated the employees,who presented themselves in great numbers. It
seems that one of the employees began to make a speech, not against
the abuses and effects of the task wage system, but against task labor
itself as a means of earning wages. He was interrupted by such mani
fest signs of disapproval that he was obliged to admit that most of
his companions did not share his hatred of the task wage system.
1232
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
THE SYSTEM OF GAIN SHARING IN THE STATIONS.
Closely related to the task wage system is that of gain sharing in
the stations. This system was introduced in Italy in 1891 by the
Adriatic company, which took as a model, with some modifications, the
plan of the Austrian Sudbahn. This system had been followed there
for a long time. The example of the Adriatic company was followed
by the Mediterranean and Sicilian companies. The latter, however,
after having introduced it as an experiment in its stations at Catania
and at Caltagirone, discarded it, for the reason, as it claimed, that the
system did not yield good results. The Adriatic and Mediterranean
companies, however, retained and greatly developed the system, espe
cially the Adriatic company, so that on October 1,1898, there were 461
stations operating under the gain-sharing system. O f this number
324 belonged to the Adriatic and 137 to the Mediterranean company.
The Adriatic, which was the first company to introduce this system,
proposed to solve the following problem:
Leaving untouched the fixed and supplementary wages and exclud
ing from the new arrangement the employees whose services consist
of safeguarding the road—
1. How to reduce the station personnel in the administrative branches—
that is, in the freight, baggage, ticket, and telegraph offices—as well as
in the clerical and laboring force, (a) supplying the difference in the
number of the first class by a less detailed and less specialized division
of labor, and obtaining thereby a greater intensity of work; and (b) in
the second class securing greater intensity of labor by a reduction in
the force, and, whenever this force should not be sufficient to supply
the needs of the station, authorizing the station master to employ
temporary labor, from day to day, as may be necessary, this tempo
rary help, according to the plans of the company, being intended
to replace gradually the permanent laboring force, such as porters,
laborers, etc.
2. How to compensate the two classes of employees by an equitable
division o f the savings realized through the increased intensity of labor
caused by the new arrangement.
In what manner has the Adriatic company solved the first problem—
that is, how could the number of station employees be reduced ? Here
is the method followed by the company, as stated by the latter:
The labor in the stations is well defined. First of all, it is necessary
to closely distinguish, in the case of the station personnel, between
hours of presence in service and hours of labor. In the small stations
there is hardly any labor, and the service is mostly reduced to the
necessity o f being present at the time when trains pass; in many other
stations the passenger and freight service would require less than one
man’s labor. In these cases the only criterion on which to base an
estimate of the force necessary to perform the labor called for consists
of seeing to it that the hours of uninterrupted rest established by the
CONDITION OF RAILW AY LABOR IN ITALY.
1233
regulations are strictly observed; but in the stations which have cer
tain fixed traffic the basis on which to establish the numerical laboring
force is different. In each of these stations one can daily know the
number and kind of tickets distributed; the number of pieces of bag
gage handled; the amount of freight sent off, received, or in transit;
the number of trains made up, broken up, or in transit; the number
of cars handled; the quantity of freight handled; the number of tele
grams received and sent; the number of letters, accounts, and statis
tical documents emanating from the superior offices, etc. All these
operations constitute the sum total of the labor performed at the
stations.
On this information is determined what the numerical strength of
the personnel at the stations should be—that is, a careful calculation of
the number of operations effectively completed and of the time neces
sary to perform each of them serves as the basis of the computation.
In this manner all grounds for the discussion regarding the numerical
sufficiency of the station personnel are eliminated, particularly as the
employees themselves must make out monthly statements of the labor
actually performed in order to establish the proportionate share of the
premiums to which each one is individually entitled. By this means it
can be clearly decided whether or not the number of employees is ade
quate for the amount of labor to be performed.
The units of time necessary for each station operation were estab
lished in accordance with the following estimates:
Issuing an ordinary ticket on which there is no special registration or
price computation............................................... .......................................................
Issuing a ticket at reduced price, a tourist’ s ticket, etc.....................................
Weighing and checking and taxing a piece of baggage.....................................
One shipping of goods by fast freight.......................................................................
One shipping of goods by slow freight..................................................... ..............
Clerical work for a train in transit...........................................................................
Clerical work for a train made up or broken u p.................................................
Clerical work for each car arriving or departing.................................................
Transmission or receipt of a telegram.....................................................................
1 minute
10 minutes
3 minutes
10 minutes
15 minutes
10 minutes
25 minutes
6 minutes
6 minutes
For other clerical work, correspondence, etc., there is allowed for
each station over and above the units indicated a certain length of time
equal in value to 20 per cent of the total daily labor of the station. Qn
account of this additional allowance it becomes necessary to engage a
greater number of employees than would be strictly necessary for the
exigencies of the service. At the same time it was decided that
employees occupied in clerical work—issuing tickets, freight service,
telegraph service, etc. —should be held to a maximum of 8 hours of daily
labor, computed in the manner above indicated.
So far as the arrangement in the stations of the Mediterranean sys
tem is concerned it will be sufficient to mention the following only:
To determine the number of persons necessary for clerical work, the
handling of trains, and the telegraph service (employees, clerks, and
assistants), the calculation is based upon the actual labor performed
in each station, which, by means of statistical data already referred to,
is perfectly well known. In the same manner as in the Adriatic com
pany the units of time necessary for each of the above-mentioned opera
tions were established, the time necessary for supplementary clerical
work, etc., being included in the units. When this is done the regular
1234
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
number of employees is established, with the reservation that no matter
what number of hours aa employee is present in service he can not
have more than 8 hours of actual labor per day. Provision is also
made on special occasions for supplementary allowances of time. As
regards the employees engaged in the supervision of the handling of
merchandise—that is, assistants, depot keepers, etc.—it was impossible
to find an absolute basis. The company was therefore forced to adapt
itself to local conditions.
Having in this manner fixed upon the number of laborers and porters
sufficient for the needs of the station in times of minimum labor, the sta
tion master is allowed to provide for increasing needs by engaging tem
porary or extra help, which, in case of the absence of regular employees
or exceptionally increased labor, may also be used for clerical work,
provided that they are not used in the handling of trains and in tele
graph service, or intrusted with labor which implies the handling of
money or which is such as to put them in direct contact with the public.
So far as the personnel employed in yard service is concerned, such
as yard masters, couplers, switchmen, etc., the arrangement existing
before the gain-sharing system was adopted has been retained.
Comparing the workings of the Mediterranean company with those
of the Adriatic some little difference will be found, although not
detailed above; for instance, while the first does not allow the employ
ment of temporary help for clerical labor save in exceptional cases,
the second allows the personnel to be increased by as many temporary
helpers as may be desired as well for manual as for clerical work, but
this is of very little importance.
The system requires, therefore, the establishing of a compensation
of a uniform fixed allowance for each operation, on the basis of which
there is prepared for the station a monthly balance sheet of the serv
ice on the gain-sharing system, and this determines the premiums due
the employees participating.
The balance sheet is compiled as follows: The station places on its
credit side the amount (as above calculated) for the operations of
handling baggage and freight and for yard labor, and the fixed allow
ances made for policing the station, night watchmen, etc.
The debit side consists of the amount for yard labor performed
either with a locomotive or otherwise, for the wages of the permanent
laborers who are entitled to participate, for all temporary help employed
during the month, and for the expenses of the repair of tools. The
excess o f credits over debits then represents the amount to be divided
between the company and the permanent employees.
The following is the balance sheet of the station of Codogno, in the
Adriatic system, for the month of November, 1895, and will serve as
an example o f the method of determining the amount to be distributed
in premiums.
CONDITION OF K A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1235
STATION BALANCE SHEET FOR DETERMINING-BASIS OF DISTRIBUTION OF PREMIUMS
TO PERMANENT EMPLOYEES FOR CODOGNO, NOVEMBER, 1895.
Number of
units.
Items.
TO T H E
C R E D IT O P T H E
Price per Amount.
unit.
S T A T IO N .
General freight service:
Baggage sent out, received., or in transit , ___ - .........................
558 pieces......... $0.019300
6 dosrs...............
.019300
Fast freight sent out, received, or in transit......... - ...........T.. 848.811 to n s ....
.087544
.087544
Slow freight sent out or received.................................................. 1,351.861 tons ..
Transferring goods, general merehfindise,
3,117 cars.........
.009650
.009650
GO cars...............
.052527
Shipping for railroad service sent out, received, or in 30.313 tons........
transit.
1 car...................
.193000
55 locomotives.
.057900
.19
3.18
238.73
T o ta l..................................................... ............................................
Yard service:
Passenger and freight cars charged to station and freight
cars in transit.
$10.77
.12
73.87
118.35
30.08
.58
1.59
4,450 cars.........
.038600
171.77
Fixed allowances and sundry receipts:
Policing of station................................................ ............................
Service of night w atch....................................................................
Substitute labor on trains— (days’ work )...................................
Premium for regularity in vard service 1...................................
Compensation for extra labor.......................................................
Compensation for voluntary substitution.................................
19.30
11.58
4.03
7.95
3.01
5.02
T otal..................................................................................................
50.89
Grand total.......................................................................................
461.39
TO T H E
D E B IT
O P T H E S T A T IO N .
Expenses:
"Yard lj^hor with locomotives......................................................... 199£ hours........
Six participating employees, 155 days.........................................
Temporary labor............. ................................................................. 269 days...........
.579000
.289500
115.51
60.16
77.87
T o ta l..................................................................................................
Excess of credit over debit....................................................................
253.54
207.85
Grand total............................ ..........................................................
461.39
The premium which then falls to the share of the permanent
employees is 60 per cent of the excess of the credits over the debits
after deducting the premium for regularity of service and extra labor.
A part of this gain, which varies from 80 to 90 per cent of the 60 per
cent, is immediately divided among the participating employees; the
remaining portion of the 60 per cent is deposited in the postal savings
bank and constitutes a reserve fund with which to cover contingent
expenses, as for thefts, goods damaged, etc. A t the end of the year
the amount of these savings left over, increased by part of the income
derived from operations of loading and unloading which the stations
undertake for private parties, is divided exclusively among the par
ticipating employees.
A committee of the employees of the station (including at least one
o f the laborers) is appointed, which manages the reserve fund.
The two brief statements which follow give, first, the distribution
of the surplus among the employees, the company, and the reserve
fund, and second, the movement of the reserve fund for the station of
Codogno for November, 1895.
1236
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
DISTRIBUTION OF SURPLUS TO EMPLOYEES, COMPANY, AND
STATION OF CODOGNO, NOVEMBER, 1895.
RESERVE
FUND
Division of excess of credit over debit.
FOR
Amount.
Excess of credit over debit.........................................................................................................................
Deduct premium for regularity of service and extra la bo r.............................................................
$207.85
10.96
Remainder to be divided between employees and company...........................................................
Part (40 per cent) refunded to company................................................................................................
196.89
78.76
Part (60 per cent) apportioned as employees’ share............................................................................
Part of employees’ share (10 per cent) placed in reserve fund.......................................................
118.13
11.81
Part of employees’ share (90 per cent) paid immediately to em ployees....................................
106.32
Following is a statement of the movement of the reserve fund of
the station of Codogno for November, 1895:
Income from loading and, unloading performed at the charge o f patrons.
Balance from preceding m on th................................................. : ....................................$ ..............
Received during m onth............................................................................. ..........................................
T otal...............................................................................................................................................
To be deducted, paid to employees transferred.........................................................................
Balance...........................................................................................................................................
Retained from the gains which were allotted to the employees who participated in the gainsharing system.
Remainder from preceding m on th......... ........................................................................ $44. 80
Retention of 10 per cent of gains of the m onth........................................................
11.81
Retained from employees on account of indebtedness to the railway com
pany ........................................................................................................................................................
T o ta l..............................................................................................................................
56. 61
To be deducted:,
Share paid to employees transferred......................................................................................
Indemnities paid for transfer of employees........................................................
5.96
Rectification of error....................................................................................................................
T otal..............................................................................................................................
Remainder...................................................................................................................
5.96
50.65
The premium, which is determined monthly and which amounted,
for instance, in the station of Codogno to 550.88 lire ($106.32) in
November, 1895, must be divided among the individual employees who
participate in the gain-sharing system.
This division could not be made in equal shares among the whole
personnel without committing an injustice to the most capable and
most active, neither could it be made in proportion to the regular pay
of each individual, because the class of employees which has the
smallest pay and which lends the most efficacious aid by its labor to
accomplish the savings would suffer most.
The division, therefore, has been based on two criteria: One which
keeps account of the capabilities of all of the employees and estab
lishes various groups based on this record, different quotas being
assigned to each of the various groups thus established; the other,
1237
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY
which keeps account of the number of days at work. In this manner
the yardmen and laborers may have in man}" cases quotas of premiums
assigned to them which are equal to those of higher employees. The
difference in premiums among the employees of the same class is
always according to the number of days at work. The averages of
monthly maximum premiums and of all premiums paid to certain
classes of the employees at all stations of the Adriatic system from
1891 to 1895, inclusive, are as follows:
AVERAGE MONTHLY PREMIUMS PAID IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS IN
SYSTEM, 1891 TO 1895.
THE ADRIATIC
Average
of maxi Average
mum
of all
monthly monthly
pre
j premiums.
miums.
Occupations.
Station masters.......................................................................................................................
Managers......................................................................................................................... ........
Clerks............... 1........................................................................................................................
Gate keepers.............................................................................................................................
Y ardm en...................................................................................................................................
Switchm en...............................................................................................................................
Laborers.....................................................................................................................................
$11.77 I
7.72
5.79
8.28
4.05
4.05
4.05 ii
$7.91
5.02
8.86
2.12
2.70
2.70
2.70
"•
In order, however, to better explain the workings of the system the
method by which the premium of 550.88 lire ($106.32) before mentioned
was distributed to the employees of the station of Codogno is given as
an example.
PREMIUMS PAID TO INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES AT THE STATION OF CODOGNO, NOVEM
BER, 1895.
Em
ploy
ee
num
ber.
1
2
8
4
5
6
8
9
10
11
12
18
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Occupation.
Station master.....................................
Station master.....................................
Manager................................................
C lerk ......................................................
C lerk .....................................................
C lerk ......................................................
C le r k ......................................................
C lerk ................................*.....................
C lerk ......................................................
C le r k ......................................................
Gate keeper...........................................
Gate keeper..........................................
Gate keeper...........................................
Yard master.........................................
Yard m an..............................................
Yard m an..............................................
Yard m an..............................................
Yard man..............................................
Lamp tender.........................................
Laborer..................................................
Laborer..................................................
Laborer..................................................
Laborer..................................................
Laborer..................................................
Laborer..................................................
Total............................................
Premium.
Premium
Days
for regu Premium
pres Num Value
for extra Total.
ent. ber of of one Total. larity in
labor.
service.
shares. share.
31
31
31
27
29
31
31
31
23
27
31
31
31
31
31
28
31
31
31
31
31
31
28
3
31
2.50 $5.3654
1.50 5.3654
1.50 5.3654
1.25 5.3654
(a)
5.3654
5.3654
(a)
5.3654
(a)
5.3654
(a)
(a)
5.3654
(a)
5.3654
^ .75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.50 5.3654
.50 5.3654
.50 5.3654
.50 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
.75 5.3654
21.00
$13.42
8.05
8.05
5.84
6 3.42
b 3.65
6 3.65
6 3.65
62.71
6 3.18
4.02
4.02
4.02
4.02
2.69
2.42
2.69
2.69
4.02
4.02
4.02
4.02
3.64
.39
4.02
106.32
$0.89
.78
1
...............1................
______ i______
$1.93
1.54
1.39
1.54
1.54
.63
7.94
3.02
.72
$13.42
8.94
8.05
5.84
3.42
3.65
4.43
3.65
2.71
3.18
4.02
4.02
4:02
5.95
4.95
3.81
4.23
4.86
4.02
4.02
4.02
4.02
3.64
.39
4.02
117.28
a Four shares apportioned to clerks collectively.
6 These figures vary somewhat from those calculated on the basis of the share value as given in the
preceding column. They are the equivalents, however, of the original figures given in the Italian
report, Atti della R. Commissione d’ Inchiesta, Vol. IV, p. 268.
1238
BULLETIN OF THE DEPAETMENT OF LABOE.
From this it will be seen that the shares gained by the employees at
this station varied from 2\ for station masters to one-half share for
yard men; that is, from 69.52 lire ($13.42) for one station master to
20.85 lire ($4.02) paid to laborers and to 13.90 lire ($2.69) paid to
yard men, taking into consideration the full month’s work. The
amount of premium within any class, it will, be seen, is also propor
tionate to the number of days employed. In some stations the station
master may be entitled to as many as 4 shares.
It will be seen that the number of parts or shares into which the
total premium of 550.88 lire ($106.32) is divided is 21. The sum which
each employee receives is more or less according to the number of
shares with which he appears in this division, and the number of
shares is in accordance with the importance of his functions.
This holds good for the Adriatic system.
In the Mediterranean company, under a similar system, a unit price
for each operation is established upon which the allowances are based;
all the operations performed, multiplied by the respective unit prices,
together with the fixed allowances and sundry other items, constitute
the credit side of the account. The debit, as in the Adriatic company,
consists of: The total expenses actually incurred for yard service, the
amount of the average monthly wages paid the permanent inferior
class of employees, the expenses incurred for temporary help, and the
expenses incurred for repair of railway tools and sundry other
purposes.
The account, as in the Adriatic company, is settled monthly and the
gains—that is to say, the excess of the credit over the debit—are divided
in the following proportions: Fifty-four per cent is paid to the
employees immediately, 40 per cent goes to the company, and 6 per
cent goes to the reserve fund, which is managed very nearly in the
same manner as that of the stations of the Adriatic company.
When it becomes necessary to divide the aggregated gains belonging
to the employees as a whole among all those who as individuals form
that personnel, the Mediterranean company divides it in the following
proportions: Station master, 6 shares in some stations, in others 5 to
4^; assistant station master, 3 shares; managers, 3 shares; employees
in train service, 2i shares; higher employees and clerks, 2 shares;
assistants, l i shares; yard masters, 2% shares; yard men, l i shares;
depot keepers, l i shares; laborers, 1 share.
But the entire personnel, even if not comprised in the above list, may
participate in the gains, providing that it has also been employed in
part on labors pertaining to the service which comes under the gainsharing system. So, for example, in the stations in which the switch
men may, according to the station regulations, be used as laborers, the
latter may participate in proportion to the labor performed, half a
share being usually assigned to each.
1239
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY,
As an example of the practical application of the system of gain
sharing in the Mediterranean company, the station of Asti, which
was one of the first stations in which the experiment of labor on the
gain-sharing system was introduced, may be taken. It must be borne
in mind that with different figures, but on the same plan, the varia
tions occur in the other stations.
SCHEDULE OF CREDITS USED IN DETERMINING BASIS OF DISTRIBUTION OF PREMIUMS
TO EMPLOYEES OF STATION OF ASTI.
Amounts allowed per unit.
July to De
cember,
inclusive,
1893.
1894.
January,
1895, to January, 1896,
inclusive.
Ton . .
D og ...
Ton . .
Ton ..
Ton ..
Ton ..
$0.063032
. 019300
.063032
.063032
.049025
.052527
$0.070035
.019300
.061281
.064783
.050776
.056028
$0.052527
.019300
.043772
.043772
.031516
.043772
Unit.
To the credit of the station.
Freight handled:
Baggage sent out, received, or in transit.
Dogs................................................................
Fast freight sent out or received...........
Fast freight transferred in transit.........
Slow freight sent out or received...........
Slow freight transferred in transit, gen
eral merchandise or carload lots.
Shipping for railroad service—
Fast freight sent out, received, or
transferred in transit.
Slow freight sent out. received, or
transferred in transit.
Disinfecting cars.........................................
Yard service:
Passenger cars charged to station or in
transit.
Freight cars charged to station or in
transit.
Freight cars freighted to workshops
having special tracks.
Locomotives turned...................................
Fixed allowances for sundry services:
Policing station...........................................
Watching of station................................... ;
Lighting......................................................... !
Switching...................................................... i
General station expenses.......................... i
Substitute labor on trains (a )..................
Absence of personnel (a)..........................
Services pertaining to management,
supervision, and handling of freight.
Fixed allowance for substitute yard
labor.
Fixed allowance for receiving and con
signing trains and for handling cars.
Fixed allowance for copying bills of
lading.
Services of foot warmers..........................
Now in
force,
$0.063032
.019300
.040270
.040270
.035018
.040270
Ton ..
.052527
.070035
.035018
. 035018
Ton ..
.052527
. 070035
.035018
. 035018
Car . . .
.069480
.069480
. 077200
.096500
Car. . .
.038600
.067550
. 067550
.048250
Car. . .
.057900
. 077200
. 067550
.048250
12.738000
158.067000
25.476000
178.332000
38.021000
32.231000
138.767000
25.476000
178.332000
58.479000
135.872000
5140.890000
173.700000
318.836000
Car
.096500
Month.
Month.
Month,
Month,
Month.
10.422000
11.580000
3.860000
21.230000
12.738000
172.349000
25.476000
152.856000
21.230000
M onth.1
Month
134.887700
Month
14.475000
Month
12.738000
Month
6.948000
8.974500
i
a Occasional.
5 In October, 1896, the amount was increased to $166,752.
In the station of Asti, during the month of October, 1895, the
expenses incurred were greater than the credits allowed. The exact
details of the settlement in the gain sharing of this station for the
month of October, 1895, in which the account closed with a deficit of
115.01 lire (180.21), were as follows:
TO THE CREDIT OF THE STATION.
8,749 cars handled (at 6.755 cents per car)................................................................
Handling freight, baggage, disinfecting cars, etc......................................................
Policing station...................................................................................................................
Gate keeping.........................................................................................................................
$590.99
325.42
12. 74
158.07
1240
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Lighting..................................................................................................................................
Switching................................................................................................................................
General station expenses..................................................................................................
H elp of extra employees on trains }
Absence of personnel........................J..............................................................................
Services pertaining to the handling, supervision, and manipulation of
freight..................................................................................................................................
Fixed allowance for yard service.................................................................................
$25.48
178. 38
38.02
^
135. 87
173.70
Total credit............................................................................................................... 1, 701.99
TO THE DEBIT OF THE STATION.
1,164§ hours of yard service with locomotive (at 57.9 cents per hour)...........
Regular inferior class of em ployees.............................................................................
Temporary labor (478} days)..........................................................................................
Employees sent or transferred to Asti for extra service.......................................
Employees residing in Asti employed as substitutes to replace regular but
absent employees.............................................................................................................
$674.39
825.46
167.34
96. 75
18.26
Total debit............................................................................................................... _ 1,7 82.20
Excess of debit over credit.................................................................................
80.21
During the month covered the average cost per car handled was
0.54 lira (10.422 cents), while the unit allowance per car handled,
0.35 lira (6.755 cents), plus the supplementary fixed allowance of 900
lire ($173.70) for yard service apportioned to the 8,749 cars actually
handled, equal to 0.103 lira (1.9879 cents) per car, makes a total
allowance,per car of 0.453 lira (8.7429 cents), that is, an allowance o f
0.087 lira (1.6791 cents), less than the actual cost.
A similar result is found in the month of October during the pre
ceding year (1894), in which the account was as follows:
TO THE CREDIT OF THE STATION.
Cars handled on basis of unit of price.........................................................................
Handling freight on the basis of unit of price..........................................................
Various allowances (including fixed allowance for yard service)....................
$540.56
458.46
585.14
Total credit............................................................................................................... 1,584.16
TO THE DEBIT OF THE STATION.
Hours of yard service with locomotive.......................................................................
Regular inferior class of em ployees.............................................................................
Temporary lab or............................................. ....................................................................
Employees sent from other stations and transferred to Asti for extra service. .
Repair of railroad too ls....................................................................................................
Corrections in the preceding account...........................................................................
$542.28
822.28
166.56
79.62
2. 70
2.12
Total debit................................................................ ................................................ 1,615.56
Excess of debit over credit.................................................................................
31.40
The average cost per car handled during the month covered by this
account amounts to 0.55 lira (10.615 cents), while the unit allowance
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR m
ITALY.
1241
per car handled was 0.35, 0.40, or 0.50 lira (6.755, 7.72, or 9.65 cents)
according as it included passenger cars, freight cars charged to the
station, or cars belonging to private parties, an average of 0.383 lira
(7.3919 cents) per car; or in detail 0.35 lira (6.755 cents) per car for
2,589 passenger cars, 0.40 lira (7.72 cents) per car for 4,628 freight
cars charged to the station, and 0.50 lira (9.65 cents) per car for 87
cars belonging to private parties, the total number of cars being 7,304In addition to this there was the fixed allowance for yard service o f
698.90 lire ($134.89) for handling cars, which, on the basis of 7,304
cars actually handled, was equal to a price per car of 0.096 lira (1.8528
cents), showing total allowance per car of 0.479 lira (9.2447 cents), or
0.071 lira (1.3703 cents) per car less than the actual cost of the labor.
In the month of October, 1896, however, the account closed in favor
of the credit side, as will be seen from the following items:
TO TIIE CREDIT OF THE STATION.
Cars handled on the basis of the unit price of 4.825 cents..................................
Handling freight on the basis of the unit price of 4.825 cents..........................
Various allowances (including fixed allowance for yard service of $318.84).
$420.31:
255.64
974.27'
Total credit.................................................................................................. ............ 1,650. 22
TO THE DEBIT OF THE STATION.
Hours of yard service with locomotive.......................................................................
Regular inferior class of employees...............................................................................
Temporary labor.................................................................................................................
Employees sent from other stations and transferred to Asti for extra service.
Employees residing in Asti employed as substitutes for others........................
$476.90
844.37
184.82
86.05
23.45>
Total debit............................................................................. 1,615. 59
Excess of credit over d e b it.................................................................................
34.63
During this month the average cost per car handled was 0.40 lira.
(7.72 cents), while the corresponding unit allowance per car handled
was 0.25 lira (4.825 cents), besides the fixed allowance for yard service
of 1,652 lire ($318.84), which, on the basis of 8,711 cars handled, equals
a price per car of 0.19 lira (3.667 cents); that is to say, there was a
total of 0.44 lira (8.492 cents), showing an earning of 0.04 lira (0.772
cent) per car.
The reason why a loss instead of a gain resulted in many cases from
the adoption of the system is seen in the history of Asti. In the year
1894 the allowance for yard labor was only 698.90 lire ($134.89) and
the loss was $31.40; in 1895 the allowance for yard labor was raised to
900 lire ($173.70) and the loss was $80.21; in 1896 the allowance for
yard labor was again raised to 1,652 lire ($318.84) and the excess of
credit over debit, or the gain, was $34.63.
The fault has been not in the gain-sharing system, but in the way it
has been applied. The company established a basis of fixed allowances,
7170—No. .31------9
1242
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
so low that the expenses incurred were greater than the allowances
credited. To produce a gain instead of the loss the company increased,
in 1896, the allowance to $318.84. In most stations the experience in
the first years of the system has been the same. As the losses are not
chargeable to any negligence on the part of the employees, but to
defects in the working out of the system, the company has been obliged
to remit the share of the losses chargeable to the employees. The per
eent of the losses remitted of the premiums paid to employees is as
follows in the Adriatic system: In the year 1892, 22.60 per cent; 12.96
per cent in 1893; 2.05 per cent in 1894; 0.93 per cent in 1895, and 2.22
per cent in 1896. From this it appears that while the losses remitted
were high in proportion to the premiums paid in the first years of
the working of the system, they are now but a mere trifle. The bases
of the gain-sharing system have been in each station revised so as to
substitute gains for losses.
It now becomes proper to judge the system of gain sharing in the
stations, in order to see whether this system is of such a nature that it
can be recommended for imitation to other countries as adequate to
conciliate the interests of the laboring men and those of the companies
operating the railways.
A t first sight it would seem that a system which incites the laborer
to greater exertion and to the utilization of all his time with the hope
of a considerable participation in the savings in the operating expenses
o f the stations effected thereby should be recognized by all as a system
able to accomplish the double purpose (1) of benefiting the employees
by increasing their pay and (2) of reducing the cost of operation.
In reality, however, the complaints of the workingmen themselves,
of the chambers of commerce, of the communes, of the public, and of
the governmental inspectors against the system are great and numer
ous. It is necessary, however, to examine and judge the system, both
in detail and as a whole and in regard to its effects, in order to discover
the causes underlying the widely divergent views.
First of all, the preliminary question must be solved, whether the
gain-sharing system is applicable to the station service and whether it
is not incompatible with the benefits to which the public is entitled. In
this connection it may be observed that the gain-sharing system is
considered by many as not applicable to the station service, because such
service is too complex, mixed, and variable, and too closely connected
with the public safety.
Abuse of the task system,whether by not allowing a sufficient remuner
ation or by exacting too much labor to permit good work, can not occa
sion any damage, because the system is applied exclusively to functions
of a special character (like the consumption o f fuel, the performance
of ordinary labor, etc.). But abuse of the gain-sharing system might
compromise the regularity and safety of the service, because it is
CONDITION OF RAILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1248
applied at the stations where the labor is composed of many variable and
indeterminable functions, all of which affect the regularity and safety of
the service. The gain-sharing system interposed between the employee
and the service to be performed causes the employee to lose sight of
the important and* only end which he should ever look to and submit
to, and that is the regularity and the safety of the service.
The operating companies establish the basis of the gain-sharing sys
tem in such a manner as to reduce the number of regular employees as
much as possible. The station masters, wTho direct the management of
the gain-sharing system, are interested in increasing the profit allotted
to themselves, either by not performing any or by performing little yard
service with locomotives, or by not engaging any or only a few tem
porary employees, and this for the reason that both classes of expendi
tures weigh heavily on the debit side of the account of the station,
diminishing the benefits to be divided. Is it not to be feared that this
scheme of management will lead to impairing the regularity and the
safety of the service ?
Considering the question thus expressed, it seems necessary to con
clude that the safety of the service and the lives of travelers should not
be placed in danger by maintaining a system which induces the station
masters to exaggerate the savings in the expenses which are necessary
for the good working of the railway service. One workingman, being
interrogated by the commission of inquiry, summed up in the follow
ing sharp and effective manner his opinion of the gain-sharing system:
“ In the gain-sharing system the lion’s share falls to the company, the
cub’s share to the station master, the crumbs from the table to the
employees, and the annoyance to the public.”
But before pronouncing such a severe condemnation it is necessary
to examine carefully the system of gain sharing in all its details in
order to see if it is really of such a nature as to endanger the regularity
and the safety of the service. The plan of operation of the system
provides, as has been said already, for the substitution of temporary
laborers (taken on from time to time, according to the needs of the
service) for a part of the regular employees paid by the month or by
the year, and for allowing to the station masters a freer hand in the
distribution of the duties of the service.
By using temporary employees the companies gain the advantage of
having a laboring personnel proportionate to the traffic, which is con
tinually changing, and of paying them according to the price of labor
in the particular locality. This effects a saving as compared with the
system of regular employees only, who must have uniform wages
throughout the whole country.
This appears certainly to be an undeniable advantage, but, on the
other hand, disadvantages are not lacking upon close examination.
Some say that the temporary workers, not having any career to look
1244
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
forward to, are poor workmen; others say, on the contrary, that being
liable to be discharged at any moment they work all the more zeal
ously. Some see a danger of more thefts because the station masters,
being interested in the saving of expenses for wages, do not make care
ful selections; others are of the contrary opinion and say that for the
above-mentioned reasons the temporary employees are at the mercy of
the administration, and as the thefts and the pilfering would weigh
heavily on the debit side of the station account the workmen are
greatly interested in watching one another; to which the defenders of
the permanent-employee system answer that when, in a station work
ing on the gain-sharing system, there is much labor to perform no
time is left the employees for watching one another.
