History.
Under the general head of Labour Legislation all American statute laws
regulating labour, its conditions, and the relation of employer and
employé must be classed. It includes what is properly known as factory
legislation. Labour legislation belongs to the latter half of the 19th
century, so far as the United States is concerned. Like England in the
far past, the Americans 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 laws affecting the
employment of apprentices still exist in some form, although 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 foothold when
parliament wished to regulate the labour of factory operatives. The code
of labour laws of the present time is almost entirely the result of the
industrial revolution during the latter part of the 18th century, under
which the domestic or hand-labour system was displaced through the
introduction of power machinery. As this revolution took place in the
United States at a somewhat later date than in England, the labour
legislation necessitated by it belongs to a later date. The factory, so
far as textiles are concerned, was firmly established in America during
the period from 1820 to 1840, and it was natural that the English
legislation found friends and advocates in the United States, although
the more objectionable conditions accompanying the English factory were
not to be found there.
Early attempts to regulate hours.
The first attempt to secure legislation regulating factory employment
related to the hours of labour, which were very long--from twelve to
thirteen hours a day. As machinery was introduced it was felt that the
tension resulting from speeded machines and the close attention required
in the factory ought to be accompanied by a shorter work-day. This view
took firm hold of the operatives, and was the chief cause of the
agitation which has resulted in a great body of laws applying in very
many directions. As early as 1806 the caulkers and shipbuilders of New
York City agitated for a reduction of hours to ten per day, but no
legislation followed. There were several other attempts to secure some
regulation relative to hours, but there was no general agitation prior
to 1831. As Massachusetts was the state which first recognized the
necessity of regulating employment (following in a measure, and so far
as conditions demanded, the English labour or factory legislation), the
history of such legislation in that state is indicative of that in the
United States, and as it would be impossible in this article to give a
detailed history of the origin of laws in the different states, the
dates of their enactment, and their provisions, it is best to follow
primarily the course of the Eastern states, and especially that of
Massachusetts, where the first general agitation took place and the
first laws were enacted. That state in 1836 regulated by law the
question of the education of young persons employed in manufacturing
establishments. The regulation of hours of labour was warmly discussed
in 1832, and several legislative committees and commissions reported
upon it, but no specific action on the general question of hours of
labour secured the indorsement of the Massachusetts legislature until
1874, although the day's labour of children under twelve years of age
was limited to ten hours in 1842. Ten hours constituted a day's labour,
on a voluntary basis, in many trades in Massachusetts and other parts of
the country as early as 1853, while in the shipbuilding trades this was
the work-day in 1844. In April 1840 President Van Buren issued an order
"that all public establishments will hereafter be regulated, as to
working hours, by the ten-hours system." The real aggressive movement
began in 1845, through numerous petitions to the Massachusetts
legislature urging a reduction of the day's labour to eleven hours, but
nothing came of these petitions at that time. Again, in 1850, a similar
effort was made, and also in 1851 and 1852, but the bills failed. Then
there was a period of quiet until 1865, when an unpaid commission made a
report relative to the hours of labour, and recommended the
establishment of a bureau of statistics for the purpose of collecting
data bearing upon the labour question. This was the first step in this
direction in any country. The first bureau of the kind was established
in Massachusetts in 1869, but meanwhile, in accordance with reports of
commissions and the address of Governor Bullock in 1866, and the general
sentiment which then prevailed, the legislature passed an act regulating
in a measure the conditions of the employment of children in
manufacturing establishments; and this is one of the first laws of the
kind in the United States, although the first legislation in the United
States relating to the hours of labour which the writer has been able to
find, and for which he can fix a date, was enacted by the state of
Pennsylvania in 1849, the law providing that ten hours should be a day's
work in cotton, woollen, paper, bagging, silk and flax factories.
Employment of children.
The Massachusetts law of 1866 provided, firstly, that no child under ten
should be employed in any manufacturing establishment, and that no child
between ten and fourteen should be so employed unless he had attended
some public or private school at least six months during the year
preceding such employment, and, further, that such employment should not
continue unless the child attended school at least six months in each
and every year; secondly, a penalty not exceeding $50 for every owner or
agent or other person knowingly employing a child in violation of the
act; thirdly, that no child under the age of fourteen should be employed
in any manufacturing establishment more than eight hours in any one day;
fourthly, that any parent or guardian allowing or consenting to
employment in violation of the act should forfeit a sum not to exceed
$50 for each offence; fifthly, that the Governor instruct the state
constable and his deputies to enforce the provisions of all laws for
regulating the employment of children in manufacturing establishments.
