jm Cornell University Library •SI HD5113.B7 1918 The people of the State of New York, res 3 1924 000 556 336 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS THE GIFT OF Mabel Leslie [The Case Against Nightwork for Women Revised With New Introduction to March 1, 1918. Olnurt nt App^aia. ^tat? nf N^m flork. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, against CHAELES SCHWEINLER PRESS, a Corporation, Defendant-Appellant. A Sununary of "Facts of Knowledge" Submitted on Behalf of the People. Prepared April, 1914 BY LOUIS D. BRANDEIS AND JOSEPHINE GOLPMARK National Consumers' League. 289 Fourth Avenue New York. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000556336 THE CASE AGAINST NIGHTWORK FOR WOMEN. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction : Al Labor Laws in Wartime Al Nightwork in the United States The Reversal of the New York "Williams" Decision ,. A2 New Material on Women 's Work A4 1. Greater Morbidity of Working Women.. . A4 2. Infant Mortality and the Employment of Mothers A7 3. Health and Output in Night Work AlO PART FIRST— The World's Experience Upon Which the Legislation Prohib- iting the Employment of Women at Night is Based 1 I. THE DANGERS OF NIGHT WORK. A. Bad Effects of Night Work on Health. 1. The Inferior Value of Sleep in the Day Tune 1 2. The Function and Value of Sleep 26 3. The Deprivation of Sunlight. 47 4. Injuries to Eyesight 60 5. General Injuries to Health from Regu- lar Mght Work 75 6. General Injuries to Health from Late Overtime Work 114 B. Special Need of Prohibiting Nightwork FOR Women. 1. Greater Mortality among Working Wo- men 142 n PAGE a. In comparison with working men 143 b. In comparison with non-operative women 1^^ 2. Greater Morbidity among Working Wo- men 156 a. General Morbidity 153 b. Duration of Illness Greater Among Women 174 c. Continuance at Work During Illness . . 181 3. Injuries to Childbirth and Infant Wel- fare 187 4. Effect on Future Generations 209 C Bad Effect of Night Work on Morals. 1. Moral Dangers 224 2. Dangers of the Streets at Night 243 D. Bad Effect of Night Work on General Welfare. 1. Night Work Destroys Family Life 251 2. Night Work Militates against Efforts to Promote Education and to Reduce Illiteracy 263 II. ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE PEO- HIBITION OF NIGHT WOEK. 1. General Benefit to Commercial Pros- perity 276 2. Effect on Output; Night Work Eeduces Efficiency and thus Eesults in Inferior Output 291 3. Effect on Employment of Women ; Meas- ures Taken to Maintain Output 332 4. Effect on Women's Wages 351 Ill PAGE III. UNIFORMITY OF REGULATION. 1. Essential for Purposes of Enforcement. 361 2. Essential for Justice to Competing Em- ployers 389 PART S'EiCO'i^'D— Legislation Prohibiting the Employment of Women at Night 396 I. The Amebicait LjEJGisiiATioN 396 II. The Foreign LEGiSLtATiON : National, and In- ternational 401 III. War Time Exemptions in Foreign Legisla- tion 409 Decision op the New York Court op Appeals Up- holding the New York Nightwork Law for Women 424 Introduction. THE CASE AGAINST NIGHT WOEK FOE WOMEN. LiABOB Laws in Wabtime. One of the anachronisms of the war has been the re- vival — "after a century of disuse," says a British re- port — of an industrial practice long discredited in the world's eye: the employment of women at night in fac- tories. Indeed, at the outbreak of hostilities, most of the European governments hastened to repeal or grant ex- emptions from the labor laws with the object of speed- ing up the production of war supplies. But the short space of three years has sufficed to prove the fallacy of breaking down those safeguards which the experience of mankind has found essential to health and working capacity, and of which the prohibition of nightwork for women is one. The restoration of the night's rest has not yet made equal progress with the reduction of the day's work or the revival of Sunday rest; but no stronger evidence of the value of labor legislation has ever been given than the slow yet steady return, on the part of the warring countries, to many of the protective restrictions which had proved indispensable in maintaining output in times of peace. So far as concerns the employment of women at night in factories, most of the world had before the war dis- carded this inversion of nature's order of life, not im- pulsively at the dictate of compassion, but deliberately, nation by nation, beginning with England a hundred years ago and culminating in an international treaty of European countries in 1906. This treaty, signed at Berne, Switzerland, by the representatives of fourteen European nations only eight years before war rent Europe asunder, established a period of eleven hours' rest at night, and, during the next six years, was ratified by the legislatures of all the contracting states, with the exception of Den- mark. A2 The Case Against Night Work For Women. Night Work in the United States. Curiously enough, in the United States where public opinion has for the most part demanded legislation pro- viding shorter hours of labor for women than in most European countries, the laws have failed, except in a few states, to provide a period of rest at night. Abroad, as shown in England's first legislation in 1844, the prohibi- tion of night work for women has gone hand in hand with the reduction of the day's work and a legal closing hour has been found essential for the enforcement of the law. In the very year of the Berne convention, when only 4 American states had laws prohibiting night work for women (Massachusetts, New York, Indiana and Ne- braska), such legislation was practically blocked by the action of one of our highest courts. The New York Court of Appeals, in the Williams case,* declared uncon- stitutional the New York law prohibiting employment of women in factories between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The decision was based on the supposition that nightwork has no palpable relation to the protection of women's health and welfare. The Eeveesal of the Williams Decision. Between this decision and its practical reversal by the same court only seven years later lies a wide gulf. The history of the New York night work case is the his- tory of a new phase in American jurisprudence, a his- tory of the innovation introduced by Louis D. Brandeis in the defense of labor laws. Where such legislation had previously been defended on purely legal grounds, a significant departure was made in 1908 by Mr. Brandeis in his support of the first women's labor law to come before the Supreme Court of the United States. It is now well known that in this •People V. Williams, 189 N. Y. 131. A3 Introduction. first case (involving the Oregon lO-honr law), as well as in others which followed, he devoted all but a few pages of his briefs to the physiological, moral and eco-\ nomic facts underlying the constitutional argument. In almost a decade during which he put this new defense into practice, it was uniformly successful.* It was therefore in line with these cases that a sim- ilar defense was prepared for the second trial of the night work issue. In 1913 the New York State Factory Investigating Commission had, after a new investigation and report, drawn up and secured the passage of a new law prohibiting the employment of women at night in factories between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. In a brief entitled "The Facts of Knowledge" sub- mitted in defense of the night work law by the state au- thorities, Mr. Brandeis had again marshalled the tangible human factors in the case, the actual effects of night/ work upon the health of women as disclosed by official/ investigation abroad and in this country, its injuries to-- output, its evil influence upon home life, its dangers to _ Stettler and Simpson v. O'Hara, argued before Supreme Court of the United States, December, 1914; a re-argu- ment was ordered and the case was re-argued and re- vised brief submitted by Mr. Pellx Frankfurter, January, 1917, Mr. Brandeis having meanwhile been appointed a member of the Court. 243 U. S. 629. Bunting v. Oregon, brief pre- pared under the direction of Mr. Brandeis; submitted and case twice argued by Mr. Felix Frankfurter, April, 1916, and January, 1917. 243 U. S. 426. In all these cases, briefs were prepared by the writer under direc- tion of Mr. Brandeis. •Muller V. Oregon, 208 U. S. 412 Ritchie & Co. v. Wayman, 244 111. 509 Ex Parte Anna Hawley, 85 Ohio State 494 Hawley v. Walker, 169 U. S. 178 Miller v. Wilson, 236 U. S. 373 and BoBley V. McLaughlin, 236 U. S. 385 Stettler v. O'Hara, 69 Or. 519 and Simpson v. O'Hara, 70 Ore. 261. A4 The Case Against Night Work For Women. "morals. The court's response to this new emphasis speaks for itself in the decision rendered June, 1914, and reprinted on Page 422.* Except for the Williams case which it reversed, this was the first and is the only decision of any American court on the subject of night work for women. It dis- posed once and for all of the fiction which differentiated the laws setting a closing and opening hour from other laws regulating hours of labor, and set the sanction of the highest court of our greatest industrial state upon this legislation. It remained however, to secure the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States on this issue. After the favorable decision of the Court of Appeals and after the Supreme Court's own record in upholding the Ore- gon, Ohio and California laws limiting women's hours of labor, another favorable decision was almost a fore- gone conclusion. But owing to a defect in the legal rec- ord the appeal in the Schweinler case to the Supreme Court of the United States was not allowed and in De- cember, 1916, the case was thrown out of court. This was because the New York district attorney (after securing a stay of judgment in the lower courts of New York), omitted to have a fine imposed upon the defendant, when the favorable decision of the Court of Appeals up- held the principle of the law. There was therefore no penalty from which the defendant could appeal. Many efforts to cure the record and restore the case proved unavailing. In the interval, the brief submitted to the Court of Appeals in 1914 had been brought down to date and pre- pared for presentation to the Supreme Court of the United States. Since that effort was unsuccessful the material has again been revised to date (January 1, 1918) and is now reprinted. The industrial pressure in certain war industries, the tendency to relax labor standards in some states and the general mistaken belief that all protective legislation *People vs. Schweinler Press, 214 N. Y. 395. A5 Introduction. has been abandoned in the belligerent countries abroad, makes the subject matter of the night work brief of cur- rent interest and its publication opportune. New Material on Women's Wobk. 1. G-reater Morbidity of Working Women. Of the additions made in this volume to the original Schweinler brief of 1914, some of the most interesting are the facts and figures which have emerged from the operation of the British National Insurance Act, re- ported on in 1914 and 1916. Here was a new and almost unprecedented oppor- tunity of learning in cold figures the cost of actual sick- ness among English working men and working women. Statistics of morbidity have been meagre in all coun- tries, yet wherever they have been available they have showed a higher rate among working women than among working men, and, a longer duration of illness. Earlier German and Austrian figures show also that women suffering from minor illnesses continue at work more frequently than men. That is, women have fewer illnesses than men involving complete loss of earning capacity, and more often continue to work though below par, undernourished, ill.* These facts are Ijorne out and more forcibly illus- trated than ever before by the experience of England during the first years of the National Health Insurance act. So greatly had the actuarial figures underestimated the sickness of women that many of the friendly and .benefit sqcities were brought towards the verge of bank- ruptcy. According to Sidney Webb, practically all the societies having any large proportion of women mem- bers exceeded the estimate from 25 to 100 percent. The excessive rate was due not to child-bearing alone. The report of the Interdepartmental Committee ^f Inquiry states that while "some part at least of the excess of iU- * See Pages 181-187, ff. A6 The Case Against Night Work For Women. ness among women" arises from diseases of maternity and from returning to work too soon after confinements, yet apart from these causes "the evidence would appear to substantiate the allegation that women among the industrial classes are more liable to sickness than men. ' There can be little doubt,' says the committee, 'that the main cause of the excess lies in the fact that the incidence of sickness among women employed in industrial occupations generally is heavier than was anticipated, or could have been calculated, when the actuarial estimate was framed. This fact, which we regard as fully proved, is put in different ways by different witnesses." "^he National Insurance Act", says Miss Mary MacArthur in a special memorandum, "has done great service in bringing to light a mass of suffering and a number of social evils, as to which the nation as a whole was ill informed or indifferent. . . . The committee has re- corded its conviction that women are more liable to incapacity by sickness than men, and it is my contention that (apart from normal physical rea- sons) this extra sickness of women is due to their greater poverty, and to the character of their em- ployment. Long hours, long standing, lack of fresh air, long intervals without food, are unde- niably, especially in the case of anaemic girls, det- rimental to health, and the low wages attached to most women's emplojTnent involve insufficient and often improper food. ' ' To bear out her own opinion and because the ' ' cumu- lative effect of the evidence is so weighty". Miss Mac- Arthur gives a brief summary of the opinions of doctors and others before the committee as to the physical ef- fects of industrial overstrain, want of rest and poverty. "Even the medical profession has been surprised " A7 Introduction. says a statement of the British Medical Association, among this evidence "at the number of cases of persons . . . who really needed rest and sickness benefit. This is par- ticularly the case with employed women . . . large numbers of whom have struggled on for . years in spite of actual sickness or depressed health." The British Medical Association quotes a corre- spondent in West Ham who testifies to "the normally low standard of health in city fe- male workers as being a distinct factor in the in- creased claims." "Half these people are working in a state of health which most people in our class would call iU", said Dr. H. Roberts before the committee, regarding his large practice among working people in Stepney.* This greater morbidity of wage-earning women must obviously be borne in mind in considering their employ- ment at night. The ordinary strains and stresses of in- dustry arising from the nature of the work and its physical environment are all intensified in nightwork wMch has, in addition, dangers of its own. If women are handicapped by a greater liability to illness in ordi- nary employment, their health is even more compro- mised when subjected to the strain of work at night. 2. Eelation of Infant Mortality to Employment of Mothers. Among the women employed at night, many are mar- ried. Of great importance therefore are the recent stud- ies throwing some new light upon the relation of infant mortality to the employment of mothers in factories. In its recent studies of this vexed subject, the Chil- *Figures for 1916 and 1917 are not yet available in this country, but from non-official information based on the most recent reports of the administration of the insurance funds it appears that higher wages and the absence of unemployment have resulted in a marked decrease in sick benefits. Literary Digest, March 23, 1918. A8 The Case Against Night Work For Women. dren's Bureau has made an enviable record for itself, and has set a high standard for all future investigations. The inquiries at Johnstown, Montclair and particularly the one at Manchester, N. H., show, at its best, the appli- cation of the scientific spirit to the study of social phe- nomena, presenting a statistical analysis which is at the same time a balanced, humanly convincing portrait. After the loose generalities of many American labor re- ports, and the barren statistics whose averages succeed only in muddling the truth, the originality and scien- tific precision of the various Eeports of the Children's Bureau are an enrichment of the thin American litera- ture of social research. The relations of women's employment outside the home to the death rate of babies has been a subject of discussion since Sir John Simon summed up the causes of high infant mortality more than half a century ago.* Since that time many writers have held the employment of mothers to be the chief cause of the higher infant mor- tality in industrial centers where women work for wages. Yet it is true that in many towns and cities where the pro- portion of married women in industry is not large, babies also die at a high rate. The comparison of general statistics of this kind, while it shows general tendencies, yet often obscures spe- cial differences underlying the figures. Thus for in- stance, in one of the non-textile towns, where the infant death rate was very high, living conditions and sanita- tion proved to be particularly unhealthful and dan- gerous.** The Children's Bureau used a new method in its in- vestigations, by pursuing the history of every baby bom during a certain calendar year instead of following up the records of deaths only. To study the deaths alone is an unsafe method, since •Paper Relating to the Sanitary State of England, 1858, quoted by Newman, "Infant Mortality", p. 92. **Report of the British Local Government Board for 1913-14. Sup- plementary Report of the Medical OflBcer of the Board . . . Dealing with Infant Mortality in Lancashire. Page 64. A9 Introduction. in considering the causes of a high infant mortality the important question is not the proportion of deaths arising from various causes, but the death rates, that is the rela- tion of deaths to births. Thus, in order to know whether the death rate for babies of mothers who worked away from home is higher or lower than for those whose mothers did not so work, we need a comparison of the deaths to all the infants born in the same period.* This method, followed in the reports of the Children's Bureau, gives a final answer to the long mooted question as to the effect of the mother's employment away from home during the year before and the year after the baby's birth. Nearly half the whole number of babies included in the Manchester investigation had mothers who worked in "gainful employment" during the year previous to the baby's birth. 504 mothers worked away from home, chiefly in factories. The mortality rate for babies of these mothers was 227.5, while the rate for babies of mothers not gainfully employed was 133.9. The death rate of the babies whose mothers worked away from home during the year after birth was 161 against a rate of 128.1 for a corresponding group of infants whose mothers were not so employed. Another conclusion of the Children's Bureau reports concerns us here. They have given new and striking proof of the relation of the infant death rate to the earn- ings of fathers, showing in relentless parallel columns, how the babies' death rate falls as the father's income rises, and how it increases as his earnings fall. It has been thought that when the mother is employed, her additional earnings more than compensate for her absence from home. But the Manchester, N. H., investi- gation, dealing with an industrial center where large numbers of women are employed in factories, proves that the babies of the mothers who worked away from home *0wlng to its lack of information as to death rates for infants of mothers gainfully employed or otherwise, no use is made here of Vol. XIII of the Report on Women and Child Wage-earners in the United States. U. S. Bureau of Labor, 1912. A 10 The Case Against Night Work For Women. during the year before the baby's birth, died at an even higher rate than the babies of fathers in the lower income groups. The supplementary wages did not, in fact, compensate for the mother's absence and for those chief evils arising from her employment away from home, the lack of care and the lack of breast feeding. It goes without saying that many other factors be- sides the mother's employment contribute to a high in- fant mortality, such as poverty, inadequate attendance at birth, wrong feeding, bad sanitation, and the like. But the simple truth is that women who work in factories are not thereby relieved from household duties — from cook- ing, washing, cleaning and looking after their families. These things must be attended to, so far as possible, be- fore and after working hours. Hence these mothers have a double burden and their babies a double handicap. It is not factory work per se which alone exerts an in- jurious influence but the inevitable conditions under which it is performed, the long hours of standing, the strain, and the unfavorable environment. "In towns where women are largely employed in factories away from home, the disadvantages are enor- mously increased," wrote Sir George Newman ten years ago in summing up the matter. "Broadly that is the inevitable conclusion. There are reservations and differences, but the fact remains. And the operations of this fact are threefold. First, there are the ordinary injuries and diseases to which women and girls in factories are liable ; secondly, there is the strain and stress of long hours and hard work to the pregnant wo- man; and thirdly there is the absence from home of the mother of the infant. It cannot be doubted that these are the factors in the relation between factory occupation of women and a high infant mortality." All these harmful conditions are heightened and in- tensified in nightwork, with its inevitable loss of sleep and sunshine. Hence investigations showing the in- All Introduction. creased death rate for babies of mothers in ordinary em- ployment, are additional arguments against further com- promising the health of women by the added dangers of employment at night. 3. Health and Output in Night Work. The New York Court of Appeals uttered more than a mere phrase when it declared nightwork "against na- ture"; it was a demonstrated fact. To invert night and day, to work at night and obtain adequate rest by day is literally impossible for working people. The British Health of Munition Workers Committee points out that in scientific experiments such an inver- sion may be accomplished. Thus for instance, under certain conditions, a complete change has been made in the normal day and night variations of the tempera- ture of the human body. Our bodily temperature is not constant but is known to exhibit a distinct cycle during the 24 hours, the maximum appearing in the late after- noon or evening between 4 P. M. and 8 P. M. and the minimum in the smaU hours of the night, between 2 A. M. and 6 A. M. In one experiment with monkeys, con- fined in light-proof and sound-proof cages, who were kept active at night and allowed to sleep by day, the temperature rhythm was completely reversed. The same reversal was found true of members of the Danish Arc- tic Expedition of 1906-1908, who were able in the north- em darkness, to invert "night" and "day." These re- sults show that special experimental conditions may make it possible to change an accustomed routine of day work and night rest at least for a trial period. It is clear also that such experiments are wholly removed from ordin- ar;^ life and cannot yield any conclusions applicable to ordinary human beings, living neither in sound-proof and light-proof apartments nor in the region of perpetual night. Quiet and privacy at home are privileges for the most part beyond the reach of wage-earning people ; and even if girls and women who work at night were to find quiet A 12 The Case Against Night Work For Women. and privacy awaiting them, still all those psychological influences which unconsciously or consciously govern our actions, tend to make adequate day sleep impossible, when all the world is awake and active. ' Unfortunately the revival of nightwork has not yielded any new or conclusive studies of its effect on health. The British Health of Munition Workers Committee has dur- ing 1917 published studies of output at night which com- pletely bears out previous experience proving the in- ferior production of continuous nightwork.* The Com- mittee investigated also the so-called "discontinuous sys- tem" of alternating day and night shifts each week or fortnight, and states that "in monotonous processes which call for little physical effort, discontinuous night- work of women rarely falls more than 10% below and usually closely approximates to that obtained by day work. ' ' Put the value of these investigations, as proof of the expediency of the discontinuous system, is seriously im- paired by the lack of evidence concerning its effect upon the health of the workers. The alternation of weekly day and night shifts has long been found injurious to health on account of the diflSculties of so frequently re- adjusting regular habits of life.** Indeed the Committee itself prefaced its investigation of output at night by laying great stress upon the need of also studying its pliysical effects. "The Committee", says the report, "is avow- edly taking a short and not a long view of the sub- ject, and is solely concerned with the factors which are of importance during the present emergency. * * * Judgment on this restricted aspect of night work must be based upon ;a knowl- edge of both the comparative output-efficiency, and ♦British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Workers Com- mittee. Interim Report. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. The Com- parative Efficiencies of Day Work and Night Work In Munition Fac- tories, London, 1917. **For a reference to these difficulties among boys, see Interim Re- port, page 34. A 13 Introduction. of the prevalence of invalidity, sickness and bad time-keeping among night and day workers." (Italics added.) Notwithstanding this emphatic statement, in estimat- ing the causes of lost time among night workers, the factor of sickness had, in the Committee's own words, "only passing references." This failure to correlate with its careful analysis of output-efficiency a medical study of the health of the same women is a serious omission in the Committee's work. A medical examination of another group of 134 women who worked at night showed that "for the first six months of factory life the work is usually fairly well borne and the effects of night duty show little result. In the 6 to 12 months interval, the strain begins to produce effects on the weaker members of the factory, and an in- creased amount of headache, sleeplessness and dizziness is experienced, especially on night work."* At another factory the same medical examiners made an inquiry into the health of married women. Two hun- dred and ten women were first examined; six months later only 116 of these women were found at work. Of those who had left work, 26% left "for reasons of - health"; another quarter on account of low wages and long hours. "The numbers under consideration are too small to afford definite conclusion", says the re- port, "but in reviewing these cases the general impression was obtained that the long shifts and night work, in addition to home duties and worries -(often associated with insufficient sleep) formed too heavy a burden for the average married woman. ' ' Undoubtedly, as all observers agree, the patriotic •Interim Report. Inquiry Into the Health of Women Engaged In Munition Factories. Page 117. A 14 The Case Against Nigjit Work For Women. fervor of English working women has been a potent stimulus to health and energy, and has enabled them to achieve results astonishing to the world in mechanics and industry. Higher wages and better food have wrought great benefits to health. Yet the ultimate effects, "for the remainder of their lives", of the conditions under which much of this work has been done, is viewed with deep concern by such a body of women as the Joint Com- mittee of Industrial Women's Organizations. "The long hours of work and especially the night work," says this Joint Committee in a recent report* "with the additional strain of frequent Sunday shifts, have, however, had a very serious effect on the well-being and health of the workers. The young women have suffered greatly from this strain, and observation has shown not only the soundness of the previous prohibition of night- work, but also the failure from the point of view both of the work and of output, of the long shifts. "Both for married women and the younger workers the present conditions suggest very seri- ous problems. We fear that the women now working will feel their strength lessened in many instances for the remainder of their lives and we realize the perilous results when we remember the burden of motherhood which they may be bearing now or in the future." In default of a comprehensive health study, this scat- tered evidence again makes manifest the physical injuries of nightwork for women. According to the Joint Commit- tee of Women's Organizations, the relaxation of the fac- *The Position of Women After the War. Report of the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organizations presented to the Joint Committee on Labor Problems after the War. London (1917.) Signed by Miss Mary Macarthur and Miss A. Susan Lawrence of the Women's Trade Union League; Miss Llewelyn Davies and Miss Allen of the Women's Cooperative Guild; Miss Mary Longman and Dr. Marion Phillips of the Women's Labour League; Miss Margaret Bond- fleld and Miss Weaver of the National Federation of Women Workers; Mrs. E. Webb and Mrs. Hobbs of the Railway Women's Guild. A 15 Introduction. tory acts in Great Britain, including the prohibition of nightwork ' ' have had their bad effects even for the compara- tively short time for which they have been in op- eration. . . . Enough has been proved to show the need for discontinuing these relaxations at the earliest possible moment." Equally striking is the conclusion of the latest memo- randum of the Health of Munition Workers ' Committee* pointing out the need of further reducing hours and of heeding the wastage of workers in war trades : "It must be recognized" says the report, "that the conditions are not the same now as they were in the early days of the War; not only have large numbers of the youngest and strongest workers been withdrawn for military service, but those who remain are suffering from the strain inseparable from a continuous period of long hours of employ- ment. Large numbers of women are now em- ployed on heavy work and on skilled operations in- volving constant thought and attention, which were considered two years ago to be quite beyond their capacity. It may be true that no serious break- down of health has as yet been obseryed among the great mass of workers, but it cannot be as- sumed that this condition will continue indefinitely. The effect of the strain may even have been al- ready more serious than appears on the surface, for while it is possible to judge roughly the gen- eral condition of those working in the factory to- day, little information is available concerning the large number of workers who for one reason or an- other, and often because they find the work too arduous, are continually giving up their job. This is an important point which is liable to be over- looked, since the supply of labour has hitherto been adequate to fill their places. The irritability and nervousness mentioned by the Commission on In- *Meniorandum No. 20. October, 1917. A 16 The Case Against Night Work For Women. dnstrial Unrest are moreover well recognized symptoms of fatigue, while it must not be forgotten that the effects of fatigue are accumulative." Highly significant, therefore, is the action of various European countries during the past three years ia again narrowing the exemptions from the labor laws, which they had all hastened to grant at the outbreak of war, and again gradually restoring the acts to a greater or less degree. For a detailed account of this movement the reader is referred to Page 409. The wartime evil of reviving nightwork for women has not yet been undone ; but even the countries in most desperate need of supplies have at least recognized this revival to be a step backward, a short-sighted policy, in- defensible in any "long view of the subject". But in the realm of labor legislation, which exists pri- marily to preserve the energies of the nation, the "long view" is the only admissible view. Even in wartime, the preservation of life, working capacity and fullest indus- trial production must necessarily be the essential aim. In the United States, before the warj the night work of women was one of the anomalies of our industrial system. Nov/here else had the movement for a shorter day spread without including the demand for a period of rest at night. With the increased pressure for war supplies, the lack of laws prohibiting women's employ- ment at night now makes itself more acutely felt. Ex- isting labor standards have not as yet been relaxed to any large degree. But in only eight states of the forty- eight is the night work of women in factories prohibited by law. (Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, ]Sew York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.) In Massachusetts, the pioneer in labor legislation, which has for over 25 years protected women and girls from night work in factories, a special war emergency exemption board was created by the legislature of 1917. This board is authorized to grant special exemptions from the labor laws, after public hearings at which cause A 17 Introduction. for the exception must be shown. A large number of ap- plications from employers have been refused, on the ground that work of even the most urgent character can be so arranged as not to necessitate suspension of the laws. In all, exemptions allowing nightwork of women have been granted during 1917 to six firms or corpora- tions. So far as affects work for the federal government both the President and the Secretary of War have placed themselves on record against any lowering of pre-war standards. In answer to a specific inquiry from the Massachusetts War Emergency Industrial Commission the Secretary of War wrote on December 18, 1917 : "At the time of our entering into the war, the Government definitely took the position that the labor standards that had been established by law should not be changed except in cases of extra- ordinary emergency, and that the needs of pro- duction, both as to time and quantity, be secured by the exercise of industrial resourcefulness and by a proper distribution of work among the manu- facturers of the country. . . . ' ' The war alone, in my opinion, is not sufficient to justify a departure from the standards estab- lished by law, by custom or by agreement. Before issuing a certificate of emergency calling for a variation of the labor standards established by law, I have an investigation made in order to de- termine whether the needs of the Government can- not be otherwise supplied. "The maintenance of the standards estab- lished by law for the protection of women and children I deem of the greatest importance to the country during the present crisis, and it is my policy at no time to ask for a suspension of these standards." In line with this declaration of policy is General Order No. 13 issued by the Chief of Ordnance and the Quarter- A 18 The Case Against Night Work For Women. master-General of the United States Army November 15^ 1917, in which the prohibition of night-work for wonien is one of the important recommendations, on a par with other essential labor standards. "In view of the urgent necessity for a prompt increase in the volume of production of practically every article required by the conduct of the war, vigilance is demanded of all those in any way as- sociated with industry, lest the safeguards with which the people of this country have sought to protect labor should be unwisely and unnecessar- ily broken down. Safeguards of Efficiency. "It is a fair assumption that for the most part these safeguards are the mechanisms of efficiency. Industrial history proves that reasonable hours, fair working conditions, and a proper wage scale are essential to high production. During the war every attempt should be made to conserve in every possible way all of our achievements in the way of social betterment. In the preparation of the following memorandum no effort has been made to establish or even to suggest definite rules of conduct. The memorandum presents what may be considered a fair, if tentative, basis of action. . . . V. Standards of Employment for Women. "2. Prohibition of night work. — The employ- ment of women on night shifts should be prevent- ed as a necessary protection, morally and physically. ' ' Conspicuous also is the statement, among the terms of peace of the Inter-allied Labor and Socialist Con- ference in London, calling for a new international agree-, ment to enforce "in all countries the legislation on fac- tory conditions", specifically including prohibition of nightwork by women. {London Times, Feb. 25, 1918.) Like the earlier briefs, this volume includes evidence and opinions of obviously unequal yalue. But it is not, A 19 Introduction. and does not purpose to be a precise legal or medical treatise. It is a human document, aiming to show first the scientific basis upon which rests the case against-, nightwork for women, but including also other more gen-j eral but no less essential testimony as to the social and) economic effects of nightwork. The strength of the case rests in no small measure upon the unanimity of experience recorded in each coun- try in turn, by factory inspectors, commissions of in- quiry, economic authorities, as well as by physicians and scientists. The literature covers almost a century. Thus in various sections of this volume directly after publica- tions of the year 1917 (put first as the newest material) there follow the inquiries and investigations of the year 1833, when night work first engaged the attention of thoughtful people in English industries, and yielded con- clusions as to its effects upon health and output identical with those apparent to-day. "Facts of Knowledge" the courts have called such general information, such truths which have been become part of the content of our common mind; and in the slow growth of these "facts of knowledge" among us, the cumulative, recorded social experience of mankind plays as great a role as the more exact definitions and laws of the sciences. To aid in making it a part of our national conscious- ness and so putting into effect the case against night work for women, is the object of publishing this volume. In adding new material to the original Schweinler brief, quotations from the years 1916 and 1917 are given first under each section. It should be noted that except for prominence of this newest material, or in order to bring out some special point, selections are given in chronological order under each country. In the preparation of this volume I am indebted for valuable assistance, both in translation and arrangement, to Mary D. Hopkins. March 1, 1918. Josephine Goldmark. PART FIRST THE "WORLD'S EXPERIENCE UPON WHICH THE LEGISLATION PROHIBITING THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AT NIGHT IS BASED. A. Bad Effects of Nig-htwork on Healtli. 1. The Inferior Value of St.bfp in the Day Time. The most serious physical injury wrought by night- work is due to the loss of sleep it entails. This is be- cause recupe^ration from fatigue and exhaustion takes place only in sleep, and takes place fully only in sleep at night. Sleep in the day time is almost inevitably interrupted and less continuous than sleep at night. While a re- versal of day and night may be arranged in scientific ex- periments, it is practically impossible for industrial workers. Women who work at night are rarely able to have suflScient quiet and privacy so as to make up enough sleep in the day time. In addition to these disad- vantages, married women who work at night have also the care of their children by day, thus further reducing the possibility of making up sleep. With the intensity of modern industry, the individual worker can keep up efficient labor only on condition that the fatigue engendered on one day is repaired before the next day. If fatigue is not balanced by adequate rest, a deficit remains which may be little noticed at first, but which inevitably accumulates, and after a shorter or longer period results in physical breakdown. 2 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Great Britain. British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum No. 5. Hours of Work. London, 1916. [Signed on behalf of the Committee hy Sm George Newman, M.D., Chair- man.^ It has already been stated in paragraph 10 that shifts, where practicable, aje preferable to overtime, but the Committee do not desire it to be thought that they regard night work as a good thing in itself, and they deem it ad- visable to set out some of the objections to it which have come under their notice. . . . (d) Workers experience great difficulty in sleeping by day, partly because of the dislocation of the ordinary habits of life, and partly because of the noises and dis- turbances which are almost inevitable in the day time, ex- cept under specially favourable conditions. (e) The unfamiliar meal hours make it difficult for the workers to consume substantial food and their diges- tion is liable to become deranged. (Page 8.) Ibid. Interim Report. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. London, 1917. The Comparative Efficiencies of Day Work and Night Work in Munition Factories. Previous Physiological Observations. 6. The temperature of the human body is not con- " stant, but is known to exhibit a distinct cycle during the 24 hours, the maximum appearing between 4 P. M. and 8 P. M., and the minimum between 2 A. M. and 6 A. M. The difference, although the actual maxima and minima are not the same in different persons, may be said to be between 1 and 2 degrees (Fahrenheit). The natural explanation of this cycle is that it reflects the diurnal variations of bodily combustion, in particular that going on in the muscles; and this surmise is borne out by numerous observations. . . . 3 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Great Britain. [Summary. Experiments" have proved that the tem- perature cycle conforms to local time. If a person's day maximum occurs at 6 P. M. in New York, it still occurs at 6 P. M. when he comes to Glasgow, that is at the close of the day, and not at the actually corre- sponding hour of 1 P. M., as it should if the rhythm did not depend on bodily activity.] It ought, therefore, to follow that the temperature cycle in a man who works at night and sleeps by day is reversed, the maximum appearing in the early morning and the minimum in the early evening. Some observers, such as Jaeger, who reported on Army bakers, claimed that the expected re- versal really occurred; but their methods were inexact, and the careful observations of Benedict^ led to the con- clusion that the curve was modified, but not reversed; rest and sleep during the day lowered the temperature, but work during the night did not appreciably raise it. This result is susceptible of two explanations. Either the cause of the diurnal rhythm lies deeper than varia- tions of metabolism, or, in a society the habits of which are based upon the allocation of daylight hours to work and hours of darkness to rest, the minority which strives to change its habits is practically unsuccessful. That the second explanation is the true one has been demon- strated in two ways. [Summary. In one experiment** it was found that in monkeys, kept active at night and allowed to sleep by day, the temperature rhythm was completely reversed. The same Avas found true of members of the Danish Arc- tic Expedition of 1906-1908, who completely reversed day and night, although there was a delay in adaptation among some who experienced difficulty in adapting them- selves to the changed conditions.] These results are of considerable practical import- ance. They show clearly, at least for the period of the experiments, that the accustomed routine of day work * American Journ. Med. Sc, 1905, page 1048. Journ. Physiology (Proc. Phys. Soc.) 1908. t American Journ. Physiology, XI, 1904, page 143. ** Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., XLV (Part I), 1905, page 65. Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Great Britain. and night rest can be reversed, without injury to health or efficiency, but they also show that a necessary condi- tion is that the workers must either be endowed with more than common powers of self-control, to enable them to surmount the temptation to make the best of both worlds, or must live under strict discipline. The evi- dence collected by the Conunittee's investigators places many permanent night workers, whether judged by the test of output or of lost time, in an unfavourable light in comparison with day workers, and the explanation is probably contained in the preceding sentences, (p. 27.) 50. The Committee believe that this inferiority of the continuous night worker may ultimately be referred to a failure to secure proper rest and sleep in the day time. Women on continuous night work are likely to perform domestic duties which, when they work alternately in the two shifts, is impracticable; and this extra domestic strain may account for the inferior results of their in- dustrial activities, (p. 40.) British Home Office. Second Interim Report of an In- vestigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physiological Methods. A. F. Stanley Kent, M. A., D. Sc (Oxon.), Henry Overton Wills Professor of Phy- siology in the University of Bristol. London, 1916. Seven factories in all have been visited. Investiga- tions were carried on at one of these for a period of three and a half months, shorter periods being devoted to most of the others. Many of the results now presented were obtained during investigations at Factories E and F. The first of these employed about 2,000 hands and was engaged principally in the manufacture of surgical dress- ings for the army in the field. . . . The second (Factory F) was an engineering works employing about 600 men, besides many women, and en- gaged in the manufacture of war material, from turbines for large ships to the steel shields used in the trenches. 5 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Great Britain. Male and female labour was employed in both factories, and examples of both will be fonnd in the results. . . , It is perhaps, unnecessary to emphasize the import- ance of any means which is capable of giving reliable indications of the development of fatigue in munitions factories, where it is desirable to secure maximum out- put, but where it is also essential to conserve the health and energies of the workers. (Page 3.) The Development of Fatigue by Day and by Night, It not infrequently happens, when the demand for out- put is great, that machinery has to be kept running con- tinuously. Accordingly, it is important to know whether the development of fatigue in the worker runs a similar course by night and by day. In order to obtain information on this point, experi- ments were carried out on five men employed in the room in which surgical lint is made. . . . The cotton cloth, previously woven, is passed through machines in which it is acted upon by moving knives in such a way as to raise on the surface a fine down familiar as a character- istic of the material. The work is carried on in a room on the ground floor. Up to Christmas, 1915, there were 104 machines at work in the room. Twenty new machines have been installed recently. Owing to the pressure of so many machines the noise is always great. Temperature is normal and ven- tilation fair, but much fluff is always present. The ma- chines are of two types, those taking slightly over 9 hours to finish a piece of cloth, and those taking only 8 hours. The length of a piece of cloth is 40 yards. The staff of the room consists of six men and two fore- men. Each man superintends about 20 machines. (Page 16.) The hours worked in this room are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in alternate weeks. Thus, the men work day and night shifts in alternate weeks, and the same men were examined, first when working on a day shift, and afterwards when working on a night shift. 6 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Great Britain. The tests employed were Reaction Time (Colours), Hearing and Sight. The results obtained have been averaged both with regard to the tests made and also with regard to the five men examined. The chart shows the results of tests which extended over a period of nearly two weeks. The first week shows the development of fatigue, as indicated by these tests, during a period of day labour. The second week shows the development of fatigue during a period of labour by night. A fall in the line indicates the development of fatigue. The degree of fatigue developed was greater during the night shift than during the day. (Page 16.) In attempting to find an explanation of this fact, it must be remembered that the men working on a night shift are compelled to get their sleep in the day tinae, and though this may not be difficult under favourable circum- stances, it is by no means easy in a worlanan's home. Indeed, every one of the men examined stated that he slept well by night, but badly by day. Probably, there- fore, one of the reasons of the development of extra fatigue by men working on night duty is the inadequacy of the rest obtained by day. This is a good example of the importance of home conditions in an investigation of industrial fatigue. Those familiar with the conditions will scarcely accept the suggestion that the work performed at night is more severe and exhausting than that done by day, for indeed the reverse is probably the case. There is another factor which is important. The vital functions of the body are at their lowest in the early morning, and although there is apparently an attempt at an adjustment when the ordinary uses of day and night are reversed, yet this adjustment takes an appreciable time for its development, so that at the beginning of the period its influence would not be felt. Indeed, it mav be that in the gradual development of this adjustment there is an explanation of the fact that the fatigue revealed is severe at the conunencement of the period of night work, and becomes lessened as the week progresses and the 7 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Great Britain. above-mentioned adjustment attains completion. (Pasre 17.) Under ordinary circumstances labour is performed in tasks of definite length, separated by intervals for rest. Under ideal conditions rest intervals would occur suflS- ciently often and would be sufficiently prolonged to en- sure that a perfect recovery should be attained after the performance of every task. An investigation of the manner in which recovery from fatigue comes about is rendered complicated by the fact that neither work nor rest ever holds the field to the ex- clusion of its opposite. Hardly ever does an individual work with all his might for more than a few minutes at a time. Very seldom does an individual in ordinary health resign himself to absolute repose unless asleep, (Pages 17-18.) In the worker, the power of recovery is determined primarily by his general physical development, state of health and nutrition, freedom from staleness and fatigue. These factors vary from day to day, and differences are found between different workers. The power of recovery is greater at the beginning, less at the end of a period of labour, and this is true also for the day and week. The curves show that towards the end of a period of labour, towards the end of a day, and towards the end of a week a given amount of labor produces a greater amount of fatigue than at other times ; if it is true also that at these times the power of recovery is at its lowest, it necessarily follows that the fatigue accumulated will be at its maxi- mum. Further, a lengthened period, caused by the abolition of rest-intervals, a lengthened day, caused by the intro- duction of overtime, and a lengthened week, caused by an interference with the week-end rest, will lead to a still more rapid production of fatigue, and a still less perfect recovery. Even the distribution of the overtime days will affect the result. (Page 21.) Labour performed at night may be regarded as analogous to overtime labour. It is performed at un- usual hours. Its effect in producing fatigue may be b Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— United States, greater than a similar task performed during the day. This effect appears to be modified after the night work has been in progress for some days, owing to an adapta- tion of the normal diurnal variations of the worker to the new conditions. For this reason a weekly change from day shift to night shift and vice versa appears to be un- duly frequent. The diflficulty of obtaining satisfactory sleep by day affects the result. (Page 22.) Mothers and Nightwork. Maky E. McDowell, Head Resident, University of Chicago Settlement. The Survey, Dec. 22, 1917. "Imperative necessity has revived, after almost a century of disuse, the night employment of women in factories," the English report of the Health of Munition Workers reminds us. This work was banished by inter- national agreement from twelve European countries, who signed the convention drawn up at the international conference held at Berne in 1906. This agreement was based upon results of inquiries into the effects econom- ical, physical and moral, of night work for women. Eight of our states, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsyl- vania, Indiana, Nebraska, Delaware, Wisconsin and Ore- gon, have shown their consciousness of the subject by enacting laws prohibiting night work for women. These half forgotten facts have peculiar significance to the people of the United States, now that the industrial pressure of war-time is upon us. And they have been brought home to us here by the reality of a concrete experience. Mothers of young children under school age, who are your near neighbors, working all night and hav- ing sleepless days — this is a challenge which cannot be ignored. We could not. rest, knowing that at this critical time many mothers were living a life without the sleep and rest that is essential for maintaining them in health. Accordingly, a study of forty-six mothers who have been doing night work in the packing houses, putting up food for the armies of our country as well as for the 9 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — United States. allies, was made by one of the staff of the University of Chicago Settlement. Onr hope was that even a few facts secured might bring home to the employers the in- formation that we as neighbors already had had im- pressed Tipon US. The chief purposes of this study were to find out how many hours of sleep the women were able to get during the day after working all night; to find out whether they had children under school age; to discover, if possible, the effects such work had upon the women and upon the family as a whole ; and to learn why the women worked. Taking up the number of hours of work and rest, the report reads: "All of the women working at night worked ten hours; from six o'clock in the evening until five-thirty in the morning. This meant that the women had to leave their homes at five-thirty in the evening, and did not return until six in the morning. With the exception of two, all lived within walking distance of their work. And even these walked two miles each way in order to save car-fare." To make any sort of an estimate as to the number of hours of sleep any woman got after she returned to her famUy is almost out of the question. When asked the question regarding rest or sleep she would usually laugh aloud or shrug her shoulders, saying: "Sleep! Sleep! I sleep whenever I get time." The hours range from one to three or four. It is not at all surprising that on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the washing and ironing days, most of the women do not sleep at all. "Can't they go to sleep for a few hours after they re- turn to their homes?" has been a question asked quite frequently. They might if there were not a husband who demanded his breakfast at six-thirty, since his daily tasks begin at seven. They might if the babies did not get up at the same time the rest of the family did, or if the older children did not have to go to school. And so mothers with little children must snatch an hour or two while the babies take their morning or afternoon naps, and mothers with children of school age, while the children are at school. On Saturday and Sunday nights 10 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — United States. they tried to make up for the sleep they had lost during the remaining five days of the week. It was found that forty-two out of the forty-six, or about 90 per cent of the women visited, had children under school age, and that twenty-seven out of the forty- six had children in school — children between the ages of six and fourteen years. Three-fourths of the women had been employed two months or over and about one-third six months or over. How so many of them can endure the length of time they do is beyond human comprehension. The results of their work are easily seen. The tired- looking faces and expressionless eyes cannot escape the observer's notice. Their high strung nerves, their great irritability at the children's slightest annoyance, need not be explained further, for anyone who has experienced a sleepless night knows what happens to his moods and temper the following day. This irritability comes to light in the factory as well as in the home. Friction between the boss and women is due directly to the lat- ters' weariness, which results in inefficiency of work. Of course, the boss does not know nor can he take time to know, the circumstances under which the women are working. And the women, because of the fact that they do not speak nor understand English, cannot explain. An announcement has this week been made which makes this study seem eminently worth while. Four of the large packing houses have declared their intention of not hiring any more women with children under school age. This, we feel, is a great and important step for- ward. For while the problems of these women, shown so clearly by this study, are by no means solved by re- fusing to let them work, yet if their rest is assured them, their health and strength will be better conserved to meet their many problems. One neighborhood physician had three of these night-working mothers for patients. They seemed very ill, but he said all they needed was sleep, and more sleep, and when this was allowed them they recovered, (p. 335-336.) 11 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — United States. Secona Report of the New York State Factory Investi- gating Commission, 1913. Vol. I. Nightwork of Women in Factories. The chief danger af health from night work is thus due to the inevitable lack of sleep and sunlight. Re- cuperation from fatigue takes place fully only in sleep, and best, in sleep at night. Hence, night work is, in a word, against nature. "When exhausting factory work fills the night, and household work most of the day, health must inevitably be sacrificed. This injury to health is in all the greater, because sleep lost at night by working women is never fully made up by day. For in the first place, sleep in the day time is not equal in recuperative power to sleep at night. Dr. Epstein says, in his work on the "Diseases of Bakers": "Doctors and experts on hygiene are unani- mous in declaring that sleep at night can in no wise be replaced by sleep in the day time. Various other medical authorities confirm this opinion. Moreover, quiet and priyacy for sleep by day is almost impossible to secure. Upon returning home in the middle of the night or at dawn the workers can snatch at most only a few hours' rest." We have seen that the married women who worked on night shift had on an average only about four and one- half hours of sleep in the day time. ' ' The hours of sleep varied with the individual, ' ' con- tinues the investigator. * ' Some slept an hour or two in the morning, and for a time in the afternoon; others slept at intervals of about an hour each during the day. They all slept in bedrooms which had been occupied during the night by husband and children. ' ' (Page 195.) Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor of New Jersey, 1901. They (the men) are to a great extent victims of in- somnia, being unable to sleep in the daytime after night 12 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — United States. work and can not enjoy a sound night's sleep in the week of their day work; the men in consequence, become nervous and depressed. The irregular meals, hurriedly partaken of, disorder the stomach and seriously affect all the organs of digestion, and thus a great deal of time is lost from illness. Interviews with a large number of the blowers show that with many sound sleep is out of the question; they may doze fitfully for two or three hours, but the street noises which begin with dawn arouse them, and they can not get to sleep again, and arise unrested and unrefresh- ed. (Page 355.) Bulletin of the New York State Department of Labor, No. 30. September, 1906. In Europe the subject has been discussed as part of the question of rest. In European legislatures and in- ternational congresses the prohibition of women's night work has been urged as necessary to secure to working women their normal rest, and also on grounds of morality. Women have less physical strength and are more subject to over-fatigue than men, and this is especially true of night workers because household duties prevent women who work at night time from obtaining their necessary rest in the day time. While the women's work in the in- dustrial employments is more extensive abroad than in the United States, the line is drawn on night work in all the leading commercial nations. (Pages 337-338.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Report on Condition of Women and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. I. Cotton Textile Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, \ 1910. In visiting families of cotton-miU operatives who worked at night, night workers were often found sitting 13 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — United States. drowsily before a scant fire between 9 and 11 o'clock in the morning. They had begun work the night before at 6, had quit at 6 a. m., and at 11 o 'clock they had had no sleep. Usually they arose at 4 or 5 in the afternoon and again took their seats before the fire, too weary and sluggish to think of a walk in the open air. Even when they went to bed early in the morning sleep was not con- tinuous throughout the day, nor could it be sound sleep. In the small houses, with thin wood partitions, every sound in the house can be heard by the night worker, even though he may sleep in a separate room. Moreover, night workers often sleep m the same room occupied by the non-workers during the day. The non-workers fre- quently include children and the room can not be kept quiet. In cases where both the mother and father worked at night, the mother nearly always did her housework, in- cluding her washing and ironing. This means that on one day at least the mother went from 18 to 24 hours without sleeping. One woman, who gave as her reason for work- ing at night that she could take care of her home, garden, cow, and boy during the day, was found at 11 in the morning hanging up her clothes. She had had no sleep during the preceding 24 hours. (Pages 289-290.) MiU No. 1, North Carolina: The night workers say they prefer night work to day work, yet there can be no question that it is far more injurious, for they seldom at- tempt to get as much sleep as they would get at night. The boys often spend the whole morning in hunting; then, after three or four hours' sleep in the afternoon, they go back to work in the mill for lll^ hours at night. The girls sit around the house, not going to bed until 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning, and get up about 4 in the afternoon. In the small crowded houses sound sleep is impossible during the day. The mill demands an extra half day's work on Saturday from its night workers. They quit at 6 o'clock in the morning and return again at noon. Taking out the time for breakfast and dinner, this allows at the most 4 hours of sleep out of 24. This 14 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— United States. n^eans, for women and children especially, working be- yond their strength. They have all reached the point of extreme fatigue by the end of the night. Invariably the answer is given by the workers that it is the Saturday's work that wears them out. (Pages 292-293.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 110. Report on Conditions of Employment in the Iron and Steel Industry in the United States. Vol. III. Working Conditions and the Relations of Employ- ers and Employees. 62nd Congress, 1st Session, 1913. It is a matter of common observation on the part of both the men and the superintendents that the men who work at night are very much more apt to be tired and out of condition when they come to work. In a letter received from one of the large steel companies during the present investigation this matter is stated as follows : The theory of the superintendents is that men working on the night turn do not sleep so well as men working on the day turn, and they are not so fit for service imme- diately after coming on duty. (Page 383.) Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 117. April, 1913. Prohibition of Night Work of Young Persons. Whether night work is quantitatively and qualitative- ly superior or inferior to day work is a very controversial question, the answer to which varies from industry to industry and from establishment to establishment. The opinion of an author favorable to employers . . . . . . will therefore be of value. He says : . . . The glass workers whom I have inter- rogated on this subject are unanimous and decided in their opposition to night work, and give the following reasons for their point of view: 15 Inl'erior Sleep in the Day Time. — Germany. Sleep during the day is not as recuperative as sleep during the night, especially in summer on account of the heat. We are consequently less fresh and less ready for work when we begin work and we are more tired and exhausted in the morning after night work. (Pages 15- 16.) In Sweden 51 physicians intrusted by law with the supervision of young persons, declared in a royal com- mission established to revise the existing labor legisla- tion as follows: Night work, which is fatiguing even to adult workers must be pernicious for health and physical development of young persons ; it is a crime against hygiene and dis- sipation of social capital to allow night work. The act- ual law is too generous in granting night work of young persons as compared with its other prescriptions ; sleep and rest are too irregular and insufficient after night work; the result of the conditions of life of young per- sons employed during the night is the impossibility of sleep during the day; health and appetite are thus in- jured and in a great measure the amount of the blood corpuscles is impaired. (Page 16.) Handbuch der Hygiene. Band 7. Besonderer Teil. 3 Abt. Edited by Db. Theodor Weyd. Hygiene der Mailer, Backer und Conditoren. [Hygienic Condi- tions among Millers, Bakers and Confectioners.] Dr. I. Zadek, Physician in Berlin. Jena, Fischer, 1896. These conditions (long hours and night work) intensify enormously the evils that I have mentioned as existing in the miller's, the baker's, and the confection- er's trades. In fact, they are really responsible for the greater number of the accidents and injuries to health arising from their conditions of work, the strain to which they are subjected, and the breathing of dust and hot, suffocating air. Besides all this there is the lack of suffi- cient time for recuperation and especially the impossibil- 16 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Germany. ity of obtaining enough sleep in the daytime— and with- out this the recovery of the physical equilibriimi is quite impossible, especially in trades which, like that of the bakers, make very great demands upon the muscular and nervous systems. ... "Sleep lost at night can, it is true, be made up in the daytime, but in order to obtain the same refreshment that one obtains after an adequate night's sleep the body needs a longer period of rest, since, because of the noise, the light, and, in summer, the heat, day sleep is not as deep as night sleep."