The best system to pursue would be, following the plan which the
companies have adopted, to compromise between the two elements, so
that the number of regular employees would, in fact, be commensurate
with the ordinary traffic, and to call in temporary help only in case of
an extraordinary amount of business. This principle, which is already
embodied in the general plan, should be worked out in practice so as
to prevent any abuse by the station masters. In this manner the nec
essary elasticity could be obtained, and the danger would be avoided
of having the station master, in order to economize greatly, select
incompetent persons who offer their services at a small price. The
most important point in the system, then, would be to determine a prac
tical method of establishing the regular working force. This force
should be neither excessive nor too small, but in regard to number and
distribution the employees should be adequate for the work to be
performed.
In order to determine whether the number of employees is sufficient,
it would be necessary to value the labor performed by them according
to certain criteria, which should be sufficiently liberal to meet all emer
gencies which might occur if a more important labor than the ordinary
were required. Instead of this, the time allowances for the various
operations are (1) incomplete, because they do not contain all the
operations to be performed by the employees, and (2) they are erro
neous, because they are so restricted that in some stations, for certain
operations, they would not be sufficient for the very best employee to
perform the task. The necessary consequence, therefore, is an insuf
ficient number of employees, and through this an overburdening of
labor. A t Terni 95 hours were allowed the employees for labor, while
166 hours were actually required for its performance.
The total hours of labor which theoretically should be sufficient to
perform all the labor of the stations is divided by 8, which represents
the daily hours of labor for each employee, the quotient, therefore,
giving the number of the employees which on this basis should be con
nected with the station. I f there is a remainder in the division and
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1245
this remainder is in the neighborhood of 4, an employee, called a
“ half-timer,” is engaged, who may be employed during one-half of the
month in a station without acquiring thereby any right to participate
in the gains. But here seems to be an absurdity when it is said that
in one station in which the work should be expedited from day to day,
perhaps even from hour to hour, for 15 days it could be performed by
only 3 employees and for the next 15 days there must be 4 employees
for the same labor without changing in any way their individual com
pensation.
Just as the system of gain sharing is imperfect as applied in deter
mining the number of the employees, so is it also imperfect when
applied to the accounts kept at the stations. The monthly accounts
which are made up in the stations working on the gain-sharing system
have been explained, and the accounts of the stations of Codogno
(Adriatic company) and of Asti (Mediterranean company) have been
given as examples. In order to see how imperfect the system of
accounts is, it will be sufficient to state that the accounts of the station
of Asti showed losses. In cases where the company has not made
good the loss to the employees who have labored in excess of ordinary
work, the}7'have, instead of receiving a premium, been obliged to sub
mit to a diminution of their pay.
To demonstrate how erroneous are the bases of the accounts of the
stations, it will be sufficient to state that the stations receive premiums
on the basis of quintals of freight handled, but it happens that during
the Christmas and Easter holidays the number of packages increases
enormously, and sometimes is such that the employees performing the
clerical work, although working indefatigably, are not sufficient and
must be reenforced by temporary employees. But as these shippings
consist of small packages their weight is inconsiderable, and it takes
15 to 20 shippings to be able to gain from 0.08 to 0.10 lira (1.544 to 1.93
cents). It is evident that the increase of the traffic and labor cause, in
this case, a diminution of gain to the employees.
So, also, are the accounts of yard service defective. As this service
represents an expense for fuel, an entry of 3 lire (57.9 cents) for each
operation is made on the debit side of the account of the station. The
companies started with the idea that the more the locomotive yard
operations cost the less that kind of labor should be resorted to—a
principle which, at first sight, appears to be very reasonable, but
which in practice has two defects. The first defect is, that with the
diminution of that kind of yard service, the regularity of the service
is diminished as far as the good and careful utilization of the rolling
stock is concerned, the prompt forwarding of freight, the proper mak
ing up of trains, etc., and that not a day passes without the occurrence
of some irregularities, due principally to the highly exaggerated econ
omies in the yard service. The second defect consists in executing
1246
BULLETIN OF THE DEPAETMENT OF LABOE.
this class of yard work without keeping strict account of the same on
the books. The locomotive engineers while performing this kind of
yard work lose on an average 0.40 lira (7.72 cents) of their regular pay
for each hour so employed, and it is therefore to their advantage not
to have a strict account kept of the work. Concerning the coal used,
the locomotive engineer covers this loss with irregularities in his
duties, which are sometimes dangerous, such as letting the trains go
down grade with great velocity, etc.
Another pernicious practice is the changing of the bases by which
the unit prices of labor credited to the station are changed whenever
the premiums earned by the employees seem for some months to be
too high. These changes of the bases constitute the most demoraliz
ing part of the gain-sharing system, because they create a certain dis
trust on the part of the employees. Besides this, these changes, being
always a consequence of a material increase of the premiums, occur
only in stations in which the employees tend, by greater intensity of
labor, to augment the premiums beyond the average limit which the
company has allotted to the employees. These changes do not occur
in places where the employees, fearing a change of the basis, content
themselves with the gains allotted to them and do not attempt to
increase their earnings to any material extent. This result is to be
expected when we bear in mind the fact that the changes are realty
failures on the part of the company to keep its promises.
Nearly all of the governmental railway inspectors agree in saying
that the unit prices on which the station accounts are based have not
been established on a principle which would make it possible to obtain
a well-established sum to be gained by the employees. This is so true
that when bases established do not lead to the end desired by the com
pany they are promptly changed, naturally to the benefit of the com
pany and to the injury of the employees. The Codogno account is
typical for the stations on the Adriatic system, but sometimes it hap
pens in some of the stations that the fixed allowances, owing to various
causes, such as an increase or a decrease in the traffic, are excessive or
not sufficient and may lead to a great gain or loss for the employees.
The company is continually trying to eliminate the very great gains by
diminishing the bases of the fixed allowances and this practice has led
to the charge that the Adriatic company goes on continually reducing
the prices formerly established so as to eliminate the possibility of any
gain whatever.
The complaints are yet more marked when reference is made to the
division o f the gains, for nothing is more irritating than to see une
qual reward for equal labor. The division of the gains between the
Adriatic company and its employees may be examined. In the depo
sitions and written answers of several Government inspectors and of a
high functionary of the Adriatic company it has been claimed that the
1247
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
bases of the station accounts have been fixed so as to give to the em
ployees a premium of only 24 per cent of the savings effected by the
employees instead of 60 per cent as apparently called for according to
the professed plan. It was claimed furthermore that this 24 per cent
was the maximum figure of the gain which the company intended to
leave to the employees, the proportion ranging from 15 to 24 per cent.
The following table shows the actual financial results of the service
on the gain-sharing system for the Adriatic company from the intro
duction to December 31, 1897:
RESULTS OF THE GAIN-SHARING SYSTEM FROM ITS BEGINNING TO DECEMBER 81, 1897—
ADRIATIC COMPANY.
Expenses Expenses incurred after adop
tion of gain-sharing system
incurred
for—
in period
imme
diately
Year. preced Perma Tempo Em
ploy
rary
ing adop nent
ees’
Total.
em
em
tion of
share of
ploy
gainploy
gain.
sharing
ees.
ees.
(a)
system.
$54,603 $38,063 $2,726 $2,973 $43,762
1891-2
271,818 185,768 14,660 21,512 221,940
1893..
1894..
745,240 517,830 43,719 59,659 621,208
948,487 643,964 57,724 82,743 784,431
1895..
1896.. 1,365,307 969,837 92,891 114,621 1,177,349
1897.. 1,581,042 1,147,662 130,527 139,177 1,417,366
Actual
savings
to com
pany
after
adoption of
gainsharing
system.
Total
; savings
of com! pany
and em
ployees.
$10,841
49,878
124,032
164,0561
187,958
163,6761
$13,814
71,390
183,691
246,799
302,579
302,853
Per cent of to Per cent of sav
tal savings
ings of salaries
received by— or wages of—
Com
pany.
78.48
69.87
67.52
66.47
62.12
54.04
Em
ploy
ees.
21.52
30.13
32.48
33.53
37.88
45.96
Admin
Oper
istra
ating
tive
em
em
ploy
ploy
ees.
ees.
13
18
16
16
16
16
17
19
18
18
18
17*
a Sixty per cent of the gain established by the company according to the principles of the gainsharing system.
From the data given above, which were derived directly from the
administration of the Adriatic company, it will be seen that the em
ployees’ share of the actual gain, although more than 24 per cent for
each year since 1892, in no case reaches 60 per cent, and at first sight
this fact can not be understood. The account is liable to be confused
with the account of Codogno, where the employees apparently received
60 per cent. It must be remembered, however, that the Codogno
account shows the savings as calculated by the company under the
gain-sharing system, and that these savings, because of the small
allowances credited by the company, are in every case less than the
actual savings.
On the other hand, the present table shows the actual savings ef
fected by the Adriatic company in the stations adopting the gainsharing system. To find the actual savings, as will be seen by refer
ence to the table, the expenses in the stations which have adopted the
gain-sharing system are subtracted from the actual expenses in the
same stations for the period (not stated; probably 1890) immediately
preceding the adoption of the system. As the company credits much
smaller amounts to the stations than were actually expended before
the gain-sharing system was adopted, it is easily seen how an apparent
1248
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
gain of 60 per cent really represents a much smaller proportion of
actual savings.
Thus, in 1891-92, in the stations which had adopted the system, the
company incurred an expense of 197,217.80 lire ($38,062.94) for per
manent employees, 14,126.20 lire ($2,726.36) for temporary employ
ees, and 15,403.83 lire ($2,972.94) for the emploj^ees’ share of the
gain, which was calculated at 60 per cent of the savings according
to the credits allowed by the company, making a total expense of
226,747.33 lire ($43,762.24). This total subtracted from 282,918.69
lire ($54,603.31), the expense actually incurred in the same stations in
the period immediately preceding the adoption of the gain-sharing
system, shows an actual saving to the company of 56,171.36 lire
($10,841.07). This amount, combined with the employees’ share of
the gain, gives a total gain to company and employees of 71,575.19
lire ($13,814.01), *78.48 per cent of which went to the company and
only 21.52 per cent to the employees.
In 1893 the gain-sharing system was introduced into more stations,
and the total expense for all the stations that had adopted the system
was 1,149,948.79 lire ($221,940.12). The actual expense in the same
stations for the period immediately preceding the adoption of the
system was 1,408,385.62 lire ($271,818.43), and the actual saving to
the company 258,436.83 lire ($49,878.31). This, added to 111,462.34
lire ($21,512.23), the employees’ share of gain, gave a total gain to com
pany and employees of 369,899.17 lire ($71,390.54), of which 69.87
per cent went to the company and 30.13 per cent to the employees.
By the same method it is shown that the employees received but
32.48 per cent of actual savings in 1894, 33.53 per cent in 1895, 37.88
per cent in 1896, and 45.96 per cent in 1897, though each of these per
cents represented an amount which was just 60 per cent of the savings
calculated according to the credits allowed by the company.
Notwithstanding the advance which has been observed in the last
year (1897), the gains turned over to the employees, while apparently
large, have not been in proportion to the increased labor and to the
part which has gone to the benefit of the company’s account.
Nor do equal conditions of labor conform to equal premiums. They
do not even approach equality. It is well known that the initial pre
mium depended in a great measure upon the conditions of the station
at that period of time which immediately preceded the establishment
of the gain-sharing system and which served as a basis for computa
tions and comparisons on which the organic force of the station was
determined. From this follows the very strange consequence that
those who formerly labored under conditions of maximum economy
received small premiums, while those who formerly incurred higher
expenses participated in larger premiums.
CONDITION OF KAIL W A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1249
As an example, it may be stated that in the year 1893, in Ferrara,
the daily labor, which consisted of 4 hours and 30 minutes for each
employee and the handling of freight on the part of laborers of 59
quintals (13,007 pounds), brought a premium of 20 lire ($3.86), while
at Lucca, with a more extended labor (5 hours and 23 minutes) and a
handling of freight amounting to 93 quintals (20,503 pounds), the
premium was markedly less, being 12 lire ($2.32). And in the year
1896, in the station of Ancona, a labor of 4 hours and 52 minutes and
the handling of 58 quintals (12,787 pounds) resulted in a premium of
23 lire ($4.44), while in the station of Mantua, however, both the labor
(6 hours and 53 minutes) and the handling of freight, amounting to
71 quintals (15,653 pounds), were greater, but the premium, 18 lire
($3.47), was less. These comparisons could be multiplied indefinitely,
and it must be concluded that differences, more or less conspicuous,
more or less justified, exist in a great number of stations.
And now, touching the distribution of the gains among the individual
employees, the commission of inquiry has in its report made a some
what sharp criticism of the system, based upon the grievances of the
employees, which it seems well to reproduce, although all the objec
tions to the system do not seem equally well founded. Following is
this criticism:
The station masters’ share of the gain must be regarded as excessive.
The shares falling to the other administrative employees, however,
can not be said to be excessive; in fact, if the account of the station of
Codogno in the Adriatic system be taken as an example, it will be
found that 6 clerks received altogether 4 shares, or f- for each one,
while each laborer was credited with f of a share.
And here, keeping always the station of Codogno as an example, as
this station has been held up as the model for the Adriatic company,
and without doubt it is the one which presents the least defects, a
query arises which bears upon the whole system of dividing the gains.
The credit side of the account of a station is, with the exception of
small fixed and sundry other allowances, based on certain unit prices
o f the weight of freight handled and of the number of wagons and cars
handled in the yard service; that is, on the work of the inferior laboring
class. The administrative employees, from the station master down to
the clerk, being charged with the work of direction and supervision,
contribute only in an indirect way toward the gain. Why then should
the reward for the workingman’s increased labor be taken from him
to create gains for persons who have not directly cooperated?
In the station of Codogno the shares of gain—in all 21—are divided
as follows: To the laboring personnel (15 persons), which through its
labor creates the gain, go 10i shares; to the directing and supervis
ing personnel (10 persons), which contributes only indirectly to the
ain, 10f shares are allowed. This division does not seem equitable.
ut even if the shares allotted to the directing and supervising
employees were not excessive, it can not be understood why the
g
1250
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
rewards given to the administrative employees (which may be con
sidered as being nearly outside the pale of the gain-sharing system)
should be taken from the fruits of the labor of the inferior employees.
It would seem more just to throw the weight of this premium for
the directing personnel on the marked gains which the company
derives from the system of gain sharing. It might be answered that
this is really not more than a question of form, because the company,
in order to retain its gains undiminished, would simply have to change
the proportion of the gains allotted to itself and the employees. In
that case, however, the apparent 60 per cent which it pretended was
given through a paternal generosity of the company to the employees
would disappear.
The governmental railway inspectors recognize the fact that the
share of profits of the directing employees is too high, especially that
of the station master, so long as this gain is derived from a profit made
to a great extent by the more intense labor of the inferior employees;
and they think that a mistake has been made in the allotment of the
proportional premiums by giving more on account of rank than on
account of the labor performed, although they acknowledge that it is
just that the station master should have a greater share, as it is upon
his effort, like that of any other industrial chief, that depends the
perfect quality of the system. Other complaints are made on account
o f the disparity in the treatment of equal classes of the employees
between one station and another, there being, for example, station
masters who earn a premium of 113.51 lire ($21.91) per month, while
others only make a surplus gain of 1.60 lire (31 cents).
The opinions expressed by some chambers of commerce are not at
variance with the above. They contend that the gains go in great
part to the company, and that those gains which are allotted to the
employees are adjudged to be inadequate or even ridiculous when
compared with the sacrifices which the increased labor imposes upon
the latter.
More severe still are the criticisms on account of the
division among the individual participating employees, either because
equity has been disregarded in deciding upon the share of the station
master and others or because the allowance of profit to the lower
employees is too small and ephemeral. He who labors least earns
most, and this principle is certainly not such as to induce the retention
of the gain-sharing system, which should be above all a premium on
labor.
I f the gain-sharing system has not proved very satisfactory to the
workingmen at the stations, it can be said that it results in large sav
ings to the railway companies. For example, the Adriatic company had
calculated that the savings in the year 1895 would amount to 1,100,000
lire ($212,300), and later to 2,000,000 lire ($386,000). The savings
actually made however, were somewhat lower than predicted, but
notwithstanding this they were very considerable. This can be seen
CONDITION OF RA ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1251
from a table which has appeared on a preceding page, and from which
is reproduced the following savings of the company:
1891-92.....................................................................................
1893 .........................................................................................
1894 .......................................................................... ..............
1895 .........................................................................................
1896 .............. ..........................................................................
1897 .........................................................................................
56,171. 36 lire (§10, 841.07)
258,436. 83 lire ($49, 878. 31)
642, 654. 27 lire ($124, 032. 27)
850,033. 30 lire ($164, 056.43)
973, 877. 87 lire ($187,958.43)
848,064.12 lire ($163,676. 38)
Total.............................................................................
3,629,237. 75 lire ($700,442.89)
Other criticisms of the gain-sharing system in stations have appeared
from time to time, among these being those made by Mr. Kossuth, son
of the celebrated Hungarian patriot, and manager of the second
division of the Mediterranean system. Following are the defects men
tioned by Kossuth: (a)
It must be borne in mind that the principle of authority would in
the course of time receive a more or less severe blow from the intro
duction of a system which to a great extent is pervaded by socialistic
principles, to such an extent that it approaches a programme of gain
sharing between the company, the Government, and the employees—
an idea which in Italy has been announced by several socialistic and
democratic deputies.
It is clear that the original organization of the station employees
would have to be fixed on the basis of hours of labor required for the
operations. After the introduction of the system, however, any acts
of superiors which would aim at the settling upon new units of com
pensation would cause remonstrances from the interested employees,
who would claim that these acts changed the conditions of labor and
therefore the results of the gain sharing.
To-day (1893) such action on the part of the superiors could neither
be criticised nor opposed by the employees without such criticism or
opposition assuming the character of a lack of discipline; while after
putting the system in force the remonstrances would acquire a char
acter eminently just and legal, becoming nothing else than a remon
strance of an interested partner against damages sustained through the
actions of the other partner. Nor would it be of any value to try to
circumvent this inconvenience by asserting that the company should
maintain intact its authority and the rigor of all its regulations, because
these could then be interpreted not only by the superiors, but also by
the tribunals.
There would be delays, remonstrances, and discussions on the occa
sions of transfers, because no matter how carefully the number of
necessary employees in each individual station may be estimated, it
would nevertheless be evidently impossible, in such a complex sj^stem
of operations, to make the estimates sufficiently exact to insure equal
gains in all the stations.
Attempts would be made, however, from time to time to transfer an
individual, but he would never fail to maintain that in the station to
a This statement by Mr. Kossuth was written on June 20, 1893, and at that time
the gain-sharing system had not been introduced in the second division of the Med
iterranean company.
1252
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
which he was transferred his part of the gain sharing would he less
than it was in the station which he left. He would maintain this not
withstanding that there may be neither reason nor proof of his claim,
forcing the company either to prove to him the falsity of his assertion,
thus lowering itselr to an action which is incompatible with its disci
pline, or to compel him by the exercise of authority to submit to the
transfer, thereby giving rise to arguments and complaints against the
alleged injustice of a provision which in itself is perfectly legal.
It is evident that the employees would not be able to obtain their
profits in the gain-sharing system without performing labor, the
length and the intensity of which would be much greater than what
is required of them to-day. In the beginning every one would sub
mit voluntarily in view of the marked economic advantages which he
would derive, but in the course of time, as the employees became
accustomed to receiving a certain sum every month as a benefit from
the gain sharing, they would come to consider this benefit as a kind of
acquired right, as one would say, to increased wages. The day would
come in which the individuals would feel the weight of the longer
and increased labor, and at this period they would begin, on occasions
of punishment for faulty performance of their proper duties, and on
occasions o f railway disasters, to complain that they were forced to
labor during too many hours, and were therefore so exhausted as to
consider themselves released from their responsibilities. Then would
arise a tendency to reduce the labor to that point which exists to-day,
keeping intact, however, the total reward which should result from
the sum of the wages and of the gain sharing. It would then be
necessary to increase the number of employees without being able to
diminish the wages. Little by little a land of equilibrium between
the number of employees and their earnings would be established, so
that the gain sharing would not be a reward for extraordinary labor
but only a simple individual increase of wages.
A phenomenon nearly analogous manifested itself when the system
was introduced of giving to the locomotive engineers a premium for
economy in the use of fuel. In the beginning the savings realized
were considerable, and originated in the zeal and intelligence of the
employees. To-day things have already changed. There is no doubt
that the locomotive engineers could perform their services with con
siderably less fuel than they actually use. When, however, they find
from time to time for a few consecutive months that the average
premium for economy does not reach the accustomed amount, they
are careful to be more saving in the quantity of coal allowed them;
this is true of the great majority of engineers, there being a few
laudable exceptions. They care very little about economy and con
sider the premium merely as a supplementary reward acquired by
right. Notwithstanding all this, nobody could ever propose the aboli
tion of the system of premiums because it would immediately result
in careless and even malicious waste.
Something analogous would manifest itself also in the system of
gain sharing, but then there would be no possibility of suppressing
the system without provoking the most dangerous state of discontent.
It is certain, therefore, that the gain-sharing system, which would
seem to be, theoretically, a perfect system, one that would lead up to
the hope that it would help to reestablish harmony between the com
pany and the railway employees, has grave defects which derived
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1253
their origin, above all, from the faulty application which has been
made of the just principles which grant participation in the savings
resulting from the increased industry of the laborers.
It is believed that the best systems of remuneration for labor,
the organization, the good sides, and the defects of the gain-sharing
system have been shown.
It seems proper to refer, also, to the suggestions for a reform of
the system which a most eminent railway engineer has made—a reform
which would aim at rendering the system not only just in theory but
also equitable and more profitable in practice, both to the company
and to the employees. The suggestions are as follows:
The gain-sharing system should start from a healthy and just prin
ciple, and while it should work toward the end of greater economy for
the administration it should not carry this too far. The basis of the
gain-sharing system should be the effective labor performed by the
employees at the station.
For this purpose the labor of the station should be divided into two
great classes—manual labor and the work of management and admin
istration. The first should have nothing to do with the second, because
the laboring employees never undertake the work of the administrative
branches, and the administrative employees in the discharge of their
duties do not expect help from the laboring employees. For each class
there should be established a standard of effective labor, subdivided
into two great parts, one fixed and the other variable. The first part
should be composed of the fixed labor of each single class of employees,
as, for example, supervision of stations, the labor of yard service with
regard to ordinary trains, the closing of accounts, made out daily,
every ten days, two weeks, or monthly, correspondence, etc.; the sec
ond, or variable part, should be the labor which bears, for instance,
on the passage of a special train, the finishing of a shipment, the detach
ing of a ticket, the arrival of a freight train, the transit of a car, etc.
In computing this labor afterwards an account should be kept of all,
not only of that limited labor which occurs for each single operation,
but also of the increase of labor which this occasions by reflex action
in all the bookkeeping work of the station. When the labor of the
administrative and managing personnel is separated from that of the
manual employees there would not be any connivance between the two
classes, which is the origin of so many small irregularities, while it
would have for both the tendency toward a uniform purpose—that is,
the augmentation of individual labor in order to increase the premium;
labor which resolves itself into an increase of traffic and therefore of
receipts, of an economy of personnel, and therefore of savings of wages
for the administration.
In this manner a maximum of ordinary labor compensated by regu
lar pay could be established, and then would admit of a proportional
compensation for all that labor done in addition, a compensation which
would constitute the premium of the service on the gain-sharing sys
tem. Starting from such premises the service in the gain-sharing
system could in tir
1
1 J 1*
A Ton whatever, but would
become operative
personnel would be so
reduced as to have really to perform an extraordinary amount of labor.
1254
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Having fixed a limit of ordinary labor, the employees who are not in
favor of gain sharing could find employment in those stations in which
the limit is not established. By the application of this principle the
disparity which can now be observed between the employees of the
different stations in regard to the amount of labor and the relative
remuneration would quickly disappear. The employees who would be
attracted by a higher remuneration would offer themselves voluntarily
to submit to increased labor in order to complete the work of those
who would be absent, and the task system would thus lose the obliga
tory character which it now possesses. The services of those entitled
to participate in the reserve fund would immediately be greatly
improved, because in the accounts of the employees of the administra
tive and managing force would be entered as liabilities the errors
occurring in bookkeeping, and the accounts of the laboring employees
would be charged with the liabilities resulting from the nandling of
goods. Among the individuals of the two classes there would be recip
rocal and easy control. The control under such a system would be of
the simplest kind, for the reason that the fixed labor would not need
it, and the variable labor would be easily controlled by the entries in
the books of the number of freight shippings, arrivals, etc.
The gain-sharing system is, in its first stages of development, full of
promises and hopes, and also full of defects. It is still in its first expe
rience, and it must be studied with consideration and care and be
continually modified in order to gradually approach that grade of per
fection which can fit it for adoption in all the railway operations.
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.
The data which were obtainable regarding labor organizations among
the railway employees are meager, principally on account of the fact
that these organizations, being always at variance with the Govern
ment, have never given any information which might damage their
cause.
The first societies which were established were the mutual-aid society
of locomotive engineers and firemen of the railway system of upper
Italy, established in 1877 at Milan, and the mutual-aid society among
the locomotive engineers and firemen of the railways of the southern
system, established in Ancona in 1883. When the Government turned
over the railways to private companies, the two societies were combined
into one in the year 1885, with a central seat at Milan. These socie
ties were created for the purpose of mutual assistance.
In the year 1890, through the initiative of members of both societies
who claimed that the mutual assistance was not sufficient to amelio
rate the condition of the employees, the savings association among the
employees of the railways of the Mediterranean company was founded.
This association, with its main office at Milan, purposed to purchase
with the savings of the members shares in the Mediterranean company.
By this course the society became a shareholder of the company oper
ating the railways, and could thereby take part in the discussions at
the meetings to defend the rights of the employees and to suggest
improvements in their condition; but as the society possessed but few
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1255
shares, its influence in the shareholders5meetings of the Mediterranean
company was a limited one.
The employees then decided to recur to other means for defending
their interests, and so was created in Genoa in the year 1890 the Fascio
Ferroviario (Railway Labor Union). Its purpose was to accumulate
sufficient funds to enable the employees to go into litigation with the
railway companies in all cases in which they could complain of abuses
or of promotions denied. As a result a series of trials came before the
courts of justice to defend the rights of the employees. The novelty
of the thing, and the hope that one favorable judgment of the court
would enable the railway employees to regain their lost ground, ena
bled the Fascio Ferro viario to increase the number of its members in
2 years to 10,000.
But this organized movement was of short duration. The judg
ments of the courts were nearly always in favor of the railway com
panies, and only in rare cases, and after tremendous expenses, could
the employees obtain a judgment in favor of their cause. In 1898-91
the Fascio Ferro viario ceased to exist.
During this period, however, some employees in Milan had founded a
society called theUnione degli Operai ed Impiegati delle Strade Ferrate
(Union of Railway Employees) for the purpose of resistance and
aggression against the railway companies. This restored the activity of
the mutual-aid society of locomotive engineers and firemen at Milan,
and revived some sections of the Fascio Ferro viario.
In 1891 a congress was convened at Milan for the purpose of com
bining all these small and weak societies. This movement was success
ful, and the members of the former societies became members of the
new organization, which took the name of Lega deiFerrovieri Italiani
(League of Italian Railway Employees). The members of the society
of locomotive engineers and firemen promised adhesion to this new
organization, but maintained their autonomy as far as mutual assist
ance was concerned. For this purpose the monthly dues were fixed
at 8 lire (57TV cents) paid to the home society, of which sum 0.50
lira (9 ^ cents) went to the benefit of the league. It may be said
that the members of the league paid the same dues of 0.50 lira (9 ^
cents) per month. The league also published a bimonthly journal.
The programme of the league was that of resistance against the
operating companies. It was a militant society which proposed to
declare strikes when the number of its adherents should include the
majority of Italian railway employees. In a short time the league
succeeded in raising its membership to the number of 10,000. The
league having declared its adhesion to the Socialistic Party, the Gov
ernment dissolved it in October, 1894.
The league, however, promptly reorganized and succeeded in increas
ing the number of its adherents in such a way that in a little more
1256
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
than three years the membership amounted to 30,000. The number of
members who regularly paid the monthly dues of 0.50 lira (9TV cents)
does not seem ever to have exceeded 12,000. The main contributors
were derived from the class of locomotive engineers and firemen, these
numbering in all Italy about 4,000, and of these some 1,800 were mem
bers of the league, or 45 per cent.
By 1898 the league had managed to accumulate a resistance fund of
about 60,000 lire ($11,580). Besides this it had contributed to the
construction of the Casa dei Ferrovieri Italiani (Italian Railway
Employees Building) at Milan, which building cost 220,000 lire
($42,460), and is used as a place of meeting and reunion for all railway
employees. Then followed the disturbances of May, 1898. The league
was suspected of having wished to order a strike of the employees for
the purpose of assisting the insurgents at Milan, and it was therefore
dissolved by the Government. The principal officers were imprisoned
and others were obliged to seek safety in flight, while an unfaithful
treasurer, in the confusion, appropriated to his own use a part of the
society’s funds.
The railway labor organizations seem now to have become extinct.
It is a fact that up to the present no other new society has been organ
ized, because it is feared that it would be immediately dissolved by the
Government and that the chiefs would be punished with imprisonment.
In the absence of a society, however, the railway employees estab
lished in October, 1898, a weekly paper, called El Treno (The Train),
This paper has so far 8,000 subscribers, nearly every one a former
member of the dissolved league. The paper defends the same pur1
poses as the league did, on which account a certain sum from the
subscription price is set aside for the purposes of propaganda and for
defending the rights of railwa}r employees as against the operating
companies.
STRIKES.
It may be said that in Italy railway strikes are unknown; still there
have been some small movements, from which the fear has often been
entertained that other and more important strikes may be brewing.
The narration of what has happened and what it has been feared might
happen in Italy is interesting, particularly on account of the precau
tions taken by the State to keep down such serious danger to the pub
lic order.
On the 25th of February, 1886—that is, eight months after the rail
way contracts went into operation—the minister of the interior informed
the prefects of the provinces that the workmen in several workshops
(Foggia, Naples, Ancona, Rimini, and Rome) had gone on a strike,
and he expressed the fear that this strike might extend to other classes
of employees on railways, and especially to locomotive engineers and
firemen.
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1257
A strike of locomotive engineers and firemen, even if it were only
partial, might suspend the business of the nation and even the most
necessary State functions, and in some cities, including Rome, the
supply of food products would be seriously diminished. The minister,
therefore, gave orders that in case of strikes, when all other means
should prove futile, the locomotive engineers should be compelled by
force to perform their services, and should be escorted for their own
safety as well as that of the service to their proper places. Such a
provision would be legitimatized by the laws, and mainly for the supreme
and exceptional motive of public order.
In the month of November, 1893, the minister submitted a new
organic roll of the postal and telegraph service. The telegraphers,
claiming that they had been injured in their interests, began an agita
tion, of which Rome was the center, for the purpose of preventing
this ordinance from being carried into effect. The minister having
been informed of these plans ordered the division chiefs to kindly give
the employees to understand that they were in no way injured by the
organic roll, and to warn them that violence and other reprehensible
acts would be severely punished. He gave, besides this, instructions
that in case of necessity the telegraphers would be replaced by clerks
and substitutes from offices of the second class, by day laborers, and by
military telegraphers from the army and from the navy, and at the same
time he asked the minister of war to place at his disposition all soldiers
who would be capable of lending their services. But the agitators,
fearing that if further delay occurred the administration could effica
ciously remedy the state of affairs, did not lose any time and suc
ceeded so far that at 11 o’clock on November 20 all the telegraphers at
Rome struck and the transmission and receipt of telegrams were sus
pended. As warnings, good advice, and exhortations were all in vain,
steps were taken to substitute new employees for the strikers.
The Government, in order to cut short the strike which had hardly
begun, deliberated whether it should apply the most severe penalties
to the strikers or overlook their actions if they should repent and
return without delay to the service. These menaces helped to cut the
strike short before it had extended to all the offices of the Kingdom.
Among the 11 offices where the service was partially interrupted were
Rome, Milan, Turin, Genoa, and Venice. Of the 968 employees
belonging to these offices, 487 went on strike, or 50.3 per cent.