The same legislature also created a commission of three persons, whose
duty it was to investigate the subject of hours of labour in relation to
the social, educational and sanitary condition of the working classes.
In 1867 a fundamental law relating to schooling and hours of labour of
children employed in manufacturing and mechanical establishments was
passed by the Massachusetts legislature. It differed from the act of the
year previous in some respects, going deeper into the general question.
It provided that no child under ten should be employed in any
manufacturing or mechanical establishment of the commonwealth, and that
no child between ten and fifteen should be so employed unless he had
attended school, public or private, at least three months during the
year next preceding his employment. There were provisions relating to
residence, &c., and a further provision that no time less than 120
half-days of actual schooling should be deemed an equivalent of three
months, and that no child under fifteen should be employed in any
manufacturing or mechanical establishment more than sixty hours any one
week. The law also provided penalties for violation. It repealed the
act of 1866.
In 1869 began the establishment of that chain of offices in the United
States, the principle of which has been adopted by other countries,
known as bureaus of statistics of labour, their especial purpose being
the collection and dissemination of information relating to all features
of industrial employment. As a result of the success of the first
bureau, bureaus are in existence in thirty-three states, in addition to
the United States Bureau of Labour.
A special piece of legislation which belongs to the commonwealth of
Massachusetts, so far as experience shows, was that in 1872, providing
for cheap morning and evening trains for the accommodation of working
men living in the vicinity of Boston. Great Britain had long had such
trains, which were called parliamentary trains. Under the Massachusetts
law some of the railways running out of Boston furnished the
accommodation required, and the system has since been in operation.
Factory legislation, 1877.
In different parts of the country the agitation to secure legislation
regulating the hours of labour became aggressive again in 1870 and the
years immediately following, there being a constant repetition of
attempts to secure the enactment of a ten-hours law, but in
Massachusetts all the petitions failed till 1874, when the legislature
of that commonwealth established the hours of labour at sixty per week
not only for children under eighteen, but for women, the law providing
that no minor under eighteen and no woman over that age should be
employed by any person, firm or corporation in any manufacturing
establishment more than ten hours in any one day. In 1876 Massachusetts
reconstructed its laws relating to the employment of children, although
it did not abrogate the principles involved in earlier legislation,
while in 1877 the commonwealth passed Factory Acts covering the general
provisions of the British laws. It provided for the general inspection
of factories and public buildings, the provisions of the law relating to
dangerous machinery, such as belting, shafting, gearing, drums, &c.,
which the legislature insisted must be securely guarded, and that no
machinery other than steam engines should be cleaned while running. The
question of ventilation and cleanliness was also attended to. Dangers
connected with hoistways, elevators and well-holes were minimized by
their protection by sufficient trap-doors, while fire-escapes were made
obligatory on all establishments of three or more storeys in height. All
main doors, both inside and outside, of manufacturing establishments, as
well as those of churches, school-rooms, town halls, theatres and every
building used for public assemblies, should open outwardly whenever the
factory inspectors of the commonwealth deemed it necessary. These
provisions remain in the laws of Massachusetts, and other states have
found it wise to follow them.
The labour legislation in force in 1910 in the various states of the
Union might be classified in two general branches: (A) protective
labour legislation, or laws for the aid of workers who, on account of
their economic dependence, are not in a position fully to protect
themselves; (B) legislation having for its purpose the fixing of the
legal status of the worker as an employé, such as laws relating to the
making and breaking of the labour contract, the right to form
organizations and to assemble peaceably, the settlement of labour
disputes, the licensing of occupations, &c.
Factory and workshop acts.
(A) The first class includes factory and workshop acts, laws relating
to hours of labour, work on Sundays and holidays, the payment of
wages, the liability of employers for injuries to their employés, &c.
Factory acts have been passed by nearly all the states of the Union.
