New volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica > Volume 30, K-MOR

Europe] LABOUR LEGISLATION 103
The shifts from bank to bank must not exceed 12 hours, of
which not more than 10 may be effective work. Sunday rest must
begin not later than 6 a.m., and must be of 24 hours’ dura¬
tion. These last two provisions do not hold in case of pressing
danger for safety, health, or property. Sick and accident funds
and mining associations are legislated for in minutest detail. The
general law provides for safety in working, but special rules drawn
up by the district authorities lay down in detail the conditions of
health and safety. As regards manufacturing industry, it is
important to note that the Industrial Code lays no obligation
on employers to report accidents, and that until the Accident
Insurance Law of 1889 came into force no statistics were available.
In Austria, unlike Germany, the factory inspectorate is organized
throughout under a central chief inspector.
Scandinavian Countries.—The latest legislation in these countries
is, as might be expected, in the two countries where manufacturing
industry has the widest scope. In Sweden the Factory Law was
amended in January 1901 ; in Denmark in July 1901. Until that
year, however, Norway was in some respects in advance of the
other two countries by its law of 1892, which applied to industrial
works, including metal works of all kinds and mining. Women
were thereby prohibited from employment: [a) underground ; (6)
in cleaning or oiling machinery in motion; (c) during six weeks
after giving birth to a child, unless provided with a medical
certificate stating that they might return at the end of four weeks
without injury to health ; {d) in dangerous, unhealthy, or exhaust¬
ing trades during pregnancy. Further, work on Sundays and
public holidays is prohibited to all workers, adult and youthful,
with conditional exceptions under the authority of the inspectors.
Children over 12 are admitted to industrial 'work on obtaining
certificates of birth, of physical fitness, and of elementary educa¬
tion. The hours of children are limited to 6, with pauses,
and of young persons (of 14 to 18 years) to 10, with
pauses. Night work between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. is prohibited.
All workers are entitled to a copy of a code of factory rules con¬
taining the terms of the contract of work drawn up by representa¬
tives of employes with the employers and sanctioned by the
inspector. Health and safety in working are provided for in detail
in the same law of 1892. Special rules may be made for dangerous
trades, and in 1899 such rules were established for match factories,
similar to some of the British rules, but notably providing for a
dental examination four times yearly by a doctor. In Denmark,
regulation began with unhealthy industries, and it was not until
the law of 1901 came into force, on 1st January 1902, that children
under 12 years have been excluded from factory labour. In
Sweden this 12 years’ limit has for some time held in the larger
factories, but now the scope has been extended so that it corre¬
sponds with the Norwegian law. The hours of children are, in
Denmark, 6J for those under 14 years; in Sweden 6 for
those under 13 years. Young persons may not in either
country work more than 10 hours daily, and night work, which is
forbidden for persons under 18 years, is now defined as in
Norway. Women may not be employed in industry within four
weeks of childbirth, except on authority of a medical certificate.
All factories in Sweden where young workers are employed are
subject to medical inspection once a year. Fencing of machinery
and hygienic conditions (ventilation, cubic space, temperature,
light) are regulated in detail. In Denmark the use of white
phosphorus in manufacture of lucifer matches has been prohibited
since 1874.
Italy and Spain.—The wide difference between the industrial
development of these southern Latin countries and the two
countries with which this summary begins, and the far greater
importance of the agricultural interests, produce a situation, as
regards labour legislation, which makes it convenient to touch on
the limited scope of their regulations at the close of the series. It
was stated by competent and impartial observers from each of the
two countries, at the International Congress on Labour Laws held
at Brussels in 1897, that the lack of adequate measures for protection
of child-labour and inefficient administration of such regulations as
exist was responsible for abuse of their forces that can be found in
no other European countries. “Their labour in factories, work¬
shops, and mines constitutes a veritable martyrdom” (Spain).
11 believe that there is no country where a sacrifice of child life is
made that is comparable with that in certain Italian factories and
industries ” (Italy). In neither country is there any limitation of
women s hours, but in Spain a step in this direction has been
taken by a law of 1900, which was to take effect in 1902,
in regulations for reduction of hours of labour for adults to
11, normally, in the 24. Hours of children under 14 must
not exceed 6 in any industrial work nor 8 in any com-
niercial undertaking. Labour before the age of 10 years and
night work between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. was prohibited, and powers
were taken to extend the prohibition of night work to young
persons under. 16 years. The labour of children in Italy is
sill regulated in the main by a law of 1886, but a royal decree of
°99 has strengthened it by classing night xvork for children under j
12 years as “injurious,” such work being thereby generally
prohibited for them, though exceptions are admitted; at the
same time it was laid down that children from 12 to 15 years
might not be employed for more than 6 hours at night. The
law of 1886 prohibits employment of children under 9 years in
industry and under 10 years in underground mining. It is in the
direction of fencing and other safeguards against accidents and
as regards sanitary provisions, both in industrial workplaces and
in mines, that Italy has made most advance since her law' of 1890
for prevention of accidents.