This strike, the only one which was declared in Italy, although it
does not refer directly to railway employees, is important in so far as
it shows how the Government could bring it to an end and cause the
telegraphers to return to their work without employing force. In like
manner the Government decided in 1898 to employ force as soon as
the fear arose that the railway employees would go on a strike.
7170—No. 31-----10
1258
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In the month of May, 1898, Italy was greatly convulsed by insur
rectional disturbances caused by the high price of bread in various
regions of the south as well as of the north. Martial law was declared
in the provinces o f Milan, Florence, and Naples, and the military
courts condemned to imprisonment thousands of persons guilty of or
suspected of having shown a disposition to rise in insurrection against the
Commonwealth. It was also feared that the railway employees would
go on a strike in order to help the insurgents of Milan and prevent the
Government from sending troops in order to strengthen the somewhat
weak garrison of that city.
That the railway employees were impatient to go on a strike is very
certain, as had been declared in the Chamber of Deputies in the session
of June 4, 1897, by the Hon. Quirino Nofri, deputy from Turin,
elected mainly as a representative of railway employees. The Hon.
Q. Nofri said that the railway employees were decided even to impede
the business of the nation in order to defend their interests; he added,
however, that the moment for the strike had not quite arrived, because
the railway people were not yet strong enough to oppose and vanquish
the railway companies.
When the disturbances of May, 1898, broke out, the fear was fre
quently and generally expressed that the railway employees would
profit by an occasion when there would be great need of transportation
on the railways; and confidence was certainly not reestablished by the
fact that the would-be strikers declared that they wished only to de
fend their rights as against the companies. The Government, in order
to prevent strikes, the consequences of which at that time would have
been very grave and would have endangered the public peace, resolved
to militarize a part of the railway personnel, and, consequently, by
royal decree of May 10, all persons subject to military duty on
indefinite furlough, of any class or category whatever, were called to
arms. This call comprised the noncommissioned officers who had been
employed among the personnel of the Mediterranean and Adriatic
systems and other small roads as depot keepers, locomotive engineers,
firemen, workingmen authorized to perform the functions of firemen,
also workingmen in the depots, chief switchmen and switchmen, round
house men and cleaners, chief conductors and conductors, chief brakemen and brakemen, yard masters and gang bosses of yard men, and
yard men.
This decree ordered that all of these employees should continue to
perform their services on the railways; at the same time they would
be considered as part of the army. By this means they kept on work
ing under their own superiors, who were also higher graded soldiers
called into military service. In this way the danger of a strike was
averted, because the employees were placed under military discipline,
a distinction being made, however, between faults committed of a
CONDITION OF R A ILW A Y LABOR IN ITALY.
1259
technical or administrative character and those which assumed a mili
tary and disciplinary character. The technical and administrative
faults continued to be judged under the authority of the railway com
panies, and were punished according to the regulations governing the
roads. The second, such as arbitrary and voluntary absence, strikes,
disobedience, and insubordination, were punished according to military
law. It was further prescribed that the military uniform should be
worn by those employees when not on railway duty, while during
railway service, in which nothing was changed, they should use the
various distinctive badges of their labor and could wear working
clothes.
It is evident that the Government could employ this means of mili
tarizing to prevent the strike only because in Italy the system of obli
gatory military service exists. Up to the age of 89 years the State
can compel its citizens to perform service in the army. In this case
the State had incorporated into the army the railway employees, but
still could compel them to continue their services on the railway.
So far the matter had been covered only by a decree of the Govern
ment, but the law of July 17, 1898, was enacted, and this state of
affairs was thereby legalized. Article l o f the law reads as follows:
The soldiers of the army, as well as of the reserve belonging to the
railway, postal, and telegraph services, can be recalled into military
service for such time as the Government may judge necessary, still
continuing the exercise of their duties and functions in their offices.
These recalled men will continue to receive their regular pay, with
out acquiring any right to the disbursements of the war office. They
will be subjected to military jurisdiction, but will continue to submit
to all the obligations and regulations of their respective railway
administrations.
This provision of law was not of indefinite duration, but was to
remain in force only until June 30, 1899. Before the law expired by
this limitation, the Government proposed to insert in Title II of the
law regarding public safety a chapter (V I bis) entitled “ The protec
tion of the public service,” with the following provision:
The employees, agents, and workingmen performing a public serv
ice depending on the State (even if that service should be performed
by means of private enterprise) who, in the number of three or more
and by previous agreement, abandon their proper duties or charges,
or omit to fulfill their duties so as to impede and disturb the regular
working of the public service, will be punished, provided that there
is no charge o f a more serious crime, with imprisonment for not more
than one year besides the infliction of the punishment provided for in
article 181 of the penal code, which relates to public officials. The
promoters and chiefs will be punished with imprisonment for periods
of from one to two years.
This bill has not yet been approved by Parliament, on account of the
obstructionist policy o f certain deputies o f the Republican, Socialist,
1260
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and Radical parties. The Government, however, promulgated it by
royal decree, which has the force of law, so that up to January, 1900,
it belonged to the existing legislation of the country, and as such has
been received by the courts of justice. But in January, 1900, the
high court of cassation of Rome declared the decree void. The Gov
ernment then asked that the decree be approved and converted into
law by the Parliament. The obstructionist policy of the extreme
Left of the Chamber of Deputies had up to March, 1900, succeeded in
impeding the adoption of the bill.
APPRENTICESHIP SCHOOLS FOR WORKING PEOPLE.
By virtue of article 36 of the agreement, by which the State leased
the railways to the companies, there should have been established in
connection with every railway system schools for firemen learners and
schools for the apprentices in the various workshops.
In the Mediterranean system these schools have proved in general
to give very satisfactory results so far as the effect of securing, for
the necessities of the service, a sufficient technical personnel furnished
with the necessary capacity and aptitude was concerned.
From the following statements will be seen the number of firemen
learners who have attended these schools and the number promoted at
the end of each course, also the number in the schools for the appren
tices in workshops and those licensed at the end of a full course:
SCHOOLS FOR FIREMEN LEARNERS AT TURIN, ALESSANDRIA, MILAN, PISA, AND NAPLES.
Number
Number
attending who passed
final
ex
schools.
amination.
Year.
1885-86 ....................................................................................................................................
1886-87....................................................................................................................................
1887-88 ....................................................................................................................................
1888-89 ....................................................................................................................................
1889-90 ....................................................................................................................................
1890-91 ................................................ ...................................................................................
1891-92 ....................................................................................................................................
1892-93 ....................................................................................................................................
1893-94......... ..........................................................................................................................
1894-95 ....................................................................................................................................
1895-96 ....................................................................................................................................
78
95
92
80
65
60
48
48
76
91
92
72
81
83
52
53
52
39
37
66
82
81
Total.............................................................................................................................
825
698
SCHOOLS FOR APPRENTICES IN THE TURIN AND NAPLES WORKSHOPS.
Number attending schools.
Year.
Number of
apprentices
licensed at
end of full
course.
First
year of
course.
Second
year of
course.
1890-91 ..................................................................................................
1891-92 ..................................................................................................
1892-93 ..................................................................................................
1893-94 ..................................................................................................
1894-95........... ......................................................................................
1895-96 ..................................................................................................
23
17
19
29
38
35
13
16
10
22
31
10
5
9
20
10
Total..........................................................................................
161
92
44
29
Third
year of
course.
8
4
7
1261
CONDITION OF B A ILW A Y LABOE IN ITALY.
In the Adriatic system these schools have also contributed to improve
the instruction of the railway personnel.
Below is given a statement concerning the schools attached to round
houses, the average number of firemen learners per year who attended
them and were declared fit for service during the period of 1886 to
1896, and the number of soldiers permitted by the competent authori
ties to take part in this instruction being shown:
SCHOOLS FOR FIREMEN LEARNERS ATTACHED TO ROUNDHOUSES, 1886 TO 1896.
Average yearly number
of workingmen.
Class.
Civilians, already in service............................................................................................
Civilians, newly assigned.................................................................................................
Soldiers..................................................................................................................................
Who
attended
school.
Who were
declared
competent.
31
40
38
30
31
31
The Sicilian company has also instituted schools for firemen learners,
which were opened alternately at Palermo and Messina, so that the
young workingmen of the two stations might be enabled to frequent
the said schools without forcing them to leave their respective homes.
The results obtained by the institution of these schools are satisfac
tory. There is now in the class of firemen an element furnished with
superior theoretical and practical knowledge and more intelligent than
that which previously existed.
RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.
MAINE.
Thirteenth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Industrial and Labor
Statistics fo r the State o f Maine. 1899. Samuel W . Matthews,
Commissioner. 182 pp.
The contents of the present report may be grouped as follows: Cot
ton, woolen, and boot and shoe industries, 9 pages; factories, mills,
and shops, 5 pages; slate and lime industries, 11 pages; the pulp and
paper industry, 32 pages; the lumber industry, 23 pages; plush and
worsted industries, 6 pages; the agricultural implement industry, 1
pages; railroads, 5 pages; extracts from the proceedings of the fifteenth
annual convention of officials of labor bureaus, 68 pages; factory
inspection, 10 pages.
Cotton, W oolen , and B oot and S hoe I ndustries . —Returns were
received from 12 cotton mills, 27 woolen mills, and 6 boot and shoe
manufactories. The tabulations show for each establishment the
amount of capitai invested, cost of material used, value of product,
weeks in operation during the year, persons employed, and wages
paid. Ten of the 12 cotton mills and 19 of the 27 woolen mills made
complete returns for 1898 and 1899. The totals of these returns for
each of the two years are shown in the following statement:
STATISTICS OF 10 COTTON AND 19 WOOLEN MILLS, 1898 AND 1899.
Cotton mills.
Wroolen mills.
Items.
1898.
Capital invested........................................... $12,588,500.00
3,905,748.00
Cost of material used..................................
2,596,131.00
Total wages paid...........................................
7,455,394.00
Value of product...........................................
Average weekly wages:
7.45
Men...........................................................
5.55
W om en ....................................................
2.74
Children..................................................
1899.
1898.
1899.
$11,545,025.00
4,201,763.00
2,956,311.00
8,076,754.00
$2,170,795.00
2,142,724.00
760,177.00
3,478,282.00
$2,087,800.00
2,187,288.00
763,117.00
3,375,659.00
7.40
5.68
2.87
8.49
6.10
3.77
8.78
6.12
3.63
Average employees:
M en...........................................................
W o m en ............. ......................................
Children............. ...................................
3,933
5,025
625
4,111
5,114
459
1,359
651
16
1,402
640
18
Total......................................................
Average weeks in operation....................
9,583
47.2
9,684
51.1
2,026
50.1
2,060
49.4
1262
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- MAINE.
1263
The returns from 6 boot and shoe manufacturing plants show the
following totals: Capital invested, $451,500; .cost of material used,
$1,760,462; value of product, $2,551,005; weeks in operation, 50.6;
persons employed, 1,298; total wages paid, $616,619. The average
weekly wages o f men were $10.93; women, $7.97; and children under
16 years of age, $4.
F actories, M ills , and S hops. —Improvements during 1899 were
reported in the case of 138 factories, situated in 103 towns. These
improvements were in the nature of new buildings and sheds, the
rebuilding, enlargement, and alteration of factories, the installation of
new machinery plants, etc. It is estimated that these improvements
cost $6,800,700 and gave employment to 4,990 persons. The above
figures are greater than those shown at any other time in nine years.
Slate and L ime I ndustries .— A review is given of the develop
ment and present condition of each of these industries in the State.
P ulp and P aper I ndustry . —This chapter contains a description of
the pulp and paper industry and a list of the pulp and chemical fiber
mills in the State showing their equipment, output, motive power,
number o f employees, etc. An account is also given of the forest
lands in the State and suggestions are made in relation to their preser
vation.
The report shows that there were 30 pulp and 28 paper mills in the State,
employing 5,902 wage workers, the latter earning an average of $1.62
per day. The daily product of the mills consisted of 600 tons of paper,
735 tons of ground wood pulp, 330 tons of sulphite pulp, 110 tons of
soda pulp, and 60 tons of leather board. In addition to the employees
above mentioned, thousands of men are employed in cutting the wood
in the forests and conveying it to the mills.
L umber I ndustry . —This subject is treated in a similar manner to
the one preceding. The returns from lumber operators were some
what incomplete, so that the figures representing this industry can be
only roughly estimated. Such an estimate places the total annual
output of lumber in the State at 600,000,000 feet, requiring the labor
of 15,753 men and 6,736 horses for a period of 134J working days in
the year. The total annual wages paid is estimated at $1,938,000.
Kailroads . —In 1899 the 23 steam railways in the State employed
7,036 persons, exclusive of general officers, or 1,184 more than in 1898.
The wages paid in 1899 amounted to $3,242,411.31, a gain of $419,860.44
over 1898.
The street railways employed 864 persons in the State, who received
$390,250.50 in wages in 1899. This was an increase over 1898 of 139
in the number o f employees and of $65,250.50 in the amount of wages
paid. The above figures do not include persons employed in road
construction.
1264
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
MASSACHUSETTS.
Twenty-ninth Annual Report o f the Massachusetts Bureau o f Statistics
o f Labor. March, 1899. Horace G. W adlin, Chief, xxviii, 659 pp.
This report consists of the following subjects: Part I, Sunday labor,
100 pages; Part II, graded weekly wages, 384 pages; Part III, labor
chronology, 1898, and labor legislation, 1899, 175 pages.
S unday L abor . —This investigation was undertaken in compliance
with a legislative act of 1898. The information was collected by direct
inquiry and by special agents. The inquiries relate to the location
and average number of persons employed on week days and the
largest, smallest, and average number of persons employed in the same
establishments on Sundays; the character of service and hours of labor
on week days and Sundays; the number of Sundays employed during
the year; whether Sunday work was optional or compulsory; whether
a day of rest was allowed during the week when Sunday work was
required; whether employees were liable to lose their places in case
they refused to work on Sundays; the methods of payment for Sun
day work; the relative pay for Sunday work as compared with week
day work; whether Sunday work was the same as on week days or
was limited to necessary repairs, and the reasons why Sunday work
is necessary. The investigation covers Sunday work in transportation,
domestic and personal service, trade, manufacturing industries, and in
the public service of cities and towns.
With regard to Sunday work in the transportation industries, 157
scheduler were received. The transportation industries enumerated
comprised cab and herdic companies, dredging .companies, electric
street railways, steam railroads, express companies, ferries, longshore
men and stevedores, steamboats, towboats, and telegraph and telephone
companies. The establishments reporting employed 46,233 persons on
week days and 17,994, or 38.92 per cent of that number, on Sundays.
Of those employed on Sundays 8,282, or nearly one-half, were employed
in the transportation of passengers only, on electric street railways,
and 7,726 others were engaged in the transportation of passengers and
merchandise by means of carriages, steamboats, and steam railways,
making a total of 16,008, or 88.96 per cent, whose Sunday work chiefly
consisted in the transportation of passengers. While in the electric
street railway service 80 per cent of all employees worked on Sundays,
in the steam railroad service this proportion was only 24 per cent.
A general review of the replies to the inquiries used: in the investi
gation shows that in the transportation service the hours of labor on
Sundays, while in many cases the same as on weekdays, were on an aver
age slightly shorter. A great majority of the establishments reported
Sunday wTork on every Sunday during the year. Where Sunday work
was performed it was required in most cases, although in a considerable
number of establishments it was optional. In the street railway and
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- MASSACHUSETTS.
1265
express services a day of rest was generally allowed during the week
when Sunday work was required, but in most other cases no such rest
was permitted. The pay for Sunday work was usually the same as
for that on week days, only a few establishments paying a higher rate
for the former. As a rule Sunday work was regular and of the same
character as the week-day work and was not limited to repairs.
Under the head of miscellaneous industries are considered domestic
and personal service, trade, manufacturing, and city and town em
ployees. Domestic service as enumerated in this report includes
household service, hotel and restaurant employees, bartenders, liverystable employees, and barbers. Persons engaged in domestic service,
including such bartenders and barbers as were employed in hotels,
were usually employed on Sundays. The work was generally much
lighter than on week days, except in the case of employees in livery
stables. It was usual to allow some time off during the week or to
follow a system of rotation wherever Sunday labor was required,
except in the case of livery-stable employees. No increased pay was
allowed as a rule for Sunday work.
Under the head of trade are considered pharmacists’ establishments
and milk distribution. Pharmacists’ establishments were usually open
either throughout the day or during certain hours on Sundays. Not
as many persons were employed on Sundays as on week days and
employees generally alternated in Sunday work. A half day off during
the week was generally allowed when Sunday work was required.
Licensed milk drivers and stablemen in dairies were employed practi
cally every day in the year. The hours of labor varied in different
establishments. The employees were paid on a basis of seven days to
the week and worked accordingly. In some cases they were allowed
to absent themselves on Sundays by rotation and in some others by
furnishing substitutes.
Under the head of manufacturing industries are considered brew
eries, bakeries, newspaper printing and publishing, paper mills, gas
and electric-light works, and slaughtering and meat packing. W ork
in these industries was usually restricted to the lowest possible limit
required to carry on the process of manufacture, to repair the machin
ery, or to supply the public needs. The number of employees was
usually much smaller and the hours of labor shorter on Sundays than
on week days, and in most cases Sunday work was done by rotation or
employees working on Sundays were allowed some time off during the
week.
The city and town employees considered in this report were those in
the police, fire, water, street, and health departments and the library
service. In the police and fire departments employees were usually on
duty continuously Sundays and week days. In the other city depart
ments but a very small proportion of the employees were on duty on
Sundays, and the hours of service were usually much shorter.
1266
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
In general the Sunday work found to exist in the State in the vari
ous lines of industry was confined to such work as was necessary for
the protection and preservation of wealth and not for its creation,
or else was required in the necessary daily personal duties of life.
According to the census of 1895 the number of persons in gainful occu
pations in the State was, in round numbers, 1,075,000. The report
states that possibly 150,000 of these had some connection with Sunday
work. Of these at least 113,000 will be found in household and
domestic service, in agriculture, or in the fisheries. O f the 37,000
others, 17,994 were in the transportation service, as before indicated.
The remainder was distributed among hotel and restaurant service and
other employments of a more or less personal nature, miscellaneous
industries and trade, city, town, and public institution service, the
ministerial and medical professions, etc.
G r a d e d W e e k l y W a g e s . —This part of the report completes the
chronological presentation of graded weekly wages which was begun
in the report of the Massachusetts bureau for 1895 and continued in
installments in subsequent reports, {a) The wage data are arranged
alphabetically according to occupations, the present report relating to
those having the initial letters P to Y , inclusive.
L a b o r C h r o n o l o g y . —This part of the report contains information
collated from various sources by the Massachusetts bureau. It shows
the important acts of labor organizations and other events of the year
1898 regarding hours of labor, wages, and trade unions, arranged
in each case in chronological order. It also contains a general review
of other events affecting the condition of workingmen in Massachu
setts, and a resume of labor legislation in the State during 1899. In
each case reference is made to previous publications of the bureau in
which the respective subjects have been treated.
NEW YORK.
Sixteenth Annual Report o f the Bureau o f Labor Statistics o f the
State o f New Yo?'k, fo r the year 1898. Transmitted to the legislature
January 23, 1899. John McMackin, Commissioner, xi, 1179 pp.
The contents of the present report are as follows: Introduction, 16
pages; P a rti, the economic condition of organized labor, 933 pages;
Part II, immigration, its progress, extent, and effect, 198 pages; Part
III, investigation of alien labor employed on State contract work, 8
pages; Part IY , the free employment bureau, 17 pages; appendix,
labor laws of New York State enacted in 1898, 5 pages.
T h e E c o n o m i c C o n d i t i o n o f O r g a n i z e d L a b o r . —This subject, as
in the preceding year, occupies the greater part of the report and
covers ground similar to the previous investigation. Tables are
given showing in detail for each occupation, industry, and locality, for
a For a brief outline of the scheme of presentation see Bulletin No. 14, pp. 55,56.
1267
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- N E W YORK.
the quarters ending December 31, 1897, and March 31, June 30, and
September 30,1898, the number of labor organizations making returns,
the number and sex of members, their earnings and days of employ
ment, the number of unemployed, etc. Summary tables are given
showing these items by industries and occupations, for each of the
7 quarters, from January, 1897, to September, 1898, inclusive. The
information was obtained from figures supplied either by the individ
ual members or by the secretaries of the labor organizations. The
following table gives a summary of the data presented for each of the
7 quarters mentioned:
STATISTICS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS FOR EACH OF THE QUARTERS FROM JANUARY,
1897, TO SEPTEMBER, 1898.
Quarter ending—
Items.
Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. SO, Dec. 31, Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30,
1897.
1897.
1897.
1897.
1898.
1898.
1898.
927
976
1,009
1,029
1,048
1,079
1,087
M en ...................................................... 138,249
4,321
Women................................................
147,105
4,101
162,690
5,764
167,250
6,712
173,349
6,606
164,802
7,538
163,515
7,505
T otal................................................ 142,570
Members unemployed during entire
quarter.................................................... 35,381
Members unemployed on last day of
quarter.................................................... 43,654
30.6
Per cent of total membership —
Average days of employment during
quarter:
58
M e n .....................................................
63
Women................................................
Average earnings of members dur
ing quarter:
M e n ..................................................... $155.06
85.63
Women................................................
151,206
168,454
173,962
179,955
172,340 a 171,067
17,877
10,893
10,132
18,102
10,272
9,734
27,378
18.1
23,230
13.8
39,353
22.6
37,857
21.0
35,643
20.7
22,485
13.1
69
57
67
66
65
56
62
61
61
58
65
64
$159.12
81.39
$174.40
'91.80
$174.54
73.71
$163.61
75.06
$168.05
76.88
$175.41
81.63
Organizations reporting........................
"R
/Tr v m H a t o L i n u
An
n liabt
o o t u.ciy
r l o tt u
a -P nilATtAT"
Ju6QiDt3rbnip
i qucu te i.
a This is not a correct total for the preceding items.
the original.
The figures given are, however, according to
There was a steady increase in the number of organizations report
ing to the bureau, due, in a measure, to greater completeness in the
returns, but chiefly to increased activity in the organization of labor.
The total membership of labor organizations shows an increase at the
end of each quarter, except the second and third quarters of 1898,
when there is a decrease. This falling off in membership was chiefly
due to the lapsing of one union of 8,000 members during the second
quarter and of another union of 1,835 members during the third
quarter of 1898, and does not, therefore, show a general decline
throughout the State.
With regard to the unemployed members of labor organizations, a
comparison of the first three quarters of 1897 with the corresponding
quarters of 1898 shows that there was a marked decrease in the num
ber of members unemployed during each entire quarter, and in two
of the three cases there was a decrease in the number of unemployed
on the last day of each quarter.
A comparison of the average number of days employed during the
first three quarters of 1897 and 1898 shows a slight decrease during
the latter year. A similar comparison of the average earnings shows
1268
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
an increase in the case of the men and a decrease in the case of the
women in 1898.
The membership of labor organizations and the per cent of members
unemployed at the end of each quarter is shown, by industries, in the
following two tables:
MEMBERSHIP OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS AT THE END OF EACH QUARTER FROM JAN
UARY, 1897, TO SEPTEMBER, 1898.
Membership of labor organizations on—
Industries.
Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30, Dec. 31,
1897.
1897.
1897.
1897.
Building trades . .....................................
46,711
Cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco.............
7,394
Clothing...................................................... 13,436
Coach drivers and livery-stable em
ployees ....................................................
2,086
Food products...........................................
2,698
Furniture..................................................
645
Glass workers...........................................
1,380
Hats, caps, and furs.................................
2,405
Hotel, restaurant,and park employees
1,556
Iron and steel...........................................
9,420
Leather workers.......................................
2,421
Malt liquors and mineral waters........
3,471
Marine trades...........................................
2,405
Metal workers..........................................
853
Musicians and musical-instrument
1,012
w orkers..................................................
Printing, binding, e t c ............................
13,695
Railroad employees (steam).................
9,491
Railroad employees (street surface)..
3,149
Stone workers...........................................
5,197
Street paving, etc..................................... i
672
Textile trades........................................... 1 1,237
Theatrical employees and actors........ ! 1,873
Woodworkers...........................................
1,933
Miscellaneous trades..............................
7,430
T otal................................................
142,570
Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30,
1898.
1898.
1898.
46,056
6,962
18,633
48.398
9,097
26,942
48,801
9,029
27,792
50,607
8,842
27,575
54,612
8,947
22,004
55,093
8,889
20,571
2,036
2,578
551
881
2,297
2,009
10,759
2,336
3,353
2,860
946
1,872
2,548
801
818
2,336
1,453
10,653
2,189
4,073
3,113
963
1,270
2,440
841
921
2,125
1,455
11,019
2,642
3,733
2,497
1,034
1,550
2,432
1,008
875
2,314
1,379
10,837
2,935
3,747
2,420
843
2,082
2,683
875
806
1,718
1,635
11,652
2,741
3,806
2,344
1,362
1,780
2,586
890
753
1,697
1,404
12,551
2,700
3,883
2,262
1,511
2,168
13,133
9,745
3,203
5,114
674
1,174
1,870
1,786
10,082
5,379
13,260
9,898
3,247
5,299
636
680
1,916
1,769
11,114
5,070
14,191
10,059
5,695
5,050
653
457
1,871
1,673
13,644
5,231
14,449
10,340
4,544
4,909
554
456
4,156
1,892
16,060
5,172
14,535
10,333
5,407
4,577
585
1,471
4,164
1,864
6,965
5,597
14,957
10,457
3,680
4,865
596
1,465
4,115
1,741
7,019
151,206
168,454
173,962
179,955
172,340
171,067
PER CENT OF MEMBERS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS UNEMPLOYED AT THE END OF EACH
QUARTER FROM JANUARY, 1897, TO SEPTEMBER, 1898.
Per cent of members of labor organizations unemployed on—
Industries.
Building trades.............................................
Cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco...............
C lothing...........................................................
Coach drivers and livery-stable em
ployees ................. .....................................
Food products...............................................
Furniture .......................................................
Glass w o rk e r s...............................................
Hats, caps, and furs.....................................
H otel, restaurant,and park employees
Iron and s t e e l...............................................
Leather workers...........................................
M alt liquors and m ineral w aters.........
Marine tr a d e s ...............................................
M etal w orkers...............................................
M usicians and m usical-instrum ent
w o r k e r s .......................................................
Printing, binding, etc.................................
Railroad em ployees (ste a m )...................
Railroad em ployees (street surface). .
Stone w ork ers...............................................
Street paving, e tc.........................................
T extile tr a d e s ...............................................
Theatrical em ployees and actors.........
W o o d w o r k e rs ...............................................
M iscellaneous tra d e s.................................
T o t a l.....................................................
Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30, Dec. 31,
1897.
1897.
1897.
1897.
Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30,
1898.
1898.
1898.
47.4
16.9
25.9
23.0
8.9
15.8
14.9
11.7
13.1
25.0
20.0
42.8
31.5
10.5
14.8
23.2
10.4
53.6
17.6
12.1
17.4
20.1
16.5
36.0
33.9
32.8
26.3
23.4
22.6
9.4
9.6
20.7
19.4
14.8
33.4
34.2
10.8
31.8
13.2
24.9
7.6
9.1
22.7
20.9
11.1
.8
45.1
3.3
21.8
9 .5
43.3
7.9
13.1
22.9
6.3
11.5
29.1
15.0
14.6
15.1
43.5
6.5
15.9
17.7
8.8
15.5
22.5
13.9
17.2
27.8
10.0
8 .8
7 .4
13.3
3.0
18.3
9.1
18.5
5.6
7.9
17.6
9.7
20.9
11.7
10.0
8.6
21.9
9.1
7.3
27.0
3.9
22.4
6.7
17.0
7.5
11.7
10.5
30.1
18.1
2.9
1.6
52.4
80.9
44.7
41.3
36.4
29.0
22.8
17.1
3.1
23.1
6.7
38.1
54.8
27.2
21.3
4.9
17.9
3.0
1.5
22.1
.4
37.1
37.7
12.2
15.6 |
1
6 .9
10.4
3.3
3.1
48.2
9.5
36.5
37.8
29.3
18.1
6.5
10.1
2.7
2.6
63.4
81.6
21.1
2.9
21.2
43.1
7.9
12.8
3.2
1.6
32.8
36.9
.6
18.1
25.9
11.5
30.6
18.1
13.8 |
22.6
21.0
20.7
1
1
1
1
,
;
2 .5
13.3
1.5
6.8
26.0
48.2
14.1
2 .3
8.6
6.o
13.1
REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR---- N EW YORK.
1269
I m m i g r a t i o n . —This chapter contains a history of immigration from
colonial times to the present, with especial reference to New York,
remarks of labor organizations concerning the effects of immigration,
immigration laws and statistics of immigration, and the effects of
immigration upon employment and wages as reported by labor organ
izations.
A l i e n L a b o r E m p l o y e d o n S t a t e C o n t r a c t W o r k . —This part
of the report contains the results of an investigation of the mode of
employment of aliens, the wages earned, and their general condition.
The investigation relates chiefly to Italian labor under the padrone
system. A table is given showing the number of persons employed on
canal-improvement work and the wages paid in each occupation.
T h e F r e e E m p l o y m e n t B u r e a u . —During the year ending Decem
ber 31,1898, 5,100 persons made application to the bureau for employ
ment, of whom 2,487 were males and 2,613 were females. Situations
were secured for 234 males and 1,786 females, or 2,020 persons in all.
Of the applicants for situations 341 had 684 children depending upon
them. Most of the applicants were under 30 years of age.
RHODE ISLAND.
Twelfth Annual R eport o f the Commissioner o f Industrial Statistics,
made to the General Assembly at its January session, 1899. Henry
E. Tiepke, Commissioner, vii, 615 pp.
The present report treats of the following subjects: Rhode Island in
the war with Spain, 125 pages; statistics of textile manufactures, 52
pages; taxpayers and population, 3 pages; decisions of courts affecting
labor, 319 pages; labor laws, 102 pages.
R h o d e I s l a n d i n t h e W a r w i t h S p a i n . — Statistics are given show
ing the age, nativity, occupation, etc., of persons who enlisted in Rhode
Island during the war with Spain.
T e x t i l e M a n u f a c t u r e s . —Comparative statistics are given, based
upon returns made in the years 1896 and 1897 by 135 firms engaged in
textile industries. Of the firms reporting 66 were engaged in the man
ufacture of cotton goods, 8 in hosiery and knit goods, 11 in bleaching,
dyeing, and printing, 4 in silk goods, and 46 in woolen goods.
1270
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Following is a summary of the figures presented:
STATISTICS OF 135 TEXTILE MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS, 1896 AND 1897.
Increase.
1896.
Items.
1897.
Amount.
Firm s.............................................................................
Corporations.................................................................
Partners and stockholders.......................................
Capital invested.......................................................
Cost of material used................................................
Value of goods m a d e .......................... .....................
Aggregate wages p a id ..............................................
Average days in operation.......................................
Employees:
Average number..................................................
Greatest number..................................................
Smallest number _
.....................................
Average yearly earnings...................................
Per eent.
53
82
1,307
$47,795,439
$23,484,936
$39,039,685
$10,143,322
267,30
50
85
1,419
$50,273,363
$27,876,239
$45,867,220
$11,335,309
281.78
a3
3
112
$2,477,924
$4,391,303
$6,827,535
$1,191,987
14.48
0,5.66
3.66
8.57
5.18
18.70
17.49
11.75
5.42
31,777
34,307
23,701
$319.20
33,614
35,918
29,019
$337.22
1,837
1,611
5,318
$18.02
5.78
4.70
22.44
5.65
a Decrease.
D e c i s i o n s o f C o u r t s A f f e c t i n g L a b o r . —This chapter is devoted
to a reproduction of the decisions published in the bulletins of the
United States Department of Labor during the year 1898.
L a b o r L a w s . —In this chapter are reproduced the labor laws passed
in recent years in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connect
icut, and Rhode Island.
THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MEDIATION
AND ARBITRATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Thirteenth Annual Report o f the Board o f Mediation and Arbitration
o f the State o f New York. Transmitted to the Legislature February
5, 1900. James M. Gilbert, W . H. H. Webster, and Francis B.
Delehanty, Commissioners. 61 pp.
This report contains an account of each of the most important cases
of labor disputes which came before the board for action during the
year 1899, and a table showing the number of strikes, by industries,
that have taken place during the past 5 years.
There was, in 1899, an increase in the number of strikes, the total
being higher than for any year since 1891. This increase was not
confined to any particular lines of industry. The most frequent
causes were wage disputes. During the year 1899 the board had
information of 455 strikes, but at least 60 per cent of these were of
short duration, and had no appreciable effect upon general labor
conditions. The 455 strikes were distributed as follows among the
different occupations:
STRIKES IN NEW YORK, BY OCCUPATIONS, 1899.
Occupations.
Strikes.
Bakers...............................
Bell boys..........................
Boiler makers.................
Brickmakers...................
Brewery workm en........
Building trades.............
Butchers..........................
Buttonhole makers and
button makers.............
Cab drivers......................
Cabinetmakers...............
Carpet weavers...............
Caisson makers...............
Cap makers......................
Cement workers.............
Cigarette makers............
Cigar makers...................
Collar m akers.................
Coopers..............................
Coraage workers............
Diamond workers..........
Drill makers.....................
Dyers.................................
Electric wiremen...........
Express messengers . . . .
Fiber chamois workers.
Garment workers...........
4
1
4
5
2
112
3
Occupations.
Glass workers...............
Glove m akers...............
Goldbeaters...................
Golf caddies...................
Grain scoopers...............
Handkerchief makers.
Horseshoers...................
Ice handlers...................
1 Iron molders.................
1 Jewelers..........................
4 Laborers..........................
1 Laundry workers.........
2 Leather workers...........
1 Longshoremen.............
2
Machinists....................
3 Marble workers...........
12 Match packers...............
1 : Messengers....................
3 ' Metal workers...............
1 ' Mince-meat makers. . .
2 M in ers............................
1 Musicians......................
2 Newsbovs......................
4
Oyster dredgers...........
2 Pavers..............................
Pin n o m nk prs
2
39
Pickle makers...............
Strikes. !
Occupations.
Strikes.
4 Pipefitters..'...................
1 : Printing trades.............
1 ! Print makers.................
3 Purse makers.................
1 Railroad employees__
1 Salt packers...................
1 Shirt m akers.................
5 Shoe workers.................
20 Silk workers...................
1 Silver platers.................
53 Slipper m akers...........
1 Soap makers...................
1 Stage hands...................
18 Steel workers.................
13 Stonecutters...................
1 Street railway employ
3
ees..............................1.
1 Tanners..........................
11 Teamsters......................
1 Textile workers...........
1 Tow bovs........................
1 Upholsterers..................
7
Waiters............................
1 Wax workers..................
2 Wood workers...............
3
18
1
1
3
1
1
5
5
2
1
1
1
2
6
4
1
9
9
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
T otal.....................
1271
455
RECENT FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS.
FRANCE.
Bases Statistiques de VAssurance contre les Accidents d ’apres les
Besultats de VAssurance Obligatoire en Allemagne et en Autriche.
Office du Travail, Ministere du Commerce, de I’lndustrie, des Postes
et des T&egraphes. 1899. 234 pp.
The enforcement of the French workingmen’s compensation act of
April 9, 1898, has necessitated a complete recasting of accident insur
ance in France, and has emphasized the need of scientific bases for the
fixing of premium rates. In view of the absence of sufficiently reli
able statistics of accidents in French industries, it was deemed advis
able to utilize the experience of neighboring countries which, on
account of the compulsory insurance in force there, had collected a
vast amount of information on this subject. For this purpose the
French labor bureau has undertaken the task of recapitulating in a
systematic way the statistical data published annually by the German
and Austrian Governments.
The present work, which is a continuation of previous studies of
the statistical results and the workings of compulsory accident insur
ance in Germany and Austria published by the bureau, recapitulates
and completes the data up to and including the year 1897 in the case
o f Germany and 1896 in the case of Austria. The tables presented
permit the determining of the probable values of accident risks in the
various industries, and also serve to ascertain to what extent the pre
vious theoretical calculations have been confirmed by an experience of
twelve years in Germany and seven years in Austria. They furnish,
therefore, more exact and complete bases for accident insurance than
have thus far been available.
Les Associations Professionnelles Ouvrieres. Tome I. Office du Tra
vail, Ministere du Commerce, de l’lndustrie, des Postes et des Tfldgraphes. 1899. iv, 905 pp.
The French bureau of labor has published annually since 1889 a list
of all trade and agricultural associations and the various auxiliary
institutions created by them. These annual reports, however, give
no account of the development, purposes, or workings of these asso1272
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— FRANCE.
127$
ciations or their influence upon the condition of the working people.
The present work is intended to supply this information.
This report consists of three parts. The first part contains a review
of French legislation with regard to trade associations, coalitions, etc..,
from 1791 until 1884, and an historical review of the movement for
organized labor from 1791 to 1898. The second part gives, by indus
tries, an account of the development of each of the various tentative
trade organizations in the principal cities of France which, after the
passage of the law of 1884, became the regularly incorporated national
and sectional trade federations. The third part of the report is
devoted to an historical account of the various local federations o f
unions of different trades and the more important labor exchanges.
The first part and so much of the second part of the report as relates
to trade organizations in the agricultural, mining, food, chemical pro
duct, and printing and publishing industries are included in the pres
ent volume.
The legislation with regard to trade associations and coalitions has
been almost entirely of a repressive character, and it was not until
1884 that the State fully recognized the right of association on the
part of trade unions and similar bodies, {a)
In spite of the prohibitive legislation in force in France from 1791
to 1884, secret trade unions {societes compagnonniques) managed to»
thrive, and through their excellent organization, each trade having its
own national federation, they rendered services to their members
equal and sometimes superior to the modern authorized trade organi
zations. Their efforts were supported by the creation of mutual aid,
cooperative productive, and mutual credit societies, labor congresses*
etc. Mutual-aid societies were suppressed for a time during the first
empire, but being finally authorized they served as a means of uniting
the working people in their efforts to protect their wages and other
interests. While the repressive legislation during three-quarters o f
a century impeded the collective relations between employers and
employees, it neither prevented strikes nor the propagation of the
various theories for the improvement of the condition of the working
people.
The passage of the law of 1884 marked a new era in labor organiza
tion, and since that time the trade unions have been gradually replac
ing all other forms of labor association. They have their trade fed
erations, labor exchanges, congresses, etc., and maintain auxiliary
institutions such as mutual aid and credit funds, cooperative produc
tive associations, employment bureaus, etc.
The following table
shows the number and membership of trade unions and the number
a For an account of French legislation on the right of association, etc., see Bulletin
No. 25, pages 836-839.
7170—No. 31----- 11
1274
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
o f cooperative productive associations in France, bjr groups of indus
tries, on January 1,1898:
TRADE UNIONS AND COOPERATIVE PRODUCTIVE ASSOCIATIONS, JANUARY 1, 1898.
Trade unions.
Coopera
tive pro
ductive
Number. Member associa
ship.
tions.
Industries.
Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries....................................................................
M i n i n g a n d q u a r r v i n g ....................... - .....................................................................................
Food products...........................................................................................................
Chemical products..................................................................................................
Paper, printing, and publishing........................................................................
Hides and leather go od s.......................................................................................
Textiles proper.........................................................................................................
Clothing, cleaning, etc..........................................................................................
Woodworking...........................................................................................................
Metals and metallic goods...................................................................................
Stone, earthenware, and glass............................................................................
Building trades.......................................................................................................
Transportation and commerce............................................................................
Other industries.......................................................................................................
T otal.................................................................................................................
a This is not a correct total for the preceding items.
the original.
2
6
5
8,002
41,760
18,552
27,967
13,944
20,262
35,432
8,092
13,588
38,316
9,150
33,795
160,208
8,725
16
19
9
6
23
19
11
89
20
1
2,324 a 434,331
226
69
63
146
76
197
167
169
129
199
286
70
450
243
60
The figures given are, however, according tc
GREAT BRITAIN.
Eleventh Report on Trade Unions in Great B ritain and Ireland, 1898.
lxxiv, 311 pp. (Published by the Labor Department of the British
Board of Trade.)
The present report covers the same ground as the reports for pre
ceding years, except that a new feature is added consisting of an
analysis of the financial rules of the principal trade unions. The
information contained in the report is presented in the form of detailed
tables, showing the returns for the years 1892 to 1898 for each trade
union, arranged according to industries. These tables are preceded
by an analysis and a series of summary tables. In the body of the
report only those trade unions are considered which furnished returns
for all the seven years. The rest, which were comparatively few, are
shown separately in the appendix.
The number of trade unions making complete returns for 1898 was
1,267. Thirty-five trade unions, with a membership of 66,192 persons,
were formed during 1898; 56 unions, with a membership of 16,279,
were dissolved, and 19 sectional unions were amalgamated with larger
organizations of their trades. While the net result of these figures
shows a decrease in the number of unions reporting in 1898, the mem
bership rose from 1, 611,384 in 1897 to 1,644,591 in 1898, an increase
of over 2 per cent.
W ith regard to the sex of members, the returns show that 140
unions included females in their membership, the total of these in
1898 being 116,016, or a little over 7 per cent of the total trade union
1275
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS---- GREAT BRITAIN.
membership. Twenty-nine unions were composed exclusively of
women. About 92 per cent of all female trade unionists were engaged
in the textile trades.
The following tables show the number and membership of trade
unions, by groups of industries, for the seven years 1892 to 1898,
inclusive:
NUMBER OF TRADE UNIONS, BY GROUPS OF INDUSTRIES, 1892 TO 1898.
[In this tabulation only those trade unions are considered which furnished returns for all of the seven
years included in this period.]
Build
ing.
Year.
1892...........
1893...........
1894...........
1895...........
1896...........
1897...........
1898...........
Metal,
engi
Mining neering,
and
and
Textile.
quarry
ship
ing.
build
ing.
73
77
78
78
77
64
58
98
101
124
126
133
142
134
297
290
285
283
288
281
276
216
221
232
242
242
246
239
Trans
Print
porta
ing,
tion
paper,
(land
etc.
and sea).
Cloth
ing.
42
45
43
47
51
48
46
60
63
66
67
64
66
63
52
56
56
55
56
55
53
Wood
working Miscel
and fur laneous. Total
nishing.
108
113
114
117
116
116
116
262
289
297
296
290
289
282
1,208
1,255
1,295
1,311
1,317
1,307
1,267
MEMBERSHIP OF TRADE UNIONS, BY GROUPS OF INDUSTRIES, 1892 TO 1898.
[In this tabulation only those trade unions are considered which furnished returns for all of the seven
years included in this period.]
Year.
1892
1893 .........
1894
1895
1896 .........
1897 .........
1898
Build
ing.
Metal,
engi
Mining neering,
and
Textile.
and
quarry
ship
ing.
build
ing.
160,388 315,098
.....................
175,379 318,142
.....................
181,648 307,772
181,901 279,559
.....................
196,274 279,429
219,401 282,432
235,862 352,826
.....................
278,159
265,256
263,027
267,983
302,471
318,180
307,902
204,039
205,431
215,289
218,709
218,233
217,716
213,776
Cloth
ing.
83,114
80,580
81,591
78,361
76,708
75,619
70,344
Trans Print
Wood
porta
ing, working Miscel
tion
paper, and fur laneous.
(land
nishing.
and sea). etc.
153,937
141,839
123,776
120,352
134,826
183,873
147,298
45,291
46,725
47,886
49,060
50,956
52,570
53,970
31,811
31,890
30,696
31,839
36,618
38,564
37,841
229,246
213,694
186,981
178,883
197,860
223;029
224,772
Total.
1,501,083
1,478,936
1,438,666
1,406,647
1,493,375
1,611,384
1,644,591
Of the groups of industries enumerated above, the building, mining
and quarrying, printing, paper, etc., and miscellaneous trades show an
increase, while the metal, engineering, and shipbuilding, textile, cloth
ing, transportation, and wood working and furnishing trades show a
decrease in membership. The largest membership (352,826) was
reported by the group of mining and quarrying. Next in order were
the groups of metal, engineering, and shipbuilding, with 307,902
members, and of building trades, with 235,862 members.
The financial operations and benefit features of trade unions are shown
for only 100 of the principal organizations. These in 1898 comprised
1,043,476 members, or 63 per cent of the total trade union membership
reported. The following comparative statement shows the financial
1276
BULLETIN OF TBE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
operations of the 100 principal trade unions for the seven years 1892
to 1898:
FINANCIAL OPERATIONS OF 100 PRINCIPAL TRADE UNIONS, 1892 TO 1898.
Year.
Members at
end of
year.
Income.
1892............................................................................................
1893............................................................................................
1894............................................................................................
1895............................................................................................
1896............................................................................................
1897................................. ; ........................................................
1898............................................................................................
909,648
914,311
928,105
917,950
964,809
1,065,1)10
1,043,476
$7,101,265
7,882,747
7,943,311
7,591,321
8,153,991
9,641,758
9,321,562
Funds on
Expendi hand at end
tures.
of year.
$6,916,119
9,027,353
6,987,340
6,773,720
6,013,631
9,237,079
7,249,484
$7,868,157
6,723,552
7,679,522
8,497,123
10,637,483
11,042,162
13,114,239
The total income and expenditures of the 100 unions have fallen off
during 1898, concurrently with the membership, while the funds on
hand at the end of the year show an increase. The total expenditures
of the 100 unions in 1898 amounted to £1,489,671 ($7,249,484), or 21.5
per cent less than in 1897. This was expended mostly on various
kinds of benefits, the nature and the amount of the latter varying con
siderably in the different unions. Thus of the 100 unions, 61 provided
unemployed and traveling benefits, 49 paid sick benefits, 43 provided
accident benefits, 12 made contributions to medical charities, 39 paid
superannuation benefits, and 88 paid funeral benefits. Probably all
trade unions provide for the payment of dispute benefits, but in some
years a number of unions are not called upon to pay anything under
this head. Among the 100 considered, 15 do not show any such
expenditures in 1898.
The following tables show the total expenditures and the amount
expended per member oh each of the various benefits during each of
the years 1892 to 1898:
EXPENDITURES OF 100 PRINCIPAL TRADE UNIONS ON VARIOUS BENEFITS, ETC., 1892 TO
1898.
Year.
Unem
ployed,
Sick and
Super
traveling, Dispute
accident
and emi benefit, (a) benefit. annuation
benefit.
gration
benefit, (a)
1892............... $1,568,166 $1,859,188 $1,020,388
1893............... 2,232,799 2,869,809 1,173,766
1894............... 2,222,584
800,276 1,117,694
1895............... 2,053,658
975,193 1,281,851
839,861 1,199,772
1896............... 1,287,471
1897............... 1,603,093 3,157,317 1,308,227
1898............... 1,176,321 1,533,385 1,356,863
$498,485
547,905
595,825
641,701
693,564
740,696
796,855
Other
Working
benefits
Funeral
and
grants and other
benefit.
to mem expenses.
bers. (6)
$333,628
366,238
340,631
371,314
367,372
387,510
408,105
$391,987 $1,244,277
610,084 1,226,752
674,161 1,236,169
226,779 1,223,224
307,665 1,317,926
555,306 1,484,930
485,706 1,492,249
Total.
$6,916,119
9,027,353
6,987,340
6,773,720
6,013,631
9,237,079
7,249,484
a In a few cases it wa3 not possible to separate a certain amount of unemployed benefit from dis
pute benefit.
b Includes grants to members, grants from one society to another, payments to federations, trade
councils, congresses, etc.
FOREIGN STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS— GREAT BRITAIN.
1277
EXPENDITURES PER MEMBER OF 100 PRINCIPAL TRADE UNIONS ON VARIOUS BENE
FITS, ETC., 1892 TO 1898.
[The expenditure per member is calculated on the basis of the total membership of the 100 prin
cipal trade unions, and not on the membership of the unions paying the particular classes of benefits.]
Year.
Unem
ployed,
travel
ing, and
emigra
tion ben
efit, (a)
1892..............................
1893..............................
1894..............................
1895..............................
1896..............................
1897..............................
1898..............................
SI. 72
2.44
2.39
2.24
1.33
1.51
1.12
Dispute Sick and
benefit. accident
benefit.
(a)
S2.04
3.14
.86
1.06
.87
2.96
1.47
Super
annua
tion
benefit.
Other
benefits Working
Funeral
and
and
benefit. grants to other ex
mem
penses.
bers. (5)
SO. 55
.60
.64
.70
.72
.69
.77
SI. 12
1.28
1.21
1.39
1.24
1.23
1.30
SO. 37
.40
.37
.41
.38
.37
.39
SO. 43
.67
.73
.25
.32
.52
.47
Total.
SI. 37
1.34
1.33
1.33
1.37
1.39
1.43
S7.60
9.87
7.53
7.38
6.23
8.67
6.95
a In a few cases it was not possible to separate a certain amount of unemployed benefit from dis
pute benefit.
&Includes grants to members, grants from one society to another, payments to federations, trade
councils, congresses, etc.
A comparison of the items of expenditure during the seven-year
period shows a steady growth of expenditure per member on super
annuation benefits, marked variations in the expenditures for dispute
and unemployed benefits, and a comparatively uniform cost per head
for sickness, accident, funeral, and other benefits, and grants to mem
bers. The expenditures for unemployed, traveling, and emigration
benefits in 1898 were smaller than during any year of the period.
Taken as a whole, there is no perceptible tendency shown either
toward increased or decreased expenditures per member on the part of
trade unions.
The other forms of labor organizations considered in this report are
trade councils and federations of trade unions. These institutions
have been defined in the digests of the previous reports. The follow
ing summary shows the distribution of federations according to
groups of industries and the trade councils for the years 18&5 to 1898:
FEDERATIONS OF TRADE UNIONS AND TRADE COUNCILS, 1895 TO 1898.
1895.
Groups of industries.
Federations of trade unions:
Building trades...............
Mining................................
Metal, engineering, and
shipbuilding.................
Textiles..............................
Transportation
(land
and s e a ) ........................
Printing and allied
trades............................ .
Woodworking and fur
nishing ..........................
Enginemen.......................
Other trades.....................
Total................................
Trade councils........................
1896.
1897.
1898.
Num
ber.
Member
ship.
Num
ber.
Member
ship.
Num
ber.
40
14
94,934
417,328
37
13
74,648
401,916
37
12
91,949
361,182
34
9
94,612
300,717
15
18
191,098
297,842
16
18
207,759
177,939
16
19
212,416
268,958
16
18
234,406
257,410
2
23,716
3
57,820
6
72,624
6
42,914
5
29,820
8
32,595
8
34,318
8
44,598
9
4
5
12,882
10,085
10,969
13
4
6
16,973
10,082
15,282
11
5
6
16,764
10,925
20,447
10
4
7
12,204
6,766
16,063
112
154
1,088,674
690,870
118
151
995,014
700,651
12Q
155
1,089,583
701,289
112
156
1,009,690
701,717
Member Num
ship.
ber.
Member
ship.
1278
BULLETIN OF THE DEPABTMENT OF LABOK.
The total gross membership of unions participating in the 112 fed
erations in 1898 was reported as 1,009,690, but, owing to the duplica
tions arising from the fact that the same unions are sometimes affiliated
with more than one federation, about 25 per cent should be deducted
to obtain the actual number of individuals represented. Federations
were most numerous in the building trades, but the largest federation
membership was reported in the groups of mining, of textiles, and of
metal, engineering, and shipbuilding trades. Of trade councils, 156
reported a total membership of 701,717 persons.
The new chapter added to the present report consists of a statement,
based on the rules of 100 principal trade unions, showing for each
union the age, qualifications, entrance fees, and weekly contributions
o f their members, together with the amount of dispute and various
friendly benefits paid to those entitled to the same.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
[This subject, begun in Bulletin No. 2, has been continued in successive issues.
A ll material parts of the decisions are reproduced in the words of the courts, indi
cated when short by quotation marks and when long by being printed solid. In
order to save space, immaterial matter, needed simply by way of explanation, is
given in the words of the editorial reviser.]
DECISIONS UNDER STATUTORY L A W .
Constitutionality of Statute — Sunday L abor— B arbers—P etit
v. State o f Minnesota, 20 Supreme Court Reporter, page 666.—This
case came before the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of
error directed to the supreme court of the State of Minnesota, in which
one Paul J. Petit had been convicted of violating the law of that State
forbidding Sunday labor. The point in issue was the constitutionality
of the statute under which the conviction was had, and the same was
affirmed in the decision of the court, which was rendered April 9,1900.
From the opinion of the court, delivered by Chief Justice Fuller,
the following is quoted:
Petit was tried and convicted of keeping open a barber shop on Sun
day, for the purpose of cutting hair and shaving beards, contrary to
sec. 6513 of the General Statutes of Minnesota for 1894, and the judg
ment was affirmed by the supreme court of Minnesota. (74 Minn.,
376; 77 N. W ., 225.) This writ or error was then allowed.
Section 6513 reads as follows: 66All labor on Sunday is prohibited,
excepting the works of necessity or charity. In works of necessity or
charity is included whatever is needful during the day for good order,
health, or comfort of the community: Provided, however, That keep
ing open a barber shop on Sunday for the purpose of cutting hair and
shaving beards shall not be deemed a work of necessity or charity.”
W e have uniformly recognized State laws relating to the observance
of Sunday as enacted in the legitimate exercise of the police power of
the State. Well-nigh innumerable decisions of the State courts have
sustained the validity of such laws.
But it is contended that by reason of the proviso this act must be
held unconstitutional, because thereby restricted in its operation on
the particular class of craftsmen to which Petit belonged, as contra
distinguished from other classes of labor. The proviso was added in
1887 to sec. 225 of the Penal Code of Minnesota of 1885. (Laws Minn.,
1887, chap. 54.)
1279
1280
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
By the original statute all labor was prohibited, excepting the works
of necessity or charity, which included whatever was needful during
the day for the good order, health, or comfort of the community.
As the supreme court said, if keeping a barber shop open on Sunday for
the purposes of shaving and hair cutting was not a work of necessity
or charity, within the meaning of the statute as it originally read, the
amendment did not change the law. And it would be going very far
to hold that because out of abundant caution the legislature may have
sought to obviate any misconstruction as to what should be considered
needful during that day for the comfort of the community, as respected
work generally so desirable as tonsorial labor, by declaring the mean
ing of the statute as it stood, therefore the law was transferred to the
category of class legislation. The legislature had the right to define
its own language, and the statute thus interpreted could not reasona
bly. be held to have made any discrimination.
The question is not whether the bare fact of shaving some particu
lar individual under exceptional circumstances might not be upheld,
but whether the public exercise of the occupation of shaving and hair
cutting could be justified as a work of necessity or charity.
We think that the keeping open by barbers of their shops on Sun
day for the general pursuit of their ordinary calling was, as matter of
law, not within the exception of the statute as it read before the
amendment.
-But even if the question whether keeping open a barber shop on
Sunday for cutting hair and shaving beards, under some circumstances,
was a work of necessity or charity, was a question of fact under the
original act, which was foreclosed as such by the amendment, the
result is the same.
Assuming that the proviso did have this effect, the supreme court
was of opinion that the classification was not purely arbitrary. The
court pointed out that the law did not forbid a man shaving himself or
getting someone else to shave him, but the keeping open a barber shop
for that purpose on Sunday; that the object mainly was to protect the
employees by insuring them a day of rest; and said, “ Courts will
take judicial notice of the fact that, in view of the custom to keep
barber shops open in the evening as well as in the day, the employees
in them work more, and during later, hours than those engaged in
most other occupations, and that this is especially true on Saturday
afternoons and evenings; also that, owing to the habit of so many men
to postpone getting shaved until Sunday, if such shops were to be
permitted to be kept open on Sunday, the employees would ordinarily
be deprived of rest during half of that day. In view of all these
facts we can not say that the legislature has exceeded the limits of its
legislative police power in declaring that, as a matter of law, keeping
barber shops open on Sunday is not a work of necessity or charity,
while as to all other kinds of labor they have left that question to be
determined as one of fact.”
W e recognize the force of the distinctions suggested and perceive
no adequate ground for interfering with the wide discretion con
fessedly necessarily exercised by the States in these matters, by hold
ing that the classification was so palpably arbitrary as to bring the law
into conflict with the Federal Constitution.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1281
E mployers ’ L ia bilit y — Construction of S tatute — F ellow Servants — Brush E lectric Light and Power Co. v. Wells, 35 Smith-
eastern Reported', page 365.—Rebecca Wells sued the above-named
company for damages for the homicide of her husband, who was a line
man in the employ of said company, and who was killed by the sudden
turning on of the electric current while he was repairing a wire, hav
ing climbed a pole for that purpose. The evidence showed that if
there was any negligence in the turning on of the current it was the
negligence of the engineer of the company, and the question of liability
of the company turned upon the point as to whether said engineer was
or was not a fellow-servant of the deceased. In the city court of
Savannah, Ga., a judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff and
the defendant company carried the case upon a writ of error before
the supreme court of the State which rendered its decision March 3,
1900, and reversed the judgment of the lower court, holding that the
engineer was a fellow-servant of the deceased and that, therefore, the
company was not liable for his negligence.
Judge Fish delivered the opinion of the supreme court, and in the
course of the same he used the following language:
Granting that the engineer neglected to give the required signal
upon that occasion, and that his failure to do so caused Wells’s death,
was the defendant, under the law, liable for his homicide? In other
words, would the rule as to fellow-servants, as stated in section 2610
of the Civil Code, apply ? viz, that the master, except in case of rail
road companies, is not liable to one servant for injuries arising from
the negligence or misconduct of other servants about the same busi
ness. Counsel for defendant in error contended that the facts of this
case did not bring it within such rule, for the reason that the respective
duties of the engineer and the lineman, Well's, were performed in dif
ferent departments of the company’s business, so that there was no
opportunity for the exertion of a muttial influence upon each other’s
carefulness.
A t this point the judge cited and quoted from numerous decisions of
the courts, and then continued in part as follows:
The “ different department limitation,” or the “ doctrine of consoci
ation,” to the effect that the fellow-servant rule is not applicable where
the servant injured is employed in a department of the general service
which is separate and distinct from that of the servant whose negli
gence caused the injury, is not recognized in this State, as is manifest
from the decisions referred to above; and the great preponderance of
judicial authority elsewhere is unquestionably against such a restriction
of the fellow-servant rule.
Applying the law as we conceive it to be to the facts of the present
case, the engineer of the Brush Electric Light and Power Company
and Wells, its lineman, being subject to direction and control by the
same general master, in the same common enterprise, were fellowservants, though employed in different departments of duty, and so
far removed from each other that one could in no degree control or
influence the conduct of the other; and, granting that Wells was killed
1282
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
by reason of the negligence of the engineer in failing to giye the sig
nal before the electric current was turned on, the defendant company'
was not liable to Wells’s widow for his homicide. Judgment reversed.
E mployers ’ L iability — R ailroad Companies— N egligence of
F ellow -S ervant — Construction of S tatute — Fenwick v. Illinois
Central R y . Co., 100 Federal Reporter, page 2^7.—This case came
before the United States circuit court of appeals for the fifth circuit
upon a writ of error, directed to the United States circuit court for
the southern district of Mississippi, a judgment having been rendered
therein in favor of the defendant railway company, which had been
sued by one Fenwick to recover damages for personal injuries incurred
by him while in its employ. The decision of the court of appeals was
rendered February 28, 1900, and affirmed the judgment of the circuit
court.
The facts in the case are sufficiently shown in the opinion of the
court o f appeals, which was delivered by Circuit Judge Shelby, and
from the same the following is quoted;
Joseph Fenwick, the plaintiff, was injured while in the employment
of the defendant. He alleged that the injury was caused by the neg
ligence of Frank Puckett, who was also a servant of the defendant.
Puckett, Hughes, Fredericks, and the plaintiff constituted the switch
crew in defendant’s yard at McComb City, Miss. Sullivan was the
yardmaster, and, on the night that the injury occurred, Frank Puck
ett was acting as foreman of the switch crew. In the absence of stat
utes or constitutional provisions controlling the case, it is conceded
that the plaintiff could not recover, because the employer would not
be responsible to the plaintiff for an injury caused by the negligence
o f a fellow-servant. The plaintiff’s contention is that the defendant is
made liable by section 193 of the constitution of Mississippi adopted
in 1890, which provision is also embraced in a statute. (Ann. Code,
Miss., 1892, § 3559.) The part of the section relied on is as follows;
44Every employee of a railroad corporation shall have the same rights
and remedies for an injury suffered by him from the act or omission
of the corporation or its employees as are allowed by law to other per
sons not employees, where the injury results from the negligence of a
superior agent or officer, or of a person having the right to control or
direct the services of the party injured.”
It was clearly not the intention of the makers of the constitution or
the legislature to entirely abrogate the common law relating to negli
gence of fellow-servants. It is only modified. The rule is only changed
when the injury results from the negligence o f a 64superior agent or
officer,” or of 44a person having the right to control or direct the serv
ices o f the party injured.” In the case of Evans v. Railway Co., TO
Miss., 527; 12 South., 581, a brakeman was injured by the alleged
negligence o f an engineer, and the cited constitutional provision was
relied on by the plaintiff. In the course of the opinion tne court said;
44The constitutional provision has reference to a superior agent or
officer, of the sort well known as such, and any other person in the
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1283
company’s service, by whatever name, who may be intrusted with the
right to control and direct the services of others according to his dis
cretion and judgment—one to whom is committed the direction or con
trol of others, for the accomplishment of some end dependent on his
independent orders, born of the occasion, sprung from him as director,
and not consisting of the mere execution of routine duties in pursuance
of fixed rules by various employees, each charged with certain parts in
the general performance. It may be that under some circumstances
the engineer may be the superior of the brakeman, in the meaning of
the constitution, but, in the operation of the train in accordance with
rules, one is no more superior than the other, and they are not within
the rule established by the constitution. To hold that they are would,
by interpretation, so enlarge the constitutional provision as to sweep
away entirely the rule as to fellow-servants as existing before, in the
face of the incontrovertible fact that the purpose of the framers of the
constitution was not to abrogate, but to modify to a certain extent,
carefully expressed in section 193.”
This construction of the statute in question seems to us decisive of
this case. The business of the switch crew was to distribute the cars
on the various tracks in order to make up the trains. One of the crew
was called the 66foreman.” On the night in question, and for that
occasion, the yard master, Sullivan, had appointed Puckett foreman.
Puckett had the switch list, or written memorandum by which the
crew switched the cars. This is furnished the crew by the yard mas
ter. There are five tracks in the yard, including the “ lead” on which
the cars were to be switched. On certain tracks designated cars were
to be placed, and the men were engaged in that work. W e do not find
in the evidence that Puckett was employed to direct the services of
the plaintiff according to his discretion and judgment. The crew were
engaged in the performance of mere routine duties. The plaintiff and
Puckett were of the same rank in the service; neither employed or
could discharge the other; they received the same pay; and neither
was superior to the other, in the sense that the one could exercise a dis
cretion and judgment in controlling the actions of the other.
Under other circumstances a foreman of a crew might be an agent
of the defendant, for whose negligence the defendant would be liable
for injury to an employee. The name or title of the officer or agent is
immaterial. W e decide only that on the facts disclosed by the record
the foreman did not, in reference to the services in which he and the
laintiff were engaged when the injury occurred, bear such relation to
im as to make the employer responsible under the statute for his
alleged negligence. W e think that the circuit court correctly directed
a verdict for the defendant. The judgment of the circuit court is
affirmed.
E
E xamination , L icensing , etc ., of B arbers— C onstruction of
Statute — Wass v. Michigan Board o f Examiners fo r Barbers, 82
Northwestern Reporter, page 23if.—An application for mandamus was
filed in the supreme court of Michigan by Fred S. Wass against the
Michigan board of examiners for barbers and after a hearing, in a
decision rendered by said court March 27, 1900, the writ was denied.
