members of a guild was generally in force until 1830, and was not wholly done away with at that time. The constitution of Schaffhausen, adopted in 1831, thus expressly provided for such obligatory membership. The tendency, however, was toward freedom. In 1832 Zurich and St. Gall promulgated ordinances in which obligatory membership in a guild was limited to certain specially enumerated handicraft trades, and that of St. Gall further limited this obligation by making it dependent upon the majority vote of the masters in the districts concerned. This decision, moreover, was not binding for more than 4 years. In the same year (1832) Thurgau repealed her obligatory guild ordinances. In the following year (1833) Zurich began the policy of relieving particular trades from the obligation of compulsory guild membership, which was continued until in 1837 all trades were free. Compulsory guilds were abolished by Lucerne and Soleure in 1834 and Basel Land in 1840. By 1860 guilds were free in Aargau. Compulsory guilds remained the longest in Basel Town. The constitution of 1847 of that Canton provided that guilds could not be made free by legislation, and compulsory guilds, therefore, remained until the adoption of the federal constitution in 1874.

For the most part the old guild ordinances were abolished without any laws being enacted to take their place, though there are some exceptions to this statement. All of these, however, and all vestiges of the guild system remaining were swept away by the first part of article 31 of the federal constitution of 1874, which declared that "the freedom of trade and industry throughout the whole extent of the confederation is hereby guaranteed." The only exceptions permitted by the constitution were those relating to the State monopoly of the manufacture of salt and tobacco and those resulting from customs duties and certain other federal taxes. Guilds and trade organizations, so far as they remained, were henceforth subject to the general law regarding obligations and duties of 1883.

There is no federal law specially regulating labor contracts. Such contracts are subject to the general law concerning contracts, except in so far as special provisions concerning this subject have been incorporated in the federal factory law and the protective labor and other laws enacted by the individual Cantons. (Willoughby.)

Germany.Germany differs from England and France in that the old guild system was never absolutely done away with, but lasts, with modifications to suit modern conditions, down to the present time. Indeed, the recent legislation of trade guilds resembles more closely the regulations of the medieval guilds than anything that can be found elsewhere, only that the element of monopoly is abolished and the guilds are made open to all persons possessing the proper qualifications. The edict of October 9, 1807, abolished serfdom in Prussia and made free the right to possess land. The circular of December 26, 1808, proclaimed the right of citizens freely to engage in such occupations as they desired. Exclusive privileges to conduct certain trades and industrial monopolies were gradually abolished by subsequent orders. November 2, 1810, a law was passed which made the exercise of a trade conditional upon securing a "patent" from the Government, but this could not be refused to anyone producing a certificate of good conduct. For certain trades conducted under dangerous conditions or where special knowledge was required, a special authorization was necessary. The law of May 30, 1820, however, removed this obligation of obtaining a patent.

This movement for the freeing of industry was consummated in 1845 by the enactment of the very important general labor code (Gewerbeordnung) of January 17 of that year. The character and significance of this act is described by M. Morisseaux, as follows:

This law was the first act the provisions of which applied uniformly to all the provinces of Prussia. It was the result of 10 years' study and investigation by an official commission and various public bodies. It confirmed and extended industrial liberty and removed in all the provinces of the Kingdom a large number of restrictions which were still contrary to this principle. It subordinated the exercise of a trade only to the possession of the necessary aptitude for its prosecution, to a fixed domicile, and to a declaration to the local authorities. In exceptional cases only, where special intelligence was required or the industry was dangerous to the public, were special authorizations required. The law enumerates these dangerous or unhealthy trades, and the special conditions regulating their prosecution. Finally, all the old industrial privileges, including those consequent upon the ownership of land, the right of granting monopolies which certain authorities still retained, the right to sell in the city and environs (Bannrecht) to the exclusion of strangers, the prohibition of the right to exercise several trades simultaneously, the monopoly of exercising certain trades until then reserved to the cities-all these privileges, all these rights, the remnants of old legislation, and already in part suppressed by the laws of 1810 and 1811-were completely swept away.

SEC. 3. STATUTES MAKING GENERAL DEFINITIONS IN LABOR MATTERS.

GERMANY.

Germany has a general code (Gewerbeordnung) of labor laws. The federal constitution adopted July 26, 1867, gives the central government of the North German States power to enact general industrial regulations, and the code so adopted was extended to the South German States as well, and in 1889 to Alsace-Lorraine. This code in general provided for a free industrial system similar to that of Great Britain, but has been somewhat limited since by the Government restoring power to the trade guilds. This regulation, says Professor Willoughby, was mainly due to the rapid growth of the factory system after the war with France and the corresponding decline in importance and dignity of the old handicraft trades and trade guilds. The law of July 18, 1881, just stops short of establishing the principle of compulsory guilds, but it gives voluntary guilds a very privileged position, having powers over matters such as apprenticeship, applying even to workingmen outside the guild and vested with authority to maintain aid funds, arbitration tribunals, trade unions, technical schools, etc.

A pass book is not required in Germany, but any workingman can demand a certificate, upon leaving the employment of another person, setting forth the nature and duration of his employment, his conduct, skill, etc. (See chap. 10, sec. 1.)

