Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

contract shall be directed to be withheld for the use and benefit of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the territory contracting by the officer or person whose duty it shall be to approve the payment of the moneys due under such contract, whether the violation of the provisions of such contract is by the contractor or any sub-contractor. Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by the withholding of any penalty as herein before provided shall have the right within six months thereafter to appeal to the head of the department making the contract on behalf of the United States or the territory, and in case of a contract made by the District of Columbia to the commissioners thereof, who shall have power to review the action imposing the penalty, and in all such appeals from such final order whereby a contractor or sub-contractor may be aggrieved by the imposition of the penalty herein before provided, such contractor or sub-contractor may, within six months thereafter, file a claim in the court of claims, which shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide the matter in like manner as in other cases before said court.

"Section 2. That nothing in this act shall apply to contracts for transportation by land or water, or for the transmission of intelligence, or for such materials or articles as may usually be bought in open market, except armor and armor plate,

whether made to conform to particular specifications or not, or for the purchase of supplies by the government, whether manufactured to conform to particular specifications or not; provided, that all classes of work which have been, are now, or may hereafter be performed by the government shall, when done by contract for or on behalf of the United States, any territory, or said district, by individuals, firms, or corporations, be performed in accordance with the terms and provisions of this act. The President, by executive order, may waive the provisions and stipulations in this act as to any specific contract or contracts during time of war or a time when war is imminent. No penalties shall be imposed for any violation of such provision in such contract due to any emergency caused by fire, famine, or flood, by danger to life or to property, or by other extraordinary event or condition on account of which the President shall subsequently declare the violation to have been justifiable. Nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal or modify the act entitled 'An act relating to the limitation of the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed on the public works of the United States and of the District of Columbia, being Chapter 352 of the laws of the Fifty-second Congress, approved August 1, 1892, or to apply to work done under contracts made prior to the passage of this act.'"

THE RIGHT THE COURTS

MUST RECOGNIZE

[ocr errors]

T is no mob spirit abroad in the land that is commanding that constitutions be interpreted and laws construed in accordance with economic advance, public policy and the intent of the lawmakers, rather than in accordance with a lawmaking judge's private predilections or literal adherence to obsolete technicalities.

The protest is voiced by many of the ablest jurists in America, as well by those sneered at by newspaper servants of special privilege, as:

"College professors, sociologists, economists and specialists in service of the government all joined in the chorus of dissent from the prevailing decisions of the courts" -referring to the thoughtful, earnest men who took part in the discussions of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

It was a learned officer of the law who declared on that rostrum that if our courts are not ready to declare constitutional laws which common justice and high-minded public opinion demand, it is time something is done to those constitutions to make them adjustable to our needs.

It was the eminently conservative Springfield Republican that said of the inequitable decision of the highest court of New York on the workmen's compensation law: "It will have the probable effect of intensifying the popular feeling that property as against personal rights are receiving undue protection from our written constitutions under changing judicial interpretations."

In the calm and scholarly Atlantic Monthly we find one of the most notable magazine articles of the decade, written by

Harrison S. Smalley, and entitled "Nullifying the Law by Judicial Interpretation." And from those lucid and important pages we extract this passage, interpretative of the sober thought of this nation:

Its

The reasoning of the law, and hence the thinking of judges, is in a high degree artificial. course is determined by fictions, presumptions, precedents, technical definitions, and hence the interpretation of a statute by a judge may be far from that which one would give to it who endeavored, in a plain, common-sense way, to effectuate the purpose of the statute.

Judges are more intent on upholding the technicalities of the law, and on preserving the harmony of judicial definitions and dicta, than they are on accomplishing the social object contemplated by the legislative mind.

A second reason why judicial interpretation so often proves fatal to the effectiveness of an act is to be found in the fact that much modern legislation is designed for the regulation of industry; and in the further fact that, in principle and spirit, the system of law which prevals in this country, and which we inherited from England, is hostile to such legislation.

For the regulation of industry invariably means the limitation of personal and property rights in commercial enterprise, while it is the traditional policy of the law to preserve such rights inviolate.

The great body of the people clearly recognize that during the last century, and especially during the last generation, serious social and industrial evils have come into existence, to the injury of the general public, and they also plainly see that, to mitigate or destroy these evils, some distinct limitations must be placed on private rights of contract and property.

