THE WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT OF HOLLAND.

The following is a summary of the main provisions of a recent law of Holland which provides for the insurance of working people against accidents. The summary has been prepared from an official copy of the enactment obtained through the Department of State:

This law is defined as the "Act of January 2, 1901, providing for the legal insurance of working people against pecuniary loss from accidents in certain industries." It applies only to accidents received by working people during the exercise of their trade in the service of an employer, either while working for wages or while being trained for some trade and working without pay.

The act specifies the industries which come within the scope of the law. It covers practically all gainful occupations except the following, which are excluded: Farming, cattle raising, gardening, and forestry; passenger and freight transportation on vessels other than those engaged in trade from one domestic port to another, those remaining in the same port, and those on rivers and inland waters exclusively; fishing, other than that on rivers and inland waters; commerce on all vessels of not more than 60 cubic meters (2,118.87 cubic feet) capacity and not propelled by power machinery.

The act provides for the establishment of a State Insurance Bank for the purpose of carrying on the insurance business under this act. It is managed by a board of three directors, one of whom is appointed chairman by the Crown. The chairman represents the bank in outside business affairs. Three substitutes are appointed to take the places of directors when necessary. A technical adviser is also attached to the bank. The directors, substitutes, technical advisers, and inferior officials are appointed by the Crown and receive a compensation, which is fixed by the latter. Substitutes receive pay only while rendering service. The board of directors is directly responsible to the Government. Each year they must prepare a compilation of accident statistics, and every five years they must draw up a scientific balance.

A supervisory board, consisting of six or nine members appointed by the Crown, has supervision over the condition and management of the State Insurance Bank. Of the members one-third must be selected from among the employers and one-third from among the working people who come under the provisions of the act. One-third of the members are changed every two years, this arrangement to begin

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three years after the act takes effect. The Crown appoints a chairman from among the members, and also a secretary, the latter receiving a salary and serving for five years. The chairman and members of the board receive a per diem for attendance, but no salary.

The board of directors of the State Insurance Bank decides all claims for compensation arising under the act, and all sums awarded are paid by it through the post-offices.

Appeals arising from the enforcement of the provisions of the act are decided by councils of appeals, and in the highest resort by a State board. In the councils of appeals employers and working people who come within the provisions of the act have representation as members. All matters pertaining to the organization and procedure of these councils and of the State board are to be regulated later on by a special act.

The act further provides for the appointment of inspectors, who serve under the orders of the directors of the State Insurance Bank, and whose duty it is to visit the employers and working people and to see to it that the provisions of the law are properly enforced. These inspectors are prohibited from engaging either directly or indirectly in any industry.

Local commissions are also appointed by the Crown, who look after the interests of the insured. They are empowered to conduct the appeals against the decisions of the State Insurance Bank, and are required to investigate cases where there may be grounds for reviewing such decisions and revising the amount of compensation allowed.

The act provides for the following compensation in cases of accident arising out of and in the course of the employment of a working man or woman in any of the industries specified in the act:

Medical attendance and medicine, or compensation in lieu thereof, according to general regulations to be made by the board of directors of the State Insurance Bank.

If, as a result of the accident, the workman is unable to return to work on the third day after the accident he receives in addition to medicine and medical attendance a temporary compensation, beginning on the day after the accident and continuing during incapacity, but only until the forty-third day. This compensation is equal to 70 per cent of the daily wages of the insured, Sundays and holidays being excepted.

If, as a result of the accident, the insured remains either partially or totally disabled six weeks after the date of the accident he receives a regular compensation or pension during the period of such disability. This pension amounts to 70 per cent of the daily wages of the insured (Sundays and holidays excepted) in case of total disability, and in case of partial disability to an amount in proportion to the partial incapacity of the insured.

In calculating these and all other pensions granted under this act any amounts of daily wages in excess of 4 gulden ($1.61) are not considered.

In case the accident results in the death of the insured the State Insurance Bank pays the following compensations:

For funeral expenses an amount equal to 30 times the daily wages of the deceased is allowed the surviving relatives.

Pensions are allowed the dependent relatives of the deceased, the same to be reckoned from the date of death, as follows:

To the wife who was living with the deceased at the time of the accident, 30 per cent of the daily wages of the deceased until her death or remarriage.