* (Page 490.) The most important demand that has to be made for the purpose of remedying the hygienic evils of this trade is the demand for the restriction of nightwork. The ex- perience of other countries (Norway, Australia, Scot- land, etc.) shows that complete abolition of nightwork in the baking business is practicable. (Page 512.) Das Verbot der Nachtarbeit. [Prohibition of Night Work.] Report presented to the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. De. Max Hibsch. Jahrbuch fUr Oesetzgebung, Ver- waltung und Volkswirtschaft, Vol. XXV. 1901 In the forefront of the effects of night work upon health stands, to our mind, the loss of night rest. Sleep at night is certainly far preferable to sleep by day. It is — as every one knows from his own experience — ^much deeper, heavier, more refreshing, in a word more re- storative. The inadequacy of day sleep is aggravated, for the men who work at night, by special circumstances affect- ing both its quantity and its quality. Consider first the case of the grown men. We find from personal observa- tion and inquiry that living conditions and family habits * Drucksachen der Kommission fur Arbeiterstatistlk, Nr. 3. Gut- acbten des Reichsgesundheitsamtes iiber den Einfluss der Beschaftigung der B3.ckergesellen und Lehrlinge auf dessen Gesundheit. 17 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Germany. and occupations all have their part in the result. The laborers' dwellings are generally small, noisy and not well protected from the weather; and the laborer has not the chance that the rich man has to find out a cool and quiet room, darkened for his mid-day nap, but has to put up often with the one room that the family pos- sesses — a room in which all the regular activities of the home are going on, and sometimes tenement industries as well. (Page 1259.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans l' Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Nightwork of Women in Industry. Re- ports on its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienne Bauer. Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes en Allemagne. Db. Max Hiksch. Jena, Fischer, 1903. Night work not only has certain evil consequences, it is itself an evil thing, and what is more, is contrary to nature. It is natural for man to work during the day and rest at night. . . . Night work is more difficult, more exhausting, and — to repeat — ^is less productive than day work. And furthermore sleep during the day is less recreative and less strengthening than sleep at night. Thus we ought to say that night work is not oidy contrary to nature, it is also contrary to civilization; it is a re- versal of the natural order of day and night, a conse- quence not of a state of higher culture, but rather of insufficient education and excessive activity. Such violations of the laws of nature bring on their own penalties. ... In a multitude of maladies and infirmities, as also in a general depression and in a pre- mature exhaustion, in a moral, intellectual and social retrogression and degeneracy we see the effects of that unnatural condition, night work. (Pages 20-21.) 18 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Germany. Grensfragen des Nerven und Seelenlehens. Bd. VI. [Borderland Problems of Nervous and Fsychw Life Vol. VI. 1 Edited by Loewenfedd and KuREU^. Uher die geistige Arheitshraft und ihre Hygiene. Db. L. Loewenfeld. Wiesbaden, Berg^ mann, 1906. It is noteworthy that complete deprivation of sleep induces a deterioration of mental efficiency that is by no means as quickly repaired as is commonly supposed. Kraepelin demonstrated that the unfavorable effects of one entire night of wakefulness were evident, in gradual- ly diminishing proportion, for four whole days. The person on whom he made this experiment was himself not conscious of the duration of this depression of mental ability; it was proved solely by repeated tests. (Pages 34-35.) A true estimate of the value of normal, physiological- ly sufficient sleep is often only realized, when a sleep deficit has made itself noticeable, and efforts then made to repair the deficit are often fruitless: sleep remains permanently reduced, a circumstance that should stand as a warning against disturbances to sleep. (Pages 55- 56.) Damage to sleep is exceedingly frequent, and is of many degrees ; especially is this the case with night work- ers. In a part of the cases the damage inflicted upon sleep is solely or chiefly, qualitative. The sleeping time is not notably decreased, but the sleep displays its re- freshing, nerve-restoring power only in a very limited degree. It is restless, not sound. That deep sleep, which is of such great potency for the repair of energy consumed in the waking hours, may only fall late, and for a brief time, or may be absent entirely. In other cases the sleeping time may be considerably or even greatly reduced. Sometimes the falling to sleep is pre- vented by trains of thought; sometimes the first sleep is broken and long wakefulness comes on before a final sleep can be enjoyed. It is conceivable that the results of mental exertion are so much the more ruinous, ac- 19 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Grerman5\ cording as overexertion has been long practiced upon a sleep-deficit. So, finally, conditions of nervous dis- order develop which not only destroy the capacity to work but signify various nervous diseases. (Page 46.) The injurious effect of artificial light on the eyes is, according to my observations, of vastly less import- ance than the effect of night work on sleep. ... In the inferior restorative power of this sleep (by day) lies the crowning mischief of night work. . . . The in- jurious results of night work per se are markedly increased by the consumption of artificial stimulating drinks such as tea and coffee which are often resorted to. (Page 51.) Handbuch der Arbeiterkrankungen. [Handbook of Dis- eases among Working People.] Die Krankheiten der Backer. [Diseases of Bakers.] Dk. Epstein. Jena, Fischer, 1908. The long hours of work which alone would suffice to bring on grave disturbances to health, take place for the bakers, in that part of the twenty-four hours which nature has destined for rest. Doctors and hygienists are unanimous in agreeing that day rest cannot take the place of night rest, and continued disregard of the need of sleep is sure to end in ruined health. It is clear also that this impairment of health is shown not by special diseases, but by a general weakening of the organism, the resistance to normal or pathological ex- citations being broken down. We find in the case of fatigue the same process as in the case of chronic in- dustrial intoxications — ^lead poisoning, for example. The most recent researches on the subject of exhaustion show that it really is a matter of chemical intoxications. More thorough study of the matter would certainly throw a new light on the hitherto dark problem of the pathology of industrial diseases. (Page 477.) The prohibition of nightwork and the reduction of the hours of work would be a great aid to the physicians 20 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Switzerland. in the fight they have to wage so indefatigably against this common poison (alcoholism). (Page 493.) Grundriss der sozialen Hygiene, fur Medisiner, Nation- alohonomen, Verwaltungsbeamte wnd Sosialre- former. [Outline of Social Hygiene, for Physi- cians, Economists, Administrative Officials and Social Reformers.] De. Alfons Fischeb. Berlin, Julius Springer, 1913. The dangers to health that are involved in night work ought to be recognizable at first glance. Work by arti- ficial light demands closer attention and is more trouble- some than work by daylight; besides, sleep in the qniet night is more effective than sleep during the noisy day. The Soling physician, Dr. Eopke, gives this as his opin- ion, based upon his experience with workingmen in roll- ing-mills and foundries. (Page 225.) Zur Frage der NacMarheit in den Bdckereien. Mitge- teilt von der Sozialen Kduferliga. Antworten der Herren Amtsdrtze. [The Question of Nightwork in Bakeries. Swiss Consumers' League. Replies from doctors holding official positions.] De. MuujEE, Municipal Physician of the.City of Ziirich. Zeitschrift fiir schweiserische Statistik, 17. Jahr- gang, 1911. The baker works at a time which is devoted by other men to sleep, and sometimes also to education ; he sleeps when all around him are at work; his sleep comes at a very noisy time, and it goes without saying that it can- not be as refreshing as the sleep one gets when all is still. . , . Under such circumstances it is a matter of course that a great many bakers should have nervous affections, that cultural ambitions should make little headway among them, and that alcoholism should find them an easy prey. 21 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — ^Austria. . . . Where health of body and soul suffer, it is very probable that the product of labor suffers also. (Page 291.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie; Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementations legale. [Night WorJc of Women in Industry. Re- ports on its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface hy Etibnne Bauer. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie en Autriche. Ilsb VON Aelt. Jena, Fischer, 1903. Tasks accomplished at night are injurious to health because in our climate, the night is obviously the time in- tended for repose, and because night work requires cor- respondingly greater effort than that done by day. "We are not able to explain the reason for this greater weariness, but it is a matter of practical knowledge, the accuracy of which can not be doubted, that in every kind of occupation involving night work, the sleep obtained in daytime, even if equal in the number of hours, does not compensate in its quality for the refreshing and beneficial sleep of the night. We may add to this, that it is much more diflB.cult for working women to obtain complete and absolute rest by day than it is for men. Finally, it has been proved, that no matter what the character of night work may be, the artificial lig:ht is detrimental to health ; and from the moral standpoint the absence from home during night hours is bad. (Page 82.) Boyaume de Belgique. Bureau de Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de l' Industrie dans les Pays Strangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night WorJc of Women in Industry in Foreign Coun- tries.] MJATJEioE AursiATJX. Brusscls, 1898. As to the effect of prohibiting night work there is one improvement which is everywhere without exception ad- 22 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— France. mitted: the legal prohibition of night work has been an incalcnlable benefit to women— for married women es- pecially — with respect to their health. Let it be recaUed what in fact is the life of the mother of a family who spends her nights in a factory. In order to show its character it is only necessary to take at random some of the depositions collected by that French Commission d'enguete (Committee of Investigation) whose work formed the basis of the legislation of 1892; I can not imagine that any one can read them without depression. One of the deponents said: "The women who ha,ve worked at night return home and busy themselves with housework instead of resting themselves. They go to bed at 8 or 9 o'clock. They arise at 11 o'clock to get dinner, and go back to bed at one o'clock and sleep until 5. The sleep of these women does not exceed five hours, and it is an interrupted sleep. A woman who has worked for ten years at night is more nearly worn out than a woman who has worked for twenty years during the day. " (Page 37.) L'Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans L'Industrie Frangaise. [The Prohibition of Nightwork for Women in French Industry.] A. Chazal. Paris, Pedone, 1902. One must give respectful heed to the opinions of these high medical authorities. In fact, sleep at night is al- ways better than sleep during the day; it is more re- freshing. Are women who have worked at night able to secure sleep during the day? This will depend on cir- cumstances. Sometimes night work will consist of over- time work, which will be added to the work of the day, as in overtime. In such a case the working woman re- turns home obliged to arise early the next morning, and thus finds it impossible to recover by sleep during the day the strength used up at night. Some women thus become so overworked that they cannot sleep at all. M. 23 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — France. Lagard, divisional inspector of the 10th district at Marseilles tells ns that in the course of an inquiry made by the woman inspector of work in the dress-making shops of the city of Marseilles, many women complained that after a certain number of evenings of overtime work they could not sleep well. Overcome by fatigue, they would succeed in slumber- ing a few hours in the morning before going back to their work. Consequently they lacked a part of the seven or eight hours of sleep absolutely necessary for the refreshment of an adult. Such nights, succeeding well-filled days bringing exhaustion, lead to insomnia with all the troubles which follow it. Sleep is so import- ant from the hygienic point of view, that there is perhaps no function which should be more carefully preserved. Anything which compromises healthy sleep constitutes a danger because it upsets the equilibrium of the nervous system. (Pages 11-13.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes. [Night Work of Women.] G-boegeis Alfassa. La Revue de Paris, Sept.-Oct., 1904. The night is intended by Nature for rest. All vital functions then relax their activity, and it is a truism that daytime sleep is less restorative than that of the night. Whoever turns night into day and day into night is cer- tain sooner or later to suffer for this unnatural habit. As a matter of actual fact, night work for women verges closely on entire deprivation of sleep. Eeturning to her home, at 6 a.m. the worker must break in upon her sleep, to take her meals. The house is noisy, children clamor, people come and go. She has scarcely five hours of uninterrupted rest, often not that. Wearied and un- refreshed she goes out to take some air. An employer on a large scale voluntarily gave up night work because he saw his tired workers on the street in the afternoon, walking up and down, and afterwards 24 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time.— Italy. found them, worn out by fatigue, asleep at their work. (Page. 367.) Ministere du Travail et de la Prevoyance Sociale. Con- seil Superieur du Travail. [Department of Labor and Social Welfare. Higher Council of Labor.) Le Travail de Nuit dans la Boulangerie. [Night Work in Bakeries.] Paris, 1911. This deprivation of sun and light through all the days of the year would alone sufl5.ce to make the conditions harmful under which the workman is placed . . . and because he works under harder conditions than other men, because he is more debilitated and depressed, be- cause he performs his task in an abnormal fashion, — just because, in short, he needs more rest than anyone else, he cannot get as much as anyone else. All this takes place in logical sequence. The baker works when other men sleep; he sleeps when others are working. Hence it is difficult, if not impossible for him to obtain efficacious rest. He goes to bed, in the morning, at the very hour of the day when the noise and activity in the street are most intense, when all the housewives in the building are performing their household duties, when the sewing-machines are hununing, when the nearby work-shop and foundry are resounding with the noise of motors and the hammering of metals. (Page 3.) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio. Ufficio del lavoro. [Department of Agriculture, Indus- try and Commerce. Bureau of Labor.'] Inchiesta sul lavoro notturno dei fornai. [An Investigation of Night Work in Bakeries.] Rome, 1906. (c) Sleep in the day-time does not restore the strength of the organism. The reason for this is obvious; it lies in the continuance of auditory and visual stimuli. This 25 Inferior Sleep in the Day Time. — Italy. prevents the complete suspension of the vigilance of the senses, and hence total rest of the nervous system and total relaxation of the muscles are out of the question. The result is that sense of great weariness, of having "gone to pieces," that exhaustion, or rather chronic fatigue, which is found among all laborers who work at night and sleep in the day-time. This constant feeling of fatigue joins forces Avith the lack of sunlight to prevent the perfect assimilation of food and consequently the proper nourishment of the body. Moreover, the digestive organs, already weakened by the habit of irregular meals (another result of the hours of labor), are further im- paired by the bad diet and the excessive drinking and smoking to which the workmen are impelled as a refuge from their continual state of languor. (Page 14.) 26 2. The Function and Value of Sleep. Sleep is physiologically indispensable. Animal ex- perimentation has proved that death results far more quickly from deprivation of sleep than from starvation. The nature of fatigue explains the supreme value of sleep. Physiology teaches that life itself depends upon the two chemical processes constantly carried on in the human body and known as metabolism: assimilation or building up; dissimilation or breaking down material into simpler chemical forms, ultimately to be expelled from the body as waste products. These wastes are poisonous impurities, arising from the chemical processes of cellular life, and fatigue is due largely to their ac- cumulation in the blood. During activity and work the products of chemical change increase. Some idea of the combustion or chemi- cal process carried on within our muscles is shown by the fact that at every breath, air inspired loses about one-fifth of its oxygen, and increases in the gas carbon dioxide more than one hundred fold. A well known scientific experiment has shown that during a day of work a man expired almost twice as much carbon dioxide as during a day of rest. The in- ternal combustion is more active. But during rest at night, the processes of tissue repair are in the ascendant. The noxious products of activity are more quickly elim- inated and tissue is rebuilt. This is the main reason why loss of sleep is detrimental to the organism. It is also 27 Function and Value of Sleep. — United States. the reason why nightwork, inevitably resulting in loss of sleep at night, seldom compensated by day, is neces- sarily injurious. Fatigue. Fkedeeic S. Lee, Professor of Physiology, Columbia University. Harvey Lectures, 1905- 1906. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1908. Mankind at present can administer no food or drug that can push the wearied cells up the metabolic grade •either simultaneously with their descent, or quickly after the descent has ceased. Only the assimilation and detoxication that normally come with rest, and best, rest with sleep, are capable of adequate restoring power. (Page 179.) The Human Mechanism. Theodore Hough and William T. Sedgwick. Boston, Oinn d Co., 1906. The Care of the Nervous Machinery. Eest and Sleep. If a locomotive is to be kept in a state of high effi- ciency, it must not be worked without cessation until something goes wrong. When a train is to be pulled three hundred miles it is customary to change engines two or three times on the run ; and these changes are made, not because the first engine cannot pull the train to its des- tination on schedule time, but because heating occurs, or dust finds its way into the bearings, or the strains and jars impair adjustment; and it prolongs the life of the machine and its good working to remove the dust, cool the parts, and otherwise frequently put the engine in perfect order. When an engine breaks down, it is usually because some one part has given way. With proper care a good engine should wear out but not break down. The central nervous system, although infinitely more complicated than the steam locomotive, is far less dur- 28 Function and Value of Sleep. — United States. able as a mechanism. Its bearings are not made of hard steel, but of living, irritable protoplasm keenly suscepti- ble to fatigue. In the numerous connections between neuron and neuron, there is the same chance as in the steam engine that some one part will fail to do its work ; and the main principle of its hygienic care is to oil the hearings and clean and repair the machinery, hy repose and sleep, before the danger of a break down is imminent. Eest, and especially the re^t of sleep, is the one preven- tative for these unfavorable conditions ; by this alone is the fatigued neuron withdrawn from work and given the chance to repair itself and to return to its normal con- dition. (Page 339.) Sleep is the very best means of insuring local nervous repair because it is the only condition which involves complete relaxation. (Page 340.) Health and Disease. Their Determining Factors. Roger I. Lee, M. D. Professor of Hygiene in Har- vard University ; Visiting Physician, Massachu- setts General Hospital. Boston, Little, Brown S Co., 1917. Sleep. The best antidote for work and its accom- panying fatigue is rest and the best form of rest is sleep. . . . Gloing without sleep has a greater effect upon the nervous and mental states than upon the physical. Ex- periments have been conducted in which people were kept awake for a long time — anywhere from three to ten days. The usual rate was that after about three days the subjects would actually go to sleep with their eyes open, and some of the subjects would develop a condition closely resembling acute insanity, (p. 107.) 29 Function and Value of Sleep. — Great Britain. British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXVI. 1912. Report of the Departmental Committee on the Night Em- ployment of Male Young Persons in Factories and Workshops. (d) Sound continuous sleep is not so easily obtained during the day as it is at night, especially where the boys live in one-roomed houses, as is common in certain dis- tricts. (e) The fatigue due to night work is probably greater than that due to day work of the same kind. (f) Night work involves irregular meals; the boy so employed generally misses the mid-day meal at home, and the food he takes with him to eat in the factory at night is apt to be less wholesome than that he gets at home during the day. (Page 9.) On Health, Fatigue and Repose. William Stirling, M.D., Professor of Physiology, University of Man- chester. British Medical Journal, December 6, 1913. Respiration or breathing is a more fundamental func- tion than the circulation of the blood. All animals breathe, but not all animals have blood or a heart. The beating of the heart goes on before birth, and the cessa- tion of its beat marks the cessation of life itself. How is it the body — a harp of a thousand strings — ^keeps in tune so long? The secret is to be found in rhythm. Heart and diaphragm beat and contract rhythmically, and after each beat there comes a pause which permits of restitu- tion of matter and energy, and gives time for the waste products to be removed, and thus leaves both muscles recuperated to begin a new beat. The heart rests, or is not in action, three-quarters of its time; the act of ex- piration is chiefly due to mechanical causes ; inspiration is chiefly a muscular act. We must acknowledge the ne- cessity as well as the ui^iversality of rhythm. What is sleep but the quiescent period of our nerve cells? It is 30 Function and Value of Sleep.— Great Britain. more, for we say, with Macbeth, that it is chief nourisher in life's feast. The nerve cells, though resting, are stor- ing up matter, and are being flushed and cleaned. Some folks indulge in what they are pleased to call a "spring cleaning". Well, our brain cells should have what cor- responds to a spring cleaning every twenty-four hours. (Page 1474.) Sleep. Makib De Manaceine. London, Walter Scott, 1907. In the following chapters we shall often find evidence of the truth of the statement that sleep is the resting time of consciousness. Here I only wish to dwell for a short time on the question whether general sleep is neces- sary. Considering that not only different organs and tissues, but also various apparatus of the central nervous system are able to perform their functions during sleep, we might conceive doubts as to the necessity of sleep. And such doubts have actually been raised, and sleep declared a useless, foolish, even hurtful habit, (Giron- deau). We have, therefore, to inquire whether it is pos- sible to do without sleep. To this question we can give a positive answer, for want of sleep is not even so well borne by animals as want of food. Direct experiment has shown that animals entirely deprived of food for twenty days, and which have then lost more than half their weight, may yet escape death if fed with precaution — that is to say, in small amounts often repeated. On the other hand, I have found by experimenting on ten puppies that the complete deprivation of sleep for four or five days (96 to 120 hours) causes irreparable lesions in the organism, and in spite of every care the subjects of these experiments could not be saved. Complete absence of sleep durin,!? this period is fatal to puppies in spite of the food taken during this time and the younger the puppy, the more quickly he succumbed. In animals deprived of sleep for 31 Function and Value of Sleep. — Great Britain. a considerable period, we may observe a lowering of tem- perature and a marked decrease in the number of the red and white corpuscles, the latter no doubt because ar- rested in the lymphatic channels. During the last days of such an experiment the blood becomes notably thick- ened, while the red corpuscles and the amount of haemog- lobin are increased. This is due to the fact that eventual- ly the animal refuses to, eat or drink, while the kidneys continue to act. At the same time as the temperature of the body begins to fall, the reflex movements that the animals manifest on being pinched become more and more enfeebled and slackened. ... As a rule, the puppy deprived of sleep for three or four days presents a more pitiful appearance than one which has passed ten or fifteen days without food. I can speak from observa- tion, as I was obliged to make experiments on the results of want of food as well as of sleep, and I became firmly convinced that sleep is more necessary to animals endow- ed with consciousness than even food. It is interesting to note that in deprivation of sleep it seems to be the brain that suffers most, while in com- plete deprivation of food it is the brain which longest preserves its normal weight and constitution, the other organs and tissues undergoing profound modification and remarkable diminution in volume. Judging from ex- periments on puppies from two to four months old, we may conclude that want of sleep acts primarily on the cerebral centers, in which it provokes a series of patho- logical changes. These investigations have lately been carried a step further by Professor Patrick and Dr. J. A. Gilbert of the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Iowa. In view of the fact, as they remark, that our knowledge of the physiological and mental effects of enforced abstin- ence from sleep is solely confined to my experiments on dogs, they resolved to experiment on the human subject. Thus, although in man the effects of enforced sleep- lessness are less permanently injurious than in dogs, the nature and gravity of these effects are now established. 32 Function and Value of Sleep.— United States. Empirically they were known in antiquity, as well as in China, where forced deprivation of sleep was a form of torture, and even of capital punishment. In presence of this inevitable necessity of sleep for beings possessed of a central nervous system, we are forced to conclude that conscious life needs for its ac- complishment an expenditure of energy so intense that while it is being effected the process of nutrition and the reconstruction of the tissues cannot be completely car- ried on, and that sleep — ^the repose of consciousness — is needed for the plastic nutrition of the organism and the accomplishment of its vegetative life. (Pages 65-69.) Studies from the Psychological Laboratory of the Uni- versity of Iowa. On the Effects of Loss of Sleep. Professor Gt. T. W. Patrick and Dr. J. Allen Gilbert. The Psychological Review, September, 1896. The object of the following, experiments was to de- termine some of the physiological and mental effects of enforced abstinence from sleep. ... It was pro- posed to keep the subjects awake continuously for about 90 hours, to make a series of physiological and psychological tests upon them at intervals of 6 hours in respect to reaction time, discrimination time, motor ability, memory, attention, etc., to observe secondly, the general effects of insomnia, and finally to observe the depth, character and amount of sleep, following the period of waking. This plan was succssfuUy carried out with three sub- jects, the depth of sleep being ascertained, however, in the case of only one. The subjects were in each case constantly attended by either one or two watchers. . . . The first subject, J. A. G., is a young man of 28 years, assistant professor in the University. He is unmarried, of perfect health, of nervous temperament, of very great vitality and activity. He woke at his usual time on 33 Function and Value of Sleep. — ^United States. Wednesday morning, November 27, and remained awake until 12 o'clock Saturday night. The second night he did not feel well and suffered severely from sleepiness. The third night he suffered less. The fourth day and the evening following he felt well and was able to pass his time in his usual occupations. During the last fifty hours, however, he had to be watched closely, and could not be allowed to sit down unoccupied as he showed a tendency to fall asleep immediately. . . . The most marked effect of the abstinence from sleep was the presence of hallucinations of sight. These were persistent after the second night. The subject com- plained that the floor was covered with a greasy-looking, molecular layer of rapidly moving or oscillating particles. Often this layer was a foot above the floor and parallel with it and caused the subject trouble in walking, as he would try to step upon it. Later the air was full of these dancing particles which developed into swarms of little bodies like gnats, but colored red, purple, or black. The subject would climb upon a chair to brush them from about the gas jet or stealthily try to touch an imaginary fly on the table with his finger. These phenomena did not move with the movement of the eye and appeared to be true halluciaations centrally caused, but due no doubt to the long and unusual strain put upon the eyes. Meanwhile the patient's sharpness of vision was not impaired. At no other time has he had hallucinations of sight and they entirely disappeared after sleep. (Pages 469-471.) The steady increase in the subject's weight during the experiment and the sudden decrease after sleep are noteworthy, and apparently not to be accounted for by accidental circumstances. His average weight during the last 24 hours was 18 ounces greater than the average during the first 24 hours and at 9 o'clock Saturday night the subject weighed 27 ounces more than at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning. During the 10% hours ' sleep, how- ever, which followed the experiment, the subject lost 38 34 Function and Value of Sleep.— United States. ounces, being 11 ounces more than lie had gained during the experiment. In tests with the dynamometer the sub- ject lost slightly and gradually in strength of both grip and pull, regaining all after sleep. On Saturday after- noon, however, the subject made what appeared to be a spurt, in view perhaps of the approaching end and gripped and pulled nearly as much as at the beginning. The reaction time beginning with 122 increased some- what regularly, reaching its maximum 165 (Saturday afternoon, after 81 hours without sleep, and dropped :; back to the normal immediately after sleep. The dis- crimination time appears to decrease, but as it does not increase after sleep the result cannot in this case be at- tributed to loss of sleep. The acuteness of vision uniformly increased through- out the experiment, falling below the normal after sleep. The slight retardation in the increase in the second night corresponds with the period of slight sickness at that time. There is a significant decrease in voluntary motor ability. The decrease in this subject's pulse beat after fatigue by tapping is abnormal and apparently a result of loss of sleep. (Pages 473-474.) The second subject A. G. S. was a young man of 27 years, instructor in the University, unmarried, quiet and of excellent health. The third subject G. N. B. was a young man of 24 years, of German parentage, stout and perfectly healthy. ... In the case of these two sub- jects there was no illness, no hallucinations of sight, and no serious suffering or discomfort. A. G. S. became very sleepy during the last 24 hours and had to be watch- ed constantly. On Friday, at 9 p. m., after a brisk walk in the cool air, his temperature sank to 35.3° Cent. (95.6 F.), but in 15 minutes rose to 36.3° Cent. (97.3 F.). Of the three subjects he was the only one who apparently could not have prolonged the experiment beyond the period of 90 hours without danger. (Pages 474-475.) We may call special attention to a few of the results. In both subjects we again observe an increase in weight throughout the experiment with decrease after sleep. But with these subjects the decrease is less than the in- 35 Function and Value of Sleep. — United States. crease. In strength of lift both subjects lose quite regu- larly and seriously, but regain nearly all after sleep. In the memory tests the results are very marked, especially with G*. N. B. His average time in normal time for committing the 18 figures was 134 seconds. No remarkable increase in this time was observed until the expiration of 72 hours. At 9 A. M. Friday, the subject required 960 seconds to commit the first set of figures and failed entirely to commit the third set, working at it for 20 minutes. At 9 P. M. he could not commit the figures, and having made no progress after 15 minutes he desisted. The attention could not be held upon the work. A kind of mental lapse would constantly undo the work done. With both subjects energetic "waking up" by means of brisk walking and fresh air was often neces- sary during the latter time in order to address themselves to these mental tasks. After sleep, A. G. S. easily com- mitted the figures in 88 seconds, and G. N. B. in 106 sec- onds, this being in both cases the shortest time in which the work was done. In respect to the number of letters named in one minute, there is in each subject a steady decrease with the progress of the insomnia with imme- diate return to the normal after sleep. In adding num- bers, similar results appear in a marked form in the case of A. G-. S., but with G. N. B. adding time was affected but slightly. Reaction increases with A. G. S. as with J. A. G., but the reaction time of G. N. B. is not length- ened. In respect to reaction time with discrimination and choice the results are irregular and unsatisfactory. (Pages 476-479.) 36 Function and Value of Sleep.— Switzerland. Zur Frage der Nachtarbeit in den Bdckereien. Mitge- teilt von der Sozialen KauferUga der bchwetz. [The Question of Night Work in Bahenes. bmss Consumers' League.] Zeitschrift fiir Schweiser- ische Statistik, XVII. Jahrgang, Bern, 1911. (Letter from Dr. A. Kraft, School Physician of the City of Zurich.) It is a physiological fact that every one of our bodily organs is fatigued by long-continued activity, and needs rest in order that it may regain its proper elasticity. Even the heart, which appears to be always active, shows on examination a constant quick alternation between work and rest. The brain, like all the other organs, needs recuperation and rest; but the unity of conscious- ness prevents the possibility of a constant alternation between rest and activity, and so for the refreshment of the brain we have the longer pause of sleep. . . . It has been proved by experiment that deprivation of sleep is very harmful — ^more harmful than hunger. The wasting of the tissues through hunger is easier to endure than the lack of sleep. Bunge tells us that a starving dog loses fifty per cent of its weight before it dies, where- as a dog deprived of sleep dies when it has lost only from five to thirteen per cent. The hrain of starving animals is found to have kept its normal weight — ^it is nourished at the expense of other organs; in the case of sleepless animals the brain is the very organ that is found to have suffered most. Sleepless animals suffer a fall in bodily temperature amounting on the second day to something between 0.5° C. and 0.9° C, and in their last hour of life between 4° and 5.8°, and the number of red corpuscles falls from five million to two million. Investigation likewise shows a decrease in blood coloring-matter among night workers. Men as well as animals die sooner of lack of sleep than they do of hunger. "We may con- sider that we have experimental proof, corroborated by much general experience, of the fact that the deprivation of . . . sleep is sure to bring on severe and lasting injuries. . . . 37 Function and Value of Sleep. — Germany. It can be shown, and indeed it is obvious on the face of it, that in the day-time one cannot make sure of obtain- ing a sleeping period of normal length and a sleep of normal depth. The light and the noise of the day, and in summer the heat and other factors besides — ^these are great hindrances to effective sleep. Thus the night worker cannot utilize the time he has for rest. (Pages 291-292.) t^her Geistige Arbeit. [Intellectual Worh.'] Emil Kraepelin. Jena, 1897. Incomparably the most important means for the re- pair of fatigue is sleep. Everyone, even the most in- tellectually barren man, develops an amount of mental activity during the waking hours which cannot be pro- longed indefinitely without a breakdown. . . . If the reparative effects of sleep are insufficient or if sleep is banished the results are inevitably shown the next day in diminished efficiency as well as in an in- creased sensation of physical fatigue. An experiment with an adult man showed that the results of mental fatigue after an entire night spent without sleep were plainly demonstrable in. a gradually waning degree for four whole days. (Page 20.) Ermudung wnd Erholung. [Fatigue and Repair.] Peof. Max Verwobn. Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, Feb. 4, 1901. Sleep is that state in which the neurones of the cen- tral nervous system recover from fatigue and exhaus- tion . . . the condition of sleep is physiologically characterized by on one hand, the lowering of disassim- ilation as a result of the cessation of stimuli, and on the other, the promotion of assimilation due to the self- supplying by the tissues with nutriment during the meta- bolic processes. 38 Function and Value of Sleep.— Germany. These two characteristics give sleep its enormous importance for the maintenance of the health of the body, and therefore, everything prejudicial to the need- ful amount of sleep is synonymous with injury to health. Normal physiological sleep can not be replaced or sub- stituted for by anything else. (Page 130.) Die Volkswirthschaftliche Bedeutung der Verkursimg des Industriellen Arheitstages. Gesammelte Abhcmdlvmgen. Bd. III. {The Economic Signifi- cance of a Shorter Working Day. Complete Works. Vol. HI.] Ebnst Abbe. Papers read he- fore the Economic Society, Jena, 1901. Jena, Fischer, 1906. Now, when an activity is repeated daily in the same grooves, in the same form, the individual concerned can keep up this activity day by day only on condition that the fatigue engendered on one day has been completely banished by sufficient rest and proper nutriment before the next day's work is undertaken. If even the smallest deficit remains after the equali- zation of fatigue and rest, — a deficit that would not be noticeable on any one single day, but which is added to daily and accumulates little by little, then the inevitable consequence is that, after a more or less prolonged period of time, the individual goes to pieces physically. It is the same as when he spends daily ever so little more than his income. If he keeps this up, there comes a time when he inevitably becomes bankrupt, (Page 226.) I can therefore sayr every workman whose work is done under these labor conditions must be afforded daily recuperation for his expended energies, and the daily compensation of rest and food must wholly equal his average total of exertion. The daily average of fatigue and expended strength must be absolutely balanced by fresh strength and recuperation, because the least deficit will accumulate gradually and will finally have ruinous effects. (Page 226.) 39 Function and Value of Sleep. — Germany. Errmdung durch Berufsarbeit. [Occupational Fatigue.] Db. Emil Roth. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demo- graphy, Berlin, 1907. Vol. II., Sec. IV. The increasing use of machinery as a substitute for hand work, and the rapid tendency toward subdivision of labor, are bringing about conditions that are more and more favorable for the employer, but for the worker, on the contrary, harder and less favorable, and especially more monotonous. Therefore, from the point of view of health preservation, it must be considered proper to regulate working hours in accordance with the princi- ples enunciated by Abbe : viz. : The daily supply of en- ergy required for daily labor must be gained by suffi- ciently long periods of rest and economical use of strength, and must not exceed the expenditure of energy required by the accelerated pace of industry. (Pages 593-594.) A consideration of all the factors concerned in the study of overwork resulting in over-fatigue, shows that these factors are many. One of the most important of all, from the standpoint of prevention, and in the inter- est of the workers ' health, is this : The intensiveness of the labor, or the relation of the energy expended in ful- filling the work's requirements to the length of time during which energy is so expended, must not overstep a certain fixed limit. That industrial establishments fail notoriously in meeting this first and fundamental re- quirement of labor protection, admits of no debate. (Page 604.) 40 Function and Value of Sleep.— Germany. Handworterbuch der StaMswissenschaften, Bd. I. Edited by Des. J. CoNBAB, Professor of Political Science in Halle; L. Elsteb, Ober Reg. Rath in Berlin; W. Lexis, Professor of Political Science in Gottingen, and Edg. Loening, Professor of Law in Halle. Arbeitsseit. [Hours of Worh.] Db. H. Herkneb. Jena, Fischer, 1909. We distinguish exhaustion from fatigue. In exhaustion there is a deficiency of reparative ma- terial for the restoration of the vital tissues. This is especially a deficiency of oxygen. During work more oxygen is taken from the red blood corpuscles than can be normally replaced by them from respiration and food. (Verwom.) While fatigue can be banished by rest, ex- haustion can only be overcome by fresh supplies of oxygen and organic tissue building material in food. Ee- cuperation takes place in fullest extent only in sleep, as during sleep the consumption of oxygen is diminished. (Page 1214.) Quotation from Pope Leo XIII. Encyclical on the Labor Problem : ' ' Justice and Humanity protest against demands upon laboring men, so excessive that the body gives way and the spirit is dulled. As in man all things have their limitations, even so is it with the capacity for labor, and no one can exceed the limits of his powers. . . . "In general it should be a fixed rule that as much rest should be granted the worker as is needed to restore his strength ; for the release from work has the restoration of strength as its purpose." These declarations are in so far noteworthy that they state with great clearness the fundamental principle that the time for rest after the day's work must allow complete restoration of the expended strength. (Page 1205.) 41 Function and Value of Sleep. — Italy. Krankheit und Sosiale Lage {Morbidity and Social Statits). Edited hy Db. M. Mossb and Db,. G. Ttjgendeeioh. Arbeit besw. Beruf in ihrem Einfluss auf Krankheit und SterbUchkeit. {Inflvr erbce of Occupation on Morbidity and Mortality). Db. Fbanz Koelsch. Berlin, Lehmann. 1913. The injuries of physical and mental over-strain are to be avoided by pauses of sufficient length at proper times. . . . The physiological time for recovery is sleep ; during healthy sleep the elimination of the fatigue products from the body is most complete; the body awakens with the sense of physical and mental freshness and restored en- ergy. But this absolutely necessary regeneration accom- pli^ed in normal sleep does not fully take place in the day-time. "The sleep lost at night can indeed be made up in the day-time, but in the day-time, to secure the same refreshment as in adequate sleep at night, the body re- quires a longer time of rest, as day-time sleep, in conse- quence of noise and light, and in summer of greater heat, is not as deep as sleep at night." (Gutachten des Eeichsgesundheitsamtes.) According to this, continued night-work is the source of serious damage to health and of premature exhaustion. (Page 159.) Vber die Gesetse der Ermiidung. [The Laws of Fatigue.] Db. Asnaisdo Maggioba., University of Turin. Archiv fur Anatomie und Physiologic, 1890. Phys- iologische Abtheilimg. My experiments proved that after one whole night's wakefulness the muscles weary much more quickly, so that at 8 a.m. of the following morning the amount of mechanical work obtainable from them is reduced to the half of what it would be xmder normal circumstances. In the daytime, after a night without sleep the finger contractions give one contraction of normal or nearly normal size, but the next ones fall off with unusual 42 Function and Value of Sleep. — Italy. rapidity. As in anaemia, the reserve strength may be ob- served to diminish even though spasmodic or single con- tractions may be performed. Mosso has shown that, under such circumstances (nightwork without sleep), not only the irritability but the productive capacity is lessened. The diminution of mechanical work is often more extreme than that caused by anaemia. (Page 226.) Loss of sleep promotes musclar fatigue for the reason that it brings about a general exhaustion of the organism. The muscles can, it is true, continue to perform some work, but they more quickly give out and the amount of mechanical work they produce is small. This exhausting effect of loss of sleep is not altered by taking food, but disappears only after a compensating degree of sleep. (Page 227.) Controindicasioni al Lavoro Notturno. [Counter-indi- cations of Night Work.] De. Luigi Cabozzi. Pro- ceedings of the First International Congress on Industrial Diseases, Milan, 1906. So far as the physiological symptoms are concerned, there is danger in nightwork, and a serious one, danger composed of many elements, which manifests itself in slackened metabolism, a marked general weakening, precocious senility, disturbance of all the organic func- tions. Activity decreases through fatigue, lack or in- sufficiency of sleep destroys the possibility of recuper- ating quickly from the metabolic losses, and of removing the poisonous residues of the process of oxidation in the tissues. The workman who labors at night entirely loses the normal characteristics of sleep, that is, the exclusion of every stimulus and the auto-regulation of metabolism. Hence, to my mind, it is a mistake to seek the dangers of nightwork in a single cause, as has hitherto been done. Leaving out of account the fact that night is by natural law the time for rest, that during the night the organic functions slacken their activity, that sleep during the day 43 Function and Value of Sleep. — France. is less restorative, it must be conceded that the problem is complex and results in complex dangers to the work- man. (Page 80.) Mude sur .1' Influence de la Duree du Travail Quotidien sur la Sante generale de I'Adulte. [Study of the Effect of the Length of Working Hours upon the General Health of Adults.] Ilia Saohninb. Lyon, Waltener et Cie, 1900. If work is too prolonged, the accumulation of waste in the system becomes so considerable that it cannot be destroyed or eliminated with sufi&cient rapidity. The blood stream which bathes the cells and frees them from their toxic wastes, and the glands which perform the functions of elimination require sufficient time for their work. Thus, according to the observations of Lagrange, twelve or even 24 hours are necessary to eliminate waste by the kidneys. Elimination does not begin, however, until at least three hours after work ceases. (Page 154.) "Eest," said Lagrange, "is the condition indispen- sable for the elimination of tissue waste, because in a state of rest this waste is less rapidly produced. It is the indispensable condition for the repair of tissues, be- cause the process of assimilation is hindered by the ac- tivity of work." Sleep unites all the perfect conditions of rest. "In this state," said Lagrange, "all muscular tissues relax and the vital organs function more quietly and slowly. Respiration and pulse subside and temperature is lower- ed. Then, the brain, which is incessantly active while awake, rests during sleep and its circulation is less ac- tive. The lowered temperature of sleep is a proof that combustion is less active and waste reduced to a mini- mum." (Pages 155-156.) The importance of the regularity of sleep for the worker is borne out by repeated evidence. The normal minimum of sleep according to most hygienists should be at least 8 hours. (Page 156.) 44 Function and Value of Sleep.— Belgium. Le Surmenage par Suite du Travail Professional. [Oc- cupationai Fatigue.] Prop, A. Imbeet. Proceed- ings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, Berlin, 1907. Vol. II., Sec. IV. Fatigue, essentially and exclusively a physiological phenomenon, characterizes the human organism when the latter is regarded as a working machine. Conse- quently, even from the economic point of view, the dis- cussion of every question involving the factor of labor in industry is incomplete if the influence and the possible consequences of fatigue are not contemplated. Fatigue, on the other hand, disappears during rest, both as to its causes and effects, if the rest is as much prolonged as the labor has been exacting. Rest is thus, quite aside from any social or humani- tarian consideration, a physiological necessity. . . . It is physiologically and, one may add, economically essential that the night's rest and the weekly rest should suffice to permit the human organism, which has been subjected to a period of labor, to return to its normal state. If this does not happen, the human machine de- teriorates, as complained of by the worker, and the out- put suffers, which affects the employer, to say nothing of the charges upon society which may result from such deterioration. Overstrain is present if, after the daily or weekly rest, at the moment of resuming labor, traces of fatigue still remain and the primal and normal productive ca- pacity has not been restored. (Pages 634-635.) Royaume de Belgique. Conseil Superieur du Travail, 6e Session, 1901-1902. [Belgian Higher Council of Labor, 6th Session.] Vol. I. Part II. Le Repos Hehdomadaire. [The Weehly Rest Bay.] M. Adolphe Prins (Member of Council) : To-day under present conditions of competition and 45 Function and Value of Sleep. — Belgium. production it is more than ever necessary to protect worldng men from overstrain. Rest is more and more indispensable as work becomes more intense. In every line of activity, only the regular alternation of work and rest is able to conserve energy, and those individuals and nations whose lives are so regulated will surpass others in economic rivalry. (Pages 81-82.) M. Beco: The man who works must have rest. Rest must alter- nate with work; this is a physiological necessity. The workman becomes incapable of any physical or mental work whatever if after a certain number of hours he is not able to rest. The desire for sleep, after a certain time, overcomes him. . . . Then in addition to rest during the day, the worker needs periodic rests. (Page 124.) M. Denis (Member of Council) : Man has a new right, the right to leisure and rest, as well as work. . . . The history of labor legisla- tion can be given in two words: the right to rest is inherent in man's physiological structure. It involves an inflexible social necessity to do away with the exhaus- tion resulting from overwork, and to conserve working power, the most precious possession of a nation. On this the most learned physiologist of Italy has said: "The prodigious development of industry and of machinery is resulting in extreme intensity of labor and the law of exhaustion must of necessity put a limit to greed for gain." Science traces out a path for the modern lawmaker: his difficult but glorious mission is to accomplish the normal synthesis of these two inalienable rights spring- ing from the very laws of life — the right to employ one 's working powers and the right to conserve them. (Page 169.) Maggiora has demonstrated that in order to obtain the same quantity of muscular work evenly throughout the day, the muscles must, from the outset, have their proper periods of rest, so that they can act each time with fresh 46 Function and Value of Sleep. — Belgium. energy and so that fatigue will not accumulate. This accumulation of fatigue is the most important phenome- non to consider now; it arises in the course of the day, from every breach of equilibrium between work accom- plished and rest given to the muscles. As soon as work is in excess, or rest is insuflScient, there is an accumula- tion of fatigue, and this, as Maggiora has shown, is dis- played by a diminution of effectiveness. What is true of the different hours of the day is true from one day to another. Waste products of fatigue are carried over from one day to another with cumulative effect. Mag- giora 's writings contain a remarkable chart showing the effects of a sleepless night, — that is a night without re- pair. From this chart we may gain an idea of the rapid cumulation of waste substances, and the gradual exten- sion of the organic deficit. (Page 174.) 47 3. The Deprivation of Sunlight. Workers who are employed at night are inevitably deprived of sunlight. Scientific investigation has proved that the loss of sunlight is injurious in two ways : First, it results in serious physical damage, both to human beings and to animals. Night workers whose blood was examined showed a marked decrease in the red coloring matter, resulting in a state of chronic blood impoverish- ment. Second, the loss of sunlight favors the growth of bacteria, such as the germs of tuberculosis. Conversely, light destroys bacterial life. It has been called the "cheapest and most universal disinfectant". Health and Disease. Their Determining Factors. Roger I. Lee, M. D. Professor of Hygiene in Harvard University ; Visiting Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Boston, Little, Brown <& Co., 1917. Light and the Eyes. While we are accustomed to consider that the rays of the sun have performed their functions when they have given us warmth and light, the sun rays have other very definite powers. Sunlight, for example, is an excellent disinfectant. Furthermore, while the subject is not thoroughly understood, some of the sun rays have peculiar and mysterious influences on the human body. An appreciation of the beneficial ef- fects of the sun rays has led to their use in the treatment of disease, — heliotherapy. In addition, it seems possible that the beneficial effect of outdoor living and sleep may be due, in part, to some mysterious activity of the sun rays. (p. 135.) 48 Deprivation of Sunlight.— United States. Report of the New York State Department of Labor, 1909. Report of the Medical Inspector of Fao^ tories. Sunlight is not only a stimulus, increasing the physio- logical resistance of the body to disease, but it is also a germicide and a factor in proper ventilation and sani- tation. Where there is darkness there is dirt, where there is dirt there is disease, (Page 32.) Ibid., 1910. Deficient light is an inexcusable sanitary defect. Sun- light is not only an important factor in the question of ventilation and accidents, but also of disease. . . . Sunlight is essential to health. Absence of sunlight means danger from disease. Sunlight and health are synonymous. (Pages 70-71.) Second Report of the New York Factory Investigating') Commission, 1913. Vol. I. Nightwork of Women in Factories. It has also been shown that animals kept in the dark without sunlight suffer a loss of the red coloring matter in the blood. The same is found true of night workers who are deprived of sunlight ; impoverished blood is one of the main symptoms. This fact was confirmed by an examination of 80O bakers by the investigators of the Commission, described in its Preliminary Report. Night work was found to increase their morbidity and mortality, as well as to upset all the normal habits of social life. (Page 194.) The Therapeutics of Light. Heebebt MoIntosh, M.D. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 163, Bee. 15, 1910. Having directed attention to some considerations which should lead us to infer that light should a priori 49 Deprivation of Sunlight.— United States. exert a favorable influence upon disturbed bodily condi- tions, let us briefly sum up some of the physiological ef- fects of light which have been experimentally proved. . . . Light energy is destructive of bacterial life out- side the body. Since, however, this destructive action is due chiefly to the ultra violet rays, and these are not highly penetrative, we are not permitted to affirm a di- rectly bactericidal action in the living tissue. I have al- ready pointed out, however, that blood absorbs light, that the tissues fluoresce under the influence of light, and that the hemoglobin gives up its oxygen to the tissues more readily under light exposure. Herein may be perceived the damaging effect of light upon bacteria in the tissues. For as they are anaerobic, the production of oxygen is unfavorable to their growth and the increased activity of tissue combustion produced by light renders the nu- trient media in which they live less favorable to their propagation. The increased absorption of oxygen by the blood un- der the influence of light leads to increased activity in tissue destruction, and therefore augments the elimina- tion of CO2. In confirmation of this proposition Mol- schott, (Wiener Med. Wochenschr, 1885, no. 43), Selmi and Placentini (Eend. Conti. del Reale Iiistituto, 1870, vol. iii, Ser. ii, p. 51) have shown that dogs, hens, pigeons and frogs eliminate less carbon dioxide in the dark than in the light. (Page 908.) Light markedly increases the number of red blood cells. This has been repeatedly demonstrated after an incandescent bath. It also increases the amount of hemoglobin. Under the influence of light, oxyhemoglobin more readily surrenders its oxygen to the tissues, thereby stimulating combustion in the tissues. We have already shown that the solid constituents of the urine are in- creased, that sweating is promoted and that the elimina- tion of CO2 is augmented. (Page 909.) It is very evident, then, that sunlight promotes met- abolism. (Page 909.) 50 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Italy. Verdnderungen des Blutes durch Nachtarheit. {Changes in the Blood During NigMworh.] Dn. Gr. F. Gabt, DENGHi, Director of the Institute of Hygiene, Par- ma. Wiener Klinisch-therapeutische Wochen- schrift, XIII. 1906. That light, sun or daylight, and the deprivation of light have important influences upon the animal and hu- man organism is so well established by innumerable ob- servations that new proofs of the facts might seem to be superfluous. It is also beyond question that this influ- ence affects the blood primarily and in a remarkable manner. . . . For biological, as well as for hygienic and social reasons, I undertook special researches into the effects of night work in this regard. I was the more ready to do so, because my previous observations of bakers working at night had convinced me that the loss of daylight had a distinct influence upon the blood. . . . In carrying on the research in question by means of living animals the following points were determined ex- perimentally. I. — Changes in the weight of animals, n. — Changes in the numbers of white and red blood corpuscles, m. — Variations in the hemoglobin contents, rV. — ^Changes in the store of iron contained in the blood. (Pages 671-672.) It may be definitely concluded from our experiments^ that the deprivation of day light brought about an in- sufficiency of blood pigments and of iron constituents in the blood of the animals under observation (hypochrome- mia and hyposiderosis.) It may be accepted as a positive truth that day and sun-light are of great significance in the production of the blood pigments, (coloring matter) a truth which is generally recognized in regard to the production of chlorophyll. From this there becomes evident a very re- markable correlation between hemoglobin and chlorophyll 51 Deprivation of Sunlight. — ^Italy. —two pigments which modern biological chemistry has recognized as being closely related. The facts cited are of great importance for the ques- tion of night work. In 1899 and 1900 I had made numer- ous examinations of bakers in Parma — ^where night work (abolished in the last two years, without injury to busi- ness) was then in common practice and I found that, in general, while the number of red blood corpuscles was not materially altered, the amount of hemoglobin (red coloring matter) was seriously affected. Not long ago I had opportunity to make some similar investigation with results that confirmed those reached by Belli and Onimus g,mong the machinists of the French and Italian navies. Belli expressly stated that the loss of day light was the cause of the decrease of the red coloring matter of the blood among stokers and firemen. . . . We believe we have proved that, under the infiuence of night work, a decrease in the blood's coloring matter occurs, which after a short time becomes clearly per- ceptible and remains as a chronic condition of blood im- poverishment. We believe that we are justified in the conclusion that the continuous deprivation of light is the prime cause of the phenomena observed. (Pages 699-700.) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio. Ufficio del lavoro. [Department of Agriculture, Indus- try and Commerce. Bureau of Labor.'] IncMesta sul lavoro notturno del fornai. [An Investigation of Night Work in Bakeries.] Rome, 1906. The worst of the conditions (in bakeries) is the ne- cessity or the custom, of night work. All the circum- stances that make night work unhealthy come into play; they may be briefly sxmimarized as follows : (a) Sunlight is a potent stimulus to all the organic functions, especially to metabolism, or the repair of the tissues — ^that is the absorption of oxygen and the assimi- 52 Deprivation of Sunlight. — ^Italy. lation of food-stnffs, and the consequent nourishment of the protoplasm. The absence of this stimulus causes hypochromia and hyposiderosis of the blood, or, ia other words, deficiency in the formation of haemoglobin and in the absorption of iron— whence the pallor one always sees on the faces of people who work at night or in the dark, (b) Artificial light, no matter of what kind, does not have the stimulating and tonic quality of natural light; besides, in the bakeries the light is always weak and in- sufficient and often contributes, along with other factors, to the vitiation of the air. (Page 14.) SulV Influenza delta Luce Naturale nel Lavoro. [The Influence of Natural Light upon Labor.] De. L. BoLBTTiNo. Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Industrial Diseases. Milan, June, 1906. Among the many harmful and subtle causes that slow- ly imperil the health of hundreds of workingmen is what I believe of no little importance — ^the deficient light in industrial establishments, workshops, manufacturing plants, etc. Lavoisier says that nature without light would be lifeless. Light unquestionably exercises beneficent action upon animals, upon the hair, the feathers, and more par- ticularly upon the pigment of the skin. In fact, the skin, is the organ which is most directly affected by the action of luminous rays. They have a marvellously stimulating effect upon the skin through which many substances — whose presence is deadly poison for the organism — are eliminated from our body. . . . An eminent French physiologist performed the fol- lowing experiment, sufficiently convincing to confirm my argument. He placed several tadpoles in two perforated , boxes in the Seine, one made of tin, the other of glass. 53 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Italy. The tadpoles that remained in the dark box never changed and did not develop either legs or lungs ; while those in the glass box reached a state of complete devel- opment, changing into perfectly formed frogs. Diimeril further remarks that, after mutilating the tails of salamanders, they grow again less rapidly in a dark than in a light place. Dwelling in dark places causes in animals and in man an unavoidable organic decadence, which predis- poses to various diseases, justifying the popular say- ing: — ^Where the sun does not enter, the Doctor does. (Pages 100-101.) The great importance of the influence of light upon labor being fully proved and established we must, first prohibit the working of girls in badly lighted places; second, induce the owners of factories to build their es- tablishments so as to be well-lighted and directly ex- posed to the sun's rays for the greater part of the day; third, abolish night work. (Page 104.) La Fisiopatologia del Lavoro Notturno e la Legislasione itaUana. [The Physiological Pathology of Night Work and Italian Legislation.] De. Ambeogio MoEi, Assistant at the Pediatric 'Clinic of the Royal Institute of Research in Florence. II Ramassini, Oct.-Nov., 1907. The physio-pathology of night work has of late years received not a few contributions from students ol social therapeutics: it may in fact, be said that from a purely theoretical point of view no physiologist can deny the dangers of night work, its diminished productive value and the frequency of accidents to which it leads. . . . (Page 621.) The proof that night work is prejudicial to the health of human beings and that it is in opposition to the normal and physiological exchanges of energy and of biological activity of the organism, has been traced back 54 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Austria. by naturalists to the lowest cell formation. "Onmis cellula est cellula", and the "superior" organism — ^man — is nothing but an aggregate, differentiated in organs and functions from the primary and infinitesimal ele- mentary organisms. It has been endeavored to ascer- tain the effects of sunlight on protozoa and tissues ; and it is shown that sunlight exercised a beneficent influence on physiological changes, in the blood-making fimction, on the nutrition of the tissues, but is destructive of bac- terial life. Experiments on the influence of sunlight on the blood have been made by many authors. Finally, Gardenghi instituted systematic investigations on various animals^ rabbits and guinea-pigs, subjected to the action of light and kept in the dark. The results were uncertain as regards weight, the augment or decrease of leucocytes and the form of the leucocytes ; but on the other hand he found that the lack of sunlight produced a deficiency of color and of iron in the blood in the animals under observation. This diminution in hemoglobin has also been observed in examination of the blood of several bakers. Under the action of light the skin eliminates many toxic principles that might otherwise poison the organ- ism; darkness in fact is unfavorable to animal life and predisposes man to scrofula, tuberculosis, rachitis, hema- tophilia, scurvy and cretinism. (Page 624.) Die hygienische Bedeutung des Sonnenlichts. [The Hy- gienic Value of Sunlight.] Db. Uffelmann. Wiener KUnik, XV. Jahrgang, 1889. Sunlight is the condition upon which all life on the earth depends ; it has a very powerful influence upon the development of all organic things. There is therefore from the start an a priori certainty that in the field of hygiene also sunlight plays an important part, and in point of fact, investigation shows that in many ways 55 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Germany. natural light is very necessary to the health of mankind. (Page 7.) Although when all is said the connection between dis- ease and lack of light is still far from clear, this much may even now be safely asserted — that to live contin- ually in rooms that are without sunlight cannot possibly be good for the health, and indeed is very likely to injure it. For it may be regarded as proved that the quantity of blood depends upon the light, since darkness reduces the quantity of blood 1/25-1/30 (3.9-3.3%) of the weight of the body irL the course of one or two months. There is also a lessening of the amount of haemoglobin. We may safely maintain, therefore, that sunlight is a factor conducive to health, and that lack of light tends to im- pair the health. (Pages 97-98.) tJber die hygienische Bedeutung des Lichtes. [The Hy- gienic Value of Light.'] Db. W. Keuse. Zeit- schrift fur Hygiene und Infectionskrankheiten, XIX. Band, 1895. The direct influence of light on the human organism is shown: (1) in the injury to our visual organs caused by either inadequate or too intense lighting. . . . (2) in the undeniable, though often not rightly ap- preciated, influence of light, transmitted through the eye, upon psychic energy, upon temper and mood. Everyone can call to mind from his own experience examples of the strong excitant effect of light. (Page 313.) It is hardly two decades since we began to make ob- servations of this kind in regard to bacteria, and in the last decade countless investigators have studied the in- fluence of light upon these ubiquitous organisms — so sig- nificant to mankind as the cause of all kinds of decompo- sition and disease. . . . The fundamental fact— 56 Deprivation of Sunliglit. — Germany. that light exerts a harmful influence upon living bacteria is easily proved. All one needs to do is to take a trace of bacteria-containing fluid (for instance from a pure culture), and expose it to the direct sunlight, in the form of a suspended drop protected against evaporation. . . . a more practical method (than the one first described) is this of Pausini : expose the suspended drop on a cover- glass which is cemented over the hollowed-out portion of a microscopic slide. I performed such an experiment by exposing to the sunlight anthrax spores deposited in dis- tilled water, and the result shows the powerful influence of sunlight : ExpEEiMENT Made June 12, 1890, Naples. 