But our system of law has not followed the course of industrial evolution, or at best has followed it with slow and reluctant step. In the main our system of law is still lingering in the eighteenth cen

tury. Indeed, it has been so little impressed by the evils with which the public are struggling that it has modified little, if at all, its ancient declaration in favor of the protection of private rights against interference.

And hence judges still proclaim, as in the language of the late Justice Brewer, that "the protection of vested rights of property is a supreme duty of the courts," that, indeed, "the primary duty of the courts is the protection of the rights of persons and property"-having in mind, not the social or popular rights which are today struggling for recognition through government regulation of industry, but rather those strictly private, selfish rights which it is the object of public control to limit in the interest of the general welfare.

Such criticism of the courts as progressive thinkers make is simply enlightened modern understanding that if this nation is to live there must be recognition not only of the property right and the individual right-the only rights recognized by the courts for centuries, save in the vaguely defined "police power"-but of the newly known right superior to either, the social right, the right of the common good.

In the words of the great Italian historian Ferrero, this new order of the American people to their judicial servants is simply "the anti-plutocratic protest of eternal, universal, elementary morality, whose laws are instinctively comprehended by every soul not blinded by passion or perverted by vice."-Philadelphia North American.

WORKMEN'S INSURANCE IN

HE remarkable progress made in recent years by foreign countries on the subject of employers' liability and workmen's compensation is brought out by the first of two volumes comprising the Twenty-fourth Annual Report, just issued by the United States Bureau of Labor, Department of Commerce and Labor, entitled "Workmen's Insurance and Compensation Systems in Europe." This volume treats of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany. Volume II, now in the hands of the printer, relates to Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, and Sweden.

Although systems of insurance and compensation for cases of industrial accidents are the best known forms of workmen's insurance, many European countries also possess a wide variety of insurance institutions for the relief of distress caused by sickness, invalidity, old age, and unemployment. Besides these forms, maternity benefits for

IN EUROPE

wage-earning women and the systems of pensions for widows and orphans of wage earners are provided.

The country with the most complete system of workmen's insurance is Germany, where practically the entire wage-earning population is required by law to be provided with some form of insurance against industrial accidents, sickness, invalidity, and old age. Benefits are also provided in case of maternity for wage-earning women, while for some industries there is a system of insurance to provide benefits for the widows and orphans of wage-earners. Since a number of American States are considering the enactment of laws on employers' liabil ity and accident compensation, the compulsory accident insurance system of Germany is of especial interest to American readers, and in this field the German system makes an impressive showing. The employers defray the entire cost of the accident insurance, and it includes practically all the industrial

workers in the country. The most striking evidence of the wide scope of this system is contained in the figures for the operations of the year 1908. In this year the number of persons insured against accident was about 27,000,000, the total receipts were about $57,000,000, the total expenditures were about $48,000,000, and the amount of the reserve was $65,000,000. The number of workmen compensated for the first time in the year 1908 was 143,000. Separate laws provide a system of compulsory sickness insurance for wage earners in which the employers pay one-third and the workmen two-thirds of the expense. In 1908 the number of persons (not including agricultural laborers) insured against sickness was about 13,000,000, the receipts were $95,000,000, and the expenditures were $91,000,000. Besides these two branches there is a third national compulsory system relating to insurance for old age and invalidity, in which the employers and the workmen each pay equal amounts while the Imperial Government provides a liberal subsidy. In 1908 the number of persons insured under this branch was 15,000,000, the receipts were $68,000,000, the expenditures were $48,000,000, while the reserve amounted to $355, 000,000. The three systems of insurance have been in operation for nearly 25 years, and the experience under them has been so favorable that in response to a widespread demand the German Government is now preparing to revise and extend the system, and it is expected that in a few years even greater results will be shown than those now obtained.

A number of cities in Germany are now providing subsidies for organizations providing benefits in case of unemployment; this is usually done by repaying to trade unions and similar organizations a percentage of the expenditures they make for out-of-work, travel, etc., benefits.

