mining inspector ("district engineer"). Immediately after receiving such notice the local police must send an officer to prepare a written report in presence of the proprietor or the manager of the establishment, the injured person, if he is able to be present, a physician, the eyewitnesses of the accident, and an expert on the nature of the work, or as many of the persons designated as it is possible to summon. This statement must contain information as to the place and time of the accident, the names of the injured persons, and their occupation, the names and addresses of the eyewitnesses, the name of the proprietor of the establishment, a description of the circumstances of the accident, as obtained from the statement of the eyewitnesses as well as the results of a personal examination of the place, the nature of the injuries, and the statement of the physician, if one was present, and it is signed by all persons present. If the statement is made without a physician, one must be invited by the proprietor within 4 days after the accident, or in case of death, immediately. The physician makes a medical examination, and makes a statement either of the death, and its causation by the accident, or of the nature and extent of the bodily injury with a conclusion in regard to the probable degree of disability. Two additional copies are made both of the police "statement" and the medical certificate, and one of each is given to the proprietor or manager and to the injured person or some member of his family. A record is kept in each industrial establishment of all injuries, with statements as to compensations paid, and all documents pertaining to the subject. All further changes in the conditions of the injured, such as recovery from the injury, or the propriety of discontinuing the medical treatment, the complete recovery from disability, the permanency of disability, and its degree, must be certified by medical certificate. The certificate of any regular practitioner is acceptable, and if his decision be unsatisfactory, the police, city or district surgeon may be called upon by either party to grant these certificates. A complete list of all accidents, with the statements and medical certificates attached, must be kept at each establishment and presented to the factory or mining inspector on demand. Failure to keep the necessary records, to give the required notice to the police, or to call in a physician subjects the proprietor or manager to a fine of from 25 to 100 rubles ($12.87 to $51.50). FUNCTIONS OF THE FACTORY AND MINE INSPECTORS. As shown above, the administration of the law is placed upon the factory and mine inspectors. This includes certification and approval of the voluntary agreements, explanation and interpretation of the law, and the rights and duties of all parties under it, inspection of the accident lists, determination of average wages of unskilled labor, nominations of guardians for minors in cases to be brought to trial, certain supervision of the process of voluntary and enforced liquidations, etc. As yet the system of factory inspection has been introduced only in European Russia and four of the Caucasian provinces; no factory inspectors are provided for the remaining provinces of Caucasus, and throughout Siberia and middle Asia. In these provinces the functions of the factory inspectors are placed upon other administrative officers, known as provincial mechanics, but in view of the insufficiency of the number of these officers (only one to a province) local judges are authorized to certify and approve voluntary settlements; in addition, the injured employees or their heirs are permitted to bring their claims into court without any prejudice to their case. By a provision in the resolution of the Imperial Council, the "Central Council of Manufactures and Mines" attached to the Ministry of Finance (and since transferred to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) was directed to prepare a set of rules and regulations for guidance of the provincial councils of manufactures and mines, of the factory or mine inspectors, or the officers acting in their places, where no factory or inspection exists, in their duties under this law. Such regulations were prepared and promulgated by the minister of finance on December 13 (26), 1903. Complete lists of industrial and mining establishments in each district must be compiled by the factory or mine inspectors and kept on file by the provincial councils of manufactures and mining. All establishments subject to this law must be listed whether or not these institutions are otherwise subject to factory or mine inspection. Doubtful establishments must be entered in the lists, and the question of the application of the compensation act must be settled by the local council or referred to the central council in St. Petersburg, to which the proprietor of the establishment, who must be notified of its inclusion in the lists, has a right of appeal. Where there are no factory inspectors, other officers are instructed to collect the lists and furnish them to all officers who may be called upon in connection with accidents. It is the inspector's duty to make a personal investigation of every industrial accident in his district, which takes place in an establishment subject to the compensation act, without waiting for the formal notice from the proprietor, and he must cooperate with the police to obtain all possible information. It is his duty to encourage amicable settlements between two parties; even if they had once failed to come to an agreement, as evidenced by a proper "act" of the factory inspector, and a lawsuit has been instituted, and even if the legal time limit had elapsed, nevertheless, if both parties enter a request for a voluntary agreement, such request must not be refused. If oral agreements are presented to him by both parties he can not decline to put them in writing as a preliminary to certification. In the case of a written agreement, acknowledged by a notary, appearance of the agreeing parties is not necessary and the request for certification may come in writing. The inspector must decline to certify settlements by which the employer tries to avoid a direct obligation imposed by the law, or the employee signs away one of his undisputed rights, but before doing so the inspector on his initiative must suggest the changes necessary to obtain certification. With the written consent of both parties he may certify to some provision of the settlements and except others. When requests are made upon the inspector by one party for explanation as to his rights, the inspector may ask the other party to appear before him, and failure to appear must be considered as a refusal to enter into a voluntary agreement. The factory inspectors may take the initiative to petition the court for appointment of the guardian for minor claimants. In case of