than $15. For night work in such shops foremen shall not receive less than $20; second hands not less than $16; underhands not less than $15.

c. Overtime shall be paid time and a half according to men's pay, Sunday and holiday work shall be paid double according to men's pay.

4. Jobbers must be hired through Union No. 202 direct, and must receive $3 for nine hours' work; overtime, time and one-half.

5. No baker shall be allowed to work on any legal holiday except in case of emergency, which will be decided by Union No. 202, and under no consideration shall any work be performed on Labor Day or Labor Day night.

6. No baker or confectioner shall be asked to do anything but a baker's or confectioner's work.

7. Any master baker signing this agreement and living strictly up to it shall have the privilege of using the union label.

8. The delegates, or the agents, parties to this agreement bearing the proper credentials, to be allowed in any shop during working hours, providing they ask permission from party in charge.

9. All difliculties arising under this agreement shall be arbitrated by a committee of five journeymen bakers and five boss bakers, and if this com. mittee cannot settle said difficulties such difficulties shall be settled by the State Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, and their decision shall be final. No strikes or lockouts shall be permitted pending the decision of the Arbitration Committees.

10. A copy of this agreement must be hung in a conspicuous place in every shop for reference in disputes which may arise under it.

11. Boarding or lodging with employers is strictly prohibited and shall be considered a direct violation of this agreement.

12. This agreement shall be in effect on and after May 1, 1904, and shall continue so until May 1, 1905.

13. Every foreman is allowed one apprentice.

14. If any changes shall be desired by either party to go into effect on May 1, 1905, the proposed changes shall be submitted to the other party at least 30 days before the expiration of this agree

ment.

"Closed Shop as Considered from the

Union Standpoint.

Now what is unjust in the "closed shop" system? It is charged that it denies the right of the non-union workman to sell his skill and labor where and to whom he pleases, and the charge is true. But the non-union man has no grounds of complaint, therefore, for if he is a competent workman and an honest man the door is open to him to avail himself of the "closed shop" by becoming a member of the union; and if he is not competent as a workman or not worthy as a man, then neither he nor the employer has a just grievance Again, the employer sometimes charges that it is a form of coercion for the union to compel him to employ union men to the exclusion of all others; that he has the right to choose the individuals whom he will not have. We will admit, for the moment, that he has such right; but have not each one of his employees even better right to choose with whom they will work and with whom they will not; and if they have such right individually, have they not the same right collectively? So that upon this point the unions are at least upon equal terms with the employers; and if the matter of ethics be introduced, the unionists certainly have much the better side of the case.-A. I. Mendenhall, Dayton, Ohio.

Unskilled Operatives.

Unskilled operatives are a trial and expense to the knitter, for often with first-class yarn they will make a large number of seconds. Frequently, oper. atives who thoroughly know their business will make seconds by neglecting to call the fixer to a machine at the first sign of anything being out of order. The skilled operative can and does prevent

imperfect work, breakage of needles, and other losses by close attention to the machines when running, so that any imperfection in the yarn is detected before it has been carried down to the needles. The unskilled operative does not know the effect of the imperfection in the yarn, and so small is her skill that she seldom has time to watch for them even when she knows them and their evil effect. But it is not alone on the knitting machine that imperfect goods are made. When goods must be transferred from one machine to another in order to complete them the utmost care is neces sary to have every stitch transferred from one set of needles to the other set, and sometimes this transferring requires that two stitches be looped on one needle. If one of the stitches be dropped the place will have to be mended. - American Wool and Cotton Reporter, Oct. 27, 1904.

Electricity in Textile Mills.

The operation of the textile mill by electric power is becoming more general every day, and New England, the centre of American textile manufactures, is fortunate in having enterprising corporations controlling the mills, who are determined to have the best on the market for the up-to-date operation of their plants.

The system much in use at the present time is the individual motor attached to spinning frames, looms, etc., and beyond question more work and that of a better quality is turned out than from machines driven by mechanical means.