In Austria the system of workmen's insurance is patterned closely after that of Germany and provides relief for cases of sickness and accident to workmen engaged in manufacturing and similar industries, though there is a separate organization for the mining industries. The expense of the accident insurance is borne nine-tenths by the employers and one-tenth by the workmen, while the expense of the sickness insurance is defrayed in the proportion of one third by the employers and two-thirds by the workmen. For the mining employees there is insurance for sickness, accident, and old age. One feature of workmen's insurance in Austria which no other country possesses is a national compulsory

system of old-age and invalidity insurance for salaried persons, such as clerical employees of all kinds; the expense of this is defrayed partly by the employer and partly by the insured person. In Austria the figures of the operation of the insurance system were also large; in 1907 the number of persons insured against industrial accidents was over 3,000,000; the total receipts were $10,500,000, the total expenditures were $11,800,000, and 33,500 persons received compensation for industrial accidents sustained in the course of their employment during the year. Equally large are the figures of the sickness insurance in 1907; the number of persons insured was over 3,000,000, the receipts were over $14,000,000, and the expenditures were about $13,500,000. The miners' insurance in 1907 included 145,000 persons; the receipts were over $3,000,000, and the expenditures were over $3,000,000.

While in Germany and Austria the workmen's insurance systems are highly centralized, in France the different types of insurance are provided by a great variety of institutions and regulated by a series of separate laws and decrees. The insurance of workmen against industrial accidents is regulated mainly by the law of 1898. The employer is required to provide at his own expense a specified system of benefits to injured workmen, and in order to protect himself he is allowed to insure his liability under the law in a variety of institutions, such as voluntary associations of workmen or of employers, private insurance companies, government insurance funds, etc. In some industries insurance against sickness is compulsory, but in the main the French Government has preferred to grant certain privileges to mutual sickness insurance societies, and those complying with certain requirements receive subsidies from the National Government. In 1910 a law was enacted providing for a system of old-age pensions, though a previous law of 1905 had already put into operation a system of relief for indigent and disabled aged persons. The activities of the French Government also extend to the field of unemployment insurance. Since 1905 the Government has made an appropriation of about $20,000 annually to encourage trade-unions and similar societies to assist unemployed members.

The situation in Belgium resembles that existing in France; at the present time the various forms of workmen's insurance in operation relate to distress caused by accident, sickness, old age and invalidity, and unemployment. The Belgian law of 1903 requires employers to pay at their own expense a specified scale of benefits to work

LAST YEAR OUR BUSINESS DOUBLED ITSELF ON RED DEVIL CUTTERS. This year we will give away 25,000 samples

We gave away 14000 Cutters to the Glaziers who sent in for samples to see if what we said was true.

[ocr errors][merged small]

For 3 Two Cent stamps, will send any Glazier a hand honed Genuine RED DEVIL Cutter, put up in a nice box, FREE. Try them.

SMITH & HEMENWAY COMPANY, 150-152 Chambers St., New York, N.Y.

Wilson Wonderful Remover "Lingerwett"

A REVELATION IN EFFICIENCY FOR STRIPPING BOTH PAINT AND VARNISH. NEVER FAILS ON EITHER. Double Strength, Double Duty, Less Labor. Remains Wet, Saves Remover, Washing Unnecessary. LINGERWETT is very different from all Removers. SEND FOR DESCRIPTIVE PRINTED MATTER. Manufactured Exclusively by

Established 1896.

WILSON REMOVER CO., 30 CHURCH STREET, NEW YORK. Remover and Cleaning Tools Only.

Associated with Dougall Varnish Co., Montreal.

men injured in the course of their employment. A government institution offers to workmen old-age insurance policies on favorable terms, while both the employer and the workmen have organized mutual aid societies to provide sickness insurance. The system of subsidizing unemployment insurance, now called the Ghent plan, originated in Belgium and has reached its greatest extent there; the cities, Provinces, etc., in practically every part of the Kingdom are now liberally subsidizing trade unions and similar organizations which provide systems of insurance for unemployed workmen.

In Denmark, the report shows that there are now in operation systems of accident insurance for the principal groups of wage-earners in the Kingdom, systems of sickness insurance through mutual aid societies subsidized by the State, and systems of old-age relief for those not able to support themselves. In addition the laws of 1907 and 1908 permit the local and national governments to subsidize trade unions and other organizations providing relief in case of unemployment not due to the fault of the worker.

In practically all of the countries just mentioned the accident insurance and compensation laws provide for the award of fixed sums to injured employees without the necessity of a lawsuit and without reference to the negligence of the workman, unless the employer can prove gross negligence on the latter's part. In practically every case the laws specify the amount of compensation to be paid and with but few exceptions the amount is based on the wages previously earned by the injured workmen. Compensation in the form of annuities is preferred to that of the award

of a lump sum, in fact the lump-sum award is given only in exceptional cases. It is usual also to provide that the employer must pay the expense of medical and surgica treatment as well as a small sum to defray funeral expenses.

