BY-LAWS OF THE GERMAN BUILDING TRADES EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION FOR STRIKE INSURANCE.

[Adopted at the twelfth general meeting of the German Building Trades Employers' Federation in Nuremberg, Mar. 22, 1911.]

1. Concerning the formation and the extension of the general protective fund of the German Building Trades Employers' Federation and its members, articles 27 and 29 of the by-laws of the federation provide as follows:

ARTICLE 27. The resources of the federation consist of the operating fund and of a specified share of the protective fund raised by the members of the federation as determined by special by-laws.

ART. 29. The general protective fund of the federation and its members is formed from and supplemented by extraordinary assessments. The general meeting is authorized to order such assessments and to fix the time limit for their payment. All members of the federation are required to make these payments. The property rights in as well as the disposition and administration of the protective fund are regulated by special by-laws adopted by the general meeting.

2. Property rights.-Of the contributions to be made by the members of the federation, 30 per cent become the property of the German Building Trades Employers' Federation and 70 per cent remain the property of the members of the federation. This amount or proportion (70 per cent) belonging to the individual members of the federation serves as a guaranty bond for compliance by its members with the resolutions of the federation.

3. Administration. The administration of both parts of the protective fund, of the 30 per cent as well as of the 70 per cent, is in the hands of the directors of the federation or of the executive board.

4. Investment. Both parts of the protective fund are to be invested exclusively in 34 per cent registered Imperial Government bonds.

Separate accounts are to be kept for the German Building Trades Employers' Federation as well as for each member of the federation.

5. Interest.-The interest on the shares of the protective fund may not be withdrawn but shall accrue to the individual shares as capita, which shall be invested in 34 per cent registered Imperial Government bonds.

6. Disbursement of funds.-The signatures of two directors of the federation and that of the director of the district or local organization are required for the disbursement of amounts from the shares of the protective fund.

7. Disposition of funds.-The shares of the protective fund may only be used for the covering of costs caused by labor disputes, especially for the granting of aid in the following manner:

The protective fund of the federation (30 per cent) may only be used in the case of general labor disputes, while the shares of the individual members of the federation (70 per cent) may also be used in the case of local labor disputes, provided, however, in the latter case, that the executive board approves it by a plurality vote with at least five taking part in the voting.

Withdrawals from the shares of the protective fund are to be supplemented within a certain period determined by the executive board, together with the director of the district or local organization concerned, as follows: Fifty per cent of the withdrawal must be made good by the member of the federation who is benefited by said withdrawal, and 50 per cent is to be made up from the interest of the shares of the protective fund of the federation and its members in proportion to the amount of such shares. 8. Forfeiture of bonds.-In case of withdrawal or expulsion of a member from the German Building Trades Employers' Federation said member must pay one-half of his share of the protective fund (the 70 per cent share thereof) as a nominal fine for the weakening of the German Building Trades Employers' Federation caused by his withdrawal.

The other half of his share is paid to said member one year after his withdrawal or expulsion after deducting all his remaining obligations to the fund.

If the withdrawal or expulsion takes place during a labor dispute affecting the member, or during a period in which, according to the opinion of the directorate of the federation, such a dispute was imminent, the withdrawing or expelled member must pay to the German Building Trades Employers' Federation the entire share of the protective fund credited to him as a nominal fine.

STRIKE INSURANCE IN SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES.

In order to meet the growing power of the trade-union movement in the Scandinavian countries which have international agreements for the payment of strike benefits the employers in those countries claim that it is necessary for them to organize collectively on an international basis. With that purpose the employers of those countries entered into an international agreement to organize among themselves what is equivalent to a mutual strike insurance association. According to a report from the Swedish labor office the association includes the principal employers' associations in the three Scandinavian countries. Sweden is represented by the Swedish employers' federation (Svenska arbetsgivareföreningen), the Swedish, manufacturers' association (Sveriges verkstadsföreningen), and the central federation of employers (Centrala arbetsgivareförbundet); ' Norway by the Norwegian employers' federation (Norsk arbeidsgiv erforening); and Denmark by the Danish employers' federation (Dansk arbejdsgiverog mesterforening).

The basis of contribution to the common fund from which payments are to be made upon the occurrence of a strike is the number of workmen employed by the respective groups of employers; the contribution or assessment amounts to 50 ore (13.4 cents) per week for each workman, but the maximum number of workmen to be included from any one country as covered by insurance must not exceed 80,000, and, as the maximum period during which benefits may be paid to an employer whose establishment becomes involved in a strike or lockout must not exceed five weeks, the total amount of payments made to the employers of any one country in any one year can not exceed 200,000 crowns (5×.50 × 80,000) or $53,600.