25° C. in the sun (a strong wind blowing). Length of exposure Number of colonies in the exposed drops Number of colonies in the non-exposed drops (under a black bell) When the experi- ment was started 8000 1 hour 108 1% hours 26 .... 2 hours .... 3 hours .... 4 hours .... 5 hours 6000 (Page 318) The disinfectant action of light increases with the in- crease in intensity. Lighting even though dim, is not a stimulus hut a hindrance to the development of bacteria. Although I have not determined photometrically the intensity of light, I think I am justified in maldng the 57 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Grermany. above statement. The influence of light is felt most quickly under the vertical rays of the sun. The only es- sential difference between the results given by the experi- ments in our climate and those given by the same ex- periments in Italy — at least the only essential difference in summer — is due to the fact that we cannot usually count on such continual irradiation as in Italy. Even diffused light is a fairly powerful enemy to bacteria. The knowledge of this fact has been spread abroad through E. Koch's statement at the international Congress in Berlin. "Cultures of tubercle bacilli if placed at a window die off in from five to seven days." (Pages 320-321.) Through the influence of light, fluid media containing complicated nitrogenous substances are so changed that they come to have an antiseptic effect on bacteria. This alteration takes place under the influence of the oxygen in the air, and is the more marked according as the il- lumination is more intense and of longer duration. But the injurious effect of light on bacteria is not to be ascribed simply to alteration of the medium. (Page 327.) In addition to the alteration of the medium. through illumination, we must postulate also an immediate in- fluence of light on the bacteria themselves. (Page 330.) Light has a deleterious effect on all bacteria, and not only upon their resting stages, hut also upon their vege- tative forms. This effect shows itself sometimes in a stoppage of growth, or a weakening of the groivth or germination energies, sometimes even in the complete extermination of the bacterial cells. By my own experi- mental research I have succeeded in ascertaining the ef- fect of light on anthrax and typhoid bacilli and on baciUi of glanders, on streptococci and staphylococci, on cholera spirilli; and on anthrax and tetanus spores ; experiments have also been performed on tubercle bacilli, septicaemia of mice, colon bacteria, spores from the earth, etc. The different vision fungi succumb to the influence of light with varying degrees of rapidity. Light also affects the virulence of the pathogenic bac- teria. The probability of this influence is clear from all 58 Deprivation of SunligM.— Germany. our experience, for every injury to the bacterial cell seems to impair the force of its infectious properties. Transient or "individual" weakening must here be dis- tinguished from such weakening as is permanent or "in- heritable". So far only the former influence of light, and that only in the case of the anthrax bacillus, has been established (by Arloine and Pausini). It has been proved that before their vegetative force was rendered extinct through illumination, these bacilli became, in their action on animals, first less virulent and finally quite harmless. (Page 331.) The considerations I have adduced show that light is hygienically important for the following reasons: In the first place the influence of quantity of illumina- tion on the visual organ and its function is unquestioned. The effect of daylight on the spirits is likewise in- disputable. In the third place, the influence of light on chlorophyl- lous vegetation, especially on bacteria, is of interest from the point of view of hygiene, since light is clearly the cheapest and most universal disinfectant we possess for our living places and homes. (Page 332.) Bas Verhot der Nachtarheit. [The Prohibition of Night Work.] Report at the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. Db,. Max HiESCH. Jahrhuch fur Gesetsgebung, Verwaltung und Volhswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich, Vol. XXV. 1901. Scientists are not agreed as to the precise physi- ological causes of its (nightwork's) damage to health.' . . . Prof. Uffelmann of Rostock states as to sunlight : "It may be accepted as' undeniable that lack of light re- tards tissue change (metabolism) and that sunlight pro-^ motes it, and also that sunlight furthers the oxidation, that is the rendering harmless, of the organic materials in the air. It is also undeniable that sunlight promotes 59 Deprivation of Sunlight. — Great Britain. that psychic elasticity which so strikingly influences the physical elasticity and resisting power. (Page 1258.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXVI. 1912. Report of the Departmental Committee on the Night Employ- ment of Male Young Persons in Factories and Workshops. After careful consideration of the evidence, and after viewing numerous works in various parts of the country and weighing all the facts thus obtained, we have come to the following conclusions, namely : (a) To work at night, thus turning night into day, is unnatural. (b) The alternation from day to night work, and vice versa, each successive week, even when the 3-shift system is in operation, does not allow time for the individual to adapt himself to the unnatural con- ditions. (c) Night work involves the loss of all the beneficial effects that the sunlight has upon the body. (Page 9.) 60 4. INJURY TO THE EYESIGHT. Night work often results in life long injury to the eyes. The danger of eyestrain from close application to work is intensified at night by insufficient and improper light- ing of work rooms. While it is true that the more gen- eral use of electric lighting has improved the illumination |!^!' of work-places and has lessened the vitiation of the air due to gas lighting yet it has introduced new elements of injury. The glare of excessive or unshaded lights may be as injurious to the eyes as insufficient illumination. Moreover, experience has shown that injuries to the eyes affect general health disastrously. Report of New York State Department of Labor, 1909. Report of Medical Inspector of Factories. My observations would seem to show that in gloomy workrooms where automatic machinery is used, re- quiring the constant care of an operative, and a single bright light is used to illuminate part of the ma- chine, a certain mechanical hypnotic influence is exerted over the operative, which is a factor in the cause of minor accidents. . . . Too glaring a light is of as much danger as is too little light, and in some instances is a cause of complete loss of sight. In my opinion provision should be made requiring artificial illumination of a qual- ity as near sunlight as possible, of sufficient power to thoroughly illuminate all parts of workroom, and placed above the heads of workers when in an upright position. (Pages 72-73.) Ihid. 1911. In my previous reports, the question of artificial light- ing and its relation to air vitiation has been fully dis- 61 Injury to Eyesight.— United States. cussed. Its effect upon the eyes of the workers, if too dim, or too glaring, are to cause eye strain, nervous dis- orders, dimness of vision and the loss of eyesight, which latter is the greatest calamity that can befall anyone. It has been impossible to undertake an intensive investiga- tion into the subject, but as a result of general injuries among the workers, I find there are a number who suffer from the effects of faulty lighting. I have observed many workers employed with unshaded gas and electric light directly on a level with the eyes, and from my own ex- perience with such means of lighting, I am fully con- vinced of the harmfulness of such illumination. When artificial illumination becomes necessary, there should be a fixed minimimi standard of light to be main- tained, as well as a proper means of protection from too brilliant illumination. (Page 73.) Another danger to which these operators are exposed is that of having to work with artificial illumination on a level with the eyes, especially that from incandescent electric bulbs. Eeports show this has a deleterious effect, not only upon the eyes, but upon the general health. (Page 93.) Preliminary Report of the New York State Factory In- vestigating Commission, 1912. Vol. I. Defective light and illumination are known to be in- jurious to the eyes of the worker. Insufficient light causes eye-strain and generally undermines the general health. (Page 74.) According to the unanimous testimony of experts, de- fective light and illumination are most injurious to the eyes of the workers. Insufficient light causes eye-strain and the chain of symptoms following it, and thus gradu- ally undermines the health. Much of the work in fac- tories needs close application; the colors necessitating abundant light, and the work so minute that great strain is placed upon the eyes. Therefore, abundant light is the first necessity in a factory. 62 Injury to Eyesight.— United States. . . . The installation of artificial illumination is usually made without regard to the location of the work- room, its size, the distance from the workers, the color of the materials, and the care of the eyes of the workers. It is, therefore, not at all strange that so many of the workers, especially the women, suffer from the effects of eye-strain and from other eye diseases due to defective light. (Pages 131-132.) Second Report of the New York State Factory Investigat- ing Commission, 1913. Vol. I. Nightwork of Women in Factories. Light and Illumination. The lack of proper lighting in our industrial estab- lishments has been recognized as a serious evil by sani- tarians, efficiency engineers and factory inspectors. The lack of proper lighting in American factories has been commented upon by many travelers. Arthur Shadwell in his book on "Industrial Efficiency" (page 3) says: "In the United States I have seen so many mills and other works miserably lighted, ' ' and again : "A bad light is the most conspicuous and general defect of American factory premises." He claims that Germany and Eng- land are vastly more advanced in this respect than America. The full importance of adequate and proper light in factories has been recognized in the legislative enact- ments abroad as well as in the United States, although here the legislation on this subject is very general. It is universally admitted that inadequate lighting of industrial establishments affect not only the eyesight and general health of the employees, and the efficiency of their work, but is also responsible for the number and the frequency of accidents. (Page 427.) 63 Injury to Eyesight. — United States. Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Labor and Industries. 1917. Adequate Lighting. The question of eye strain as a factor in industrial fatigue is receiving each year more and more attention. While the statute in Massachusetts does not specify any particular standard of lighting in the various lines of industry, nevertheless inspectors visiting the estahlish- ments throughout the State have made note of the de- gree of light, both artificial and natural, in various establishments and in different parts of the same estab- lishment, (p. 61) The essentials of good lighting may be summarized as follows : (a) Adequacy. (b) A reasonable degree of constancy and uniformity of illumination over the necessary area of work. (c) The placing or shading of lamps so that light from them will not fall directly on the eyes of an oper- ator when engaged on his work or when looking hori- zontally across the workroom. (d) The placing of lights so as to avoid the casting of extraneous shadows on the work. Natural lighting is to be preferred to artificial light- ing, both on the grounds of health and economy, (p. 62) Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, 1906. Report on the Sanitary Conditions of Factories, Workshops and other Establishments. Poor light is itself a factor of no mean consequence in reducing the physiological resistance to disease. It is a well established fact that either the overuse of the eyes, or the use of eyes under bad conditions, may give rise to eye fatigue or to eye strain ; and many eye specialists believe that at least 80 to 90 per cent, of head- aches are dependent upon eye strain. (Page 470.) 64 Injury to Eyesiglit--Grreat Britain. Occupations from the Social, Hygienic and Medical Points of View. Sir Thomas Oliver, M.A., M.D.F.R.C.P., Professor of the Principles and Practice of Medi- cine, University of Durham. Cambridge, Univer- sity Press, 1916. As a cause of fatigue and of accidents mention must be made of imperfect illumination. Nothing surpasses sunlight and daylight. In factories in the United States the number of accidents is always greatest in the winter when artificial illumination has to be resorted to. Mr. Leon Gaster, editor of The Illuminating Engineer, has shown how poor illumination of factories tends to dimin- ish both the quality of work and the output. It neither pays the employer nor the employed. By the latter a severe strain is experienced, for the eyes have to be used more than they otherwise would be. Bad illumination means more spoiled work, a larger number of accidents and greater fatigue to work people. So far as eye strain is concerned it is not so much that the light is always de- ficient as that it is improperly distributed. During work the eyes should not be exposed to unshaded lights placed in the direct range of vision. Such lights create "a glare" which dazzles rather than illuminates. . . . Ocular fatigue arises from nerve conditions owing to the effort made by the individual to distinguish and fit in the details of his work — also by the image being too long retained on the retina and creating an after-image. One of nature 's methods of preventing fatigue consequent upon impressions made upon the retina is pupillary con- traction. Too bright light should therefore be avoided just as much as defective light. In badly illuminated factories accidents are sure to occur. (Page 31.) 65 Injury to Eyesight. — Great Britain. British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum, No. 15. The Effect of Industrial Conditions upon Eyesight. London, 1916. {Signed on Behalf of the Com,mit- tee by Sie Gteorge. Newman, M. D., Chairman.) Eye-Strain. — Broadly speaking, this may be due to defects of vision or to the nature or conditions of the work. It may be accentuated by the age, fatigue or unsatisfactory physical health of the worker, by near distance work, insufficient or excessive illumina- tion, abnormal position, or long hours. Operators em- ployed on munition work should possess and maintain a certain standard of visual acuity if they are to per- form satisfactorily the work expected of them. This standard, though it may vary for different processes, should never fall much below that of normal useful vision. For fine work the eyesight should be ap- proximately normal. Notwithstanding the important bearing which good eyesight must have upon output, the question is not to-day receiving adequate attention at the hands of those whose duty it is to obtain this out- put. Instances have come under the notice of the Committee of headaches and eye strain resulting from (a) inadequate light, both artificial and natural; (b) artificial lights adequate in amount but so placed as to throw a glare on the eyes of the workers; and (c) em- ployment of workers (whose eyesight should be aided by suitable glasses) to carry out fine work without first testing their eyesight. Eye strain, including headache, may be one manifestation of general fatigue. It is thus likely to become more marked when long hours are worked, when night shifts are necessary, or when work- ers are under-nourished, anaemic or of poor general physique, (p. 5) Methods of prevention consist, first, of general measures designed to improve the physical health of the workers and so enable them to resist the effects of fatigue, and secondly of special measures intended to 66 Injury to EyesigM. — Great Britain. avoid undue strain on the eyesight or to reduce the liability to accident to a minimum. General measures, such as the suitable lighting of factories, the provision of canteens, adequate time for sleep aad rest, have been dealt with in other memoranda and need no further reference here. (p. 6) British Home Office. First Report of the Departmentd Committee on Lighting in Factories and Work- shops. Vol. 1. Report. London, 1915. There is, however,, the question of the hygienic im- portance of daylight as distinguished from artificial light. . . . We have failed to obtain any definite evidence of direct injury to health resulting from such conditions. . . . "We have found substantial con- sensus of opinion among witnesses of all classes, that conditions involving the continuous use of artificial light are unnatural and entail greater strain on the workers. In this view we concur, (p. x) Effects of Unsatisfactory Illumination. 1. Accidents. — The connection between lighting and incidence of accidents has been investigated statistically, by means of a special return of all reported accidents for 1913 and part of 1914, in which the number of accidents ocurring each month from different causes are separ- ately tabulated according to industry. The full results are given in Appendix IX., from which it appears that in respect of accidents due to "persons falling" (a cause which would seem to be specially dependent on lighting conditions), the percentage to total accidents is higher during the period of the year when artificial lighting is used than in the summer months. Further, by the use of certain assumptions, it has been possible to calculate the probable accident rate per hour sep- arately for artificial and natural lighting. The results indicate that for most industries the former is far 67 Injury to Eyesight. — Great Britain. higher than the latter, in some cases to the extent of ahout 40 per cent. Strictly speaking, these statistics only allow of a com- parison hetween daylight and artificial light and not be- tween good and had lighting of the same kind, but inasmuch as natural lighting may be considered supe- rior to artificial, so far at any rate as regards liability to accident, it may be inferred that the same relation- ship would hold between any methods of good and bad lighting. Further confirmation of the greater risk of accident during night was given in the evidence of several wit- nesses. Thus, it was pointed out that the number of accidents occurring in shipbuilding yards at night is quite out of proportion to the small number of men em- ployed, (p. xii) Ibid. Vol. 2. Minutes of Evidence. Mr. Hadyn Harrison. 980. . . . There was one case which was brought before the American Institution of Electrical Engineers some time ago, in which a complaint occurred in a cer- tain factory — a coil winding factory — that the workers were only able to wind sufficient coils at night time to- earn 4s. 7d. whereas in the daytime they were able to wind sufficient coils to earn 8s. 4d. That is evidence that it was obviously a strain winding these coils by the arti- ficial illumination 981. . . . The fact that they were unable to do the same amount of work by means of the artificial light which was being used, rather tends to the belief that it must have been injurious to the eyesight. Of course they naturally want to turn out as much as they can, and they will strain their eyesight if the illumination is not suffi- cient for them to work by, and it shows that they must have been trying to do something which probably would injure the eyesight — that was the opinion I gathered. 68 Injury to Eyesiglit. — Great Britain. 982. Have you any other cases of that kind? A. No,, except the general evidence of the decreased output un- der artificial lighting conditions in certain factories, (p. 88.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XVIII. 1889. Report of Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the year 1888. It must always be borne in mind that it is not only the length of the hours worked which is productive of so much harm, but the fact that especially in the M'inter time so large a proportion of these hours is passed in an atmosphere vitiated by gas and other impurities which have continued to accumulate during the day, and which atmosphere the workers inhale at a time when the body is fatigued by a full day's work. (Page 96.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XVII. 1893. Report of Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the year 1892. It should always be borne in mind that in the majority of cases where overtime is made, the work is especially trying and the rooms stuffy, ill-ventilated, and the air rendered very impure by the large quantity of gas re- quired to be burning. Perhaps no class of work is more enfeebling than dress-making, and the making of other various articles of wearing apparel. (Page 90.) . . . Our experience as factory inspectors goes more to the question of physical evil, and I have seen many a girl toiling away in a workroom, where the gas has been burning for 5 hours, upon whose face it did not want the eye of a doctor to discover the traces of the ir- remediable mischief which was going on. (Page 91.) 69 Injury to Eyesight. — France. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes. [Nightwork of Wom- en.] Georges Alfassa. La Revue de Paris, Sept.- Oct., 1904. Night work for women is to be opposed on hygienic, social, moral grounds. Hygienically it is deplorable, because the worker who comes to the factory at 7 P.M. is not well rested, like the one who comes in the morning; she is thus subjected to relatively greater fatigue. She works by artificial light to the detriment of her eyesight. (Page 368.) This is what Dr. Rochard* says of it: "Subjected to night work they lose flesh, become anemic, and nervous disorders result from the impover- ished blood supply; eyesight also is weakened or fails under the strain of artificial light. Those who have re- cently become mothers are unable to continue lactation. . It is imperative that all night work for women be prohibited, for it attacks the very sources of the strength of the nation in its working population. "Sewing rooms are especially dangerous to health. They are small, crowded, and unventilated. The air is vitiated by gas and pulmonary exhalations. The eyes are also overstrained. . . . "The Academy (of Medicine) declares that, from a strictly hygienic standpoint, a law permitting women to work at night in factories, shops and workplaces would have the most disastrous consequences to health." (Page 370.) *Dr. Rochard expressed this view in the report made by 'hisp. In the name of a Commission of the Academy of Medicine. To this Com- mission the study of the question had been delegated on request of the Parliamentary Commission, and its conclusions were unanimously adopted Ijy the Academy. 70 Injury to Eyesight.— Germany. Das Verbot der Nachtarheit. [The Prohihition of Night Work.] Report at the International Congress for Labor Legislation. Paris, 1900. Dr. Max Hiesch. Jahrbuch fur Gesetsgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft. Vol. XXV. 1901. Thus the workman comes to his night shift unrefresh- ed, and the work itself suffers in consequence. The man's fatigue at once affects his disposition; and often diges- tion, eyesight, and other physical functions are impaired also — functions that have already been directly injured by night work itself. Dr. W. Kruse, in the article referred to above, shows how the visual organs and the mental condition are af- fected by lack of sunlight, and it is a matter of common observation that the digestion — which is in close inter- relation with the mental condition — ^is disturbed by long and frequent night work. . . . The factory inspector of Potsdam (in 1897) reported that men working at night in the textile mills suffered sooner or later, and in vary- ing degrees, from rheumatism, the swimming of objects before the eyes, and inflammation of the eyelids. Many also complained of restless and unrefreshing sleep. The injury to eyesight is easily accounted for by the fact that . . . the lighting of the workrooms is always inade- quate, and is worse in some parts than in others. (Page 1260.) Eandbuch der Arbeiterwohlfahrt. Bd. I. Edited by Dr. Otto Dammee.. Beschddigung der Arbeiter bei der Arbeit. [Injuries of Occupation.] Dr. Asohbe, Stuttgart, 1902. Puddlers, glassblowers, and others whose eyes are continually exposed to extreme heat and light not only suffer greatly from inflammation of the connective tissues of the eyes, but also frequently from cataract. . , . Shortsightedness was found in a great number of cases among the darners of a worsted mill the result of the 71 Injury to Eyesight. — Russia. spasmodic accommodation of the eyes, as well as inflam- mation of the conjunctiva; that is the result of over- strained eyes in many occupations, especially those car- ried on in artificial or in poor light — the remedy lies in improving lighting facilities and in shortening the work- ing hours. (Page 492.) Die Schadingungen des Auges durch Licht und ihre Ver- hutung. [ Injuries to the Eyes from Light and How to Prevent Them.] Dk. Bbaun-Libau. St. Petersburger Medicinische Wochenschrift, XXXV. Jahrgang, August, 1910. Passing now to the subject of injuries done to the eye through light, and considering those injuries which have already been under clinical and experimental observation, we come first to the readiest of the consequences, though a very unpleasant one — of blinding ; an injury to the front section of the eye, which goes by the name of ophthalmia electrica. The worst cases of this affection are found among people who work with electric arc lights — ^hence the name. The symptoms are as follows : several hours after the blinding, there sets in an irritation of the front part of the eye, together with a shrinking away from light, a flow of tears and, generally, severe pains, which in the course of the next six or eight hours become very terrible. The patient feels as if a thousand sharp pointed foreign bodies were darting hither and thither between eye and eyelid; the lids are shut spasmodically; and every approach of a light increases the torment unbear- ably. Usually only the lids and the conjunctiva are in- flamed and swollen, but in severe cases the cornea too is troubled and the iris hyperaemio. The retina is generally unaffected. After a few days the symptoms pass away, usually without leaving any after-effects. (Pages 452- 453.) 72 Injury to Eyesight. — Germany. Augenschadigungen durch intensive Beleuchtung. [In- juries to the eyes caused hy intensive light.] Db. Ko'ELsoH. Zeitschrift fur Gewerhe-Hygiene. Bd. Xrill. Feb., 1911. Too intense light falling on the eyes gives rise to what is called blinding. . . . Some of the consequences of the blinding are experienced immediately — quick ex- haustion of the visual substance, acceleration of nervous exhaustion, veiling of the retinal image, sensations of pressure and burning, tears, and reddening of the con- junctiva. Other disturbances follow only after longer ex- posure; if the blinding lasts sometime, if the source of light is particularly rich in short-wave rays, the phenome- non of "seeing red," snow blindness, or electrical oph- thalmia may occur. Long exposure may cause disturb- ances of the color sense and alterations in the conjunctiva similar to those in spring catarrh. Or we may find changes in the lens, for instance, disturbance of the tra,ns- parency, even to the point of the formation of cataract. (Page 61.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Nightwork of Women in Industry. Re- ports on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienke Batjeb. Le Travail des Fem- mes dans I' Industrie en Autriche. Ilse von Aklt. Jena, Fischer, 1903. Sewing by artificial light always injures sight; but if such work, in addition, takes place after the day's work which has already fatigued the eyes, the strongest eyes must be weakened. Moreover, the damage is all the greater because the irritating heat of the lamp is added to the workers' eyestrain. (Page 86.) 73 Injury to Eyesight. — Italy. Controindicasioni al lavoro noUurno. [Coimter indicor- tions of Nightwork.] Dr. Ltjigi Cabozzi, Pro- ceedings of the 1st International Congress on In- dustrial Diseases, Milan, 1906. During visits made to a few factories, I was able to observe that among nightworkers sight was the sense most affected, next in order, hearing, touch, smell, taste. Very prevalent are dazzling of vision, bluxking eyes, buz- zing and murmurs in the ears, and more prevalent still, headache and vertigo. (Page 73.) La fisiopatologia del lavoro notturno e la legislasione Italiana. [The Physiological Pathology of Night Work and Italian Legislation.] De. Ambbogio Mom, Assistant at the Pediatric Clinic, Royal In- stitute of Research, Florence. II Ramassini, Oct.- Nov., 1907. It may, however, be remarked that the nervous system is affected by means of the eye, as the eye in itself could not suffer from the rays of electric light or illuminating gas. Kruse, who maintains these views, is supported by the confirmation of not a few observations made by many authors in various industrial establishments ; Carozzi of the Institute of Pathology under the direction of Devoto, asserts in fact, that of all the senses sight is the most readily injured by night work ; hearing, touch, smell and taste to a lesser degree. Temperature must also be taken into consideration in the study of applied physiology in regard to night work. The thermometric variations, such as the increase of atmospheric pressure, a greater or less degree of humidity and other physical and atmospheric conditions connected with night work — a time destined by nature for rest — are the coefficients and causes of sen- sory disturbances, such as sparks before the eyes, dim- ness of sight, roaring in the ears, weight in the forehead, cephalalgia and vertigo, that often seize a workman in the midst of his activity. . . . 74 Injury to Eyesight. — Italy. Some raise the objection that many workers — men and women — "accustom themselves without injury, to night work." But this shows — ^with great reserve for "the ab- sence of bad effects," how adaptable the human organ- ism is to its surroundings which may be in the greatest contradiction to the regular order of the vital mechanism. This adaptability cannot serve as a general rule. (Page 624.)* *Por a full bibliography on "Eye Injuries and Diseases, With Spe- cial Reference to Eyestrain", see Monthly Review, Tlnited States Bureau of Labor Statistics, August, 1917, Pages 186-191. 75 4. General Injuries to Health From Eegulab Night Work. Night work, involving loss of sleep and sunlight, has been found disastrous to the health of women. Loss of appetite, sleeplessness, headache, anaemia and general predisposition to illness are the common physiological re- sults of night work after a shorter or longer period. More than twenty years ago in Germany the factory inspectors found a marked increase in illness among night workers, as compared with day workers in similar occupations, even though the hours of work at night were shorter than by day. Under the pressure of war, the night work of women has been revived in Great Britain after almost a century of disuse. The British Health of Munition Workers Committee has pointed out the urgent need of information as to the effects of night work upon health. But unfortunately its own investigations of night work have been confined al- most wholly to studies of output. (See Effect Upon Output. Page 291.) In practically all manufacturing industries, the phy- sical environment and the nature of the work may con- stitute a hazard to health. Among these general indus- trial hazards the most important and the most prevalent are speed, monotony, continuous standing, bad air, hu- midity, extremes of heat and cold, noise, bad lighting, dust, fumes, poisons, etc. Not all these injurious factors are ordinarily found in conjunction in the same work- 76 General Injuries to Health.— Great Britain. place; but one or the other is operative in nearly every manufacturing industry. They are not confined to the so-called "dangerous trades," but are conunon to occu- pations usually considered non-hazardous. All these dangers to health involved in industrial work are even more intensified in night work than in day work. The Position of Women After the War. Report of the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organizations Presented to the Joint Committee on Labor Problems After the War. Co-operative Printing Society, Ltd., London, {1917). The long hours of work, and especially the night- work, with the additional strain of frequent Sunday shifts, have, however, had a very serious effect on the well-being and health of the workers. The young women have suffered greatly from this strain, and observation has shown not only the soundness of the previous prohi- bition of nightwork, but also the failure from the point of view both of the worker and of output, of the long shifts. ... Both for married women and the younger workers the present conditions suggest very serious problems. We fear that the women now working will feel their strength lessened in many instances for the remainder of their lives and we realize the perilous results when we remem- ber the burden of motherhood which they may be bearing now or in the future. (Page 10.) 77 General Injuries to Healtli. — Great Britain. British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Work- ers Committee. Memorandum, No. 4. Employment of Women. London, 1916. {Signed on Be- half of the Committee by Sib Geoege Newman, ' M.D., Chairman.) The imperative necessity of war has revived, after almost a century of disuse, the night employment of women in factories. Prohibited for the textile trades by the factory legislation of 1844, it disappeared grad- ually in Great Britain, and also in other countries, until, after inquiry and delilaeration, it was banished by inter- national agreement from the twelve European countries which signed the Convention drawn up at the Interna- tional Conference held at Berne in 1906.* These coun- tries included Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland arid Spain. The agreement was based upon the results of inquiries into the effects, economical, physical, and moral, of night work for women. The reports showed deterioration in health caused by the difficulty of securing sufficient rest by day; disturbance of home life with its injurious ef- fects upon the children; and diminished value of the work done — ^the common experience being that night work was inferior to day work. Now once more all these half -forgotten facts are in evidence in the Munition Fac- tories. In a working-class home the difficulty in obtain- ing rest by day is great ; quiet cannot be easily secured ; and the mother of a family cannot sleep while the claims of children and home are pressing upon her ; the younger umnarried women are tempted to take the daylight hours for amusement or shopping; moreover, sleep is often interrupted in order that the mid-day meal may be shared. The employment of women at night is, without question, undesirable, yet now it is for a time inevitable ; and the Committee have, therefore, directed their efforts * Bulletin of International Labour Office, English edition, Vol. I, 1906, p. 272. Certain minor modifications were inserted by some Powers. 78 Greneral Injuries to Health.— Great Britain. to the consideration of those safeguards which would re- duce its risks to a minimum. (Page 4.) Ibid. Interim Report. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. London, 1917. The Comparative Efficiencies of Day Work and Night Work in Munition Factories. 1. Civilized nations have recognized that except in case of necessity or in times of great emergency night work is undesirable ; but the sudden and urgent demand for output which the present war has brought with it has necessitated much night work for all classes of op- eratives. 2. Many general considerations would require ex- amination if the whole question of night work in indus- tries were under review, such as : — (1) The remotely injurious effects of permanent night work, effects which are not manifested until after a long latent period. . . . Although of extreme importance when night work is envisaged as a permanent feature of our civilization, these considerations do not assume the same place when we are dealing with an admittedly temporary state of things. 3. The Committee., however, is avowedly taking a short and not a long view of the subject, and is solely concerned with the factors which are of importance dur- ing the present emergency. . . . 4. Judgment on this restricted aspect of night work must be based upon a knowledge of both the comparative output-efficiency, and of the prevalence of invalidity, sickness and bad timekeeping among night and day workers. 5. In view of the grave objections which have been urged against night work on medical and physiological, as well as on purely economic, grounds, especially in the case of women, the Committee became anxious as to the 79 General Injuries to Health. — Great Britain. possibility of grave results to health ensuing with di- minished output as a consequence. They therefore some time ago instructed investigators to study this closely. This study seemed the more urgent as no accurate data were available upon which conclusions could be based as to the least harmful system of employing persons by night, and the Committee in an earlier memorandum (No. 5, Section 17) found it necessary to leave the matter sub judice* (pp. 26, 27.) Inquiry Into the Health of Women Engaged in Munition Factories. Special Points of Interest. 14. Some special points of interest which emerged from the findings at certain factories are worth record- ing:— (a) Effect of factory life on married women was ob- served in two medical examinations carried out at Fac- tory No. 4 within six months of each other. In the first case 210 workers were examined, and in the second 116 of the same women were seen again. The married women re-examined at the factory in- cluded 31% who mentioned difficulties in home condi- tions or suffered from the strain of night work, as they often obtained too little sleep during the day. Chronic rheumatism occurred in 12%. Ten women had remained quite healthy; these included young women either with- out children or who undertook no household duties, and a proportion of elderly women of over 40 years of age, of the charwoman type, who were especially strong and wiry. Several mentioned the improvement which had resulted from their being given work at which they could sit instead of having to stand; and some had ceased night work. Married women interviewed in their homes had left the factory for reasons of health in 26%, or on account of ♦Notwithstanding this opinion as to the need of observing the prevalence of sickness among night-workers, the Committee itself states that in studying their lost time, only "passing references are made to the reasons for such lost periods, e. g. sickness and avoidable causes." Interim Report, Page 34. 80 General Injuries to Health. — Great Britain. low wages and long hours in a similar proportion (26%). Some had secured work in other factories in the district where no Sunday labour was required. An additional 15% had left on account of pregnancy, and 15% had ceased going out to work either for health reasons or for home affairs. The numbers under consideration are too small to afford definite conclusions, but in reviewing these cases the general impression was obtained that the long shifts and night work, in addition to home duties and worries (often associated with insufficient sleep), formed too heavy a burden for the average married woman. (b) Length of service in relation to strain. — ^Factory No. 3; 134 workers reviewed, (p. 116.) .... Sleeplessness was most marked between nine and twelve months, especially in those on night duty. After this the habit of sleep was again established except in the case of a few elderly workers of many years' standing, where possibly factory work was not the main cause of the condition. The numbers are too small to form anything but a rough guide, but tend to show that for the first six months of factory life the work is usually fairly well borne and the effects of night duty show little ill-result. In the six- twelve months' interval the strain begins to produce effects on the weaker members of the factory, and an increased amoimt of headache, sleeplessness and dizzi- ness is experienced, especially on night work. The data concern, of course, only those found at work, and are no criterion of what effect may be produced upon those — and their number is not inconsiderable — ^who for various reasons give up industrial employment after a short trial, (p. 117.) Memorandum No. 2. Welfare Supervision. London, 1915. Again, the provision of facilities for obtaining a hot meal at the factory are often inadequate, especially for 81 General Injuries to Health. — Grreat Britain. night workers. Frequently the arrangements made for heatiug carried food are also wholly insufficient. Again, workers who are poorly lodged may be unable to obtain appetising and nourishing food to take with them ; others living long distances from the factory may have little or no time to spare for meals, and thus have to rely on what they carry with them to sustain them during the day. Yet the munition worker, like the soldier, requires good rations to enable him to do good work. (Page 3.) Memorandum No. 3. Report on Industrial Canteens. London, 1915. ' The difficulties in the way of adequate feeding arise mauily where the worker must have his meals away from home. In past years and even now in normal times the worker lived fairly close to his work, and was frequently able to return home for his meal. At present the diffi- culties of securing adequate food are increased owing to the prevalence of night labour and the large number of men and women who have to travel a considerable dis- tance to their work. (Page 4.) Labor, Finance and the War. Being the Results of In- quiries, Arranged hy the Section of Economic Science and Statistics of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Edited hy A. W. KiKKAiiDY, London, Pitman, 1916. Eeport of the Employment of Women in the Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades. (c) Physical Strain, Fatigue, and Liability to Acci- dents. — '^'0 sufficient data are yet available on which to form a reliable opinion of the physical or mental effects of engineering work upon women. It is clear that no very serious consequences have yet emerged, and the period during which the women have been employed is too short 82 General Injuries to Health. — Gf^reat Britain. for less obvious effects to be measured. There is, how- ever, a considerable body of evidence that the work in handling the heavier classes of shells and some kinds of labouring work tax very much the strength of the women. (Page 127.) Fatigue was referred to by several doctors inter- viewed as a consequence within their experience of the employment of women in engineering works. One doctor who had acted as locum tenens in Clydebank, a large engineering centre, stated that during his stay there he had dealt with many women patients, employed in the metal trades, complaining of general weakness. Other doctors referred to the evil effects of night work. The women did not sleep well during the day owing to home conditions, and a considerable number of cases of fatigue resulted. On the bad effects of night work upon the women there was general agreement among those inter- viewed. (Pages 127 & 128.) On the point of hours, one observation suggests itself. Notwithstanding the absence of any definite data, such as statistics of relative output of night and day work, the fact which emerges most clearly from the inquiry into conditions of labour is that night work is ill-suited to women. (Page 130.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XIX. 1834. Factories Inquiry Commission. Answers to Medical Queries, as transmitted to Dr. Hawkins : — ■ (Dr. Bardsley) From my own experience I can assert that children especially (and likewise adults) are more exposed to disease than those employed in day work. When the typhus fever raged in Manchester in 1795-6 my infirmary reports demonstrated the greater liability to infection among night working children than day workers. I consider night working injurious from the following special causes : — 1st, the ill-ventilated state of the factories where the night workers immediately sue- 83 General Injuries to Health. — G-reat Britain. ceed the day workers ; 2nd, the transition from a heated temperature (especially in the cold months) to the ex- ternal air when the human frame is debilitated from the want of a due proportion of refreshing sleep. . . . 3rd, night workers for the most part lie down on the same unmade and disordered bed from which the family had just risen, and through noise and distraction, and the propensity to play, or idleness, children rob them- selves of a due proportion of sound sleep. (Pages 252-3.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XIII. 1843. Second Report of the Children's Employment Commission. 406. Almost all classes of witnesses in all the districts concur in stating that the effect of night work is most injurious, physically and morally, on the work people in general, and on the children in particular, and that no countervailing advantage is ultimately obtained from it even by the employers. (Page 72.) The Lancet, March 4, 1905. Overwork. Editorial. We know too little about the physiology of sleep to dogmatise concerning the reasons which render it a neces- siiy, but we know from experience that, save in the cases of very exceptional persons, the hours devoted to it can- not be curtailed without serious injury — ^injury which often falls upon the work, and which never fails to fall upon the worker. (Page 579.) 84 General Injuries to Health. — United States. Diseases of Occupation and Vocational Hygiene. Edited hy GrBOBGB M. KoBEB, M.D., Professor of hygiene, Georgetown University, and William C. JELfmson, M.D., Massachusetts State Board of Health. " Phil- adelphia, P. Biakiston's Son. & Co., 1916. The Protection and Promotion of the Health of Woman Wage-Earners. IIrbne Osgood Andrews. Night Work. — The leading nations of the world have recognized the physical and moral dangers of night work for women, and have enacted laws prohibiting such work for different periods. Scientific investigations every- where have shown that the work of women at night is exceptionally injurious. Insufficient, broken and irregu- lar sleep, lack of sunlight, irregular meal-times, disar- rangement of the normal customs of life, injury to eye- sight, increased chance of accidents — all of these factors combine to lower vitality, to weaken the power of disease resistance, to produce impoverished blood and, anaemia, to weaken the female reproductive functions and general- ly to increase morbidity and mortality. In addition a legal limit set upon night work is a great aid in enforcing the laws limiting the hours of work per day. (Page 841.) Preliminary Report of the New Yorh Factory Investi- gating Commission, 1912. Vol. I. To all the conditions injuriously affecting the health of the bakers and endangering their lives, one more, and a very important, one, must be added, viz., night work. The effects of night work upon the health of the work- ers is extremely bad. The following passage from "The Dawn," a daily paper of Lugano, Italy, December 1st, 1906, states the effects of night work very admirably: "All night work is harmful to the body, even if it is voluntary ; if it is compulsory, it is still more so ; when it is habitual, it also becomes harmful morally, because it upsets the customs of life, which are founded on the 85 General Injuries to Health. — United States. laws of nature, and in this way, banishes the workmen far from the social life. If it were absolutely necessary, the night work of the bakers would be a sad necessity; forced on them merely by a custom, it is an injustice for which we are all to blame. To wish that it be kept up, not for necessity's sake, but for our pleasure, shows the harsh egoism of a race not yet refined by the civilization of which it boasts ' '. (Pages 224-225) . The physical examination of 800 bakers, made under the auspices of the New York State Factory Commission during October, is the only medical examination of bakers ever made in this State. (Page 225.) Of the 800 bakers examined, 347 or 43 per cent, were found free from any disease, while 453, or 57 per cent, had some indication of defective physical condition. (Page 227.) Bakers, are, according to all authorities, a short- lived race. Arlidge says (25) : "Those who have read the re- ports on hygienic state of bake-houses, and the circum- stances of labor in them, will not be surprised that the mortality of bakers ranges high". . . . The mortality rate is also affected by the general con- ditions under which the work of a baker is carried on, in- cluding excessive hours, unsanitary conditions of bake- shops, night work, etc, (Pages 231-232.) Second Report of the New York State Factory Investi- gating Commission, 1913. Vol. I. Nightworh of Women in Factories. None of the investigations carried on by the Commis- mission has shown conditions more dangerous to health and public welfare than the employment of women at night in the factories of the State. Conditions of life were revealed which seemed certain not only to destroy the health of the women employed at night, but to threat- en the very existence of the young children dependent upon them for nourishment and care. 86 Greneral Injuries to Health. — United States. For instance, in one large industrial plant in the cen- tral part of the state, from 130 to 140 women were found at work on night shift. They were employed for ten hours on five nights of each week, from 7 P.M., to 5 :30 A.M., with a break of half an hour at midnight. . . . The married women who worked at night had on an aver- age about four and one-half hours of sleep in the day time ; they prepared three meals each day, including breakfast which had to be made ready immediately after the night's work. They also did all the washing for their families. Many of them returned to their homes after ten hours of work at night in the dust and roar of the twine factory, to nurse their babies in the morning and during the day time. . . . The twine works were re- peatedly visited by agents of the Commission, both at night and during the day and individual reports were secured, giving the personal histories of one hundred of the women who worked on night shift. The general ap- pearance of the night workers is thus described : "Most of the women on night shift are married," says the investigator. "The appearance of the women workers is very disheartening. They are stolid, worn looking, and pale. Their clothes, faces, and hands are covered with oil and hemp dust." And again : "The women as a whole were a disheartening group, in their oily, dust laden clothes, wth drawn, white faces and stooping gait." The special investigators report that of the one hun- dred women, whose personal histories were secured, 95 were Polish. There were 80 women between twenty and thirty years of age. Of these one hundred women 62 were anemic, 57 complained of backache, and 53 of head- ache. In 77 cases menstrual periods were irregular; in 24 not regular (8 pregnant). All operatives worked standing. These observations agree with the findings of all previous investigators who have studied the industrial night work of women. The publication of the results of these studies by the International Association for Labor 87 General Injuries to Health.— United States. Legislation in 1903 was so convincing as to the injurious effect of night work, that three years later an interna- tional treaty prohibiting the employment of women at night was signed by fourteen European nations. . . . The authorities all agree that after a shorter or longer period women who are employed at night or until late evening hours suffer from all those symptoms which mark lowered vitality, if not actual disease, such as loss of ap- petite, headache, anemia, and weakness of the female functions. (Pages 193-194.) Report of the Ohio Inspector of Workshops S Factories, 1891. It is wrong for women to be compelled to work at unseasonable or for an unreasonable number of hours, and . . . this imposition is many times forced upon them, which they must and do endure without a murmur for fear of being dismissed. There is no necessity for such employment. Their labor is sought after for the very reason that it is cheap, and because it is cheap is the incentive for long and irregular hours. . . . Our State has endeavored to provide for the comfort of our women when employed. You should now take another step and regulate the hours of their employment, in so far at least that they should only be allowed to labor when the Godgiven influences of daylight surround them and forever stamp out from our midst what now prevails — the custom of night employment of women, which is a source of physical and mental degradation. I most re- spectfully recommend and appeal to your honorable body for the passage of a law for the preservation of the health of female employees that no women in this State shall be employed in any of the mercantile or manufacturing es- tablishments after 9 o'clock P.M. and before 6 o'clock A.M. (Pages 19-20.) 88 General Injuries to Health.— United States. Report of the Rhode Island Factory Inspection, 1910. I also call your attention to the inconsistency of en- acting in the interest of the physical welfare of women, a provision that prohibits their employment of more than 56 hours in a week and still permits them to work that 56 hours on a night schedule, an employment that is man- ifestly more injurious to health than a 64 hour schedule of day work would be. (Page 13.) United States Congress. Senate Bocwment No. 645. Re- port on Condition of Women and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. I. Cotton Tex- tile Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910. Shocking abuses in connection with night work were found in two small mills in North Carolina, where night employees frequently worked in the daytime in addition to their regular night work and where day employees frequently worked at night after a full day's work. These cases are not cited here as typical but they are given to show the extremes to which unregulated labor of women and children can go in the absence of legal regulation or of efficient means of enforcement. In one of these mills the day shift worked 66 hours per week and the night shift 60 hours. Owing to a scarc- ity of help, day workers were frequently requested to return to the mill immediately after supper and work until midnight, and frequently some one was sent to the homes of employees early in the evening or at midnight to request day workers to come and work half of the night. Some employees usually declined to do overtime work. Others worked alternate nights as a regular cus- tom. Ordinarily this overtime work was paid for a,t the time it was performed and there was no record to show its extent. In the case of one family, however, the names of workers were entered on both the day roll and the 89 General Injuries to Health. — United States. night roll and this record showed that 4 members of the same family had been paid for 78 to 84 hours of work per week. They had worked this number of hours, less a little time for supper and breakfast, on days when extra work was done. It was found that during a con- siderable part of the eight months that this family had been at this mill these children had worked two or three half nights each week, in addition to day work. After working from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. with 35 minutes for din- ner, they had returned to the mill, usually every other night, immediately after supper and worked until mid- night, when they went home for four or five hours of sleep before beginning the next day's work; or they had been aroused at midnight and sent to the mill for the second half of the night where they remained until 6 o'clock the following afternoon except when eating breakfast and dinner. In either case they were on duty for a working day of 17 hours, with no rest period save for meals. Those who worked the second half of the night went home for a hurried breakfast just before 6 a. m. The mill stopped only 35 minutes out of the 24 hours, from 12 m. to 12.35 p. m. (Page 290.) Ihid. Vol. III. Glass Industry. Concerning the physical effects of night work upon women, irregular sleep, irregular eating, etc., the con- clusions are very much the same as those arrived at in discussing the night work of boys. (Page 388.) The practice of alternation renders even more diffi- cult one of the most serious problems of night work — the problem of sleep. It means that one week the boy must obtain his sleep in daytime and the following week in the night time. Proper adjustment to varying sleep- ing periods is not an easy accomplishment for either adults or children. It was the almost unanimous opinion of night foremen and adult glass workers interviewed that this periodic change in the time of sleeping was, at the 90 General Injuries to Health. — United States. least, physically undesirable. They agreed that, al- though it was not possible to trace an ailment to this specific source, they always "felt better" when working only by day. Of the same character was the testimony of mothers of boys working on the night shift. And that night work is regarded as "harder" by the boys them- selves as a class is evidenced by the fact that most fac- tories must offer a higher wage for night work than for day work in order to obtain a full complement of boys. The second source of danger to the health of children incident to their working at night in the glass factory arises from the almost universal custom of arranging the hours of labor so that the night shift ends in the very early morning. This happens usually about 3 o'clock, the time when the weather is most severe and the time when the boy, through sleepiness and anxiety to get home, is less likely to consider the guarding of his health. Al- ways he is overheated from his work, frequently in a state of perspiration. Only very rarely does he have extra or sufficient clothing to protect him in the change to the outside temperature. Often too, he has a long journey home. Very often the factory is well away from the town proper, seeking, as it does, cheaper land and better railroad facilities. In such cases the main ap- proach is almost always along railroad tracks, but local trains or street car accommodation is seldom available so early in the day. (Pages 109-110.) Report of the Industrial Welfare Commission of the State of Oregon, 1913-1914. Pending special investigations and rulings on the dif- ferent industries located outside of the city of Portland, and wishing to establish maximum hours and minimum wages which would put all of the industries in the small townsof the State on an equal footing, the Commission organized a conference familiarly known as the "State- wide" conference. (Page 9.) The questions submitted to this conference were : . . . 91 General Injuries to Health. — United States. (5) Is night work reasonable and consistent with the health and efficiency of female employes ? After dne consideration, the conference sent the fol- lowing recommendations to the Commission: . . . (Page 10.) Answer to Question 5: The conference does not be- lieve that night work is consistent with the health and efficiency of female employes. (Page 11.) Report of the Minnesota Department of Labor and In- dustries, 1913-1914. Report on Women and Chil- dren. I>uring the spring of 1914 a special investigation was made of 234 restaurants where women were employed. The investigation covered a sufficient number of both large and smaU establishments to be representative of conditions in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and other im- portant towns in the state. (Page 128.) Because the restaurant business is a twenty-four hour industry there is opportunity for the too ambitious employee to work in two establishments. Our attention was first called to this through an appeal to help a sick waitress. She reluctantly admitted that she had been working through the noon rush from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in one place and then was employed for the night from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. in another of the down town restaurants. Many similar cases have since come to our attention, and the only way such abuses can be reached is by appealing to the common sense of the workers which, happily, is not always ineffective. Several girls give a preference for night work because it pays better and business is not so driving. They even explain that sometimes they can rest from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Where do they rest? Dining room girls have demonstrated by putting chairs together where they stretch out for a little relief, while girls em- ployed in the kitchens invariably make a couch of the table. We are not advocating more suitable rest rooms for these girls but we do want to see the women going 92 General Injuries to Health.— Germany. home at a reasonable time in the evening and men work- ing on the all night watches. (Page 129.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahres-BericMen der mit Beaufsichtigimg der Fabriken betrauten Beamten, 1881. [Official. Information from He- ports of the German Factory Inspectors, 1881.] Berlin, 1882. Wurttemberg. I found night work in one large factory, where adults supervised the work of younger operatives. The over- seer said: "These people are thrifty people; they sleep half a day, work half a day in the fields, and earn at night. However, they can onlv hold out at the latest to their 45th year." (Page 453.) Ibid. Alsace Lorraine. 1889. Cases of illness among the workers occurred as fol- lows ... in factories having part night work, 429; and in those having no night work, 328. (Page 93.) Verhandhmgen des Reichstags. 9 Sitswng, 19 Mai, 1890. [Proceedings of the German Reichstag, 9th Ses- sion, May 19, 1890.] Herr Winterer : Of most importance is it to combat the rapidly spreading regular night work which is involving so many women and children over 16 years old in its extent. We regard this regular night work as one of the most pain- ful features of modern industry. Machinery should serve to lighten the labor of mankind but under the 93 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. tyranny of the machine, that is now happening which has never before been known in such proportions — thousands of women are compelled to sacrifice the benefi- cent night's sleep 150 times in a year. As long as such conditions exist we cannot speak of protection for the worker. It is the reproach of modern industry that it has made a wage worker of the mother. The woman who is a mother must always be, in the broad sense of the word, a worker, but her work should not take her from her family — it should not exploit her strength with- out regard to her health, with which the health of the next generation is bound up. (Page 164.) Die Reform der deutschen Arheiterschutzgesetzgehung [The Reform of German Labor Legislation.'] Dr. Heineich Hekkner. Archiv fur Soziale Gesetsge- hwng und StatistiJc, Band V. 1892. Interesting details as to the effects of night work upon the health of working women are given by the factory inspection reports from Alsace Lorraine. Al- though the hours of work by night were 22 per cent, shorter than by day, a mill with only day work showed in 1888 and 1889, respectively, 328-309 cases of illness with a loss of 5641-5815 days; while another mill of the same kind and the same capacity having part time night work showed for these same years respectively 429-413 cases of illness with a loss of 8730-8865 days. Many other districts (of factory inspection) gave similar fig- ures. The comparison of two other mills in an identical branch of industry, one with only day work, and the other wjth night work for half the year, showed, for the former, 510 cases of illness and 5250 days lost, and for the latter 625 cases and 9130 days lost. Had the latter had continuous night work throughout the year its fig- ures, now somewhat modified by the day workers' loss of time, would have been even more striking. (Page 240. Footnote.) 94 General Injuries to Health.— Germany. Diseases of the Nervous System. H. Oppbnheim,^ M,D., University of Berlin. Authorized translation by Edward E. Mayer, A.M., M.D. Philadelphia and London, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1900. Neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion, is a very com- mon disease to-day, especially in the large cities. Even though it may have occurred at all times (and had been known for a long time as nervousness), it has without doubt increased in extent in the last years by the extra demands that have been made on man in his struggle for existence and in his social life. (Page 703.) Those who work at night even though they have plenty of time during the day for sleep very often be- come neurasthenic. This refers to telegraph operators, night watchmen, compositors, etc. Working in over- heated rooms is also a cause. (Page 704.) Symptomatology. — The chief symptom of neuras- thenia is the irritable weakness, — i. e., the abnormal ex- citability accompanied by exhaustion, the latter being predominant. The patient is irritable and easily ex- cited; but the excitement, whether pleasurable or other- wise, soon leads to exhaustion, producing and leaving a feeling of weakness and apathy. (Page 704.) Fatigue, however, easily results, his ability for work is markedly abridged, and the least exertion exhausts him. The intensity and duration of this fatigue are char- acteristic. It may be so marked that all mental work is rendered impossible. Occasionally the ability to conduct visual memory pictures to the brain, to remember the ap- pearance of a certain person, place, or object, is greatly impaired. (Page 705.) Disorders of the special senses are also found and likewise bear the marks of increased sensitiveness and exhaustion. The eye and ear are particularly often affected. (Page 706.) 