Authorities.—I. English: (a) Factory Legislation:—Abraham
and Davies. Law relating to Factories and Workshops. London,
1897andl902.—Redgrave. Factory Acts. London, 1897.—Royal
Commission on Labour. Minutes of Evidence and Digests, Group
“C,” 3 vols., 1892-93; Assistant Commissioner’s Report on Employ¬
ment of Women, 1893 ; Fifth and Final Report of the Commission,
1894. — International Labour Conference at Berlin.
Correspondence, Commercial Series (C, 6042), 1890.—House of
Lords Committee on the Sweating System. Report, 1891.—
Home Office Reports (Eyre and Spottiswoode): Annual Reports of
H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories, 1879 to 1901 ; Committee on
White Lead and Various Lead Industries, 1894 ; Working of the
Cotton Cloth Factories Acts, 1897 ; Dangerous Trades (Anthrax)
Committee; Do., Miscellaneous Trades, 1896-7-8-9 ; Conditions of
Work in Fish-Curing Trade, 1898 ; Lead Compounds in Pottery,
1899 ; Phosphorus in Manufacture of Lucifer Matches, 1899, &c.,
&c.—Whately Cooke-Taylor. Modern Factory System. London,
1891.—Oliver. Lead Poisoning. Edinburgh, 1891.—(6) Mines
and Quarries -.—Statutes: Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 1886, 1894,
1896, 1899 ; Metalliferous Mines Regulation Acts, 1872, 1875 ;
Quarries Act, 1894.—Royal Commission on Labour. Minutes
of Evidence and Digests, Group “A,” 1892-93, 3 vols.—Royal
Commission on Mining Royalties. Appendices, 1894.—ZTome
Office Reports (Eyre and Spottiswoode): Annual General Report
upon the Mining Industry, 1894-97 ; Mines and Quarries, General
Reports and Statistics, 1898 to 1899 ; Annual Reports of H.M.
Chief Inspector of Factories, 1893-95 (Quarries).—Macswinney
and Bristowe. Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887. London,
1888. (c) Shops : Shop Hours Acts, 1892, 1893, 1896 ;
Seats for Shop Assistants Act, 1899.—Report of Select Committee of
House of Commons on the Shop Hours Regulation Bill 1886 (Eyre
and Spottiswoode). (d) Truck :—Home Office Reports: Annual
Reports of H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories, especially 1895-1900;
Memorandum on the Law relating to Truck and Checkweighing
Clauses of the Coal Mines Acts, 1896 ; Memorandum relating to
the Truck Acts, by Sir Kenelm Digby, with text of Acts, 1897.
II. Foreign : Annuaire de la. Legislation du Travail. Bruxelles,
1898-1900. —Hygiene et SecuriH des Travailleurs dans les Ateliers
Industriels. Paris, 1895.—Bulletin de VInspection du Travail.
Paris, 1895-1902.—Congres International de Legislation du Travail.
1898.—Die Gewerbeordnung fiir das Deutsche Reich. (1) Land-
mann, 1897 ; (2) Neukamp, 1901.—Manz’sche Gesetzausgabe,
Erster Band und Siebenter Band. Wien, 1897-98.—Legge svgli
Infortunii del Lavoro. Milano, 1900.
See also Arbitration and Conciliation, Employers’ Lia¬
bility, Strikes and Lockouts, Social Progress (Hours of
Labour), Trades Unions. An )
III. United States.
Under the general head of Labour Legislation all
American statute laws regulating labour, its conditions,
and the relation of employer and employe must be classed.
It includes what is properly known as factory legislation.
Labour legislation belongs to the last half of the 19th
century, so far as the United States is concerned. Like
England in the far past, the United States in colonial
days undertook to regulate wages and prices, and later the
employment of apprentices. Legislation relating to wages
and prices was long ago abandoned, but the Jaws affecting
the employment of apprentices still exist in some form,
although the conditions of employment have changed so
materially that apprenticeships are not entered as of old;
but the laws regulating the employment of apprentices
were the basis on which English legislation found a foot¬
hold when Parliament wished to regulate the labour of
factory operatives. The whole code of labour laws of the
present time is almost entirely the result of the industrial
revolution which took place during the latter part of the
18th century, under which the domestic or hand-labour
system was gradually but rapidly displaced through the