1284
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The opinion of the court, delivered by Judge Hooker, shows the facts
in the case and reads as follows:
The relator alleges that he is a barber, and has worked at that call
ing for more than two years immediately preceding his application to
the respondents, in Ohio and Michigan, the last eleven months of
which period he worked in this State. He applied to the respondents
for a certificate as a barber, under act No. 212 of the Public Acts o j
1899, and, being refused a certificate, asks a mandamus to compel its
issue. The answer of the respondents shows that the only ground
of refusal is that the relator is not entitled to such certificate without
paying $5 to the treasurer of the board, and submitting to examina
tion; not having been engaged in the business of a barber in this State
for the period of two years. Relator claims that, having been engaged
in the business of a barber for two years, he is entitled to the certifi
cate of the board, whether said business was conducted in Michigan or
another of the United States, and this is the only question that we are
called upon to decide. Counsel for the relator, in their brief, say that,
“ so far as this case is concerned, it is simply a matter of construing the
meaning of sections 6 and 7 of the act.” They read as follows:
“ S ection 6. Each person applying to said board for a certificate shall
pay to the treasurer thereof the sum of five dollars, which shall entitle
him to examination and to a certificate if found qualified: Provided,
This section shall not apply to barbers now engaged in the business of
a barber in this State ana who have been so engaged for the period of
two years.
“ S ec . 7. Every person now engaged in the business of a barber in
this State, and who has been so engaged for a period of two years or
more, shall within ninety days after this act shall take effect file with
the secretary of said board a statement verified by .his oath to be ad
ministered by any notary public of the State, showing his name, place
of business, post-office address, the length of time he has actually
served as a barber, and shall pay to said secretary the sum of one dol
lar and receive and shall be entitled to receive from said board a cer
tificate as a barber, and shall pay annually thereafter the sum of fifty
cents for a renewal of said certificate.”
The question resolves itself into this, viz: Whether the words “ so
engaged” refer to the words “ engaged in the business of a barber,” or
to the words “ engaged in the business of a barber in this State.” W e
have no doubt that the latter was the meaning intended. It is said
that section 7 does not require the application to show that the appli
cant has been engaged in the business of a barber in this State for two
years, but we think the entire act should be construed together; and,
whatever the application may be required to show, we are satisfied that
it was designed that the applicant should not be entitled to a certificate
without examination, and the payment of a fee of $5, unless he should
show that fact. The writ is denied, with costs.
P enalty for M aking F alse Claims against S eamen — Construc
S tatute — United States v. Nelson, 100 Federal Reporter, page
tion of
125.—This was a prosecution brought in the United States district court
for the southern district of Alabama under section 10 of chapter 121
of the acts of 1883-84, as amended by chapter 421 of the acts of
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1285
1885-86 and by section 24 of chapter 28 of the acts of 1898-99. A
demurrer to the indictment was filed claiming that the penal provision
in the statute applied only to false statements made for the purpose of
establishing a claim against an allotment of wages made by a stipula
tion as provided by said statute, and that it had no reference to any
other false claims against seamen such as was made in the case at bar.
The district court, in its decision rendered February 1, 1900, took this
view of the case and sustained the demurrer, dismissing the indictment.
The opinion of the court, delivered by District Judge Toulmin, reads
as follows:
The indictment in this case is found under section 10 of an act to
amend the laws relating to American seamen, for the protection of such
seamen, and to promote commerce. The statute provides that it is
unlawful to pay any seaman wages in advance of the time when he has
actually earned the same, or to pay such advance wages to any other
person. Such payment is forbidden under penalties therein provided
for. But it shall be lawful for any seaman to stipulate in his shipping
agreement for an allotment of any portion of his wages, not exceeding
one month’s wages, to be paid to an original creditor in liquidation of
any just debt for board or clothing which he may have contracted prior
to engagement. All stipulations for the allotment of any portion of
the wages of a seaman shall be inserted in the agreement, and shall
state the amounts and times of the payments to be made, and the per
sons to whom the payments are to be made; and any person who shall
make a false statement of the nature or amount of any debt claimed to
be due from any seaman under this statute shall be punishable, etc.
The term “ seaman,” as used in this statute, clearly means those
Americans who practice or are employed in navigation—whose avoca
tion is that of mariner. To construe the statute as applying to those
persons only who ship or engage to ship on American vessels, it seems
to me, would give too narrow a construction to it, too small a field for
its operation, and make the statute inconsistent with itself and inhar
monious as a whole. The statute is designed to protect the seaman
from imposition by any person, by providing that no portion of his
wages shall be paid in advance, and be thereafter deducted from his
wages when actually earned, except he stipulates in his shipping agree
ment for an allotment of an amount to be fixed, and not to exceed one
month’s wages, out of which allotment any sum justty due to an orig
inal creditor for board and clothing, which he may have contracted
for prior to his engagement, shall be paid.
The stipulation for the allotment having been inserted in the agree
ment, the statute provides that any person who shall make a false
statement of the nature and amount of any debt claimed to be due from
the seaman shall be subject to a penalty. That the statute applies to
American seamen—Americans whose avocation is that of mariner—
only, is, I think, clear; and I think it is equally clear that the provi
sion prohibiting, under penalty, the making of a false claim or state
ment, refers to making a claim against said allotted sum. It is made
unlawful by the statute for a master to pay a seaman wages in advance,
or to pay such advance wages to any other persons, unless, as I con
strue the law, they be paid out of an allotment stipulated for by the
seaman in his shipping agreement; and any master who makes such
1286
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
payment, in the absence of the stipulation and allotment required,
would be liable to the penalties provided for in the statute. This
liability of the master was doubtless considered a sufficient protection
to the seaman from a false claim presented to the master where there
has been no stipulation and allotment provided for in the shipping
agreement; but where there has been such stipulation and allotment
the master would in that event be authorized to pay advance wages to
the extent of the amount stipulated for. The penalties imposed on
any person who should make a false claim, or a false statement of the
nature and amount of any claim, against the seaman, and stipulated
for in his shipping agreement, was intended to protect the seaman
from such false claim. The allotment is made to meet claims against
the seaman for board and clothing, and the stipulation for the allot
ment must be inserted in the shipping agreement. No wages can be
lawfully paid in liquidation of such claim without the stipulation and
allotment. Any person making a false claim against such allotment
shall be liable to the penalty. This is, in my opinion, the correct
interpretation of the law.
The statute declares that it is applicable to foreign vessels, and it
provides that any master, owner, agent, or consignee who violates its
provisions shall be liable to the same penalty that the master, etc., of
a vessel of the United States would be, provided that treaties in force
between the United States and foreign nations do not conflict. The
penalty there referred to is the penalty for paying wages in advance
to the seaman, or paying advance wages to any other person unlaw
fully; and the master, owner, or agent of a foreign vessel is liable to
this penalty unless there is a treaty between the United States and the
nation to which the vessel belongs in conflict with the statute. The
demurrer is sustained.
S trikes — I njunction— C ombinations
of
W
orkmen — P icketing —
Cumberland Glass Manufacturing Co. v. Glass Blowers' Association o f
the United States and Canada et at., Jfi Atlantic Reporter, page 208.—
This was a bill in equity, brought in the court of chancery of the State
of New Jersey by the above-named manufacturing company, asking
for the issuance of an injunction to restrain the defendants from
interfering with workmen engaged by the company. The bill of the
complainant sets out that it was a manufacturer of both window glass
and hollow ware; that on March 16, 1899, it received a letter from
Dennis A. Hayes, president of the Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association
of the United States and Canada, stating that the nonunion glass
blowers of South Jersey had organized and agreed that they should
ask their employers to concede them such wages and privileges as had
been agreed upon between the union manufacturers and their employ
ees; that the letter requested a meeting to discuss this matter; that
those manufacturers who had received copies of the letter met and
appointed a committee to confer with Mr. Hayes; that this committee,
being unable to come to an agreement with Mr. Hayes, suggested the
appointment of an arbitration committee, to which suggestion Mr.
Hayes refused to accede and declined to consider any proposition
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1287
which did not include an increase of wages and a reduction in the
number of future apprentices and the subjection of all manufacturers
to the domination of the defendant association; that on April 8,1899,
all the journeymen blowers and finishers, with two exceptions, in the
hollow-ware department of complainant’s works left their work while
the molten glass was in the furnace and tanks and this branch of work
has since been idle.
The bill further stated that Hayes lived in Philadelphia, but came
to Bridgeton, where the glass works were located, and directed the
strike, either personally or through orders issued by him to William M.
Doughty, Charles Doughty, and George W . Branin, none of whom
were residents of Bridgeton, but who, since the strike, were contin
uously in the city, conducting it; that Mr. Hayes, William Lanning,
secretary, Conrad Auth, its treasurer, and William Doughty and
George W . Branin, members of the executive committee of the Glass
Bottle Blowers’ Association, had furnished sums of money to prevent
the workers from returning to their work; that two branches of said
association, namely, No. 8 and No. 19, were organized in Bridgeton
to assist in disbursing said sums; that certain persons, acting by advice
of said association, congregated in large numbers, some armed with
clubs, about the approaches to the company’s factory, and by threats
and force coerced and intimidated such workmen as offered their serv
ices to the complainant; that they not only guarded such approaches,
but guarded all railroad stations to prevent, by violence, people taking
employment with the complainant; that the complainant was compelled
to lodge 30 of its employees within its works to protect them from
injury, and that the strikers attacked and maltreated those about to
enter complainant’s works. *The affidavits attached to complainant’s
bill were, in substance, to the following effect: That from the inception
of the strike the street in front of the entrance to the works was con
stantly occupied by bands of strikers, some armed with clubs; that
they used indecent and threatening language to the workmen; that
they interposed physically between the entrance and anyone wishing
to enter or who was suspected to be a prospective employee; that they
threw bricks and stones against the house and fence of the company
and into the house of one who lodged the workmen of the company;
that employees and those suspected of seeking work were held up and
insulted and threatened on the street and on the city cars; that the
platforms of the railroad stations on each arrival of a train were
crowded with strikers, and workmen were sought out and physically
pushed into the headquarters of the strikers, where they were half
persuaded and half coerced into abandoning their intention of working
in complainant’s factory, and that incoming trains with workmen on
board were bombarded with stones and the persons in charge of these
workmen were struck and seriously injured.
1288
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
The answer of the defendants practically admitted the allegations of
the complaint except the acts of violence, the commission of any such
acts being denied. After considering the papers, the court of chancery
rendered its decision December 14,1899, and issued an injunction, but
against those only who were shown to have used force and coercion,
refusing to enjoin the Glass Bottle Blowers’ Association, or its officers,
as such, holding that neither a workingman’s association, conducting
and financially supporting a strike by its members, nor the president
of such association who organizes and directs such strike, confers with
its leaders, disburses the financial aid to strikers, and promises it to
others on their striking, will be enjoined at suit of the employer to
restrain interference with engaged employees, neither having author
ized, encouraged, known of, or tacitly approved any acts of violence.
The opinion of the court, delivered by Vice-Chancellor Reed, con
tains the following language:
Every employer has the right to engage, or refuse to engage, whom
soever ne chooses, just as every workman has the right to enter or
refuse to enter the service of any employer, as he may choose. Apart
from obligations arising from special contract for employment, or for
services, for a specified period of time, every employer has the right
to discharge a workman, and every workman nas the privilege of
leaving the service of his employer, at his pleasure. The freedom of
the individual workman to seek employment, and of the individual
master to give or refuse employment, belongs to every citizen.
Formerly a concerted act, by which a number of workmen combined
tp leave a master’s employment simultaneously, or to persuade other
workmen to leave his employment together, for the purpose of injur
ing his business, or of compelling him to concede increased wages, or
to hire or discharge particular workmen, was an indictable conspiracy.
It was, however, held, in the case of Mayer v. Association, 47 N. J.
Eq., 519, 20 Atl., 492, that since the passage of the act of 1883 [acts
of 1883, page 36, act approved February 14, 1883] a combination
which before that time would have been held to be a conspiracy be
came by the force of this statute a lawful combination. This act has
not been repealed. By its terms it is lawful for workmen to combine
to persuade, by peaceable means, any person or persons to enter into
any combination for the leaving or entering into the employment of
any person or persons or corporation. The purpose of the act was
undoubtedly to legalize strikes; i. e. the organization of concerted simul
taneous cessation of work by bodies of workmen. The words employed
by the statute cover a combination for the purpose of persuading others
to combine for the purpose of entering or leaving an employment. The
words would seem to intend a legalization of a combination to induce
others to join in a strike, and are, perhaps, broad enough to legalize a
combination to persuade individual workmen to quit, or refuse to enter,
the service of any person or persons or corporation. According to tKe
act, the means adopted must be peaceable, as the words 46persuade,
advise, or encourage ” indicate, without the use of the words ‘ 4by peace
able means.” Therefore the methods adopted to induce a workman to
quit, or to refuse to enter, an employment must be persuasive, and
DECISIONS OF COUETS AFFECTING LABOB.
1289
not coercive. It is entirely settled that the moment that individuals,
either singly or in company, for the purpose of compelling a master
to accede to their views, use force or threats of force, or in any way
injure or threaten to injure either the master, or those working or
wishing to work for him, the act becomes illegal. Interference with
the movement of employees in passing in and out of their employer’s
factory, or the use of abusive language, upon the street or elsewhere,
toward such employees—indeed, any conduct which is calculated to
induce those working or wishing to work, against their wish, to aban
don their work, or their intention to seek work—is within the limits
of coercive conduct. There is no contrariety of judicial view in
respect to the illegality in the use of any act which is calculated to
coerce, but in respect to what acts are to be regarded as coercive there
is naturally more difference in judicial sentiment. It finds expression
mainly upon the fact of “ picketing;” that is, by relays of guards in
front of a factory or the place of business of the employer, for the
purpose of watching who should enter or leave the same.
At this point in the opinion the judge cites and quotes from a num
ber of cases involving the legality of picketing, and then continues, in
part, as follows:
I can not say that the law is so settled that a preliminary injunction
can go upon the notion that picketing, without some other act evi
dential of coercion, is in itself evidence of intimidation. The decision
of the question, I think, must depend upon the circumstances surround
ing each case. There must be taken into account the size of the guard,
the extent of their occupation of the street, and what they say and do.
Taking every circumstance into account, if it appears that the purpose
of the picketing is to interfere with those passing into or out of the
works, or those wishing to pass into the works, b}^ other than persua
sive means, it is illegal. If the design of the picketing is to see who
can be the subject of persuasive inducements, such picketing is legal.
It remains to draw conclusions in respect to the facts proved as
applicable to the doctrine thus stated. The fact that there was dis
orderly and unlawful conduct on the part of very many of those
engaged in the strike is not refuted. It is entirely clear that, almost
continuously, large bodies of men were in the street, in front of and
around the factory of the complainant, and that large bodies of men
attended the arrival of each incoming train. Now, the force of the
testimony is that, while the directions to the guards and strikers in
general may have been to employ only persuasive methods to induce
workmen to quit the service of complainant, or to refrain from enter
ing into its service, coercive measures were in fact resorted to. It is
not surprising that this should be so. When large bodies of men are
combined to bring about a purpose, in the accomplishment of which
their feelings and passions are involved, the line which separates argu
ment from force is not readily recognized, or, if recognized, not easily
observed. Nevertheless, each man is bound to observe the right of the
employee and employer to employ or seek employment undeterred by
coercive influences. Now, it goes without saying that the bombard
ment of complainant’s fences and the boarding house, the attack upon
incoming trains carrying employees, and the physical interference with
or interception of workmen, were illegal acts. So, too, I think, was
7170— No. 31----- 12
1290
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
the gathering of large crowds of workmen about the railroad station to
assist in the interception o f workmen. The actual outcome of such a
crowd was seen at each arrival. The newcomers were surrounded, and
jostled, and pushed along, until they were landed in the headquarters
o f the strikers. It was almost a physical impossibility for the work
men to move otherwise than according to the will of the crowd, however
much they may have wished to do so. In respect to the crowd guarding
the works, the question is whether it can be regarded as merely picket
ing for the purpose of seeing what was going on, or whether it was
there for the purpose o f exercising a coercive power upon those who
came to work, or those already working for the complainant. Taking
the testimony so far as it stands substantially uncontradicted, I con
clude that the crowd spoken of in the complainant’s affidavits as
“ guards,” judged by its size and acts, were [was] designed for coercive
as well as persuasive purposes. Conceding that a number of strikers
could remain in the vicinity o f the factory yard, to see what was going
on, yet when the number became a crowd, and when the acts of the
crowd expanded into occasional attacks upon property, and abusive
language toward employees, and interference with those seeking to
enter the yard, the “ guard” became*a coercive instrument. A per
manent guard in a public street in front of citizens’ houses or a factory
is in itself a nuisance.
The court at this point went on and considered the cases of the indi
viduals concerned in the strike and refused to enjoin any except those
who were directly concerned in acts of violence or coercion, against
whom it allowed an injunction to issue restraining them from the
commission o f such acts after the issuance of the injunction.
DECISIONS UNDEK COMMON L A W .
E mployees ’ L iability — D uty
ork —
of the
M aster— Safe P lace
to
Grace and Hyde Co. v. Kennedy, 99 Federal Reporter, page
879.— In the United States circuit court for the southern district of
New York, one Daniel Kennedy recovered a judgment in a suit brought
by him for damages for personal injuries, against the above-named
company, his employer. He was employed by said company in the
erection of a shed over a sidewalk and was standing on top of a post
nailing a wooden girder thereto when the accident happened. The
work was being prosecuted during the night, and at about half past 4
o’clock in the morning a mail van coming down the street ran against
one of two guy ropes of a derrick, which ropes were stretched across
the street. Said guy rope swayed over and threw Kennedy from the
top of the post to the sidewalk, and his kneecap and one arm were
broken. The evidence showed that it was customary to place red
lights upon obstructions or to employ a watchman to warn against
danger; that four red lanterns had been furnished by the company,
two o f which had been broken before the night of the accident; that
the two remaining ones were placed upon a beam in the street, but that
W
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1291
none were placed upon the guy ropes, and in consequence thereof the
driver of the mail van did not see the rope into which he ran; also that
no watchman had been employed by the company. From the judg
ment of the circuit court the company appealed to the United States
circuit court of appeals for the second circuit, which court rendered
its decision January 24, 1900, and affirmed the judgment of the lower
court.
From the opinion of the court of appeals, which was delivered by
Circuit Judge Shipman, the following is quoted:
The case was presented to the jury by the plaintiff upon the theory
that, inasmuch as the work was necessarily done at night, upon a street
which was frequently occupied by passing vehicles of various kinds,
and as the necessary guy ropes which extended into the street must be
fastened when they were in danger of collision with a passing vehicle,
if unobserved in the darkness by the driver of the vehicle, it was the
duty of the defendant to take such precautions against injury to his
employees as to render the place of their work reasonably safe. The
court charged upon the duty of the defendant as follows:
“ Did the defendants fulfill their duty, which was to provide what
was reasonably safe and proper by way of precaution from such a thing
as this mail wagon, or anything of that sort, coming along? If they
did—did everything that was reasonable in that behalf—you may return
a verdict for the defendants, because, if they did, that is enough. That
is all they were required to do.”
The defendant insists that the rule of law which directs the master
to provide his servant “ with a reasonably safe place to work in, having
reference to the character of the employment in which the servant is
engaged,” is inapplicable, because the street was a safe place, and the
rule as to safe places does not apply when the place originally furnished
is safe, and becomes unsafe in the progress of the work, or because of
the manner in which the work is done. The argument rests upon the
incorrect assumption that the place originally furnished was safe. The
place was an avenue extensively used for travel, in which a substantial
shed was to be erected at night by the use of derricks secured by ropes
stretching somewhere in the avenue. It was eminently unsafe unless
protected either by danger signals or watchmen. It is said, however,
that when the workmen began work sufficient appliances in the way of
lamps were furnished, and that it became unsafe by the way in which
the work was done.
The place could not be reasonably safe when the workmen began
their night’s work unless an adequate system was adopted for their
protection against dangers which were easily to be anticipated; neither
aid danger spring out of sudden exigencies, or sudden neglect or mis
take of a foreman or workman. The negligence, if it existed, arose
from the insufficiency of the means for the protection of the workmen
which were originally adopted.
The defendant’s assignments of error seek to introduce into the case
the doctrine of nonliability for an injury caused by a coservant, and it
is urged that the danger was created by the workmen themselves; for
it did not appear that there was a necessity for tying the guy lines on
the other side of the street, and that occasion for warning or signals
arose only in consequence of the act of the men in thus extending the
1292
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
ropes. The defect in the argument is a continuance of the omission
to recognize the ordinary necessity for the protection of the employees,
and that the absolute duty of the master to provide a safe place is not
avoided by the neglect of his representative or servants to do the
things which will obviously prevent the known original danger.
E mployers ’ L iability — R ailroad C ompanies— L aw of P lace
I njury was R eceived to G overn — N egligence — A ssump
tion of R isk —Leazott v. Boston and Maine Railroad Co.,
Atlan
w h ere
tic Reporter, page 108If,.— Suit was brought by Victor Leazott against
the above-named railroad company to recover damages for injuries
incurred while in its employ. The accident occurred in the State of
Massachusetts and was occasioned by the breaking of a brake rod,
which had a defect in it that had existed for some time but was not
readily discoverable by the plaintiff. The car to which the rod was
attached belonged to another railroad company and had been received
by the Boston and Maine at Worcester, Mass. The default and negli
gence complained of was the failure of the defendant company to
inspect the brake when the car was received by said company. In the
supreme court sitting in Hillsboro County, N. H ., where the case was
heard, a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff and the case was
carried before the law term of said court upon exceptions. The
decision of said court was rendered July 28, 1899, and the exceptions
were sustained and a judgment rendered for the defendant company.
From the opinion of the court, delivered by Judge Young, the follow
ing is taken:
The rights of parties in actions of tort are so far governed by the
lex loci that whatever would be a defense to an action where the cause
arose is a defense here. Inspection was the only duty which the law
of Massachusetts imposed upon the defendants, for the plaintiff’s bene
fit, in respect of this car; and they performed this duty if they fur
nished competent, sufficient, and suitable inspectors, acting under
proper superintendence, rules, and instructions. The defendants’
habitual neglect to inspect the brakes on cars which they received from
connecting lines was the only evidence of their failure to perform this
duty, and, while this is evidence of the defendant’s negligence, it is
not of itself sufficient to establish their liability; for the burden is on
the plaintiff to show all the facts necessary to constitute his cause of
action, and one of these facts is that the accident was not caused by a
risk which he assumed when he entered the defendant’s employment.
A servant assumes the risk arising from all the ordinary dangers of
his employment, of which he either knows or might have known by
the exercise of due care; and this includes any risk arising from the
negligent performance of the master’s duties, if the servant knows of
this danger, and voluntarily remains in the master’s employment.
Upon this point the law is the same both in this State and in Massa
chusetts.
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1293
The plaintiff was familiar with his work, and with the defendant’s
system of inspection. He knew that they never made any test to dis
cover the strength of brake rods on foreign cars. The danger from
insufficient brake rods on cars of this kind is so apparent that no man
of ordinary prudence could fail to see and appreciate it; and the
plaintiff, by voluntarily remaining in the defendant’s employment after
he knew of this danger, must be held to have assumed the risk. Ver
dict set aside. Judgment for the defendants.
E mployers ’ L iability — R ailroad Companies— M asters’ D uty —
Contributory N egligence —New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad
Co. v. Clements, 100 Federal Reporter, page 1^15.—One E. T. Clements
was night foreman in the switch yards of the above-named railroad
company at Meridian, Miss. About 10 o’clock at night certain flat
cars of another road arrived in the yards and were inspected by the
regular inspectors, after which Clements had an engine attached
thereto and started to move them. After they had started and were
moving slowty, he observed that a brake was set on one car, and,
climbing on the next car, he started to step from one to the other—
reaching forward and taking hold of the brake wheel as he did so.
The nut was gone from the top of the brake rod and the wheel came
off, causing him to fall between the cars, and he was run over and his
arm crushed. He brought suit against the railroad company for dam
ages, and in the United States circuit court for the southern district
of Mississippi a judgment in his favor was rendered. The railroad
brought the case before the United States circuit court of appeals for
the fifth circuit, upon a writ of error, and said court rendered its
decision February 28,1900, affirming the judgment of the lower court.
Circuit Judge Pardee delivered the opinion of the court of appeals,
and after reciting and commenting upon certain instructions and
charges which the railroad company requested the court to give to the
jury and which the court refused to do he continued in the following
language:
The rule sought to be presented by these instructions and charges is
that, while it is the duty of the railroad company to make proper
inspection and look after the condition of cars that it calls upon its
employees to use, when the railroad company has appointed proper
and capable inspectors, and provided by its rules that these inspectors
shall make due and proper inspection, and the inspectors have made
inspection, then the duty of the railroad company is performed, and
no negligence can be imputed to the company because the inspection
has not been thorough and complete.
A t this point the judge cites and quotes from numerous decisions of
the courts, and then continues as follows:
In the light of these decisions, we understand the law to be that, as
to patent defects in machinery furnished by railroad companies for the
1294
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
employees to use, the railroad companies are insurers in all cases where
the employee, by reason o f his employment or the circumstances of
the case, lias no full opportunity, before using the machinery in ques
tion, to observe and note the patent defect; and the rule is the same
with regard to all defects that can be discovered on proper examination
and inspection.
In the present case the defendant in error [Clements] was not called
upon by his duty to make any particular inspection of the cars turned over
to him after the regular inspection. As to the particular defect which
resulted in his injury, the proof is clear that although the defect was
patent, and could and would have been readily noticed by any em
ployee called ordinarily to use the same, the defendant was called upon
to use it at night, in an emergency, and without opportunity to exam
ine or inspect the same. It may be, as counsel for plaintiff in error
argued, tnat he knew that the car had lately come in from another
road; that after he reached the platform of the car he could, with the
slightest movement of his hand, or instantaneous movement of his
lantern, have discovered the condition of the brake (that is, the
absence of the nut); and that upon that discovery he could have used
the brake ( “ let it o ff” ) in such a way that he would not have been
injured. But the trouble is, he had no opportunity to examine the
condition of the brake with his hand, or by any movement of the lan
tern. In the line of his duty, he was climbing on top of the car as it
was moving, and he reached for and caught the brake to support him
self preparatory to using the same; and to say, under such circum
stances, that he should have made a preliminary inspection, is contrary
to both reason and authority. On the whole case—and we have exam
ined it with great care—we are constrained to hold that the record
shows no reversible error on the trial, and the judgment must be
affirmed.
T rade U nions— C onspiracy
against
P ersons
not
M embers—
Plant et al. v. Woods et al., 57 Northeastern Reporter, page 1011.—
Action was brought by one Plant and others, as plaintiffs, against one
Woods and others, as defendants, to restrain the defendants from inter
fering with the plaintiffs in their employment and asking that an injunc
tion to that effect be issued. In the superior court of Hampden County,
Mass., a decree was rendered in favor of the plaintiffs, and the defend
ants appealed to the supreme judicial court of the State, which rendered
its decision September 6, 1900, and practically sustained the decision
of the lower court, although modifying the terms of the injunction
which had been issued.
The facts o f the case are stated in the opinion of the court, which
was delivered by Judge Hammond, and from the same the following
is quoted:
This case arises out of a contest for supremacy between two labor
unions o f the same craft, having substantially the same constitution
and by-laws. The chief difference between them is that the plaintiff
union is affiliated with a national organization having its headquarters
in Lafayette, in the State o f Indiana, while the defendant union is affili
DECISIONS OF COUBXS AFFECTING LABOB.
1295
ated with a similar organization haying its headquarters in Baltimore,
in the State o f Maryland. The plaintiff union was composed o f work
men who, in 1897, withdrew from the defendant union.
The contest became active early in the fall of 1898. In September
o f that year the members o f the defendant union declared “ all painters
not affiliated with the Baltimore headquarters to be nonunion men,”
and voted44to notify bosses ” of that declaration. The manifest object of
the defendants was to have all the members o f the craft subjected to the
rules and discipline of their particular union, in order that they might
have better control over the whole business, and to that end they com
bined and conspired to get the plaintiffs, and each of them, to join the
defendant association, peaceably, if possible, but by threat and intimi
dation if necessary. Accordingly, on October 7, they voted that, “ If
our demands are not complied with, all men working in shops where
Lafayette people are employed refuse to go to work.” The plaintiffs
resisting whatever persuasive measures, if any, were used by the defen
dants, the latter proceeded to carry out their plan in the manner fully
set forth in the master’s report.
The general method of operations was substantially as follows: A
duly authorized agent of the defendants would visit a shop where one
or more o f the plaintiffs were at work, and inform the employer o f the
action of the defendant union with reference to the plaintiffs, and ask
him to induce such of the plaintiffs as were in his employ to sign appli
cations for reinstatement in the defendant union. As to the general
nature of these interviews the master finds that the defendants have
been courteous in manner, have made no threats of personal violence,
have referred to the plaintiffs as nonunion men, but have not otherwise
represented them as men lacking good standing in their craft; that they
have not asked that the Lafayette men be discharged, and in some
cases have expressly stated that they did not wish to have them dis
charged, but only that they sign the blanks for reinstatement in the
defendant union. The master, however, further finds, from all the
circumstances under which those requests were made, that the defend
ants intended that employers of Lafayette men should fear trouble in
their business if they continued to employ such men, and that employ
ers to whom these requests were made were justified in believing that
a failure on the part of their employees who were Lafayette men to
sign such reinstatement blanks, and a failure on the part o f the employ
ers to discharge them for not doing so, would lead to trouble in the
business of the employers in the nature of strikes or a boycott; and the
employers to whom these requests were made did believe that such
results would follow, and did suggest their belief to the defendants,
and the defendants did not deny that such results might occur; that
the strikes which did occur appear to have been steps taken by the
defendants to obtain the discharge o f such employees as were Lafayette
men who declined to sign application blanks for reinstatement; that
these defendants did not in all cases threaten a boycott of the employ
ers’ business, but did threaten that the place o f business of at least one
such employer would be left off from a so-called “ fair list” to be pub
lished by the Baltimore union. The master also found that, from all
the evidence presented, the object which the Baltimore men and the
defendant association sought to accomplish in all the acts which were
testified to was to compel the members o f the Lafayette union to join
the Baltimore union, and as a means to this end they caused strikes to
1296
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
be instituted in the shops where strikes would seriously interfere with
the business of the shops, and in all other shops they made such rep
resentations as would lead the proprietors thereof to expect trouble in
their business.
W e have, therefore, a case where the defendants have conspired to
compel the members of the plaintiff union to join the defendant union,
and, to carry out their purpose, have resolved upon such coercion ana
intimidation as naturally may be caused by threats of loss of property
by strikes and boycotts, to induce the employers either to get the plain
tiffs to ask for reinstatement in the defendant union, or, that failing,
then to discharge them. It matters not that this request to discharge
has not been expressly made. There can be no doubt, upon the find
ings of the master and the facts stated in his report, that the compul
sory discharge of the plaintiffs in case of noncompliance with the
demands of the defendant union is one of the prominent features of
the plan agreed upon.
It is well to see what is the meaning of this threat to strike, when taken
in connection with the intimation that the employer may 66expect
trouble in his business.15 It means more than that the strikers will
cease to work. That is only the preliminary skirmish. It means that
those who have ceased to work will by strong, persistent, and organ
ized persuasion and social pressure of every description do all they can
to prevent the employer from procuring workmen to take their places.
It means much more. It means that, if these peaceful measures fail,
the employer may reasonably expect that unlawful physical injury
may be done to his property; that attempts in all the ways practiced
by organized labor will be made to injure him in his business, even to
his ruin, if possible; and that by the use of vile and opprobrious epi
thets and other annoying conduct, and actual and threatened personal
violence, attempts will be made to intimidate those who enter or desire
to enter his employ; and that whether or not all this be done by the
strikers or only by their sympathizers, or with the open sanction and
approval of the former, he will have no help from them in his efforts
to protect himself. However mild the language or suave the manner
in which the threat to strike is made under such circumstances as are
disclosed in this case, the employer knows that he is in danger of pass
ing through such an ordeal as that above described, and those who
make the threat know that as well as he does.