95 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. Das Verhot der NacMarbeit. [The Prohibition of Night- work.] Report at the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. De. Max Hibsch, Jdhrbuch fur Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volhswirtschaft, Vol. XXV. 1901. It is a fact generally recognized by science and ex- perience that night work is, per se, injurious to the hu- man organism. This harmfulness is shown in varying degrees according to the length, the frequence, and the nature of the work, and the age, sex, and constitution of. the worker. And industrial night work especially, — ^that is to say, regular or frequent night work — is emphatical- ly to be regarded as a factor dangerous to health. . . , Although some exceptions may be found of individuals whose health does not suffer from nightwork, its ill ef- fects for the large majority cannot be denied. (Page 1259.) The chance of accidents . . . must be consider- ably increased by the insufficiency of the lighting, and also by the fact that fatigue and inertia make the night worker deficient in carefulness and presence of mind. The accident statistics for 1907 give comparative tables of the number of trade accidents for the different days of the week and the different hours of the day, and in the explanatory comment these figures are regarded as con- firmation of the fact — probable enough on the face of it — ^that the frequence of accidents increases with the in- crease in working time and the increase in fatigue. . . . On the point of general injuries to health consequent upon night work-^even in the case of grown men — there is abundant evidence of all sorts. ... A nieniber of the executive board of a certain miners' association ex- presses himself as follows: "The mere fact that the miner works at night and is deprived of his much needed night's rest, is enough to make this work injuri- ous to mind and body. I know from my own experience that when I have had, say, a month's night shift, I am only half a man. It is for this reason that the miners are universally opposed to night work. According to sta- 96 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. tistics of the Bochum miners' union, the average work- ing life of miners is less than twenty years". (Page 1261.) Women have considerably less power of resistance (than men) to the hardships of industrial life, and es- pecially to night work. Although they have in many directions astonishing powers of accomplishment and en- durance, this does not prevent them from being unfitted to meet the demands of industrial work, since their bodies are weaker to start with, and the exercise of sex function makes them much weaker, hampers them, and subjects them to injuries to which men are immune. Striking proof of this— if proof is still needed — is furnished by reports on the expenditure of sickness insurance funds. According to the report of the factory inspector for Al- sace-Lorraine, the number of illnesses per thousand among women working by day in worsted yarn mills was 328 in 1880 and 309 in 1889 (the number of days of ill- ness being 5,641 for the first year, and 5,815 for the sec- ond) : while the corresponding figures in the ease of those who had partial night work were 429, 413 ; 8,730, 8,865. A cotton-mill which introduced night work in June, 1889 . . . furnishes evidence of the same kind: for every thousand women in the day shifts there were 510 illnesses and 5,280 days of illness ; for every thousand in the day- and-night shifts, 625 illnesses and 9,130 days of illness. Night shifts continuing throughout the year would show figures more startling still. "We have said above that in the case of men, and es- pecially fathers of families, one of the chief reasons why night work is injurious to health is that it interferes with sleep. For wives, mothers, and housekeepers in general, the matter is much worse in this respect, since all such women have of course much greater and more direct family duties to perform in the day time. When they come home after their night's toil, they must first of all look after husbands, children, and rooms and they must get breakfast, etc. . . . After a few hours rest (when they can get it), it is time to get dinner; after dinner is over, there are all sorts of things to be done for 97 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. the children, etc. ; and in a few hours later very much the same things have to be done over again. . . . No amount of heroism can ward off the ruinous consequences of such a regime — consequences to the health of the woman herself, of the other members of the family, and of the children still to come. (Pages 1265-1266.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [NigMworh of Women in Industry. Re- ports on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Ettbnne Batter. Interdiction du Trav- ail de Nuit des Femmes en AUemagne. Dk. Max HiHscH. Jena, Fischer, 1903. A distinguished physician and hygienist of Berlin, Prof .-Dr. Th. Sommerfeld, founding his judgment on physiological studies and on observations among his own clientele, concluded. . . . "The very great majority of female workers, especially the younger ones, suf- fer from anaemia and chlorosis and, a very large pro- portion suffer from chronic affections of the respiratory passages and the lungs, leading sooner or later to pul- monary tuberculosis. The causes may be found in work- ing in enclosed places, very often also in breathing in the dust and — a point worthy of special note — ^Ln a bad posture during work. . . . These unfavorable condi- tions are naturally aggravated when, night work adding an increased interference with the natural order, the con- tinuous effort becorr;es greater and rest becomes less." The physician, whose opinion is here given, would for hvgienic reasons absolutely forbid night work by women. (Pages 29-30.) Die Arbeiterfrage. [The Problem of Labor.] De. Hein- BicH Heeknee. Berlin, Guttentag, 1908. The contention that night work is better paid rests chiefly on an illusion. Since night work is more exhaust- 98 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. ing than day work, naturally it must yield a nominally higher wage than day work. Otherwise it would be more poorly rewarded than the latter. Whether this ad- dition to the wage, however, suffices to offer an adequate equivalent for the greater sacrifice of vital energy in night work is extremely doubtful. But as, according to assurances of specialists in industrial hygiene, industrial night work is disproportionately more harmful to a woman's physique than to a man's, a woman should re- ceive a still higher percentage of increase for night work than a man. (Page 286.) Nachtarbeit wnd Ruheseit im Bdckergewerbe. [Night Worh and the Rest Period in the Baking Trade.] Hermann Mattutat. Sosialistische Monatshefte, Berlin, 1. Band, 1911. The injurious effects of excessively long hours of work . . . have been so thoroughly established that we need not go into the matter here. In the baking trade these results are aggravated by the fact that the men have to work at night, and are hence cut off from a normal kind of life. Even the most resilient organism must soon succumb, and finally disintegrate, under the unhealthy and demoralizing influence of night work. (Page 201.) Jahresberichte der Gewerbeaufsichtsbeamten in Konig- reich Wurttemberg fur 1911. [Annual Reports of the Factory Inspectors in the Kingdom of Wiirttemberg for 1911.] Even in establishments where the interruption of work increases the cost, night work is being entirely dis- pensed with or limited as much as possible in the inter- est of the workers. (Page 11.) 99 General Injuries to Health. — Germany. Ibid., 1913. In the inns and taverns, the night waitresses usually remain but a few weeks or not even so long, because they are so fatigued after a short time that they must be re- leased. (Page 9.) Die Frauermachtarbeit in Finland. [Night WorJc of Women in Finland.] Sosiale Praxis, XX. Jahr- gang, 1911. An investigation made by order of the (Finnish) senate in the autumn of 1909 reports on the spread of night work in industry and on the economic and hygienic conditions that accompany this development. ... A comparison of the women who work at night (irrespec- tive of kind of occupation) with those who do not, shows that the health of the former is much worse than that of the latter (sewing women excepted). . . . The women night workers suffer most often from general nervous weakness (855, or 35.2%, out of 2659 women were thus affected) ; and it is especially between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine that their health is worse than that of other women workers. This seems natural enough when it is learned that 34.1% of the women night workers slept less than five hours a day, and only 41.4% slept much more than that. (Page 1346.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dams I'lndustrie. Bapports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [NightworJc of Women in Industry. Re- ports on its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etiennb Batter. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'lndustrie en Autriche. Ilsb VON Aelt. Jena, Fischer, 1903. As night work and the special nature of woman's con- stitution lead equally to serious disorders, the necessity 100 General Injuries to Health.— Belgium. of remaining on their feet all night, or even far into the night, is a very great danger for women, especially as m view of the meagre wages of female laborers, under^ nutrition is the rule. The opinions on the baleful effect of night work in factories are almost unanimous, and legislation for the most part prohibits it though allow- ing occasional exceptions. But it should be here stated that the dangers of night work are not by any means limited peculiarly to factory work; there is ground for condemning all night work of an industrial nature. (Page 100.) Ihidr Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie Neerlandaise. Q. J. Van Thienen, Factory In- spector. The results of careful investigation show that night work is extremely detrimental to women workers, both physically and morally, and also that it can be readily done away with if decision is once made. The Commis- sion of the Dutch Parliament (appointed to make the in- vestigation) proposed to prohibit the night work of women of all ages. (Page 315.) Ibid. Annexe. Enquete faite aupres d'ouvrieres. M. E. Mahaim, Belgium. All the working women I visited, with only one ex- ception, declared as an obvious and incontestable thing, that night work was bad for the health. Even when one has become used to it from many years of practice "one is never one's self" in the week of the night shift. They feel tired, heavy-headed, or have headaches. Above all, appetite is lost and they cannot take enough food. This observation has been reiterated emphatically by all the women. . . . Beyond this no definite malady is ascribed to night work. The women visited did not look positively un- 101 General Injuries to Health. — France. healthy, but were pale, evidently anemic. All but one were small and thin ; this is characteristic of the working women of this region. (Page 177.) The general impression which these visits have made upon me is that night work brings on serious troubles in nutrition. As these effects are felt only gradually, those most concerned scarcely perceive them, but they must re- sult in a deterioration of the race. Night work is moreover destructive of the life of the family. In this respect, it is to be regretted that one of the effects of the protective law (i. e., the Belgian law prohibiting night work by women under 21) is that very many married women work at night. (Pages 178-179.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie au point de vue de I'Hygiene. [Night Work of Women in Industry from the Standpoint of Hygiene.] Prof. A. Pboust. Revue d' Hygiene et de Police Sani- taire, T. XII. 1890. The dangers of night work for women are well known. Writers, hygienists, learned and deliberative bodies, and sometimes laws in a certain measure, have for a long time proclaimed them. Unfortunately, it is stUl neces- sary to emphasize them. . . . But night work already constitutes a cause of de- plorable fatigue for men; what shall it not be then for women? Anaemia, including in this term all those symp- toms to which organic depletion gives rise, has here most disastrous consequences, so that, when bad climatic and hygienic conditions are added, the usual chronic troubles, constitutional affections and even acute maladies are liable to arise. And nevertheless the vitality and the prosperity of our populations depend on the vigor and the strength of woman, as also, of course, on that of man. (Page 482.) Women who are required to devote themselves to night work, are attacked by sickness more frequently 102 General Injuries to Health. — France. than men, proportionally, and we have known for a long time that infant mortality is incomparably greater in those places where the mothers cannot themselves take care of their children. The statistics on this matter are not as complete as might be desired, but all observations support the above conclusions. (Page 483.) If, then, the chances of organic exhaustion are very much greater among women, as also the chances of physi- cal decline and morbid predisposition, which may be and too often are the consequences of excess of industrial work, it follows of itself that the chances are increased still more when work takes up the hours of normal rest; they attain the highest degree of danger when the night : work is only the prolongation of the day work with not any, or an insufficient, interruption. (Page 484.) To sum up, the dangers inherent in the employment of women for night work in industry are exceptionally serious, depending on the physiological conditions pe- culiar to women and on the environment in which she is required to work. Measures are necessary to avoid the physical over- working of women who are engaged in industrial occu- pations and to shorten their prolonged stay in the fac- tories. Such measures should, insofar as possible, for- bid night work for women. (Page 491.) Note Sur le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. [Night Work of Women in Industry.] Dr. H. Napias. Revue d'Hygiene et de Police Sanitaire, T. XII, 1890. To sum up, when one considers either the hygienic side or the moral side of the problem, it seems necessary to prohibit the night work of women. We have a law which protects childhood because we know how useful it is, with the small birth-rate of this country, to preserve these lives, precious and altogether too few as they are ; 103 General Injuries to Health. — France. and with singular inconsistency the legislature makes a law which authorizes girls and women to work in shops at night, which prepares girls for maternity by render- ing them anaemic and favors their falling into prostitu- tion, and which at the same time keeps mothers separ- ated from their infants, left at lodgings without care and without milk, exposed to the dangers which menace early life, and for the avoidance of which we expend in Prance each year more than a million and a half ! That is neither just, nor logical, nor humane. "In 1885, in a report unanimously approved by the Comite consultatif d' Hygiene publique de France, we stated that the prohibition of night work should apply not only to young women but to women of all ages. This is the view which the Societe de Medecine publique is asked today to express. (Pages 255-256.) Rapports presentes a M. le Ministre du Commerce, de I'Industrie, des Postes et des Telegraphes, par les Inspecteurs du Travail. [Reports of the French Factory Inspectors.] La Question, de I'lnterdig- tion du Travail de Nuit. [The Question of the Prohibition of Nightwork.] Paris, 1900. For women, nightwork means deserted home and neg- lected children; physically, it means anaemia and predis- position to all manner of female ills. It is the denial of mental culture for all workers, of whatever age or sex. (Page 11.) Here is testimony from the North on this subject : "We demand (in the North) the prohibition of night- work for our women, girls and children. It is expensive, gives poor products, and does not bring a return equiva- lent to the expenditure of energy by the workers and the machines". (Page 47.) From the social point of view the absolute prohibition of night work is desirable. Besides enabling the work- The resolution whicli closed the communication of Dr. Napias was unanimously adopted by the Soci6t6." (Page 274.) 104 General Injuries to Health. — France. ingman to live a normal life, working by day and sleep- ing at night, it would also preserve his health. It is well known that nothing is more fatiguing than night work, often carried on under bad lighting conditions and with the necessity of a continuous struggle against sleep. . . . It should be our aim to attain this standard, which satis- fies both hygiene and morality. ( Page 66. ) L' Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'ln- dustrie Frangaise. [The Prohihition of Nightwork for Women in French Industry.] A. Chazal. Paris, Pedone, 1902. In fact, night work, which in itself is injurious to the human body, has most disastrous consequences for the health of persons of the feminine sex. Although woman, under certain conditions, is distinguished by a prodigious strength and resistance, she is much less adapted to the demands of industrial labor, because her physique is less vigorous and because her sexual functions often enfeeble her and render her susceptible to dangers from which men are exempt; and the Academy of Medicine, con- sulted in 1890 on the results of work at night, and speak- ing through a commission composed in part of MM. Bronardel, Proust and Farnier, expressed itself as fol- lows in the organ of Dr. Eochard : "To be deprived of sleep is one of the most painful things one can endure ; it becomes still more cruel when there is added to it a monotonous and fatiguing labor in the repetition of the same movements. It is especially fatal to the health of women. Under this regime they grow thin, become anaemic, and soon all the nervous disorders which follow the impoverishment of the blood succeed one another, while at the same time the sight be- comes weaker and is injured by this work carried on dur- ing long hours by gaslight. ". . . While of course remaining in the field of hygiene, the Academy declares that a law which author- n 105 General Injuries to Health. — France. f- izes women to work at night in manufactories, works and mills, would have for their health most disastrous con- sequences. . . ." (Pages 8-10.) Le Travail de Nuit dems les Boulang>eries. [Nightworh in Bakeries.'] Report of M. Justin Godakt, Deputy. Discussion. Paris, Alcan, 1910. Dr. LetuUe. I merely wish to lay before you the re- sults of a long experience as hygienist and physician in favor of the suppression of nightwork in bakeries. Nightwork is an "anti-physiological act": Muscular effort after nightfall is incomparably greater than in the daytime. Work done in the evening causes four or five times as much fatigue as the same amount of work done by day. If, therefore, it should be possible to suppress nightwork, an immense service would be rendered to the bakers. ... In going over in my mind my hospital practice, I remember having seen many bakery workers coming up for treatment. They were mostly young men j I did not see many old ones among them. (Page 28.) Royaume de Belgique. Bureau de Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de I'Industrie dans les Pays Strangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night WorTc of Women in Industry in Foreign Coun- tries.] Maurice Ansiaux. Brussels, 1898. In the Canton of Glaris, at Ziegelbrucke, the night work of women was temporarily re-established in a cot- ton mill — --with the consent of the inspector — for a very unusual reason. One of the two wings of this establish- ment having been destroyed by fire, the men and women previously employed ran the risk of being deprived of employment, while the miU owner was exposed to an equal injury through the probable loss of his laboring force. Hence, the temporary, though illegal authorization of night work. 106 General Injuries to Health.-T-Switzerland. It is of especial interest to study this case. The di- rector of this mill told me a very characteristic thing — that he would be highly gratified to see matters return quickly to their normal course, and night work come to an end. For this reason, he pushed forward the rapid reconstruction of the burned structure. Here are some irresistible arguments he mentioned. Night work, in force in this mill, for one year, had pro- duced visible injuries to the health of the female work- ers. The fourteen nights per month which they passed at the mill exerted a disastrous influence on their physi- cal vigor. This was very natural ; they slept very little ; they reserved for sleep only the forenoon ; at midday they arose to prepare the midday meal, and did not lie down again in the afternoon. And was it true that at such a cost the output was abundant and excellent? My informant told me on sev- eral occasions that quite the contrary was the case. (Pages 86-87.) And he goes on to say even more than this: "We have a similar establishment in Italy, a country where night work is permitted to the weaker sex without any restrictions. From first appearances there was much to be gained. (Page 88.) ... In spite of these ob- vious advantages, we preferred to give up night work and install steam power at great expense. Many other Swiss engineers have had similar experi- ences in Italy. M. Schuler, a Swiss factory inspector, tells me that they all believe in the superiority of the Swiss system of stopping work entirely between eight in the evening and six in the morning. Coming as it does from practical men, this testimony is clearly of the great- est importance. (Pages 87-88.) 107 General Injuries to Health.— Switzerland. An das Schweis. Industriedepartement, die eidgenos- sischen Fabrikinspectoren. [Report of the Swiss Factory Inspectors to the Swiss Department of Labor.] 1904. . . . As to the harmfnlness of nightwork, that sur- vival of doubtful value of the last century, experts and laymen agree, and labor hygiene has long since recorded that it has an injurious effect upon the well-being of the worker. If a shortening of working time is advisable anywhere, it is so in the ease of night work. Persons who are wearied from long working hours fall a victim more easily to all injurious influences. (Pages 33-34.) Zur Frage der Nachtarheit in den Bdckereien. Mitge- teut von der Sosialen Kauferliga, Schweis. [The Question of Nightwork in Bakeries. Swiss Con- sumers' League.] H. Sieveking, Professor of Social Economics, University of Zurich. Zeit- schrift fur schweiserische Statistik, 17. Jahr- gang, 1911. Of the physicians who were questioned in regard to the disadvantages of nightwork, a small number declared that there were no disadvantages. It should be noted that in Ziirich the doctors whose practice was in the country were the only ones that held this opinion. We know that in point of fact the custom of nightwork is infrequent except in the cities. . . . There is no question of mak- ing vigorous fellows soft and lazy ; on the contrary, what we want is to secure a normal working capacity for a class of men who now labor under unfavorable condi- tions. . . . I>rs. Gisler and Rutimeyer, of Basel, stated that the bakers often suffer from diseases of the stomach, of nervous or other origin, as a result of their abnormal manner of life. "They always have to sleep during the period of digestion." "Day sleep is never as deep and quiet as night sleep, and it is therefore less restorative." 108 General Injuries to Health. — Italy. Dr. Bing (Basel) and Dr. Luscher (Bern) speak of the nervousness of bakers caused by night work. No other workman change their trade so often for the sake of their health. (Pages 281-282.) The physicians that condemn ni^ht work on hygienic grounds insist chiefly on the fact that sleep in the day- time is less restorative on account of the noise. They regard this as tending to the exhaustion of the nervous system. (Dr. ZoUikofer, of Saint-Gall; Dr. Walker, of Solothurn:) "The evils inherent in the baker's trade are aggravated by night work." "The lessened resistance of the organism increases the susceptibility to diseases of the respiratory tract and to tuberculosis." "Anemia is one of the consequences." "This kind of life pro- motes alcoholism." Dr. Mende (Zurich) has found more cases of anemia among bakers than among any other class of workmen. Dr. Borsotti, of Chicasso, has noticed that bakers feel keenly the contrast between their own lives and those of men who sleep at night. In certain situations, he says, their sense of honor is less likely to be aroused, and they yield more easily to evil sugges- tions. (Page 283.) Frenastenia e delinquenza in rapporto a taluni ordina- menti del lavoro. {Imbecility and Criminality in Relation to Certain Forms of Labor.] Prof. ' CKiSAFULiLi. Proceedings of the First Interna- tional Convention on Industrial, Diseases, Mila/n, 1906. Most pitiful are the consequences of night work. Through it, the workman is constantly deprived of the civil and social life of the day — ^his very, being, his vari- ous energies are limited and curtailed. He deteriorates both physically and mentally hecause after a while body and temperament change, intelligenee decreases, the af- fections and sentiments atrophy, and grave phenomena develop in general metabolism. 109 General Injuries to Health. — Italy. With the exception of such public services as admit of no suspension during night hours (railroads, tele- graphs, etc.), night work of all kinds could be advan- tageously abolished, especially because sleep by day is never so restorative as sleep by night. To children and to women night work is a source of incalculable injury which often lasts through life; for this reason a law has been recently enacted which pro- hibits their employment by night. (Pages 148-9.) Controindicazioni al lavoro notturno. [Counterindica- tions of Night Work.] Db. LtriGi Caeozzi. Pro- ceedings of the First International Congress on Industrial Diseases, Milan, 1906. The researches of Italian physiologists demonstrated that work performed by tired muscles requires more effort than harder work performed under normal condi- tions ; that muscular fatigue impairs the faculty of atten- tion, and therefore affects memory. The poisonous products formed during labor accumu- late in the blood and cause that particular auto-poison- ing known as "fatigue," which tires the organism even before the reserve tissue material is consumed. It is, as we see, a perfect cycle, influenced also by many not less important factors : — 1. The continuous vibration of the body, transmitted to it either directly by the pedal of the machine, or indi- rectly by the vibration of the entire workroom. Strain upon the hearing faculty acts unfavorably upon the curve of fatigue. (Fere.) 2. The repetition of the same identical movement leads more rapidly to tiredness. This shows itself in the small hours of the morning; work is badly done; errors on the part of workers are frequent. . . . 3. Close attention is necessary not only for efiScient work, but also to avoid accidents. (Pages 79-80.) 110 G-eneral Injuries to Health. — Italy. The physiological problem of work and of rest is thus difficult and complex. ... Change of temperature, the action of too intense light, of heat, increased atmospheric pressure, bad air, dust, etc., the overexertion of certain muscles or organs, the night hours so heavy in contrast with those of the day- all these things more easily impair the health of the worker who is employed by night. . . . I will here mention the case of three night workers (two men and one woman) which I studied in a cotton mill: for years they had worked continuously at night, that is without alternating it with day work. One was the foreman: robust, healthy, intelligent, he was able to furnish me with useful information, the more so because for 7 years he had been a day worker. He assured me that during that period his appetite was better, his work brisker. After 5 years of nightwork, after noticing a loss of weight of 10 kilos, which took place rapidly (and then remained at a standstill) he is now always tired, feels broken down, suffers from exhaustion difficult to overcome, and constipation. (Pages 80-81.) Ministero di agricoUura, industria e commercio. Ufficio del lavoro. [Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. Bureau of Labor.'] Inchiesta sul lavoro notturno dei fornai. [An investigation of Night Work in Bakeries.] Rome, 1906. The lessening of the power of resistance in the organ- ism is the greatest injury effected by fatigue, and is, as we have seen, the cause to which, directly or indirectly, all of the diseases and disturbances physical and mental, which we have already spoken of as common among bakers, are to be ascribed. Fatigue is manifested in all cases where the equilibrium between assimilation and dissimilation in the tissues is lost and dissimilation gets the upper hand. This results from two processes which are developed contemporaneously in the muscular and Ill General Injuries to Health. — Italy. in the nervous protoplasm — ^that is, the destruction of the albuminous substances and the production of poisons, or in other words, the accumulation of the products of consumption in the tissues. The intoxication of the tis- sues explains why the phenomena of fatigue are mani- fested even when there has been sufficient nourishment to produce a quantity of energy proportionate to the labor performed. The painful sensation of continual weakness which is characteristic of the state of fatigue and with which the tired workmen are afflicted, does not depend simply upon the diminution or loss of excitability and of muscular energy; it depends also upon the depression of the nervous system, which is the stimulus, or physiological instigator, of every active muscular movement. When the nervous system is fatigued, that is to say when it has succumbed to the toxin of overwork, phe- nomena of various kinds take place — first diminished precision and energy of movements, then functional lesions (represented by neuralgia or spasms), and finally real neurasthenia, characterized by incapacity for con- tinuous and accurate work and later by changes of mood, melancholy and irritability. . . . Fatigue, therefore, and the harmful effects of fatigue, are not always manifested in the same way; they are hastened and aggravated by the special constitution of the individual and by the special circumstances under which he is placed. The constitution of the individual is of special importance in the case of children and women, for they are known to be very easy preys to fatigue, and the effect upon the physical and intellectual development of the children and upon the health and morals of the women and the vigor of their offspring, is apt to be per- manently disastrous. The law of June 19, 1902, is di- rected towards the avoidance of these evils in the bakery trade ; night work is forbidden for children under fifteen and for women not of age. Although this law applies only to places in which machine power is used or in which more than five workmen are employed at one time, 112 General Injuries to Health. — Italy. still there are not many bake-shops that are exempt from its requirements. Thus the treakest members of the laboring class are protected from the chief evil of work in bakeries (Work at night). (Pag^es 19-21.) . The chief thing that aidan^rs the health of the work- er in bakeries is the custom of night "work. This is the only condition common to all the bakeries, and it is this that prevents the workman from recruiting his forces by ad^qaate and restorative rest, from undoing the harm done him by fatigue, from obtaining the benefits of sun- shine and fresh air, from lightening his spirits by the enjoyments of social intercourse. ... For these reasons the immediate measure that is most logical, most useful, most certain to produce good results, is the prohibition of night work; for night work is not an absolute necessity of the trade, and it is the first and foremost cause of the unhealthy character of work in bakeries. This provision would bring about, naturally and inevitably, a reduction in the hours of labor, as well as an improvement in the situation of the bakeries and in the hygienic conditions under which the bread is made. (Page 21.) This brief review shows how deplorable the situation of the baker is. It is the opinion of those who are en- gaged in making a scientific study of such questions that if night work is abolished there will be a gradual but radical change in conditions, which will have its effect on the workmen, the employers, and the quality of the bread — with all profit to the cause of hygiene and the general welfare. (Page 23.) (From a leaflet signed a;nd circulated by Giuseppe Marekli, a Milanese baker) : The abolition of night work has now become necessary, and the demand for the re- form may be looked upon to-day as a duty, since many benefits would accrue from it — above all, physical and moral benefit to our workmen and hygienic benefit to us all. We may as well frankly admit that this custom oi night work is an inversion of regular life. As the well- known saying goes, "the night was made for rest". 113 General Injuries to Health. — Italy. We know how even men of leisure soon feel the con- sequences when they try to change night into day and turn life up-side-down. But here we have to do not with a leisurely, but with an active mode of life, and we have to consider also that work performed at night cannot be perfect in quality, since tte workman cannot see to do his work well — ■th.e result being tiha-t th-e man who works at night does not gain in intelligence. (Page 105.) La fisiopatoloyiu del lavoro noUuruo e la legislazione Italiana. [The Physiological Pathology of Night Work and Italian Legislation.'] Dn. Ambeogio Mori, Assistant at the Pediatric Clmic, Royal In- stitute of Research, Florence. II Ramazzini, Oct.- Nov., 1907. The digestive system undergoes functional changes owing to irregularity of meals and night work; appetite fails, breathing becomes labored, the tongue coated, there is frequently weight in the stomach, with sour «ructitions and constipation. Finally dyspepsia sets in and may lead to serious gastro-enteritis. Lesions occur — if only functional — of fie organs that should supply fresh fuel to the activity of the operative; the body loses weight, and the worker's face indicates a condition of incipient anaemia, of general debility. The respiratory and circulatory systems of night workers do not present specific functional alterations ex- cept a frequent sensation of shortness of breath and of palpitation of the heart, to which many can bear witness. The procreative power of men is diminished or impaired and the effect on the female generative organs is also injurious. . . . (Page 624.) 114 5. Genebal Injtjbies to Health from Late Overtime WOEK, Work at night is disastrous to health not only where women are employed on regular all night shifts, hut when they are employed on overtime until towards mid- night or later. Overtime work at night is the commonest form of night work. It is especially dangerous to health because it involves night work after and in addition to day work. The period of rest and sleep is cut down at the very time when the heaviest demands are made upon the organism. Even short periods of such excessive overstrain may permanently injure the health of work- ing women. British Ministry/ of Mimitions. Health of Munition Workers Committee. Interim Report. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. London, 1917. The Causes and Conditions of Lost Time. T. Loveday, M.A. (d) The Eelations Between Lost Time and Overtime. 11. If the term "overtime" be taken in the ordinary sense of hours worked beyond the normal time of a fac- tory, any attempt to correlate lost time and overtime is apt to be misleading, since the normal hours of different factories vary. Nor is the attempt much more hopeful if some such figure as 53 hours be arbitrarily selected as a normal working week and any excess reckoned as over- time ; for length of hours is only one of many conditions of lost time, and it would be difficult to find two factories varying in that condition alone. Yet overtime admit- tedly does cause loss of normal time. . . . (&) In so far as long hours lead to loss of time by 115 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. fatigue and sickness, insistence upon them is most de- plorable. The keenest men are not always the most ro- bust, and it is the keenest who have most strain to bear. The hours gained are more costly than the hours lost, and, coming as a rule at the end of a long day, their cost is altogether disproportionate to their output; and the resulting fatigue which drives some men to bed produces lassitude and decreased efficiency in many of those who continue to attend regularly, so that the output of normal hours also declines. The effects of Sunday labour are, as has now been recognized, still worse than those of overtime hours in the evening or on Saturday afternoon. 12. How considerable a proportion of the time gained by extraordinary hours may be lost in normal hours even in a well-managed factory in which the good wUl of the employes is undisputed, is illustrated by the following figures which refer to the engineering depart- ments of a firm engaged on heavy work. The normal dayshift week is 53 hours, and the nightshift work 60 hours. TABL.B I. bi Period gE» gg^. Sisggt SBc ^Z% »SsSlg May, 1906 (4 weeks)... 78.4 13.0 19.7 62.0 61.0 53.0 June, 1916 (2 weeks)... 72.0 12.7 16.9 60.0 57.0 59.6 The high percentage of loss is rnainly attributable to a very high sickness rate, itself the result of long hours on heavy work since the beginning of the war. Further figures illustrating this point will be quoted below. Obviously, however, a mere comparison of hours gained by overtime and normal hours lost is worthless if imaccompanied by other figures; since if little over- time be worked, it may be more than counterbalanced 116 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. by a very moderate loss of normal time, not in any way dne to the overtime work. 13. The very long hours worked in many factories during the past two years have, perhaps, been necessary, but, so far as my experience goes, the necessity has been imposed upon, and is deplored by, employers and man- agers, who have noted the decreasing briskness and re- silience of the workers. The strain has told, not only upon operatives, but still more upon officials and upon foremen, who have broken down in considerable num- bers. Unhappily, the men too often welcome long hours because of the extra pay. In one factory, where overr. time had been kept as low as possible, men told me quite frankly that there was a good deal of grumbling in con- sequence. But the sickness-rate in that factory was correspondingly low, and there can be no doubt that for the average man high wages earned by long hours are too dearly earned, (p. 44.) British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum No. 4. Em- ployment of Women. London, 1916. {Signed on Behalf of the Committee hy Sie George Ne.wman, M.D., Chairman.] While the urgent necessity for women's work re- mains, and while the mother's time, and the time of the elder girls, is largely given to the making of mimitions, the home and the younger children must inevitably suf- fer. Where home conditions are bad, as they frequently are, where a long working day is aggravated by long hours of travelling, and where, in addition, hoiising ac- commodation is inadequate, family life is defaced beyond recognition. If the home is to be preserved from such processes of destruction, greatly improved conditions of transit and housing must be secured, as well as the best possible hours of work by night and day. It is far from uncommon now to find some two or three hours spent on 117 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Grreat Britain. the journey each way, generally under the fatiguing con- ditions of an overcrowded train or tram, often with long waits, and a severe struggle before even standing room can be obtained. The superintendent of a factory situ- ated in a congested district stated that the women con- stantly arrive with their clothes torn in the struggle for a tram, the satchel in which they bring their tea being sometimes torn away. The workers were of an excep- tionally refined type, to whom such rough handling would be altogether unfamiliar, but they bore these conditions with cheerful resolution. Tribute is constantly paid by foremen and managers to a similar spirit; they tell of workers readily working overtime in the knowledge that their action means the loss of the last tram and a four or five mile walk at midnight. Often far from offering a rest from the fatigue of the day, the home conditions offer but fresh aggravation. A day begun at 4 or even 3 :30 a.m., for work at 6 a.m., followed by 14 hours in the factory, and another two or two and a half hours on the journey back, may end at 10 or 10 :30 p.m., in a home or lodging where the prevailing degree of over crowding pre- cludes all possibility of comfortable rest. Beds are never empty and rooms are never aired, for in a badly-crowded district, the beds, like the occupants, are organized in day and night shifts. In such conditions of confusion, pressure and overcrowding, home can have no existence. There is great need for improvement in means of transit, and this alone would help to relieve the unsatis- factory conditions of housing ; but however great the in- creased facilities of service, the journey between home and factory must still add, in many cases, a couple of hours to the working day. "When considering hours in relation to efficiency and fatigue this influence upon the total length of day should be remembered ; the factory day cannot always stand by itself as the only contribution towards fatigue. To quote a single instance : — ^A recent inquiry made for the Committee into the conditions of employment of 75 women employed from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., showed that though most of the workers lived within a mile or a mile and a half of the factory, none of them got 118 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Grreat Britain. more than about 7% hours' sleep and many of them less than 7 hours. The majority rose before 5 a.m. Of the 75 workers only 19 were over 21 years of age, and many were between 16 and 18. Such facts illustrate the domestic side of the problem which the Committee have had to consider. They serve to demonstrate both the need for improved facilities in housing and in transit and the need for limitation of the periods of employment. Hours of Labour. — Happily there should be in the matter of hours of labour for women little conflict be- tween the interests of the home and the interests of mu- nitions, for the hours which conduce most to a satisfac- tory home life and to health conduce most to output. (Pages 4-5.) British Home Office. Second Interim Report of an In- vestigation of Industrial Fatigue by Physiological Methods, A. F. Stanley Kent, M.A., D.Sc. (Oxon.) Henry Overton Wills Professor of Physiology in the University of Bristol. London, 1916. Fatigue as dealt with in these pages and as indicated by the tests described is taken to mean a diminished effi- ciency of the organism occurring after labour and partly dependent upon it. . . . The practical bearing of this is on the question of overtime. It has been thought that the simplest method of increasing output in times of stress is to increase the number of hours in the working day. But extra hours must necessarily be added at the end of a day's work, and the result will vary according to the previous condition of the worker. Should the work of the ordinary day have been so light that no fatigue is evident at the end of it, the workers will be comparatively fresh when they start upon the period of overtime and will suffer little. If, however, the previous work has been severe, they will already be fagged and jaded, and the extra labour will produce a greater effect. 119 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. . Eesults obtained recently show further that overtime has an effect which is not confined strictly to the day on which it is worked. The worker is in a less favourable condition to resist fatigue after an ordinary day's work, followed by a night's rest, than before, and the effect of an overtime day is correspondingly greater. Two or more overtime days 'produce a proportionately greater lowering of efficiency, and the effect is more pronounced if the overtime days are consecutive than if they are separated by days of normal length. Finally, an over- time day introduced towards the end of the week is more harmful than one worked nearer its beguming. (Page 7.) General Description of Charts. In order to make the curves more easily understood the differences have been calculated as follows: In the Eeaction Time test the differences are — M— E (Morning value minus evening value.) If the evening value has been increased by fatigue the difference will be negative, and the curve mil fall below the zero line. In the tests of Acuity of Sight and Hearing the differ- ences are — E— M If the evening value has been diminished by fatigue the difference will be negative, and the curve will fall below the zero line. . The curves show a fall of the line, indicating the de- velopment of fatigue, on days on which work was per- formed. The Tables give the actual readings from which the curves were made.* In Chart No. 3, the results are shown of a series of tests of the acuity of sight. The period covered in the six days from October 25th to October 30th, inclusive. *The course of the curve is determined neither by the develop- ment of fatigue nor by recovery alone, but by the interaction of these two processes. 120 Injuries from Late Overtime. — GTreat Britain. The conditions were similar to those which obtained in the former experiment, vialiies above the base line repre- senting greater acuity in the evening, and vice versa. The differences are, however, given in centimetres, and indicate differences in the distance at which standard let- ters could be identified. (Page 11.) TABLE (PigureB for No. 3) Fatigue = M - E (Sight) — M T W Ti F B E M 520 , 373 147 ;380 I 470 1326 411 313 368 476 a69 483 E.-M. -90 -85 -55 -114 -64 (Differences) Ch. ACUI1 VET ]S Y OF ro. 4. sigh: r. A fall of the curve indicates the development of fatigue. The curve is constructed with the same set of figures as No. 3. Instead of the differences being used, however, the actual morning and evening values have been plotted. 121 Injuries from Late Overtime.— Great Britain. Allowing for the familiar effect on Monday, which re- sults in a better condition on Monday evening than in the morning, and is followed by the curious deterioration during Monday night, the remaining days of the week show, on Tuesdav and "Wednesday the effect of two over- time days, on Thursday the lesser effect of an ordinary day, on Friday the exaggerated effect of an overtime day towards the end of the week, and on Saturday the usual lessened effect due to a half-day. This effect of half a day at the end of the week is, however, greater than the effect of a whole day in the middle of the week, on Thursday. The curve also affords an example of ths advantage to be gained by avoiding a series of consecutive overtime days. (Page 12.) Chart No. 6 represents values obtained from a worker in the spinning shed. The test used was the Reaction Time (letters) as in No. 5. . . . TABLE Fatigue = K - M Beaction Time (Letters ) — M. T. W. Th. F. 8. M. E. Ill 1.17 1.6a 1.38 2.20 1.74 1.88 1.44 1.78 1.70 1.35 M-E -.46 -.82 -.14 -.34 .35 (Differences) The curve in this case is complicated by the illness of the worker. Two processes were at work, one the gradual recovery from illness, the other the gradual development of fatigue. The result of the former process may be recognized in the indications of less fatigue on Thursday than on Tuesday produced by a normal day's work, and sinularly'by the fatigue of Friday being less than that of Wednesday, both overtime days. Usually the opposite result is obtained, and similar amounts of work produce more fatigue at the end of the week than at the begin- ning. The recovery on Saturday — a half -day — should be noted. 122 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. By arranging the figures somewhat differently the effect of the extra strain of overtime on this subject, rendered unusually sensitive by illness, is brought out even more clearly. In Chart No. 6A the actual figures obtained are plotted instead of the differences between morning and evening values. An ordinary day's work on Tuesday produces much fatigue. The effect is exag- gerated on Wednesday, when overtime was worked. On Friday, recovery from the illness seems to be fairly com- plete, and although near the end of the week, an overtime day produces less effect than on Wednesday, just as the ordinary day's work on Thursday produces less effect than a similar task on Tuesday. There is evidence of a similar dual effect in those portions of the curve indicating recovery from fatigue, the usual weekly course of which is modified by the pass- ing away of the state of illness. We have then several sets of results from different individuals obtained by different methods. The results are strikingly similar in their indications. On' overtime days fatigue is indicated in the curves by changes of considerable magnitude, whereas, when normal hours have been worked, such indications are slight. The methods depend upon the acuity of the sense of sight, the acuity of the sense of hearing, the height of the blood- pressure, and the recognition Of different letters. The curves given represent the results of a small pro- portion of the many hundreds of tests carried out re- cently. Those selected will serve to indicate the general character of the whole. 123 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. Chart No. 6A. COMPLEX EEACnON (lETTBES). Factory E, Spinner No. 15. (Week ending November 6th, 1915.) Actual values plotted. A fall of the curve indicates the development of fatigue. At. 7*f. W^ 6-S30 6-, \iforker V// It is evident that overtime produces in the worker differences of physiological state which affect different functions of the body and which may be recognized by several tests. It is necessary to examine more closely this physiological difference, and the conditions under which it appears. (Pages 14-15.) When once an individual has, through labour during ordinary hours, reached a certain degree of fatigue, and proceeds to further labour (overtime) without taking the repose necessary to dissipate the fatigue already pro- duced, this further labour has a greater physiological effect and exhausts the organism more than would a similar amount of labour performed when fatigue was absent. This is a well-known fact in physiology; it is 124 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. also a matter of ordinary experience. It is of importance in the present connection because it indicates that OVER- TIME LABOUR IS MOEE HARMFUL TO THE WORKER THAN LABOUR PERFORMED DURING ORDINARY HOURS. It is therefore PHYSIOLOGIC- ALLY EXTRAVAGANT.* Chart No. 8. CURVE OF RBCOVBEY. COMPLEX REACTION TIME ( COLOURS). Actual values plotted. Factory E, Winder No. 12. (Week ending 30th January, 1916.) A rise of the curve indicates recovery. Sec. * The payment of higher wages renders overtime economically ex- travagant also. Yet higher wages are not suflScient to make it universally desired by the workers. Enquiries were made of 18 operatives in various departments of a large factory as to whether the overtime day with its extra rate of pay, or the ordinary day, ending ftt 5:30 P. M. would be preferred. In reply 15 voted against overtime, the remaining three stating that they were indifferent in the matter. (Page 16.) 125 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Great Britain. Chart No. 8 illustrates a case in which no work was done on Monday. On Tuesday night a faU resembling the ordinary Monday effect occurred. On Wednesday and Thursday nights good recovery took place after days of ordinary length, whilst on Friday night, after over- time, recovery was much diminished. The recovery already dealt with occurs during the interval between the cessation of labour in the evening and its resumption in the morning. (Page 19.) Labour, Finance and the War. Edited by A. W. Kiek- ALDY, M.A. Published by authority of the Council of the British Association. , London, Pitman. 1916. Chapter III. Replacement of Men by Women in Industry During the War. Report on the Employment of Women in the Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades. Timekeeping. — Both employers and women superin- tendents were generally agreed that women are, on the whole, excellent timekeepers. Not only are they punctual in their attendance at starting-time, but they are seldom off work for any lengthy period. Night-shift work ac- counts for more broken time than day-shift work, especial- ly among married women. The reason given for this is that women do not so readily adapt themselves to night work as men. Sleeping during the day is not, as a rule, restful, particularly where it has to be done in an unquiet and undarkened room, and these disadvantageous con- ditions certainly are found in the homes of many of the women workers. In addition to these influences which af- fect men equally with women, there is the tendency on the part of women to take the opportunity when on night shift to use the hours when they should be asleep for the performance of domestic duties. This tendency is natur- ally strongest in the case of married women who have children to look after; and some employers, recognising the fact, have done their best to exclude married women from their works. (Page 113.) 126 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. Fatigue was referred to by several doctors inter- viewed as a consequence within their experience of the employment of women in engineering works. One doctor who had acted as locum tenens in Clydebank, a large en- gineering centre, stated that during his stay there he had dealt with many women patients, employed in the metal trades, complaining of general weakness. . . . Other doctors referred to the evil effects of night work. The women did not sleep well during the day owing to home conditions, and a considerable number of cases of fatigue resulted. On the bad effects of night work upon the women there was general agreement among those interviewed. (Pages 127-128.) In the point of hours, one observation suggests itself. Notwithstanding the absence of any definite data, such as statistics of relative output of night and day work, the fact which emerges most clearly from the inquiry into conditions of labour is that night work is ill-suited to women. Given the necessary workers, it seems desirable to introduce generally, at the earliest possible moment, the three-shift system, instead of the present two-shift. Some reduction in earnings would almost certainly fol- low, and with it probably a protest from the women them- selves; but of the beneficial results from such a change there does not appear to be room for serious question. (Page 130.) Second Report of the New York State Factory Investi- gating Commission, 1913. Vol. I. NigMwork of Women in Factories. The preceding examples illustrate the dangers of a regular night shift. But far more usual than the all- night shift is the employment "overtime" until late at , night. In many trades employees are required to work many hours after and in addition to the regular day's work, a practice which subjects women already fatigued to the added strain of night employment. A detailed study of bookbinding in New York City carried on during 127 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. the last few years has just been published. The hours of labor were reported of women working in 208 binderies employing 5,689 women. "Few binderies (not more than two or three)," says the report, "have regular night shifts for women who begin work in the evening without having worked during the day. In a far greater number, girls who work during the day stay on through the night hours. . . . Some of the actual instances of overtime work demonstrate that prescribing of a definite rest period during definite hours of the night is essential to prevent the joining to- gether of two working days at the stroke of midnight." Thus, for instance, one girl of 23 worked from 8 :30 A,.M. until 5 :30 the next morning. "She wa:s employed to fill the boxes of a gathering machine in a magazine bindery. She worked from 8:30 A.M. until 5:30 P.M., with a half hour at noon. She began again at 6:30 P.M. and worked until midnight. After a recess of thirty minutes she continued her day's task until 5:30 A.M. At the time of this employment the New York law permitted a twelve-hour day, and since the employment of women at night was not prohibited, a working day of twenty-four hours was legal, for with the stroke of the clock at midnight a twelve-hour day ended and another twelve-hour day might begin. lia the case of this girl, not the long hours of work, but the fact that fourteen hours instead of twelve preceded mid- night was a violation of the law." Under the present fifty-four hour law, which allows a working day of only ten hours, the lack of a legal closing hour would presumably allow the employment of a woman ten hours before and ten hours after midnight. This is a stretch of twenty working hours, practically continu- ous, but falling on two calendar days. In 152 cases, instances of illegal overtime were found among the bindery workers in 42 binderies. In eighteen per cent of these cases — almost one in every five — ^work continued until 10 P.M., or much later at night, in addi- tion to the day's work. 128 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. Several flagrant cases were included in this last group. One reported work until 12 :30 A.M., three until 1 :00 A.M., two until 3:00 A.M., one until 5:30 A.M.,, one until 8 :00 A.M., and one until 9 :00 A.M. In every one of these cases the girl had gone to work in the morning, had worked through the day and evening until after midiiight, (Pages 198-200.) The Commission found instances of extreme overtime work by women in the canneries. Here the employment of many women from the morning of one day until after midnight, or even until dawn of the next day is proved by the employer's written records. The time sheets of one factory for July 11th, 12th and 13th were put in evidence at a hearing held by the Commission at Auburn, N. Y., on August 14th, 1912. This establishment packs fruits and vegetables and on the busiest pack employs from 150 to 200 people. About 75 are women. One of these women was a Mrs. D . The overtime hours, incredibly long, which she worked were clearly proved. The counsel for the Commission examined the man- ager of the factory: "Q. According to your time sheet which you have produced of July 10th, 1912, which is Wednesday, Mrs. D began work at 6:45 in the morning that day; is that right? A. Yes. Q. And she finished at 2:30 in the following morning? A. Yes. Q. Working 193^ hours? A. Of course, she had 1/2 hour out for lunch and supper that we gave her. Q, You produce the time sheet for the date of July 11, 1912, and I find the same Mrs. D , that is the same one, is it? A. Yes; 16 hours. Q. And she began that morning at a quarter of seven and stopped at 12 o'clock, and she began at 1 'clock- that was her lunch hour? A. Yes; she had an hour out. Q. You didn't pay for that hour? A. No. Q. Then she stopped at 6 and started at 7 ; you didn't pay for that hour? A. No. 129 Injuries from Late Overtime.— United States. Q. She stopped at a quarter of one in the morning? A. Yes, sir. Q. And she worked 16 hours that day? A. Yes. Q. Have you got July 13, Mrs. D ? She began that morning, according to your sheet, at a quarter to seven, stopped at 12, began at one in the afternoon and stopped work at 6 and began at 7 and worked until a quarter of two the following day; 17 hours during the day, actual work, taking out at her own expense one hour for lunch and one hour for supper ? A. Yes. ' ' Other women were employed in the same factory for hours equally long. This fact was shown by the em- ployer's own time sheets. From these it was found that on July 11th, from among 55 women workers, one half (27) worked until after 11 P.M., most of them continu- ously from 6 to 7 A.M., with an hour out for dinner and supper at their own expense. Of the 27 women who worked until late at night 15 worked until after 11 P.M. 2 worked until midnight or 12:30 A.M. 4 worked until between 1 and 2 A.M. 6 worked until 2 A.M. or later. The women who did not finish until 1 or 2 A.M., were employed from 16 to 17 hours out of the 24. The time sheets show on the next day, July 12th, the night work dropped off somewhat, yet 12 women out of the 55 worked later than 10 P.M. On the third day, July 13th, 32 or almost two-thirds of the women worked late at night again. 23 of them worked until between 1 and 2 A.M., 5 of them worked until between 2 and 3 A.M. On this day again these women vere employed from 16 to 17 hours. Instances may be further cited showing also the dura- tion of night work done overtime in the laundries of New York City. In February, 1912, an inquiry was made by the Bureau of Mediation and Arbitration of the New York State Department of Labor into the causes of a strike of laundry employees. At a number of hearings, 130 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. these employees testified under oath in -regard to their hours of labor. Testimony was given showing that work often continued until midnight and occasionally until 1 A.M. The three schedules following, of long weeks re- ported in the stenographic minutes of evidence, while not necessarily typical, nevertheless illustrate to what extremes the night work of women in laundries may be carried where there is no legal closing hour. Day of week Woman who has Woman who has Woman who hag worked 2 yrs. worked 5 yrs. worked 11 yrs. in laundries in laundries in laundries A. M. P. M. A. M. P. M. A. M. P. M. Monday 12-12 12-12 7-9 Tuesday 9-11.30 9-11.30 9-11 Wednesday . . . 9-9.30 9-9 9-8 Thursday 9-7 9-7 9-7.30 Friday 9-6.30 9-6 9-6 Saturday In many other occupations also emplojrment over- time often occurs until late at night. This is especially the case, although to a less degree than in the binderies and laundries, during the fall months in factories that supply the Christmas market, notably in candy and paper box manufactories. Overtime is usual too, through the wide ramifications of the clothing and stitching trades, and also in dressmaking and millinery estabUsh- ments. (Pages 198-200.) Report of Ohio Inspector of Workshops and Factories, 1890. . If there can be raised any objection to the employment of women in factories, etc., it certainly should be their employment for unreasonable hours, and especi- 131 Injuries from Late Overtime.— United States. ally after night. The employment of women in factories implies that the great majority are compelled to remain standing more or less of the time while engaged at their daily avocation. It is a well established fact that for a woman to remain standing for any length of time, and especially for such practice to extend from day to day, will eventually result to her physical detriment. So ap- parent has this fact been established that Ohio has al- ready placed a law on her statute books compelling that aU employers of women furnish comfortable seats for their use, but it is absolutely impossible for most factory employees to receive much relief from this law, beujg, through necessity caused from the nature of their work, compelled to remain standing a greater portion of the time ; and when they have been so employed for a period of ten hours, is it not barbarous that they should be com- pelled to work still longer hours, and sometimes far into the night? This department has received many pathetic appeals for relief from women employed in factories, who, through fear of being discharged from their posi- tions, have been compelled to work long and irregular hours. (Pages 37-38.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United. States. Vol. V. Wage- Earning Women in Stores and Factories. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910. New York. The average normal hours of labor per week for the 224 girls employed in New York's manufacturing and miscellaneous establishments (representing men and women's clothing, printing and binding, candy factories, paper-box factories, laundries, artificial flower and feather factories, millinery, etc. — about 170 establish- ments in all) interviewed on this subject, amounted to but 55%,, yet 207 had worked overtime during the season 132 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. of 1907-8 an average of 2.4 hours for 2.4 days during each week for an average period of 17.3 weeks. This would indicate that for about 17 weeks at least the aver- age number of hours per week was a little over 61.2 for the 207, which is exceeding the legal limits by a little over an hour and a quarter a week. As stated above, the New York State law permitted more than 10 hours labor a day, but not more than 12 hours. The purpose of this law is to get 60' hours of labor 1 week, and yet allow 1 short day — a Saturday half-holiday, for example — ^in each week. Two hundred and four of the 207 reporting overtime work were work- ing more than 10 hours on certain days of the week. The "long days" for the 204 averaged 11.9 hours, but the significant feature of the returns was that 42 of the 204 reported working days of more than 12 hours ; 11 of these had worked at their longest days 14 hours, and one girl worked 241^ hours at one stretch with but 2 half- hour intermissions for meals. The worst offenders against the 12 hour day limit were in the printing and binding trades. Four girls in 1 establishment on the "night force" 1 day of each week reported their "long- est day's labor" as 1634, 20'i4, 221/3 and 24 hours. These "long days" occurred once, and sometimes twice a week for a period of 16 to 26 weeks, except in the case of the girl who worked 2414 hours her usual "long day" was 2014 hours, but she had worked 2414 twice in 21 weeks. . There were 13 women, all in the printing and binding trades, working on night shifts. Out of 10 estab- lishments, however, 5 were working some of the women employees more than 12 hours. (Pages 204-205.) 133 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. Women in the Bookbinding Trade. Mary Van Kleeck. Russell Sage Foundation Publication. New York, 1913. The girls' reports covered 88 different binderies of which 36 were edition and pamphlet binderies employ- ing 50 or more women. Seventy per cent, 159, of the re- ports showed overtime, including legal and illegal, while more than half of these instances of overtime were vio- lations of the law. (Page 141.) Some of their 159 reports of overtime showed com- paratively early closing hours, which were not violations of law. In 21 per cent of the 159 cases the girls were not kept later than 7 o 'clock, and in 16 per cent they left the bindery between 8 and 9. In 44 per cent they stayed until 9 and in 19 per cent, almost one in every five, they worked until later at night. Several flagrant cases were included in this last group ; one reported work until 12 :30 A.M., three until 1 in the morning, two until 3 o'clock, one until 5 :30, one until 8 and one until 9 the next morn- ing. In every one of these cases the girl had gone to work in the morning and worked throughout the day and evening until after midnight. (Page 142.) The total hours daily in all reports of overtime show- ed as wide a range as did the statements about closing hours. In 9 per cent of 139 cases in which the daily work- ing hours were fully reported, the maximum day when working overtime did not exceed ten hours, in 14 per cent it was between ten and eleven hours and in 29 per cent it was between eleven and twelve hours in length, exclu- sive of meal time. Twelve-hour days appeared in 23 per cent of the reports, while in 25 per cent the overtime day was longer than twelve hours. The detailed reports of working days longer than twelve hours show appalling conditions. These hours re- present actual working time, after deducting the length of noon recess and the time allowed for supper. In four positions the day was 12% hours long; in seven, 12i/^ hours, in three, 123^ ; in nine, 13 ; in one, 13%, in two, 14; 134 Injuries from Late Overtime. — United States. in two, 15% ; in two, 16; in two, 18; in one, 19% ; in one, 21% ; and in one, 22 hours. The United States govern- ment investigators, whose report has been quoted, found an even more alarming example of overwork of a girl in a bindery,— a working "day" of 24% hours. (Pages 143-144.) The weekly hours were within the legal limit, sixty hours or less, in 46 cases, and exceeded it in 51. The details of the group working 70 to 80 hours show- ed 70 hours in three cases, 71 in two, 72 in one, 72% in one, 751/2 in one, 78 in two, and 80 in one. (Pages 145- 146.) A witness of the processes of work in bookbinderiea would require no medical proof of two chief dangers to which bindery women are exposed, the danger from the accumulation of dust on paper, and the danger of fatigue. The workers' own statements are important as testimony on these points. "She was all worn out and she got so thin there wasn't anything to her," said the mother of a girl who for three years had worked all night two or three times a week in the winter months. "She began in the morning and worked until 5:30 A.M., the following day. Then she was supposed to rest all day and until the next morn- ing at 8 when she went to work again, ' ' said her mother. "But she got so tired she would cry all morning when she came home and she couldn't sleep well. The doctor told her she'd have to stop night work." In a certain bindery in New York a grocers' catalogue is bound every Wednesday evening. In order not to miss tardy advertisements it is not brought to the bindery until 7 P.M. Two women work until 10 or 11 P.M., to prepare it for the mail Thursday morning. After that hour, one of them, twenty-three years old, must journey an hour from Brooklyn Bridge before reaching home up- town in Manhattan. Just before the Fourth of July, 1911, in a record-breaking hot spell this girl was over- come by the heat at night in the bindery. She was dizzy and nauseated, and "could hardly hold her head up," 135 Injuries from Late Overtime — France. but the grocers' catalogue must be wire-stitched and she could not stop work until the order was finished. She was ill for two weeks afterwards, receiving no wages for the time lost, but the catalogue was mailed in time, and thus the firm did not lose the contract for binding it. (Pages 150-151.) Documents Parliamentaires. Senat, 22 Juin, 1891, An- nexe 138. [Docuvnents of the French Senate.] Bap- port fait sur le Travail des Enfants, des Filles Mineures, et des Femmes dans les Mahlissements Industriels. [Report on the Labor of Children, Young Girls amd Women in Industrial Establish- ments.] Sbkatoe Tolain. As to the evening overtime its special characteristic is, as the inspector of the department of the Seine pointed out, that it is imposed upon women who have already been working all day; It differs, therefore, from regular night work, in that it is carried on by workers who have al- ready performed a day's full task, and not by a fresh set who have been able to arrange systematically for their regular night hours by taking at least some rest by day and by making arrangements for their expected night of work. It is, therefore, upon women already fatigued that this extra burden is laid by the prolonga- tion of the day's labor and this overtime may be in all, sixteen and seventeen hours' continuous labor — some- times even more. (Page 205.) Rapports presentes a M. le Ministre de Commerce, de I' Industrie, des Pastes et des Telegraphes par les Inspecteurs du Travail. [Reports of the French Factory Inspectors.] La Question de I' Interdic- tion du Travail de Nuit. Paris, 1900. Late hours of work, as well as actual night work, are destructive to the health of girls and women. We have 136 Injuries from Late Overtime — France. had occasion more than once to observe the injurious effect of evening overtime. When night hours are added to those of the day's labor the result is overwork which directly saps the strength and promotes the craving for alcoholic stimulant. During an inquiry made in Mar^ seilles a number of sewing girls complained that after a certain number of evenings with late overtime they found it impossible to sleep. Though overcome by fatigue, they lay awake until early morning, when it was nearly time to go to work again. In consequence, they did not have the seven hours of sleep imperatively nec- essary for an adult. Failing to have restful nights after the day's work, insomnia supervenes with all its terrors. Sleep has so vast importance with regard to health that there is perhaps no function deserving of more serious consideration. Everything that interferes with the hy- giene of sleep is dangerous, because the equilibrium of the nervous system is imperiled. The overworked women who have been employed overtime in the evenings abso- lutely need the period of unemployment to re-establish their shattered health as best they may. (Pages 71-72.