To the husband who was living with the deceased at the time of the accident, if the wife was the breadwinner, as much as the deceased had contributed toward his support, but not more than 30 per cent of her daily wages, to be paid until the death or remarriage of the husband.

To each child 15 per cent, and if parentless 20 per cent of the daily wages of the deceased until the completion of the sixteenth year

of age.

To the parents, or in default of parents to the grand parents, of the deceased, if the latter was the breadwinner, as much as he contributed toward their support, but not more than 30 per cent of his daily wages, to be paid until the death of the longest surviving.

To each grandchild of the deceased, if he was their breadwinner, as much as he contributed to their support, but not exceeding 20 per cent of his daily wages, to be paid until the completion of the sixteenth year of age.

To the parents-in-law of the deceased, if the latter was their breadwinner, as much as he contributed toward their support, but not more than 30 per cent of his daily wages, to be paid until the death of the longest surviving.

In case the widow or widower remarries the pension ceases, and an amount equal to from one to two times the annual pension is paid as a final settlement.

The pensions to be paid to the persons above designated can not exceed in the aggregate 60 per cent of the daily wages of the deceased. The claims of the wife or husband and of the children must be fully satisfied before any pensions can be granted to the parents or grand parents, grandchildren, or parents-in-law, and the claims of these are considered in the order named.

If the claims of the widow or widower and of the children aggregate more than 60 per cent of the daily wages of the deceased, a proportionate reduction is made in the pension granted to each.

If it can be shown that the accident was intentional, neither the insured nor his survivors have any claim for compensation or pensions. If the accident was due to intoxication, the insured is entitled to but one-half the temporary or permanent compensation, and if death results from such accident the surviving dependents have no claim to pensions.

The funds necessary to cover the expenses of accident insurance under this act are derived entirely from the employers, and the latter are forbidden to make any deductions from the wages of employees on this account. The employers are required to keep regular pay rolls, to be used in calculating the premiums and compensations to be paid. The employer may fulfill his obligation in one of three ways: (1) The payments may take the form of a premium payable to the State Insurance Bank at regular periods and based upon the amount of his pay roll and upon the degree of accident risk assigned to his trade in the scale of risks to be prepared in accordance with the provisions of this act.. In calculating from the pay rolls amounts of daily earnings in excess of 4 gulden ($1.61) are not considered. (2) The employer may, upon depositing adequate security with the State Insurance Bank, obtain permission to undertake the payment of the prescribed compensation. (3) He may be permitted to transfer his liability under this act to an insurance company, provided that this company deposits adequate security with the State Insurance Bank.

Pensions granted under this act up to the amount of 260 gulden ($104.52) per year are inalienable and free from seizure or attachment.

RECENT REPORTS OF STATE BUREAUS OF LABOR STATISTICS.

NEW YORK.

Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the State of New York for the year 1899. Transmitted to the legislature February 5, 1900. John McMackin, Commissioner. xxiii, 1260 pp.

This report consists of five parts, as follows: Part I, The economic condition of organized labor, 553 pages; Part II, Industrial accidents and employers' responsibility for their compensation, 609 pages; Part III, Employment and wages from 1896 to 1899, 55 pages; Part IV, Report on the State free employment bureau, 25 pages; Part V, Labor laws of New York State enacted in 1898, 5 pages.

THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF ORGANIZED LABOR.-Since the beginning of 1897 this bureau has collected from the labor organizations of the State quarterly reports concerning the number and sex of members, their earnings and days of employment, the number of members unemployed, etc. In the present report this information is given for the four quarters ending September 30, 1899, in the form of detailed statistical tables showing the data for each occupation, industry, and locality, and summary tables and an analysis of the statistics presented. The facts were obtained from the secretaries of labor organizations, who, in turn, obtained them from the individual members on blanks supplied by the bureau. The following table gives a general summary of the data for each quarter since the beginning of 1897:

STATISTICS OF LABOR ORGANIZATIONS FOR EACH OF THE QUARTERS FROM JANUARY, 1897, TO SEPTEMBER, 1899.

a This is not a correct total for the preceding items. The figures given are, however, according to

the original.