These may be considered in two groups--first, laws which relate to
conditions of employment and affect only children, young persons and
women; and second, laws which relate to the sanitary condition of
factories and workshops and to the safety of employés generally. The
states adopting such laws have usually made provision for factory
inspectors, whose duties are to enforce these laws and who have power
to enter and inspect factories and workshops. The most common
provisions of the factory acts in the various states are those which
fix an age limit below which employment is unlawful. All but five
states have enacted such provisions, and these five states have
practically no manufacturing industries. In some states the laws
fixing an age limit are restricted in their application to factories,
while in others they extend also to workshops, bakeries, mercantile
establishments and other work places where children are employed. The
prescribed age limit varies from ten to fourteen years. Provisions
concerning the education of children in factories and workshops may be
considered in two groups, those relating to apprenticeship and those
requiring a certain educational qualification as a pre-requisite to
employment. Apprenticeship laws are numerous, but they do not now have
great force, because of the practical abrogation of the apprenticeship
system through the operation of modern methods of production. Most
states have provisions prohibiting illiterates under a specified age,
usually sixteen, from being employed in factories and workshops. The
provisions of the factory acts relating to hours of labour and night
work generally affect only the employment of women and young persons.
Most of the states have enacted such provisions, those limiting the
hours of children occurring more frequently than those limiting the
hours of women. The hour limit for work in such cases ranges from six
per day to sixty-six per week. Where the working time of children is
restricted, the minimum age prescribed for such children ranges from
twelve to twenty-one years. In some cases the restriction of the hours
of labour of women and children is general, while in others it applies
only to employment in one or more classes of industries. Other
provisions of law for the protection of women and children, but not
usually confined in their operation to factories and workshops, are
such as require seats for females and separate toilet facilities for
the sexes, and prohibit employment in certain occupations as in mines,
places where intoxicants are manufactured or sold, in cleaning or
operating dangerous machinery, &c. Provisions of factory acts relating
to the sanitary condition of factories and workshops and the safety of
employés have been enacted in nearly all the manufacturing states of
the Union. They prohibit overcrowding, and require proper ventilation,
sufficient light and heat, the lime-washing or painting of walls and
ceilings, the provision of exhaust fans and blowers in places where
dust or dangerous fumes are generated, guards on machinery, mechanical
belts and gearing shifters, guards on elevators and hoistways,
hand-rails on stairs, fire-escapes, &c.
Hours of labour.
The statutes relating to hours of labour may be considered under five
groups, namely: (1) general laws which merely fix what shall be
regarded as a day's labour in the absence of a contract; (2) laws
defining what shall constitute a day's work on public roads; (3) laws
limiting the hours of labour per day on public works; (4) laws
limiting the hours of labour in certain occupations; and (5) laws
which specify the hours per day or per week during which women and
children may be employed. The statutes included in the first two
groups place no restrictions upon the number of hours which may be
agreed upon between employers and employés, while those in the other
three groups usually limit the freedom of contract and provide
penalties for their violation. A considerable number of states have
enacted laws which fix a day's labour in the absence of any contract,
some at eight and others at ten hours, so that when an employer and an
employé make a contract and they do not specify what shall constitute
a day's labour, eight or ten hours respectively would be ruled as the
day's labour in an action which might come before the courts. In a
number of the states it is optional with the citizens to liquidate
certain taxes either by cash payments or by rendering personal
service. In the latter case the length of the working day is defined
by law, eight hours being usually specified. The Federal government
and nearly one-half of the states have laws providing that eight hours
shall constitute a day's work for employés on public works. Under the
Federal Act it is unlawful for any officer of the government or of any
contractor or sub-contractor for public works to permit labourers and
mechanics to work longer than eight hours per day. The state laws
concerning hours of labour have similar provisions. Exceptions are
provided for cases of extraordinary emergencies, such as danger to
human life or property. In many states the hours of labour have been
limited by law in occupations in which, on account of their dangerous
or insanitary character, the health of the employés would be
jeopardized by long hours of labour, or in which the fatigue
occasioned by long hours would endanger the lives of the employés or
of the public. The occupations for which such special legislation has
been enacted are those of employés on steam and street railways, in
mines and other underground workings, smelting and refining works,
bakeries and cotton and woollen mills. Laws limiting the hours of
labour of women and children have been considered under factory and
workshop acts.
Sunday labour.
Nearly all states and Territories of the Union have laws prohibiting
the employment of labour on Sunday. These laws usually make it a
misdemeanour for persons either to labour themselves or to compel or
permit their apprentices, servants or other employés, to labour on the
first day of the week. Exceptions are made in the case of household
duties or works of necessity or charity, and in the case of members of
religious societies who observe some other than the first day of the
week.
Payment of wages.
