BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. No. 40-MAY, 1902. ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. EDITOR, CARROLL D. WRIGHT, COMMISSIONER. ASSOCIATE EDITORS, G. W. W. HANGER, CHAS. H. VERRILL, G. A. WEBER. CONTENTS. Page. Present condition of the hand-working and domestic industries of Germany, by Henry J. Harris, Ph. D................. Workmen's compensation acts of foreign countries, by Adna F. Weber, chief statistician of the New York State department of labor ........... PRESENT CONDITION OF THE HAND-WORKING AND DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES OF GERMANY. BY HENRY J. HARRIS, PH. D. The narrowing of the workingman's sphere of activity, which the growth of the factory system and the specialization of modern industrial life have brought about, has frequently led to the expression of the desire for a return to the system of household or small shop production which was formerly the prevailing type in industrial life. In Germany a similar movement has taken place and has aroused an active interest in the welfare of this class of producers who still exist in much larger numbers and occupy a more prominent position in economic life than they do in the United States. This interest has taken the form of measures to encourage and assist the organization and the general and technical education of the class. In addition, it has led to a series of investigations into the number and characteristics of the hand-working producers of the present time, so that we now have more accurate information on this subject for Germany than for other countries. The following pages endeavor to present the salient features of the problem of the hand-working producer in Germany on the basis of these investigations, and with special reference to those phases of the problem which are of interest to Americans. A study of the economic features of the States forming the German Empire may find a convenient starting point in the close of the Napoleonic period. At that time all the industrial production of the country was practically in the hands of the artisan or handicraft class, who were organized in guilds of more or less strength and community of feeling. Though there is evidence that a small number of what might be termed factories existed, yet the jealousy of the guilds prevented |