Such is the nature of the threat, and such the degree of coercion and
intimidation involved in it. If the defendants can lawfully perform
the acts complained of in the city of Springfield, they can pursue the
plaintiffs all over the State in the same manner, and compel them to
abandon their trade, or bow to the behests of their pursuers. It is to
be observed that this is not a case between the employer and employed,
or, to use a hackneyed expression, between capital and labor, but
between laborers all of the same craft, and each having the same right
as any one of the others to pursue his calling. In this as in every other
case of equal rights the right of each individual is to be exercised with
due regard to the similar right of all others, and the right of one
[may] be said to end where the right of another begins. The right
involved is the right to dispose of one’s labor with full freedom. This
is a legal right, and it is entitled to legal protection. The rule is
stated with care and discrimination by Wells, J., in Walkers. Cronin,
107 Mass., 555: “ Everyone has a right to enjoy the fruits and advan
DECISIONS OF COURTS AFFECTING LABOR.
1297
tages of his own enterprise, industry, skill, and credit. He has no
right to be protected against competition, but he has a right to be free
from malicious and wanton interference., disturbance, or annoyance.
I f disturbance or loss come as the result of competition, or the exer
cise of like rights by others, it is damnum absque injuria, unless some
superior right by contract, or otherwise, is interfered with. But if
it come from the merely wanton or malicious acts of others, without
the justification of competition, or the service of any interest or law
ful purpose, it then stands upon a different footing.” In this case the
acts complained of were calculated to cause damage to the plaintiffs,
and did actually cause such damage; and they were intentionally done
for that purpose. Unless, therefore, there was justifiable cause, the
acts were malicious and unlawful.
The purpose of these defendants was to force the plaintiffs to join
the defendant association, and to that end they injured the plaintiffs in
their business, and molested and disturbed them in their efforts to
work at their trade. The defendants might make such lawful rules as
they please for the regulation of their own conduct, but they had no
right to force other persons to join them. The necessity that the
plaintiffs should join this association is not so great, nor is its relation
to the rights of the defendants, as compared with the right of the
plaintiffs to be free from molestation, such as to bring the acts of the
defendant under the shelter of the principles of trade competition.
Such acts are without justification, and therefore are malicious and
unlawful, and the conspiracy thus to force the plaintiffs was unlawful.
U nlawful Suspension from M embership in T rade U nion — Cot
ton Jammers5 and Longshoremen’s Associationi N o. 2 v. Taylor—56
Southivestern Reporter, page 553.—Action was brought against the
above-named labor organization by James A. Taylor for damages for
his alleged wrongful and malicious suspension from membership in
said organization. In the county court of Galveston County, Tex.,
a judgment was rendered in his favor and the defendant organization
appealed the case to the court of civil appeals of the State which ren
dered its decision April 2, 1900, and reversed the judgment of the
lower court.
The facts in the case were clearly stated by Judge Gill, who deliv
ered the opinion of the court, and from said opinion the following is
taken:
The association is a corporation organized for the purpose of securing
work for its members, for maintaining fair wages for their labor, and
to supply certain tools for their use. These tools were purchased
with funds derived from assessments upon the membership, and each
member was entitled to their use, and to such other benefits as inured
to him as a member of the body, under certain prescribed rules and
regulations. One rule provided that any member who should work
for a less sum than 40 cents per hour should be subject to a fine of $10
and suspension from the association for one year, during which time
he should be deprived of the benefits of membership. Appellee was a
member of the association. At a regular meeting held July 28,
1298
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
1897, lie was, by resolution, fined $10, and suspended for one
year, for the alleged reason that he, with certain other members,
named in the resolution, had worked for the Lone Star Line at a
less sum per hour than the sum prescribed in the rule above named.
This resolution was carried by the requisite vote, and the suspension
resulting’ therefrom was enforced against appellee. He was present
when this action was taken, but had received no previous notice o f the
purpose to suspend him, and did nothing at the time which amounted
to a waiver of such notice. On the contrary, he protested against the
summary nature o f the proceedings, and demanded the right to be
heard; but his protest was ignored. As to whether, at the time of
this action, there was in existence any rule prescribing the method of
suspension or expulsion, the evidence is conflicting. It was shown
that the association had formerly been incorporated under a different
name, but had forfeited its charter by nonpayment o f the franchise
tax; that the old concern had by-laws for the government of the body
in the suspension and expulsion of members, and that such by-laws
provided for notice and a hearing. It was also shown that a commit
tee was then out, engaged in the task of formulating by-laws for the
new corporation. It was contended that the by-laws of the defunct
corporation controlled the new body, and there was some evidence that
it had been acting thereunder, though none that they had been form
ally adopted. It was shown that the suspension of appellee was final,
if valid, he having no right to appeal to any other tribunal connected
with the order. His right of action depends, therefore, upon the
invalidity of the action of the association in suspending him. Appel
lant contends that the suspension was valid and binding in the absence
o f by-laws providing for notice and trial and prescribing the mode of
procedure.
The case before us is one involving valuable rights. In such cases
the weight of authority tends to support the doctrine that a by-law
providing for expulsion without notice or trial will be held invalid.
A by-law, to be valid, must be reasonable. In this case, if the asso
ciation was in fact acting under the by-laws of the old corporation, the
suspension was void, because their provisions were ignored. If the
old by-laws were not operative, then no by-law existed providing rules
of procedure in such cases, and appellee was entitled to reasonable
notice of the nature of the charges against him, and an opportunity to
be heard.
The contention of appellant that the act of expulsion was binding
upon appellee is not tenable. He would be entitled to a judgment for
such damages as proximately resulted from the wrong.
By the eighth assignment of error appellant complains of the refusal
o f the trial court to sustain a special exception to the petition. The
exception is that the petition fails to disclose in what manner appellee
was deprived of the use o f the tools, and how and in what manner his
suspension affected his right to engage in remunerative labor, or pre
vented him from procuring work. The petition is defective in the
respects pointed out, and the court erred in refusing to sustain the
exception. It is impossible to ascertain from the petition what con
nection existed between his membership in the association and his
means of obtaining work, or in what way he was deprived of an oppor
tunity to secure employment. For the errors indicated, the judgment
is reversed, and the cause remanded.
LAWS OF VARIOUS STATES RELATING TO LABOR ENACTED SINCE
JANUARY 1, 1896.
[The Second Special Report of the Department contains all laws of the various States and Terri
tories and of the United States relating to labor in force January 1,1896. Later enactments are repro
duced in successive issues of the Bulletin from time to time as published.]
NORTH CAROLINA.
ACTS OF 1899.
C h a p t e r 373.— Bureau o f labor and printing .
S e c t io n 1. Chapter one hundred and thirteen of the laws of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven [creating a bureau of labor statistics] is hereby repealed.
S e c . 2 (as amended by chapter 539, acts of 1899). A bureau of labor and printing
is hereby created and established, the duties of which bureau shall be exercised and
discharged by a commissioner, who shall be designated as “ commissioner of labor
and printing’ ’ and by an assistant, who shall be appointed by said commissioner and
who shall be a practical printer. The said commissioner shall be elected by the
joint ballot of the members of the senate and house of representatives of the general
assembly of North Carolina. The term of office of said commissioner shall begin on
the fifteenth day of March next after his election, and he shall hold his office until
January, nineteen hundred and one, when other State officers are qualified. A t the
next general election the commissioners [commissioner] of labor and printing shall
be elected for a term of four years by the people in the same manner as is provided
for the election of secretary of state. The office of said bureau shall be kept in the
city of Raleigh and the same shall be provided for as other public officers [offices]
by the State.
S ec . 3. Said commissioners [commissioner] shall receive a salary of one thousand
five hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly; and said assistant commissioner
shall receive a salary of nine hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly, and they
shall also receive their actual traveling expenses while traveling for the purpose of
collecting the information and statistics provided for in this act. And said assistant
commissioner shall perform the duties of the said commissioner in his absence from
office or in case of a vacancy therein.
S ec . 4. Said commissioner aided by said assistant commissioner shall collect and
collate information and statistics concerning labor and its relation to capital, the
hours of labor, the earnings of laborers and their educational, moral and financial
condition; and the best means of promoting their mental and moral and material
welfare; shall also collect [and] collate information and statistics concerning the
various mining, milling and manufacturing industries in this State, their location,
capacity and actual output of manufactured products, the kind and quantity of raw
material annually used by them and the capital invested therein; shall also collect
and collate information and statistics concerning the location, estimated and actual
horse power and conditions of valuable water powers developed and undeveloped in
this State; also concerning farm lands and farming, the kinds, character and quantity
of the annual farm products in this State; also of timber lands and timbers, truck
gardening, dairying and such other information and statistics concerning the agricul
tural, industrial welfare of the citizens of this State as he may deem to be of interest
and benefit to the public, and shall all [also] perform the duties prescribed in chap
ter fifteen, public laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-seven.
Sec. 5. Said commissioner, aided by said assistant commissioner, shall carefully
examine all printing and binding done for the State, or any department thereof by
the public printer, and shall certifythat the workmanshipof said printing and bind
ing is properlyexecuted and that the accounts rendered by the public printer forthe
sameareaccurate and just before theauditor shall issue any^warrant for the payment
thereof.
S ec . 6. Said commissioner shall annually publish a report embodying therein such
information and statistics as he may deem expedient and proper, wrhich report shall
1299
1300
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
be printed and paid for by the State just as the report [reports] of other public
officers are printed and paid for, the number of copies of said report to be printed to
be designated by said commissioner; the distribution of the reports will be paid for
from the general fund and not from the appropriation; said commissioner shall send
or cause to be sent a copy of said report to every newspaper in this State and a copy
to each member of the general assembly, a copy to each of the several State and
county officers, a copy to each labor organization in the State and a copy to any citi
zen who may apply for the same either in person or by mail, and he may also send
a copy to such officers of other States and Territories and to such corporations or
individuals in other States and Territories as may apply for the same or as he may
think proper. H e shall also make a full report to the governor as other State officers
are required to do, embodying therein such recommendation as he may deem calcu
lated to promote the efficiency of his department.
Sec. 7. For carrying out the provisions of this act the sum of three thousand five
hundred dollars ($3,500) annually is hereby appropriated to be paid by the State
treasurer out of any funds not otherwise specifically appropriated, and said commis
sioner when money is required for the use of his said department shall certify to the
State auditor the amount required, and the auditor shall thereupon draw his warrant
upon the treasurer for the same.
Sec. 8. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Sec. 9. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
Ratified the 3d day of March, A . D. 1899.
C h a p t e r 410.— Making labor day a legal holiday.
S e c t io n 1. Section three thousand seven hundred and eighty-four of the code is
hereby amended by inserting at the end of line four of said section the following
words, to wit: “ And the first Thursday in September.’ ’
Sec. 2. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
Ratified the 6th day of March, A . D. 1899.
C h a p t e r 507.— Protection o f employees as voters.
S e c t io n 54.— Any person who shall discharge from employment, withdraw patron
age from or otherwise injure, threaten, oppress or attempt to intimidate any qualified
voter of this State because of the vote such voter may or may not have cast in any
election shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 88. A ll laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
* * *
Sec. 89. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification
Ratified the 6th day of March, A. D. 1899.
C h a p t e r 581.— Convict labor.
S e c t io n 8.— All prisoners confined in the county jail under a final sentence of the
court for crime or imprisonment, for nonpayment of costs or fines or under final judg
ment in cases of bastardy, or under the vagrant acts, all insolvents who shall be
imprisoned by any court in said county for nonpayment of costs, and all persons sen
tenced in said county to the State prison for a term less than ten years shall be
worked on the public roads of the county: Provided , That the commissioners of the
county may arrange with the commissioners of any neighboring county or counties
for such an exchange of prisoners during alternate months or years as will enable
each such cooperating county to thereby increase the number of prisoners at work
on its public roads at any given time. And upon application of the said road super
intendent of the county or that of the chairman of the board of county commis
sioners, the judge of the superior court or the judge of the criminal court, the
justices of the peace and the principal officer of any municipal or any other inferior
court, it shall be the duty of the said judge or justice of the peace or said principal
officer to assign such persons convicted in his court to said road superintendent for
work on the public roads of said county; all such convicts to be fed, clothed and
otherwise cared for at the expense of the county: Provided further, That in case of
serious physical disability, certified to by the county physician, persons convicted in
- said superior, criminal or inferior courts in the county may be sentenced to the peni
tentiary or to the county jail.
Sec. 9. W hen the commissioners of any county shall have made provisions for the
expense of supporting and guarding wThile at work on the public roads a larger num
LABOR LAWS— NORTH CAROLINA-----ACTS OF 1899.
1301
ber of prisoners than can be supplied from that county, upon the application of the
commissioners of said county to the judges of the superior and criminal courts pre
siding in adjoining counties or any other county or counties in the same or adjoining
judicial districts which do not otherwise provide for the working or their own con
victs on their own public roads, may sentence such able-bodied male prisoners as are
described in section eight of this act from such adjoining counties or other counties
in the same and adjoining judicial districts to work on the public roads of said county
or counties applying for the same in the order of their application; and the cost of
transporting, guarding and maintaining such prisoners as may be sent to any such
county applying for the same, shall be paid by the county applying for and receiv
ing them out of the road fund of each such county: Provided , That any and all such
prisoners from such other counties may at any time be returned to the keeper of
the common jail of such counties at the expense of the county having received and
used them.
Sec. 28. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
* * *
Sec. 29. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
Ratified the 7th day of March, A. I). 1899.
C h a p t e r 628.— Convict labor.
S e c t io n 1. * * * The justice of the peace before whom a conviction shall be
had shall in his judgment sentence any vagrant or vagrants to work out his sen
tence on the public roads or highways oi the county in which such conviction is had.
Sec. 2. The boards of commissioners of the various counties shall in their discre
tion make provisions by such rules and regulations as they may deem necessary and
lawful for the working of convicts upon the public roads or highways for their coun
ties, and it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace or judge holding court in such
counties to sentence to imprisonment and hard labor on the public roads for such
terms as are now provided by law for their imprisonment in the county jail or in the
State prison the following classes of convicts:
First. A ll persons convicted of offenses the punishment whereof would otherwise
be wholly or in part imprisonment in the common jail.
Second. All persons convicted of crimes the punishment whereof would otherwise
be wdiolly or in part punishment in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding two
years.
Sec. 3. The convicts sentenced to hard labor upon the public roads under the
provisions of this act shall be under the control of the commissioners of the county,
and said commissioners shall have power to enact all needful rules and regulations
for the successful working of all convicts upon such public roads and highways.
Sec. 4. This act shall apply only to the counties of Pitt, Edgecombe, Wilson,
Jackson, Granville, Stanley, and Swain.
Sec. 5. This act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
Ratified the 8th day of March, A. D. 1899.
WASHINGTON.
ACTS OF 1899.
Chapter
23.— Blacklisting.
S e c t io n 1. Every person in this State who shall willfully and maliciously, send or
deliver, or make or cause to be made, for the purpose of being delivered or sent or
part with the possession of any paper, letter or writing, with or without name signed
thereto, or signed with a fictitious name, or with any letter, mark or other designa
tion, or publish or cause to be published any statement for the purpose of prevent
ing any other person from obtaining employment in this State or elsewhere, and
every person who shall willfully and maliciously ‘ ‘ blacklist ’ ’ or cause to be “ black
listed” any person or persons, by writing, printing or publishing, or causing the
same to be done, the name, or mark, or designation representing the name of any
person in any paper, pamphlet, circular or book, together with any statement con
cerning persons so named, or publish or cause to be published that any person is a
member of any secret organization, for the purpose of preventing such person from
securing employment, or who shall willfully and maliciously make or issue any state
ment or paper that will tend to influence or prejudice the mind of any employer
against the person of such person seeking employment, or any person who shall do
1302
BULLETIN" OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
any of the things mentioned in this section for the purpose of causing the discharge
of any person employed by any railroad or other company, corporation, individual
or individuals, shall, on conviction thereof, be adjudged guilty oi misdemeanor and
punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand
dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than ninety days nor more
than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Approved March 3, 1899.
Chapter
35.— Safely appliances on railroads.
S e c t io n 1. Any person or persons, railroad companies or corporations, owning or
operating a railroad or railroads in this State, shall be and are hereby required on or
before the first day of October, 1899, to so adjust, fill, block and securely guard the
frogs, switches and guard rails on their roads as to protect and prevent the feet of
employees and other persons from being caught therein.
Sec. 2. Any person or persons, railroad companies or corporations owning or oper
ating a railroad or railroads in this State, shall be •liable for any damage received
from a failure to comply with the provisions of this act; such damages to be recov
ered by the parties entitled to recover as provided in sections 137, 138 and 139 of
volume 2 of Hill’ s Annotated Codes and Statutes of Washington, being sections
4827, 4828 and 4829, Ballinger’ s Annotated Codes and Statutes of Washington.
Sec. 3. A n y person or persons, railroad companies or corporations, owning or oper
ating any railroad in this State, failing to comply with the provisions oi this act
within the time limited, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on convic
tion thereof shall be fined in any sum not less than five hundred dollars nor more
than two thousand dollars.
Approved March 6, 1899.
Ch apter
77.— Examination,
licensing, etc., o f horseshoers.
S e c t io n 1. No person shall practice horseshoeing either as a master horseshoer or
journeyman horseshoer for hire in any city of the first class of this State unless he
is duly registered as hereinafter provided, in a book kept for that purpose in the
office of the city clerk of the city in which he practices.
S e c . 2. The city clerk of every city of the first class in this State, shall keep a book
in his office to be known as the *‘ master’ s and journeymen’ s horseshoers’ register,”
in which shall be recorded the names of all master ana journeymen horseshoers enti
tled to continue the practice of horseshoeing in such city.
Sec. 3. Any person who at the time of the passage of this act is practicing as a
master or journeyman horseshoer in this State may register within sixty (60) days
after the passage of this act after making and filing with the clerk of the city of the
first class in which he practices, an affidavit stating that he was practicing horse
shoeing at the time of the passage of this act, and such registration shall exempt
him from the provisions of this act requiring an examination. No person shall be
entitled to register as a master or journeyman horseshoer without presenting a cer
tificate of satisfactory examination from a board of examiners, as provided for in
section 5 of this act, and whose qualifications for examination shall be that he has
served an apprenticeship at horseshoeing for at least three years: Provided , That this
section shall not be so construed as to prohibit any person who has made applica
tion for examination, to practice horseshoeing under the direct supervision of a per
son who has passed such examination, while the board of examiners is acting upon
or deferring action upon such application.
Sec. 4. In every city affected by this act there shall be appointed a board of exam
iners, consisting of one veterinary and two master horseshoers and two journeymen
horseshoers, which shall be called “ horseshoers’ board of examiners,” who shall be
residents of such city, and whose duty it shall be to carry out the provisions of this
act. The members of said board shall be appointed by the mayor of such city, and
the term of office shall be for five years, except that the members of said board first
appointed shall hold office for the term of one, two, three, four, and five years, as
designated by the mayor and until their successors shall be duly appointed. The
board of examiners shall have a regular place of meeting, and shall hold sessions for
the purpose of examining applicants desiring to practice horseshoeing as a master or
journeyman horseshoer m each city affected by this act, not later than three days
after any applications have been presented to them, and shall grant a certificate to
any person showing himself qualified to practice, and the board shall receive as com
pensation a fee not exceeding two dollars from each person examined. Three mem
bers of said board shall constitute a quorum.
LABOB LAWS-----WASHINGTON-----AOTS OF 1899.
1303
Sec. 5. Every applicant who shall have complied with the provisions of sections 4
and 5 of this act, shall be admitted to registration and shall pay the city treasurer of
the city in which he desires to register the sum of fifty cents, which shall be received
as full compensation for such registration.
Sec. 6. A n y person who shall present to the clerk for the purpose of registration
any certificate which has been fraudulently obtained, or shall in any wise knowingly
violate or neglect to comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor and shall, for each and every offense, be punished by a fine of not
less than ten dollars or more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment m the county
jail for a term of not less than ten days or more than thirty days, or by both fine and
imprisonment.
Approved March 13, 1899.
C h a p t e r 101.— Hours o f labor on public works.
S e c t io n 1. Hereafter eight hours in any calendar day shall constitute a day’ s work
on any work done for the State or any county or municipality within the State, sub
ject to conditions hereinafter provided.
Sec. 2. A ll work done by contract or subcontract on any building or improvements
or works on roads, bridges, streets, alleys or buildings for the State or any comity or
municipality within the State, shall be done under the provisions of this act: Pro
vided , That in cases of extraordinary emergency such as danger to life or property,
the hours for work may be extended, but in such case the rate of pay for time
employed in excess of eight hours of each calendar day, shall be one and one-half
times the rate of pay allowed for the same amount ot time during eight hours’ serv
ice. And for this purpose this act is made a part of all contracts, subcontracts or
agreements for work done for the State or any county or municipality within the
State.
Sec. 3. Anycontractor, subcontractor, or agent of contractor orsubcontractor, fore
man or employer who shall violate the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty
of misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be finedinasumnotless thantwenty-five
dollars nor more than two hundred dollars, or with imprisonment in the county jail
for a period of not less than ten days nor more than ninety days, or both such fine
and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.
Approved March 13, 1899.
C h a p t e r 140.— Employment of children.
S e c t io n 5. No child under the age of fifteen years shall be employed in any manufac
turing, mechanical or mercantile establishment, or by any telegraph or telephone com
pany in this State, except during the vacations of the public schools of the city in which
such child resides, unless during the twelve months next preceding such employment,
he shall have attended school as provided for in section one of this act, or has already
attained a reasonable proficiency in the common school branches for the first eight
years as outlined in the course of study for common schools of the State of Wash
ington, or shall have been excused by the board of directors of the city in which
such child resides; nor shall such employment continue unless such child i ia ll attend
sehool each year, or until he shall have acquired the elementary branches of learning
taught in public schools as above provided.
Sec. 6. No child under the age of fifteen years shall be so employed who does not
present a certificate made by or under the direction of the board of directors of the
district in which such child resides, of his compliance with the requirements of sec
tion five of this act; and said certificate shall also give the place and date of birth of
such child as nearly accurate as may be; and every owner, superintendent or over
seer of any establishment or company employing any such child shall keep such
certificate on file so long as such child is employed therein. The form of said cer
tificate shall be furnished by the superintendent of public instruction.
Sec. 7. Every owner, superintendent, or overseer of any such establishment or
company who employs or permits to be employed any child in violation of any of
the provisions of the two next preceding sections, and every parent or guardian who
permits such employment, shall be fined not exceeding twenty-five dollars.
Sec. 8. The truant officers shall, at least once in every school term, and as often as
the board of directors shall require, visit the establishments or companies employing
such children in their respective cities, and ascertain whether the provisions of the
three next preceding sections hereof are duly observed, and report all violations
thereof to the said board.
Sec. 9. The truant officers shall demand the names of the children under fifteen
years of age employed in such establishments or companies in th&r respective cities,
1304
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
and shall require the certificates of age and school attendance, prescribed in section
'6 of this act, to be produced for their inspection; and a refusal to produce such cer
tificate shall be punished by a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars.
Sec. 10. Every owner, superintendent or overseer of any such establishment or
company who employs or permits to be employed thereinachildundersixteenyears
of age who can not write his name, age and place of residence legibly, while the
public schools in the city where such child lives are in session, shall for every such
offense be fined not exceeding twenty-five dollars.
Approved March 14, 1899.
WISCONSIN.
ACTS OF 1899.
Ch apter
28.—State reformatory— Manual training— Convict labor.
S e c t io n 1. Chapter 201a of the Revised Statutes of 1898, entitled “ Of the State
Reformatory,” is hereby amended to read as follows:
O r g a n i z a t i o n : Section 4944b.
* * * It [the State board of control] may also
maintain therein a manual training school, may cause the inmates to be instructed in
trades, and may carry on in the institution any industry not prohibited by law,
employing for that purpose the labor of the inmates confined therein.
Approved March 18, 1899.
C h a p t e r 77.— Seats fo r female employees.
S e c t io n 1. Every person or corporation employing females in any manufacturing,
mechanical or mercantile establishment in the State of Wisconsin shall provide suit
able seats for the females so employed, and shall permit the use of such seats by
them when they are not necessarily engaged in the active duties for which they are
employed.
Sec. 2. Any person or corporation who shall violate the provisions of this act shall,
upon conviction thereof, be considered guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be pun
ished by a fine of not less than ten dollars, nor more than thirty dollars for each and
every offense.
Sec. 3. This act shall takeeffect and be in force from andafterits passage and pub
lication.
Approved March 30, 1899.
C h a p t e r 79.— Regulating the manufacture o f cigars.
S e c t io n 1. No shop or place wherein cigars are manufactured shall be located
below the ground floor.
Sec. 2. Each employee in any shop or place wherein cigars are manufactured,
shall, while actually employed, be allowed to use twenty square feet of surface
space, unobstructed to the ceiling.
Sec. 3. Every room wherein cigars are manufactured shall contain at least seven
hundred cubic feet of air space. It shall in every part be not less than eight feet in
height, from floor to ceiling, every window shall have not less than twelve square
feet in superficial area, and the entire area of window" surface shall not be less than
twelve per cent of the floor space of such room.
Sec. 4. Every room in which cigars are manufactured while work is carried on
shall be so ventilated that the air shall not become impure and injurious to the
health of the persons employed therein, and it shall whenever necessary, by the
means of air shafts or other ventilation, be so changed as to render harmless all
gases, dust and other impurities generated in the process of manufacturing cigars.
A ll windows are to be kept open for thirty minutes before working hours and for
thirty minutes after working hours.
Sec. 5. Every such shop or place in which one or more persons are employed and
every such factory in which five or more persons are employed, shall be kept clean.
The dust must be removed from work tables and floors once every day, the floors
scrubbed at least once a week and one cuspidor provided for every twro employees.
Sec. 6. Nopersonunder eighteen years of age shall be employed or permittedto
work in a cigar shop or a cigar factory at manufacturing cigars for longer than
eight hours a day or forty-eight hours a week.
Sec. 7. Where men and women are employed there shall be separate dressing
rooms and water-closets for the different sexes.
LABOJR LAWS— WISCONSIN— ACTS OF 1899.
1305
Sec. 8. Any person violating any provision of this act shall be punished by fine
not exceeding twenty-five dollars and no less than ten dollars for the first offense, and
by fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and no less than twenty-five dollars for the second
and each following offense.
Sec. 9. The factory inspector shall have full power ,and it shall be his duty to
enforce all the provisions of this act, but no prosecution shall be instituted for any
violation of sections 2, 3 and 4 unless the employer or manufacturer, or the firm has
been notified by a notice sent in a registered letter for at least four weeks prior to a
prosecution, requiring the necessary changes in the factory or workshop, and such
request has not been complied with.
Sec. 10. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Sec. 11. The provisions of this act shall take effect on and after the first day of
July, 1900.
Approved March 30, 1899.
Chapter 152.— Assistant factory inspectors.
Section 1. The commissioner of labor and industrial statistics shall have power to
appoint six suitable persons as assistant factory inspectors who shall perform their
duties under his direction and who may be removed by him for cause.
Sec. 2. Each of the said assistant factory inspectors shall be paid a salary at the
rate of one thousand dollars per annum together with necessary traveling expenses
to be paid out of money in the general fund not otherwise appropriated.
Sec. 3. A ll acts and parts of acts conflicting with the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 11, 1899.
Chapter 158. — Duties o f factory inspectors,
etc.
Section 1. Section 1021f of the Statutes of 1898, is hereby amended * * * so
that said section * * * shall read as follows:
Section 1021f. The commissioner [of labor and industrial statistics], his deputy,
the factory inspector and the assistant factory inspector may enter any factory, mer
cantile establishment or workshop in which laborers or women are employed, for
the purpose of obtaining facts and statistics, examining the means of escape there
from in case of fire and the provisions made for the health and safety of operatives
or for suitable seats for women therein. If any such officer shall learn of any viola
tion of or neglect to comply with the law in respect to the employment of children,
the hours of labor for them or for women, or in reference to fire escapes or the safety
of employees, or such seats for women, he shall give written notice to the owner or
occupant of such factory, mercantile establishment or workshop, of such offense or
neglect, and if the same is not remedied within thirty days after the service of such
notice, such officer shall give the district attorney of the county in which such fac
tory, mercantile establishment or workshop is situated, formal notice of the facts,
whereupon that officer shall immediately institute the proper proceedings against
the person guilty of such offense or neglect.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 12,1899.
Chapter 189.— Em ery wtieels in factories and workshops.
Section 1. A ll persons, companies or corporations operating any factory or work
shop where emery wheels or emery belts of any description are used for polishing,
either solid emery, leather, leather covered, felt, canvas, linen, paper, cotton or
wheels or belts rolled or coated with emery or corundum, or cotton wheels used as
buff, shall, when deemed necessary, by the factory inspector, assistant factory
inspector, or any officers of the Bureau of Labor, provide such polishing wheels or
belts with blowers or similar apparatus, which shall be placed over, beside or under
such wheels or belts in such manner as to protect the person or persons using the
same from the particles of the dust produced and caused thereby, and to carry away
the dust arising from or thrown off by such wheels or belts while in operation, directly
to the outside of the building or to some receptacle placed so as to receive and to con
fine such dust. Provided , That grinding machines upon which water is used at the
7170—No. 31----- 13
1306
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
point of the grinding contact shall be exempt from the provisions of this act; and
provided that this act shall apply only to those wheels or belts which are used for
polishing and which are contained in the room or apartment usually denominated
the polishing room, and which are used continuously therein; and provided further,
That this act shall not embrace nor apply to such wheels or belts as can not be so
equipped without impairing the convenient or necessary use thereof.
Sec. 2. Noemery wheel or grindstone in any factory, mill or workshop, shall be
used when the same is known to the personusing the same to be cracked or other
wise defective, nor operated at a greater speed than indicated or guaranteedby the
manufacturer of suchemery wheel or grindstone.
Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of any person, company or corporation operating any
such factory or workshop to provide or construct such appliances, apparatus,
machinery or other things necessary to carry out the purpose of this act, as set forth
in the preceding section, as follows: Each and every such wheel shall be fitted with a
sheet or cast iron hood or hopper, of such form and so applied to such wheel or wheels
that the dust or refuse therefrom w ill fall from such wheels, or will be thrown into such
hood or hopper by centrifugal force, and be carried off by the current of air into a
suction pipe attached to same hood or hopper.
Sec. 4. Each and every such wheel six inches or less in diameter shall be provided
with a three-inch suction pipe; wheels six inches to twenty-four inches in diameter,
with four-inch suction pipe; wheels from twenty-four inches to thirty-six inches in
diameter, with five-inch suction pipe; and all wheels larger in diameter than those
stated above shall be provided each with a suction pipe not less than six inches in
diameter. The suction pipe from each wheel, so specified, must be full size as to the
main trunk suction pipe, and the main suction pipe to which smaller pipes are
attached shall, in its diameter and capacity, be equal to the combined area of such
smaller pipes attached to the same, and the discharge pipe from the exhaust fan con
nected with the suction pipe or pipes shall be as large, or larger than the suction
pipe.
Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of any person, company or corporation operating any
such factory or workshop to provide the necessary fans or blowers to be connected
with such pipe or pipes, as above set forth, which shall be run at a rate of speed as
w ill produce a velocity of air in such suction or discharge pipes of sufficient force to
carry away all dust discharged into the aforesaid hood or hopper. A ll branch pipes
must enter the main trunk pipe at any angle of forty-five degrees or less; the main
suction or trunk pipe shall be below the emery or buffing wheels, and as close to the
same as possible, and to be either upon the floor or underneath the floor on which
the machines are placed to which such wheels are attached. A ll bends, turns, and
elbows in such pipes must be made with easy, smooth surfaces, having a radius in
the throat of not less than two diameters of the pipe on which they are connected.