Statutes concerning the payment of wages of employés may be considered
in two groups: (1) those which relate to the employment contract, such
as laws fixing the maximum period of wage payments, prohibiting the
payment of wages in scrip or other evidences of indebtedness in lieu
of lawful money, prohibiting wage deductions on account of fines,
breakage of machinery, discounts for prepayments, medical attendance,
relief funds or other purposes, requiring the giving of notice of
reduction of wages, &c.; (2) legislation granting certain privileges
or affording special protection to working people with respect to
their wages, such as laws exempting wages from attachment, preferring
wage claims in assignments, and granting workmen liens upon buildings
and other constructions on which they have been employed.
Employers' liability.
Employers' liability laws have been passed to enable an employé to
recover damages from his employer under certain conditions when he has
been injured through accident occurring in the works of the employer.
The common-law maxim that the principal is responsible for the acts of
his agent does not apply where two or more persons are working
together under the same employer and one of the employés is injured
through the carelessness of his fellow-employé, although the one
causing the accident is the agent of the principal, who under the
common law would be responsible. The old Roman law and the English and
American practice under it held that the co-employé was a party to the
accident. The injustice of this rule is seen by a single illustration.
A weaver in a cotton factory, where there are hundreds of operatives,
is injured by the neglect or carelessness of the engineer in charge of
the motive power. Under the common law the weaver could not recover
damages from the employer, because he was the co-employé of the
engineer. So, one of thousands of employés of a railway system,
sustaining injuries through the carelessness of a switchman whom he
never saw, could recover no damages from the railway company, both
being co-employés of the same employer. The injustice of this
application of the common-law rule has been recognized, but the only
way to avoid the difficulty was through specific legislation providing
that under such conditions as those related, and similar ones, the
doctrine of co-employment should not apply, and that the workman
should have the same right to recover damages as a passenger upon a
railway train. This legislation has upset some of the most notable
distinctions of law.
The first agitation for legislation of this character occurred in
England in 1880. A number of states in the Union have now enacted
statutes fixing the liability of employers under certain conditions
and relieving the employé from the application of the common-law rule.
Where the employé himself is contributory to the injuries resulting
from an accident he cannot recover, nor can he recover in some cases
where he knows of the danger from the defects of tools or implements
employed by him. The legislation upon the subject involves many
features of legislation which need not be described here, such as
those concerning the power of employés to make a contract, and those
defining the conditions, often elaborate, which lead to the liability
of the employer and the duties of the employé, and the relations in
which damages for injuries sustained in employment may be recovered
from the employer.
(B) The statutes thus far considered may be regarded as protective
labour legislation. There is, besides, a large body of statutory laws
enacted in the various states for the purpose of fixing the legal
status of employers and employés and defining their rights and
privileges as such.
Labour contract.
A great variety of statutes have been enacted in the various states
relating to the labour contract. Among these are laws defining the
labour contract, requiring notice of termination of contract, making
it a misdemeanour to break a contract of service and thereby endanger
human life or expose valuable property to serious injury, or to make a
contract of service and accept transportation or pecuniary
advancements with intent to defraud, prohibiting contracts of
employment whereby employés waive the right to damages in case of
injury, &c. A Federal statute makes it a misdemeanour for any one to
prepay the transportation or in any way assist or encourage the
importation of aliens under contract to perform labour or service of
any kind in the United States, exceptions being made in the case of
skilled labour that cannot otherwise be obtained, domestic servants
and persons belonging to any of the recognized professions.
Licensed occupations.
The Federal government and nearly all the states and territories have
statutory provisions requiring the examination and licensing of
persons practising certain trades other than those in the class of
recognized professions. The Federal statute relates only to engineers
on steam vessels, masters, mates, pilots, &c. The occupations for
which examinations and licences are required by the various state laws
are those of barbers, horseshoers, elevator operators, plumbers,
stationary firemen, steam engineers, telegraph operators on railroads
and certain classes of mine workers and steam and street railway
employés.
Labour organizations.