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes. [NigMwork for Women.] Geokges Alfassa. La Revue de Paris, Sept.-Oct., 1904. But night work is especially injurious when, in place of substituting it for day work it is added thereto; in other words, when, in addition to the day, there is even- ing work, as was the case in Paris before the law of 1892. ... They were kept until midnight, 2 a. m., sometimes all night. Such overtime working hours are extremely exhausting, for the workers have had no food since midday except some hasty mouthfuls in the early evening. (Pages 368 and 369.) Of what value can the sleep be that comes between 2 and 7 a. m. after an exhausting day and evening? Thus, aggravated by conditions more or less unhygienic, night J 137 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Germany. work for women has always resulted in deprivation of sleep. (Page 369.) LaVeillee: Abus et Responsabilites. [Overtime: Abtoses and Responsibilities.] Mme. A. Paul Juiu>e.ra.t, French Factory Inspector. Proceedings of the First International Conference of the Consumers' Leagues, Geneva, 1908. Those who have not seen clothing establishments in full activity can hardly imagine the dreadful fatigue and sapping of strength resulting from these days of frenzied speed. (Page 52.) The sewing girls, hurried on all sides, fingers trem- bling, are literally exhausted when their work is done. ... At seven, instead of going away to get supper, they are told "We will work overtime." They have lunched at noon, and since then have not left their chairs ; perhaps a bite was snatched at four; . . . without being able to send word home, they must resume work for the evening. . . . Eleven o'clock comes. . . . midnight. ... At one o'clock the poor sewing girl, thoroughly worn out, is not hungry, has but one wish — to sleep a little before beginning again the next day. Sometimes, at night, the last car has run, and the young woman has to go home on foot. (Page 54.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahres Berichten der Gewerbe Aufsichtsbeamten. XXI. 1896. [Official Information from Reports of the Germa/n Factory Inspectors.] Berlin, 1897. The complaints of laundrywomen in Beuel of bad conditions and overwork gave the inspector in Bonn opportunity to investigate the laundries. He found de- plorable conditions. . . . The hours of work were varied and often permitted grave abuses of the strength 138 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Germany. of employees. In some establishments . . . the hours of work were prolonged from midnight until 6 or even 8 of the following evening, or from 12 to 20 hours broken only by short and irregular pauses. Even if this only occurred two or three times a week it could not fail to injure the strongest constitution. Unfortunately it is impossible at present to interfere, as this industry does not come under the factory laws. Cologne. (Page 264.) Das Verbot der NacMarbeit. [The Prohibition of Night Work.] Report at the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. Db. Max Hibsoh. Jahrbuch der Gesetsgebung, Verwaltung, und Volk- wirtschaft, XXV. 1901. The dangers to health involved in night work and the other dangers inherent in many of the trades in which night work is practiced, reinforce each other, so that such trades are really extra-hazardous. . . . The effect of night work on the health of the worker depends chiefly on its duration, both as to the number of nights and in point of the number of hours in the twenty-four. . . . Any frequent interference with nature's plan of rest at night is harmful, but the evil increases with the increase in the number of hours, and becomes unendur- able when the working night is as long as the maximum working day. The thing to be considered, however, is not only the amount of actual night work, but also the length of the whole working period. . . . Even a short stretch of night work is clearly injurious when it follows after a long, or even a normal, working day. At this point the question of night work is complicated by that of long hours — ^which are universally held to be a menace to health. Prof. F. Erismann of Zurich, in his report on night work, makes special mention of "over-tiine" that extends into the night, and declares it to be a grievous exploitation of the workers. (Page 1263.) 139 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Germany. Drucksachen des Kaiserlichen Statistischen Amis, Abth. fur Arheiter Statistik, Erhebungen Nr. 3, Teil I. 1903. [German Imperial Office of Statistics, De- partment of Labor Statistics.] Uber die Arbeits- zeit der Gehilfen und Lehrlinge in Handelsge- werbe und kaufmdnnischen Betrieben. [On the Hours of Shop Assistants and Apprentices.] {In- vestigation made in 1901.) Berlin, 1904. The blame for many bad conditions mnst be ascribed to the absence of adequate legal restrictions on length of working time. So long as working hours are not limited, the employer does not meet extra work by bringing in extra help, but by overworking his staff by overtime . . . for the work must be done. (Page 34.) It is often hard to define "overtime". The line be- tween "working time" and "overtime" is not easily drawn unless "working time" is specifically limited by law. . . . The testimony shows that many business firms keep their employees busy until near midnight or even 1 a.m. Such overtime is often due to inadequate accommodation or to poor management, and disappears when these are improved. From Diisseldorf the reports stated that this excessive overtime, often persisting for months and running until late in the night, was com- plained of by all who were affected by it as the greatest hardship they had to endure. (Page 41.) Errmdung durch Berufsarbeit. [Occupational Fatigue.] Dr. Emil Eoth. Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Hygiene and Demogra- phy, Berlin, 1907. Vol. II. Sec. IV. My experience and observations do not permit me to feel any uncertainty in believing that the injury to health inflicted upon even fully capable workers by the special demands of a periodically heightened rush of work is never compensated for. Under this head we must con- 140 Injuries from Late Overtime. — Austria. sider the demands of all seasonal work, and those indus- tries where piece-work with overtime is the rule during several months in the year, as also the special rush sea- sons in shops, before Christmas, etc., etc. We observe toward the end of such periods a marked increase in the amount of sickness, and with a frequent repetition of forced drafts upon strength the injurious results can no longer be repaired by longer pauses, or reduction of hours, or diminished demands upon the working capacity. Similarly in laundries the overstrain of the last part of the week is so great that it cannot possibly be balanced by the relatively easier work of the first part. (Page 610.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation X legale. [Night Work of Women in Industry. Re- ports on its Importance and Legal Regulation.'] ; Preface hy ErtENNE Bauer. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie en Autriche. Ilsb VON Aelt. Jena, Fischer, 1903. What we have just said (regarding evils of night work) is equally applicable to establishments less im- portant than factories, with this added circumstance, that the fatigue arising from the day's work is increased by late overtime, making the task still more arduous. Here, after a day's work already too long, when, af- ter 12 or 14 hours of toil, "night work" must be ac- complished in addition, the body becomes incapable of enduring the more intensive demands which are unre- mittingly made upon it. This overtime is the most de- structive form of night work, and it is found in all those establishments that are not classed as factories. (Page 82.) . . . The suitable limits of working time vary with individuals but it is acknowledged that not only is a regu- larly long day of work injurious, but also that a single isolated instance of over-strain may be harmful to a 141 Injuries from Late Overtime. — ^Austria. woman all the rest of her life,— a fact that is of import- ance for workers in seasonal trades, and all the more so because the general ignorance of people as to hygiene for women gives no reason to anticipate any initiative for reform among the workers themselves. (Page 86.) Royaume de Belgique. Office du Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de I'Industrie dans les Pays Mrangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night- work of Women in Industry in Foreign Coun- tries.] Mattrice Ansiatjx. Brussels, 1898. Evening work is not prohibited in Austria in small establishments. It will be of very great interest to in- quire into the use made of this liberty. But it is dis- heartening to find that the development attained by au- thorized evening work is very great. It is especially at "Vienna that abuses are very num- erous, and sometimes very grave. Here, as elsewhere, it is a matter of additional or overtime work succeeding and superimposed upon the normal activity of the working day and prolonged to a late hour of the night: to midnight, 1 or 2 o'clock, and even later in some cases. M. von Klein recognized that the whole lot of working women subject to this overwork is very unhappy. (Page 178.) According to an official inquiry made in March and April, 1896, "the abuse varied in gravity according to trades. It must be recognized that in the majority of cases (the "inquiry extended to fifty-eight distinct trades") the evil was of wide extent. All the testimony given during the course of the inquiry had a monotonous and saddening similarity. Almost always, the evening work — during the season — continued until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. The next day it was necessary to be at work at an early hour, under penalty of a serious deduc- tion from wages." (Pages 18(V181.) 142 B. THE SPECIAL NEED OF PROHIBITING NIGHT WORK OF WOMEN 1. Greater Mortality Among Working Women. The physical differences between men and women are emphasized by statistics of the relative mortality and morbidity of the sexes. The most recent statistics show that the mortality of working women is far higher than that of working men, and also far higher than that of other women not at work. This excessive mortality of women coincides with the years of highest child bearing capacity, that is between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five years. Yet the excess of mortality cannot be ascribed to child bearing alone. Statistics prove that even where the birth rate is low, the mortality rate of working women still exceeds that of men. The dangers of industrial night work for women arise from their special physical organization taken in connec- tion with the strain incident to factory and similar work. Night work, therefore, which strains endurance to the utmost, is more disastrous to the health of women than of men, and entails upon them more lasting injury. 143 Greater Mortality of Women. — ^Gennany. {a) In Comparison With Workingmen. Krankheit und Soziale ' Lage. {Morbidity and Social Statiis.] Edited by Dti. M. Mosse amd Db. G. TxjGBiirDBfflicH. Der Einfluss der Sosialen Lage auf KranJcheit und Sterblichkeit der Frau [Influence of Social Status on the Morbidity and Mortality of Women.] Db. Wilhelm Weinberg. Berlin, Lehmann, 1913. . . . We find everywhere an increased morbidity among wage-earning women in comparison with wage- earning men. (Page 236.) We find a similar relation in the comparative mortal- ity figures from the Leipsic Sickness Fund. For every 100,000 persons the deaths for men and women are as fol- lows: Number of Deaths per 100.000 Persons. Age Gompulsory Members Voluntary Members Totals Group Men Women Men Women Men Women 15-20 274 307 2456 1402 286 339 20-25 463 493 4144 1516 493 556 25-30 492 601 1552 1414 520 691 30-35 587 657 1986 1303 565' 757 35-40 850 666 2031 1142 928 762 40-45 1126 726 2744 822 1260 749 45-50 1421 993 3375 1443 1604 1123 50-55 2032 1229 3013 1686 2135 1363 55-60 2622 1694 4208 2273 2830 1875 60-65 3589 1919 6769 2876 4088 2234 65-70 5475 3299 7039 3531 5819 4113 70-75 6654 4967 8415 6030 7224 5389 75 — 9546 5051 14035 13636 11663 9551 144 Gxeater Mortality of Women. — Germany. For the total number of members the mortality of women bore the following relation of that of men : Female Mortality for All Members of Fund Given in Percentages of Male Mortality. Ages Per cent. 15-20 119 20-25 113 25-30 133 30-35 115 35-40 82 40-45 99 45-50 70 50-55 63 55-60 66 60-65 55 65-70 71 70-75 73 Over 75 82 The excess of female mortality is thus seen to be concentrated in an even smaller space of years than the excess of morbidity. This, however, is true only for the wage earning mem- bers of the fund. We have now to inquire what the rela- tive figures are in the total population, and in the total female population. We shall first compare the female mortality in the Leipsic Sickness Fund given in percentages of the male mortality with the corresponding figures made up from the mortality statistics for all Germany and those re- corded separately for Prussia and Bavaria. 145 Greater Mortality of Women. — Germany. Female Mortality Given in Percentages of Male Mortality. Leipsic Sick- Mortality Rates for Age Groups ness Fund Germany Prussia Bavaria 15-30 119 92 99 104 103 90 76 68 71 74 84 90 94 88 85 100 95 70 72 86 95 96 97 97 30-35 25-30 113 133 30-35 115 35-40 83 104 40-45 99 45-50 70 77 50-55 63 55-60 66 76 60-65 55 65.70 71 88 70-75 73 95 Over 75 83 96 It appears then that among the members of the Fund, female mortality in comparison "vsdth male mortality shows a much sharper rise in the years of the activities of motherhood than among the total population, while after the change of life the female mortality is lower. This last phenomenon may perhaps be due to the fact that the women who continue in industry past this age have an especially strong physique. (Pages 237-238.) As the total result of the preceding facts we may affirm in spite of our defective statistical information that the influence of social station on the morbidity and mortality of women is considerable. The influence of factors making for morbidity is especially strong in the years of development and full maturity and is especially noticeable in women in whose case a heavy tax on the maternal functions coincides with the necessity to assist in the family support or to be chiefly responsible for it through their own industrial activity in addition to the duties of house-wife. We find therefore especially unfavorable circum- stances in the case of farmers' wives and the wives of farm laborers on the one hand and the case of factory workers and workingmen's wives on the other. Factory work in early youth and factory work for 146 Greater Mortality of Women. — United States. married women during the period of motherhood and especially in pregnancy is particularly unfavorable to health. (Page 257.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. XIV. Causes of Death Among Woman and Child Cotton Mill Operatives. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910 Washington, 1912. 1. The effect of cotton operative work upon health, as reflected in the death rate, differs widely between the sexes. For the thirty-year age period from 15 to 44, in which the majority of the operatives are found, the death rates of males and females in the general population are almost identical, the male rate being 6.19 and the female rate 6.18. A comparison of the death rates of male and female nonoperatives shows the rate for males to be 22 per cent in excess to that for females (male rate, 6.48; female rate, 5.31). When, however, the comparison is confined to the death rates of operatives the female rate shows an excess of 33 per cent over the male (male rate, 5.74; female, rate, 7.63) despite the younger ages of the female operatives. (Page 31.) In the nonoperative class it will be seen that the death rates for females are in most age groups below those of males. The groups 15 to 19 and 25 to 29 are exceptions, but here the excess for females is not great. For the group 15 to 44 as a whole the female death rate is 18 per cent below that of males. In the operative class, the death rates of females are in all age groups in excess of those of males, increasing to an excess of 104.1 per cent and 102.4 per cent in the groups 35 to 39 and 40 to 44, The significance of these comparisons should not be overlooked. The death rate of females, which outside of the cotton industry is considerably more favorable than 147 Greater Mortality of Women.— United States. that of males, in this industry in the period 35 to 44 is more than double that of males, and in the entire 15 to 44 group is one-third higher. If the death rates from tuberculosis only are com- pared, among the operatives the female rates for ages 15 to 44 are 21.7 per cent in excess of those of males, an excess being found in all groups except 20 to 24 and 4Q to 44, and rising to 188.3 per cent in the important age group 25 to 29. Among nonoperatives, on the other hand, the death rates for females are 39.7 per cent below those of males, the female rate being in excess in only two groups, 15 to 29, and 25 to 29. In similar manner the female death rates from non- tuberculous causes are in excess among the operatives, being about double those of males between 35 and 44, and slightly lower among the nonoperatives, the same tend- ency appearing in most of the age groups. (Page 75.) If the figures for Fall River for three years be regard- ed as representative, it will be seen that the death hazard to female operatives as a whole from all causes is about one-third greater than that to male operatives, in spite of the fact that the average age of the females is younger than that of the males. Looking at the two groups of death causes separately, the hazard to female operatives is plainly greater from nontuberculous causes than from tuberculous. (Page 78.) Death Bates from All Causes, Age Group 15 to 44, for Operatives and Nonoperatives, by Sex, Fall River and Three Cities (Fall River, Manchester, and Paw- tucket) . Operatives Nonoperatives Fall River: 1 year Males 6.93 5.74 7.10 Females 8.59 7.63 8.11 P. 79 Males 7.89 6.48 8.05 Females 4 99 3 years 5.31 8.14 Three cities: 1 year 148 Greater Mortality of Women. — United States. (6) In Comparison With Non-Operative Women. United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Report on Condition of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. XIV. Causes of Death Among Woman and Child Cotton Mill Operatives. 61st Congress 2nd Session, 1910. Washington, 1912. In the present study, for instance, when accurate mortality statistics for the country's chief cotton manu- facturing city were collected it was found that among female cotton operatives in the three age groups 15 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, and 35 to 44 years, the average an- nual deaths from tuberculosis per 1,000' were respectively two and one-quarter times, two and a half times, and five times as numerous as among women of the same age groups outside of the cotton industry. The female operatives in the first of these groups comprised one- half, in the second, one-third, and in the third, one-fourth of the total female population of the city within the speci- fied age groups, so that the high death rate from tuber- culosis cannot be ascribed to any peculiar and limited factors which might affect a small number, but must be taken as characteristic of the industry. Moreover, in each of the specified age groups there was a similar though smaller excess in the death rates from nontuber- culous causes among female operatives, as compared with the corresponding death rates among the female nonoperative population. It is evident that when the established death rates make such a showing as the above, if any investigator should declare, after due research, that debility was ex- traordinarily common among female cotton operatives as compared with female nonoperatives of the same age, the burden of disproving his assertion would be clearly placed upon the cotton industry. Or, if this could not be done, it would then be incumbent upon the industry either to show this excessive prevalence of ill health and extra- 149 Greater Mortality of Women.— United States. ordinarily high mortality among its female operatives was due to causes not connected with the cotton manu- facturing industry, or else to accept the responsibility for these highly undesirable conditions. (Pages 18-19.) In the age groups within which operatives and non- operatives are fairly comparable, female operatives have a decidedly higher death rate than nonoperatives. This is most marked in respect to tuberculosis, the death rate of female operatives from this cause being in general more than twice that of nonoperatives, and in some of the race and age groups running up to many times as high. Thus, in the age groups 15 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, and 35 to 44 years, the death rates from tuberculosis per 1,000 were, respectively, two and one-fourth times, two and one-half times, and five times those among women of the same age groups outside the cotton industry. An examination of different factors which might effect the death rate, especially from tuberculosis, such as native or foreign birth, tuberculous kindred or intimates, overcrowding, sanitary condition of homes, etc., fails to show any such massing of unfortunate conditions among the female operatives as would explain their unvarying higher death rate. Hence it seems impossible to escape the conclusion that operative work is prejudicial to the health of females, that the combination of operative work with matrimony is especially harmful, and that, while the gen- eral hazard of the female operative is greater than that of the nonoperative, she is in most danger from tuber- culosis. Whether the harmful effects of operative work are greater than those of other industrial employments, and whether they inhere in cotton textile work as a whole or are due to certain occupations carried on within the mills, are questions for further investigations to answer. This has established the fact of the high mortality among female cotton operatives and of their special susceptibil- ity to tuberculosis. (Pages 31-32.) Practically 50 per cent of the female operatives are found in the two groups, ages 15 to 19 and 20 to 24 years, 150 Grreater Mortality of Women. — United States. while only 18.2 per cent of the female nonoperatives are found in these age groups. This relative youthfulness of the operatives greatly increases the impressiveness of their high death rate. Of the female operative deaths 32.1 per cent occur between 15 and 25, during which period only 4.2 per cent of the female nonoperative deaths occur. (Page 70.) Comparing the death rates per 1,000 of female opera- tives and nonoperatives, the greatest excess, 96.1 per cent, appears in the 35 to 39 year group, which contains approximately one-twelfth of all the female operatives. In the age group 40 to 44 the excess in the operative rate is 91.5 per cent, but the group is numerically less import- ant, constituting only 5.8 per cent of all female opera- tives. In the most important age group 20 to 24, which contains 25.1 per cent of all female operatives, the excess in the operative death rates is 85 per cent, and in the next most important group, 15 to 19 years, containing 24.6 per cent of the female operatives, the excess is 72.3 per cent, (Page 70.) Both male and female operatives show a greater rela- tive mortality from tuberculosis than non-operatives, but the difference is much greater among female than among male. Among female nonoperatives it will be noted that the highest proportions of tuberculous deaths are found in the age groups 15 to 19 and 20 to 24, although such deaths are fewer than in the next two groups, the reason being, of course, that other deaths are numerous at these early ages. Among the female operatives of the same ages, deaths from other causes are much more num- erous, and consequently, though the tuberculous deaths are twice or more than twice as numerous as among non- operatives, the percentage they form of the total deaths is by no means proportionately greater. (Page 71.) For the female operatives the death rate per 1,000 is in all groups and classes save one (nontuberculous deaths, 25 to 29 years) largely in excess of that for female non- operatives. The rates, however, from tuberculosis show an extraordinary excess. This, in the important age 151 Grreater Mortality of Women. — ^Prance. groups 15 to .19, 20 to 24 and 25 to 29, the excess in the tuberculous rate for female operatives is respectively, 102.7, 153.5, and 164.9. The rates from nontuberculous causes are in the most important age groups, IS to 19, and 20 to 24, over 50 per cent in excess of those for non- operatives. In considering the period 15 to 44 years as a whole, the massing of operatives in the youngest groups, where death rates would normally be low, must always be borne in mind. Were operatives, and especial- ly female operatives, equally distributed among the age groups, the excess of the operative over the non- operative death rate among females would be even greater than it is now and the nonoperative excess among males might disappear altogether. (Page 73.) When the death rates found to prevail in the 5-year age groups of the non-operative population are applied to a population distributed as to age in the same manner as in the female operative population, the difference be- • tween operative and nonoperative death rates are in- creased. Thus, in the age group 15 to 44 the tuberculous death rate per 1,000 for female operatives was 1.95 in excess of that of female nonoperatives, the nontubercu- lous rate was 1.21 in excess, and the rate from all causes was 3.16 in excess, representing an annual excess for the entire female operative population of 35 deaths. (Page 74.) Morbidity and Mortality according to Occupation. Db. Jacques BEBTiLiLOiir, Chief of the Municipal Statis- tical Department of Paris. [Trans, from the Journal de la Societe de Statistique de Paris, Octo- ber-November, 1892.] Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, December, 1892. Women between 20 and 45 show a considerably great- er morbidity than men of the same age ; above 45 their rate approaches that of the men. At least it is so in the Lyons Silk-Workers' Society, in the Italian societies, 152 Greater Mortality of Women. — France. and (as far as can be judged from a table in wbich there is no distinction of age) in the Vienna Arbeiter-Casse. At the same time it should be noted that among the Lyons silk-workers not only the morbidity but also the mortal- ity* of females is considerably above that of the males, whereas the opposite holds good with the population as a whole. It is thus at least permissible to enquire whether there be not some peculiarity in this employment whidi is hurtful to the health of the women engaged in it. The Italian table, which includes a great number of occupa- tions, also brings out a higher rate of morbidity for women than for men, and their mortality at each age (calculated, however, from too small a number of cases) is greater than that of the men. 153 Greater Mortality of Women. — France Table II. Comparative Morbidity of the Two Sexes. Lyoui Silk Workers Italian Societies (1881-1885) (1878-1889) (Corrected figures.) Morbidity. Mortality . Morbidity. Mortality. Age of the Annual average members number of Days of Deaths per Days of Deaths per members sickness per annum per sickness annum per annum per 1000 per annum 1000 member. members per member. members. Years. Mas. Fern. Mas. Fem. Mas. Fem. Mas. Fem. Mas. Fem 18 and 19 96 479 1.76 2.18 20-24 607 3897 3.06 6.37 13.0 10.2 5.0 7.8 6.3 . . . • 25-29 1481 6100 3.40 7.49 5.4 9.3 5.4 8 5.9 9.1 30-34 2507 7377 3.37 7.64 6.4 9.2 5.1 8.9 6.2 10.7 35-39 8259 8209 4.82 7.62 6.4 8,9 6.0 7 7 7.8 8.1 40-44 3442 8161 5.29 7.64 10.2 6.2 6.2 9.3 9.2 10.0 45-49 8569 7720 5.89 8.12 31.8 13.5 6.8 8.2 11.6 8.9 50-64 3314 6429 8.04 9.58 20.2 14 3 7.9 9.3 14.9 14.1 55 59 2964 5021 8.38 11.01 19.5 21.9 9.2 9.7 32.2 15.9 60-64 2623 3795 11.15 14.52 40.7 41.9 11.2 10.0 32.5 .... 65-69 1956 2617 16.73 18.57 67.0 55.0 13.4 8.2 50.4 70-74 999 1146 19.76 24.48 88.0 85.4 14.7 73.6 .... Above 75 378 366 26.90 80.87 148.0 161.0 13 4 .... Average 27093 61317 7.81 9.39 23.4 17.6 6.6 8.5 11.7 10.7 The tables of the Vienna Arbeiter-Casse point also to the fact that the morbidity of women (526 cases and • The general mortality of the women (without distinction of age) Is, on the other hand, less than that of men, while the mortality at each age is greater. To explain this apparent anomaly, it is sufficient to consider the first two columns in Table II: it will be seen that nearly half the women (42 per cent) are under 40 years of age, whilst only a quarter (26 per cent) of the men are under 40. The female members being younger, it is not surprising that their general mortality is lower than that of the men, although their mortality at any particular age is greater. 154 Greater Mortality of Women. — Germany. 9,255 days of sickness per annum per 1,000 women) is above that of men (427 cases and 8,366 days). (Pages 564-565.) Handbuch der Medizinischen Statistih. [HoMdbooh of Medical Statistics.] Db. Fbibdbich Pbinzing. Jena, Fischer, 1906. As to the danger to life to women in industry the statistics are scanty : those of the Austrian sick insurance offices for 1891-95 are almost the only figures that offer considerable material as to women in industry on this point (mortality). According to them, the women en- gaged in industrial labor not only have a far higher mortality than working men, but also their mortality between the ages of 15-50 years is higher than that of the remaining female population. Compared with men, the mortality of working women between 15-60 years is as 100 (men) to 109 (women). (Page 492.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. Rapports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night Work of Women in Industry: Re- ports on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by ETiENi. London, King, 1904. From this it is evident that protection is viewed favourably by many employers, on the specific ground that it prevents systematic overtime. On the whole, they are of the opinion that nightwork is harmful to women, and that after overtime the next day's work suifers. Some are doubtful whether they would employ women at night even if the law permitted it. Nightwork, they as- 250 Dangers of the Streets at Night. — Germany. sert, is unfit for women, not merely on account of the harm to health, but because of the insult and temptation to which they are exposed in going home. Whether these views would have been held so generally before the pass- ing of the Factory Acts it is' not possible to say ; probably the results have justified the Act, and experience has provided moral reasons for legal limitations. (Page 82.) Female Labour in New South Wales. Abstract of "New South Wales : Census and Industrial Returns Act of 1891." Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. LV. 1892. Millinery is a much more attractive trade; the work is lighter, and the hours of labor (usually 9 A. M. to 6 P. M. and 1 P. M. on Saturdays) appear to be strictly ob- served. This last point is a serious consideration with parents, who prefer to apprentice their girls to this trade, knowing they will not be compelled to return home alone at almost any time of night. (Page 490.) Report of the New Zealand Department of Labour, 1897. That girls and women should be compelled by over- time work to return to their homes late at night is most undesirable, not only from the temptations and annoy- ances to which they are thereby subjected, but also for the home itself left too long neglected or unvisited. (Page iii.) Jahresberichte der Jc. bayerischen Fabrik und Gewerbe- Inspektoren fur das Jahr 1901. [Report of the Royal Bavarian Factory Inspectors for 1901.] The overlong evening working hours, resulting from the exceptions permitted by the law as overtime react harmfully upon the health of the women. Beside that, young women, returning late at night to their homes are exposed to insult and danger. (Page 8.) 251 D. Bad Effect of Nl^bt Work on General Welfare. 1. Night Work Destroys Family Life. Nightwork inevitably destroys the family life which is essential for the welfare of the nation. Women who work at night and try to make up sleep by day must inevitably neglect domestic duties. They are deprived of the benefits of family intercourse and of aU oppor- tunities for recreation. This must necessarily react disastrously upon the community as well as upon the in- dividual. For the deterioration of any large portion of the population inevitably lowers the entire community, physically, mentally and morally. British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Workers Committee. Memorandum No. 4. Em- ployment of Women. London, 1916. [Signed on Behalf of the Committee by Sib George Newman, M.D., Chairman.] In some factories the majority of the women employed at night are married, and many of them express a prefer- ence for their work, because it leaves them free for domestic work during the day. In thus undertaking double duties their zeal may easily outrun their strength, and factory and home equally may suffer. (Page 9.) Report of the Connecticut Bureau of Labor on The Con- ditions of Wage-Earning Women and Girls, 1916. Many of the women who work nights are married. In fact numbers of married women apply for employment because with the chance to labor at night they can make 252 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — United States. a very good weekly income and find time during the day to attend to their household duties. There is a grave question in the minds of the employers in Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven and elsewhere whether it is to the best interests of the factories themselves and the workers to grant this request of the married women. As far as the industry is concerned, the product turned out by these women compares favorably with the work of the unmarried, but as far as the social or moral side is to be considered, there is no doubt that the employment of married women at night naturally entails some neglect of the household duties during the day. This brings in a sociological problem. Where the woman has a mother or a sister, aunt or some older children who can take care of the house and keep it in order, there is not much harm done. In the case of the child, however, there is certainly an addition of a burden which ought not to be upon her shoulders. It is an unfortunate and not uncom- mon occurrence where women are working to find girls of 11 and 12 and older, coming back from school and prac- tically doing a woman's work, and taking care of the younger children, of whom there is always a large num- ber, getting ready the supper, and doing the various household duties, etc. This takes away from the physical and mental strength of the child. It would be interesting data to learn how these children stand in their school studies in comparison with others not so burdened. Again, where there is not any girl able to assume this duty and there are small children ranging from two to five in number, it is possible the husband and father does not receive his proper share of attention. Very likely the children suffer also. (Pages 131-132.) 253 Night "Work Destroys Family Life.— United States. The Necessity for Factory Legislation in the South. Hayes Eobbins, Dean, Institute of Social Eco- nomics, New YorTc. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. XX. July, 1902. Where all the family work by turns in the mill, the results are shockingly demoralizing. . . . Let me quote a paragraph from a discussion of factory evils in the South, just published this month, by Rev. J. A. Bald- win, of Charlotte, N. C, a special student of these prob- lems. Where part of the family work by day and part by night, he says : "The mother has to get up at 4.30 in the morning to get breakfast for the day hands, so they can be at the mUl at six; then the night hands come and eat about seven. She has to have dinner for the day hands strictly at twelve. The night hands get up and eat from four to five, so as to be ready to go to work for the night at six ; S'he also gives them a lunch to be eaten at midnight. Then the day hands get out at six and have supper about seven. Besides this, there is house-cleaning, washing and ironing, sewing and often the care of little children. . . . The mills usually run sixty-six hours per week at night ; that is, the operatives work twelve hours from Monday to Friday night inclusive, and on Saturday get up about two o'clock (before they have had enough sleep) to go to work at three. They then work until nine, at night. As a matter of fact it is usually ten or eleven when they get out. ' ' Night work is much worse in summer than in winter. In the winter they go to bed, cover up and sleep soundly. In summer it is diflScult to sleep on account of light, heat, flies and noise. In summer, while they usually go to bed, it is a very familiar sight to see them lying across the bed with their work clothes on, or on a pallet in the pass- age or on the porch. Their sleep is fitful and unsatisfying, and they never feel Bright and fresh from the beginning to the end of the week. 254 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — United States. . . . Night work for women and children ought to be absolutely prohibited. It is, almost everywhere else, even in Russia, This would practically force either the employment of men only in night work, or else its aboli- tion altogether. I would not deny that there may some-= times be good economic reasons for night work, at least in rush times, but it should be done by men if at all, never by women and children." (Page 186.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Re- port on Conditions of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. I. Cotton Textile Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session. 1910. Mill No. 2, North Carolina: This man and his wife both work at night. They sleep most of the day and do little housework. They eat cold victuals and the chil- dren look unkempt and uncared for. The children go to the mill at night to sleep on the floor and in boxes except when the sister, Mrs. -, comes to stay with them. Mill No. 4, North Carolina: All of this family ex- cept the 7 year old lad work at night. Even this little boy goes to the mill and sleeps on the rolls of cotton. The father says he does not want to take the boy to the mill, and has been trying to get him to stay with one of the neighbors at night, and he has stayed with neighbors a few times, (Page 293.) AmtUche Mittheilungen aus den Jahresherichten der mit Beaufsichtigung der Fahriken hetrauten Beamten, IX. 1884. [Reports of the German Factory In- spectors, 1884.] Above all else, however, the physical well-being of the worker demands the strictest possible avoidance of night work. One who works at night must rest by day, but this, 255 Night Work Destroys Family Life.— Germany. in the close quarters of working people is almost impos- sible, especially in summer. The worker shortens her time of rest in order to attend to family duties and her health suffers gradual injury. (Page 428.) Handbuch der Arbeiterkrankungen. [Handbook of Dis- eases among Working People.] Die Krankheiten der Backer. [Diseases of Bakers.] Db. Epstein. Jena, Fischer, 1908. It cannot be asserted that the prohibition of night- work brings about any lasting, or even any appreciable, rise in the price of bread. And on the other hand it is established that the results for the workman bakers are most happy. Everyone in Norway admitted, at the time of the debates on the last law, in 1906, that since the reform the situation of the workmen had undergone considerable improvement from all points of view. In Italy, too, it seems that the leaders of the workmen were justified in seeing in the suppression of night work something like the redemption of their class; the work- men feel it to be so, for they are bent on retaining the system of day labor for which they fought so long. . . . They have the sensation] of liberty recovered; they have become like other workmen, able to join in domestic and social life. ... At Parma, the 250 workman bakers have been work- ing by day for the last seven years (since June 16, 1902). At first — so we are told by the former secretary of the Federation, Ennio Astorri — the workmen had as it were the sensation of a new life, and they let themselves go in the enjoyment of it; the number of drunkards increased rapidly. But by the end of a few months they had taken on new habits: lecture courses were arranged for them; a number of them married ; and the number of drunkards fell far below what it had been at the time of nightwork. The official inquiry of 1906 ascertained also that the num- 256 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — Germany. ber of illiterates diminished rapidly, because the work- men were able to attend evening schools. (Pages 256- 257.) The same thing happened in Turin where the system of day work has been in effect among more than two thousand workmen for the last three or four years. The secretary of the local union, Carlo Bobba, described to us with profound and enthusiastic conviction the surprising effects of the reform. The bloody brawls, the stabbings and the debauches formerly so frequent had in large measure disappeared. . . . The number of mar- riages had increased, and it had been a surprising sight to see confirmed bachelors marrying now that they saw that it was possible for them to have real home life. In 1907 five workman bakers between eighteen and twenty- five years of age had carried off first prizes at the evening schools. In the same year, some one was directed by the minister to look into the results of day work at Turin. He addressed himself to the municipality and the police, and he was informed that the arrests of bakers addicted to "La mala vita" — the evil life — ^had diminished by sixty per cent. Again, the deputy Bertesi said to Bobba: "I should never have believed that day work would so trans- form a class of workmen. ' ' We ourselves had seen them often in the evenings, peaceful, in the great hall of their union, where formerly there had been continual disputes; and Dr. Abba, director of the bureau of hygiene of Turin, has confirmed our judgment as to this veritable transfor- mation. (Pages 258-259.) Encyclopedie d'Hygiene et de Medicine Publique. Edited by Dr. Jules Roohaed. Vol. 6. Le Travail des Enfants et des Femmes dans I' Industrie. [Indus- trial Labor of Women and Children.] De. Alex- ander Layet. Paris, Delahaye, 1894. In protective legislation for women and children the interests of the family shotild be prominent. ... In this regard night work is to be condemned above all else, 257 Night Work Destroys Family Life.— France. not less because of its fatal consequences to the health of women, than because of grave objections upon grounds of public morality and family hygiene. It completes and assures physical overstrain in depriving the organism, already fatigued by the activities of the day, of recupera- tive rest ; it prolongs the time spent in a vitiated atmos- phere where industrial operations are continually going on, and it lowers organic resistance to disease. (Page 721.) Rapports presentes a M. le Ministre de Commerce, de I'Industrie, des Posies et des TelegrapTies, par les Inspecteurs du Travail. [Reports of the French Factory Inspectors.'] La Question de I'lnterdic- tion du Travail de Nuit. [The Question of Pro- hibiting Night Work.] Paris, 1900. From the point of view of wholesome organization of family life the evening overtime endangers or destroys the morals of young girls so that this overtime is almost worse than regular night work. . . . she must prac- tically renounce her family. (Pages 84-85.) L' Inter diction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie Frangaise. [The Prohibition of Night Work for Women in French Industry.] A. Chazal. Paris, Pedone, 1902. A labor inspector deplores the physical and moral effects of overtime evening work : ' ' The amount of work required during 12 hours is indeed for girls and women an effort which' they can frequently renew, only at the price of their health. . . . From the point of view of the family, overtime work in the evening is detrimental ; first, for young girls who escape thus the oversight of parents and who are exposed to the dangers of the street ; secondly, to women and to mothers whose presence at home is so necessary." (Pages 99l1(X).) 258 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — France. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes et V Interdiction de I'Em- ploi de la Ceruse et du Phosphore blanc, Congres de Cologne, 1902. [Night Work of Women cmd the Prohibition of the Use of White Lead and White Phosphorus. Congress of Cologne, 1902.] Geok^es Alpassa. Revue d'^conomie Politique, Paris, XVII. 1903. All reports are of one accord in their testimony to the difficTilties and dangers which are presented by the night work of women, both from the social and from the moral standpoint. . . . The absence of the mother disor- ganizes the household. In the matter of morals the re- sults are very plain to be seen. So far as the young work- ing-women are concerned, family guidance and authority are quite out of the question, especially in the large num- ber of cases in which night work is decided upon at the last minute. The young girls have too easy an excuse to give when they come home at very late hours ; the report of M. Grermain Martin, already referred to, gives many examples on this point. Even in the case of married women the regime is fatally sure to produce bad effects, as any regime would that kept the wife constantly apart from her husband. (Page 638.) Le Travail de Nuit des Adolescents dans I'Industrie Frangaise. [Night Work of Young Persons in French Industries.] Questions Pratiques de Legis- lation Ouvriere et d'Sconomie Sociale. Vol VI. 1904. E. Campkedon. Of all the disturbances wrought by industry in family life, none is deeper or more serious than that which is caused by the night work of children and women. Not only is there no reunion of the family life, such as we find at night-fall in the country; not only is there no peaceful evening. ... to give courage for the next day's work, but instead of this sweet comfort of the home we find a demoralizing promiscuity, in the intimacy of 259 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — Switzerland. night, with fellow-workers some of whom may be the bad sheep that contaminate the flock. (Page 233.) Le Travail de Nuit dans la Boulangerie. [Night-work in Bakeries.] Maxtrice Boxjteloup. Paris, Larose, 1909. " It is really shocking to one 's ideas of civilization to see the labor force exploited as it is in consequence of the unlimited working-day (amounting in thousands of cases, to sixteen or eighteen hours). This unbridled ex- ploitation is aggravated by nightwork, which tends to prolong the working time and which, in conjunction with the unhygienic situation of the ovens, is ruinous to the health of the workers, shortens their lives, is detrimental to their morals and their intellectual development, and impedes or entirely prevents family life. Nightwork is all the more to be condemned because it does not answer to any imperative need of the people, but has its origin in competition among employers." (Prom a resolution adopted by the International Congress of Workman Bakers held at Stuttgart, August 24 and 25, 1907. ) ( Page 70.) Die Gberbiirdung der Arbeiterinnen und Kinder in Fa- briken. [The Overwork of Women and Children in Factories.} Report at the 58th Congress of German Naturalists and Physicians, Strassburg, 1886. Dr. F. Schuler, Siviss Factory Inspector. Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift fur ofentliche Ge- sundheitspflege. Vol. XVIII. 1886. Our first claim must emphatically be the prohibition of night work for women. Quite aside from all the rea- sons adduced by physiologists in condemnation of night work it is the universal opinion of the workers that night work is more exhausting than day work. Employers find 260 Night Work Destroys Family Life.— Switzerland. it more expensive, as output is poorer in quality and less in quantity while maintenance cost is the same. The women gain no advantage from higher pay be- cause extra food must be bought for the night. It is useless to speak of sufficient rest by day with all the noise and commotion of life going on. Not seldom, in the evening, stimulants must be resorted to to keep up the spirits. How the whole order of family life is thrown out of gear by night work needs no emphasis. (Page 126.) Fabrikhygiene und Fahrikgesetsgebung. [Factory Hy- giene and Legislation.] Db. Fridolin Schuleb, Swiss Factory Inspector. Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, Vienna, 1887. Vol. I. Reports of the Hygiene Sections, No. XIV. . . . The workers detest nightwork, because it is more exhausting. Day sleep is less refreshing. The num- ber of meals necessary in the family budget is increased, extra cooking must be done, and the family order and system are disjointed. Night product is inferior; acci- dents are more numerous; machines suffer more dam- age ; drunkenness increases and a lower moral standard is established by night work. Switzerland does not hesi- tate to condemn it, and she has put a stop to it even in many industries where other countries regard it as indis- pensable. (Page 38.) Zur Fraqe der Nachtarheit in den B acker eien. Mitge- teilt von der Sosialen Kduferliga der Schweis. [The Question of Night Work in Bakeries. Swiss Consumers' League.] Zeitschrift fur Schweizer- ische Statistik, XVII. Jahrgang, 1911. The great majority of master bakers and their wives, both in city and country, and a still greater number of workmen, would be glad to see the government prohibit 261 ; Night Work Destroys Family Life. — Italy. nightwork in their trade. . . . One baker's wife said: "The children are not brought up at all except with beatings; for the father is restless, nervous, low- spirited and in need of sleep, and for every disturbance of his day's sleep wife and children must suffer. Be- sides, a man does poorer work and less of it when he works at night. As soon as people have adjusted them- selves to it, the prohibition of night work will make for a better and bigger output, and — ^what is most important — it will bring about healthier living conditions, a better kind of family life, and finally the emergence of a really good and capable lot of workmen. If many of the work' men now are unsatisfactory and unsatisfied, one cannot hold it up against them, for it is simply the fault of nightwork. Those employers who have given up night- work think themselves fortunate in being rid of it." (Pages 285-286.) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio. Ufficio del lavoro. IncMesta sul lavoro notturno del for- nai. [Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. Bureau of Labor. An Investigation of Nightwork in Bakeries.] Rome, 1906. The state of mind prevalent among bakers tends to make them an anti-social class of beings. I shall not go into the question of criminality, mental disorders, etc.; I will merely point out that the absence of the stimu- lating effect of sunlight, the separation from the rest of humankind and the enforced renunciation of the benefits of social life — all these things result in a continual de- pression of spirits which works a complete change in the psychic life and often drives these men to suicide. (Page 19.) All these facts and considerations go a long way towards proving that the evils which put the bakery trade in the class of exhausting and unwholesome occupations and raise the death rate and the number of illnesses to such appalling dimensions, are not evils inherently and 262 Night Work Destroys Family Life. — Italy. indissolubly bound up with the trade itself, but are the outcome of extraneous and unnecessary circumstances, and therefore can be and ought to be removed, or at least greatly reduced. (Page 19.) The baker sleeps little as a rule, and the sleep he does get is a troubled kind of sleep, broken by noises that go on in the house and out of doors. He goes back to work in the evening without having had the rest he needed. Thus his body is often weakened, his health is broken, his spirits are dulled — and he becomes defenseless against the most dreaded diseases. His nervous weak- ness, too, makes him subject to violent reactions from even the slightest stimulation, since his inhibitory cen- tres have, as it were, ceased to function. And all this is encouraged by the fact that his man- ner of life makes it difficult for him to have a family. He is often driven to seek distraction and forgetfulness of his abnormal life in violent pleasures ; or he turns to easier amours ... as a substitute for the comforts of family life. (Pages 21-22.) 263 2. Night Woek Militates Against Eitobts to Pbomotb Education and to Beduoe IiiUTEitACY. Night work and late overtime hours prevent the work- ers from taking advantage of the educational opportuni- ties offered by enlightened communities, such as evening Bchools, public lectures, libraries, etc. This loss is particularly disastrous for the foreign- bom. In 1910 thirteen million Americans over 10 years of age were foreign-born. Ahnost three millions, or one in every four, could not speak English. Between 1911 and 1914 the additional immigration aggregated about three millions. A large proportion of these millions are employed in industry, especially in the great manufacturing establishments, such as the iron and steel mills, munition plants, textile factories, etc. Throughout the country there is increasing recogni- tion that the prime necessity for the immigrant is Amer- icanization, that is, opportunity for acquiring the ability to speak and read the English language, and to become acquainted with American institutions. Americanization is the paramount need not alone for the immigrant but for the very existence of the Republic. Unless the millions of immigrants present and future are made an integral part of the population, understanding our institutions, sharing the standards and ideals of the democracy, the nation itself is imperilled. Learning English is the key to citizenship. It is in- dispensable for the adoption of American standards of 264 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — ^United States. living; for a participation in the life of the community. Ignorance of the English language is the greatest obsta- cle to industrial advancement. It prevents the distribu- tion of congested immigrant populations. It increases the dangers of industrial accidents, injuries and occu- pational diseases, owing to the immigrants' inability to understand orders or hygienic regulations printed or orally given in industrial establishments. "English for safety" is the latest slogan of the safety campaign. The growing recognition of the need of Americaniza- tion has resulted in a country-wide movement to provide evening schools to teach English and give special instruc- tion on American institutions. Federal, state and city authorities are urging increased appropriations for these special facilities. Obviously this whole program of Americanization is endangered by night work and late overtime. New York State Department of Labor. Report of the Commissioner of Labor. Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Industries and Immigration. 1913. General Problems. — The importance of providing for the welfare of our alien residents, for their own protec- tion and health and for their intelligent and normal assimilation cannot be overestimated. Over 2,700,000 persons, or nearly 30 per cent, of our total population, are foreign born whites. Over 700,000 of the male resi- dents of voting age are unnaturalized. In the last decade nearly 840,000 new immigrants have settled in this State. The dormant power for future good or evil of this addi- tion to our population is enormous. Only in so far as 2^5 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. these prospective citizens receive protection in the early stages of assimilation will they respect our laws and form of government when later the duties, powers and obligations of citizenship are conferred upon them. To this vast internal problem of adjustment should be added the faxst that in 1912 over 750,000 aliens passed through the Port of New York in going to or coming from other States. (Page 4.) Education of the Immigrant. — The educational needs of the immigrant require special study and attention. Only ttirough his early familiarity with the English lan- guage and a knowledge of our ideals of government can he be properly assimilated. In a survey of educational work bearing on the assimilation of adult aliens, the North American Civic League, with the co-operation of the Bureau, found that night schools where English was taught to foreigners were maintained last year in thirty- one cities and towns. The attendance at such English to Foreigners' classes for New York City was 14,334 and for the rest of the State 6,660, making a total of 25,000 for the entire State. Approximately 300,000 adult immi- grants entered the State during the same period of time, so that only one in every twelve was entered in these English night classes. Nineteen cities in the State . . . with a population ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 and with a foreign born population varying from 1,000 to 7,000 are without any public night classes where immigranta can acquire the ability to speak the English language. Seventeen other cities and towns with populations vary- ing from 2,500 to 10,000 and foreign bom populations in excess of 1,000 also lack any night school facilities. . . , In the thirty-one cities and towns throughout the State where the local school authorities maintain evening classes in English to foreigners, the average length of the session is 60 nights for the year. . . . Evening schools are generally maintained from October to March, which is the period of lightest immigration and the busiest months for general factory work. During the spring and summer, when the hours of work in cities 266 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. and towns are shortest and immigration is usually heavi- est, the evening schools are generally closed, As a result, the sessions do not approximate the heaviest periods of immigration. . . . The immigrant should receive special instruction to meet his peculiar iieeds and limitations. Through the study of English and civics his interest in our form of government will be developed and he will be prepared for thorough assimilation. The Bureau can aid by keep- ing him in constant touch with all the State's sources of information, education, enlightenment and healthy en- joyment. (Pages 68-69.) Massachusetts House Documents. No. 2300. 1914. Re- port of the Commission on Immigration on the Problem of Immigration in Massachusetts. The problem of immigration presents two fundamen- tal considerations — the welfare of the State and the wel- fare of the immigrant. While that of the State is un- questionably paramount, the welfare and destiny of both are linked inseparably. Throughout its investigations and its report the attention of this commission has neces- sarily been focussed on the immigrant, but the nature of its investigations as well as its recommendations have been determined primarily by the interest of the State. The State being made up of individual units, it is the moral, intellectual and physical stamina of these units that determine its character and stability. There- fore the healthful development of these units is of su- preme importance to the preservation of the Common- wealth. The State must, at whatever cost, prevent the lowering of its moral, mental and physical standards, — the inevitable result of overwork, underpay, unregulated housing in overcrowded tenements. By provision and enforcement of an adequate plan of education it must dispel the ignorance which begets prejudice, makes the uninformed the victims of reckless agitation, and substi- 267 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. tutes violence for constitutional methods of securing re- dress. (Pages 13-14.) Education. Education is and must always be a most important factor in the solution of the many difficulties and mis- understandings that come with a highly complex popula- tion. . . . For the most part, only through special instruction in the evening schools can the adult immigrant be given the opportunity to learn English, to supplement his inadequate training and to prepare for naturalization. Knowledge of English a First Requisite. To speak English and to understand it is the vital need of the immigrant. Self -protection requires this: social safety demands it; without it assimilation is im- possible; upon it depends the realization of the obliga- tions, privileges, and rights of American citizenship. . . . To the diffusion of this knowledge the Common- wealth should address itself with promptness and energy. The arrival of from 70,000 to 100,000 newcomers each year, most of whom are unable to speak English, and con- sequently — ^if neglected or ignored — are subject to the abuses, the misdirection, the prejudices of exploiters and irresponsible agitators — cannot but strain the social fab-, ric to the breaking point. (Page 114.) The following table, compiled from the United S+cStes Census reports, shows the number unable to read and write in any language. These figures are based not on tests given by the census emmaerations, but on the state- ment of the people themselves as to whether they were able to read and write. It may therefore be assumed that the census figures understate rather than overstate the numbers. 268 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. Table 15. — Number and Per Cent, of Persons in Massa- chusetts Fifteen Years of Age and Over Unable to Eead and Write in Any Language in 1910, 1900 and 1890. Per Cent. Unable to Bead and Number of Peraons Fit- Write of Total teen Years of Age and Population Fit- Over Unable to Bead teen Years of and Write. Age and Over, 1910 1900 1890 1910 1900 1890 All classes 140,844 132,501 118,877 5.7 8 5 6.8 Native white of native parentage 3,302 3.759 4,053 .4 .5 .S Native white of foreign or mixed parentage 5,523 6,523 6,107 .9 1.8 16 Foreign-born white 129.064 118,527 100,733 13.0 15.1 16 8 According to these figures the per cent, of those un- able to read and write has decreased among both the native and the foreign-born, but there has been an abso- lute increase from 132,501 unable to read and write in 1900 to 140,844 in 1910, for which the foreign-born are entirely responsible. Ignorance of English on the part of an increasingly large proportion of the foreign-born has made this whole problem of illiteracy a much more serious one, so that the fact that the number of foreign- born whites in Massachusetts unable to speak the English language increased from 24 per 1,000 population in 1890 to 27 per 1,000 in 1900, and 51 per 1,000 in 1910, is of special significance. How many have been added to this non-Etnglish speak- ing group since 1910 can be estimated from the annual reports of the United States Commissioner of Immigra- tion. Of the immigrants who arrived during the year ending June 30, 1911, and gave Massachusetts as their destination, 53,635 belonged to the non-English speaking races; during the next year the number was slightly larger, — 54,964 — ^while in the year ending June 30, 1913, 85,347 who belonged to the non-English speaking races came to Massachusetts. According to these figures, 193,946 immigrants of non-English speaking races have come to the State since 1910, when there were, according 269 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. to the census, 171,014 foreign-born white persons ten years of age and over unable to speak English. How rapidly this number of people, very few of whom knew English on their arrival, will acquire the language can- not be predicted. The investigations of the conunission showed that of 1,224 immigrants from whom personal history schedules were secured, 504, or 41 per cent., had learned to speak English, while of those who had been here less than three years only 14.8 per cent, were able to do this. . . . During the school year 1910-1911, when the report of the United States Census and the report of the Commis- sioner-General of Immigration showed more than 224,000 non-English speaking persons in Massachusetts, the an- nual per capita expenditure for their education was less than $1. With this wholly inadequate expenditure, 60,- 785 were enrolled in the evening schools, and the actual average attendance was 25,483. Of this pitifully inade- quate enrolment about one-third were in the evening high school and industrial classes, so that, when approxi- mately 224,000 represented the number of non-English speaking persons in Massachusetts, the total enrolment in the elementary evening classes was less than 45,000, and the average attendance about 17,000. Dnring the year 1912-1913, of the 85,347 additional non-English speaking immigrants who came to Massa- chusetts, approximately 64,456 were over fourteen years of age. During that year the increase in the evening school enrolment was only 1,454, and the utterly inade- quate expenditure of the previous year was decreased. (Pages 118-121.) Report of the Commission of Immigration of the State of N'ew Jersey, 1914. Of the States receiving the largest number of newly- arrived immigrants each yeai-. New Jersey ranks fifth; those receiving larger numbers being New York, Pennsyl- vania, Massachusetts and Illinois. About five per cent. 270 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — ^United States. of the total immigration is destined to this State, al- though New Jersey in point of area ranks among the smaller States. . . . New Jersey also ranks fifth in the nxmaber of foreign- born whites at present residing in the State, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Illinois having respec- tively a larger foreign-born population. Rhode Island leads the list of those States having the largest percen- tage of foreign-born residents, its foreign-born popula- tion being 32.8 per cent, of its total population, while New Jersey is fifth in rank with a foreign population of 26 per cent. . . . (Page 12.) Passaic with 28',467 foreign-born whites, representing 52 per cent, of its total population, has the largest pro- portion of foreign-bom whites of all the principal cities of the United States. Lawrence, Massachusetts, has the second largest proportion with 48i.l per cent.; Perth Amboy is third with 44.5 per cent. Throughout the en- tire United States there are only twelve cities in which the foreign-born whites constitute more than 40 per cent. of the total population; two of these, holding first and third place in rank are in New Jersey.