The provisions of the German Labor Code as amended July 1, 1883, applying to the labor contract are as follows (Grotefend Gesetz Sammlung, vol. 3, p. 640):

TITLE I.-General provisions.

SECTION 1. The practice of any trade is made free to all except where special exceptions or limitations are imposed by this code, and whoever, at the time of the adoption of this code, is entitled to practice any trade can not be excluded therefrom by the provisions thereof.

SEC. 2. The distinctions between town and country in relation to the practice of any handicraft trade is abolished.

SEC. 3. The simultaneous exercise of different trades or of the same trade in several places is permitted, and there is no restriction upon employees as to the purchase of goods made by themselves.

SEC. 4. Trade and merchant guilds have no right to exclude others from the practice of any trade.

SEC. 5. In the limitation of the practice of single trades which results from the custom tax and postal laws no alteration is made by the present law.

SEC. 6. This labor code does not relate to fisheries, apothecaries, the education of children, or instruction generally, nor to lawyers or employers, nor to insurance agents, railway labor, ferries, or sailors; nor to mining labor, medicine, drug stores, lotteries, stock raising, except so far as the above trades are, respectively, expressly mentioned.

SECS. 7 to 10 repealed generally all local labor restrictions, rules, or ordinances, local taxes or custom dues, local privileges or monopolies, etc.

SEC. 11. The right to the independent exercise of a trade shall in no way depend upon the sex of the person working, and women working independently shall have full legal rights, etc., whether married or unmarried, whether working alone or under the name of another person.

SEC. 12 relegates the law of labor by foreigners to the local laws and leaves untouched the regulations concerning soldiers and government employees.

SEC. 13 provides that the right to labor in any municipality, at any work, shall in no sense depend upon citizenship in that municipality.

I. General provisions:

TITLE II.-Stationary businesses.

SEC. 14. Whoever undertakes any independent stationary trade must abide by the local laws of the place where it is established, etc.

II. Trades requiring special license:

SECS. 16 to 54 relate to a great number of special trades, providing special regulations, etc. See in this report Chap. VII, Art. D.

TITLE III relates to migratory trades, peddlers, musicians, etc.

TITLE IV applies to open markets. Section 64 makes the selling and buying in yearly, monthly, or weekly markets free to all.

TITLE V relates to taxes.

TITLE VI relates to the trade guilds.

I. Existing guilds, sections 81 to 96.

II. Applies to new guilds, sections 97 to 104.

TITLE VII applies to apprentices and under workingmen generally.

TITLE VII.

This long title, sections 105 to 139, applies generally to the regulation of workingmen of all kinds.

I. General relations:

SEC. 105. The settlement of relations between independent employers of labor and their employees is generally made the subject of free contract.

SEC. 105a provides that employers can not generally work their help on Sundays or holidays, and sec. 105b specifies the holidays of certain professions.

SEC. 105c covers the exceptions of works which by necessity or obvious interest must be conducted continuously and the following sections down to 105i include the special provisions for Sunday and holiday work.

SEC. 106. Heads of industries who have not acquired the rights of a freeman of the town, until they do so, are prohibited from the employment or instruction of workmen under the age of 18; but the police authorities have authority to release them from this restriction.

SEC. 107. Minors as a general rule can only be employed when furnished with pass books to be provided by the employer. He is required to keep them during employment and return them upon discharge with the proper entries. The books should be delivered back to the father or guardian of the minor if he or she be under the age of 16. The foregoing provisions have no application to children who are still of an age for compulsory schooling.

SEC. 108 provides that this pass book is furnished by the police authorities of the workman's last permanent place of residence.

SEC. 109 provides for the issuing of a new pass book in place of one used up, lost, or destroyed.

SEC. 110. The pass book must contain the name, place, year and day of birth of the worker, the name and last place of residence of his father or guardian, and the signature of the workman.

SEC. 111 provides that upon entering employment the employer must enter in the pass book the date of beginning the occupation, the nature of the employment, and

at the end the date of discharge and the nature of the latest employment if different. These entries must be made with ink, and no private mark must be made which is to be construed favorably or unfavorably to the character of the workman, and the entry of fines imposed and the entry of any opinion as to the conduct or accomplishment of the workman in or upon the pass book is also forbidden, and by sec. 112 the workman in such case or in case of destruction may have a new pass book at the cost of the employer.

SEC. 113. The workman upon his departure may require testimony as to the nature and length of his employment, and also, if desired, as to his conduct and work performed, and the employer is forbidden to make any marks with the object of varying

such statements.

SEC. 115. Employers of labor are required to pay the wages of their workmen in lawful money in cash. They may not furnish their employees with any goods upon credit. (See also Art. C, sec. 3.) Nevertheless certain exceptions are allowed, as by the law of 1891. (See Art. C, secs. 3 and 4.) Wages must not be paid in drinking saloons, and all contracts in contravention of these provisions are void.

