Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

CURRENT NOTES OF INTEREST TO LABORSource: Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 14, No. 5 (MAY, 1922), pp. 228-233Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of LaborStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41828243 .

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CURRENT NOTES OF INTEREST TO LABOR.

Howat Cases Dismissed by United States Supreme Court.

TTIE Supreme Court of the United States recently had before it two 1 cases on writs of error to the Supreme Court of Kansas seeking a rûling on the constitutionality of the law of that State establishing a court of industrial relations. Plaintiffs in error, Alexander Howat and others, had been sentenced to confinement in i ail until they should testify under a subpoena before the court named, and afterwards were sentenced to one year's imprisonment for contempt, having violated an injunction issued by the District Court of Crawford County forbid- ding the calling of a strike in violation of the industrial relations law. These cases were joined, and a decision of March 13, 1922, dismissed them on the ground that the questions involved were disposed of by the court of Kansas on principles of general and not Federal law, so that a Federal court had no jurisdiction. Mr. Chief Justice Taft delivered the opinion of the court.

Extension of the Training of Foremen in the Paper Industry.1 "TTHE success of the experiment in the training of foremen carried * on by the paper industry and the Federal Board for Vocational Education at Canton, N. C., nas resulted in similar instruction being given in one of the paper mills at Erie, Pa., while large paper mills in -New York, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin are ready to follow suit. Preparation for this unusual kind of technical instruction was begun by the paper industry about three years ago. The lack of suitable textbooks at once became apparent and a fund of $40,000 was raised by the American and the Canadian paper and pulp associations to enable the technical associations of the United States and Canada to furnish such texts. The first two of these books comprising preparatory instruction in the basic sciences are now in use in some of the mills, and a third dealing with the actual work on pulp will be issued soon.

First- Aid Training for Officers of the Merchant Marine.

AN AMENDMENT to the general rules and regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors which has recently been ap-

Ï [ealth roved by

Èeports, the Secretary

March 31, oi Commerce

1922 (p. 758), provides,

that according "no candidate

to Public for [ealth Èeports, March 31, 1922 (p. 758), that "no candidate for

original license as master, mate, pilot, or engineer shall be examined unless he has completed a course of instruction in ' first aid' approved 1 The Paper and Pulp Industry, Mar. 15, 1922, p. 5.

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CURRENT NOTES OF INTEREST TO LABOR. 229

by the United States Public Health Service and has passed an oral examination based on a Manual on Ship Sanitation and First Aid recently prepared by the Public Health Service in cooperation with the Seamen's Church Institute of New York City."

It is believed that this provision will be of the greatest service to officers and men on vessels which do not carry a ship's doctor and which lack facilities for the care of the sick and injured. Ignorance of the elementary rules of sanitation and hygiene are frequently to blame for poor sanitary conditions on shipboard, and it is extremely adyisable from both a humanitarian and economic viewpoint that thè sanitary conditions should be improved, since illness among mem- bers of the crew which could have been avoided by simple medical treatment or the application of fundamental principles of sanitation is often the cause of vessels having to run shorthanded.

Course in Industrial Lighting for Factory Inspectors in Massachusetts.

TTIROUGH the courtesy of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- * nology, a short intensive course in industrial lighting has been

f;iven abor and for

industries. the benefit

The of industrial

purpose of inspectors the course

in was

the to

department provide better

of abor and industries. The purpose of the course was to provide better equipment for the inspectors in applying the new lighting code when it goes into operation. A tentative lighting code has been published by the department and is now available for distribution. A hearing on the question of adopting a mandatory code will be held on May 16.

Fair Wages for Prisoners in New York State Prisons.

IMPROVEMENT in conditions existing in the State prisons is looked * for as a result of the recent passage 1 by the New York Assembly of three bills affecting labor and production within the prisons. Accord- ing to the provisions of the first bill, fair wages will be paid to prisoners; Inmates now receiving on an average 1£ cents a day for their work will under the new law receive all profits obtained from their produc- tion minus the cost of their maintenance. The second bill provides for the creation of a bureau of standards whose duty it will be "to work out a system of standardization of production in the prisons whereby the several State departments will be able to make purchases from the penal institutions to meet their needs." Under the third measure a department of purchase will be organized which will have charge of all purchasing for the State and will supply all available needs from the prison shops if possible.

It is believed that the reforms effected b j this new legislation will encourage the prisoners -to produce capacity output each day and eliminate the practice of "ca canny" which has been growing more common. The new statutes provide an additional incentive to output by making the inmate's family the first beneficiary of the profits of his labor. 1 Christian Science Monitor, Mar. 18, 1922, p. 4.

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230 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW.