* (Page 13.) The relation of the alien to the industrial, political and social interests of the State can no longer be ignored. He has become more and more a force in our economic life and an important element in our increasing indus- trial activities. As soon as he arrives in the State, he becomes a producer as well as a consumer. His labor is needed on the farm, in the factory, in construction of railroads, on public works and in mines. The majority of aliens enter the country in the prime of life and make their way with remarkable courage and self-reliance. . . . With little or no knowledge of the English language, the alien remains unacquainted with the legal and social institutions of the State and is in constant danger of breaking laws of which he is ignorant and of being • Federal Census of 1910. 271 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. exploited by the many individuals and agencies ready to prey upon his ignorance. With the prospect of a large number of immigrants becoming citizens, the State should take a more active and intelligent interest in their protection and prepara- tion for citizenship. (Pages 14-15.) The ideal of the nation is to produce through free and imiversal education a fairly homogeneous people having a uniform standard of social customs and politi- cal institutions. Unfortunately aliens coming to our State, and especially those taking residence in cities, are practically compelled to settle in colonies in congested quarters, where they tend to perpetuate alien groups which speak their native language, and which are fre- quently uninfluenced by American customs and tradi- tions. The process of assimilation is retarded in these groups, and they are a hindrance to the full application of democratic principles of government. As long as the conditions exist which lead to this racial segregation, it is of the utmost importance that opportunities for ac- quiring a knowledge of the English language be placed in the reach of all these aliens, to remove as quickly as possible the inclination for continued segregation, and at the same time to make assimilation possible through contact with American thought and public opinion. (Page 111.) First Annual R'eport of the Commission of Immigration and Housing of California. January 2, 1915. This investigation showed great neglect in California of the opportunity to acquire citizenship, and little ap- preciation of its true value when acquired. The blame for this situation rests not so much on the aliens as on the State, for, while a few political and fraternal clubs and certain evening schools maintain naturalization classes, most of the instruction in citizenship comes from private and doubtful sources. Certain alleged "lawyers" seem to have no other business than that of taldng up 272 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. cases of enterprising aliens seeking citizenship. One Italian, himself barely literate, operated a private class for immigrants, charging a tuition fee of $25 and gave a guarantee that citizenship would be obtained. The survey proved that California continues the same care- less methods of citizen making which obtain in most of the big immigrant centers in the East. (Page 12.) New Yorh State Department of Education. 1916, Citi- zenship Syllabus. Prepared by Research Depart- ment of the Committee for Immigrants in America, New York. Introductory Note. The Federal government sets forth in its naturaliza- tion laws two main educational requirements for citizen- ship; first, a knowledge of the English language, and, second, a familiarity with the fundamental principles of American government. It is largely the responsibility of evening schools for immigrants to furnish instruction in these two lines. The need for educational work in civics, and instruc- tion in naturalization proceedings is obvious. More than 25 per cent. (6,646,817) of all the males of voting age in the United States are foreign-born, and only 45 per cent, are naturalized; the remaining 55 per cent. (3,- 612,700) give us concretely the "Naturalization Prob- lem" of our country. Most of the three million who have become citizens through the regular naturalization procedure have had little or no training for such citizen- ship and the other three and a half million are an un- assimilated element which gives a great opportunity for the promotion of civic training. 273 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. Ufiited States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly Re- view. Vol. II. No. 3. March, 1916. Training of Immigrants for Citizenship. Recent reports furnished by the B"ureau of Naturali- zation show a very rapid development of its work for the better education of candidates for citizenship, in the principles of American life and government. The need for such work is evident. Each year approximately 100,000 certificates of citizenship are issued. Many of the candidates have only a minimum understanding of the rights and duties attaching to their new status, and, in any case, the great majority would vastly benefit by a more thorough training in these matters. To some extent the need for such training had been met through the establishment of citizenship classes by public schools, associations, and individuals. These activities, however, covered only a small portion of the field, and, in addition, it developed that a number of them were not in good faith, being simply means for the exploitation of the immigrant. About a year ago the Bureau of Naturalization, after consultation with various school authorities, worked out a comprehensive plan for the education of candidates for citizenship. Under this plan the bureau arranges to send to the public-school authorities of his community a statement showing the name, address, and nationality of each resident alien who has declared his intention to become a citizen or of each petitioner to be naturalized. At the same time it advises the declarant or petitioner of its action and of the public-school advantages. It then rests with the school authorities to encourage the pros- pective citizens to enroll in the schools and, if necessary, to establish special courses for their accommodation. During the fiscal year 1915 the Bureau of Naturaliza- tion received approximately 350,000 applications for citizenship. This number includes both declarations of intention and petitions for naturalization, a declarant having to wait two years before petitioning for naturali- 274 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — United States. zation. It is estimated that not less than 150,000 of the above applicants had wives, thus making a total of a half million adult alien residents coming within the province of the bureau as prospective citizens of this country. Out of this number the bureau sent the names of ap- proximately 122,000 to the public schools of the com- munities where the various applicants resided. The ac- companying statement shows the distribution of this number among the States. The public schools have shown an earnest spirit of co-operation. "With the opening of the present scholastic year 50 cities and towns were co-operating. At the end of December this number had grown to 450 and by the end of January, 1916, to 566 cities and towns, represent- ing 44 States. Hundreds of other localities have ex- pressed their interest but have been deterred from co- operation by local conditions which render such work impracticable. In addition to the class training indicated, the outline also suggests a laboratory method of teaching civics. This method calls for lectures by city oflficials upon the functions of their respective offices and for the organiza- tion of the students into mock governments, with nomi- nations, elections, officers' meetings, etc., for the practical demonstration of governmental organization and pur- poses. It is also urged thait graduates of the schools form alumni classes for continued association and dis- cussion. The primary purpose of the plan outlined above is to reach those resident aliens who are contemplating be- coming citizens. In addition, however, the effort is also being made to reach all foreign-born residents, many of whom have no immediate intention of becoming citizens, but who are living in this country in various degrees of ignorance as to its institutions and political organiza- tions. Also, it has been found that there is a demand and need for such training on the part of many native- bom persons. (Pages 9-11.) 275 Education in Night Schools Defeated. — Germany. Das Verbot der Nachtarheit. [Prohibition of Night Work.] Report Presented to the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. Db. Max Hibsch. Jahrbuch fur Gesetzgebung, Ver- waltimg und Volkswirtschaft, Vol. XXV. 1901. But what about the development of the intellectual life, which not only increases the contentment, the value, and the efSciency of the individual workman, but also serves the upward-struggling classes (and indeed the whole people) as a priceless palladium of liberty? One need but call to mind our realistic description of the life of the night worker to be convinced that in regard to op- portunities of this kind he is again at a disadvantage. For real cultivation of the mind two things are chiefly requisite — the one, incitement and guidance; the other, intellectual companionship. And how are these to be had when one's evening and night are given up to mechanical labor, and one's day to sleep, to amusement, or, as often happens, to some secondary trade? The most stimulat- ing club meetings and other gatherings, the instructive lectures and courses, the reading of newspapers and books — all these things go on almost exclusively in the evening and in the early part of the night; the night worker is therefore cut off from them, and this alone means an irreparable loss of of)portunity for a develop- ment that broadens the mind, enlivens the spirit, and often makes for practical advancement also. (Page 1268.) 276 II. ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PRO- HIBITION OF NIGHT WORK. 1. General Bbnepit to CoMMEEciAii Peospebity. The experience of those countries which have longest prohibited employment of women at night, shows that commercial prosperity is not hampered by such regula- tion. According to the testimony of observers, the in- creased efSeiency of the workers, due to regular rest at night, has reacted so favorably upon output that com- mercial prosperity has profited instead of being injured by the prohibition of women's night work. The apprehensions of danger to industry repeatedly expressed by employers before the nightwork prohibition went into effect proved to be groundless. The opposition which accompanied the introduction of the law in various countries has yielded to the proofs of its beneficial action. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 118. April, 1913. Ten-Hour Maximum Worli- ing-Day for Women and Young Persons. This development of English labor legislation has been accompanied by a steady increase of production in the United Kingdom, as shown by the following table : 1895 1900 1905 1909 Importation in million Exportation in million £ £ 357 226 460 291 487 330 533 378 1898 1900 1905 1908 Production of coal: Millions of tons Production of steel: Millions of tons 205 3 225 4 236 5.8 262 5.3 277 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Belgium. Not the slightest disadvantage from the point of view of production has therefore been noted in England as a result of protecting young persons in a more efficient way and by increasing the protection of children. (Pag-es 51- 52.) Royaume de Belgique. ^ Office du Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de I' Industrie dans les Pays Mrangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night Work of Women in Industry in Foreign Coun- tries.] Maueice Ansiaux. Brussels, 1898. What are the chances that the present regulation of the night work of women will be continued? What modi- fications are proposed? The first point is certain: The principle of the pro- hibition of night work appears to be definitely embodied in French legislation. The protests raised against this principle in the name of freedom of work will never have sufficient influence over opinion to lead the legislators to remove from the labor laws a measure of social protec- tion of this kind and of this importance. After all, the difficulties raised by its execution were essentially tem- porary, so that the opposition of manufacturers, who had to reckon all at once with these difficulties, has become more and more feeble as the difficulties have disappeared. That at least is true of the larger mills, especially of the textile industry, and in general of all the establish- ments where there was previously in force the regime of uninterrupted work of women with night and day shifts. (Page 69.) It is safe to say that (in Switzerland) the enforce- ment of the federal law, especially in regard to women's night work, is uncommonly strict and severe. The chief ctedit for this state of things is no doubt to be ascribed to the energy of the factory inspectors. There is no need of talking long with a Swiss manu- facturer to discover in him an advocate of the regulation of labor, an advocate who makes his own reservations 278 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Belgium. on certain points, on certain projects for its extension, but who none the less aflfirms his sympathy with the work of the legislator viewed as a whole. I have heard it said many times that such was not al- ways the attitude of the directors of industry of this country, but that, after having fought in the beginning against the law of 1877, they became more and more reconciled to it as time passed. However I have not found among them a single one who expressed the desire to return to absolute liberty in the matter of the night work of women. (Pages 81- 82.) I wish to bring out the essential fact that the differ- ent manufacturers to whose opinions I have referred are really representative of their class in Switzerland. They were not selected arbitrarily, but were designat- ed for me by M. Alfred Frey, secretary of the Swiss com- mercial and industrial association, and they were chosen by him from among men who either reflect average opin- ion or are themselves leading employers. (Pages 81-83.) In short, night work for women in factories is no longer a thing to be thought of. The legal prohibition, the vigilance of the inspectors, the real interests of indus- try, the opposition of the workmen— all these are so many social, economic and political forces working together to put an end forever to the practice. (Pages 84-85.) After what has been said it is evident that the law of 1877 — and especially article 15 of that law — prohibit- ing nightwork — Shaving obtained unanimous approval, can have exerted only a beneficial influence and that it did not bring about any disturbance in the development of Swiss industries. (Page 85.) "Speaking of industries in general," the (British) inspectors said to me, "we no longer have need to con- sider this matter (i. e., the general enforcement of the prohibition). The prohibition is accepted by everybody; no one wishes to return to the former condition of affairs; most of our present manufacturers have never known night work. ' ' ( Page 120. ) 279 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Belgium. Not only did the period of transition (following the enactment of the law prohibiting night work of women) pass without serious disturbance, but on every hand there is reason to be gratified with the more remote re- sults, the permanent results, the state of things in a word to which English industry has arrived after fifty years of the regime of regulation. "English industry has become perfectly accommo- dated and adapted to the regulation; even if there were inconveniences," said Mr. Joshua Dodgson the inspector at SheflBeld to me, "we could not take them into account, because the prohibition is decidedly too firmly estab- Ushed in our customs." (Page 134.) On the whole English industry — the textile industry especially — ^has borne perfectly the prohibition of the employment of women at night. This experience may be considered as extremely con- clusive, inasmuch as this industry has passed through many different phases since it was placed under the re- gime of regulation: Since then it has had periods of expansion and of depression, of sudden crises and of chronic crises, of quick and temporary recoveries, as also of progressive and enduring advances. During all these different phases of its existence, it has never suf- fered any special harm; quite the contrary. Regulation has not hindered its progress; nor, on the other hand, has regulation had the effect of aggravating the losses, which it had in common with the industry of other coun- tries, during periods of stagnation and recoil. "And on the other hand," as Mr. Beaumont, super- intendent of inspectors at Leeds remarked, "it is indis- putable that there has been during fifty years a great improvement in the physique of the laboring classes." (Pages 135-136.) It can be affirmed without any hesitation that the provisions of section 96 of the Austrian law of 1885 (pro- hibiting night work) have not resulted in the ruin of any industrial establishments in Austria to which they have been effectively applied. 280 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Belgium. The opinions which I have received from the most dif- ferent people leave no doubt on this point. The region of Brunn especially,, where night work of women had previously been most extensive, has not suffered at all. The best proof that, in general, industry has accommo- dated itself very well to the new regime, is — as the sec- retaries of the chambers of commerce of Prague and of Reichenberg, MM. Ouhel and Corns, have said — ^no one makes any complaint. Truly this is a criterion to set all doubt at rest. A great manufacturer of Grottau (Reichenberg), a man both moderate and full of experience, seemed to me very near the truth when he said that, without doubt, the prohibition of night work brought about a certain loss, but that this loss was in fact not sufficiently great to counterbalance the moral gains, the humanitarian impor- tance of such a law. (Pages 167-168.) The manufacturers of Reichenberg, of Brunn and of Prague were unanimous in admitting that the measure which now concerns us was not ruinous. In his own words the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Reichenberg said: "It cost a little." The proprietor of a large factory at Prague said : "It is a matter of little importance. Moreover," he added, "the opinion of Austrian manufacturers has changed; we now comprehend that the worker also is human." An inspector at Brunn said : "It would per- haps be an exaggeration to represent those interested as entirely delighted with the prohibition, but they do not dream of demanding its repeal. If there is any move- ment at Brunn, it is in favor of the complete suppression of night work even for adult men." (Pages 168-169.) We know that Austria and Hungary form a single domain so far as tariff duties are concerned. But while the night work of women is prohibited in Austria it is fully authorized in the reaM of Saint Stephen. To represent the true state of affars, there should be en- tered into the account other regulative measures in force on this side of the Leitha and unknown on that 281 . Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Holland. side and it should be added that the Magyar government, in its policy of favoring the expansion of home industries, has granted to them very considerable tariff reductions. Thus favored by liberties and by fiscal immunities, have the Hungarian manufacturers crushed their com- petitors of Vienna, Brunn or Reichenberg? Not in any way. (Page 172.) In no way has the opportunity to employ women for night work induced Austrian capital to move beyond the Leitha. One of the associates of an important Austrian estab- lishment stated that Hungarian competition is not feared at the present time. In a word, the liberty of night work of women has not yet resulted in stimulating the development of Hun- garian industry, while industry in Austria has pro- gressed without night work for a dozen years. (Page 174.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. Rap- ports sur son Importance et sa Reglementation Legale. [Nightwork of Women in Industry. Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface hy Ettennb Bauee. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie Neerlandaise. G-. J. Van TniENBiir, Factory Inspector. Jena, Fischer, 1903. In his report for 1894 the labor inspector for Holland, M. Struwe, wrote that five years have now passed since the law went into effect. It seems to me that the time has come to examine some points regarding the enforce- ment of this law. We may readily admit that the first years are precisely the ones which are decisive for the enforcement of a law. This being granted, I think I may assert today that the fears which were so loudly ex- pressed before the introduction of the law have been for the most part shown to be without foundation in practicie. As a rule it is the employer who has followed the man- 282 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Holland. dates of the law who has been most quickly reconciled to it, and it is a fact that the law put an end to many abuses. (Page 317.) M. Struwe, inspector, said in his report for 1891:— "I have known of no complaint being made about the prohibition of women's night work — ^not even mild com- plaints, except in the fish canning factories (herrings)." What Mr. Struwe said in his first report about laun- dries is also worth citing. He agrees entirely with the other inspectors in saying that, after promulgation of the exemptions allowed to small businesses having no motor power, the objections, which had at first been incessant, were completely silenced. He says : "When the law first went into effect, w6rk began at 5 A. M. in different laundries, and, with a iy2 hour mid- day pause, stopped at 8 or 9 P. M. The day was thus 13 to 14 hours. Later it was reduced to 12 and 13 iiours in a certain number of laundries. It was supposed that this was the extreme limit. A storm of indignation greeted the new law, (11 hrs.) An eleven-hour day, it was said, was much too short; 7 P. M. much too early for closing. Such legislation meant the ruin of the trade, etc. There were, however, some laundrymen who did not share these exaggerated fears. Since the law took effect I have inspected about 75 establishments of this kind. At first the complaints were incessant. . . . Changing a fixed custom, introducing new ways gave great dissatisfaction. ... At the end of the year, while some laundries continued to work late and to complain, there were others in which all complaints had ceased. Many fears, it turned out, had been purely imaginary, and had proved hollow as soon as antiquated procedures had been broken up. It sufl&ced to organize the work a little differently, to lessen the numerous quarters for rest and to pool them in a total of two hours including meal time. I inspected many laundries where the women were working from V/2 to 2 hours less and men from 1 to iy2 283 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Germany. hours less than the year before, and where the output remained almost exactly the same, the workers being the same in number, turning out as much as before and in a much shorter period. Moreover, the laundry workers, who had been afraid that their wages would be cut under the new law, found to their satisfaction that' such was not the case. Many employees and their wives became in consequence com- pletely reconciled to the new law. I learned that in well managed, well equipped laundries all difl&culties under the the law were entirely smoothed away. A rigorous inspection is, however, necessary, to insure observance of the law, and especially with regard to the closing hour. (Pages 318-319.) By way of summary it may be said that the experi- ence of Holland as to the prohibition of night work of women and as to the cessation of work at 7 o'clock as a rule, during the twelve years in which the labor law has been in force, may be characterized as extremely favor- able. It may be stated that it was only the herring mar- kets that suffered from diflSculties which have not yet been removed ; in spite of that, however, advance is being made even there toward the diminution and eventually the suppression of the night work of women. These ex- periences certainly open the way for, and exert a great influence in favor of, the legal reduction of the working day in commerce and also for adult workmen." (Page 324.) Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags. 101 Sitsungy 16 April, 1891. [Proceedings of the German Reich- stag, 101st Session, April 16, 1891.] Representative Ulrich : The same opposition has always been made to regula- tion. Examples from Swiss reports show that a primary result of the use of machinery was the extensive employ- ment of women and children, by night as well as by day, with the same declarations from employers that ruin 284 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Germany. would follow if this labor was curtailed, and the same final proof that output, wages, and conditions generally were improved by abolition of child labor, long hours and night work of women. (Page 2413.) AmtUche Mitteilungen aus den Jahres-Berichten der Gewerhe-AufsicMsheamten, 1894. [Official Ifir- formation from the Reports of the German Fac- tory Inspectors, 1894.] Baden : One large firm held that the abolition of night work by women would cause serious injury to their business, and made determined efforts to be granted exceptional privileges. Finding this impossible under the law, they soon came to the conclusion that adaptation to the new system brought no damage to their business. They write : "the cessation of night work has had an excellent influ- ence on the health and productivity of the working women. Extensions of the plant prevented decrease in output. ' ' In answer to a question of the inspector as to wages being less from the discontinuance of night work, they replied that wages had not fallen off in consequence. To the inspectors' question as to output they write "The productivity of the workers is greater partly because the supervision by day is better, and also because the women come fresh to their work, not having exhausted them- selves by previous domestic work as was the ease when they worked on night shifts." (Page 112.) Das Schweizerische Fahrihqesetz und sein Einfluss auf den Industriellen. [The Swiss Factory Laws and their Influence Upon Swiss Industrial Workers.] Otto Lang. Archiv fur Soziale Gesetzgebung md Statistik. Bd. XI. 1897. In contrast to the Oerman labor laws the Swiss for- bids not only Sunday but also night work. Although this 285 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Germany. was a novelty in most of the Cantons, its execution has not met with difficulties. Popular approval, which I had pointed out before the passage of the law, gave it a strong support. "Night and Sunday work" remarked Dr. Schuler in a report for 1882 and 1883, "are so detested by the majority of workers that even if in principle they had to be acquiesced in they would still always be com- plained of." The prohibition is absolute for women and for young persons from 14 to 16 years. (Pages 110- 111.) The apprehensions that were felt as to the working of the law (as to restriction of hours — ^night work, etc.) have proved to be baseless. (Page 119.) No harmful effects upon the production and compe- tition have resulted; the reports laid before the Bund- esrat three years after the passage of the law were, with slight exceptions, favorable throughout to the results of the act. . . . Since then no further attempts to weaken the law have been made. (Page 120.) Verhandlungsbericht der zweiten Generalversammlimg des Komitees der internationalen Vereinigung fiir gesetsUchen Arbeiterschuts. [Proceedings of the Second Regular Meeting of the Executive Com- mittee of the International Association for Labor Legislation.] Cologne, 1902. Professor Brants, Catholic University, Louvain, Bel- gium: As to the final results of prohibition of night work for women. Switzerland (which has forbidden all night work by women in industry without any exception) tells us, that the enforcement of the law has encountered no de- termined opposition, that no one complains of this limita- tion of industrial freedom, and that it has absolutely not been found to be any hindrance to industrial progress. (Page 23.) The reports from the different countries that are be- fore us show that, wherever a prohibition of night work for women has been enacted it is enforced easily, taking 286 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — G-ermany. it in the large, and that no difficulties of any importance are encountered. (Page 25.) The majority of the Committee were in favor of leav- ing the question of exemptions to a special committee who should inquire into the necessity of such exemptions and seek for methods by which a sweeping prohibition of all night work might be eventually attained. This is defined in the resolutions, in the first of which we declare ourselves for the absolute suppression of all night work for women and where we later appoint members to study ways and means of limiting to the utmost possible ex- tent the existing exceptions. (Page 26.) Professor Raoul Jay, University of Paris, Member of the Conseil Superieur du Travail: "When the Assembly at Basle chose as the first object of the work of the Association the question of the pro- hibition of the night work of women, it was done no doubt largely because of the importance and urgency of the question. It was done also, I think, because this ques- tion appeared to the Assembly as the most easily solved of all the great questions raised at the time by the sub- ject of the legal protection of workers. I repeat, the question of the prohibition of the night work of women appeared to us to be the most easy to solve, and why? First, because we were all in agreement as to the physi- cal, moral and social disadvantages of the night work of women, unanimous in our desire to suppress it, and sec- ondly because we wished to take advantage of decisive experiences in this matter, because the night work of women has already been prohibited in several countries, sometimes in a very radical manner, without in any way compromising the national industry. Is it necessary, in order to show this, to bring on reports and statistics! By no means; it is a fact which appears as dear as the light of day. JFor a century and especially for the past fifty years protective labor legislation has been on the increase. Most certainly the progress of the legisla- tion has often been singularly slow, but every step made has been forward. It is evident that it could not have 287 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Germany. been thus, that a violent reaction would have swept away the protective legislation of workers, if such legislation had in truth caused any serious damage to national in- dustry. I have often used this very simple argument against the opponents of protective labor legislation. It is in no matter more convincing than in that which con- cerns the prohibition of the night work of women." (Pages 29-30.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night work of Women in Industry. Re- ports on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienne Bauer. La Reglementation Legale du Travail des Femmes en Allemagne. Db. FuoHS, Factory Inspector, Baden. Jena, Fischer, 1903. All are agreed that the prohibition of night work by women has had a beneficial effect on the working women and their families from both the hygienic and moral viewpoints. (Page 14.) We can in every case conclude that the prohibition of night work by women (together with the institution of a maximum eleven hour day) has not exercised an unfav- orable influence either on the condition of the manufac- turers or on that of the workers. The manufacturers overcame the difficulties of the first years with such great facility that the last five years of the century were note- worthy for a flourishing expansion of industry, of such sort that we no longer hear from them objections to the law, worthy of notice. For the laborers the change con- stituted an important moral and sanitary gain, to which there has been no corresponding material loss. The im- portance of such experience for the future of labor legis- lation, either in this country or abroad, ought not to be underestimated. (Page 18.) 288 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — France. Ibid. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes en Suisse. Db.. F. SoHuiiER, Factory Inspector. Protective measures (prohibiting women's night work) have never been changed. In 1881 an effort was made to obtain a revision of the law ; it was desired above all to abolish the establishment of the normal day, even those people taking part in the movement who had pro- claimed the necessity of the factory law, a few years be- fore. But no one dared to attack the question of night work. Moreover the campaign failed. (Page 344.) We have referred to the fact that the provisions against night work have never been attacked. Moreover, analogous laws destined to protect working women have not been seriously endangered. Even in districts where the factories resorted to night work before the factory law was passed, no one was heard complaining that the restrictions had ruined industry. In any case, no evil effect was ever experienced. But it is true that it was declared often desirable that the federal authorities should be authorized to grant exceptions for overtime to certain industries at special seasons. . . . We cannot pride ourselves upon the fact that night work has been completely suppressed in Switzerland. We cannot even say that it has been entirely suppressed in the factories. But with very rare exceptions, it consists only of an illegal prolongation of day work, extending to the early hours of the evening. (Page 349.^ Ministere du Travail et de la Prevoyance Sociale. Con- seil Superieur du Travail. [Department of Labor and of Social Welfare. Higher Council of Labor.] Le Travail de Nuit dans la Boulangerie. [Night Work in Bakeries.] La Suppression du Travail de Nuit dans les Boulangeries En Italie. Henm Rivet. Paris, 1911. To be sure the application (of the law) was irksome to many bakers who were anxious to give satisfaction 289 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Great Britain. to their customers as they had done before, but on the other hand it cannot be denied that happy results have already been obtained — ^less than three years after the passing of the law. (Page 135.) By most of these (co-operative) societies we have heard it said: "the law took us rather by surprise, and injured us, but we still remain convinced upholders of it." We are sure that it will not be long before the em- ployers, taking up again, like their workmen, a normal kind of family life, forget that they were opposed to the abolition of night work, seeing that this is a measure that conforms to the general interest of society. The suppression of night work will then have pro- duced its moral effects. (Page 138.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie. Rap- ports sur son Importance et sa Reglementation Legale. {'Night Work of Women in Industry. Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etibnne Batjer. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie Anglaise. Geo. H. Wood, F.S.S. The prohibition of the night work of women has had no practical effect on industry. In most of the trades night work has never been habitual and, since the middle of the last century, very little use has been made of it save in those trades for which it is still authorized. In its recent stages modern industry has developed under the influence of factory laws, and the restrictions thus imposed have aided rather than hindered its advance ment. We may say even that these restrictions have had the effect of encouraging the search for better mechanical equipment and better factory organization. The reduc- tion of the working day has increased the efficiency of workers and we can cite many cases where there has been more work done during the shorter day than during the previous longer day. (Pages 243-244.) 290 Benefit to Commercial Prosperity. — Great Britain. Women in the Printing Trade. Edited by J. Ramsat MACSDONALiD. London, King, 1904. Employers admit that the effect of the Factory Acts has been to make them reduce nightwork. In criticising the act before the Commission of 1876, Mr. Bell, of the firm of Darton, Bell and Thomas, bookbinders, says : "The Factory Act of 1876 has been a boon to employ- ers and employed, because it has enabled us to put pres- sure on customers. Now we can say to the public 'We can't go beyond certain hours,' and, therefore, work not new has to be sent in earlier." Mr. Darton, of the same firm adds : "We have persuaded booksellers to give out stock work in June and July instead of September or October, and so begin the work earlier and avoid nightwork." This stimulus is undoubtedly good, and these views are echoed by other employers. (Page 78.) 291 2. The Effect of Nightwoek on Oxttput. The testimony of manufacturing countries tends to prove that the output of night work is inferior to that of day work. Quality and quantity both degenerate. .The profits from the uninterrupted use of plants which are operated by night as well as by day, are re- duced by the increased running expenses, the wear on machinery and the lessened efficiency of the workers. The prohibition of nightwork by preserving the health and energies of the workers, as well as the material equip- ments, tends to increase production. In Great Britain, under the Health of Munition Workers Committee, studies have been published, dur- ing the year 1917, of the output of nightwork, re-estab- lished after a century of disuse ; and also of the output of what is called "discontinuous nightwork", that is, the expedient of alternating weekly or fortnightly day and night shifts. The Committee emphasizes the fact that in- quiries into this subject were intended to cover what is regarded as a purely temporary state of affairs, night- work being recognized as undesirable by all "civilized nations." The Committee is "avowedly taking a short and not a long view of the subject. ' ' Previous experience proving the inferior output of continuous nightwork is completely borne out by these investigations. Such nightwork was found to be less pro- ductive than either all day work or the system of alter- nating shifts. 292 It is, however, stated that "m monotonous processes, which call for little physical effort . . . discontinu- ous nightwork of women gives an output which rarely falls more than 10% below and usually closely approx- imates to that obtained by day." But the value of these studies of output under alternating day and night shifts, as evidence for the expediency of the discontinuous sys- tem, is seriously impaired by the absence of correspond- ing data as to their effect upon health. It has long been believed injurious for workers to alternate day and night- work each week, owing to the difficulties of so often changing regular habits of life, sleeping, eating, etc. These physical difficulties are indeed specially pointed out in another simultaneous study of the Committee, dealing with the medical examination of a different set of nightworkers. Boys who alternated weeks of day and night work complained of increased sleeplessness and restlessness.* If the fairness of the comparison of output under day and night shifts is impaired by the failure to study health as well as output, it is more seriously impaired by certain other factors tending to raise output ia the night shift. Thus, in some cases, the Committee points out that the improvement was due to a better distribution of * "Without discussing the reasons for and against night shifts, the fact remained that the figures, as they stand, admit of very little argument. The workers were generally tired, and I frequently found that the boys never became accustomed to the conditions of a night shift owing to the frequency of the change over; in other words where a boy at the end of a week of day work is just recovering from the effects of night shift he is back again on to night work." (Interim Report, p. 96.) 293 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. rest pauses at night than during the day. The Commit- tee is also of the opinion that ia monotonous work, output under alternating day and night shifts may be equal to that of all day work partly because "it offers a slight re- lief from this intense monotony." The workers "can continue to execute . . . even when half asleep." In less highly monotonous processes, the inferiority of night work is greater. British Ministry of Munitions. Health of Munition Work- ers Committee. Memorandum, No. 4. Employ- ment of Women. London, 1916. {Signed on Be- half of the Committee by Sir Gteobge Newman, M.D., Chairman.) It has been stated by some managers and foremen that the last few hours of a twelve-hour night shift yield little output. This greater influence of fatigue at night is partly due to the fact that the hours between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M., and 4 A.M. and 7 A.M. coincide with the period when, apart from industrial fatigue, vitality is low, and partly to the fact that night workers lack the stimulus of a satisfactory meal. There seems little ap- petite for the meal which occurs between 1 A.M. and 3 A.M., and it is often of a most unsatisfactory char- acter. In one factory visited at night the manager stated that fatigue prevented many of the women from making the effort to go from their work to the mess room though in itself the room was attractive. In another, visited also at night, several women were lying, during the meal hour, beside their piles of heaped-up work ; while others, later, were asleep beside their machines, facts which bear addi- tional witness to the relative failure of these hours. A few women of rare physique withstand the strain suffi- ciently to maintain a reasonable output, but the flagging effort of the majority is not only unproductive at the 294 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. moment, it has its influence also upon subsequent output, which suffers as in a vicious circle. (Page 4.) Memorandum No. 5. Hours of Work. London, 1916. It has already been stated in paragraph 10 that shifts, where practicable, are preferable to overtime, but the Committee do not desire it to be thought that they re- gard night work as a good thing in itself, and they deem it advisable to set out some of the objections to it which have come under their notice. (a) It is uneconomical. Though wages are paid at a higher rate, the rate of output^ more particularly dur- ing the last two or three hours of the twelve-hour shift, is generally lower. The Committee feel that this objec- tion would be largely overcome by the workers being afforded an opportunity to obtain suitable refreshment about 4 A.M. (b) Supervision is frequently unsatisfactory. This is chiefly due to the fact that not infrequently fewer and less experienced foremen are employed at night. (c) Conditions of lighting are seldom so good as in daytime, and make fine work more difficult. (Page 8.) Ihid. Interim Report. Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue. London, 1917. The Comparative Efficiencies^ of Bay Work and Night Work in Munition Factories. 1. Civilised nations have recognized that except in case of necessity or in times of great emergency night work is undesirable ; but the sudden and urgent demand for output which the present war has brought with it has necessitated much night work for all classes of opera- tives. 2. Many general considerations would require ex- amination if the whole question of night work in indus- tries were under review. . . . 295 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. Although of extreme importance when night work is envisaged as a permanent feature of our civilisation, these considerations do not assume the same place when we are dealing with an admittedly temporary state of things. 3. The Committee, however, is avowedly taking a short and not a long view of the subject, and is solely concerned with the factors which are of importance dur- ing the present emergency. Thus, to take an extreme case, were it to be shown that the efficiency of night work, measured in terms of output, were but a small fraction of that of day work, it would not necessarily follow that night work should be discontinued. If the night workers produce any appreciable quantity of manu- factured artcles, their employment increases the abso- lute supply of munitions, and is therefore justifiable; provided always that the lower efficiency is not an indi- cation of such damage to health as must, in the near future, involve a diminution of the already limited sup- ply of available labour, and therefore, in the end, a diminution of gross output before the necessity for a maximal supply has passed away. Conversely, a high degree of relative efficiency in night shifts would not justify the system if it were purchased by a rapid ex- haustion of the health and strength of available workers. 4. Judgment on this restricted aspect of night work must be based upon a knowledge of both the comparative output-efficiency, and of the prevalence of invalidity, sicfaiess and bad timekeeping among night and day workers. (Pages 26-27.) Methods of Night Work. 7. The main distinction is between what may be termed continuous night work, in which employes work by night and do not attend the shop at all in the day- time, and discontinuous night work, in which the em- ployes pass into the night shift at regular intervals, generally every other week. Between the extremes of entirely continuous night work and regular weekly alter- 296 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. nation, all variations may exist and many have been found in practice. Female Labowr. I. — Output. 8. Discontinuous Employment of Women in Night Shifts. — The first data to be considered were provided by Dr. H. M. Vernon, and this material is of rather special importance, because Dr. Vernon was able to compare the effect of different systems in the same fac- tory. The particular data relate to girls engaged ia a cartridge factory. . . . 9. Dr. Vernon's data relate to 29 women on "second draw," 39 on "head-trimming," 24 on "second cut-off" (sometimes called "edging"), and 20 on "reamering." They worked on the discontinuous system, changing weekly ; the average hours worked were 51.7 by day, 55.9 by night, and the period of observation was 22 consecu- tive weeks from 3rd January, 1916. Taking the mean hourly production over the whole period to be 100, Dr. Vernon found means for the four sets on day shift of 99, 101, 100, 99, and for the same workers on night shifts 101, 99, 100, 101. If each night average be divided by the corresponding day average and the result multiplied by 100 to render the figures comparable with those of Captain Greenwood — who has usually adopted such a ratio as a comparative figure — we have 102, 98, 100, 102. Multiplying each of these fig- ures by the number of girls concerned in each, adding the results together, and dividing by the total number of girls, we reach 100.1 as the mean of the whole series, i.e., perfect equality between the mean hourly outputs. This equality is not, taken by itself, a proof that night work produces no injurious effects upon the output. Thus, were night work harmful, its effect might react upon the subsequent day work, so that the general aver- age was lowered, although the ratio between the day and night production might be that of equality. Dr. Vernon was aisle to test this point by comparing the perform- 297 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. ances of girls on continuous or discontinuous day or night work in the same factory, and found that the com- parison was not unfavourable to the discontinuous sys- tem with weekly changes, (p. 28) 13. Captain Greenwood has furnished the Commit- tee with five sets of data, having reference to the dis- continuous night work of women, (p. 29) 16. The third series of data, from a national fac- tory producing cartridges, is, so far as numbers of indi- viduals are concerned, much more extensive, but the period of observation is short, only extending from the week ending on 6th June to that ending on 11th July, 1916. In all, the outputs of 339 girls distributed over 14 operations were studied. The day and night shifts were of equal length, viz., 10 hours 10 minutes. The mean percentage ratio was found to be 98.7 ± 0.3*, or slightly less than 100%. The ratios for the separate operations varied from 104.8 + 1.2, in the case of the "first draw" (29 girls employed), down to 94.9 ± 0.9 in the case of "mouth boring" (48 girls employed.) This variation is an interesting confirmation of a surmise of Dr. Vernon's. After noting that his results pointed to the discontinuous system with weekly changes being the best, Dr. Vernon wrote : — ' * It is to be remembered tha^ cartridge making is more monotonous than almost any other type of munition work, and so the favourable in- fluence of working alternate weeks of day and night shift may be due partly to the fact that it offers a slight relief from this intense monotony." As stated above, the drawing operations are typical instances of monot- onous processes, while "mouth-boring," in which the * The quantities to whieli are prefixed the Sign ± allo-w for "Prob- able Errors," and measure the reliability of the averages to which they refer. Thus, if on a priori grounds we should expect a certain average to be, say, 100, and we actually find on trial Of a limited number of measurements that the average is, say, 98 ± 2, the observed value being only less than the expected value by a quantity equal ta the former's probable error cannot be said to differ significantly from tile expected value. The limit conventionalJy chosen is three times the probable error, and averages which do Hot differ by a,s nracli a* three times the probable error of their dlfCerence are not deemed to differ "significantly." 298 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. operator can largely work at her own pace and is not forced or stimulated to maintain a particular rate by the machine, is somewhat less monotonous. In the former case we find no inferiority, and in the latter a definite inferiority of production by night shifts, in Captain Greenwood's data. (Pages 29-30) 18. The next set of data was obtained by Captain Greenwood and Mr. S. H. Burchell from a factory turn- ing out fuzes for 18-pounder shells and refers to 68 girls engaged on semi-automatic operations, chiefly capstan- lathe operations. The system was discontinuous, with weekly change, and the period of observation from the week ending 9th January to the week ending 26th March, 1916. The full day-shift week was 56 hours, the full night-shift week 45 hours ; the actual daily working hours of a full day shift were 9%, and of a full night shift 10%. The mean night to day ratio of hourly out- put was 101.3±0.6, i. e., in this series also there is no sen- sible difference between the ratio of production at night or by day. (p. 31) 20. Data have also been provided by Mr. P. Sargent Florence. Mr. Florence's chief series is derived from a cartridge factory, organized on the discontinuous sys- tem, with weekly change. . . . His observations may ... be said to agree with those of the other observers, (p. 31) 21. Mr. Florence's next series is the outcome of a different class of work. This consisted in drilling and tapping small fuze parts on sensitive drilling machines. The processes concerned are less monotonous than thie cartridge operations. The system is discontinuous with weekly change; the hours are 101/2 on day and 10 on night shifts, the weekly hours 56 to 58 for day weeks, 50 for night weeks. The following comparison was in- stituted : The efficiencies of the operators, during seven weeks from 30th of January to 12th March, 1916, were analyzed, and all eases extracted where an operator worked naore than 10 hours on a certain job during the days of one week, and more than 10 hours on the same 299 Effect on. Output. — Great Britain. job in tlie night sMft of another week. The number of girls involved was 44, and the comparative efficiency of night work, in terms of day work, was 91.6%. A similar difference was found in the case of an intensive study of the outputs of two individual workers, viz., a reduc- tion of output to the extent of about 10% at night. In only one of the earlier series was so great a difference found. The form in which Mr. Florence's data are presented makes it impossible to determine the error of sampling to which the average is subject but assimiing that the difference is statistically significant, it adds point to the remarks of Dr. Vernon cited on page 4 supra with regard to the possibility of the peculiarly monotonous nature of cartridge work having something to do with the equality of day and night outputs. In this connection some remarks of Mr. Florence are of interest. He writes: "A personal visit to the cartridge case depart- ment at night showed that girls tend to drop straight off to sleep immediately their machine breaks down and they need no longer work. They would appear, indeed, to be continually on the verge of sleep, and yet the output is maintained at the day-shift rate. Apart from the fact that lengthy repairs to the machines are not undertaken at night, and that there is then gener- ally less interference from the staff with the course of work, the explanation of the paradox lies mainly in the nature of the work. . . . The operatives have only to fill a slot or reservoir with the material right end up; the machine does the rest. *The girls soon learn to 'automatise' the movement required in filling, and can continue to execute them even when half asleep." (Pages 31-32) 23. This observation completes the data collected under the direction of the Committee with respect to output by women and girls under the system of discon- tinuous night work in munition factories. In the aggre- * This remark refers to the operations Mr. Florence was discussing, not to all cartridge processes. 300 ! Effect on Output.— Great Britain. gate the investigation comprises some hundreds of em- ployes in representative factories, and may justly be regarded as typical of the conditions obtaining to-day. The individual results vary, but their general trend is unmistakable, and the inference seems valid that in monotonous processes which call for little physical ef^ fort, such as those concerned with cartridge making, dis- continuous night work of women gives an output which rarely falls much more than 10% below and usually closely approximates to, that obtained by day. There is a certain amount of evidence that, in the case of less highly monotonous processes, the inferiority of night output is somewhat greater, but even in that case, per- centages much below 90 have not been obtained, (p. 32) 25. Continuous Employment of Women in Night Shifts. — The continuous employment of women m night shifts is not of common occurrence in munition factories, and the data available for analysis consist of two sets, provided respectively by Dr. Vernon and Captain Green- wood, (p. 32) 30 The Committee think that the outcome of Dr. Vernon's and Captain Greenwood's investigations make it highly probable that continuous night work is produc- tive of definitely less output than is the discontinuous system; and the Committee have failed to obtain evi- dence that the output of the continuous day shift balances this inferiority. (P. 34) Labour, Finance and the War. Edited by A. "W. Kiek- AI.DT, M.A. Published by authority of the Council of the British Association. London, Pitman, 1916. Chapter III. Replacement of Men by Women vn Industry During the War. The employment of women on night work has been found to be confined almost entirely to work in shell factories and in certain other metal trades.^ In general' ■Women were found on night work in some printing firms — an evasion of the Acts. 301 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. engineering, women, as a rule, work on the day shift only. In shell factories, the work is based on a two-shift system, and an attempt seems to be made, where possible, to put the women on alternate fortnights of day and night work. In other metal works, a three-shift system is sometimes in operation. Where women are employed on the night shift, they seem usually to work the same hours as the men. Modifi- cations (in the form of breaks on a long working speH) have been introduced, and found to conduce so much to efficiency, that they have been applied to the men also. But the general opinion, stated quite emphatically, is that women, particularly if married, do not take kindly to night work. The reason given is that the domestic work of the married woman demands her attention in the day hours when she ought to be asleep. The result is that the night work of women, particularly in the last few hours of the shift, yields less output than day work. Outside munitions and engineering, the emplojTuent of women at night and on abnormal overtime is to be met with in occupations to which the Factory Acts do not apply. The former has been found in connection with tramways and railways, and the latter in clerical work. But here, again, the almost unanimous verdict of the em- ployers is the same. Women do not stand night work, and the strain of overtime is too great. In tram cleaning in Glasgow, on which women are employed at night, as many women have left as have remained. On the other hand, where the Factory Acts do apply, it is frequently given as one of the chief difficulties in the way of replac- iag male by female labour that women are not allowed to work the same hours as men when they themselves would be quite willing to do so. It would be well if the experience of those industries in which night work has be- come a temporary necessity could be made widely known. The adverse effects on output, not to mention the lower- ing of the health of the workers, should be a sufficient safeguard against any attempt permanently to remove the Factory Act restrictions. (Pages 83-84.) 302 Effect on Output. — ^Great Britain. British Sessional Papers. Vol. XX, 1834. Factories Inquiry Commission. Supplementary Report. Queries addressed by the Central Board of Commis- sioners to Manufacturers. Stephen Pellate, for Eichards and Co. (linen) : A.36. — We disused night work in 1826, and after pur- suing that system for five years, I am of the opinion there is no advantage in it to the proprietor. A.I. (Page 17.) G. S. Wells (spinning) : A.36. — ^I conceive the prohibition of night work would be beneficial to the trade. C.I. (Page 17.) Robert Crossley (woolen yard) : A.34.^-1 have never found night work profitable, as burning gas, also two sets of hands coming to the same machinery, do their work in different ways, that I have a great loss from it. C.I. (Page 25.) Richard and Joseph Ingham (cotton yarn) : A.36. — We consider night work unnatural, and a thing which ought on no occasion be allowed to any manufac- tory; and we consider its effect on trade is to glut the market, and that evil and cruelty attend it in all ways. C.I. (Page 27.) Marshall and Co. (flax-spinning) : A.33-36. — ^We have never employed a night set of hands. There is certainly a great saving to the manu- facturer in the interest of capital sunk in buildings and machinery by working day and night, but we have thought that advantage overbalanced by the greater difficulty of enforcing economic management in night work than in day work, and by the liability of the former to be injuri- ous to the health and comfort of the work-people. C.I. (Page 77.) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, 3rd Series. Vol. LXXVII, 1845. Lord Ashley (on Employment of Children in Calico Print Works) : Sir, I may venture to assert that night work is neither 303 Effect on Output. — Grreat Britain. necessary nor advantageous to the Trade. The Eeport says: "No countervailing advantage is ultimately ob- tained from it even by the employers." Again: "In working in the night it is generally considered that more work is spoiled than in the day, and an abatement is made for bad work." Mr. Robert Hargrave of Accrington, one of the highest authorities in the kingdom, says, "I do not like the principle of night work; there is danger of fire, and a necessity for a double set of superintend- ents. The work is done much worse." Mr. Kennedy, the sub-commissioner for Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire, reported — and this is a most valuable statement, to which I should desire to call the especial attention of the House, — "I have been favored," says he, "by an influential house with an inspection of those books which show rates of production in their roller printing machines, during a period of four months, when they worked 15 hours. . . . The proportion of spoiled work from the beginning of the first to the end of the fourth month, actually doubled itself, whilst the average production of the machines decreased from 100 to 90 per cent. In fact the amount of spoiled work increased to such an alarming degree, that the parties referred to felt themselves compelled to shorten the hours of labour to avoid loss, and as soon as the alteration was made, the amount of spoiled work sank to its former level. "I am informed," he adds, "that the general experience of this branch of trade is, that under whatever circum- stances night work is tried, the produce is distinguished by a larger share than ordinary of spoiled work." Now just consider the whole force of this statement ; observe the false economy, the actual waste, of excessive toil, and disregard of the times and seasons that nature has appointed, — a large decrease in the quantity produced; a still larger deterioration in the quality of the article — the causes of all this mischief, night work, and over-toil, are removed, and then the good and the marred produce return to their former proportions. I have also per- mission to read the following extracts from the letters of two most respectable and intelligent persons. 304 Effect on Output. — Great Britain. Mr. John Graham, superintendent of the works at Mayfield, says, "So far as we are concerned at Mayfield, it would be advisable to give up night work for women, young persons, and children, night work being under- stood as those hours between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M." Mr. David Cooper, of Primrose-works, Clithero, observes, "I aUude only to Messrs. Thomsons' works. There may be other printers who may be unable to adopt such regu- lations." He says that Mr. Thompson for many years carried on night work, but had for years been induced to give it up, partly from feelings of humanity, and partly from motives of economy, because he found it injurious to his work people, and because the amount of spoiled work was so considerable. (Page 647.) Women in the Printing Trades. Edited hy J. Eamsay Macidonald. London, King, 1904. The testimony of the forewomen is to the same effect. A., a forewoman, used to work often till 10, 11 or 12 at night, sometimes all night. Sometimes she was obliged to keep her girls all night when there was work that had to be finished, but usually she gave them a rest the next day. She thinks it a very good thing that they should not be allowed to work all night ; the work is piece work and long hours don't do any good, for they mean that you work less next day ; if you work all night, then you are so tired that you have to take a day off; you have gained nothing. She used to find that so herself. Another forewoman gave it as her deliberate opinion that when overtime is worked the piece workers do not make more as a rule, for they g6t so tired that if they stay late one night, they work less the next day. This is the unanimous view held by the forewomen, and it comes with considerable force from them, as it is they who have to arrange to get work done somehow within a certain time. They are the people who have to put on the pressure, and are in such a position as to 305 Effect on Output. — ^United States. see how any particular system of getting work done an- swers. (Pages 86-87.) Daily Consular d Trade Reports. Bureau of Foreign S Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce. No. 266. November 13, 1917. Washington, D. C. Post-War Industrial Status of Women in France. [Con- sul J. E. Jones, Lyon, Sept. 7.] Increase in Number of Workwomen. The question of the employment of women was fore- seen at the time of the army mobilization in 1914. This was especially so at Lyon where some of the large con- cerns undertook a general recruiting of women. It was an experiment, especially in the places requiring high technical skill. In order to meet the difficulties that naturally arose American machines and machine tools, which did their work automatically and needed only a directing hand, were purchased in large numbers. The munition factories took on great numbers of women, who developed rapidly into efficient operators, handling the most complicated machines as well as men could. In spite of some restrictions women have progres- sively appeared in all the workshops. In the munition plants at Lyon 3 per cent of the 572 workers employed in June, 1915, were women. In 1916 31 per cent of the total of 6,081 workers were women; and this number rapidly increased until on May 19, 1917, out of a total of 12,049 workers, 6,066, or more than 50 per cent, were women. As Substitutes for Men — linproving Working Conditions. Scientific experiments made at one of the large muni- tion plants in Lyon showed that in the production of shells a woman operates on 900 to 1,000 shells a day, handling each piece twice (in putting it in and taking it out of the lathe), making from 1,800 to 2,000 movements with a shell weighing 6 kilos (13 pounds). She thus moves in her day's work, a total weight of 10 to 12 tons. 306 Effect on Output.