illegal treatment of apprentices. The inspectors complain every year that the owners of smaller plants are too often incapable of training their apprentices properly. The conditions of their employment were reported in 1902 as "very unfortunate." In addition to being used to perform all manner of services not connected with the occupation they are supposed to be learning, the insanitary condition of the places in which the children sleep, the gross treatment to which they are subjected, the moral dangers to which they are exposed, their frequent employment at night and the excessively long and illegal periods of work are the items most frequently noted in the reports of the inspectors for 1889, 1894, 1895, 1898, and 1904.

The places in which apprentices sleep are characterized thus in the general report for 1899: "Dark and badly ventilated workrooms, kitchens, garrets, dark and damp cellars, are considered good enough to serve as sleeping places for young employees." In bakeries, it is reported, the journeymen and apprentices sometimes sleep in the rooms where the flour is stored, or in apartments immediately adjoining the bake ovens. One master potter had his apprentice sleep in the winter in an empty oven; and in Budweis the inspector discovered that an apprentice had been assigned to the kitchen as his sleeping room and shared it with the maid of all work.

In 1906 one inspector reported that 8 cabinetmakers' apprentices slept in two beds; that a wagon builder had his apprentice sleep on a shelf hung from the ceiling of a workroom and accessible by means of a ladder; that among shoemakers' apprentices the workrooms serve frequently not only as kitchens, but as sleeping rooms for several employees and members of the master's family. The inspector at Kromotau found that a fairly satisfactory room, previously assigned at his suggestion to an apprentice to sleep in, had been rented to the local branch of a society for the prevention of tuberculosis, and the apprentice forced to resume his old night quarters in a sort of improvised bunk in the workshop. In tanneries, journeymen and apprentices often sleep in the drying and currying rooms. (")

Both the general and the technical education of the apprentices is reported as sadly neglected. Masters, regardless of the law, do not grant the time necessary to attend the "continuation schools." A tailor in Kärnten (Carinthia) refused to let his two apprentices go to school unless they made up the "lost time" by additional work. A cabinetmaker considered it superfluous to send his apprentice to school, because the boy was "too stupid anyway." The apprentices themselves appear to profit relatively little by their attendance at continuation schools-which is comprehensible, in view of the fact that

Berichte der k. k. Gewerbe-Inspektion, 1906, pp. xcii, etc. 56504-No. 89-10-3

the schools meet at night when the children are tired out by the day's work. Especially in "factories," apprentices are often engaged without the contract required by law. The inspector at Lemberg found an apprentice in 1905 who had served 12 years with various master cabinetmakers without ever having had a contract with any of them. This is, of course, an exceptional case. Not so, however, the apprenticeship of children in factories in which the division of labor is so detailed that the simple work they are required to perform day in and day out is of next to no value as a form of industrial training, and the very term "apprentice" is little more than a pathetic anachronism.

The Austrian inspectors do not seem to have obtained the same degree of cooperation on the part of laborers as that of which their French and Swiss colleagues boast, although of recent years some socialistic labor organizations have undertaken to keep the inspectors informed of violations of the law. An interesting development of the past few years, moreover, consists of the organization of young laborers, particularly apprentices, into associations designed to secure better working conditions, better general and technical education, and, above all, political influence. These organizations are divided into two main groups, one under the control of the so-called "Christian Social" party, the other under socialistic domination. (")

But as a rule the inspectors count little upon the cooperation of the laborers themselves. Says Inspector Karl Hauck in a special report on night work which has already been quoted:

* * *

But ex

It might be supposed that the laborers themselves could be persuaded to exercise a sort of supervision with regard to the enforcement of the laws; for example, by having the important provisions of the law posted conspicuously in the work places. perience teaches that the help of the laborers is little to be counted upon, particularly when they derive no direct personal benefits therefrom. A journeyman shoemaker once told me, when I complained of the excessive hours that his apprentice worked, "You don't suppose that I ought to let him stroll about the streets at 8 o'clock while I, the journeyman, have to remain here and work until late at night because he is not here to help me?" He expressed the opinion of 99 per cent of his class, for hardly ever do the authorities receive information from journeymen with regard to the illegal employment of apprentices, unless the former have been discharged by their employer. ()

The socialistic organizations publish a monthly periodical, Der Jugendliche Arbeiter, and have undertaken an active campaign in behalf of apprentices. Consult: Lehrlingschutz. Eine Sammlung von Gesuchen und Klagen nebst Erläuterangen, by Dr. Fritz Winter, Wien, 1909, and the article on “Österreichische Jugendorganization" in the socialist periodical Der Kampf of August 1, 1908.

Hauck: Die Nachtarbeit der Jugendlichen in der österreichischen Industrie, p. 16. Wien, 1907.

The same writer makes the statement that the provisions of the law concerning apprentices in mercantile establishments "are very little observed, especially in the smaller cities." (")

Regarding the widespread illegal employment of children at night in bakeries he declares: "I do not remember a single case in which a laborer has called my attention to a violation of the rules regarding apprentices while he was still in the employ of the master he denounced. Even the cases in which discharged laborers in quest of vengeance have reported such infractions are rare." For the average laborer the sweetest fat is that which clings to his own bones; and the journeyman finds no objection to having the apprentice perform certain tasks that lighten his own work, whether they are allowed by law or not. (°)

The difficulties of enforcing the law in establishments carrying on work at night, particularly in small bakeries, are as great as the reluctance of employers to observe its provisions. In bakeries, it will be remembered, boys under 16 may be employed at night for 4 hours at so-called "table work" (cutting dough, etc.). But it is hard for the inspector to gain prompt admission to the shops; and when, after repeated knocks and much shouting, he is admitted, it sometimes happens that the apprentice has meanwhile been put into bed-even with his clothes on-or that he is hurriedly called away from the work of carrying coal, chopping wood, sieving flour, etc., and put to work at the table."