The information contained in the report shows that in no case has any country after having adopted a system of compensation or insurance ever gone back to the liability system; in practically all of these countries there is a widespread demand for the improvement and extension of the existing systen s and in the largest of these countriesAustria, France, and Germany-government commissions are now at work planning for the revision and enlargement of the sys

tems.

WAGES IN FOUNDRIES AND MACHINE SHOPS.

The United States Census Bureau is following its usual custom of hurling stupendous totals at the public. It always carefully avoids furnishing illuminating analytical details, such details as would intelligently tell what is really taking place in the industries of the country. An analysis of its table on foundry and machine shop products discloses that in the year 1904 the average wage paid to employes in this industry was $556. In the year 1909 the average wage was increased to $605 per year, an equivalent of about 9 per cent. increase in wages. The value produced by each employe averaged $1,985 in 1904, and in 1909 this value had increased to $2,313 per capita, or an increase of 161⁄2 per cent, showing about 7 per cent. less increase in wages than in wealth produced-or an extra 71⁄2 per cent. of velvet for the boss.

GERMAN TRADE UNIONS IN 1910

BY HANS FEHLINGER, Munich, Germany.

HE General Federation of Trade Unions of Germany has just issued its annual report for 1910. Its rather late appearance is due to the time required to gather and prepare the mass of detailed information it contains. It shows the trade organizations are developing and prospering all along the line, despite the ceaseless endeavors of our enemies to put obstacles in the way of labor's progress.

At the close of 1909 there were 57 national unions affiliated to the General Federation; four of them ceased their separate existence by amalgamation with organizations of kindred trades, so that at the end of December, 1910, 53 unions remained. The total membership increased from 1,892,568 on January 1, 1910, to 1,922,944 on March 31, 1,991,416 on June 30, 2,069,356 on September 30, and to 2,128,021 on December 31. The average number of members was 2,017,298, as compared with 1,832,667 in 1909 (increase 184,631 or 10.1 per cent.)

The numerical strength of the individual unions varies greatly; the metal workers had the largest and the music engravers the smallest number of members (464,016 and 426 respectively). Seven unions with a membership of over 100,000 each had together 1,359,445 members (or 64 per cent. of the total number), and six of these unions are responsible for 73 per cent of the total increase in membership of all affiliated trade unions between the end of 1909 and the end of 1910.

At the end of 1910 there were 33 unions which included women and girls as members; the total female membership was 175,028, or 8 per cent of the combined male and female membership of all trade unions, compared with 5.7 per cent in 1905 and 1.8 per cent in 1892.

The total income of the 57 affiliated unions in 1910 amounted to 15,327,000 dollars compared with 12,031,000 dollars in 1909, the average income per member rose from 6.60 dollars in 1909 to 7.60 dollars in 1910. Initiation and reinstatement fees, regular dues and special assessments accounted in 1910 for about 93 per cent of the total income, 1.7 per cent being derived from interest and 5.4 per cent from other sources. The income per member varies considerably among the different trade unions, the more highly paid trades having as a rule the highest

dues and benefits. The average income for 1910 was 17 dollars per member in the plasterers' union, 16 dollars in case of the lithographers, 14 dollars in case of the printers, while in the retail clerks' union and the artificial flower makers' union the income averaged only about 3 dollars per member. In the building trades unions the income in 1910 was exceptionally high on account of special assessments levied in support of the members involved in a great strike.

The annual expenditure for all purposes which was 11,015,000 dollars in 1909 increased to 13,972,000 dollars in 1910; the cause of this increase was the enormous cost of strike and lock-out benefit, which a ounted to 4,860,000 dollars, compared with 1,900 000 dollars in 1909. The German trade unions expend higher sums for dispute benefits than the unions of any other country.

The maintenance and advancement of the industrial interests of their members are the primary objects of modern trade unions. But in addition, all unions have adopted systems of benevolent benefits which have helped to steady the organization, to prevent the members dropping away when the emergency which caused them to join the union had passed over. Moreover, benevolent benefits prevent sick, unemployed and overaged members from becoming a charge to public or private charitable institutions. In 1910, traveling benefits were paid by 42 unions; unemployed benefits by 43 unions; sick benefits by 51 unions; death benefit by 47 unions, etc. The number of unions paying "invalidity benefit" increased from 3 in 1901 to 8 in 1910.

The following table shows the amounts expended in 1909 and 1910 on benevolent benefits:

[blocks in formation]
« iepriekšējāTurpināt »