Workers' College at Katonah, N. Y.1

DROOKWOOD, the first resident college for workers in this coun- try (see Monthly Labor Review, June, 1921, p. 193), and

located at Katonah, N. Y., has been in operation for some months. This experiment in adult education is being carried out under the supervision of two committees, one of whicn consists of the presi- dents of the federations of labor of several States and representatives of several trade-unions, including the teachers' union of New York City, and endeavors to enlist the cooperation of labor organizations in the work and to see that the courses offered are applicable to the needs of the labor movement. The other committee, composed of professors from Columbia University, the University of Pennsyl- vania, and Amherst College, is an advisory body which assists in so planning the courses offered as to make them valuable to the class of students for whom they are intended.

About 20 students, 7 of whom are women, are in attendance this year. This number is all that can be accommodated at present. The students, most of whom are from positions of some sort m labor organizations, are older than those in colleges generally, the average age being 25 years. The government of the college is democratic, each, member - student or teacher - having one vote in its manage- ment. All students are carrying the same work during the first year of the operation of the college, namely, history of civilization, eco- nomics, statistics, English literature, grammar for those who need it, and a course in debate and argumentation. Once a week a debate is held and the following day a period of two hours is devoted to criti- cism of the " effectiveness of tne argument and the soundness of pre- sentation." The plan for the second year's work is not yet completed, but the program will likely include courses in labor tactics, social psychology, some science, advanced statistics, and farm and labor journalism.

Canadian Coal Statistics, 1 92 1 .3

A CCORDING to a report on coal statistics in Canada during the ** year ending December, 1921, issued by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, the total output of coal for that period was nearly 15,000,000 short tons valued at $74,273,000 or $4.97 per ton.

The 1921 output was 88 per cent of that of 1920, which was 16,900,- 000 tons. The coal production of last year included 96,964 tons of anthracite, 1,627,800 tons of bituminous, and 3,217,654 tons of lignite.

The amount of Canadian coal exported in 1921 was 1,987,276 short tons and in 1920, 2,558,223 short tons. During 1921, 18,102,620 short tons of coal were imported into Canada, about 84 per cent of the amount imported the previous year.. 1 Bulletin of the Consumers' League of New York, March, 1922, p. 2. 2 The Labor Gazette (Canada). . Ottawa, p. 323. March, 1922.

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CURRENT NOTES OF INTEREST TO LABOR. 231

Introduction of Profit Sharing in the Krupp Works at Essen.1

VřTíIILE ™ the participation of workmen in the profits of their em- ™ ployer, through bonuses or holdings of small blocks of stock,

is not unknown in Germany, although it can not be said to be com- mon, the importance of the firm of Krupp of Essen (Fried. Krupp Aktien Gesellschaft) attaches unusual interest to the announcement that its employees are to be given opportunity to become stock- holders in the enterprise.

The Krupp company, compelled after the war to abandon the manufacture of arms, has turned its energies to the manufacture of a wide range of commodities. Until 1921 it had paid no dividend fór three years. In 1921 it declared a .dividend of 6 per cent and in- creased its capital by 250,000,000 marks ($59,500,000, par) . An as yet undetermined amount of the new stock is to be made available to the employees of the company at a low price, which has not been fixed. Only workmen who have been in the employ of the company for at least five years will be permitted to become shareholders. They will be consolidated in an association to be called "Krupp'sche Treuhand," (Krupp Trust Fund), which will administer their hold- ings and disburse and account for the earnings of the stock. The annual earnings shall not amount to less than 6 per cent or to more than 10 per cent of the value of each share. One representative of the association will be given a place on the board of directors of the firm.

While the press has greeted the new policy with approval, the workmen's council at the Krupp plant nas warned the workmen against taking advantage of the opportunity offered them of becoming shareholders. The council said in part:

Although we take for granted that the influence of workmen shareholders in the factory will be negligible, we see in this experiment a great peril to general labor. It can not lead to a healthful development of the factory if some men taken from the ranks of the laborers are to be considered as cooperating in the enterprise. Through such a step opposition of interests will be created which can result only in great dam- age to the general labor cause. The feeling of solidarity which we consider absolutely necessary for the working classes would be attacked and imperiled. A sense of our responsibility causes us most strongly to warn against such participation the masses of workmen represented by us.

British Miners' Welfare Fund.2

T TNDER the provisions of the Mining Act of 1920 a fund was estab- ^ lished to be used for the social well-being, recreation, and living conditions of workers in and about coal mines as well as for the advancement of mining education and research. The fund, which is made up by a levy of 1 penny on each ton of coal mined, is admin- istered by a committee appointed by the Board of Trade.

According to a report from the mines department the first grants were made from the fund on February 28, 1922, as follows: £12,000 ($58,398, par) for research work on miners' safety lamps and coal- dust dangers, £1,000 ($4,866.50, par) for research on the control of 1 Consular report from Berlin, dated March 4, 1922. 2 Labour Gazette, London, March, 1922, p. 111.