Lighting the mills is another important factor. particularly in weaving rooms, where a pure white light is most beneficial, and many manufacturers speak highly of the Wernst lamp as filling the

necessary requirements, and many of these lamps are in use to-day. The General Electric Company have a diffused system for mill lighting used with their direct and alternating lamps that meets with favor in some sections, many of them being installed in the Southern mills as well as at Lowell, Manchester, and Fall River.

But of more importance than illumination, necessary though it may be, is the matter of electrically driven mills, which will turn out more even work, and it is evident that an engine or turbine operat ing an electric generator will furnish a more uniform and steadier speed than the regular mill engines, and if this uniform speed is available at the looms, an increased production with a more uniform quality of work must result. With this system, the minimum amount of attendance is required, the plant occupies the least possible space, and at the same time the design is such that en. largements or changes can be readily made.

The units used in an electric power plant may be installed of the right capacity to do the work in hand, and all future extensions may be made when required without disturbing the original installation, and future additions will work together, each unit operating its share of the load in proportion to its capacity, and often this increase in units is not accompanied by any increase in attendance.

Another important feature of the individual motor for driving the mill machinery is the saving in case of breakdown. Under the old system a break generally meant the shutting down of the whole floor or section; while with the electric motor, only the particular machine out of order is stopped, the balance of the plant going on as if no break had occurred. — American Wool and Cotton Reporter, Oct. 27, 1904.

Reduction of Hours of Labor for Women and Children in the Flax, Hemp, and Jute Industries in Belgium.

A royal decree dated July 6, 1904, states that beginning August 1, 1904, children and boys under 16 years of age, as well as girls and women between 16 and 21 years of age, shall not work more than 11 hours a day in the flax, hemp, and jute industries, nor more than 66 hours a week; with a maximum day of 111⁄2 hours in the cotton industry. Previously, the hours of labor for these classes of employees were 111⁄2 in all four branches of industry affected by the decree. Bulletin de l'Office du Travail, Paris, September, 1904.

Pauperism in England.

Under date of September 3, 1904, United States Consul General H. Clay Evans, London, England, transmits the following leader which appeared in the London Globe of that date:

"In normal circumstances, the autumn season usually provides more employment for unskilled labor in London than any other period of the year. The shipping and building industries are in full swing, while hop picking and harvesting take away many thousands of the indigent to the country. It is an exceedingly grave matter, therefore, to learn from official statistics that metropolitan pauper. ism has been largely and rapidly increasing quite recently. Some growth has, it is true, been in evidence for several successive years, but never to nearly the same extent as at present. Last week's

record of indoor and outdoor relief shows that 110,405 Londoners had to apply for charity, without including the 1,206 vagrants who claimed assistance. Comparing these figures with those for the same week last year, there is a total augmenta. tion of very nearly 5,000 compared with August, 1903, whereas its increase over 1902 was barely half as large. Nor is this deplorable shrinkage of employment peculiar to the metropolis. The local government board has just been informed by its inspector-general for the northern district that during the year ending on last Lady Day, the local cost of relieving necessitous people had exceeded the quinquennial average of £90,000 ($437,985). Yet Cobdenite enthusiasts will, no doubt, stoutly maintain that there is no need for remedy, or even for inquiry."

Consul-General Evans transmits under the same date an article from the London Daily Telegraph which shows that at the end of July, 1904, 730,214 persons were receiving indoor and outdoor relief in England and Wales, representing 21.6 for every thousand inhabitants, an increase of 34,339, compared with the same time in 1903.

During April, 1904, several strikes were declared by the Sailors and Dockers Unions in France. The legality of the acts being questioned, an investiga. tion of the matter was undertaken by the Section of Co-operative and Workingmen's Associations of the Musée Social; and the following resolution was adopted on June 27, 1904:

"In as far as sailors are concerned the right to strike is suspended during a voyage, that is, from the moment of shipping to that of formal dischargeDuring this period the right to organize holds good, but only in such of its manifestations as are not incompatible with the special laws governing sailors." Musée Social, Annales, Paris, September, 1904.

Law Regulating Certain Employment of Children in France.