The right of combination and peaceable assembly on the part of employés
is recognized at common law throughout the United States. Organizations
of working-men formed for their mutual benefit, protection and
improvement, such as for endeavouring to secure higher wages, shorter
hours of labour or better working conditions, are nowhere regarded as
unlawful. A number of states and the Federal government have enacted
statutes providing for the incorporation of trade unions, but owing to
the freedom from regulation or inspection enjoyed by unincorporated
trade unions, very few have availed themselves of this privilege. A
number of states have enacted laws tending to give special protection to
and encourage trade unions. Thus, nearly one-half of the states have
passed acts declaring it unlawful for employers to discharge workmen for
joining labour organizations, or to make it a condition of employment
that they shall not belong to such bodies. Laws of this kind have
generally been held to be unconstitutional. Nearly all the states have
laws protecting trade unions in the use of the union label, insignia of
membership, credentials, &c., and making it a misdemeanour to
counterfeit or fraudulently use them. A number of the states exempt
labour organizations from the operations of the anti-trust and insurance
acts.
Labour disputes.
Until recent years all legal action concerning labour disturbances was
based upon the principles of the common law. Some of the states have now
fairly complete statutory enactments concerning labour disturbances,
while others have little or no legislation of this class. The right of
employés to strike for any cause or for no cause is sustained by the
common law everywhere in the United States. Likewise an employer has a
right to discharge any or all of his employés when they have no contract
with him, and he may refuse to employ any person or class of persons for
any reason or for no reason. Agreements among strikers to take peaceable
means to induce others to remain away from the works of an employer
until he yields to the demands of the strikers are not held to be
conspiracies under the common law, and the carrying out of such a
purpose by peaceable persuasion and without violence, intimidation or
threats, is not unlawful. However, any interference with the
constitutional rights of another to employ whom he chooses or to labour
when, where or on what terms he pleases, is illegal. The boycott has
been held to be an illegal conspiracy in restraint of trade. The
statutory enactments of the various states concerning labour
disturbances are in part re-enactments of the rules of common law and in
part more or less departures from or additions to the established
principles. The list of such statutory enactments is a large one, and
includes laws relating to blacklisting, boycotting, conspiracy against
working-men, interference with employment, intimidation, picketing and
strikes of railway employés; laws requiring statements of causes of
discharge of employés and notice of strikes in advertisements for
labour; laws prohibiting deception in the employment of labour and the
hiring of armed guards by employers; and laws declaring that certain
labour agreements do not constitute conspiracy. Some of these laws have
been held to be unconstitutional, and some have not yet been tested in
the courts.
Arbitration and conciliation.
The laws just treated relate almost entirely to acts either of
employers or of employés, but there is another form of law, namely,
that providing for action to be taken by others in the effort to
prevent working people from losing employment, either by their own
acts or by those of their employers, or to settle any differences
which arise out of controversies relating to wages, hours of labour,
terms and conditions of employment, rules, &c. These laws provide for
the mediation and the arbitration of labour disputes (see ARBITRATION
AND CONCILIATION). Twenty-three states and the Federal government have
laws or constitutional provisions of this nature. In some cases they
provide for the appointment of state boards, and in others of local
boards only. A number of states provide for local or special boards in
addition to the regular state boards. In some states it is required
that a member of a labour organization must be a member of the board,
and, in general, both employers and employés must be represented.
Nearly all state boards are required to attempt to mediate between the
parties to a dispute when information is received of an actual or
threatened labour trouble. Arbitration may be undertaken in some
states on application from either party, in others on the application
of both parties. An agreement to maintain the _status quo_ pending
arbitration is usually required. The modes of enforcement of obedience
to the awards of the boards are various. Some states depend on
publicity alone, some give the decisions the effect of judgments of
courts of law which may be enforced by execution, while in other
states disobedience to such decisions is punishable as for contempt of
court. The Federal statute applies only to common carriers engaged in
interstate commerce, and provides for an attempt to be made at
mediation by two designated government officials in controversies
between common carriers and their employés, and, in case of the
failure of such an attempt, for the formation of a board of
arbitration consisting of the same officials together with certain
other parties to be selected. Such arbitration boards are to be formed
only at the request or upon the consent of both parties to the
controversy.
The judicial enforcement of labour laws.