The infrequency with which the smaller establishments are visited is partly due to the fact that they are scattered over a large area. Inspecting them involves a great expenditure of time on the part of the inspectors, for the sake of a relatively small number of "protected" persons. It is due, furthermore, to the insufficient number of inspectors. During the years 1900 to 1906 the average number of "factories" was 12,438, and the number inspected annually was approximately 65 per cent of this total. In other words, each factory is visited on the average once in 18 months. During the 9 years 1898 to 1906 the average number of smaller industrial establishments. inspected annually was 10,419; and inasmuch as the number of establishments subject to the labor laws in 1902-the middle date of the period considered-was 617,855, it follows that 1.68 per cent of them are visited annually by the inspectors. Under present circumstances, therefore, it would take more than 59 years for the inspectors to visit every industrial establishment. (e) To be sure, many of the unvisited

Die Nachtarbeit der Jugendlichen in der österreichischen Industrie, p. 18. Wien, 1907.

* Idem, p. 30.

A few of the establishments inspected are visited more than once. Thus, in 1908, 1,208 were visited twice and 179 were visited three or more times. Also, there were 209 night visits of inspection and 341 visits made on Sundays.

establishments are small and employ few laborers, but these laborers are entitled to the benefits of the law as well as those in the larger enterprises. Certainly there can be little question of the desirability of providing at least for the regular inspection of the establishments using mechanical motive power, in which the danger of accidents is as a rule greater than in other concerns. Yet only 8.16 per cent of these establishments are inspected annually; hence it would take over 12 years, at the present rate of inspection, to visit them all at least once. (") It is manifest that under existing circumstances, and without a considerable increase in the staff of inspection officials, the service of inspection is practically nonexistent for a large number of concerns nominally subject to the labor laws. Some improvement could be achieved by relieving the inspectors of the burdensome and time-consuming clerical labor to which reference has already been

made.

The inadequacy of the present number of inspectors, the excessive burden of work that now devolves upon them, and the difficulties they experience in detecting violations of the provisions of the law in favor of child workers should be kept in mind in considering the number of infractions (") reported from year to year by the inspectors, which we shall discuss in the following paragraphs.

The five important groups of offenses to be considered in this connection are: (1) Violations of the provisions concerning the age of admission; (2) violations of the rules concerning the maximum number of hours' work and the duration of pauses for rest; (3) violations of the prohibition or limitation of night work; (4) violations of the rules regarding the employment of children in dangerous or unhealthful industries, occupations, or processes; (5) violations of the provisions concerning apprentices. These five groups of offenses will be discussed in the order named, with particular reference to recent reports of the inspectors.

(1) As regards the age of admission of children to industrial labor, the law sets up two standards. In "factories "--which may be briefly but imperfectly defined as including those establishments subject to the law in which more than 20 laborers are employed-the age of admission is 14 years. But in other industrial establishments subject to the law the age of admission is 12 years.

It has already been said that the inspectors can not possibly discover all the violations of the law. A rather convincing proof of this

Lukinac: Op. cit., p. 87. The average number of plants using mechanical motive power for the years 1901 to 1906 was 89,590; the average number visited annually was 7,315.

The total number of violations of the provisions concerning child labor is given in the table on p. 38.

statement, with regard to the employment of children under the legal age of admission, is furnished by the results of an unofficial investigation (p. 39) made in 1900 by a national organization of schoolteachers. This investigation disclosed that in the second circuit alone, in 1900, 30 children of school age were found working in peat bogs that employed more than 20 laborers, and therefore fell under the head of factories," in which children under 14 years of age can not legally be employed. The inspector knew nothing of this, although 16 of the children were 13 years old, 5 were 12 years old, 4 were 11 years old, 3 were 10 years old, 1 was 9, and another 7 years old; 20 had begun to work before the age of 10 years, and 11 at the age of 6 years.

The industries in which children under the legal age are most numerously employed are the manufacture of bricks, tiles, glassware, and pottery. This group of industries (among the factories) furnishes more than 50 per cent of the offenses. Next come the textile industries, metal manufactures, and the manufacture of food products.

In brick and tile works the inspectors every year find young children at work with their parents. Many of them are of Italian birth. At the age of 8 or 10 years they are considered fit to help, and during the busy season the children, like their parents, frequently work, with short interruptions, from 5 o'clock in the morning until 8 at night. In 1899, the inspector of the second circuit, to which reference has just been made, found 2 Italian children under 12, and 23 between 12 and 14 years of age, employed in large brick works. In 1900, a teachers' investigation (") found 288 school children working in six localities in the second circuit; 40 began work at the age of 6 years, 50 at the age of 7, 28 at the age of 8, 34 at the age of 9, and 41 at 10 years of age; 77 worked on Sundays and holidays. Their school attendance was very unsatisfactory. Two hundred and seventy-two of these children were absent for a total of 5,339 half-day sessions in the period between February 15 and May 15. Similar facts from other parts of the Empire led Kraus to declare, in the report from which the above data are taken: "There seem to be no brick works in Austria in which children are not employed. ()

The employers disclaim all responsibility for the presence of the children under admissible age, and the parents declare that the children are employed to take care of their younger brothers and sisters and not to do any real work. Nevertheless, employers in many localities use their influence to hasten the closing of schools in the summer. Kraus. Kinderarbeit und gesetzlicher Kinderschutz in Österreich, p. 89. Wien, 1903.

Idem, p. 91.