there was no appeal, and for suits in common courts when no peaceful settlement was possible. Yet the large opportunity for litigation was evident, especially in view of the provisions in regard to contributory negligence. On the other hand, the liberal inclusion of the trade diseases called forth strong opposition among the manufacturers of St. Petersburg.

This plan did not meet with approval and was returned to the Ministry of Finance for further changes. The demand for legislation grew with the development of industry, and the discussion showed a considerable part of the manufacturers of Russia not unfavorably disposed to some regulation of this problem. In a few industrial centers the manufacturers organized mutual companies for insurance. of their employees, and the liability assumed by these companies was much broader than that imposed by the laws. The activity of the manufacturers of Riga, which will be described in a later section, was very important in that connection.

In the spring of 1899 a new legislative scheme was announced by the Ministry of Finance. This plan bore evidence of the influence exerted by the Riga Mutual Insurance Company system. In fact, section 2 of the project of 1899, which contains an enumeration of exceptions to the liability of employers, repeated word for word the corresponding section 3 of the Riga society's by-laws. It excepted injuries due to accidents caused by (1) unpreventable and unexpected external forces (vis major), (2) acts of outsiders, who have no connection with the management of the industrial establishment, (3) such intentional acts of the fellow-servants as are not connected with the nature of the work, and (4) malicious intent of the injured. The by-laws of the Riga society stated "gross negligence of the injured," for which the legislative plan of 1899 substituted "malicious intent," thus limiting substantially the range of excepted cases. The law was to apply to workmen and technical employees. Only factories were covered by the bill. Workshops employing less than 15 men and no mechanical power, mines, quarries, metallurgical establishments, agricultural, structural, and transportation employees were not included. Compensation offered included besides medical treatment an allowance of 50 per cent of the daily wages for temporary disability; a pension amounting to two-thirds of the annual earnings for complete permanent disability and a proportionate sum in cases of partial disability, while the Riga society offered 75 per cent to the married victims in similar cases; in cases of death the widow and children were to receive the same rate of compensation as under the Riga system, i. e., 30 per cent of the earnings to the former and 15 to 20 per cent to the latter. The new proposal extended the right to compensation not only to dependent parents, but also to dependent grandparents, brothers, and sisters, but the maximum was the same,

and the claims of these relatives were recognized only in so far as the immediate family was not entitled to the 60 per cent maximum.

After four years consumed in the elaboration and adaptation of this plan, with vital changes, the final draft was approved June 2 (15), 1903, and went into effect on January 1 (14), 1904.

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION-PRESENT STATUS.

The workmen's compensation act is entitled "Rules concerning the compensation of workmen and employees injured through accidents, as well as members of their families, in manufacturing, mining, and metallurgical establishments." It was accompanied by an extensive "Opinion of the Imperial Council" of the same date, containing amendments and modifications. Since that date many decrees and enactments in regard to this matter have been announced, and the entire law may be said to be still in the formative state.

Instructions to the factory and mine inspectors, referring to the details of the execution of the law, were approved by the ministers of finance and of agriculture and state domains on December 13 (26), 1903, and instructions to the police were issued by the central office of factory and mine inspection on March 5 (18), 1904. Instructions to physicians concerning the methods of determining the degree of disability were elaborated by the medical council of the Ministry of Interior, and approved by the latter on June 5 (18), 1904; new regulations regarding the collective insurance of workmen or the insurance of employers against their civil liability, harmonized with the new legislation, were approved by the minister of interior on December 22, 1903 (January 4, 1904).

By numerous acts the action of law was extended to various state establishments: To the workmen and civil employees of the artillery service, on June 9 (22), 1904, in effect January 1 (14), 1905; to the workmen and employees of manufacturing, mining, and metallurgical establishments of the Crown (i. c., the personal property of the Emperor and the imperial family), June 6 (19), 1905, in effect December 25, 1905 (January 7, 1906); to employees of the government printing office on December 19, 1905 (January 1, 1906), in effect July 1 (14), 1906; and of the senate printing office, March 6 (19), 1906, in effect July 1, 1906; of the navy yards, March 6 (19), 1906, in effect July 1 (14), 1906; and of the governmental industrial establishments connected with the department of ports and harbors, April 19 (May 2), 1906, in effect October 1 (14), 1906. Further extensions must follow to include all the industrial undertakings of the Government.

INDUSTRIES COVERED.

The application of the act is strictly limited to factories, mills, mines, and metallurgical establishments. Large sections of the working population are excluded, namely, the transportation employees

(for whom special provisions exist, partly in section 683 of Volume X, part 1 of the code, as explained above, and partly in the pension and aid funds, which will be described elsewhere), the agricultural laborers, the building trades, and the commercial employees. Factories, mines, and metallurgical establishments owned by provincial governments and municipalities are included. Specifically excluded were industrial establishments of the Central Government, the workshops and other industrial establishments of private railroad and steamship companies, but the heads of the various ministries were instructed to present within one year after the law went into effect, i. e., after January 1, 1904, plans for extension of this law with necessary modifications, to the various state industrial establishments. Accordingly the main provisions of this law were extended to various governmental establishments, namely, all factories, mines, and metallurgical establishments which are personal property of the Emperor and the entire imperial family (so-called of his majesty's cabinet and the Crown), workmen and civil employees of the artillery, the government printing office, senate printing office, navy yards, and the industrial establishments of the department of ports and harbors, this latter group including also construction work. As yet the law was not extended to transportation companies. The extension of the law to the state and crown establishments is accompanied by modifications, more or less uniform, which makes it preferable to treat these establishments separately.

