REPORT ON THE CONDITION OF FOREIGN LEGISLATION UPON MATTERS AFFECTING GENERAL LABOR. Prepared under the direction of the Industrial Commission by Advisory Counsel to the Commission. PREFATORY NOTE. It has been deemed wise to prepare this report upon foreign labor legislation so as to be identical in form and arrangement with the report on general labor legislation of the States and Territories of the United States, the object of the commission being primarily to compare our legislation with foreign legislation on the subject, topic by topic, so that it may be precisely seen in what matters the legislation of other countries exceeds ours, either in scope or in bulk, upon each respective topic; in what countries there is found legislation existing, whether different or similar, upon each topic, respectively; and, finally, in what countries the legislation of the States and Territories of the United States has made a beginning in matters where the legislation of other countries has not as yet followed. Each of the three cases is instructive, both to the statesman and to the general reader, and each fact has a direct bearing upon the advisability of similar legislation, or of not legislating, in the States of the Union, or, in cases to which the power of Congress extends, by Congress itself. As the object of the commission in making this report is not to state and cite the actual laws themselves, but rather to give a general view of the nature of corresponding legislation in other countries; and as, moreover, the time before the commission absolutely precluded detailed reference to the laws themselves, full use has been made of the very careful reports made by the Department of Labor in its recent monthly bulletins, under the direction of Prof. W. F. Willoughby. In some cases his digests have merely been rearranged for purposes of this report; in many cases, where full statement did not seem necessary, the analyses found in this report have been based upon them. The second general source of the legislation herein contained is the series of annuals prepared by the Belgian Government upon general labor legislation, the "Annuaire de la Législation du Travail." The citation of the law itself has nearly always been given, so that the REPORT OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION ON THE CONDITION OF FOREIGN LEGISLATION UPON VOLUME XVI OF THE COMMISSION'S REPORTS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, [Extract from act of Congress of June 18, 1898, defining the duties of the Industrial Commission and showing the scope of its inquiries.] SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of this commission to investigate questions pertaining to immigration, to labor, to agriculture, to manufacturing, and to business, and to report to Congress and to suggest such legislation as it may deem best upon these subjects. SEC. 3. That it shall furnish such information and suggest such laws as may be made a basis for uniform legislation by the various States of the Union, in order to harmonize conflicting interests and to be equitable to the laborer, the employer, the producer, and the consumer. HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY TRANSFERRED FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVISION OF SOCIOLOGY 1933 PRESERVATION MASTER رك |