The benefits are payable, it appears, only upon the occurrence of a strike or lockout and upon special agreement or vote in each instance by all the associations concerned in the international agreement. Thus, presumably, there is no legal claim to compensation on the part of any employer; the support rendered to him is discretionary with the international association.

OFFICIAL REPORTS RELATING TO LABOR.

UNITED STATES.

2 vols.

Colorado.-State Inspector of Coal Mines, 1913, 1914. Denver, 1914, 1915. First and second annual reports containing information relating to coal production, including coke production; accidents; number of persons employed; number f persons rendered dependent by reason of fatal accidents; and number of days worked; also a directory of mines in the State, for the fiscal years ending December 31, 1913

and 1914.

1 Sociala Meddelanden utgivna av K. Socialstyrelsen. Stockholm, 1915, No. 7, pp. 775, 776,

Out of a total of 12,871 employees, the number of fatal accidents directly chargeable to mining operations in the year 1913 is reported to be 110, and the number of persons injured 354. The aggregate amount of compensation paid for death or injury was $33,593.63.

For the year 1914 there were 10,596 persons employed, among whom there were 538 nonfatal and 75 fatal accidents reported. Of the nonfatal 182 were classified as "trivial" (less than 5 days of disability) and of the remaining 356 chargeable to coal mine operations 144 were classed as "serious." Of the fatal accidents 71 occurred under ground and 4 on the surface. The number of persons left dependent by reason of fatal accidents included 40 widows and 92 children.

Kentucky.-Department of Mines, Annual Report, 1914. Lexington. 40 pp.

Contains report of the department for the year and an analysis of the mining laws of 1914, effective January 1, 1915. During the year there were in coal mining operations 53 fatal accidents within the mines, 2 in shafts, and 6 at the surface. There were 3.02 deaths per 1,000,000 tons of coal raised, and 1.99 per 1,000 employed persons. Falls of or from roof were responsible for 56.60 per cent of all fatal accidents; riding on cars or motors, and explosives and blasting were each responsible for 11.32 per cent of all deaths resulting from accidents.

The output of 270 mining companies operating 364 mines, employing when running at full capacity between 32,000 and 33,000 persons, was 20,168,150 short tons, valued at $21,391,144, or $1.06 per ton, based on the selling price of 90.86 per cent of total output. The amount of coke made and shipped from ovens in the vicinity of mines was 390,445 tons.

Massachusetts.-Bureau of Statistics. Fifth Annual Report on Union Scale of Wages and Hours of Labor in Massachusetts. 1914. Boston, 1915. 102 pp. Bulletin No. 107.)

(Labor

The material in this report is the result of a special inquiry relative to the time rates of wages and hours of labor prevailing in the principal organized trades in Massachusetts in July, 1914. The time rates of wages and hours of labor are those found to have been agreed upon between the employers and employees in most instances, although in some instances, notably the case of house carpenters, the standard schedules of wages and hours of labor are those fixed by the union practically, although there is no agreement in existence in the trade. The material relates to the following classified industries or trades: (1) Building trades; (2) domestic and personal service; (3) food, liquors and tobacco; (4) garment trades; (5) metals and machinery; (6) paper and pulp manufacture; (7) printing and allied trades; (8) stone working and quarrying; (9) teaming; (10) telephone service; (11) theatrical employment; (12) woodworking and upholstering; (13) miscellaneous trades; (14) Federal service; (15) municipal service; (16) steam railroad employees; and (17) street and electric railway employees. Both regular and overtime rates are shown and hours worked are classified by days of the week (Monday to Friday, Saturday, total for week, and holidays granted). Under each of the general industry groups are indicated special trades for which wages are in turn shown by localities. Wage data in the Federal service relate to the Boston Navy Yard, the Watertown Arsenal, and the Springfield Armory.

Bureau of Statistics. Fourteenth Annual Directory of Labor Organizations in Massachusetts, 1915. Boston, 1915. 58 pp. (Labor Bulletin No. 106.)

This report will form Part III of the forthcoming annual report on the statistics of labor for 1915. The directory is classified under four heads: National and international organizations; State, district, and trades councils; central labor unions and local councils; and local-trade unions. Under these heads are listed in alphabetical order the organizations included, for each of which is given the name of its secretary and his address. For central labor unions and local trade-unions the directory is further

classified by locality. The information contained in the directory relates to December 31, 1914.

New York (State).-Fourteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor for the 12 months ended September 30, 1914. Albany, 1915. 300, *359 pp.