Sec. 6. The provisions of sections 4 and 5 shall not apply to existing m ills, factories
or workshops which, at the tim e of the passage of this act, have an appliance or appli
ances designed and used for the purpose of removing such dust from the polishing
room, and which said appliance or appliances substantially effect such design.
Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of every factory inspector of this State, or his deputies
to enter any factory or workshop in this State during working hours, and upon ascer
taining the facts that the proprietors or managers of such factory or workshops have
failed to comply with the provisions of this act, to make complaint of the same in
writing before a justice of the peace or police magistrate having jurisdiction, who
shall thereupon issue his warrant, directed to the owner, manager or director, in
such factory or workshop, who shall be thereupon proceeded against for the violation
of this act as hereinafter mentioned, and it is made the duty of the prosecuting
attorney to prosecute all cases under this act.
Sec. 8. Any such person or persons or company, or managers, superintendents or
directors of any such company or corporation, who shall have the chargeormanage
ment of such factory or workshop, who shall fail to comply with the provisions of
this act, shall bedeemedguiltyof a misdemeanor, anduponconvictionthereof before
any court of competent jurisdictionshallbepunishedbyafineof notlessthantwentyfive dollars, and not exceeding one hundred dollars.
Sec. 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage andL
publication.
Approved April 14,1899.
Chapter 213.— Employment and intelligence offices and bureaus.
Section 1. No person shall engage in the business of keeping an employment or
intelligence bureau or office or agency for the purpose of hiring men to work for
others, and receive a compensation for such hiring without first having obtained a
LABOR LAWS----WISCONSIN----ACTS OF 1899.
1307
license so to do as hereinafter provided; any person or persons who shall establish or
keep any office or place within said State, for the purpose of obtaining place or
employment for laborers of any kind whatever, or for procuring or giving informa
tion concerning such places or employment to such laborers, or for procuring or giving
information concerning such laborers to employers, shall be deemed a keeper of an
employment or intelligence bureau, office or agency; and any person who shall
engage in such business without such license, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and
shall upon conviction thereof be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dol
lars or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding ninety days or both.
Sec. 2. A ny person who desires to engage in any such business may apply to the
common council if such business be carried on in a city, or to the village council if in
a village, or to the county board of the county in which such business is to be car
ried on if in the country, for such license, and pay into the treasury of such city, vil
lage or county, the sum of ten dollars and upon executing and delivering to such
common council, village council or county board a bond in the penal sum of one
thousand dollars with sufficient sureties, or in lieu thereof a surety bond of one thou
sand dollars, to be approved by such common council, village council or county
board, he shall be entitled to such license. Each license shall designate the house
in which the person licensed shall keep his office, giving street and number of the
same, and the number of such license, and shall continue to be in force until the first
day of May next ensuing the date thereof and no longer; Provided always, That the
foregoing license fee shall be the same for any length of time whether issued for a
year on the first day of M ay, or any fractional part thereof; and no license issued
hereunder shall be transferred to any other person or persons whatever or inure to
the benefit of any other person other than the licensee.
Sec. 3. The bonds shall run to the State of Wisconsin, and shall be conditioned
for the payment of any damage that any person secured or engaged to labor for others
by the obligor, m ay sustain by reason of any unauthorized act, fraud or misrepresenta
tion on the part of such agent for such hiring. The bond shall be filed with the city
clerk if approved by the common council, with the village recorder if approved by
the village council, and with the county clerk if approved by the county board of
any county. A ny person licensed and having given bond as herein provided may,
while continuing to reside or maintain his office at the place mentioned in such
license, prosecute his said business in any part of the State.
Sec. 4. Every person hired or engaged to work for others by one so licensed as
aforesaid, shall be furnished a written copy in duplicate of the terms of such hire or
engagement, rate of wages or compensation, kind of service to be performed, length
of time of such service, with full name and address of the person or persons, firm or
corporation authorizing the hire of such person, one of the aforesaid copies to be
delivered to the person or persons, firm or corporation for whom the contracted labor
is to be performed, and the other to be retained by the person hired as aforesaid.
And any person hired or engaged to work for others by one so licensed as aforesaid,
who shall fail to get employment according to the terms of such contract of hire or
employment, by reason of any unauthorized act, fraud or misrepresentation on the
part of such agent, may bring an action upon said bond, and may recover in such
action against the principal and sureties the full amount of his damages sustained by
reason of such unauthorized act, fraud or misrepresentation, together with his costs,
disbursements, in such action: Provided however that nothing contained herein shall
apply to agencies conducted by women, for the purpose of securing employment for
females only.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force, from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 19, 1899.
C h a p t e r 224.— Forgery, etc., o f employer's letters o f recommendation o f employees and o f
receipts fo r dues o f members o f associations o f railway employees.
Section 1. Any person who shall falsely make, alter, forge or counterfeit any card
or receipt of dues purporting to be given or issued by any association of railway
employees, or by any of its officers to its members, with intent to injure, deceive or
defraud, shall be punished as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 2. Any person who shall falsely make, alter, forge or counterfeitanyletter or
certificate purporting to be given by any corporation or person, orofficer oragent of
such corporation or person to an employee of such corporation or personat the time
of such employee’s leaving the service of such corporation or person, showing the
capacity or capacities in which such employee was employed by such corporation
or person, the date of leaving theservice or the reasonorcauseof suchleaving, with
the intent to injure, deceiveordefraud, shall be punished as hereinafter provided.
1308
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Sec. 3. Any person who shall utter, publish, pass or tender as true, or who shall
have in his possession with intent to utter, publish, pass or tender as true, any false,
altered, forged or counterfeited letter, certificate, card or receipt, the forging, altering
or counterfeiting whereof is prohibited by either of the preceding sections of this act,
with intent to injure, deceive or defraud, shall be punished as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 4. Any personviolating any ot theprovisionsof thisactshall, uponconviction
thereof, be punished by imprisonment in the State’s prison or county jail not more
than one year or by fine not exceeding two hundred dollars.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effecu and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 20, 1899.
C h a p t e r 232.— Factories and workshops— Sweating system .
Section 1. No dwelling or building, or any room or apartment of itself, in, or con
nected with any tenement or dwelling or other building, shall be used except by the
immediate members of the fam ily living therein, for carrying on any process of mak
ing any kind of wearing apparel or goods for male and female wear, use, or adorn
m ent, or for the manufacture of cigars, cigarettes, or tobacco goods in any form, when
such wearing apparel or other goods are to be exposed for sale, or to be sold by manu
facturer, wholesalers or jobber, to the trade or by retail, unless such room or apart
ment shall have been made to conform to the requirements and regulations provided
for in this act.
Sec. 2. Each such room or apartment used for the purposes aforesaid, shall be
regarded as a workshop or factory, and shall be separate from and have no door, win
dow or other opening into any living or sleeping room o f any tenement or dwelling,
and no such workshop or factory shall be used at any tim e for living or sleeping pur
poses, and shall contain no bed, bedding, cooking or other utensils, except what is
required to carry on the work therein, and every such shop or factory shall have an
entrance from the outside direct, and if above the first floor, shall have a separate
and distinct stairway leading thereto, and every such workshop or factory, shall
be well and sufficiently lighted, heated and ventilated by ordinary, or, if necessary,
by mechanical appliance, and shall provide for each person employed therein, no less
than two hundred and fifty cubic feet of airspace in daytime and four hundred cubic feet
at night, and shall have suitable closet arrangements for each sex employed therein,
as follow s: W here there are ten or more persons, and three or more to the number of
twenty, are of either sex, a separate and distinct water-closet, either inside the build
ing, with adequate plumbing connections, or on the outside at least twenty feet from
the building, shall be provided for each sex; when the number employed is more than
twenty-five of either sex, there shall be provided an additional water-closet for such
sex up to the number of fifty persons, ana above that number in the same ratio, and
all such closets shall be kept strictly and exclusively for the use of the employees
and employer or employers of such workshop or factory; Provided that where more
than one room is used under the direction of one employer, all such rooms are to be
regarded as one shop, or factory, and every such workshop or factory shall be kept
in a clean and wholesome condition, all stairways and the premises within a radius
of thirty feet, shall be kept clean, and closets shall be regularly disinfected and sup
plied with disinfectants, and the commissioner of labor and factory inspectors may
require all necessary changes, or any process of cleaning, painting or whitewashing
which they may deem essential to assure absolute freedom from obnoxious odor, filth,
vermin, decaying matters or any condition liable to impair health or breed infectious
or contagious diseases; he shall prevent the operation of such shops or factories that
do not conform to the provisions of this act, and cause the arrest and prosecution
of the person or persons operating the same.
Sec. 3. No person, for him self or for any other person, firm or corporation, shall
give out work to or contract with, any other person to perform such work necessary
to make such goods mentioned in section 1, after having received notice from the
commissioner of labor or factory inspectors that said latter person has not complied
with the provisions of section 2 of this act, which notice shall remain in force, until
said person has complied with this law, of which notice must be given to the
employer by the commissioner of labor or the factory inspectors.
Sec. 4. Every such person, firmor corporation heretofore mentioned, shall obtain
and keep a record of all persons towhomwork is given out or contracted for, includ
ing their names and addresses, which record shall be opened to inspection of the
commissioner of labor or the factory inspectors when called for.
Sec. 5. No person, firm or corporation shall receive, handle or convey to others,
or sell, hold in stockorexposeforsale, anygoodsmentionedinsection1, unlessmade
under the sanitaryconditionsprovidedforandprescribedinthisact; butthisactshall
LABOR LAWS----WISCONSIN----ACTS OF 1899.
1309
not include the making of garments or other goods, by any person for another by per
sonal order, and when received for wear or use direct from the maker’ s hands, and all
violations of the provisions of this act, shall be prosecuted by any of the factory inspec
tors with the advice and consent of the commissioner of labor.
Sec. 6. A ny person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of
this act, shall upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars,
nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisoned not less than
thirty, nor more than sixty days, or both; and in all prosecutions brought by or
under the direction of the commissioner of labor for the violation of this act, he shall
not be held to give security for costs, or adjudged to pay any costs, but in all cases
where the accused be acquitted, or is found to be indigent, the costs shall be paid out
of the county treasury of the county in which the proceedings are brought, the same
as the costs in all other cases of misdemeanor.
Sec. 7. This act shall take effect and be in force, from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 20, 1899.
C h a p t e r 274.— Employment o f children.
Section 1. No child under fourteen years of age shall be employed at any time in
any factory or workshop or in or about any mine. No such child shall be employed
in any mercantile establishment, laundry or in the telegraph, telephone or public
messenger service, except during the vacation of the public schools in the town, dis
trict or city where such child is employed.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of every person, firm or corporation, agent or man
ager of any firm or corporation employing minors in any mercantile establishment,
store, office, laundry, manufacturing establishment, factory or workshop or in the
telegraph, telephone or public messenger service within this State to keep a register
in said mercantile establishment, store, office, laundry, manufacturing establishment,
factory or workshop in which said minors shall be employed or permitted or suffered
to work, in which register shall be recorded the name, age, date of birth, place of
residence of every child employed or permitted or suffered to work therein under the
age of sixteen years; and it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation,
agent or manager of any firm or corporation to hire or employ or to permit or suffer
to work in any mercantile establishment, store, office, laundry, manufacturing estab
lishment, factory or workshop, telegraph, telephone or public messenger service any
child under the age of sixteen years unless there is first provided and placed on file
in such mercantile establishment, store, office, laundry, manufacturing establishment,
factory or workshop an affidavit made by the parent stating the name, date and place
of birth and name and place of the school attended of such child. If such child have
no parent or guardian, then such affidavit shall be made by the child, and the register
and affidavits herein provided for shall, on demand, be produced and shown for
inspection to the factory inspector, assistant factory inspectors or any officer of the
bureau of labor and industrial statistics.
Sec. 3. No personunder the age of sixteen years shall be employed, required, per
mitted or suffered to work forwages at any gainful occupation longerthan ten hours
in any one day, nor more than six days in any one week, nor after the hour of nine
at night nor before the hour of six in the morning.
Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of labor, the factory or assistant
factory inspectors to enforce the provisions of this act, and to prosecute violations of
the same before any court of competent jurisdiction in this State. It shall be the
duty of the said commissioner of labor or the factory or assistant factory inspectors,
and they are hereby authorized and empowered to visit and inspect, at all reasonable
times, and as often as possible, all places covered by this act.
Sec. 5. The commissioner of labor, the factory or assistant factory inspectors shall
have the power to demand a certificate of physical fitness, from some regularly
licensed physician, in the case of children who may seem physically unable to per
form the labor at which they may be employed, and no minor shall be employed
who can not obtain such a certificate.
Sec. 6. W henever it appears upon due examination that the labor of any minor
over twelve years of age, who would be debarred from employment under the pro
visions of section 1 of this act is necessary for the support of the family to which said
child belongs or for its own support, the county judge of the county where said child
resides, the commissioner of labor or any factory or assistant factory inspector may
in the exercise of their discretion issue, free of charge, a permit or excuse author
izing the employment of such minor within such time or times as they may fix.
Sec. 7. No firm, person or corporation shall employ or permit any child under six
teen years of age to have the care, custody, management or operation of any elevator.
1310
BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.
Sec. 8. The words “ manufacturing establishment,” “ factory” or “ workshop”
as used in this act, shall be construed to mean any place where goods or products are
manufactured or repaired, dyed, cleaned or sorted, stored or packed, in whole or in
part, for sale or for wages, and not for the personal use of the maker or his or her
fam ily or employer.
Sec. 9. A ny person, firm or corporation, agent or manager of any corporation who,
whether for himself or for such firm or corporation or by himself or through agents,
servants or foremen shall violate or fail to comply with any of the provisions of this
act or shall hinder or delay the commissioner of labor, the factory or assistant factory
inspectors or any or either of them in the performance of their duty or refuse to
admit or shut or lock them out from any place required to be inspected by this act
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined
not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense. Any
corporation which, by its agents, officers or servants, shall violate or fail to comply
with any of the provisions of this act shall be liable to the above penalties, which
may be recovered against such corporations in an action for debt or assumpsit brought
before any court of competent jurisdiction in this State.
Sec. 10. A ny parent or guardian who suffers or permits a child to be employed or
suffered or permitted to work in violation of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five nor more than twentyfive dollars.
Sec. 11. A ll acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are
hereby repealed.
Sec. 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 27, 1899.
Chapter 292.— Protection
o f wages due laborers on public bjiildings— Contractor's bond.
Section 1. A ll contracts hereafter let for the erection, construction, equipment,
repairs, protection or removal of any building of the State shall contain a provision
for the payment by the contractor of all claims for labor and material, and no con
tract shall hereafter be let for the erection, construction, equipment, repairs, protec
tion or removal of any building of the State, unless the contractor shall give a good
and .sufficient bond, to be approved by the governor, conditioned for the faithful
performance of the contract, and the payment of all the claims for work or labor per
formed, and material furnished in and about the erection, construction, equipment,
repairs, protection or removal of such building to each and every person entitled
thereto.
Sec. 2. Any party in interest may maintain an action in his own name against such
contractor and the sureties upon such bond required by section 1 of this act for the
recovery of any damages he may have sustained by reason of the failure, refusal or
neglect of said contractor to comply with the terms of said contract or any of the
terms and conditions of the contract between said contractor and subcontractors.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved April 28, 1899.
Chapter 330.—Notice
o f intention to leave employ and to discharge— Protection o f
employees as voters— Em ploym ent o f children.
Section 1. Any person or corporation engaged in manufacturing, which requires
from persons in his or its employ, under penalty of forfeiture of a part of the wages
earned by then a notice of intention to leave such employ, shall be liable to the
payment of a like forfeiture if he or it discharges, without similar notice, a person in
such employ except for incapacity or misconduct, unless in case of a general suspen
sion of labor in his or its shop or factory or in the department thereof wherein such
employee is engaged.
Sec. 2. No person shall, by threatening to discharge a person from his employ
ment or threatening to reduce the wages of a person or by promising to give employ
ment at higher wages to a person, attempt to influence a qualified voter to give or
withhold his vote at an election.
Sec. 3. No license shall be granted for a theatrical exhibition or public showin
whichchildrenunder fifteenyearsof ageareemployedasacrobats, contortionistsorin
any feats of gymnastics or equestrianism, when in the opinionof the boardof officers
authorized to grant licensessuch children areemployed in such maimerastocorrupt
their morals or impair their physical health.
LABOR LAWS— WISCONSIN— ACTS OF 1899.
1311
Sec. 4. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall, upon
conviction, be fined in a sumnot exceeding one hundred dollars.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force fromand after its passage and
publication.
Approved May 3, 1899.
C h a p t e r 332.— Protection o f employees as members o f labor organizations.
Section 1. No person, corporation, agent or officer on behalf of any person or cor
poration, shall coerce or compel any person or persons into an agreement, either
written or verbal, not to join or become a member of any labor organization, as a con
dition of such person or persons securing employment or continuing in the employ
ment of any such person or corporation, and no person or corporation shall discharge
an employee because he is a member of any labor organization.
Sec. 2. Any person or corporation violating any of the provisions of this act shall
be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or
be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed nine months or both.
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and
publication.
Approved May 3, 1899.
RECENT GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.
[The Secretaries of the Treasury, W ar, and Navy Departments have consented to
furnish statements of all contracts for constructions and repairs entered into by
them. These, as received, w ill appear from time to time in the Bulletin.]
The follow ing contracts have been made by the Office o f the Super
vising Architect of the Treasury:
B uffalo , N. Y .—October 2, 1900. Contract with John Feist for
erection and completion o f building for life-saving exhibit in connec
tion with Pan-American Exposition, $3,749. W ork to be completed
before April 1, 1901.
E lgin , I I I .—October 2, 1900. Contract with M. Yeager & Son,
Danville, 111., for construction, except heating, electric wiring, and
conduits, o f post-office, $59,492. W ork to be completed within three
hundred and eighty working days.
M enominee , M ich . — October 3, 1900. Contract with Hennessy
Brothers & Evans Company, Chicago, 111., for construction, except
heating apparatus, electric wiring, and conduits, of post-office, $35,745.
W ork to be completed within twelve months.
B lair , N ebr . —October 9,1900. Contract with John S. Kettermah,
Ida Grove, Iowa, for construction, except heating apparatus and elec
tric wiring, of post-office, $27,240. W ork to be completed within one
hundred and fifty working days.
Cincinnati, O h io . — October 18, 1900. Contract with Walton Iron
Company for construction of lookout gallery in custom-house and
post-office, $2,397. W ork to be completed within forty-five days.
P ortland , O reg . — October 20, 1900. Contract with Butler-Ryan
Company, St. Paul, Minn., for interior finish, etc., of custom-house,
$98,193. W ork to be completed within fourteen months.
P ortland , O reg . —October 23, 1900. Contract with Charles B.
Kruse Heating Company, Milwaukee, W is., for heating and ventilating
apparatus for custom-house, $21,233.
B oston, M ass. —October 25,1900. Contract with W hittier Machine
Company for elevator plant for post-office and subtreasury, $39,850.
W ork to be completed within three and a half months.
W ashington , D. C.—October 27,1900. Contract with James Nolan
& Sons for new plumbing and interior finish o f toilet rooms for Treas
ury building, $34,641. W ork to be completed within five months.
A nnapolis, M d . —October 30,1900. Contract with Charles McCaul
for construction o f post-office, except heating apparatus, electric wiring,
and conduits, $64,000. W ork to be completed within ten months.
1312
INDEX
Page.
A ccid en t insurance in Prance, basis for fixin g prem ium rates fo r ......................................................
1272
A rbitration and conciliation in Great B ritain, volu n tary........................................................................
457-548
A rbitration, reports o f State boards o f:
C o n n ecticu t.........................................................................................................................................................
181
In d ian a...................................................................................................................................................................
181,182
M assachusetts........................................................................................................................................................
182
N ew Y ork ................................................................................................................................................................
1271
O h io .........................................................................................................................................................................
182,183
W isconsin...............................................................................................................................................................
183
A ttachm ent o f w ages in P ra n ce .......................................................................................................................... 1080,1081
B etterm ent o f in dustrial con d ition s.................................................................................................................... 1117-1156
B u ild in g and loan associations, State reports on:
C aliforn ia................................................................................................................................................................ 1073,1074
C onnecticut............................................................................................................................................................ 1074,1075
Io w a ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1075,1076
M ic h ig a n ................................................................................................................................................................ 1076,1077
N ew Y o rk ............................................................................................................................................................... 1077-1079
Census, in dustrial, of—
A u stria......................................................................................................................................................................
184-186
D enm ark.................................................................................................................................................................
391-395
Cities, statistics o f....................
916-1014
Com binations, in dustrial, an d tru sts................................................................................................................
661-831
C onciliation a ct o ' G reat B ritain, reports o f proceedings u n d er..........................................................
604,605
C onciliation an d arbitration in Great B ritain, volu n tary........................................................................
457-548
C onciliation and m ediation (see Arbitration, reports o f State boards o f).
Condition o f railw ay labor in Ita ly .................................................................................................... 401-403,1211-1261
D ecisions o f courts affecting labor:
B y-law s o f an association w hich are in restraint of trade n u ll and void— effect of antitrust
a c t.........................................................................................................................................................................
194-197
Constitutionality o f s ta tu te attorneys’ fees to be allow ed in foreclosure o f m echanics’ lien s.......................................... 1086,1087
breach o f em ploym ent c o n tra c t.......................................................................................................... 1087,1088
changing fellow -servant rule in case o f railroad em p loyees..................................................
890,891
coal-m ine in spection ..................................................................................................................................
404-406
conferring of inconsistent legislative and ju d icial pow ers upon th e sam e b od y..........
197-200
891-893
death o f m in e em ployee—w ho m ay m aintain action for dam ages......................................
eight-hour law — m ines an d sm elte rs................................................................................................
406-410
exam in ation o f coal-m ine m anagers..................................................................................................
608-610
hours of labor on p ublic w orks.............................................................................................................
610,611
m echanics’ lien law —street railroads................................................................................................
200,201
paym ent o f w ages—lien for unpaid w ages......................................................................................
615-618
paym ent of w a^es—va lid ity o f agreem ent for extension o f tim e for paym ent o f w ages
on consideration o f part p a y m en t..................................................................................................
411-415
paym ent o f w ages, e t c ..............................................................................................................................
611-615
persuasion o f seam an to desert v e s s e l.............................................................................................. 1088-1090
store orders, scrip, etc., issued in paym ent o f w ages to be redeem ed in cash..................
415-420
Sunday labor—barbers............................................................................................................................. 1279,1280
trade-m arks, e tc ., o f trade unions, etc................................................................................................
420,421
truck system , etc.........................................................................................................................................
893-895
w eigh ing o f coal at m in e .......................................................................................................................
421-424
E m ployers’ lia b ilit y acceptance o f benefits from relief fund—release o f dam ages—va lid ity of co n tra ct.. .
899,900
assum ption o f risk— effect o f sta tu te..................................................................................................
201-204
assum ption o f risk b y em ployee w h ile tem porarily em ployed beyond th e scope and
term s o f his em p loym en t....................................................................................................................
210,211
assum ption of risk b y em p loyees........................................................................................................
620,621
construction o f statute— contributory n eg lig en ce......................................................................
424,425
construction o f statute— fellow -servants.......................................................................................... 1281,1282
defective appliances— assum ption of risk ........................................................................................ 1095,1096
duties o f th e m aster— construction o f sta tu te................................................................................
895,896
duty o f the m aster— fellow -servants—negligen ce........................................................................
211,212
duty o f th e m aster—safe place to w o rk ............................................................................................ 1290-1292
fellow -servants—duty of m aster..........................................................................................................
204,205
negligence— fellow -serv an ts..................................................................................................................
212,213
205-207
negligence o f m aster— effect of statu te..........................................................................................
railroad com panies— assum ption o f risk b y em ployees— construction o f sta tu te .........
897
railroad com panies—breach of m asters’ duty—fellow -servants, e t c ..................................
425-427
railroad com panies— construction o f s ta tu te ................................................................................
427,428
railroad com panies—duties o f th e m a ste r......................................................................................
428,429
railroad com panies— fellow -servants—negligence— construction o f s ta tu te ..................
618-620
railroad com panies— fellow -servants, e tc ........................................................................................
429-432
railroad com panies—law o f place w here in jury, w as received to govern— n egli
gence— assum ption o f risk ......................................1......................................................................... 1292,1293
railroad com panies—m asters’ duty— contributory n egligen ce.............................................. 1293,1294
railroad com panies—negligence of em ployer................................................................................
214
railroad com panies— negligence o f fellow -servant—construction o f statu te.................. 1282,1283
railroad com panies—negligence of independent contractor..................................................
432,433
railroad com panies— release of claim for dam ages—con sid eration ....................................
433,434
railroad com panies— va lid ity and effect of a release from lia b ility ....................................
621,622
railroad com panies— vice principals.............................................................
434
1313
1314
INDEX,
Decisions of courts affecting labor—Concluded.
Page.
Employers’ liability—Concluded.
release of claim for damages .. .•................................... .................................................... 1097,1098
validity of a release of claim for damages for injuries—inspection of m ine............... 1090-1092
Examination,licensing, etc., of barbers—construction of statute........................................ 1283,1284
Exclusion of alien immigrants—construction of statute—conclusiveness of decision of
immigration officers...............................................................................................................
207,208
Liability of railroad companies for wages of laborers due from subcontractors...............
208
Miners’ labor liens—enforcement of same by assignees—liability of lessor for liens of
employees of lessee.................................................................................................................
897-899
Mines—weighing coal before screening—sufficiency of indictment...................................
209,210
Orders of employees drawn on employer for payment of wages to third party subject to
internal-revenue ta x .............................................................................................................. 1092,1093
Penalty for making false claims against seamen—construction of statute......................... 1284-1286
Relief associations—bill to dissolve..........................................................................................
214-219
Seamen—
lien for wages......................................................................................................................
219
lien of fishermen on vessel, e tc ................................... ......................................................
220
right to wages for time of service when leaving ship before completion of voyage—
ono
insufficient provisions.....................................................................................................
wages—advance notes for same.......................................................................................... 1094,1095
Strikes—injunction—combinations of workmen—picketing................................................ 1286-1290
Trade unions—conspiracy against persons not members...................................................... 1294-1297
Unlawful suspensions from membership in trade union....................................................... 1297,1298
Digest of recent foreign statistical publications:
Austria—Ergebnisse der in Oesterreich vorgenommenen Gewerbezahlung nach dem
Stande vom 1 Juni, 1697 (sammtden in diesemStandebiszum31 Mai, 1898, vorgefallenen
Yeranderungen).....................................................................................................................
184-186
Belgium—
Annuaire de la Legislation du Travail. 2e Ann£e, 1898................................................
604
Les Industries k Domicile en Belgique..............................................................................
1080
Denmark—
Danmarks Haandvaerk og Industri ifolge Taellingen den 25 Maj, 1897.........................
391-395
Statistisk Bureaus Historie et Omrids, uaarbejdet i Anledning af Bureauets 50-aarige
France—
Bases Statistiques de 1’Assurance contre les A ccidents d’aprds lesR 6su ltatsd e r Assur
ance O bligatoire en A llem agn e et en A u trich e........................................................................
1272
Les Associations P rofessionnelles O uvridres.................................................................................. 1272-1274
Saisie-ArrOt sur les S alaires.................................................................................................................... 1080,1081
Statistique des Graves et des Recours k la C onciliation et k l ’A rbitrage Survenus Pen
d an t l ’A nnee, 1898....................................................................................................................................
395-401
G reat B r ita in E leven th R eport on Trade U nions in Great B ritain an d Irelan d , 1898 . ............................ 1274-1278
F irst and Second Reports of Proceedings under the C onciliation (Trade Disputes)
A ct, 1896........................................................................................................................................................
604,605
P rovision for O ld A ge b y G overnm ent A ction in Certain European C ountries............
888
R eport on th e M oney W ages o f Indoor D om estic S erv a n ts....................................................
605-607
R eport on th e Strikes and Lockouts o f 1898 in th e U nited K in gd om ..................................
884-888
S ixth A n n u al R eport on Changes in W ages an d H ours o f Labor in the U nited K in g
d o m , ^ ......................................................................................................................................................
186-191
Ita ly — A tti d ella R . Com m issione d ’ Inchiesta sui R apporti fra le Society esercenti le tre
principali reti d i strade ferrate d el R egno e il loro P erso n ale........................ . ........................
401-403
N ew Zealand— E ighth A n n u al R eport o i the D epartm ent o f Labor o f N ew Zealand, for
*
th e year ending M arch 31,1899..................................................................................................................
191,192
N orw ay— Statistiske O plysninger om A lders-og Indtsegtsforholde, e tc., da begyndt a t
arbeide, og Indtsegtsforholde, 1894.......................................................................................................... 1082-1085
O ntario—
Seventeenth A nnu al R eport of th e Bureau of Industries for th e Province of O ntario,
S ixteen th A nnu al R eport of the Bureau of Industries for the Province of O ntario, 1897.
192,193
D igest o f recent reports o f State bureaus o f labor statistics:
878
Illin o is .....................................................................................................................................................................
380,381
Io w a .......................................................................................................
.
878-881
K a n sa s...................................................................................................
1262,1263
M ain e......................................................................................................
1264-1266
M assach u setts....................................................................................
M ic h ig a n ..............................................................................................
.
881-883
. 1071,1072
M isso u ri................................................................................................
. 1266-1269
N ew Y o rk ..............................................................................................
N orth C arolina....................................................................................
....
598,599
....
599-602
P en n sylvan ia...................................................... •..............................
178,1269,1270
R hode Islan d ......................................................................................
....
602,603
T en n essee............................................................................................
....
381-383
V ir g in ia ................................................................................................
....
178-180
W a sh in g to n ........................................................................................
. . . . 1157-1210
Em ployers’ lia b ility , present status of, in the U nited States.
F oreign labor law s:
....
552-597
A u stria '..................................................................................................
77-136
B e lg iu m ................................................................................................
. . . . 1066-1070
D en m a rk ..............................................................................................
....
314-379
G e rm a n y ..............................................................................................
. . . . 1051-1057
Ita ly .........................................................................................................
. . . . 1033-1051
N eth erlan d s........................................................................................
. . . . 1057-1063
N o r w a y ................................................................................................
. . . . 1015-1033
R u ssia ....................................................................................................
. . . . 1064-1066
S w ed en ..................................................................................................
....
136-177
Sw itzerlan d.................... ....................................................................
236,456,660,912,1116,1116,1312
G overnm ent contracts............................................................................
........................................
1080
H om e w ork in B elgiu m ........................................................................
INDEX,
1315
Page.
H ours Of labor and of rest of railw ay em ployees in P ru ssia..................................................................
877
H ours of labor and w ages in Great B ritain and Ireland, 1898 ..............................................................
186-191
Ind ustrial census of—
A u stria.....................................................................................................................................................................
184-186
D en m a rk ...............................................................................................................................................................
391-895
Industrial com binations and trusts....................................................................................................................
661-831
Industrial conditions, betterm ent o f .................................................................................................................. 1117-1156
Industrial em ploym ent in N orw a y.................................................................................................................... 1082-1085
Labor D a y .....................................................................................................................................................................
873-876
Labor law s, foreign (see Foreign labor law s).
Labor legislation in B elg iu m ................................................................................................................................
604
Law s relating to labor:
A ccidents in factories—In d ia n a ..................................................................................................................
646.
A ccidents in m in esrC olorado.......................................................... *.............................................................................................
224-226
I d a h o ..............................................................................................................................................................
443
Illin o is...............................................................
638
A gricultu re and labor, bureau of— N orth D a k o ta ................................................................................ 1106,1107
A gricultu re and labor, com m issioner of—N orth D akota.................................................................. 1106,1107
A lien s, em ploym ent of, on public w orks (see E m ploym ent o f aliens on p ublic w orks).
A ppointm ent and im portation o f nonresidents as peace officers prohibited—Id ah o..........