The law of November 2, 1902, on the work of women and children forbade, in article eight, the employment of children under 13 years of age in theatres and cafe-concerts. The article reads as follows:

"Children of either sex, under 13 years of age, must not be employed as actors, ballet-dancers, etc., în public performances given in theatres and café-concerts.

"The Minister of Public Education and Fine Arts, in Paris, and the prefects, in the departments, may, as exception, authorize the employment of one or several children in theatres for the presenta tion of established plays."

Under the alleged authority of the second section cited, violations of the law became so numerous that on June 25, 1904, the Minister of Public Education and Fine Arts issued a circular to the prefects instructing them, for the protection of public morals and the health of the children, not to allow children under 13 years of age upon any pretext to appear upon the stage of a café-concert and to exercise the utmost diligence in preventing the appearance of children under 13 years in the theatres, except in cases where the presentation of a play absolutely requires them.- Bulletin de l'Office du Travail, Paris, September, 1904.

Civil Service of France.

Salaries.

When on the regular staff a young clerk receives 1,500 to 1,800 francs ($290 to $347) a year, rising rather rapidly to 4,000 francs ($772), but afterward slower. He may become a head clerk, of whom there are two or three in each "room," with a sal ary of 8,000 francs ($1,544), and he has a remote chance of being head of the division, with 12,000 franes ($2,316). Appointments are not made for any definite or limited period. Women are not employed in any Government office except the postoffice and telephone service, and they are then very badly paid, receiving about three-fourths of a man's salary.

Young men are specially trained for service as consuls and employees at legations. They must pass the examinations, serve at least six months in a consular office with no salary, or at most a nomi. nal sum for expenses, and show an aptitude for foreign languages, especially English and Spanish. No special provisions appear to exist in regard to the appointment of postmasters, collectors of customs, etc., but appointments are made from the most competent minor officials.

Office Hours and Holidays.

Ofice hours are from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. There are some eight or ten public holidays in the course of the year. An official is allowed a fortnight vacation without deduction of salary, or a month if he has had no vacation during three preceding years. It is doubtful if this arrangement is strictly carried out in regard to higher-paid officials, who possibly receive a month vacation. If absent beyond that time (up to three months), an official's salary suf fers a reduction "which shall not be less than half nor more than two-thirds of his average salary." In case of sickness (duly certified) full pay is al lowed for three months, and half or two-thirds for another three months. At the end of six months an official must return to work or may be asked to resign. This does not apply to a man having been injured in the public service or having performed any act of bravery from which he received injuries.

Pension after Thirty Years' Service.

At the age of 60, or after thirty years' service, a clerk is entitled to retire on a pension. This pension is usually calculated at the rate of one-sixtieth of the salary for each year's service, but must not exceed two-thirds of the salary at the time of retirement. The law fixes the pension at two thirds in the case of salaries of from 1,000 francs ($193) to 3,200 francs (8617.60), and at one-half for salaries from 3,200 franes ($617.60) to 12,000 francs ($2,316). A retired ambassador receives $2,316, a consulgeneral $1,158, a first-class consul $965, a secondclass consul $772. The pension fund is supported by a deduction of five per cent from all salaries. Retired employees cannot re-enter the service, as they would be far too old, but they may engage in private enterprises or business. The present law regulating pensions has been in force for more than fifty years, and appears to work smoothly.United States Consul-General John K. Gowdy, Paris, France.

Schools for Electrical Employees,
Prussia.

A few months ago the Central Trades Association of Königsberg, Prussia, instituted a free course of instruction for those who are employed

at the electrical works in that city (minors excepted). The lectures, which are held two evenings a week, from half past 7 until half past 9, are delivered by some expert engineer, who has had long practical experience. At the end of each course, which lasts about twelve weeks, examinations are held. Those who succeed in passing these examinations are awarded certificates which set forth the fact that they have performed their work in a satisfactory manner.