The enforcement of laws by executive or judicial action is an important
matter relating to labour legislation, for without action such laws
would remain dead letters. Under the constitutions of the states, the
governor is the commander-in-chief of the military forces, and he has
the power to order the militia or any part of it into active service in
case of insurrection, invasion, tumult, riots or breaches of the peace
or imminent danger thereof. Frequent action has been taken in the case
of strikes with the view of preventing or suppressing violence
threatened or happening to persons or property, the effect being,
however, that the militia protects those working or desiring to work, or
the employers. The president of the United States may use the land and
naval forces whenever by reason of insurrection, domestic violence,
unlawful obstructions, conspiracy, combinations or assemblages of
persons it becomes impracticable to enforce the laws of the land by the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or when the execution of the
laws is so hindered by reason of such events that any portion or class
of the people are deprived thereby of their rights and privileges under
the constitution and laws of the country. Under this general power the
United States forces have been used for the protection of both employers
and employés indirectly, the purpose being to protect mails and, as in
the states, to see that the laws are carried out.
The power of the courts to interfere in labour disputes is through the
injunction and punishment thereunder for contempt of court. It is a
principle of law that when there are interferences, actual or
threatened, with property or with rights of a pecuniary nature, and the
common or statute law offers no adequate and immediate remedy for the
prevention of injury, a court of equity may interpose and issue its
order or injunction as to what must or must not be done, a violation of
which writ gives the court which issued it the power to punish for
contempt. The doctrine is that something is necessary to be done to stop
at once the destruction of property and the obstruction of business, and
the injunction is immediate in its action. This writ has been resorted
to frequently for the indirect protection of employés and of employers.
(C. D. W.)
AUTHORITIES.--ENGLISH: (a) Factory Legislation: Abraham and Davies,
_Law relating to Factories and Workshops_ (London, 1897 and 1902);
Redgrave, _Factory Acts_ (London, 1897); Royal Commission on Labour,
_Minutes of Evidence and Digests_, Group "C" (3 vols., 1892-1893),
_Assistant Commissioner's Report on Employment 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_: 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 (1896-97-98-99), 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, _Dangerous Trades_ (London,
1902); Cunningham, _Growth of English Commerce and Industry_ (1907);
Hutchins and Harrison, _History of Factory Legislation_ (1903);
Traill, _Social England, &c., &c._ (b) 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" (1892-1893, 3
vols.); Royal Commission on Mining Royalties, _Appendices_ (1894);
_Home Office Reports_: Annual General Report upon the Mining Industry
(1894-1897), Mines and Quarries, General Reports and Statistics (1898
to 1899), Annual Reports of H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories
(1893-1895) (Quarries); Macswinney and Bristowe, _Coal Mines
Regulation Act_ 1887 (London, 1888). (c) Shops: _Statutes_: 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).
CONTINENTAL EUROPE: _Annuaire de la législation du travail_
(Bruxelles, 1898-1905); _Hygiène et sécurité des travailleurs dans les
ateliers industriels_ (Paris, 1895); _Bulletin de l'inspection du
travail_ (Paris, 1895-1902); _Bulletin de l'office international du
travail_ (Paris, 1902-1906); _Congrès international de législation du
travail_ (1898); _Die Gewerbeordnung für das deutsche Reich_. (1)
Landmann (1897); (2) Neukamp (1901); _Gesetz betr. Kinderarbeit in
gewerblichen Betrieben_, 30. _März 1903_; Konrad Agahd, _Manz'sche
Gesetzausgabe_, erster Band und siebenter Band (Wien, 1897-1898);
_Legge sugli infortunii del lavoro_ (Milan, 1900).
UNITED STATES: See the _Twenty-Second Annual Report of the
Commissioner of Labor_ (1907) giving all labour laws in force in the
United States in 1907, with annotations of decisions of courts;
bimonthly _Bulletins_ of the U.S. Bureau of Labor, containing laws
passed since those published in the foregoing, and decisions of courts
relating to employers and employés; also special articles in these
_Bulletins_ on "Employer and Employé under the Common Law" (No. 1),
"Protection of Workmen in their Employment" (No. 26), "Government
Industrial Arbitration" (No. 60), "Laws relating to the Employment of
Women and Children, and to Factory Inspection and the Health and
Safety of Employés" (No. 74), "Wages and Hours of Labor in
Manufacturing Industries, 1890 to 1907" (No. 77), "Review of Labor
Legislation of 1908 and 1909" (No. 85); also "Report of the Industrial
Commission on Labor Legislation" (vol. v., _U.S. Commission's
Report_); C. D. Wright, _Industrial Evolution in the United States_
(1887); Stimson, _Handbook to the Labor Laws of the United States_,
and _Labor in its Relation to Law_; Adams and Sumner, _Labor
Problems_; Labatt, _Commentaries on the Law of Master and Servant_.