pending voluntary liquidation, or transfer or public sale of an establishment, the inspector must remind the proprietors, orally or in writing, of their obligations under this act, and also inform all the beneficiaries, as far as possible, of the coming change in ownership. They must also inform the official conducting such liquidation or sale, of the obligations under this law. As defined by the regulations, the duties of the factory and mine inspectors are very broad and complex. Besides being charged with almost all the details of the execution of the law, they are practically made official mediators and conciliators, upon whose work the success of the law largely depends. INSTRUCTION TO THE POLICE. Rules for the regulation of the police authorities in connection with the law were approved by the ministers of interior and of war on December 11 (24), 1903. The obligations of the police are mainly limited to making an official record of the accident as soon after its occurrence as possible and gathering at the place of its occurrence all the possible information from the eyewitnesses. These regulations to the factory inspectors and the police were also intended to materially improve the statistics of accidents. INSURANCE. While the law establishes the individual liability of the employer, and all proposals to establish a system of compulsory insurance were declared premature, the advantages of insurance were clearly recognized and the introduction of a system of compulsory insurance against accidents has only been deferred until a more propitious time. The law tends to encourage insurance not only by permitting it but also by providing that the employer may be entirely relieved from all obligation imposed if he insures his employees in an authorized insurance company under conditions no less favorable than those secured by the law. Both private insurance companies and mutual insurance societies are authorized, but both must conform to the rules. as laid down by the minister of interior on December 22, 1903 (January 4, 1904). These rules are discussed more fully in connection with the section on private insurance against accidents. SPECIAL PROVISION FOR WORKMEN EMPLOYED BY THE STATE. The industrial undertakings of the Russian Central Government have during the last two centuries been extensive, and the need of compensating the employees of these industrial establishments for results of industrial accidents was recognized many years before any steps were taken for a general law to cover private undertakings. CIVIL EMPLOYEES OF NAVY-YARDS.. The workmen employed in the navy-yards and their families were among the first. to be provided for in case of accidental injuries or death, by the law of October 8 (20), 1862, which remained in force until after the application of the provisions of the general compensation act of 1903 to this class of state employees. According to the law of 1862, all cases of disability or death caused by accidents were compensated without any effort to determine the fault or place the blame. The law was passed 48 years ago, and established pensions which have remained unchanged. The law preserved the distinction between masterworkmen, journeymen, and apprentices, with different amounts of pensions to each, according to the following scale: ANNUAL PENSIONS GRANTED TO EMPLOYEES OF NAVY-YARDS, BY CLASSES. [Source: Otvietstvennost pred priminatelei za uviechia i smert rabochikh, V. P. Litwinov-Falinskii, 1900.] 2. Loss of life, or of two extremities, or such injury as will necessitate constant care of injured the rest of his life.. 3. Loss of one extremity or such injury as will cause total disability to 5 Injury resulting in disability to continue in employment in navy-yard, but leaving the victim able to earn a sufficient amount for support at some other occupation.. Pensions of the fourth and fifth groups were either permanent or temporary, depending upon the duration of disability resulting from injury. When death resulted from the injury the widow received 67725°-VOL 2-11-40 one-half of the full pension, as indicated above, and each of the children one-sixth, so that the full pension was granted to the family only where there were at least three children. When the children remained orphans at the death of the injured workman, each child was entitled to an equal share of the pension, but not more than onefourth each, so that the full pension was granted only when four orphans remained. The widow was entitled to the pension until death or remarriage, provided she led a sober and moral life, or until she entered a government asylum. Male children received their pension until 14 years of age and female children until 15 years of age; but when crippled or suffering from incurable diseases, and `therefore unable to earn a living, the pension was continued for life. The dependents were entitled to a pension, not only when death resulted from the injury, but in all cases of death of a workman receiving a pension. The procedure was entirely through the officers administering the navy-yards. On May 17 (30), 1904, the provisions of the law of June 2 (15), 1903, with some modification, were substituted for the law of October 8 (20), 1862, while on March 6 (19), 1906, a special act was passed. STATE MINES AND METALLURGICAL ESTABLISHMENTS. Labor in state mines and metallurgical establishments before the emancipation of serfs in 1861 was obligatory for the peasants of certain mining districts. Since 1857 the obligation of the State to care for the injured and the invalid was recognized, though the compensation was limited to 2 poods (72.2 pounds) of flour for an adult and 1 pood (36.1 pounds) of flour for a minor monthly, and money pensions varying from 1.87 to 72 rubles ($0.96 to $37.08) per annum for the injured workman, from 1.72 to 21 rubles ($0.89 to $10.82) per annum to the widow, and 1.72 to 10 rubles ($0.89 to $5.15) per annum to each daughter. By the law of March 8 (20), 1861, the relations between the state mines and metallurgical establishments and the peasant population of the mining districts was regulated anew, and the law provided for miners' mutual benefit societies for the care of the sick, aged, invalids, widows, and orphans. An amendment to this law stated that in case of death or disability due to an industrial accident, pensions and allowances should be paid from the treasury of the establishments. This was interpreted to mean that the old provisions of the law of 1857 were to be applied. A suit instituted in 1894 by an injured workman led to a decision that the law of 1857 was inapplicable, and that the injured workman had a right to recover under the provisions of the general laws. A plan of a special law providing for such compensation of the employees of the state mines and metallurgical establishments was being prepared in the Ministry of Agriculture and State Domains, embodying |