It is thought that this idea of giving free instruction to the employees of electrical works will be introduced in other places, as it is very much to be desired that workmen know as much about the business as possible, not only because they will be more efficient, but also in order to lessen the possi bility of accidents. - Southard P. Warner, Con sular Agent, Gera, Germany, Aug. 4, 1904.

Girls as Fruit and Hop Pickers in Seotland.

The newspapers report that in the Strathmore district of Perthshire, Scotland, fruit growers have dispensed almost entirely with tramp labor, having engaged girls from Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee as pickers. These girls, engaged ordinarily in indoor occupations in those cities as factory hands, dressmakers, etc., welcome the open-air employ ment as a health-giving holiday for which they are paid. The papers say that the girls are well looked after, comfortable board and lodgings being provided for them by the farms on which they are em. ployed at six shillings ($1.46) a week.

Attention is

not called to the fact that the employment of these girls as extra hands at fruit-picking times must dis. organize the work in the factories where they have regular employment. In the chain, pulley block, and anchor district near Birmingham there is an nually very great embarrassment to the ironmasters owing to the fact that the men, women, and children employed in their works abandon them temporarily each year at hop-picking times, and I am told that during the hop-picking season in Kent some of the London Board schools are practically emptied, whole families migrating to the country, where they encamp in barns and sheds and under hedges until the hops are gathered in.— Marshal Halstead, Consul, Birmingham, England, Aug. 4, 1904.

Sec. 2. For work by the piece or job, conditions of payment shall be determined by agreement between the head of the concern and the employees. However, payment must be made, at the latest, on the first pay day following the completion of the work.

For piece work which requires more than 12 days the workman is entitled, upon the regular pay day, to wages, on account, for the work actually done.

Sec. 3. Heads of factories wishing to apply the fine system may have recourse to this only in case the employees are notified and the fines are imposed under conditions approved by the State Council.

Fines must not in any case exceed one-half the daily wage of the workman.

The income from fines must be used in the interest of the workmen and shall be devoted especially to aid funds.

Deductions from pay on account of poor work or injury to material are not considered as fines.

Sec. 4. Disagreements with regard to mode of payment, the withholding of wages, the collection and use of fines, shall be decided by the president of the tribunal of the district in which the enter. prise is situated in conformity with the rules established by article 407 and the following of civil code of procedure.

Sec. 5. Police agents of the Canton, members of the municipal government, and doctors appointed, as well as all other persons appointed, by the State Council to attend to the application of labor laws, have the right to enter the shops at will, and are authorized to make official reports in cases of violation; an official report will be accepted as evi. dence until it is disproven.

Sec. 6. The provisions of the law of January 16, 1901, for procedure in cases of violation, modified by the decree of May 15, 1903, are applicable to vio. lations of the present ordinance.

Sec. 7. This ordinance shall take effect upon the day of its publication in the Bollettino delle leggi.— Adopted June 4, 1903. — Annuaire de la Législation du Travail, 1903. Brussels, Belgium, 1904.

Protection of Women in Industry in Aargau, Switzerland.

The following law relating to employment of women was passed by the State Council of the Canton of Aargau:

Section 1. The present law applies to all industrial establishments, subject to the federal factory law, in which one or more women work for wages or other remuneration or for the purpose of learning a trade, even if they board and lodge in their employer's house. Agricultural workers are exempt from this provision. To employees in taverns and shops, in as far as they are not occupied in manufacturing but merely in serving customers, sections 9, 13 (paragraph three), 14, 15, 16, and 17 only are applicable.

Sec. 2. Girls subject to school attendance must not be employed as workers or apprentices.

Sec. 3. The competent government department shall keep a register of all establishments subject to the present law.

District authorities shall keep, also, a register of establishments within their districts.

Managers are responsible for notifying the Council of the Commune of the existence of their industries, by addressing the district authorities or the proper government department.

In case of doubt as to whether an industry falls under the provisions of the law, the government department shall decide the question. Appeal from this decision may be made to the government council. Sec. 4. Hours of labor for women falling under the application of the law by virtue of section 1 shall not exceed 11 hours, nor 10 hours on Saturdays and the days preceding legal holidays. In case federal legislation has reduced the day to 11 hours, this provision shall be effective as far as the present law is concerned.