— United States. This work requires great precision, yet women opera- tives have given general satisfaction. The manufacture and repair of tools and their mountings have proved to be quite a specialty with women workers, bringing out good professional ability and keen intelligence. Before the war this work was done only by men. Advantages of Two-Shift System. The division of the work between two squads of women has been tried in one of the Lyon munition plants. Squad A works from 6:15 A. M. to 2:15 P. M., with an interruption of 45 minutes for the midday meal. Squad B works from 2:30 to 9:30 P. JVC. with an interruption of 45 minutes for the evening meal. In order that the two shifts work the same number of hours. Squad B should remain until 10:30, but as the street-car service stops after 9:30 the women on the second shift leave at that time. However, as the shifts alternate each week no discrimination results from this shorter workday for the night shift. This division of the workday gives satisfactory re- sults ; in fact, it shows remarkable advantages from both the industrial and the social point of view. On the indus- trial side the women produce more in a short workday than in an extended period, besides being less inclined to absent themselves from work; further, they do not feel the fatigue so keenly. The use of night shifts, whose production is often inferior, is avoided, and at the same time a material economy is effected in the general ex- penses, inspection, power, lighting, etc. These deduc- tions are confirmed by facts, as witness the following comparison of the ontput of two similar industries at Lyon and Bourges: Putting up of the prime holder— Bourges, 1,200 pieces in 10 hours and 15 minutes ; Lyon 1,100 to 1,150 pieces in 7 hours and 15 minutes. Mark- ing of the rocket's body — ^Bourges, 1,200 pieces in 9 hours and a half; Lyon, 1,200 to 1,250 pieces in 7 hours and a quarter. Drilling the prime holder — Bourges, 3,200 307 Effect on Output. — United States. pieces in 9 hours and a half ; Lyon, 3,200 pieces in 7 hours and a quarter. From the social point of view the workwoman gets important advantages from this division of the day ; she is a shorter time outside her home, she can give a part of her time to household duties, and she can take care of her children if she has any. The workwomen, judg- ing by the demand for employment, seem to appreciate this system. It is possible that this will be the way of organizing female work and a first solution of the com- pUcated problems arisiag from their employment. (Pages 599L601) Report of C. H. Oeownhaut, Counsel in re Application to Industrial Commission of Wisconsin to Fix Hours of Labor for Wom,en. Madison, Wisconsin. August 20, 1917. Industrial Commission of Wisconsin. By J. D. Beok, F. M. WiLoox, Geo. p. Hambrecht, Commissioners. The commission has not completed its investigation, but so far as manufactories and laundries are concerned, it is prepared to enter its order forbidding night work. (Page 4) Night work for women is at variance with the laws of nature, and has been very generally abolished through- out the civilized world. It is objectionable because of "lack of sunlight; lack of normal sleep; no compensation in restless interrupted sleep of day for the sleeplessness of night; the abnormality of sleeping by day; abnormal change in daily life; the destruction of home life; im- possibility of properly caring for home and children; lack of restraining influences; day work besides the arduous night tasks." (Page 5) 308 Effect on Output. — United States. In this day and a^e it needs no proof to establish the fact in the minds of the commission that night work in factories for women, is objectionable from the stand- point of the statutes forbidding employment prejudicial to the life, health, safety or welfare of such women. (Page 5) It has been urged upon the commission that because of the abnormal industrial conditions resulting from the present war, the commission should delay its findings and orders in respect to women employes, until such time as normal conditions are restored, and the commission has given these suggestions careful consideration. The re- sult of our consideration, however, is to firmly fix in our minds not only the desirability but the necessity for es- tablishing the conditions of women labor, as provided by law, at the earliest possible moment, both in the interest of employers and in the interest of the women workers. We take notice of the fact that in foreign countries en- gaged in war, recent investigations have established the fact that owing to abnormal conditions, employers, in their patriotic endeavors to secure output, exceeded the speed limit, with resulting inefficiency and failure to se- cure the best results. The Wisconsin statute fortunately lays down the rule which is bound to prove for the best interests of all parties concerned in securing efficiency and output. If women workers are pressed in their work to the extent that is prejudicial to their life, health, safety, and welfare, it will be found that it is also preju- dicial to output. Such has been the experience of all those who have given the matter real consideration. The war necessities as to labor are not satisfied by extending the hours of labor beyond the point of safety of health and welfare of the women workers. (Pages 5-6) . . . We have no hesitation in fijiding that all night work should be abolished in factories. Laundries. Conditions in laundries are similar to those in fac- tories as to standardization, machinery, speed, continuity 309 Effect on Output. — ^United States. of work and average of women employes. In addition there is excessive heat at some work and excessive humid- ity at other work in laundries. The same reasons exist for prohibiting night work in laundries as in factories. (Pages 6-7) Dated at Madison, Wisconsin, this 29th day of June, A. D., 1917. (Page 8) South Carolina Department of Agriculture, Commerce and Immigration. The Cotton Mills-of South Caro- lina. August Kohn. 1907. None of the big mills run at night. . . . Within the last few weeks the Inman Cotton Mill in Spartan- burg County has started to run part of its machinery at night. The Highland Park Mill is running some of its spinning at night. . . . Tucapan Mills and several other of the more successful large mills in the State at one time imdertook night work, to balance up the ma- chinery, but there are to-day not more than half a dozen miUs in South Carolina — and they are all small — that do any night work, and if they could they would abandon it, as it seems to be generally regarded as a losing proposi- tion to undertake night work. (Page 65.) Women and the Trades. Elizabeth B. Butlee. The Pittsburgh Survey. Russell Sage Foundation Publication. New Yorh, 1909. Manufacturers complain that overtime is a loss to them. They say that their employes do poorer work at night, and that the cost in wasted material, in light and heating, is more than the profit gained by a lengthened day, but that they are forced to work overtime by custom- 310 Effect on Output. — ^United States. ers who will not send in orders ahead. Nightwork, they say, is a means of holding their trade rather than of in- creasing their profits. Perhaps a universal legal pro- hibition would prove effective in overcoming the dilatori- ness of customers in these seasonal trades, as well as in the trades where work pressure is irregular. Unquestion- ably much overtime has been eliminated in states that have stringent laws ; much has been voluntarily avoided by manufacturers who have come to realize that night hours are in the long run a financial loss. (Pages 353- 354.) United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Re- port on Condition of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. I. Cotton Textile Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910. There were 293 cotton mills in North Carolina in 1908 (a), of which 59' were covered during this investigation. Of these 59i, 31 operated at night, not counting 2 that had within a year discontinued night shifts. In 3 of these 31 mills neither children under 16 nor women worked at night. In 28 mills, however, women were employed at night; in 27, children under 16 years of age were em- ployed at night ; and in 12 of these mills children younger than 12 were employed at night. The investigation was carried on in North Carolina late in 1907. The employ- ment of children at night was not then illegal in that state, but in 1907 a law was enacted which prohibited after that year the employment in factories of children under 14 years old between 8 p. m. and 5 a. m. (Page 284.) In North Carolina there are many small cotton mills, and night work in the mills in this State has been more prevalent than in any of the other States covered during this investigation. North Carolina manufacturers who had discontinued night work and who were interviewed were unanimous in declaring that night work did not pay. They asserted that, as a rule, they could only induce an 311 Effect on Output. — United States. inferior class of employees to work on the night shifts with a constant lowering in the quality of product, while at the same time a higher rate of wages than usual was required to secure even this class of help ; that continuous operation resulted in more than ordinary "wear and tear" on machinery, and that there was a disposition to neglect the care of machinery, where used jointly by two shifts. The manager of a mill in Georgia, which had car- ried on night work for a year and abandoned it, expressed the feeling tersely by saying : "It was hard on the people and hard on the machinery. ' ' In a publication published by the department of agri- culture, commerce, and immigration of South Carolina, the statement is made that the few mills that were still continuing night work would abandon it if they could, as it seems to be generally regarded as a losing proposition to undertake night work. In an interview with an agent of the bureau in 1908 a prominent cotton manufacturer of North Carolina said that the scarcity of labor had affected the profitableness of night work. When labor was plentiful, in the early days of the cotton industry in the South people came from the farms begging for work. They were so anxious to secure employment that the fact of its being night work did not matter. Then the mills were sure of securing as good a class of operatives for night shifts as for day shifts, and night work, in his judgment, was as profit- able as day work. But from 1900' on, when labor began to be scarce, this condition vanished. The better class of operatives could always get day work. This left the least intelligent to do night work; hence the product of such work was of inferior quality and less profitable than the product of day work. (Page 285.) 312 Effect on Output. — ^United States. United States Congress. Senate Document No. 645. Re- port on Condition of Woman and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. III. The Glass Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910. Night work is at present an established feature of the furnace room of the glass factory, the department in which practically all the boys are employed. Its present wide extent is due almost entirely to the introduction, some twenty-five years ago, of the continuance tank. With the pot furnace, nightwork was not unknown, but it was rare, being seldom resorted to except in emergencies. With the pot furnace, indeed, the economy of night work was not particularly important. As a single pot was ex- hausted after an ordinary day's working, to run two shifts of workers, would require a double number of pots. The tank, however, was under no such disability. As "filling" and melting could proceed continuously, work at all the ring holes could also proceed continuously ; and as a result, the mechanical equipment necessary for one shift became sufficient for two shifts, and a saving of fuel could be effected, for the furnace must be heated at night whether in use or not. The economy of two shifts, there- fore, appealed so strongly that the majority of manu- facturers put it into practice. The incentive, moreover, carried over to the pot furnace, and at present many factories with pot furnaces only, work at night as well as by day. That night work in the long run is an actual economy under normal conditions is, however, by no means certain. A number of manufacturers having tank furnaces do not run at night, and claim that the loss there- by incurred in fuel and equipment is more than compen- sated for by the better quality of men and boys securable when day work only is done and the better grade of work done by persons who work only by day. (Page 104.) Ihid. Vol. IV. The Silk Industry. One of the most powerful aids to the enforcement of this law (against night work) is the fact that the senti- 313 Effect on Output.— United States. ment of the workers is decidedly against night work. This fact is recognized by the manufacturers, who have other reasons for not desiring to operate their plant at night, among which are inability to secure sufficient help for both day and night forces, higher insurance rates for night work, and the further fact that artificial light is not satisfactory to work bv — especially in weaving. (Page 143.) Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics, No. 117. April 10, 1913. .Prohibition of Night Work of Young Persons. The prohibition of the night work of young persons win make it possible for the workmen to adapt them- selves to the new conditions, after a suitable period of transition, and will stimulate technical improvements in the glass industry. (Page 38.) A glass manufacturer in Mons considered that less and worse work is done at night than during the day and intends to abolish night work altogether. This experiment resulted in 1909, in the following conclusions : It is evident that the abolition of night work presup- poses in the first place that one condition should be ful- filled, namely, that sufficient room can be disposed of in the furnace department to allow a simultaneous work- ing of two shifts. It is also necessary to increase the number of tools which these shifts are to handle (pipes, molds, benches, etc.), and to double the annealing ovens. The fire has also to be maintained during the night in the annealing ovens and fresh heating to be provided. To maintain also the same production of every furnace the number of pots for smelting the glass must be increased ; the same quantity of molten and flint glass having to be taken from them during 12 hours instead of 24 hours. In consequence the expenses for fuel are larger. All these circumstances lead to an increase of cost price. 314 Effect on Output. — United Stateis. Still the exclusive work during the day affords a series of advantages. The supervisory staff and the cost of light may be reduced, the production is conducted in a more careful fashion, and less losses sustained from breakages. Still other advantages result from abolition of night work. The production per worker is greater and the earn- ings are increased, being piecework ; disputes concerning spoiled work or concerning the amount of production are less frequent because on one and the same day the pro- duction counted in the furnace can be controlled in the cooling room. Accidents seem to be less numerous. . . . The adult worker is more satisfied and declares that his cost of living is diminished if he is only working during , the day, being not obliged to take a meal during the night ; furthermore, he is bound to give less time to sleep if he must sleep during the day. These are the results of a six months' experiment. This period is not yet very ex- tensive, but the manufacturers interested have told us that it seemed to be sufficient to confirm that they do not wish to return to the old manner of organization. The report of 1910 states that after a further experi- mental period of one year the manufacturers have de- clared that they were satisfied with the abolition of night work, and that henceforward they would prefer the op- eration exclusively during the day. (Page 40.) It is certain that these reforms would require from the manufacturers greater organizing power rather than financial sacrifices. In many industries greater innova- tions than those which, for the reasons set out in the memorandum, the International Association considers to be indispensable, have been introduced, thanks to the salutary constraint of the law. In the present case it is not only vital questions, such as education and hygiene which are affected, but the object of this policy is also to safeguard the energies and capabilities of future genera- tions. (Pages 63-64.) 315 Effect on Output. — ^United States. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 119. May 5, 1913. Working Hours of Women in the Pea Canneries of Wisconsin. The manufacturer of canning machinery before men- tioned wrote the Bureau under recent date : There has been a tendency the last few years toward high capacity lines, but we do not believe real efficiency is served by such methods, as the service of the inspectors of capping, etc., can not be performed with as great effi- ciency. Where the congestions have been met by overtime work, the effect of fatigue upon efficiency becomes im- portant not only to the canner but to the cannery worker. According to a bulletin of the Federal Bureau of Chem- istry, "Cap and tip leaks become most numerous when long runs are made and the workmen become tired. When night runs are made the greater number of leaks are found to occur in cans handled in the early morn- ing." (Page 30.) Testimony of canners. "Inspectors and cappers do not do so good work late at night. They get tired and one of the boys takes the place for a while. Not more than one-fourth of 1 per cent are spoils due to poor inspection. ' ' This firm packed 22,000 cases in 1911. The loss through poor inspection was therefore 55 cases. At an average price of $2.40 per case (roughly estimated from the schedule of prices for Wisconsin peas, printed in the Canner of Jan. 4, 1912), this canner lost $132 through faulty inspection. The in- spectors are rarely paid more than 15 cents an hour. An- other inspector could have been employed at double the rate for 5 hours overtime during the entire season of 25 days at a total cost of $37.50. If the second shift inspec- tor cut down the spoilage by one-third, she would have saved her own cost and put money in the firm's till. (Page 30.) . . . "Girls are not able to do efficient work after the long strain of the previous day. ' ' ( Page 31. ) 316 Effect on Output. — ^Belgium. Royaume de Belgique. Bureom de Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de l' Industrie dans les Pays Strangers. [Belgian Burea/u of Labor. Night Work of Women in Industry in Foreign Covm- tries. "] Maurice Ansiatjx. Brussels, 1898. Feance. Where a change in industrial arrangements was necessitated by the law, that is, in the majority of cases can it be said that the textile industry of the Vosges felt injurious effects? And did the female workers suffer any as a result of the new regime? Neither of these consequences were noticed, because the intervention of the law occurred in the course of a period of industrial expansion, at least in this region. This is the conclusion very clearly deduced from the ex- planations of the President of the Cotton Syndicate, as well as from the language of the principal directors of this same industry at Epinal and, one may add, at Bel- fort. (Page 42.) French employers themselves . . . enumerate the many disadvantages attendant upon night work. The product was inferior in quantity and in quality; there was much more negligence, as might be expected when the workmen were sleepy; and consequently there was need of active supervision by energetic foremen— who themselves had to be supervised. It should be remarked, too, that shop discipline is worse at night. Finally, the machines are worn out more quickly by uninterrupted work; they cannot be so well cared for; it is more diffi- cult to keep them oiled. All these drawbacks have some- times been of such weight as to bring about the abolition of night work by manufacturers even in advance of the legislative prohibition. This was the case in a cotton mill in Belfort, which, having introduced night work in 1887 in consequence of an accident to a machine, and having continued it after the machine was repaired, vol-, untarily gave it up, in 1889. Some years later, the con- cern simply increased the number of spindles. 317 Effect on Output. — ^Belgium. No less significant is the example of those firms which have established a nine o'clock closing hour for both sexes alike. They could, of course, have confined them- selves — as did several of their competitors — ^to increas- ing the number of spindles, so that the women, working by day only, might do enough to keep two shifts of spin- ners busy — a day shift and a night shift. In the opinion of the president of the syndicate of Eastern cotton manu- facturing, this case of complete abandonment of night work is the best proof of the disadvantages of such work. (Pages 43-44.) SwiTZEBLAND. From the economic point of view no complaint (against the law) was formulated, at least in general; for the leaders of (Swiss) industry declare that the night work of women is cruel, disastrous to health, and more- over very onerous. Night production is very inferior both in quality and in quantity to daytime production, and it is much more costly. Finally, according to the remark of a large manufacturer of Zurich, M. Wunderly, night work lessens the powers of endurance, destroying that power of attention indispensable to the workwoman in order effectively to guard against accidents. An important manufacturer of combed wool of this same city viewing the question from a high standpoint, expressed himself in the following manner : ^'The manufacturers who exert their ingenuity in makiag the utmost demands upon the strength of their women workers, are guilty of a singular narrowness of vision. In Switzerland practical men are much more ad- vanced from every view point. They realize that social peace is of the highest importance to business. . . . This spirit, which inspires them in all matters, influences them also in their estimation of night work, which is considered relatively unproductive, fatiguing and ruin- ous to the health of women. After some time such work brings about a manifest injury to working capacity, and the nation's industries show an evident inferiority in the contest wth foreign competition. 318 Effect on Output. — Belgium. "One of the leading tobacco manufacturers of Bein- wyl declared : ' I consider night work destructive of health and the longer I continue in industry the less inclined am I to introduce it. Without doubt there are industries where night work is necessary, but it is never necessary at any price to employ women and children.' " (Pages 85-86.) Austria.. A manufacturer of the vicinity of Vienna gave the following as the chief drawbacks of night work : "1. The machines are used up much more quickly. . . . Being employed uninterruptedly the equipment is more rapidly worn out. ' ' 2. The quality of the output obtained by night work is inferior. Defects are more easily produced in such work. They also much more easily escape detection. Moreover, is it to be supposed that workers who have slept little during the day will be fresh when they reach the factory in the evening? The light is far from being as good as during the day, there occur accidents in the course of the production, the machines must be frequently stopped, sometimes for several hours. Then fines are imposed which make the workers discontented; then results poor work. "3. The supervision of the foremen is much more difBcult and indeed very exhausting. One of these told me that after a week -of night work he was completely tired out." (Page 171.) From all that has been said it follows that the pro- hibition formulated by section 96& of the law of 1885 has not caused any appreciable prejudice to Austrian manu- facturers. (Page 172.) That which considerably lessens the cost of abolish- ing night work, that which even, according to the formal statement of more than one mill owner, completely bal- ances it, is the inferiority of night work. "It is contrary to nature," is the statement of a Catholic manufacturer who is at the head of one of the large establishments in Augsburg, where night work has long been given up if 319 Effect on Output. — Belgium. it ever existed there. And nevertheless the dividends have never been less than those of competing firms who have worked twenty-four hours per day without inter- ruption. (Page 219.) Germany. The director of a woolen mill of Chemnitz told me that he also had abandoned the night work of women before the law was passed, because it was too expensive and furnished only an inferior grade of output. (Page 220.) The director of a wool combing establishment at Kaiser^lautem made the following declaration : "Soon after the new factory law went into force we had the satisfaction of finding that the abolition of night work had brought us advantages which may be viewed as compensation for the financial outlay occasioned by the investment of capital. Not only does day work continue a little longer than night work, but it producer a product essentially superior to the latter; this result alone justi- fies the prohibition of night work. The best proof that the experiences which we have had in the departments of preparation and twisting have not made us regret our financial expenditures, is that in the course of the last year we have installed new equipment permitting us to abolish night work completely in the whole mill." (Page 220.) The complete abolition of night work has also been brought about in a few similar establishments at Leipzig. More decisive and more striking yet was an experi- ence in the combing and washing of wool at Hanover. The head of this establishment made the following state- ment: "Experience has shown that, in spite of the important sums necessary for new installations, the cost of prodiic- tion not only was not increased, but was even a little lessened. The explanation is found in the fact that all night work has great drawbacks ; in this case, the super- vision of the workers and of the machines is always very imperfect, and the execution of the work feeble and de- 320 ■ Effect on Output. — ^Belgium. fective. Our experience very completely establishes the fact that all supplementary expenses are compensated for with interest, by the more abundant and qualitative- ly superior production of day time." (Pages 220-221.) A specially interesting case is that of a manufac- turer of boxes at Baden. He had experienced serious fears at first as to the prohibition of the employment of women at night. And he had made great efforts, in vain, to obtain the benefit of an exception of the law. To-day these imaginary apprehensions have vanished. The firm recognizes without any reservations that it has easily obeyed the law. He writes "The suppression of night work has exerted a beneficent influence on the productiv- ity and on the health of the women workers. Owing to the acquisition of a new machine for calendering and to an increase in size of the establishment we were able to avoid any falling off in production. ' ' He added that there had been no diminution in wages and made the following statement with reference to the productivity of the women workers : "The output is generally much better, because the oversight is better during the day, and the women have no occasion, before the beginning of work, to become fatigued by domestic cares, and they consequently come to their tasks much fresher." (Page 229.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie. Rap- ports sur son Importance et sa Reglementation Legale [Night Worh of Women in Industry. Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface hy Etiknne Bauer. Le Travail de Nuit de$ Femmes en Belgique. M. L. Varlez, Barrister of the Court of Appeals, Counsellor at Ghent. Jena, Fischer, 1903. As to the differences in quality and quantity of pro- duction by night and by day: The chief advantage to the employer is in the continued use of his plant, with 321 Effect on Output. — France. the same or nearly the same cost to capital as if used by day only. The disadvantages are that night work involves con- siderable current expense. Light and heating cost more, superintendence is more difficult and more expensive, work is less carefully watched and executed and disci- pline is less strict. Machinery is more quickly worn out, especially as it is more difficult to keep it in good order, and accidents are more frequent. (Page 134,) Rapports sur I' Application pendant I'Annee 1899 des Lois reglementant le Travail. {Loi du 2 Novem- bre, 1892, et du 12 Juin, 1893). Rapports des Inspecteurs Divisionnaires du Travail. [Reports of the French Factory Inspectors on the Working of the Factory Laws of Nov. 2, 1892, and of Jime 12, 1893.] Paris. 1900. We are more than ever convinced that it is absolutely necessary to put an end to a state of things as prejudicial to the workwoman's health as it is little profitable to the sewing trades, and that all work after 9 P.M. should be forbidden. This is the wish of the employees, and we be- lieve that the government, in proposing the adoption of this just measure, will not thwart the interest of the em- ployers. The later work lasts into the night, the more fatigued is the working woman, and as a result her work is poorly done, so that she is often obliged to do over in the morning what she had done the night before. We repeat, therefore, the recommendations that we make every year : that a good organization of work with plenty of workers would be more profitable to the em- ployers than overtime. (Page 39.) 322 Effect on Output. — France. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night Work of Women in Industry. Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienijb Bauer. L' Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie Frangaise. P. Pio, University of Lyon. Jena, Fischer, 1903. It is beyond dispute that night work is very inferior, as regards quality, to day work. Mr. Strohl, a spinning mill owner in the Vosges, brought a very explicit report on this fact to the 1902 meeting of the French Association for Labor Legislation. Nor could his statements be con- tested by the manufacturers of the Lyons district where articles of luxury are produced. In the manufacture of colored silks, ribbons, etc., certain colors cannot be well seen by artificial light, — certain greens look blue, yellows, white or cream, etc. Broken threads are replaced with greater difficulty, — more mistakes are made. (Page 216.) The prohibition of night work by women in 1892, and the suppression of work by alternating shifts in 1900, may have had at certain points, the consequence of re- ducing temporarily the net output of establishments where these older methods were in use. But, in a general way, these reforms do not appear to have had, on the total production, the detrimental influence predicted by the adversaries of regulation. (Page 217.) As a matter of fact, many employers have succeeded, by reorganizing their plant, in compensating the loss, whether due to the abolition of female night shifts, or to the complete suppression of night work for all workers. The complete cessation of night work for all employees is an accomplished fact in a number of the Vosges spin- ning mills, and in most of the mills in the Ehone Valley. The latter industry employed women preferably because of their greater manual dexterity and many employers prophesied freely that the suppression of night work for women would mean speedy ruin. Their gloomy fore- casts were not realized. The spinning industry did, it is 323 Effect on Output. — France. true, pass through a serious crisis at that period, but it was due, not to the suppression of night work, but to American competition. Other industries in the same re- gion gave up their night shifts of adult men of their own accord, and perfected their plants. Such improvements did so much to increase output that certaiu industries were able to advance wages. This result according to Mr. Strohl, had a most salutary social effect ; the men of fam- ily getting higher wages, the women withdrew even from day work in the factories and devoted themselves wholly to the nurture and education of their families. M. Strohl testified that under these circumstances not only did the withdrawal of the women from wage earning bring no hardships to the families of the workers, but their well- being was increased. . . . This movement for the betterment of processes and mechanical equipment, following the adoption of a more strict legal regulation, was particularly marked in north- em France. . . . . . In his report for 1901 the inspector for the division of Lille showed that, owing to new looms, experi- mented with in the woollen and cotton mills of his di- vision, the complete application of the new law did not seem sensibly to influence the output. (Page 217.) Rapport sur le Travail de Nuit des Enfants dans les Usines a Feu continu. [Report on Nightivork of Children in Continuous Industries.] Association Nationale Frangaise pour la Protection legale des Travailleurs. [French NationM Association for Labor Legislation.} F. F'agnot, Investigator at- tached to the Bureau of Labor. Paris, Alcan, 1908. We have consulted separately the secretaries of the two principal metal workers' unions in this region — M. Henin, formerly a metal-roller, secretary of the Anzin union, and M. Maillard, also formerly a metal-roller, sec- retary of the Maubeuge union. 324 Effect on Output. — France. Without having had any opportunity of coming to an understanding with each other beforehand, the two sec- retaries make the same complaints and give the same ad- vice. They both point out the difficulties and the dangers of nightwork, both from the physical and from the moral point of view. They show that nightwork increases liv- ing expenses, not only for the workman, but for his family also. They dwell upon the considerable number of accidents resulting from night-work — especially minor accidents to children, such as burns, sprains, dislocations, etc. (Pages 10-11.) M. Hancart, treasurer of the national federation of glass-workers, declared in the name of the federation his strong disapproval of nightwork. ... In a letter summing up his opinion, M. Hancart adds the following considerations : "It will be the same with nightwork as it has been with the eight-hour day. When the workmen get a proper kind of rest, they will be more efficient than they are to- day. The enormous difference in efficiency between the eleven-hour workmen and the seven-and-a-half-hour workmen is already noticeable ; the latter make as many bottles in a day as the former." (Pages 21-22.) M. Wagret, one of the principal glass manufacturers of the north, considers that every measure that is bene- ficial to the workmen, even if it entails expense for the firm, is nevertheless to the firm's own interest. "I am not a philanthropist," he says, "but simply a manufac- turer who attends to his business, and I am merely try- ing to get a return on my capital." (Page 28.) Le Travail de Nuit dans la Bouldngerie. [Nightwork in Bakeries.] Maurice Bouteloup. Larose, Paris, 1909. As a matter of fact the bakery business has remained extremely unprogressive in many localities. But it seems certain that this condition Avill change as soon as there is any advantage to be gained by making the change. 325 Effect on Output. — Germany. The Italian bakery business has made considerable progress during the last few years, since the law pro- hibiting night work was passed, new experiments have been tried and new methods of work established. (Page 252.) . . . The introduction of improved machinery is an indirect result of the prohibition of night work. Every effort has been made to increase and perfect pro- duction. (Page 254.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den JahresbericJiten der mit BeaufsicMigung der Fdbriken Betrauten Beamten. IX. 1884. [Official Information from the Reports of the German Factory Inspectors.] Night work seems to be on the increase. . . . My observations have convinced me that night work should be strictly limited to those lines of work whose require- ments make it absolutely unavoidable, or to those where a minimum number of exclusively male operatives may be employed. On the part of the employer two consid- erations favor this view: 1. The product of night work is usually poorer, and dearer. 2. The machinery suffers on account of the double shift. It may be easily proved in those factories that run continuously that the ma- chinery suffers from the incessant use and from the change of workers, each of whom leaves some part of cleaning and tending to be done by the next. (Page 428.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahresberichten der mit BeaufsicMigung der Fabriken betrauten Beamten. Vol. XIV. 1889. [Official Information from the Reports of the German Factory Inspectors.] The conclusion arrived at is that even these factories (at Dehnenhorst) would gladly do away with night work if their competitors would also do so or could be com- pelled to do so. It has been shown that day and night 326 Effect on Output. — Grennany. shifts do not give a doubled output. The proportion as compared with the output of factories of the same ca- pacity running by day only is as 9:7. (Page 89.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahresberichten der Gewerbe AufsicMsheamten, 1890. {^Official In- formation from the Reports of the German Fac- tory Inspectors.] In the district of Planen the leading factory owners, some of whom had employed women on night work, n agreed that legislation forbidding night work for women could be enforced and would be received with general satisfaction. (Page 88.) The inspectors for Alsace Lorraine state that night work for women is now regarded throughout the whole province as unproductive and even as a menace to mor- ality. (Page 88.) Das Verbot der Nachtarbeit. [The Prohibition of Night Work.] A Report at the International Congress for Labor Legislation, Paris, 1900. Da. Max HiBscH. Jahrbuch fur Gesetsgebung, Verwaltung und Volhswirtschaft, Vol. XXV. 1901. The second and chief argument against the assertion that night work is profitable to the employer is the in- variable inferiority of the output in point both of quan- tity and of quality. . . . Here are a few absolutely authentic statements from employers. A manufacturing chemist writes: "It is only in big concerns, where there is strict supervision, that the night workers can be made to give the same output as the day workers. Unless they are constantly under inspection, the best of them give way to natural fatigue and go napping now and then, thus making many mistakes which have to be corrected the next day". . . . Another manufacturer writes: 327 Effect on Output. — Germany. "The adequate and conscientious supervision so neces- sary in the case of night work is very seldom possible, since it involves a double force of superintendents or managers. . . . In G. (a large machine factory) we have had a great deal of night work, but it has never paid. The turners are at their lathes, apparently working, but when you come up to them you see that though the lathe is being turned, the steel is not going in. The workers are trying not to get tired for fear of spoiling the job. It is true that when the system is that of piece-work, the people work, but then the results of night work are shown in the inferiority of the product. . ." The head of the public service enterprises in a Prus- sian provincial capital deplores the necessity of night work, especially in the gas works, and . . . confirms and supplements the above account of its economic dis- advantages. He reported, among other things, that in his many dealings with night workers he never gave out piece-work, since if he did the product would be so de- fective that it would be quite too bad to use. But, he said, even with the other system, every observant expert knows that the output of night work is only seventy-five per cent, or even only sixty per cent, as great as the output of the same amount of day work. The same estimate was given us by a Berlin engineer and by other employers — all of whom furnished the information of their own ac- cord. With a loss of twenty-five per cent or more in the output, what becomes of the advantage of night work to the employer? We must suppose that those who think night work economical, merely because of the increased utilization of the plant, are deceiving themselves piti- fully — as are those who think they profit by excessive hours of work. (Pages 1270-1271.) 328 Effect on Output. — Germany. JahresbericMe der Gewerbe-AufsieMsheamten v/nd Berg- hehorden fiir das Jahr 1907. [^Reports of the Fac- tory and Mine Inspectors for 1907.] Prussia, 1908. (In the case of a certain textile mill certain reasons induced permission to work at night for a while with women, and boys over 14:) It is noteworthy that this experience with night work showed that the output for the night was far below that of the day, as the workers attended their machines half asleep. (Page 303.) JahresbericMe der Gewerbeaufsichtsbeamten im Konig- reich Wiirttemberg fiir 1912. {Reports of the Factory Inspectors in the Kingdom of Witrttem- berg for 1912.] Night work steadily grows less. Thanks to the prog- ress being made in the field of technique, many branches of industry which, as was formerly believed, could not get along without night work have limited the work to the day time without loss of productiveness. (P. 16.) JahresbericMe der Koniglich Bayerischen Gewerbeauf- sichtsbeamten fur das Jahr 1913. {Reports of the Bavarian Factory Inspectors for the year 1913.] A cotton factory, which last year introduced day and night shifts in the industry, has given up the night work as uneconomical. (Page 133.) 329 Effect on Output. — ^Italy. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night Work of Women in Industry. Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienne Bauer. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dan^ le Developpement de VIndustrie Moderne en Japon. M. Matsuzaki, University of Tokyo. Jena, Fischer, 1903. One mill owner reports the following fact : — ' ' The products of night work are 30 per cent, inferior to those of day work. We may conclude that, as regards the lahorer, night work is more fatiguing than day work. It is not correct to maintain that those who work at night can sleep during the day. Sleep during the day is less undisturbed than at night. Often night workers amuse themselves with their fellow workers during the day in- stead of resting." (Page 294.) Ibid. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes En Italie. G. ToNioiiO, University of Pisa. Economic reasons of general interest enter into the question of prohibiting night work. Such is for example the active competition between manufacturers using steam power and those using water power; the latter (who are very numerous in northern and central Italy), wishing to secure the full benefit of their motive power, tend to continue work through the night, which the for- mer cannot do without great expense. The manufac- turers using steam power are the ones demanding legal- prohibition of night work, in order to remove this in- equality! . . . There enters into this propaganda also a large and farseeing idea of social economy, that is, the prevention of that over-production which in other countries has resulted in a permanent industrial crisis, by the legal prohibition of night work in those industries whose development has been in Italy so rapid. Technical 330 Effect on Output. — Italy. experiences and the interests of international competition likewise encourage the general tendency. Everybody knows that night work results in products of an inferior quality. Since, in a product placed on the market, one cannot distinguish the perfect from the imperfect parts, the whole product is in the end discredited and depre- ciated. By invoking the law, at least against the night work of women, manufacturers expect to check those of their colleagues who seek only to increase the quantity of their output to the detriment of the quality and thus bring discredit to the nation's industries. (Pages 289-290.) Suir influensa delta luce naturale nel lavoro. [The Influence of Natural Light upon Labor.] Dk. L. BoLETTiNO. Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Industrial Diseases. Milan, June, 1906- There are so few industries absolutely requiring night work, that its prohibition would not result in serious, practical diflSculties. Night work is much more wearing than day work, and repose during the day does not com- pensate the toiler for the fatigue of the night. The abol- ition of night work would result in real benefit not only to the working classes but also to the employers them- selves because it is conceded that day work is more pro- ductive than night work. (Page 104.) La fisiopatologia del lavoro notturno e la legislazione italianfi. [The Physiological Pathology of Night Work and Italian Legislation.] Db. Ambeogio Mom, Assistant at the Pediatric Clinic of the Royal Institute of Research, in Florence. II Ramazzim, Oct.-Nov., 1907. Also night work should be recognized by industrial employers as tending to cause a diminished and imperfect production on the part of the workers and as a mutual 331 Effect on Output. — Italy. injury since it involves reparation to the injured worker. Many industrial employers are convinced of this truth — for instance in the Departement du Midi in France — and above all the Insurance Companies have come for- ward with their statistics ; from which it is shown once more that in the end all the crimes that modem indus- trialism commits against the laws that govern muscle and brain work and that violate the rights of the worker, will be paid for by a money loss suffered by the industry that permits night work. The worker should be in- structed in hygienic matters for his own sake, for that of his family and of society in general. . . . (Page 626.) 332 3. Effect on Employment of Women ; Measures Taken TO Maintain Output. Where the night work of women has been prohibited by law, employers have often found it possible to abolish night work altogether and have maintained output in various ways; by increasing their day force, by enlarg- ing their establishments, by improving machinery and processes of manufacture. Such measures, together with the increased efficiency of the workers, have com- pensated for the loss of women's night work. In many establishments it has proved possible to avoid night work and late overtime by a greater regularity of work. Where night work has been unavoidable, the replace- ment of women by men at night has not resulted in their total loss of occupation, but only in the employment of men in their places at night. With single exceptions the prohibition of women's night work has not contracted the scope of their employment. Amtliche Mittheilungen cms den Jahres-Berichten der Gewerbe-Aufsichtsbeamten, 1884. [Official In- formation from the Reports of the German Factory Inspectors.] Leipzig. In the factories having regular night work for women weekly shifts have been established. The women who are on night work during a given week work up to 6 or 7 A. M. of the Sunday following their week. They are then laid off over Sunday, and on Monday begin day work at 6 or 7 A. M. It can hardly be contended that 333 Effect on Employment of Women. — Germany. the needs of industrial production actually require night work of women, injurious as it undoubtedly is to them, for in those lines of industry where night work is the rule only occasional firms employ women at night, whilst the others have either never employed women or have given up doing so. In many establishments, such for instance as textile factories, night work is undertaken solely for the sake of greater production and higher profits. But in a wool carding mill the owners are about to abolish all night work voluntarily and meet the ques- tion of larger production by increasing the number of their spindles. (Page 353.) Meissen. Night work for women is carried on in a paper mill and a sugar miU. AVhile in the latter, the employment of women at night may be temporarily unavoidable on ac- count of the rush, in the former they are only employed thus because of the lower wages they get. Women are paid 1 mark on night shift while men for the same work and hours are paid 1 mark 50pf. Night work is, incon^ testably, injurious to the physical development and to the general well-being of women and to their moral stand- ards. It should be done away with everywhere unless the interests of industry would be very seriously dam- aged thereby. My observations have not shown me that this would be the case, as other establishments do not find it necessary to employ women at night. (Page 391.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahres-Berichten der Gewerhe-Aufsichtsheamten. XX. 1895. [Official Information from the Reports of the German Factory Inspectors.] Baden. That women can easily be replaced by men for night work is specifically declared in the reports from many quarters. (Page 177.) 334 / Effect on Employment of Women. — Grermany. The ofivjial (of a mining region) is of the opinion that the slight difficulties in the way of replacing women by, men on night shifts are not to be compared with the grave dangers involved in the employment of women at night. (Page 178.) Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahres-Berichten der Gewerbe-AufsicMsbeamten, 1898. {Reports of the German Factory Inspectors.] The prohibition of night work for women in the sugar factories and refineries went into effect without any difficulties. The factories of the Breslau district re- placed the women by men of other nationalities. (Galicians, etc.) (Page 85.) Die Wirhung der Schutsbestimmungen fur die jugend- lichen und weiblichen Fdbrikarbeiter in Deutsch- land. [The Working of the German Factory Laws for Women and Children.] Db. Arthub Dodd. Jena, Fischer, 1898. The abolition of night work caused some disturbance in newspaper printing where women had been employed. They were replaced here by men, and similar instances were noted in some other industries. However, the whole number of employed women increased. (Page 80.) Report from Leipsic, Saxony, in 1894, stated that only in the case of one factory (wool carding) had a small proportion of women been dismissed as a result of the restrictions on night work. (Page 86.) Report from Meissen was of same tenor ; the prohibi- tion of night work only resulted in dismissal of women from paper mills. (Page 86.) In general all the provincial reports state that the employment of women in industry was not lessened in consequence of prohibition of night work. (Pages 85-86.) 335 Effect on Employment of Women. — Germany. Threats of employers to dismiss women on account of restriction were only occasionally carried out, and then from anger only. A gradual accommodation took place. (Page 87.) It next appeared as if the restrictions had actually stimulated industry and larger day staffs were taken on to balance the lost night work and keep up production. Plants were enlarged. (Page 88.) AU reports from provinces showed that employers had enlarged their plants, and either put men on duty at night in place of women, or stopped night work alto- gether. (Page 95.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night work of Women in Industry. Re- ports on its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface hy Ettennb Baueb. Jena, Fischer, 1903. At first there was ground for expecting that the pro- hibition of night work by women would result in their loss of previous occupations, and their replacement by young workmen or even by the more costly adult laborers. The facts of experience, collected from almost all coun- tries, disprove this supposition, constantly made by the adversaries of restriction. (Page xxxv.) In the German Empire certain woollen manufacturers attempted, after the promulgation of the law of 1891, to recruit young workmen for night work, in place of women. The objections to this practice were found, after- wards, just as before, in the mediocre quality and the small quantity of articles produced during the hours of night ; in the greater instability of this young labor force ; the abolition of the alternation of shifts of workers and the resultant exhaustion of the men, from working at night after having been charged during the day with labor more fatiguing than that required of women. It is easy to trace, between 1882 and 1895, the numerical changes in the different classes of workers in German in- 336 Effect on Employment of Women. — Belgium. dustries. The proportion of working women rose from 13.31% to 16.65%, while the proportion of young men remained about constant (rising from 26.26% to 26.98%). (Page XXXVI.) The effect on industry of the interdiction of night work by women is shown (1) by the elimination of work qualitatively bad and (2) by the increase in the size of factories and by the renewal of machines. Both of these are steps in advance which have resulted "from the pro- hibition of night work. Moreover, the much greater power of production of the new equipment permits the payment of higher salaries to the male workers replac- ing the women ; and this increase more than compensates for the slight loss of revenue which the family must er- dure through the prohibition of night work by women. (Page XXXIX.) Royaume de Belgique. Office du Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de I'Industrie dans les Pays Strangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night- work of Women in Industry in Foreign Countries.] Maubice Ansiaux. Brussels, 1898. Fbanob. The steady growth of the textile industry in the Vosges is well shown by the following experience : For about ten years the English threads had the preference, at equal prices, in the Vosgian market; to-day at equal prices, the native threads, on the contrary, are most sought after. A further proof of this development is moreover the erection of new mills, which have very easily absorbed all the women who had lost their em- ployment in consequence of the prohibition of night work and their displacement by male workers. (Pages 42-43.) But was not the expense serious? Yes, only the com- pensations which have accompanied the change and which are equally important, should not be omitted. These compensations are emphasized by the captains 337 Effect on Employment of Women. — Belgium. of industry themselves when they enumerate the many disadvantages of night work. The output was less and was less carefully done. The negligence was very much greater — ^a not astonishing result of the sleepiness of the workers. Moreover, there was need of active supervision and of energetic foremen, whom also it was necessary to watch. We note also that the discipline is less effective in the factory at night. , Finally the machines are used up more quickly by uninterrupted work; they cannot be so well maintained; the oiling is more difficult. All these inconveniences are, it would seem, so con- siderable, that one should not expect legislation to be necessary to bring about the cessation of night work. There is the case of the cotton manufacturer at Belfort, who after having introduced night work as the result of an accident to his machinery, continued it after the re- pairs were made, but voluntarily discontinued it in 1889. Some years later his establishment simply increased the number of spindles. (Pages 43-44.) What have been the consequences of the law from the point of view of the working women ? Has it lessened their number and increased the number of men employed and what has been its effect on their wages ? In regard to the number of women employed a dis- tinction should be made between the nature of the trades. Iii a trade which can be carried on by men, the regula- tion of the night work of women only may have the effect of bringing about a preference for male labor, which is free from all legal restrictions. But the effect is other- wise in all trades to which women only are adapted ; this is naturally the case in all industries requiring needle- work and they are numerous. Here there is an increase in the female labor force. (Page 143.) Austria. After these general remarks, let us now view more closely the measures which have tjeen taken to supply thq output of the night work of women, henceforth pro- hibited in Austria. 338 Effect on Employment of Women. — Belgium. On the one hand a certain number of establishments, notably the spinning mills, have replaced the women previously employed at night by men. It is appropriate to add that the women were replaced as a rule by young men of ages 19 or 20, whose wages were not so great as that of adult men. Moreover, this substitution was effected without any injury to the industry in the quality of the work, at least in the spinning of carded wool. There was of course a period of transition during which it was necessary to ac- complish the apprenticeship of the young men, but this is not work at which they are less apt than women. In fact, in carding, men of the trade say that fineness of touch is no longer of importance ; the machine itself equalizes the wool; it suffices to feed this machine, a work which re- quires no skill. The inspector at Brunn, M. Czerweny, also stated the same fact. All the tasks previously accomplished by women in the spinning of wool are now performed by men, without any complaint that they are less well executed; the masculine worker lacks none of the necessary quali- ties. That is one solution. It has not been adopted by all manufacturers. There are those who preferred to main- tain their entire contingent of female labor and to en- large their establishments and equipment so as to work only during the daytime without producing less than in the past. (Pages 169-170.) We may ask what has been the influence of this regu- lation on the conditions of the women workers of Austria? In the first place, has it resulted in a reduction of the number of women workers? An affirmative answer would assuredly not be correct. Perhaps there has been momentary losses of employ- ment; in fact, it would be nearer the truth to speak of changes, of displacement. (Page 175,) GrEBMANT. Immediately following the vote on the German law of 1891, it became necessary for mill owners to determine 339 Effect on Employment of Women. — ^Belgium. what arrangements they would make with a view to count- er-balancing the falling off in output occasioned by the suppression of night work. Some of them adopted the plan of substituting young men for the women ; others — and these were most numerous — preferred to enlarge their establishments and increase the number of their machines, so as to pro- duce during the day as much as they had previously pro- duced by working continuously during twenty-four hours. In Germany, the former of these alternatives has been judged inexpedient. Those who adopted it have not had grounds for satisfaction. Such is the case with the wool combing at Leipzig, of some of the establishments at Mulhaus, of the spinning mill at Kaiserslautern and of that at Diisseldorf. These last two establishments, after sufficient experience, have already abandoned this policy. They also have decided to enlarge their establishments; as for the first it has done so already. Why has this first solution appeared disadvantage- ous ? in what way was it defective f Its defects are twofold. In the first place there is in this case an absolute obstacle to the alternation of shifts, since the women can be engaged only for daytime work. It follows, therefore, that the young men work constantly at night, a result with which they have no reason to be pleased. The fact is that at Diisseldorf it has been noted that the young and indeed excellent workmen, were com- peted to give up continuous night work, in spite of very good wages, for the especial reason of injury to their health. Moreover with this combination the work is not al- ways as well done, while being generally more expensive. The quality is inferior because the boys become fa- tigued, resting less during the day than the women had done. (Pages 214-216.) At Dusseldorf, a woman spinner earned 80 pfennigs less than a young man. The textile establishment of this city made this substitution for 58 persons. This was a 340 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. quite serious increase of expenses, which will be avoided by the complete suppression of night work, by enlarging the building and increasing the equipment. This has not been, however, the sole reason for the change of system. The head of the firm explained also the incomparable superiority of day work and the greater stability of the female labor force. (Page 217.) The inspector at Arnsberg reported that the manu- facturers of his district have declared themselves well satisfied with the measure which we are considering (Pro- hibition of night work) in spite of the enlargement of equipment which was made necessary by its adoption. (Page 229.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXVIII, 1844. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for the Half Year End- ing 31st December, 1843. L. Horner. Instruct male adults in the business, and employ them whenever the necessity of night work is forced on you (i. e. the manufacturer). If the trade is not profitable enough to enable the mill occupiers to do this, and what- ever restriction is imposed be applied equally on all in the trade, I do not doubt a remedy will be found, and the demand for goods so equalized over the year as to make it desirable to erect a little ■ more machinery for the purpose of meeting that demand. (Pages 24-25.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XX. 1878. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for the Half Year Ending 31st October, 1877. A few months ago you instructed me to prosecute a firm of printers in the city for employing women during the night contrary to law, and this case has been made the text of an article in the monthly journal of the so- ciety, in which it is sought to prove that the influence of such a law must be most prejudicial to the morals of 341 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. women by placing them at a disadvantage when seeking to make an honest living. It will not be difficult to show that whatever encouragement may appear to be given to this view by a theoretical consideration of the Fac- tory law its influence when in practical operation has been entirely and altogether the reverse. ... It has encouraged the employment of women rather than other- wise, their average earnings since it came to be enforced have increased in a large proportion and not a single fact can be adduced, which would even appear to support the monstrous assertion that it affords encouragement to vice and prostitution. (Page 15.) . . . The argument that the tendency of the Fac- tory Acts is to place an artificial restriction on the em- ployment of women, and thus to depreciate the market value on their labour, is refuted on every hand by prac- tical experience in the textile manufactories. Here the restrictions upon women's work are the most stringent; and yet the tendency for a long series of years has been the opposite, the proportion of women employed has steadily increased. The same observation applies to many of the trades and occupations carried on in London. As for the rate of wages paid, there is not an employer in the metropolis who will hesitate to acknowledge that there has been during the last ten or fifteen years a very substantial and important advance in the remuneration given to women for their work. (Pages 15-16.) The Case for the Factory Acts. Edited by Mrs. Sidney Webb. London, Richards, 1901. But, it may be objected, that although Factory Legis- lation would improve the women, it annoys the employer, and makes htm inclined to get rid of women altogether and employ men. As a matter of fact, this course, though often threatened beforehand, is not in practice followed. Where women can be employed, their labour is so much cheaper than that of men that there is no chance of their 342 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. being displaced. The work of men and women tending automatically to differentiate itself into separate branches, it follows that there is very little direct com- petition between individual men and women. (Page 209.) Factory Legislation considered with Reference to the Wages, etc. of the Operatives Protected Thereby. GrEOBGB Henry Wood, F.S.S. London. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. LXV. 1902. An important aspect of factory legislation is its ef- fects on the numbers of protected and unprotected work- ers employed. If the regulations are irksome and hamper industry, changes might be expected in the direction of employing unprotected male adults in the place of pro- tected women, young persons, and children. There are, however, two important reasons why this may not have taken place. First, the protected workers are usually employed in routine process, where the em- ployment of an adult male would not bring about a suffi- cient increase in the amount produced to pay that work- er a reasonable wage. Second, the regulations of the trade unions which the male worker might join would probably become as stringent in relation to hours of labour as the Factory Acts, and as the hours now allowed by the Acts are above rather than below the average working week in industries where men are chiefly em- ployed, it is reasonable to suppose that trade union ac- tion would reduce the hours in textile and other factories also, and the employer would not be the gainer in the hours which his machinery might run. (Page 309.) . . . The percentage of children employed dim- inished after 1835 until the "sixties," when the expan- sion in the textile trades brought about a marked change. The increase continued for only a few years, and though the small proportion of 1850 has not yet been reached, a considerable decline has taken place. Males between thirteen and eighteen years have declined almost con- 343 Effect on Employment of Women.— Great Britain. sistently, their places apparently being taken by females over thirteen years. This is only the substitution of one class of protected workers for another, and cannot be due to any movement to evade the Factory Eegulations. It may be and probably is, due to the increased efficiency of the labour of female young persons and women, and in so far as this increased efficiency may be ascribed to Factory Acts, it is in the nature of an indirect effect. Women's labour was not regulated until 1844, so any change in the relative employment of men and women before that date is not traceable to the Acts, and since then the percentage of men employed has varied little. On the whole there seems no evidence of a movement in favour of the substitution of unprotected for protected workers, and the chief result of the changes has been a substitution of the protected adult and young person for the similarly protected child. In the interests of coming generations, this seems a most satisfactory and desirable direction in which to move. (Page 311.) History of Factory Legislation. B. L. Hutohins and Amy Haeeison. 2nd Edition. London, King, 1903. It is surely extremely significant that whilst the at- tack on the regulation of women's labor has been fruitless in better organized industries — that is, in those which can make their wishes felt — ^it has taken effect precisely in those industries which are unorganized and collective- ly inarticulate. By the admission of the opposition it- self, the women whose trades have been under State con- trol for thirty, forty, or fifty years are now so strong, so efficient, so well organized that even those who most strongly disapprove of State control do not wish to with- draw it from them. Yet we are to believe that to those who are still working long hours, in unsanitary condi- tions. State control would mean lowered wages, perhaps ruin. (Page 193.) 344 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie: Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night Work of Women in Industry. Report on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface by Etienne Baxjeb. Le TravaU de Nuit des Femmes dans I'Industrie Anglaise. Geo. H. Wood, F. S. S. Jena, Fischer, 1903. The restrictions imposed on the employment of women, girls and children have not resulted in any dis- placement of female labor by male labor, except in the branches of the lead industry in which the employment of women is absolutely prohibited. Considering the entire textile industry the proportion of women employed has re- mained comparatively stable during the last sixty years, and the successive raising of the age at which children may be employed in factories has been the means of in- creasing the proportion of adults employed in these trades in the place of young women and children. In other trades the regulations of the hours of work for women has not resulted in impeding the employment of women, nor in increasing the proportion of women doing work at home, nor even in diminishing the number of women working in mills. (Page 244.) The Employment of Women vn Paper Mills. B. L. Hut- OHiNs. The Economic Journal, London, Jv/ne, 1904. Night work became illegal for women under the Fac- tory Acts Extension Act of 1867. It does not appear that a very large number of women were affected or that the prohibition caused any serious inconvenience. The master just quoted says that the work done by men and women being essentially distinct, there was no real need for women to work on the night shift at all, and thus it was an easy matter to rearrange things so that the women continued their own work under the regulations of the 345 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. Act. His words were: "We got used to it and it was much better." None of the masters questioned thought night work for women could be necessary; most did not kaow it had ever been customary. . . . It is here and there considered oppressive not to be able occasionally to work a few extra hours to meet a sudden demand, and one or two masters think it hard on the women that they should not be able to profit by the opportunity of earn- ing more money. The women do not seem to consider this a grievance; one, when questioned said, "We begin at six, and have had quite enough by five." (Pages 237- 238.) The question may be asked, "Has the regulation of women's hours caused any restriction of women's em- ployment?" . . . No evidence is forthcoming to show that women have been dismissed or set aside owing to the regulations of the Act; no employer and only one foreman thought the regulations had any such tendency. . . . The prohibition of overtime is sometimes con- sidered an inconvenience; but not one of a nature to cause displacement of women. (Pages 239-240.) To sum up it would seem at first sight that women are especially handicapped in paper-making owing to the fact that night work is considered essential, is pro- hibited to women, and is permitted under certain condi- tions to the most formidable competitors of women, viz., male young persons. Nevertheless, the demand for women workers seems to be steadily increasing and no displacement can be shown except that which has been brought about by the process and development of the in- dustry on its mechanical side. The hours worked by the majority of women are about 25 per cent shorter than the legal maximum, and this arrangement is mainly due to conditions inherent in the industry itself, the main features and characteristics of which have been little af- fected by the provisions of the Factory Act. As regards the minority, certain grave abuses have beei^ checked, night work and overtime have been abandoned and there is no evidence that the employment of women has been 346 Effect on Employment of Women. — Great Britain. thereby hindered. Wages have risen though hours are shorter. . , . The demand for women's labour is greatest and their earnings are said to show most of the upward tendency, in the lighter, cleaner, and more dex- terous employments. In these better skilled branches, where healthy conditions are necessary to maintain ef- ficiency, the regulations of the Act, so far as they enforce those conditions, do not hinder but promote the employ- ment of women, and tend indirectly to divert their labour into those channels where it is least at a discount and most in demand. (Pages 247-248.) Women in the Printing Trades. Edited hy J. Ramsey MacDonal©. London, King, 1904. The chief contention of those who oppose special fac- tory legislation on the ground that it limits the useful- ness of women compositors is, that women are not em- ployed on newspaper work, and they give the legal pro- hibition of nightwork for women as the reason. Careful enquiry has shown that reason to be purely imaginary. Women are not employed on evening papers, though the factory law does not stand in their way. In the provinces women set-up one of two weekly or bi-weekly journals, the firm employing them preferring them solely on the ground of cheapness. Experience shows that women are not suited for newspaper work, unless the paper does not appear more frequently than, say, twice a week, and if the factory code disappeared tomorrow, morning daily newspapers would afford to women compositors no fresh openings. (Pages 74-75.) The thirty-three firms, the authorities of which are returned as having stated that they give at night work done by women during the day, consist for the most part of printing houses, and the work done by women was folding. The result produced by legislation is that men do the folding at night and on Saturday afternoons, when there is a press of business, but in one or two cases, a regular staff of night workers is employed. As the men 347 Effect on Employment of Women.