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232 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW.

atmospheric conditions in deep and hot mines; £3,000 ($14,599.50, par) for extra lecture room and laboratories at one of the mining schools, and several smaller grants, the amounts of which are not given, for the promotion of local recreation schemes.

Provision of Unemployment Insurance, by Industries, in Great Britain.1

'"THE question as to what possible extent unemployment insurance * may be borne by individual industries rather tnan by the Gov- ernment has for quite a time been under consideration by the British Ministry of Labor, and the minister of labor has recently taken measures to secure from .the principal employers' associations and trade-unions their considered opinion as to a practical solution of this problem along the lines suggested. To this end he has asked each industry to submit the best method of dealing with unemploy- ment insurance in the trades composing it. The Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920, made provision whereby schemes of this kind could be arranged and administeřed by associations of employers and employed in given industries, but owing to the general industrial depression little use has been made of the opportunity afforded by the act. Furthermore, the financial burden caused by the recent unpre- cedented unemployment has made temporarily impossible the co- operation of the Ministry with trades that were interested in such an arrangement. The minister states that as soon as the balance in the central fund is again large enough he will welcome and encourage the establishment of schemes for dealing with unemployment insur- ance on an industrial basis.

Measures for Improvement of Working Conditions in Carpet Factories in Persia.2

FRIENDLY representations have been made several times by the A International Labor Office to the Government of Persia relative to very objectionable labor conditions for women and children in certain Persian carpet factories, particularly in Kerman and its neighborhood. As an outcome of such representations, a committee has been organized in that city in conformity with the Government proposals to conclude an agreement with employers in the carpet- making industry or to adopt regulations for the welfare of the employees.

The regulations, which were to be effective as of December 10, 1921, are to be based on the following principles:

1. Complete liberty and equality of right on both sides in regard to the conclusion of labor agreements ;

2. Registration of labor agreements; 3. Introduction of a compulsory 8-hour day, pieceworkers to be left free in this respect; 4. Provisional increase of 5 per cent in wages;

5. Weekly rest and holiday on festivals to be compulsory. 6. Employers guilty of violating these regulations to be held responsible. 1 Labour Gazette, London, Mar., 1922, p. 106. 2 Official Bulletin of International Labor Office, Geneva, Dec. 21, 1921, and Mar. 15, 19^. Informa- tion used from latter bulletin taken from "Setareye Iran" of Dec. 23, 1921.

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CURRENT NOTES OF INTEREST TO LABOR. 233

Reorganization of Spanish Department of Labor.

A CONSULAR report from Madrid, Spain, under date of March 4, 1922, states that by a royal order of February 20, 1922,

certain departments under the Ministry of » Public Wořks have been transferred to the Department 01 Labor, the title of the latter being changed to Ministry of Labor, Commerce, and Industry. Those departments of commerce and industry having particularly, to do with the promotion of domestic commerce and industrial activity have been incorporated into the new ministry, leaving mines, aero stations, civil aviation, the merchant marine, maritime communi- cation, and naval construction still under the Department of Public Works. The schools of industrial engineering, grain elevators, statistics, and the geographical and statistical institute are likewise incorporated into the Ministry of Labor, Commerce, and Industry.

Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labor Organization.1 TTHE Permanent Court of International Justice, inaugurated at

The Hague on February 15, 1922, was organized according to the constitution approved at the first assembly of the League of Nations, December 13, 1920. The 15 judges and 4 deputy judges composing this court are elected by the assembly and by tne coun- cil of the League of Nations "from amongst persons oi high moral character" who have u the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries, or are jur- isconsults of recognized competence in international law."

The court has authority to deal with all questions that may be presented to it by the parties concerned.

After the inaugural ceremony the court held private sessions in order to establish its standing orders and code of procedure. It seems probable that at the court's 'first regular session matters of special interest to labor will be submitted, among them the question raised by the Government of France At the third international labor conference at Geneva, which concerns u the competence of the con- ference and the international labor organization in agricultural matters."

The court will also be called upon to interpret article 389 of the Peace Treaty relative to the nomination by the members of the League of Nations "of nongovernment delegates and advisers chosen in agreement with the industrial organizations most representative of employers or workpeople, as the case may be."

In addition to tne court's plenary sittings there is to be a labor bench with five judges, who will have the assistance of four technical assessors, who will be selected in each case from a panel of

" assessors for labor cases,

" composed of two persons designated by each member

of the League of Nations and "an equivalent number nominated by the governing body of the International Labor Office."

Copies of all the written proceedings of the court will be furnished the director of the International Labor Office, such office being at liberty to supply the court with all necessary data in labor cases. 1 Industrial and Labor Information, vol. 1, No. 9, Mar. 3, 1922. International Labor Office, Geneva.

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