000 for the three branches; the expenditures were about $110,000,000, and the accumulated funds amounted to $330,000,000.' These amounts increase somewhat from year to year; for example, the amounts paid out for the year 1904 were about $125,000,000.2

It is proposed to give here only a very brief sketch of the scheme. The subject was very thoroughly and exhaustively treated in the work of John Graham Brooks on "Compulsory Insurance in Germany."

Insurance against sickness is compulsory upon workmen and employees in all of the main employments, which are designated in some detail in the law, such as manufacturing, mining, railroad work, commercial and business pursuits mainly upon those receiving wages or salary of not more than $476 per annum, but upon certain classes of workmen, regardless of amount of wages. It may be extended to those engaged in domestic industry, agriculture, and forestry.

The range of accident insurance is similar and it is subject to similar extension, but it

1 G. Zacher, Guide to Workmen's Insurance, German Empire, Table A. Vide Appendix E.

'C. B. Henderson, in Charities, xix, 1191–1192.

3 Fourth Special Report, U. S. Com'r of Labor. See, also, German Workmen's Insurance, in five parts, Imperial Insurance Office, Berlin; and Rubinow, in Chautauquan, xli, 48 and 79, giving valuable diagrams and bibliographical note; W. F. Willoughby, Workmen's Insurance, pp. 29–87.

is compulsory on those receiving wages not exceeding $714 per annum.

Old-age and invalidity insurance applies to all workmen above sixteen years of age, to apprentices and domestic servants without regard to the amount of earnings, and to employees, teachers, etc., who earn less than $476 a year. It is intended to reach all whose economic condition makes such insurance desirable. In all three branches of insurance there are provisions for extension and modification, in some cases by rules of the Federal Council, in others by state and communal laws. It is to be noted, too, that the insurance applies without regard to conditions of health. Reckoning not only those insured, but their families, the insurance extends to more than one half of the population of the Empire. There is a wholesome provision that the insurance shall not in any case be assigned, mortgaged, or attached under legal process, nor shall the benefits be waived by any contract between the parties.

A distinctive feature of the accident insurance law is the entire abrogation of the defenses of common employment and contributory negligence. Nothing short of the intention, not even the extreme negligence of the person injured, can defeat his claim, and the

1 L. Lass, op. cit. pp. 17-18.

1

intention must be established by criminal proceedings. This may be deemed the first declaration by legislative enactment of the principle of Asquith's apothegm, "the blood of the workman is a part of the cost of the product." But while the question of negligence is practically eliminated as far as the workman is concerned, the employer may be held liable for all expenses that the association (Berufsgenossenschaft) may incur on account of any accident which has resulted from his intention or negligence,' and may be fined heavily for non-observance of the regulations imposed by the state inspectors or the trade associations for the prevention of accidents.

In the way of benefits in sickness insurance the insured is entitled to free medical treatment, medicines, and remedies, or, in lieu thereof, to free treatment in a hospital; money, to not less than one half of the average wages of the class to which he belongs, to maintain his family during disability, for a period of twenty-six weeks; the same for six weeks for women during lying-in periods; in case of death, burial money amounting to twenty times a day's wages. The federal law fixes minimum amounts only which may be, and

1 Sec. 95, Law of 1884, and sec. 8 of Law of 1887.

2 Sec. 96, Law of 1884.

* K. Hartmann, German Workmen's Insurance, pt. 3, p. 8.

in the majority of cases are, increased considerably by the associations-referred to later which administer funds and are empowered to make rules.

Under accident insurance, the provisions as to medical aid, attendance, medicines, and hospital treatment are similar to those under sickness insurance, to commence at the beginning of the fourteenth week after the accident; accident benefit up to two thirds of the average annual earnings; and, in the event of death, burial money as in sickness insurance and an annuity to widow and children up to sixty per cent of earnings.

The benefits under invalidity and old-age insurance are: invalid pensions for persons who become incapacitated for labor after paying premiums for two hundred weeks and old-age pensions for those who have reached the age of seventy and have paid premiums for twelve hundred weeks. Free medical or surgical treatment and temporary aid to dependents is provided to prevent invalidity. One half of the aggregate premiums paid may be refunded in the case of a woman if she marries, in case of death before the pension becomes due, and in cases falling under the accident insurance laws. The invalidity pension does not wait for total incapacity, but becomes due whenever earning capacity is

reduced to one third of the normal capacity. Old-age pensions are given without regard to earning capacity. It may happen under the various laws that one is entitled at once to accident and invalidity insurance, or invalidity and old-age insurance, in which event it is his privilege to select the most advantageous.

The contributions for sickness insurance are made, one third by the employers and two thirds by employees; for accident insurance, entirely by employers; and for old-age and invalidity insurance, employers and employees contribute equally, the state adding to their joint contribution, for each annuity, a subsidy of $11.90 per annum. While in accident insurance the employer meets the entire charge, he is largely exempt from other liability on account of accidents. The charge varies much according to the greater or less hazard of the industry; this hazard is not averaged between the various industries, but each must meet its own. It was therefore provided' that establishments should be classified under a danger tariff which must have the approval of the Imperial Insurance Bureau and must be revised quinquennially. This regulation has resulted in the tabulation of all the tariffs of the Empire.'

1 Sec. 28, Law of 1884.

* K. Hartmann, Tariff of Risks of the Accident Insurance of the German Empire.