SEC. 119a. The holding back of wages by the employer in order to insure the proper completion of an object or injury done to tools or materials, etc., must not exceed, in the case of single wage payments, one-fourth of the amount due, or, in continuous employment, the amount of the average week's pay. By statutory provision a municipality or a wider combination of municipalities may provide either for all labor or for specified trades (1) that wages and payments on account of wages must follow at fixed intervals, which shall not exceed one month nor be shorter than one week. (See the law of 1891 as set forth in Art. C, sec. 1, providing that in the case of contract work tools and materials may be furnished at more than their cost price, provided that the price has been previously agreed upon and does not exceed that usually charged in the neighborhood. This higher price is permitted so that the workingmen will be prevented from selling the tools or materials to other parties at a profit.

SEC. 120 provides for school attendance of children under 18, imposing the duty on the employers to see that the laws are complied with. (See Art. B, sec. 8.) SEC. 120a provides for the general sanitary regulations of private employment. (See Art. D.)

II. The rules of journeymen and helpers or assistants:

SEC. 121 provides that both journeymen and assistants are under the duty in a general way of obeying the orders of their employer as to the work given them, but not to domestic service.

SECS. 122 to 124b apply to the termination of the contract of labor and the damages resulting therefrom. (See the following section.) In a general way the damages are limited to one week, and payment of damages discharges the labor contract entirely. III. Sections 126 to 133 apply to apprentices. (See Chap. VIII, Art. A.)

IIIa. Sections 133a to 133e apply to the relations between trade officials, workmasters, and experts or technicians. It is difficult to know precisely what is meant by the words thus literally translated.

IV. Relates to factory workmen:

SEC. 134 provides that the provisions of sections 121 to 125, relating generally to the termination of employment, etc. (see above and sec. 5 following.), shall apply to factory employees, or when such employees are apprentices the provisions of sections 126 to 133. The heads of factories in which, as a rule, at least 20 workmen are employed are forbidden to withhold as a penalty for leaving work in breach of contract wages for a greater period than a week. The provisions of section 124b above do not apply to factory laborers.

SEC. 135a. For each factory in which, as a rule, at least 20 workmen are employed rules are to be provided and posted, etc. (See Chap. 4, sec. 1.)

SECS. 135 to 139a provide for the hours of industry of women and children, etc., in factories. (See Art. B, below.)

V. The enforcement and supervision of the following provisions is generally left to the police or municipal authorities.

TITLE VIII applies to benefit societies, aid funds, etc.

TITLE IX provides for the modification of the general law by municipal or local authorities.

TITLE X sets forth the penalties.

The German Civil Code defines the labor contract as follows:

§ 611. By the contract of hiring of services the person who promises service is obliged to render the promised service, and the other party is obliged to the payment of the salary or wages agreed upon. All nature of services may be the subject of the service contract.

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§ 612. It is understood that wages are agreed upon to be paid in any case where one has reason to suppose that the service would not have been rendered without payment. If the amount is not fixed it is considered to be the usual wages.

§ 613. In case of doubt, the one obliged to render the services must render them personally, and, similarly, the right to the service may not be assigned to others.

§ 614. Wages must be paid after the services rendered. If the latter is fixed by periods of time it must be paid at the end of each period of time.

§ 615. If the person entitled to the services neglects or makes it impossible to have them rendered, the employee may, nevertheless, require the wages agreed upon without being obliged to furnish the services at a later date; but he must allow for any expense spared him by reason of such failure to render the service, or of any wages received elsewhere.

$616, to the same effect, provides that the employee does not lose his right to wages if he is prevented from rendering the services by the person employing him, without his own fault, for brief periods of time, but must, nevertheless, deduct the amount of sickness or accident insurance received, incurred under the State insurance law.

§ 617. In case of permanent service at the employer's domicile, the latter must furnish medical attendance for six weeks in case of illness, but not beyond the period of expiration of the term of service, unless the illness was caused by the negligence, etc., of the employee.

$618. The employer must organize and maintain the necessary installation or tools required by the employment, and regulate the conditions of service so that the employee is protected against danger to his life or health, so far as the nature of the service permits; and in case of domestic service the employer has a similar obligation, both as to life or health and morality and religion. These obligations may not be abolished or contracted out by the parties.

§ 620. If the length of the service is not determined or determinable by its nature, either party may put an end to it at will, subject to certain conditions. (See sec. 5.)

THE LABOR CONTRACT.

Title VII of the German Code relates to the contract of labor, and it is somewhat difficult for a student of English law to distinguish the cases to which this title applies, or the previous title of the hiring of services. Title VII is as follows:

§ 631. By the labor contract the employee is bound for the performance of the work agreed upon, and the master is bound to the payment of the wages agreed upon. The object of the labor contract may be either the repairing or changing of a thing, or creation of a thing, or any other result of the letting of services. § 632 as to wages is the same as § 612 in the contract of hiring of services, quoted above.

§ 633. The laborer or undertaker of the work is bound to do it in such sort that the qualities promised shall not be injured by defects which diminish its value or its use for the work intended. Otherwise the master may require such faults remedied, or may remedy them himself and be reimbursed by his employee. $ 634 specifies the procedure of such remedy of defects, with provision for rescission of a