The day's work must be done between 6 A.M. and 8 P.M.

At least one hour's rest must be allowed in the middle of the day.

Women, having homes to care for, should be allowed to leave a half-hour before the midday rest and at four o'clock on Saturdays and the evenings before holidays.

The periods of rest shall not be deducted from the hours of labor unless the women are allowed to leave places of work.

The time for instruction is included in the maximum day's work and shall not be deducted from wages.

No work shall be done on Sundays or legal holi. days.

It is forbidden to give women, subject to the present law, work to do at home ouside the legal hours of labor.

Sec. 5. As an exception the day's work may be temporarily prolonged, beyond the duration estab. lished in section 4, by two hours at the maximum and up to 10 P.M. at latest, by the authorities of the district and in specially urgent cases, for a single day, by the chief of the commune, under the restriction of informing the authorities of the district. The approval of the competent governmental authority is necessary for increasing hours of labor for more than two weeks.

Requests for this privilege must state reasons in detail.

Overtime work for one establishment must not aggregate more than two months in 12.

Sec. 6. The authority for overtime work implies the consent of the persons who are affected by it. Notices should be posted in the workrooms.

Sec. 7. Overtime work is forbidden for girls under 18 years of age.

Sec. 8. Wages for overtime work shall exceed regular wages by at least 25 per cent.

Sec. 9. The first two weeks of employment are considered as a trial, in the sense that up to the expiration of this time each party is free to end the contract by giving notice of at least three days.

Unless a written agreement to the contrary exists, contract for services between an employer and a woman employee may be terminated by either party upon notice of 14 days. The termination, however, must fall upon pay day or Saturday.

The contract can be dissolved by either party only for serious reasons, which must be made known to the judge in each case.

Sec. 10. In the engagement of an apprentice it will be necessary in every case to adopt a written contract containing stipulations relative to the trade to be learned, the remuneration for apprenticeship, the right to have work done which is not included in the apprenticeship, the indemnities to which each party shall be entitled in case the contract is can. celled, and finally the conditions under which can. cellation of a contract by either party is allowable. Sec. 11. If the importance or nature of the industry concerned justifies it, employers subject to the present law may be obliged to post in a conspicuous place regulations regarding hours of labor, conditions of entering and leaving employ. ment, and payment of wages.

These labor regulations are subject to the ap proval of the government department concerned. In case of doubt, the government council shall decide. Sec. 12. Wages shall be paid at least every 14 days in legal money.

Pay day shall not fall upon Saturday or Sunday. It is forbidden to reserve wages on account of rent, cleaning, heating, or lighting of the place of work, or for the use of tools; materials shall not be sold above net cost price.

Wages may be retained only in case of mutual agreement, and to the amount of not more than half the average maximum weekly wages.

The withholding of wages in view of insurance is also forbidden, except under special agreement. The person insured must be informed of the contents of the insurance policy.

Employees must receive notification of decrease in wages early enough to make it possible for them to give up their positions without being subject to the reduction.

Fines shall not be imposed; on the other hand, employees are responsible for damage done intentionally oras a result of serious negligence; in eithercase they may be immediately discharged. Difficulties arising in such cases shall be settled by the judge. Sec. 13. There shall be given to each woman upon demand a certificate relative to the nature and duration of her employment; this certificate shall also, upon demand of the employee, give information as to her conduct and manner of working.

Employers are forbidden to mark certificates for the purpose of contradicting the impression of the employee given by the text of the certificate.

If the employee is a minor, the certificate may be demanded and received by her father or guardian. The certificate may be placed directly in the hands of the employee against the will of her father or guardian if the official executing it gives his consent.

Sec. 14. The places in which women are em. ployed shall be spacious, light, dry, well aired, sufliciently heated, and in general kept in such a manner as not to injure the health of persons there employed.

In large establishments it will be necessary to make use of devices recommended by experience or the growth of the business and serving to prevent bodily injury and danger to health.

