32 8 LAW AND JUSTICE 



than one o'clock in the afternoon on one day in every week," is a welcome boon to that 

 numerous and hard worked class the shop assistants of the country. South Australia 

 has been passing a similar Act, the times fixed for closing being one o'clock on Saturday, 

 nine o'clock on Friday, and six on other days. In Western Australia Wednesday has 

 been made the early closing day, and Saturday the late day k Trinidad and Tobago 

 have fixed a nine-hours day for shop assistants, with a half holiday once a week. In 

 Manitoba, children under twelve are not to be employed between nine in the evening 

 and six in the morning; anyone employing a child under sixteen in any occupation likely 

 to be injurious to life, limbs, health, education or morals, is liable to a fine of $50. In 

 New York no minor under sixteen is allowed to work in any mercantile establishment 

 more than fifty-four hours a week. The International Bulletin of Labour Legislation, 

 issued quarterly, shows in a striking way how much has been done and is being done to 

 protect the worker from injury by deleterious trades and from excessive hours of 

 labour. 



By the National Insurance Act some 75 per cent of the adult male population of the 

 British Isles and nearly 25 per cent of the women will be insured in a contributory 

 scheme against sickness and disablement. For the first time in its history the United 

 Kingdom finds itself organised to face the risks of disease and misadventure. Much 

 criticism has of course been directed against the details of the scheme, some of it well- 

 founded. The marvel is that such a vast and complicated scheme should have been 

 launched and should have started working with comparative smoothness. Experience 

 will disclose the minor imperfections of the Act, and they can be rectified by an amend- 

 ing Act. In the meantime the Act may be described as the most solid experiment for 

 the social betterment of the British working-classes which the last half-century has 

 witnessed. An instructive comparison of the English with the German scheme by Dr. 

 E. J. Schuster will be found in No. xxv of the Journal of Comparative Legislation, p. 30. 

 Switzerland has been establishing a similar system of national insurance. 



In the British crown colonies and protectorates recruiting of native labour for other 

 colonies has been forbidden. It has been found that migration led to the dissolution of 

 family and tribal ties, and often to the demoralization of the emigrant. In Mauritius 

 the introduction of indentured labour from India has been abolished. The cost of the 

 immigration of coolie labourers in the West Indies is now being put upon the employers, 

 and also the cost of repatriation. Newfoundland has been prohibiting contracts with 

 Eskimos or Mountaineer Indians to leave the colony for service anywhere except service 

 such as fishing, hunting or exploring in the Canadian Labrador. South Africa requires 

 native labour agents to be licensed, and regulates contracts for native labour. Australia 

 has also passed a measure for the protection of aboriginals and half-castes. 



Much dissatisfaction was caused in British labour circles by the decision of the 

 House of Lords in what is known as the Osborne Judgment. Briefly the effect of that 

 judgment was that a rule which purports to confer on any trade union under the Act 

 of 1871 a power to levy contributions on members for the purpose of securing parlia- 

 mentary representation, whether it be an original rule of the union or a rule subsequently 

 introduced by amendment, is ultra vires and void. The result of this decision was of 

 course to reduce Trade Unions to impotency for political purposes, and as it was only 

 by political pressure that the interests of the workers could be protected and furthered, 

 the restriction imposed by the judgment on the legitimate activities and aspirations of 

 Trade Unions as Labour organizations seemed unreasonable and unfair. The Govern- 

 ment has introduced a bill for the purpose of legalising subject to certain conditions 

 payments made by a Trade Union for any lawful objects or purposes for the time being 

 authorised under its constitution, including of course payments made for political pur- 

 poses. Such a power, it may be said, operates unjustly towards a dissentient minority 

 of members, but it must be remembered that they join the Union with their eyes open, 

 with notice, that is, of its constitution and the possible application of the funds to 

 political objects with which they are not in sympathy. Such coercion of a minority by 

 a majority is a normal incident of the management of corporate undertakings. 