The essential limitation of the law is found in the term "factory." The Russian law recognizes two classes of manufacturing establishments, factories and "artisans' shops" (remeslennya zavedenia). The latter are not mentioned in the law and therefore are not subject to it. But the definition of a factory, contained in the Russian law, is not sufficiently specific; factories and mills are stated to differ from artisans' shops in that they are large establishments using mechanical power, while artisans have none except hand machinery and tools. The decision in practice is left to administrative officers, and practically the law extends over all manufacturing establishments using machinery and mechanical power.

An exception is found in the exclusion of so-called rural industrial establishments. This includes a large class of certain small establishments located outside of city limits, namely, brick and tile yards, cement and starch factories, turpentine stills, wood distilleries, creameries, cheese factories, even if utilizing mechanical power, provided they do not employ more then 20 workmen, sawmills with only one mechanical saw, flour mills with four or less millstones, or only one rolling stone, wine presses, and a few other small rural industrial establishments.

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PERSONS COMPENSATED.

Within the industries and establishments mentioned, the law applies to all workmen as well as to employees, such as foremen, engineers, and superintendents, whose duties bring them in contact with the processes of industry, provided their salary, inclusive of shares in profits, board or lodging, does not exceed 1,500 rubles ($772.50). All workmen and employees excepted from the application of this law preserve the right of action under the general laws of liability, which are not available to workmen covered by the new

act.

INJURIES COMPENSATED.

All injuries due to accidents occasioned by or on account of the work, and causing disability for more than three days or death, must be compensated, unless caused by the injured person himself either intentionally or through gross negligence, such as can not be justified by the conditions of work, while the burden of proving such malicious intent or gross negligence, which would relieve the employer from the duty of compensation is definitely placed upon the employer.

The act is broader than the plan of 1899, in one respect that it has discarded the provision excluding injuries caused intentionally by coemployees; on the other hand, it has excluded injuries caused by gross negligence of the injured, a provision which the plan of 1899 discarded when it copied the entire section from the by-laws of the Riga Mutual Insurance Company.

BURDEN OF PAYMENT.

The duty of compensation is placed entirely upon the employer. Subcontracting the work to a third party does not relieve the employer from the responsibility, but an order given to another independent establishment is not considered subcontracting. All agreements between employers and employees entered into before the occurrence of the accident, waiving the employees' right to compensation under this act, are illegal and not enforceable.

METHODS OF COMPENSATION.

Two methods of compensation are provided-allowances for temporary disability and pensions for permanent disability or death. Only those injuries which cause disability lasting more than three days entitle the injured to an allowance, but it is computed from the day of the injury. The daily allowance is equal to one-half of the actual daily earnings of the injured. In addition to this allowance the employer must either furnish the injured person with free medical treatment, or reimburse him for the cost of such until full recov

ery, or as long as treatment is continued, at the rates charged in local governmental or municipal hospitals. This allowance and medical treatment constitute all the compensation in cases of temporary disability.

In its initial stages, i. e., until the permanent nature of the disability and its extent is determined, every case of permanent disability is treated exactly like a case of temporary disability, i. e., the injured person receives the medical treatment, and the allowance. This is followed by a pension when the permanent nature of the disability is determined. When the disability is complete, the pension amounts to two-thirds of the annual earnings of the injured. In cases of partial, though permanent disability, a smaller pension is granted, proportionate to the degree of disability. The pension follows immediately after the allowance, and when the amount of the pension is greater than that of the allowance the computed difference for the time elapsed since the day of the accident must be paid to the injured.

When the injury is fatal, or results in death within two years, or even later, but while the injured is still under treatment, the employer must pay for the funeral expenses, 30 rubles ($15.45) for an adult and 15 rubles ($7.72) for a minor, and provide pensions to the members of the family of the deceased, as follows:

The widow receives a pension equal to one-third of the annual earnings of the deceased until her death or remarriage; in the latter case she receives in settlement of all her claims one payment equal to three times the amount of her annual pension. The children under 15 years of age, whether legitimate, legitimatized, illegitimate, or legally adopted, are each entitled to a pension equal to one-sixth of the annual earnings of the deceased, when the other parent survives, or one-fourth when both parents are dead. But when both parents are killed as a result of industrial accidents, the children receive the sum of pensions to which they are entitled because of the death of each parent. The total sum of pensions must not exceed 663 per cent of the annual earnings of the deceased, and where the pensions of the widow and children, computed as above, would exceed this limit, the shares of all are proportionately reduced. But if the deceased leaves no family, or if this maximum is not claimed by the immediate family, the relatives in an ascending line, and orphan brothers and sisters under 15 years of age, are entitled to pensions of 163 per cent each, or an equal share of as much as is left after satisfying the claims of the widow and children, provided these relatives had previously been dependent upon the deceased. But changes in the family, subsequent to the granting of the pensions, do not lead to a rearrangement of the pensions, with the single exception of a birth of a legitimate child.