Employers must also look to the maintenance of good manners and decency among their women employees. Officials in charge of the execution and observance of the present law should be permitted to enter the places of employment at any moment upon request.

Sec. 15. Employees in shops may be employed without restriction in the service of customers during the hours when the shops are open, upon condition that, besides the hours for meals, one hour of rest during the day, and an interval of at least 10 consecutive hours during the night is allowed them. Girls employed in shops must be allowed to sit at their work in so far as is possible.

Sec. 16. Women employed in inns and public houses may, in so far as the service of customers requires, be employed up to the closing hour, or later on the days when this hour is not applicable. However, in all cases, a rest of eight consecutive hours must be allowed them.

It is forbidden to employ girls under 18 years of age, not belonging to the family of the inn keeper, in permanent service.

Sec. 17. Women employed in shops and inns shall be allowed at least one Sunday off in each month; and they shall be permitted besides to attend relig ious service on one other Sunday. For the rest, when they are occupied for the whole day on Sunday, a half-day off shall be allowed them during the week. Sufferances may be granted, by the competent gov. ernment department, to health resorts and similar institutions during the summer months.

Sec. 18. Infractions of the present law are pun. ishable by fines varying from five to 200 francs ($1 to $40). In case of a second offense the court may,

in addition to a fine, impose imprisonment not exceeding two months.

Sec. 19. All agreements contrary to the present law are void, and parties to them are subject to the penalties provided in section 18.

Sec. 20. The present law shall be posted in all factories and shops in which it is applicable.

Sec. 21. The government council is charged with the execution of the present law. Its execution is entrusted to the government department having charge of industrial affairs, to be assisted by the factory police of the cantons. - Passed May 26, 1904.- Annuaire de la Législation du Travail, 1903. Brussels, Belgium, 1904.

Agriculture in Great Britain.

Last year all out-door crops on the British Isles were either a total or a partial failure because of the almost incessant rainfall. Tender fruits and vegetables grown in hothouses were of course unaffected, except by the absence of sunshine in particular cases. This year set in with the same outlook. Rain fell nearly every day, making it very difficult to plow and seed. In May, however, the weather definitely changed, and up to the present the intervening months have brought an amount of warm, bright sunshine that exceeds the total of several average British summers. June and July, in fact, were too cloudless. No rain fell for several weeks. The light soil in this part of England was dried through and through, and all vegetation was dying. The remarkable spectacle of brown pastures was seen, and because of brooks drying up, water had to be carried to live stock. The ideal weather of the last six weeks, with fre. quent alternations of rain and sunshine, has checked the threatened total crop failure; but, on the whole, with the excessive rainfall of the winter and early spring and the drought of midsummer, the harvest is not satisfactory.

The drought so blighted potatoes that it is not yet certain if the yield will be greater than last year, when the crop was almost a complete failure. A hopeful sign, however, is the revival of the potato boom, described in a report from this consulate last winter. The Eldorado, which brought such wonderful prices, suffered severely from the drought, but the ensuing rains have so revived it that it is now promising a good crop in Lincolnshire, the chief potato district of England. Several still newer varieties of potato than the Eldorado are now being introduced and bring $5 to $10 a pound. One is the Dalmeny Radium, a product of Lord Rosebery's estate. Some tubers of the Pearl, a new variety, have been sold at $25 apiece, which is said to work out at the rate of $230,000 an acre. At one sale just made by auction the price went as high as $65.70 for one tuber. Another new potato is the Recorder, an especially early variety. A meeting of growers of it in Lincolnshire has agreed that none should be sold this year for less than £100 ($487) a ton. Some sales at that price have already been made.

Hay was gathered early, and is of good quality, but lacks in quantity on account of the dry summer.

The drought shortened the small-fruit crop, which gave wonderful promise at the beginning, but the crop of outdoor tree fruits apples, pears, and plums-which was almost a total failure in 1903, is fine this year in both quality and quantity.

Lavender is one of the few products not hurt either by the spring rain or the summer drought. The rains caused a heavy growth of flowers. These were gathered in July and sold by street