437,438
A rbitration and conciliation , board of— Id a h o ....................................................................................
445-447
A rbitration, board o f (see Board o f arbitration ).
A rbitration of labor disputes—
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
445-447
Illin o is.................................................................................... : .......................................................................
623,624
In d ian a............................................................................................................................................................
641-645
A rizona, labor law s o f ......................................................................................................................................
435,436
A rkansas, labor law s o f....................................................................................................................................
221,222
A ssignm ent of future w ages—In d ian a......................................................................................................
641
A ttorn ey’s fees in suits for wages— Id ah o................................................................................................
447
Bakeshops, regu lation, inspection, etc., o f (see R egulation, inspection, e tc., of bakeshops).
Barbers, exam in ation, licen sing, e tc ., of (see E xam ination, licen sing, e tc., o f barbers).
B lacklistin g—W ash in gton .............................................................................................................................. 1301,1302
Blow ers for em ery w heels e tc., in factories—
M ich ig a n ........................................................................................................................................................
654
W isconsin........................................................................................................................................................ 1305,1306
Board of arbitration—
Illin o is..............................................................................................................................................................
623,624
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
641-645
Board of arbitration and conciliation— Id a h o ......................................................................................
445-447
Boilers, etc., steam , inspection of (seeInspection of steam boilers, e tc .).
Books, free te x t, in p ublic schools—W yom in g.....................................................
1114
B oycotting— In d ia n a ........................................................................................................................................
642
Bureau o f agriculture and labor—N orth D akota.................................................................................... 1106,1107
Bureau of im m igration, labor, and statistics—Id a h o....................................: ....................................
448,449
Bureau of labor and printing— N orth C a rolin a.................................................................................... 1299,1300
Bureau o f labor statistics— Connecticut....................................................................................................
234
Bureau o f labor statistics and inspection o f factories, m ines, and w orkshops— M issou ri..
909-911
Bureau o f m ines—Colorado................................................................................i .........................................
223-230
Bureau of m ines, m in in g, and m ine inspection— M issouri..............................................................
907
Bureau o f statistics of labor and industry— N ew Jersey....................................................................
1106
Bureaus, em ploym ent, free public ( see Free public em ploym ent bureaus).
C hildren, em ploym ent of (see E m ploym ent of ch ild ren ).
Cigars, regu lating the m anufacture of—W iscon sin ............................................................................ 1304,1305
C ivil-service law , “ T he exem pt class” and “ The labor class in cities” — N ew Y o r k ........
659
Coal at m ines, w eigh in g (see W eigh ing coal at m in es).
Coal m ines—
A rkansas.........................................................................................................................................................
221
Illin o is.............................................................................................................................................................
625-640
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
649,650
450,451
K ansas............................................................................................................................................. .’.............
M ic h ig a n .......................................................................................................................................................
651,652
M issouri...........................................................................................................................................................
905-909
P en n sylvan ia............................................................................................................................................... 1110,1111
Tennessee.......................................................................................................................................................
453
C ollection of statistics—
C olorado.........................................................................................................................................................
224
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
448
M ic h ig a n .......................................................................................................................................................
652
M isso u ri.........................................................................................................................................................
910,911
N ew J e rse y ....................................................................................................................................................
1106
N orth C a ro lin a ............................................................................................................................................ 1299,1300
N orth D ak o ta..................................................................................................................................................1106,1107
Colorado, labor law s o f ....................................................................................................................................
223-233
Com m ission, labor—In d ian a..........................................................................................................................
641-645
Com m issioner of agriculture and labor— N orth D akota.................................................................... 1106,1107
Com m issioner o f im m igration, labor, and statistics— Id a h o ..........................................................
448,449
Com m issioner o f labor—
M ic h ig a n .......................................................................................................................................................
651
N eb ra sk a ........................................................................................................................................................
1100
W iscon sin .............................................................................................................................................. 1305,1308-1310
Com m issioner o f labor and printing— N orth C arolina...................................................................... 1299,1300
Com m issioner o f labor statistics— C o n n ecticu t....................................................................................
234
Com m issioner o f m ines— Colorado..............................................................................................................
223-230
Com pany stores— C o lora d o............................................................................................................................
232,233
C onciliation, board of arbitration and— Id ah o......................................................................................
445-447
Conditional sales— C onnecticut....................................................................................................................
234
Connecticut, labor law s o f........................................................................................................................ 233-235,1099
1316
INDEX.
Law s relatin g to labor— C ontinued.
Page.
Convict labor—
A rizo n a .......................................................................................................
435,436
A rkansas..........................................................................................................................................................
221,222
F lo r id a ............................................................................................................................................................
437
Id a h o ............................................................................................................................................................ 438,443,444
In d ia n a ............................................................................................................................................................
640,641
K an sas..............................................................................................................................................................
449-451
M in n eso ta ......................................................................................................................................................
658,659
N orth C arolina.............................................................................................................................................. 1300,1301
N orth D ak o ta.................................................................................................................................................. 1107,1108
P en n sy lva n ia.................................................................................................................................................. 1111,1112
T e n n e sse e .............................................
453,454
1304
W iscon sin ........................................................................................................................................................
Convict-m ade goods—
M in n eso ta .....................................................................................................................................................
658,659
N orth D akota................................................................................................................................................
1108
P en n sylvan ia................................................................................................................................................ 1111,1112
D am ages, suits for, lim itation o f tim e for brin gin g—Em ployer’s liab ility— M ich igan ____
653
D ecep tion ,u n law fu l force, e tc ., in procuring em ployees—Illin o is...............................................
624,625
D elaw are, labor law s o f...................................................................................................................................
235
D ischarge, m ice ! in ten tion to, required—W isco n sin ......................... ........................................ 1310,1311
D isputes, labor, arbitration of (see A rbitration of labor dispu tes).
D ues in labor organizations o f railroad em ployees, forging, e tc., o f receipts for— W is
con sin ................................................................................................................................................................... 1307,1308
E m ery w heels, etc., in factories, blow ers for (see Blow ers for em ery w heels, e tc., in
factories).
E m ploy, notice of in tention to leav e, required—W isc o n sin .......................................................... 1310,1311
E m ployees, deception, u nlaw fu l force, e tc., in procuring— Illin o is............................................
624,625
Em ployees, lia b ility of railroad com panies for in ju ries of— N orth D a k o ta .............................
1107
E m ployees on public w orks, protection of— Id ah o..............................................................................
E m ployees, protection of, as m em bers o f labor organizations (see Protection o f em ployees
as m em bers o f labor organizations).
E m ployees, protection of, as voters ( see Protection o f em ployees as voters).
E m ployees, railroad, forgery, e tc ., o f receipts for dues m labor organizations of—
W isconsin.................................................................... ....................................................................................... 1307.1308
E m ployees, seats for (see Seats for em ployees).
E m ployees, street railw ay, protection of— Inclosed platform s— N ew H am pshire.................. 1104,1105
Em ployees, tim e to vote to be allow ed— O k lah om a............................................................................
1108
E m ployers, forgery, etc., o f letters b f recom m endation given by— W iscon sin ........................ 1307.1308
Em ployers’ liab ility—
M ich igan .........................................................................................................................................................
653
N orth D ak o ta................................................................................................................................................
1107
Em ployers’ liab ility—L im itation o f tim e for brin gin g suits for dam ages—M ichigan...........
653
E m ploym ent agencies, licen sing, e tc ., o f (see L icensing, e tc., of em ploym ent agen cies).
E m ploym ent bureaus, free public (see Free public em ploym ent bureaus).
E m ploym ent o f aliens on public w orks—
Id a h o........................................................................................................ ......................................................
New Jersey................................................................................................
1106
Employment of children—
Connecticut................, .............................................................................
Illinois.......................................................................................................
Indiana.....................................................................................................
Michigan....................................................................................................
Nebraska....................................................................................................
New Hampshire........................................................................................
Washington...............................................................................................
Wisconsin..................................................................................................
Employment of laborers on public works—Colorado.................................
Employment of women—
Illinois.......................................................................................................
Indiana.....................................................................................................
Wisconsin............................................................................................. .
Engineers, stationary, examination, licensing, etc,, of—Pennsylvania..
Examination, licensing, etc., of barbers—
Michigan....................................................................................................
Missouri......................................................................................................
Nebraska....................................................................................................
Examination, licensing, etc., of horseshoers—
Michigan..................................... ..............................................................
Washington...............................................................................................
Examination, licensing, etc., of plumbers—New Hampshire..................
Examination, licensing, etc., of stationary engineers—Pennsylvania___
Execution, etc., exemption from (see Exemption from execution, etc.).
Exemption from execution, etc.—
Colorado....................................................................................................
Tennessee..................................................................................................
Factories, accidents in—Indiana................................................................. .
Factories and workshops—
Connecticut............................................................................................. .
Delaware.................................................................................................. .
Indiana.....................................................................................................
Michigan...................................................................................................
Missouri.....................................................................................................
Nebraska....................................................................................................
New Hampshire........................................................................................
New Jersey................................................................................................
Pennsylvania.........•............................................................................... .
Tennessee..................................................................................................
Washington............................................................................................. .
Wisconsin..................................................................................................
233
636
645
652
1103
1105
, 1303,1304
1309-1311
230
645
1304,1305
1108-1110
655.656
901-903
1100-1102
656.657
1302,1303
1103,1104
1108-1110
..................
..................
223
452
646
..................
233,234
..................
235
..................
645-651
.............. 652-655,657
.............. 904,909-911
........ 1099,1100,1103
..................
1105
..................
1106
..............
1110
..................
454,455
.................. 1303,1304
1304-1306,1308-1310
INDEX,
1317
Law s relating to labor— Continued.
Page.
Factories, blow ers for em ery w heels, etc., in (see Blow ers for em ery w heels, etc., in fac
tories).
Factories, e tc., fire escapes on (see Fire escapes on factories, e tc .).
Factories, etc., inspection of (see Inspection o f factories, e tc .).
Factories, m ines, and w orkshops, bureau of labor statistics and inspection of— M issou ri..
909-911
F ire escapes on factories, etc.—
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
650,651
N ebraska......................................................................................................................................................... 1099,1100
W iscon sin .......................................................................................................................................................
1305
F lorida, labor law s o f.......................................................................................................................................
436,437
Force, u n law fu l, deception, e tc., in procuring em ployees— Illin o is............................................
624,625
Forgery, etc., of letters o f recom m endation given by em ployers—W isconsin........................ 1307,1308
Forgery, e tc., of receipts for dues in labor organizations of railroad em ployees—W isconsin. 1307,1308
Free public em ploym ent bureaus—
Illin o is .............................................................................................................................................................
625
M issouri...........................................................................................................................................................
903,904
Free text-books in public schools—W yom in g........................................................................................
1114
Goods, convict-m aae (see Convict-m aae goods).
Horseshoers, exam in ation, licen sing, etc., o f (see E xam ination, licen sing, etc., of horseshoers).
H ospital for m iners—W y o m in g ....................................................................................................................
1114
H ours o f labor—
C olorado..........................................................................................................................................................
223
Id a h o ...............................................................................................................................................................
439
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
645
M ic h ig a n ........................................................................................................................................................
652
M issouri...........................................................................................................................................................
909
N ebraska............................................................................................................................................................1102,1103
N orth Carolina.............................................................................................................................................
1299
Tennessee.......................................................................................................................................................
454
W ash in gto n ...................................................................................................................................................
1303
W iscon sin ....................................................................................................................................................... 1304,1309
Id ah o, labor law s o f...........................................................................................................................................
437-449
Illin o is, labor law s o f .......................................................................................................................................
623-640
Im m igration, labor, and statistics, bureau of— Id a h o ........................................................................
448,449
Im m igration , labor, and statistics, com m issioner of— Id a h o ..........................................................
448,449
Im portation, appointm ent and, of nonresidents as peace officers prohibited— Id ah o........
437,438
Inclosed platform s—Protection of street railw ay em ployees—N ew H am pshire.................... 1104,1105
Ind iana, labor law s o f .....................................................................................................................................
640-651
Ind ustrial training— W iscon sin ...................................................................................................................
1304
Industry, bureau o f statistics of labor and— New Jersey..................................................................
1106
Injuries o f em ployees, liab ility of railroad com panies for— N orth D akota..............................
1107
In ju rin g property, obstructing, etc., of railroads—Id a h o ................................................................
440
Inspection, e tc ., o f m ines—
C olorado..........................................................................................................................................................
223-230
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
441-443
Illin o is ................................................................................................................................................ 631-635,637-640
M ic h ig a n .......................................................................................................................................................
651,652
M isso u ri.............................................................................................................................................. 906,907,909-911
907
Inspection, m in e, bureau of m ines, m ining and—M issouri..............................................................
Inspection o f factories, etc.—
C o n n ecticu t.................................................................................................................................................
233,234
D e la w a re.......................................................................................................................................................
235
In d ia n a ............................................................................................................................................................
645-649
M ich ig a n ........................................................................................................................................................
652-654
M isso u ri..........................................................................................................................................................
909-911
R hode Isla n d .......................................................................................................................................
1112
T ennessee.......................................................................................................................................................
454,455
W iscon sin ................................................................................................................................... 1305,1306,1308,1309
Inspection of factories, m ines and workshops, bureau of labor statistics and— M issou ri..
909-911
Inspection o f steam boilers, etc.—
C olorad o.........................................................................................................................................................
223
Id a h o ...............................................................................................................................................................
439
Pennsylvania....................................................................................................................... 1108-1110
Inspection, regulation, etc., of bake shops (seeRegulation, inspection, etc., of bake shops).
Intelligence offices—
Illinois...................................................................................................................................
625
Maine..................................................................................................................................... 451,452
Minnesota............................................................................................................................
657,658
Missouri...............................................................................................................................
903,904
Wisconsin.............................................................................................................................. 1306,1307
Kansas, labor laws o f ................................................................................................................. 449-451
235
Labels and seals of labor organizations, protection of—Delaware......................................
Labor, agriculture and, bureau of—North Dakota.................................................................1106,1107
Labor, agriculture and, commissioner of—North Dakota..................................................... 1106,1107
Labor and industry, bureau of statistics of—New Jersey.....................................................
1106
Labor and printing, bureau of—North Carolina.................................................................... 1299,1300
Labor and printing, commissioner of—North Carolina........................................................ 1299,1300
Labor, and statistics, bureau of immigration—Idaho............................................................ 448,449
Labor, and statistics, commissioner of immigration—Idaho...............................................
448,449
Labor commission—Indiana.....................................................................................................
641-645
Labor,commissioner of (see Commissioner of labor).
Labor, commissioner of agriculture and—North Dakota.......................................................1106,1107
Labor, convict (see Convict labor).
Labor Day—North Carolina.....................................................................................................
1300
Labor disputes, arbitration of (see Arbitration of labor disputes).
Labor,hours of (see Hours of labor).
Labor organizations—
Arizona.................................................................................................................................
435
Colorado...............................................................................................................................
231,232
1318
INDEX.
Law s relatin g to labor— Continued.
Page.
Labor organizations—Concluded.
C onnecticut....................................................................................................................................................
234
D ela w a re........................................................................................................................................................
235
Id a h o .....................................................................................
440,441,444,445
T ex a s................................................................................................................................................................ 1112,1113
W isc o n sin ...................................................................................................................................................... 1307,1311
W y o m in g .......................................................................................................................................................... 1113,1114
Labor organizations of railroad em ployees, forgery, etc., o f receipts for dues in— W is
consin .......................................................................................................................... . ..................................... 1307,1308
Labor organizations, protection o f em ployees as m em bers of (see Protection o f em ployees
as m em bers o f labor organization s).
Labor organizations, protection o f labels and seals of— D elaw are..............................................
235
Labor statistics and inspection o f factories, m ines, and w orkshops, bureau of— M issouri. 909-911
Labor statistics, bureau of— C o n n ecticu t........ . .....................................................................................
234
Labor statistics, com m issioner of— C onnecticut....................................................................................
234
Labor, Sunday (see Sunday la b o r).
Labor, un sk illed , on p ublic w orks, pay of— In d ia n a ........................................................................
651
Laborers on public w orks, em ploym ent of— C olorad o......................................................................
230
Laborers, protection of w ages due (see Protection o f w ages due laborers).
L etters o f recom m endation given b y em ployers, forgery, etc., of— W isconsin...................... 1307.1308
L iab ility , em ployers’ (see E m ployers’ lia b ility ).
L iab ility , em ployers’— L im itation o f tim e for brin gin g suits for dam ages— M ichigan___
653
L iab ility o f railroad com panies for in ju ries o f em ployees— N orth D akota.......................
1107
L icensing, etc., of em ploym ent agencies—
M ain e................................................................................................................................................................
451,452
M in n eso ta ......................................................................................................................................................
657,658
W isc o n sin ........................................ ............................................................................................................. 1306,1307
L icensin g, exam in ation, e tc., of barbers (see E xam ination, licen sin g, etc., of barbers).
L icensin g, exam in ation, etc., of horseshoers (see E xam in ation , licen sing, etc., of
horseshoers).
L icensin g, exam in ation, etc., o f plum bers— N ew H am pshire........................................................ 1103,1104
L icensin g, exam in ation, etc., of stationary engineers— P ennsylvania......................................... 1108-1110
909
L ien s, m iners’— M issou ri................................................................................................................................
L im itation of tim e for brin gin g suits for dam ages— Em ployers’ liab ility— M ichigan........
653
Lockouts—
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
447
Illin o is..............................................................................................................................................................
624
In d ian a............................................................................................................................................................
642
M aine, labor law s o f..........................................................................................................................................
451,452
M anual training—W isco n sin ........................................................................................................................
1304
M anufacture o f cigars, regu latin gth e— W isconsin.............................................................................. 1304,1305
M ichigan, labor law s o f....................................................................................................................................
651-657
M ine inspection, bureau of m ines, m in in g and— M issou ri...............................................................
907
M ine regulations—
Arkansas..........................................................................................................................................................
221
C olorado.........................................................................................................................
223-230
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
441-443
Illin o is..............................................................................................................................................................
625-640
In d ia n a ............................................................................................................................................................
649,650
K ansas..............................................................................................................................................................
450,451
M ich ig a n ........................................................................................................................................................
651,652
M isso u ri..........................................................................................................................................................
905-909
P ennsylvania........................................................................................................................................ .
1110,1111
Tennessee........................................................................................................................................................
453
W y o m in g ........................................................................................................................................................
1114
M iners, hospital for— W yom ing....................................................................................................................
1114
M iners’ liens— M issou ri....................................................................................................................................
909
M iners, m ortgages on m in in g claim s to be posted before em ploying— South D akota.........
1112
M ines, accidents in (see A cciden ts in m in es).
M ines, an d w orkshops, bureau o f labor statistics, and inspection of factories—M issou ri..
909-911
M ines, bureau of— C olorad o..........................................................................................................................
223-230
M ines, coal (see Coal m in es).
M ines, com m issioner of— C o lora d o............................................................................................................
223-230
M ines, inspection, e tc ., o f (see Inspection, e tc ., o f m in es).
M ines, m in in g, and m ine inspection, bureau of— M issou ri.............................................................
907
M ines, w eigh in g coal at ( see W eigh ing coal a t m in es).
M in in g an a m ine in spection, bureau o f m ines—M issou ri...............................................................
907
M in in g claim s, m ortgages on , to be posted before em ploying m iners—South D a k o ta ___
1112
M innesota, labor law s o f..................................................................................................................................
657-659
M issouri, labor law s o f......................................................................................................................................
901-911
M ortgages on m in in g claim s to be posted before em ploying m iners—South D akota............................... 1112
N ebraska, labor law s o f .................................................................................................................................. 1099-1103
N ew H am pshire, labor law s o f .......................................................................................................................1103-1105
N ew Jersey, labor law s o f................................................................................................................................ 1105,1106
N ew Y ork , labor law s o f..................................................................................................................................
659
N onresidents, appointm ent and im portation of, as peace officers prohibited— Id ah o.........
437,438
N orth Carolina, labor law s o f........................................................................................................................ 1299-1301
N orth D akota, labor law s o f ............................................................................................................................ 1106-1108
N otice o f in ten tion to discharge required— W isconsin.........................................................................1310,1311
N otice o f in ten tion to leav e em ploy required— W iscon sin .............................................................. 1310,1311
O bstructing, in ju rin g property, etc., o f railroads—Id ah o.................................................................
440
O klahom a, labor law s o f..................................................................................................................................
1108
O rganizations, labor (see Labor organizations).
O rganizations, labor, o f railroad em ployees, forgery, e tc., o f receipts for dues in— W is
consin .................................................................................................................................................................. 1307,1308
O rganizations, labor, protection o f em ployees as m em bers o f (see Protection o f em ployees
as m em bers o f labor organizations).
O rganizations, labor, protection of labels and seals o f—D elaw are..............................................
235
Pay o f u n sk illed labor on p ublic w orks—In d ian a................................................................................
651
INDEX,
1319
Law s relating to labor— Continued.
Page.
Paym ent o f w ages—
A rkansas........................................ ................................................................................................................
222
C olorad o..................................................................................................................................... ..................
232,233
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
641,651
K an sas.............................................................................................................................................................
450
M issouri...........................................................................................................................................................
906
N ew J e rse y ......................................................................................................................................................1105,1106
T ennessee.......................................................................................................................................................
452,453
Peace officers, appointm ent and im portation o f nonresidents as, prohibited— Id a h o .........
437,438
P en alty for aid in g, etc., sailors to desert— M a in e................................................................................
452
P ennsylvania, labor law s o f ............................................................................................................................1108-1112
Plum bers, exam in ation , licen sin g, etc., of— N ew H am psh ire........................................................ 1103,1104
Preferred, w ages— M ichigan.................................................................
653
P rinting, bureau of labor and— N orth C arolina.................................................................................... 1299,1300
P rinting, com m issioner o f labor and— North C arolina...................................................................... 1299,1300
P rinting, p u b lic, to be done in State— Id a h o .......................................................................................
440
Procuring em ployees, deception, unlaw fu l force, e tc., in — I llin o is ........................................ ...
624,625
Protection o f em ployees as m em bers of labor organizations—
C onnecticut........................
234
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
440,441
T e x a s ............................................................................................................................................................... 1112,1113
W iscon sin .......................................................................................................................................................
1311
Protection o f em ployees as voters—
N orth C arolina.............................................................................................................................................
1300
O klahom a.......................................................................................................................................................
1108
W iscon sin ........................................................................................................................................................ 1310,1311
Protection o f em ployees on public w orks— Id ah o................................................................................
439
Protection of labels and seals o f labor organizations— D elaw are..................................................
235
P rotection o f street railw ay em ployees—Inclosed platform s—N ew H am pshire.................... 1104,1105
Protection < ’ w ages due laborers—
C oldrado..........................................................................................................................................................
230
T ennessee........................................................................................................................................................
453
W iscon sin ........................................................................................................................................................
1310
Public em ploym ent bureaus, free (see Free public em ploym ent bureaus).
P ublic printin g to be c >ne in State— Id ah o............................................................................................
440
Public schools, free text-books in— W yom in g........................................................................................
1114
P ublic w orts, em ployees on , protection of— Id ah o..............................................................................
439
P ublic w orks, em ploym ent o f aliens on ( see Em ploym ent o f aliens on public w orks).
Public w orks, em ploym ent o f laborers on— C olorad o........................................................................
230
P ublic w orks, pay o f un skilled labor on— In d ia n a ..............................................................................
651
Railroad com panies, lia b ility o f, for in juries o f em ployees— N orth D ak o ta.............................
1107
R ailroad em ployees, forgery, e tc., of receipts for dues in labor organizations of— W iscon
s in .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1307,1308
R ailroads, obstructing, in ju rin g, etc., property of— Id ah o..................................................................
440
R ailroads, safety appliances on—W ashington........................................................................................
1302
R ailw ay, street, em ployees, protection of— Inclosed platform s— N ew H am p sh ire................ 1104,1105
R eceipts for dues in labor organizations o f railroad em ployees, forgery, e tc., of— W isconsin 1307,1308
R ecom m endation, letters of, given b y em ployers, forgery, e tc ., of— W iscon sin ...................... 1307,2308
R egulating th e m anufacture o f cigars—W isconsin.............................................................................. 1304,1305
R egulation, in spection, etc., of bake shops—
C onnecticut................................ ...................................................................................................................
1099
In d ia n a ............................................................................................................................................................
645-649
M issouri...........................................................................................................................................................
904,905
R egulations, m ine ( see M ine regu lations).
R hode Islan d , labor law s o f............................................................................................................................
1112
Safety appliances on railroads— W ash in gto n ........................................................................................
1302
Sailors, penalty for aid in g, e tc ., to desert—M a in e................................................................................
452
Sales, conditional— C onnecticut...................................................................................................................
234
Schools, p u b lic, free text-books in — W y o m in g ......................................................................................
1114
Seals of labor organizations, protection of labels and— D elaw are................................................
235
Seats for em ployees—
F lorida.............................................................................................................................................................
436
N ebraska......................................................................................................................................................... 1102,1103
W iscon sin .......................................................................................................................................................
1304
South D akota, labor law s o f...........................................................................................................................
1112
Stationary engineers, exam in ation, licen sin g, etc., of— P ennsylvania...........................................1108-1110
Statistics, bureau o f im m igration, labor, and— Id ah o..........................................................................
448,449
Statistics, collection o f (see C ollection of statistics).
Statistics, com m issioner o f im m igration, labor, and—Id ah o............................................................
448,449
Statistics, labor, and inspection of factories, m ines, and workshops, bureau of— M issou ri..
909-911
Statistics, labor, bureau of—-C on n ecticu t..................................................................................................
234
Statistics, labor, com m issioner of— C onnecticut....................................................................................
234
Statistics of labor and industry, bureau of— N ew Jersey....................................................................
1106
Steam boilers, e tc ., inspection o f (see Inspection of steam boilers, e tc .).
Street-railw ay em ployees, protection of— Inclosed platform s—New H am psh ire.....................1104,1105
Strikes—
Id a h o ...............................................................................................................................................................
447
Illin o is .............................................................................................................................................................
624
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
642,643
Suits for dam ages, lim itation o f tim e for bringing— E m ployer’s liab ility— M ichigan..........
653
Suits for w ages, attorney’s fees in — Id ah o................................................................................................
447
Sunday labor—
C onnecticut...................................................................................................................................................
233
D ela w a re........................................................................................................................................................
235
M in n eso ta ...............................................................................................................
658
Sw eating system —
C onnecticut...................................................................................................................................................
234
In d ia n a ...........................................................................................................................................................
647
M ic h ig a n ......................................................................................................................................................
657
M issouri.......................................................................................................
904
1320
INDEX,
Law s relatin g to labor— Concluded.
Page.
Sw eating system — Concluded.
P en n sylvan ia...................................................................................................................
lli o
W iscon sin .............................................................................................................................................. 1304,1308,1309
Tennessee, labor law s o f ..................................................................................................................................
452-455
T exas, labor law s o f............................................................................................................................................1112,1113
659
“ T he exem pt cla ss” an d “ T he labor class in c itie s” — Civil-jservice law — N ew Y o r k ___
T im e to vote to be allow ed em ployees—O k lah om a.............................................................................
1108
Trade-m arks o f trade unions, etc.—
A rizo n a ............................................................................................................................................................
435
C olorad o..........................................................................................................................................................
231,232
Id a h o .............................. '......................................................................................... ......................................
444,445
W y o m in g .................................................
1113,1114
T rade unions—
A rizo n a ............................................................................................................................................................
435
C o lora d o..........................................................................................................................................................
231,232
C onnecticut....................................................................................................................................................
234
Id a h o .................................................................................................................................................... 440,441,444,445
T e x a s .................................................................................................................................................................. 1112,1113
W iscon sin ........................................................................................................................................................
1311
W y o m in g .......................................................................................................................................................... 1113,1114
T rade unions, etc., trade-m arks o f (see Trade-m arks o f trade unions, e tc .).
T rain in g, industrial— W isco n sin ..................................................................................................................
1304
T rain in g, m anual—W isc o n sin .................................................................................................................
1304
T ruck system —
C olorado..........................................................................................................................................................
232,233
K an sa s..............................................................................................................................................................
450
T ennessee........................................................................................................................................................
452
U nskilled labor, pay o f, on p u blic w orks—In d ian a.....................................................
651
V o te, tim e to, to be allow ed em ployees—O k la h om a..........................................................................
1108
V oters, protection of em ployees as (see P rotection of em ployees as voters).
W ages—
A rkansas.................................................................................................
222
C olorado...................................................................................................................................................... 230,232,233
Id a h o ................................................................................................................................................................
447
In d ia n a ............................................................................................................................................................
641
K ansas...............................................................................................................................
450
M ich ig a n ........................................................................................................................................................
652,653
M isso u ri..........................................................................................................................................................
906,909
N ew J e rse y ...................................................................................................................................................... 1105,1106
T ennessee........................................................................................................................................................
452,453
W iscon sin ........................................................................................................................................................
1310
W ages, attorney’ s fees in suits for— Id a h o................................................................................................
447
W ages due laborers, protection o f (see Protection o f w ages due laborers).
W ages, future, assignm ent of— In d ia n a ....................................................................................................
641
W ages, paym ent o f (see Paym ent o f w ages).
W ages preferred— M ich ig a n ......................
653
W ashington, labor law s o f .............................................................................................................................. 1301-1304
W eigh in g coal at m ines—
A rkansas.....................................................................................................................
221
Illin o is..............................................................................................................................................................
637
M ic h ig a n .............................................................................
652
M isso u ri...................................................................................................................................................... 905,906,909
W isconsin, labor law s o f .................................................................................................................................. 1304-1311
W om en , em ploym ent o f (see E m ploym ent o f w om en).
W orkshops,bureau o f labor statistics, and inspection o f factories, m ines, and— M issouri .
909-911
W orkshops, factories an d (see Factories and w orkshops).
W yom ing, labor law s o f.......................................................................................................................................1113,1114
M anufactures in M assachusetts, thirteenth report on th e annual statistics of, 1898.....................
384-390
M ediation and conciliation (see A rbitration, reports o f State boards o f).
N om e and Y ukon gold re g io n s............................................................................................................................
832-872
O ld age, provision for, b y governm ent action in certain European countries.................................
888
Present status o f em ployers’ lia b ility in th e U nited S ta tes....................................................................... 1157-1210
Prices, w holesale, 1890 to 1899.........................................................................................................................
237-313
Protection o f w orkm en in th eir em ploym ent................................................................................................
1-76
R ailw ay em ployees in Prussia, hours o f labor and of rest o f ..................................................................
877
R ailw ay labor in Ita ly , condition o f .................................................................................................. 401-403,1211-1261
State boards o f arbitration, reports o f (see A rbitration, reports o f State boards o f).
State bureaus of labor statistics, digest o f recent reports o f (see D igest of recent reports of
. State bureaus of labor statistics).
State reports on building and loan associations (see B u ilding and loan associations, State
reports o n ).
Statistical bureau of Denmark
Statistics of cities .. .........................................................................
Strikes and lockouts during 1898 i n France.........................................................................................
Great Britain and Ireland.........................................................
System of adjusting scale of wages, etc., in certain rolling m ills..
Trade associations in France............................................................
Trade unions in Great Britain and Ireland, 1898........................... .
Trend of wages from 1891 to 1900..................................................... .
Trusts and industrial combinations.................................................
Unemployed advisory board of New South Wales, reports o f .......
Voluntary conciliation and arbitration in Great Britain...............
Wages and hours of labor in Great Britain and Ireland, 1898___
Wages, attachment of, in France.......................................................
Wages from 1891 to 1900, trend of.......................................................
Wages of indoor domestic servants in Great Britain and Ireland.
Wages, system of adjusting scale of, etc., in certain rolling mills .
Wholesale prices, 1890 to 1899 ............................................................
Workmen, protection of, in their employment.............................. .
Yukon and Nome gold regions....................................................... .
604
916-1014
395-401
884-888
549-551
1272-1274
1274-1278
913-915
661-831
1081,1082
457-548
186-191
1080,1081
913-915
605-607
549-551
*237-313
1-76
$32-872
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