According to this report the total cost to the State of New York of the department of labor was $614,070.65 during the fiscal year 1913-14, an increase of $219,334.32 over the preceding year, the bulk of which increase is attributed to the item of salary. Increased salaries were made necessary by the fact that the personnel of the department was increased from 196 on September 30, 1913, to 329 on September 30, 1914, an increase due very largely to the reorganization of the department, necessitated by the laws enacted in 1913. The department as now organized consists of the commissioner of labor as its head with seven subordinate bureaus: Bureau of inspection; bureau of statistics and information; legal division; administrative division; bureau of employ ment; bureau of mediation and arbitration; bureau of industries and immigration. There is also an industrial board, of which the commissioner of labor is chairman ex officio. The reports of this board and of three of these bureaus are given separately. The report of the bureau of factory inspection shows that 47,933 inspections were made in 1914 as compared with 51,479 in 1913, although the figures of 1913 are not quite comparable since they include inspections now made under the division of home work. The division of mercantile inspection within the bureau of factory inspec tion reports the following data regarding the employment of children:

NUMBER OF CHILDREN EMPLOYED IN MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS SUBJECT TO INSPECTION IN NEW YORK STATE.

During the year 717 proceedings were instituted for violations of the mercantile law, of which 8 were withdrawn and 51 dismissed; convictions were had in 611 cases. Of the 717 proceedings, 531 were for illegal employment of children, 40 for violation of the law prescribing hours of labor for women and male minors, while the remainder with the exception of 2 cases, related to sanitation and the day of rest provision. The number of labor disputes reported was lower than in any year reported for the period 1902-1914, excepting 1904; in both years, 1904 and 1914, the number was 124. But the lowest number of employees directly involved in any year during the period under consideration was found to be 20,090 in the year 1908. The largest number of strikes during the same period was 282, and these occurred in 1907, while the largest number of persons directly involved in strikes was found in 1913, being 286.180.

There were 17 strikes which, either by reason of the number involved or loss of working days, were responsible for 89.8 per cent of the aggregate working days lost because of labor disputes. Of these strikes 4 were unsuccessful, 6 successful, and 7 were partly successful.

The following table shows the causes of labor disputes for the year 1914, by results:

CAUSES OF LABOR DISPUTES, PERSONS DIRECTLY INVOLVED, DAYS LOST, and RESULTS, NEW YORK STATE, 1914.

In 51 disputes (30,828 employees) settlements were effected by direct negotiations, in 30 (25,655 employees) by mediation, in 5 (1,027 employees) by arbitration, and in 37 (11,491 employees) work was resumed either by the return of workmen on the employers' terms or by the displacement of the strikers by other workmen. The settlement of one dispute is not classified.

The total number of men employed in tunnel and caisson work in 1914 was 14,075 and the number of accidents reported was 7,014, of which 3,380 caused a disability of 1 day or less, 2,991 from 1 to 14 days, 599 over 14 days, and 44 resulted fatally. During the year there were in mines and quarries employing 7,888 men 1,277 accidents, of which 23 were fatal.

Part 2 of the report is a compilation of "Laws, rules, and regulations relating to labor in force January 1, 1915," and "Opinions of Attorney General concerning labor laws." Pennsylvania.-Department of Labor and Industry. Monthly bulletin. Harrisburg.

58 pp.

May, 1915.-Accidents reported to the department during March and April, 1915; First-aid treatment of injured persons; National Affiliated Safety Organization standard first-aid jar; Proceedings of the second annual conference on welfare and efficiency. Philippine Islands.-Bureau of Labor. Fourth Annual Report for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1913. Manila, 1913. 73 pp.

In 1913 the force of the bureau consisted of 23 officers and clerks, as compared with 21 in 1912. The total expenditures for 1913 were approximately 45,000 pesos ($22,500), as compared with 50,000 pesos ($25,000) in 1912. The operations of the free-employment agencies showed during the year that 8,300 had been placed, constituting practically 73 per cent of those registered for employment; in 1912 the per cent placed of those registered was 62. There were reported during the year 11 strikes, involving 2,880 persons, as compared with 20 strikes, involving 4,488 persons, in 1912. The report notes the passage of the Agricultural Colony Act in the islands on February 11, 1913, the purpose of which was to create a Government fund of 400,000 pesos ($200,000) to be used for the establishment of agricultural colonies on public lands in order to increase the production of rice and other cereals in the islands, to equalize the distribution of the population, and to afford opportunity for colonists to become land owners. The bureau gives somewhat extended tables on retail prices reported from 161 municipalities, representing 20 per cent of the total number of municipalities in the islands. No relative prices are presented. There are also presented certain wage