— Great Britain. are slower workers than the women, and charge a far higher price for their labor, it is to the employer's in- terest to reduce nightwork to a minimum. Prospectuses, however, and weekly newspapers have to be folded dur- ing the night, and this must fall to the men's lot. In two firms, men occasionally do relief stamping for Christmas cards when there is a great press of work and in one firm they do card mounting. In none of the above firms is there any question of employing men instead of women in the daytime. (Page 89.) Women's Work and Wages. Edwab© Cadbtjry, CEcaxE Matheson, and George Shann. London, Unwin, 1906. It is often stated by those who oppose regulation of women's work by legislation that the effect of such legis- lation is to displace women in favour of men. Our in- quiry seems to prove, however, that this idea is erroneous, and that in the large majority of cases . . . it is other questions altogether that determine the division of labour between men and women. A great deal of light has been thrown on the question of women's work and wages generally by the elucidation of the fact that as a rule men and women do different work, and the relation between men and women workers is, on the whole, that of two non-competing groups. It is quite true that that marginal division between the two groups is constantly shifting, but in the particular trades where this is the case the questions considered are the difference in wages between the two groups, their aptitude and physical fit- ness for certain work, and the fact that women expect to leave work when married. (Page 39.) 348 Effect on Employment of Women. — France. L' Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans I' Industrie Frcmcaise. [Prohibition of Night Work for Women in French Industry.] A. Chazal. Paris, Pedone, 1902. The principle itself of the law of 1892, that is, the pro- hibition of night work of women, had been the subject of numerous discussions both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, and it was feared that it would meet many obstacles in its enforcement; but the facts have proved quite the contrary, and the fundamental principle of the law has been respected, at least in the most im- portant centers. However, those manufacturers who had employed women permanently for night work, were com- pelled to make great alterations in the disposition of their laborers in order to meet the requirements of the law. (Page 65.) The report of the Commission Superieur du Travail for 189'3 states: "Manufacturers almost everywhere showed the best of good will in complying with the legal requirements." "In the Department of Vosges", said the inspector of the fourth precinct (M. Chambard), "where last year there were counted a score of cotton mills that operated both day and night, there are now found not more than five or six that continue night work, employing men over 18 years of age. It is probable that very soon night work will have ceased everywhere, to the great good of the la- boring class. The employers succeeded in giving up the employ- ment of women and children at night by enlarging their works. This occasioned them a very considerable ex- pense but they did not hesitate to meet it in order not to reduce their output." (Pages 66-67. ) Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor. No. 80. January, 1909. Women and Child Wage-Earners in Great Britain. Victor S. Clabk, Ph.D. When the early factory laws of Great Britain went into force women ivorkers opposed provisions in the fac- 349 Effect on Employment of Women. — ^United States. tory acts limiting their hours of work for fear that such limitation would lead to the displacement of women by men. Women had been substituted for children in textile miUs when the hours of the latter were first limited, and it was perhaps natural that the women should fear being in turn supplanted. But while the factory law has doubt- less caused some redistribution of employment among workers of different age and sex it has not upon the whole lessened the demand for female labor. It is true that there has been a decrease in the pro- portion of the female population working in industrial occupations since the factory acts first went into force, but there has been an increase precisely in those occupa- tions where those acts might have been expected to have most influence. The following table gives the number of female employees in every thousand workers in several of the more important industries where the hours of labor have been restricted by factory legislation, by 10- year periods, from 1861 to 1901. NUMBER OF FEMALES IN EVERY 1000 EMPLOYEES, BY INDUS- TRIES. 1861 TO 1901. Industry. Bookbinding Boots and shoes Cotton manufactures , Pottery and porcelain Tailoring Tobacco manufactures Woollen and worsted manufactures 1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 450 488 537 554 154 115 160 185 567 598 620 609 311 354 384 385 208 254 830 427 221 296 435 548 461 513 561 557 1901. 608 210 628 892 471 601 582 md The Trades. Elizabeth B. Bxjtx-er. The Pittsburgh Survey. Russell Sage Foundation Publication. New York, 1909. Hard candy making does not require overtime for the girls who work at it. For example, one firm has found it practicable to confine all overtime to the men employes. 350 Effect on Employment of Women. — ^United States. The men do the making, boiling, squaring, coloring, cut- ting, and packing in pails. The girls merely pack the peanut bar in boxes, and by a little rearrangement of work they can keep up to the men's output without stay- ing later than six o'clock at night. There is not a manufacturer in the trade but will admit that overtime is a bad thing. It is no longer ques- tioned that long hours mean inferior work the next day, and that the Christmas trade, upon which the prosperity of the industry so largely depends, means a long pull and a physical strain not to be counterbalanced by extra pay and easier work afterward. (Page 54.) This congestion of work, however, cannot be avoided by a redistribution of orders alone. A second solution lies in carrying to a further point methods of handling materials, which are already familiar to the technical men in the industry. By further studies of the keeping qualities of candy it is not impossible that much candy made in the spring can be used for the fall trade. To a certain extent this is already done in the case of choco- lates. A good chocolate mellows by keeping and has a better taste six months after it is made than the day after. The cream inside is protected from the air, and so remains in good condition. If orders are but given in advance, experienced candy makers hold that it will in time be entirely possible to make up in the spring chocolates for the Christmas trade. Creams present a different problem, for no way has yet been found by which they can be kept any length of time without de- terioration. The trade in them is lighter than the trade in chocolates, and could possibly be handled in the fall without inconvenience if the other goods were largely made up in the spring. The situation is at least hopeful enough to warrant the belief that there is no intrinsic need for an interminable succession of years with over- time work, wearing out the strength of one group of working girls after another. (Pages 55-56.) 351 4. EFPEcn: on Women's Wages. Wherever the night work of women has been long enough prohibited to show any effect on their wages, statistical evidence tends to show that wages are not decreased but increased by the prohibition. In some cases there may be temporary decrease for a short time, before industry adjusts itself to the change; but after a short period the gain in the workers ' efficiency and their consequent increase in output balances the curtailment qf their working time. Women's wages are universally higher in the industries subject to the prohibition of night work than they are in the unprotected trades. Moreover, even when regulation has resulted in a slight temporary decrease in wages, the majority of workers have willingly suffered the slight reduction, in order to gain the consequently increased health and leis- ure. VerhandVwngen des Deutschen Reichstags, 43. Sitsung, 8 May, 1878. [Proceedings of the German Reich- stag, 43rd Session, May 3, 1878.] Eepresentative Motteler : Our women workers themselves would gladly have night work forbidden by law just as the workers of both sexes in England were glad to have it legally abolished, even if a reduction of wages was at first involved, because they know well that in the end they will be benefited there- by. (Page 1163.) 352 Effect on Wages. — Germany. Amtliche Mittheilungen aus den Jahres BericMen der Gewerbe Aufsichtsheamten, 1893. [Official In- formation from the Reports of the German Fac- tory Inspectors.] There can be no doubt whatever, that the shortening of the daily toil of women in factories has a most bene- ficial effect upon the workers. They can attend better to their homes, cultivate their housekeeping and home- making powers. As regards night work for women, the whole working population is in perfect accord in approving its abolition. The slight loss in wages to the working woman is not to be compared with the beneficial results on health, and on morals, which have been secured by the legal enact' ments prohibiting night work. (Page 148.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes dans V Industrie. Rap- ports sur son importance et sa reglementation legale. [Night Work- of Women in Industry. Reports on Its Importance and Legal Regvlation.'] Preface by Etienne Bauee. La Reglementation Legale du Travail des Femmes en Allemagne. Db. FucHs, Factory Inspector, Baden. Jena, Fischer, 1903. When the change was first made, some women did, for a time, feel the loss in wages. But most of them soon found other work, and the total number of women in industry has assuredly not diminished ; on the contrary it has increased. (Page 15.) It can be said that productivity, and, consequently, the wages, per hour of work, have increased, partly be- cause of improved machinery and partly owing to a great- er speed among the workers. Even day workers have shared in the increased productivity and their wages have remained the same in spite of the shortened hours. Piece workers almost everywhere earn as much as 353 Effect on Wages. — Germany. they did before. In more than one establishment, piece work wages were adjusted so that there was no loss to the women. The early closing hour of Saturday has rarely made any difference in wages, whether because the workers work with more energy or because the em- ployers have been willing to regard it as a full day. There was often, formerly, a considerable reduction of wages in seasonal industries at the rush season. Now, as regulation has brought about a certain balance be- tween length of hours in the rush and in the slack seasons, wages have attained a certain stability. So, too, the in- creased demand for hands has in one sense the effect of a rise in wages. (Page 15.) The prohibition of night work for women coupled with the maximum working day has not brought any disadvantage either to employer or employee. Industry has overcome the first difficulties of the law easily and no objections to it that are of any weight are now heard. As for the wage earners, the change has constituted an important moral and hygienic gain without any corre- sponding material loss. The importance of the experi- ence acquired should not be underestimated for the fur- ther advance of legislation for working women both in our own country and in other civilized states. (Page 18.) Ihid. Interdiction du Travail de Nuit des Femmes en Allemagne. Dn. Max Hirsch. The woman who passes all her evenings at outside work can hardly prepare dinner, accomplish the minor daily labors of her housework, and devote part of her time to her children. (Page 101.) If there is even ground for supposing that the indus- trial activity of married women rarely brings in more than a sum that is sufficient to pay for the management of the house and the care of the children, it is certainly beyond dispute that the increase of wages obtained by overtime hours will not, in any manner, compensate for 354 Effect on Wages. — France. the neglect of domestic duties.— It is necessary more- over for mothers to take account of the fact that they are without doubt able to place their children in safe places during the day, but not in the evening. (Page 102.) Documents Parlementaires- Senat, 22 Juin, 1891. An- nexe 138. Rapport sur le Travail des Enfants, des Filles Mineures, et des Femmes dams les Mablis- sements Industriels. [Report on the Industrial WorJc of Children, Young Girls and Women.] Senator Tolain. The abuses of such a system are flagrant, and the women subjected to them complain bitterly. If, even, this burden of over fatigue brought some improvement in general welfare! But it does not, for the increased incidental expenses completely wipe out the increased payment of wages for overtime. And, if the employee is late in arriving at her working place the next morn- ing as a result of exhaustion the evening before, she loses a part of her wages by fine. (Page 205.) Labour Laws for Women: Their Reasons and their Re- sults. Independent Labour Party. London, 1900. Then as to the lowering of wages, though women's wages are deplorably low now, as a whole they have risen since the time of the first Factory Acts. Again, it is im- possible to prove definitely either that they would have been higher or lower without regulation, but it is a very important and significant fact that if we want to instance the most horribly low pay, we have to go to the home in- dustries, where the hours are absolutely unlimited. . . . While for the highest wages, and the wages which have steadily increased for the past fifty years, we go to the highly regulated textile factories, and the most skilled 355 Effect on Wages. — Great Britain. branches of such work as bookbinding which is also sub- ject to regulations. But the argument that it is the spe- cial legal restrictions on women's labour which keep down their wages, is completely settled by the fact where men and women work under practically the same conditions which are not differently affected by the law, the women's wages are lower than the men's. (Page 15.) In fact the absence of limitation of hours is the very thing which the greedy or careless employer uses to screw more work out of his workers for the same pay, or to let his work be so disorganized that the women waste hours doing nothing, and then make up by overtime. This kind of overdriving most effectually lowers wages, for it exhausts the workers, and renders them unfit for their work, and they either do it badly and have to accept less pay, or become ill, and so lose employment. (Page 16.) The primary evils of women's work, as we have tried to point out, lie in its casual and unsettled nature, and regulation tends to steady it, and so to make it more ef- fective. . . . Though the limiting of hours . . . may not seem directly to raise her wages, it does so in- directly, because a rise in the standard of employment at one point really raises it all round ; and it is not an acci- dent but direct cause and effect that such regulations and good wages go together and vice versa. . . . It is because we believe that it is possible to get much nearer to the ideal of women's work which we have set before us, and because we find that the special laws for women have greatly improved industrial conditions hitherto, that we advocate their further extension in the future. (Pages 21-22.) British Association for the Advancement of Science. 1902. Women's Labour. Second Report of the Committee . . . appointed to investigate the Economic Effect of Legislation Regulating Wom- en's Labour. ... To the third question (whether legislation re- stricting women's labour has raised or lowered wages) 356 Effect on Wages. — G-reat Britain. the answer (from the employers) was in ahnost every instance that wages had not been affected. Many were agreed that the legislation on the whole had improved health, and consequently efficiency. (Page 290.) Factory Legislation Considered with Reference to Wages, etc. of the Operatives Protected Thereby. George Henry Wood, F.S.S. London. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Vol. LXV. 1902. In summing up the impressions gathered from the foregoing review, we find that in one or two cases the limitation of hours of labour by Factory Acts has, for the time being, reduced wages, especially of time workers, but that as soon as the industry affected has become set- tled under the new conditions, wages have risen to a higher point than previous to the passing of the Act, and that this has been ascribed by competent observers to the increased efficiency of the operative and the increased in- tensity of the work. (Pages 305-306.) During the era of Factory Legislation, that is, since the "Ten Hours" Act, and its extension, in a more or less modified form, to other industries than textiles, wom- en's wages have risen by about 66 per cent, while the average increase for the IJnited Kingdom is about 45 per cent. . . . But the chief point to be noticed is that factory legislation has not lowered wages, but has been accompanied by a decided and progressive increase. How far this legislation has caused this increase I am not pre- pared to say, but in so much as by reducing hours of labour, raising the minimum age of entrance to the fac- tory and so insuring a certain amount of education, im- proving the sanitary and other accommodations of the worker, and regulating dangerous trades it has increased the standard of efficiency and encouraged a higher stand- ard of living ; it seems to have been a factor making for the increase. (Pages 308-309. ) We may now shortly summarize in a few words what we have seen. It is not certain that there is always a 357 Effect on Wages.— Great Britain. direct connection between Factory Legislation and wom- en's wages, but as a rule the effect of each limitation of the hours of labour has been to raise wages, though for a while they may have fallen a little. This usually op- erates through an increase in the efficiency of labour, which maintains or increases the former output in the lessened hours. While such an increased efficiency is maintained, the expenses of production are not increased, and no damage is done to foreign trade in the product of the industry affected. ... All these effects have been for the general good, — ^women have shared in the progress of the past sixty years, and their wages have risen with men's but at a faster rate and more consistent- ly. (Page 313.) Women's Wages in England in the Nineteenth Century. Women's Industrial Council. London, 1903. The calculations made by M. a. H. Wood, F.S.S. demonstrate the important fact of a steady rise in wom- en's wages in those industries for which we have reliable information. It is significant that those industries are precisely those which have been most peculiarly influ- enced by the Factory Act. It was formerly in cotton that the hours were longest, the toil most strenuous, and the conditions most entirely subject to unrestricted com- petition; it was cotton that was first put under State control, it was the textile industry that was so seriously threatened by legal regulations that over and over again social reformers were accused of driving trade from the country, and were asked more in sorrow than in anger whether, they realized that the regulation they wished to introduce would spell starvation to the children and women employed. Yet in textiles and most especially in cotton the improvement in women's wages has been ex- tremely marked. Without wishing to claim that the rise in wages has been due to the operation of the Factory Act, for it is no doubt due to many complex causes, we 358 Effect on Wages. — G-reat Britain. may point out that wages have certainly not been re- duced under the Act, except quite temporarily here and there. In recent years, however, the line of opposition to factory regulation has taken up the wages argument on different lines. It is more usual now to throw up the attack altogether as regards highly organized industries like cotton, and to say that legal regulation does no harm, has even been a success, in highly organized textile industries, where women are strong enough to bear it, but that in the non- textile, less fully developed industries, unless women may work at night, and overtime, and so on, they are at a great disadvantage, and will either be superseded by men or lose in wages. But I do not think there is any sign of women being superseded by men in non-textile indus- tries, for the last census shows a larger increase in non- textile than in textile trades ; and as to wages, surely the opponents of Factory Legislation cannot be allowed to use their arguments backwards and forwards as they choose. They used to say, you must not legislate for oottpn, the workers are so poor they will starve ; yet now that cotton has been regulated and the women, so far from starving, get higher wages than they used, the cry is that the cotton trade is so strong and the women so 'well paid, even the Factory Act cannot pull down their wages, it is on the other industries it falls so heavily. But it is rather significant that the longest regulated and most strictly regulated industry is the very one that shows so great a rate of improvement, and we need not be afraid that the status of laundry women, or even of home workers, will be injured by stricter regulation or stricter administration of the existing law; perhaps, on the contrary, their wages also will rise. (Pages 3-4.) . . . As Mr. "Wood's table shows, increasing strict- ness of administration has not hindered a considerable rise in wages. It is not certain that there is a direct connection between factory control and women's wages, but as a rule the sequel of each limitation of hours has been a rise of wages, though for a while there may have 359 Effect on Wages. — ^United States. been a slight fall. The rise is partly due to progressive restrictions on child labour, which have increased the de- mand for women's labour, and partly to an increase in the efficiency of labour, which maintains or increases the former output in the shortened time. There are certain manufacturing industries where the masters voluntarily work 9 hours or even 8 instead of 10, because they find they can get better work done. In these cases the reduc- tion is not directly due to the Factory Act but to consid- erations of economic efficiency. (Pages 5-6.) Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 117. April, 1913. Prohibition of Night Work of Young Persons. The opinion of an author favorable to employers . . . will therefore be of value. He says: . . . To my question as to whether the extra work per- formed at night did not mean a welcome increase of wages, they replied that that increase was absorbed in paying for the extra meal which is required during the night. (Pages 15-16.) Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, No. 80. January, 1909. Woman and Child Wage-Earners in Great Britain. Vigtob S. Clark, Ph.D. Between 1830 and 1850 women's wages may have de- clined less than those of men because they were already near the subsistence level. An English authority, to whom these statistics are due, says: "Factory legislar tion has not lowered wages, but has been accompanied by a decided and progressive increase." It is not to be understood that factory laws are given as the cause of this increase, but they may have contributed to it by improving the efficiency of workers. The wages of women in industries regulated by the factory acts are generally better than these in unregu- 360 Effect on Wages. — United States. lated industries. Among the best-paid women factory workers of England are the cotton operatives of Lan- cashire. This condition, however, is probably less an effect of the law than of the fact that the law happens to apply to a better grade of workers. (Pages 53-54.) Trades may be mentioned, like some kinds of deco- rating and polishing, where neither machinery nor labor unions have influenced conditions, in which wages have risen as working hours grew fewer. But workers in these trades were benefited by the rising standard of living of their fellow-workers in other industries, and their rate of compensation was affected by the compe- tition for labor caused by high wages in other occupa- tions. The statistics available indicate that the enactment of the successive laws shortening the hours of labor did not, in the particular industries affected^ interrupt the progressive improvement of wages that has marked the last century. (Page 55.) 361 III. UNIFORMITY OF REGULATION : 1. Essential fob Pubposes of Enforcement. The establishment by law of uniform opening and closing hours is indispensable in order to enforce both the legal working day and the prohibition of night work. Unless specified hours are set, before and after which the employment of women is illegal, it is almost impossible to enforce these laws. Unless the inspector remains on the premises it is difficult to tell when the workers are dismissed. But when opening and closing hours are fixed by law, violations can more easily be detected. Bulletin of the Neiv York State Department of Labor. September, 1906. As the factory legislation of New York and other American commonwealths is derived directly or indirect- ly from England, it is necessary to look to English his- tory for the source of the act in question. It appears that the first lO-hour law was enacted there in 1847 and proved so difficult of enforcement that Parliament three years later revised the law and provided that the stipu- lated ten hours of labor should be performed between 6 A. M. and 6 P. M. (Applicable to textile factories.) "In this statute (of 1847) there was a fatal defect. It was not exactly provided when the hard won ten hours were to be taken — between the extreme limits of 5.30 A. M., and 8:30 P. M., — so that opportunities were offered for evasion, which were only too freely embraced. The remedy was supplied by the F.A., of 1850 (13 and 14 Vict, e. 54) which definitely introduced the normal working day of 12 hours; 6 to 6, 7 to 7, with li^ hours out for meals." — Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy, Article "Factory Acts". 362 Uniformity for Enforcement. — United States. The first purpose of the prohibition of night work then is to prevent evasion of the ten-hour law. In the country where factory legislation has been most thor- oughly tested, no woman for fifty-six years has been per- mitted to work after 7 o'clock in a factory proper; nor after 9 o 'clock in a workshop, with certain minor excep- tions. In this country four states besides New York pro- hibit the employment of adult women in factories at night — Indiana, Massachusetts, and Nebraska (where the pro- hibited hours are 10 P. M., to 6 A. M.), and New Jersey (where the prohibited hours are 6 P. M., to 7 A. M.) except in glass and canning factories. (Page 337.) The history of factory legislation in England, its parent country, shows that in forbidding the employ- ment of women in factories after 6 P. M. Parliament acted on the advice of the factory inspectors that a fixed schedule of hours was necessary to secure the observance of the ten hour law. (Page 438.) Report of the New York State Commissioner of Labor, 1910. The part of section 161 relative to the hours of labor of females from sixteen to twenty-one years of age, is one of the most diflScult provisions of the law to enforce. The amendments made to this section by the last Legisla- ture, which became operative on October 1, 1910, prohibit- ing work after 10 P. M. of any day, makes some improve- ment. It still provides that there shall not be more than ten hours' work in any one day "unless for the purpose of making a shorter work day of some one day of the week." The claim is always made, when employees are found working over ten hours per day, that it is for the purpose of making a shorter day of some one day of the week. This compels the inspector to prove the total num- ber of hours per week, and makes it much more difficult to prove. The provision calling for ten hours' work be- tween the hours of 7 A. M. and 10 P. M. allows a period of fifteen hours per day in which to perform ten hours' 363 Uniformity for Enforcement. — ^United States. work. Should a female between sixteen and twenty-one years of age be found working before 7 A. M. or after 10 P. M., it is not difficult to prove this fact in court. To prove the actual hours worked per day or week is al- most impossible unless we secure the aid of the employee. The fear of losing their employment has deterred many employees from rendering assistance to the deputies of this bureau. (Pages 131-132.) Report of the New York State Department of Labor, 1911. During the year we have not secured evidence in any violation for more than ten hours per day, or more than sixty hours per week. In such cases we must rely on the testimony of the employee unless the inspector can prove that he has watched the employee for more than ten hours of any day, or sixty hours of any week. The reason why the employees do not furnish evidence regarding such violations is obvious. If they are working after 10 P. M. it is easy for the inspector to prove the violations. (Page 167.) Preliminary Report of the New York State Factory In- vestigating Commission, 1912. Vol. I. The present 60-hour law is not enforced and cannot be enforced because of the complicated and indefinite provisions relating to overtime, and the absence of a specified closing hour. To enact legislation limiting the hours of work without including a provision for a clos- ing time wiU simply add another unenforceable provis- ion to the laws of this State. The Commission believes that a statute can be so drawn, and such facts presented to the Court of Appeals, as to provide legally that no women may be employed in a factory building after a certain hour. Such provisions are contained in the laws of European countries, and experience shows that only in 364 Uniformity for Enforcement. — United States. that way can any provision regulating the hours of em- ployment be enforced. (Page 97.) This Commission is convinced that unless there is in the law some valid provision fixing a closing time, the law cannot be properly enforced. The difficulty is very apparent. The worker through fear of losing her em- ployment, will rarely complain. It is useless, therefore, to look to her for active assistance. This principle has been applied successfully in this State in the case of chil- dren between the ages of 14 and 16. There is no valid reason why the same principle should not be extended to the women workers in the factory who play so important a part in the State's industrial prosperity. The interests of the State imperatively demand that its women workers be effectively protected. (Page 99.) For children between 14 and 16 years of age employed in factories and manufacturing establishments the State has a model law. . . . The law is clear, definite, and what is of most importance, it is enforceable because of the closing hour therein prescribed. (Page 105.) Preliminary Report of the New York State Factory In- vestigating Commission, 1912. Vol. III. Minutes of Hearing Held in City Hall, New York City, Dec. 19, 1911. Mrs. Florence Kelley : With regard to the hours of children, the law which provides that a child shall not work in a factory earlier than eight o'clock in the morning, or after five o'clock in the evening, is easily enforceable. It is the most easily enforceable provision with regard to working hours that is to be found in any law in this country dealing with that subject, because everybody knows that children must not be in factories before eight o'clock in the morning, and everybody knows that a child ought to be seen com- ing out of the factory a few minutes after five o'clock in the evening. There is no doubt in anybody's mind about the beginning and ending of the working day. The only 365 Uniformity for Enforcement.— United States. way in which it can be prolonged without being obvious to everybody is to cut a few minutes off the lunch hour, and even if that is done, it is perfectly clear, for they must have a full hour for lunch. There is no discretion lodged with anybody to shorten that, and, in that respect, New York reaches the high water mark of efficiency in formulating a statute for the protection of children in regard to the hours of work. But as soon as a girl or boy reaches the sixteenth birthday, that advantage is lost, because the law restrict- ing the working hours of women and minors over sixteen years of age has none of that clearness whatever. Our New York law, in regard to working hours of people over sixteen years of age, is sixty-four years behind the law of England, and about thirty-five years behind the law of Massachusetts, historically. In England, since 1847, there has been a perfectly clear provision analogous to this with regard to the children. In the Textile Law women may begin to work, — any per- son over sixteen years of age may begin to work at six, seven or eight o'clock in the morning, but not on the half hour, and not before six o 'clock ; and they may work a total of fifty-four hours a week, but with perfectly clear closing hours at six o'clock, seven or eight. The English say frankly that is for the purpose of enabling the Fac- tory Inspector efficiently to enforce those limits. (Pages 1595-1596.) By Commissioner Dreier : Q. What have you to suggest about the importance of the law regulating the hours for women? A. (Mrs. Florence Kelley) : I have already suggested that we should copy literally the Massachusetts law, the most ad- vanced law in the East, with regard to the working hours of women and children. It has the advantage of a per- fectly clear provision, in the Textile Law, that women shall not work longer than fifty-four hours a week, and shall not work after six o'clock at night. Q. You would extend that to all other industries? A. Yes. 366 Uniformity for Enforcement. — United States. By the Chairman : Q. They have the fifty-four hour law in Massachu- setts? A. Yes. Under that law they cannot work after six o 'clock. They cannot work in one place and then go to another. They cannot work after six o'clock at night in any textile factory in that State. Q. I understand the textile law qnly became law last year in Massachusetts? A. Yes, that is true. Before that they had the sixty-hour law, then the fifty-eight hour law, and now the fifty-four hour provision ; but they had the great advantage of a perfectly clear closing hour for a number of years, which we have not. By Commissioner Dreier : Q. Have they to close the factories at certain hours — five, six and seven? A. No, in England they can close at six, seven or eight, but they have to begin at a cor- respondingly late hour in the morning. In Massachu- setts they must, under all circumstances, dismiss all women at six o'clock. They must not work more than ten hours in one day, and not more than 54 hours in one week. It is as clear as our law for factory children. Q. Do they prohibit night work in Massachusetts? A. In the textile industry they caimot work after six o 'clock, and in all other occupations after ten. (Pages 1601- 1602.) Second Report of the New York State Factory Investi- gating Commission, 1913. Vol. I. Night Worli of Women in Factories. The prohibition of night work by women is not a new subject of discussion. In fact, the United States is the only great country having labor laws for women in which the prohibition of night work is not an important part of such laws. In the very first legislation to pro- tect women from over- work, enacted in England in 1844, fixed opening and closing hours were set, before and af- 367 Uniformity for Enforcement.— United States. ter which work was prohibited. Through nearly a cen- tury which has since elapsed, the prohibition of women's night work has gone hand in hand in all European coun- tries with the reduction of the length of the day's work, and a legal closing hour has been found an essential part of effective laws, necessary not only to protect health and morals, but also to assist in the enforcement of the daily limitation of hours of work. (Page 207.) The examples of work, after and in addition to the day's employment, given above, show that the legal clos- ing hour is necessary not only to provide an adequate rest period at night to protect the health and morals of work- ing women, but also to control overtime work and thus to make possible the enforcement of the limitation of hours per day. The two things are practically insepar- able. Unless the inspectors remain on the premises from start to finish, which is practically impossible, they can- not know the number of hours worked, and for various obvious reasons, when the law has been violated, the state- ments of neither employers nor employees can be relied on. . But when definite hours are set before and after which work is illegal, a single inspection suffices to prove a violation. The Eeport of the Federal Government states after detailed study of the question. "The indications are strong enough to warrant the conclusion that overtime runs to dangerous limits in . . . manufacturing establishments in the absence of restrictive laws not only setting definitely a limi t to the hours of labor per day and per week, but fixing the clos- ing hours." (Page 208.) Universal experience, the facts of which have in great part been recorded and published since the decision in the Williams case, proves that the fixed closing hour, after which all employment is prohibited, is the only known device to check late overtime work continued into the night. (Page 209.) 368 Uniformity for Enforcement. — United States. Biennial Report of the Nebraska Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics, 1907-8. The Nebraska law governing the employment of fe- male labor is, in my judgment, weak and ineffective as it stands, although reasonably effective among the growing class of considerate employers. Its greatest weakness is in permitting ten hours' work to be performed by fe- males between the hours of 6 o'clock in the morning and 10 o'clock at night.. As applied to factory and shop work- ers, and to the girls and women employed in stores, the working hours should be limited between the hours of 7 o'clock in the morning and 7 o'clock in the evening. Six 'clock in the evening would be better. Some stores close at that hour every night in the week; and many others every night except Saturday. The reasons for advocating an amendment in the law governing the hours within which female labor may be employed in this state are: Six 'clock in the morning is too early for a develop- ing girl or a sickly woman to go into a factory, a shop or a store; and 10 o'clock at night is too late an hour to keep female workers away from home. In cities, it means that such workers will get home not earlier than 10 :30 to 11, because a majority of them live far from the business center. Temptation to "suspend the rules" is always offered in cities to tired and discouraged work- ers, men and women; and the latter must also face the wiles and insults of loafers and mashers when out alone late at night. Attacks on young girls returning from work at night are not infrequent; and since this is so, the state ought to protect them to the limit of its unques- tioned power. By fixing a closer limit on hours for fe- male labor, it will not be so easy as it is at present for the grasping and "driving" employers to defeat the plain purpose of the law. (Page 33.) 369 Uniformity for Enforcement.— United States. United States Congress. Senate Document No. 643. Re- port on Conditions of Women and Child Wage- Earners in the United States. Vol. III. The Glass Industry. 61st Congress, 2nd Session, 1910. It is the prohibition of night work rather than the establishment of a simple maximum day or week, which is the most effective restraint on overtime work in the glass industry, whether or not such overtime be illegal. (Page 225.) tja. four States the law acts as a deterrent of night work for women. Massachusetts, New York and Indiana absolutely prohibit night work for all females. Ohio makes a prohibition for females under 18. When the prohibition is, absolute, the enforcement of the law is a matter of comparative ease. When, however, the pro- hibition extends only to women below a certain age, as is the case in Ohio, its proper enforcement is much more difiBcult. It throws the decision as to age upon the judg- ment of the inspecting force, a decision which in the case of women is often a matter of considerable difBcultv. (Page 387.) Report of the South Carolina Commissioner of Agricul- ture, Commerce and Industries, 1912. Labor Division. With an actively employed industrial population in the State of some 75,000 people drawing annually up- ward of $24,000,000.00 in wages (these figures not in- cluding the women in mercantile establishments and oflBces), and owing to the fact that such laws as are now being enforced have been put into operation without in- jury to jemployers or industries by means of conservative process, I consider that the time has arrived when a con- structive program of legislation, meeting the demands of the time, and benefiting employee and employer, can be entered upon, and I have taken the liberty of incorpor- ating in this report several recommendations that in the light of my experience seem wise. 370 Unifbrmity for Enforcement. — ^United States. I most earnestly recommend that provisions be made by law as follows : . . . A law should be enacted also fixing a definite hour for starting the mill in the morning, for stopping for dinner, for starting after dinner, and for stopping at night, such stopping and starting times being definitely and clearly stated. The careful examination of circum- stances surrounding dozens of complaints indicates that this matter can be handled satisfactorily in no other way. (Page 106.) . . . The recommendations I have made look to measures designed to carry forward this work without injury to any industry, but with benefit to it and with benefit to the thousands of workers socially, morally and from the standpoint of health. (Page 7.) • As the law relating to hours of labor in textile estab- lishments now stands, we have found it utterly impossi- ble to enforce it, for the reason that there is no regularity at the different mills in starting and stopping their machinery. We have had various reports from different parts of the State from mill operatives, who claim that the over- seers and management of the mills compel them to work over ten hours per day, or sixty hours per week. (Pages 22-23.) It is the inspector's opinion, after giving the matter careful study, that the only way to enforce this law is to have a law enacted, that each mill shall have a regular hour for starting the machinery in the morning, starting and stopping at dinner, and stopping at night. These hours to be posted in each room of the mill where opera- tives are employed. (Page 23.) Report of the Connecticut Special Commission to Inves- tigate Conditions of Wage-Earning Women and Minors, 1913. If the hours between which women may be employed are definitely stated in a statute it can more readily be enforced. (Page 19.) 371 Uniformity for Eiiforcement.— United States. Women in the Bookbinding Trade. Maby Van Ejueeck. Russell Sage Foundation Publication. New York, 1913. . . . The facts presented in this volume about women employed in bookbinderies should afford a basis for effective agitation for the reforms most urgently called for. Of these, none seem to stand out more clearly than an effective prohibition on the employment of women at night. (Page IX,) An enforceable and enforced law preventing the em- ployment of women at night is needed not only because night work for women is objectionable in itself, but quite as much because the enforcement of New York's new nine-hour law will be impracticable unless there is a sub- stantial portion of the twenty-four hours in which the women and young persons to whom it applies may not be lawfully employed at all. (Page X.) A single inspection would be suflScient to give basis for prosecution if a girl under twenty-one were found working after 9 p. m. . . . As soon as a woman passes her twenty-first birthday, the provision of law prohibiting the work of younger women after 9 p. m. or before 6 a. m., no longer applies to her. A girl twenty-three years old was em- ployed to fill the boxes of a gathering machine in a maga- zine bindery. She worked from 8 :30' a. m., to 5 :30 p. m., with a half hour at noon. She began again at 6 :30 p. m., and worked until midnight. After a recess of thirty minutes she continued her day's task until 5:30 a. m. This was a total working period of nineteen hours. Since the law permitted a twelve hour day, and did not pro- hibit employment of adult women during the night, a working -^day of twenty-four hours was legal for them. With the stroke of the clock at midnight, a twelve hour day ended and another twelve hour day might begin. In the case of this girl, not thei long stretch of work, but the fact that fourteen hours instead of twelve preceded mid- night, was a violation of the law. The legal provisions 372 Uniformity for Enforcement. — United States. would have been fulfilled had she begun work two hours later and stayed in the bindery until noon the next day. These illustrations reveal the inadequacy of the law, its confusing exceptions and its failure to prohibit night work. (Pages 136-137.) That a law prohibiting night work is vitally con- nected with the legal regulation of the length of the working day is, however, clearly demonstrated in the bookbinding trade. Permission to work at night in binderies means too often permission to prolong the day's labor. Few binderies (not more than two or three) have regular night shifts for women, who begin work in the evening without having worked during the day. In a far greater number, girls who work during the day stay on through the night hours. Probably Katie Mead had been working since 8 a. m., although the evidence presented to the court showed only the single fact that she was found at work at 10 :20 p. m., without regard to the length of employment preceding that mo- ment. Some of the actual instances of overtime work cited in this chapter demonstrate that the prescribing of a definite rest period during definite hours of the night is essential to prevent the joining together of two working days at the stroke of midnight. (Pages 163- 164.) That the factory inspectors recognized the connec- tion between a prohibition of night work and the regula- tion of the length of the working day, is shown by the fact that this statement of the bad effects of prolonged periods of employment was used in their annual report [as long ago as 1887] as an argument in favor of their recommendation that the employment of any woman, adult as well as minor, after 9 p. M., be prohibited. (Page 165.) The law regarding the hours of work of women ought to be amended for the benefit not only of bindery women but of all women at work in factories. Night work should be prohibited in order to assure an adequate rest period in every twenty-four hours, and to make possible 373 Uniformity for Enforcement. — G-reat Britain. the strict enforcement of the fifty-four hour law. (Page 232.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XL. 1852-1853. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for Half-year ending 31st October, 1852. . . . The existence throughout my district of a general and unreserved acceptance of the law as it now stands. This good feeling is exhibited, not in the mere conforming to regulations, but in the hearty appreciation and willing acknowledgment of the extended and salutary effects of the Factory Acts, and of the solid advantages which have been experienced both by the employers of labor and by the employed. Such opinions have been ex- pressed to me by mill owners and by their hands. Both are equally sensible that that which was intended as a protection for the one has operated advantageously to the other. . . . There exists, however, but one opin- ion, that the law must be fulfilled, uniformly and exactly. Regularity of time at the beginning and end of the day, and at the intervals for meals, and abstinence from work during meal hours, must be strictly observed. The mill owners and the operatives alike insist upon the stringent administration of the law in regard to uniformity of time; and it has become an imperative duty that these points should be enforced, if necessary, with all the rigour of the law. (Page 53.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXIV. 1866. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for Half Year ending October 31st, 1865. Robert Baker. Mr. Horner's opinions on the variable working and meal times hours are exceedingly valuable. He writes thus : " It is obvious that with a power to work by relays of hands, and of giving meal times at vari- ous periods of the day and of changing the hours of work 374 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Great Britain. and meals of every hand employed arbitrarily from day to day, no restriction of the hours of work could be en- forced in the factories of artful men, regardless of the moral obligation of obedience to the law. Justice re- quires that, when the law interferes with the productive power of capital, all who are in the restricted trade should be kept to one rule as to time." (Page 82.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXIV. 1867. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for Half Year ending April 30th, 1866. A. Eedgrave. Uniformity of the hours of work, by limiting the duration of labor between 6 A. M. and 6 P. M., is the great feature of the Factory Acts; and every day's ex- pterience shows that this regulation requiring work (so far as concerns children, young persons and females) to cease at 6 P. M., is that which is really sought by the operatives. ... In fact the only real factory solu- tion consists in the adoption, as in the Act of 1864, of the Factory working day. (Page 8.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXIX, 1876. Report of the Factories and Workshops Acts Commission. Experience has proved that the only way to enforce a law against over-work is to provide not merely a maxi- mum period of labor in the day, but maximum limits within which that period may be taken. . . . (Page XVI.) Mr. Beadon says the remedy required by the shop assistants is a compulsory closing of all shops. "I have been startled to discover that it is not the intervention of the law as to the labor of women and young persons akin to the Factory and Workshops Acts that is looked for by either employers or employed ; but that what they expect and hope for is a law . . . which shall compel a positive closing of the shop at a 375 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Great Britain. stated hour. . . . The employed ask for a positive closing because men want to be relieved, as well as women, from their present slavery, and the employers ask it on the ground of also wishing to be free at earlier hours and of competition in various shapes staring them in the face." (Page XXn.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XXIII. 1877. Reports of Inspectors of Factories for Half Year ending April 30th, 1877. A. Redgrave. The fixing and enforcement of a definite limit to each day's work in all industries and occupations was an ex- periment which both employers and workpeople regarded in many cases as likely to prove mischievous and imprac- ticable, but I am glad to say that the experience we have had of the working of the Factory Acts Extension Act has clearly established that these doubts and fears have been altogether groundless . . . the application of the Factory Acts . . . has been most satisfactory and beneficial. Manufacturers themselves confess aston- ishment at what has been done in the way of regulating their hours of work, reducing the unreasonable demands made upon them by merchants, and enabling them to em- ploy their workpeople under conditions at once more profitable and more healthful to all concerned. (Page 21.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XII. 1886. Report from Select Committee on Shop Hours Regulation BUI. Minutes of Evidence. A. Redgrave, Chief Inspector of Factories. 116. Should you prefer ... a general fixed clos- ing hour? — I should prefer a general fixed closing hour as more effective. 117. The hour to be determined, as you prefer it by 376 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Grreat Britain. the local authority? — Yes, upon the representation of their constituents. 118. But subject, of course, to a Parliamentary Maxi- mum? — Yes, subject to a maximum. (Page 7.) 152. Then . . . the closing of all shops . . . would be not so much interfering with the labor of grown- up persons as regulating the hours at which shops should be open? — I think that in legislating for the closing hour of shops we must do it in the interests of the people who are employed in the shops; that is the view I take of it; it is entirely in their interests. (Pages 7-8.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XIX. 1896. Report of Chief Inspector of Factories for the Year 1895. It is, I think, a matter for congratulation that some protection will in future be afforded to those engaged in laundries where the risks from machinery, fumes, de- ficient ventilation, etc., are certainly as great as in other works and where the manual labor is often arduous, but I foresee great difiSculties in giving effect to the bene- ficent intentions of the legislature. One of the best safe- guards in the Factory Acts disappears, I mean the en- actment that work shall be between certain hours. A new departure in factory legislation appears and it is enacted that the period of employment may not exceed a certain number of hours. The difficulty, indeed, the al- most impossibility of proving the actual number of hours that any person has worked, will, I fear, generally make conviction impossible. (Pages 18-19.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XI. 1900. Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the Year 1898. To visit laundries is but disheartening work in most cases. The law is so elastic that it is almost impossible 377 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Grreat Britain. to see that its provisions as to hours are carried out. No adherence to the stated period on the abstract can be insisted on, as a substituted period can be worked on any day. Over and over again one hears complaints of long hours and late hours in laundries, and in nine cases out of ten nothing can be done as the legal limit has not been infringed. A woman may work from 8 in the morning till 11.30 at night for three nights a week, and for 30 days in the year, provided she is given an hour and a half for meals during that time. The law allows her to stand at a washtub for 14 hours in one day, or to stand in the heated ironing-room pressing heavy irons fqr that period. It is small wonder that accidents in laundries are not uncommon under such circumstances. In steana laun- dries, where machinery is being more and more used, it is disquieting to hear of the frequent accidents of the tops of fingers smashed in the rollers of the collar ma- chines, and the more terrible accidents caused by the cal- enders, where a moment's inattention may result in the loss of all the fingers of one hand. ... The want of a definite short day in laundries is a fre- quent cause of complaint. (Pages 178-179.) Industrial Democracy. Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Vol. I. London, Longmans, 1898. The whole experience of the Factory Department proves that no limitation of the working day can really "be enforced, unless there are uniform and definitely pre scribed hours, before and after which work may not be carried on. (Page 349.) The Case for the Factory Acts. Edited by Mks. Sid- ney Webb. London, Richards, 1901. It was probably with a perception of the need for more strictly defining the working day that Sir James 378 Uniformity for Enforcement. — G-reat Britain. Graham in Feb, 1844 brought in a Bill which prohibited work by protected persons between 8 P.M. and 6 :30 A.M;, or between 7 P.M. and 5:30 A.M. This, allowing for meal times, made the working day, it is true, no shorter than it already was by law, but rendered it very much easier to enforce. (Pages 101-102.) The Act eventually passed in 1844 maintained the working-day already in force, i. e. twelve hours work, be- tween 5:30 A.M. and 8:30 P.M. In the election of 1847 it (the 10 hours act) was made a test question. . . . One of the first Bills of the session was brought in by Fielden, passed by a majority of 78, and fixed the maximum working hours of women and young persons at ten, exclusive of one and a half hours meal times. No limits, however, were set to the working day within which the ten hours might be taken. This opened the way to numberless evasions. In 1850 a kind of compromise was effected, and a Bill was intro- duced according to which women and young persons were to be permitted to work ten and. a half hours instead of ten, but only between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M. or 7 A.M. and 7 P.M., with, of course, as before, one and a half hours' meal times. This Bill was passed, and was perhaps the most important step yet taken. The inspectors, instead of having to inquire as to the working hours of indi- vidual persons, had simply to see whether they worked beyond the legal working day. (Pages 104-105.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. X. 1901. Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the Year 1900. The existence of an exemption (in the fish-curing trade) has rendered the administration difficult and un- certain in result. It is noteworthy that in this trade, in which overtime is permissible to women on sixty occa- sions in the year, I have never found overtime notices in use in any workshop. The occupiers do not find them necessary. Starting with an exemption for one process, 379 Uniformity for Enforcement.— G-reat Britain. that of "gutting, salting, and packing," the industry would seem to have shaken itself gradually free from control, until now we find fish that have been in salt for several weeks dealt with as perishable articles. Given plenty of time and unsuitable surroundings, every arti- cle of food is to some extent perishable, and when a her- ring has been kept in salt for some weeks there is no reason for working on it at night except the reason that the day will bring other work, and in this seems to lie the cause of much of the late and irregular hours of the fish- curing trade. . . . One of the evils to which this want of regulation leads is the practice of employing the same person in the same day in processes controlled by the Acts, and in those out- side their control. . . . In another case in which a curer had a fac- tory and also a kippering shop in the same town, the workers went from one to the other, always sure of their full day's work in the factory, followed very often by five or six hours' work in the other shop. (Pages 388- 389.) British Sessional Papers. Vol. XII. 1903. Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops for the Tear 1902. After six years' experience of the effect of the pres- ent regulation, it is impossible not to feel greatly de- pressed by the result; the elasticity of the law has tend- ered to encourage rather than check these unsettled hours. (Page 174.) The innumerable loopholes and subterfuges which it affords to a sharp and unscrupulous employer places his more stupid or more scrupulous competitor at an unfair disadvantage, which is preventable, and therefore should be prevented. The broad, clear limitations, easily un- derstood and capable of being exactly and thoroughly en- forced, which apply to other industries under the Act, 380 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Great Britain. impose the same obligations and provide the same pro- tection for all alike. This is impossible where regula- tions cannot be properly enforced and can be continually evaded with success. (Page 174.) Women in the Printing Trades. Edited by J. Ramsat M!aoDonau>. London, King, 1904. Whether or not the law can be made sufficiently elastic to allow of greater freedom with regard to period of employment, overtime and night work, raises difficult questions. No doubt it would be an advantage both to employers and employees, if the law could be made so elastic, but the difficulty of effective inspection would be so great as to outweigh any possible advantage. The early history of factory legislation and its working shows clearly that the intention of the Act was defeated because employers could so easily evade its clauses. At present it is known to a factory inspector that a factory that opens at 6 always opens at 6 and closes at 6, unless notice has been given that overtime is being worked. If, how- ever, an employer were free to open his factory at 6 or 8, as occasion demanded, and close accordingly, the diffi- culty of administration would obviously be greatly in- creased. The same point arises with regard to night-workers. It is quite impossible to know among a staif of night- workers who has been working all day and who are bono fide job hands. Such cases as the following, which was the cause of a prosecution, would occur far more fre- quently. "Twenty-four girls who were employed at a neigh- bouring printing and bookbinding firm, worked for twelve hours at that firm on Friday, November 2(5lh. They then went straight to the Carlyle Press, and worked all night, going back to their regular work at the other firm at 8 the next morning. The forewoman employed by the latter firm said that she did not know these girls 381 Uniformity for Enforcement. — France. had been working all day, or she would not have admitted them." Printers' Eegister, Jan. 12th, 1892. (Page 92.) Rapports sur V Application pendant I'Awnee 1899 des Lois, reglementant le Travail {2 Nov. 1892 et 12 Juin, 1893). [Reports of the French Factory In- spectors on the Working of the Factory Laws of Nov. 2, 1892, and June 12, 1893.] Paris, 1900. Inspectors are not armed to resist the excessive, even though legal demands of employers, who, with their re- peated claims for exemptions which they call temporary, succeeded actually in freeing themselves permanently from the obligations of the law, with the result that they bring about and perpetuate that condition of partial un- employment of which workers rightly complain. Demands for exemption have increased steadily since 1895, and, with rare exceptions, they have not been of that emergency nature which was contemplated by the law. (Page 32.) I have no new remarks to make on this subject of overtime ; it is only possible by what is essentially fraud. . . . The privilege given to employers to infringe temporarily the prohibition of night work continues to be essentially delusive, and perpetuates abuses which it is almost impossible to reach or to repress. (Page 112.) It is almost impossible for employers in those indus- tries which permit work to go on until 11 P. M. not to break the law, for it is always in times of rush work, that the necessity for overtime arises, yet the workers have been at work since early morning. . . . Eve- ning overtime agrees ill -with the prohibition of more than 12 hours work, for, as I have said, overtime is al- ways an emergency and the women who have already worked their full day do the overtime. Others are not to be found. (Pages 147 and 148.) Supervision is extremely difficult, not to say impossi- ble, for, if the inspector goes after 9 P. M. the door is 382 Uniformity for Enforcement. — France. iiot opened. It has, indeed, only been by strategy that inspectors have succeeded In proving violations of the law, and strategy is not compatible with the dignity of an inspecting body. (Page 148.) In general, the personnel retained for overtime are the experienced women. . . . From the time when the law went into effect the inspectors have never known of a different set of workers being employed in the late evening hours; it is always the regular staff that is burdened with this supplementary time. As to control, it is always imperfect. (Page 195.) Control of evening overtime is extremely difficult, not to say impossible; we must have some effective means of preventing fraud, or, what is more to the point, of making it impossible for the employers to commit fraud. (Page 268.) Bulletin de I' Office du Travail. [Bulletin of the French Labor Office.] Vol. VII. 1900. The makers of the law thought it necessary to confer on certain industries called Seasonal, permission to work overtime until 11 P.M. ... This year, as in preceding years, the labor inspectors are unanimous in demanding the prohibition of evening overtime work. Will the suppression of evening overtime work be an exceptionally difficult measure to enforce and will its sup- pression disturb those industries which now have the benefit of it? The facility with which certain establish- ments have voluntarily dispensed with it should dissi- pate all fears on this subject. According to the report of the divisional inspector of the first district, residing at Paris, M. Laporte, most of the large fur-making estab- lishments have given up the use of night work. This year, he said, thanks to the excellent measure of pro- hibiting all infraction of the seventh-day rest to em- ployers not closing at 9 P. M., all the furriers have so organized their work that the legal twelve hours of work 383 Uniformity for Enforcement. — France. are completed by 9 P. M. Moreover, they have declared themselves to be satisfied with this new organization. (Pages 918-919.) Rapports sur I' Application pendant I'Annee 1899 des Lois reglementant le Travail. {2 Novembre, 1892, et 12 Juin, 1893.) [^Reports of the French Factory Inspectors on the Working of the Factory Laws of Nov. 2, 1892, and June 12, 1893.] Paris, 1900. The 4th article of the law Nov. 2nd, 1892, states that all work between 9 P.M. and 5 A.M., shall be regarded as night work. Between 5 A. M. and 9 P. M. there is then a stretch of 16 hours, within which limits a day of 11 hours, or even of 12 hours (when the law authorizes this prolongation) can easily be effected. It is, for instance, enough to avoid infraction of the law, to begin work at 8 A.M. and stop at 9 P.M., with one or two hours rest. However, the law has conferred certain exemptions on certain industries, termed "Sea- sonal" which are permitted to work until 11 P.M. The Commission Superieure has, a number of times, pointed out the inconsistency of permitting this exemp- tion from the prohibition of night work, while the length of the legal working day is not to exceed 12 hours. This year, as before, the factory inspectors are unani- mous in demanding the suppression of evening overtime. (Veillee) Their complaints are given below. The in- spectors of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 10th districts express themselves as follows on this point : "We are of the opinion that all work after 9 P.M. should be absolutely forbidden for women in industry. The law of Nov. 2, having admitted this principle is faulty in allowing any exemptions. The suppression of Art. I in the decree of July 15, 1893, would be an ad- vantage on hygienic as well as moral grounds. More- over, day work is preferable to evening work. In pro- hibiting this overtime the working day of more than 12 384 Uniformity for Enforcement. — ^France. hours is at one stroke abolished." (M. Jarackzewski, Lille.) (Pages XXXVII-XXXVIII.) "An honest interpretation of the law implies the pro- hibition of all work after 9 P.M. With a day beginning at 8 A.M. and ending at 9 P.M. with an hour for rest, we have 12 hours of actual work without overtime. With this system, inspection is easy : the working- women also, can go home at a fairly reasonable hour. "If exemptions are made, allowing work to continue until 11 P.M., it must either be assumed that the em- ployers call in a separate shift, (which is neither prac- ticable nor possible) or else a tacit acknowledgment is made that the 12 hour legal limit may be exceeded. "The inspectors insist on having the 12 hour limit observed, but the employers retort that it is useless to grant them the privilege of overtime if they are not to use it." (M. Blaise, Bouen.) (Page XXX VJII.) * ' The inspectors of the 7th district report, as in pre- ceding years, the difficulties which they met in inspecting workrooms where overtime is carried on. The exagger- ated slowness with which doors are opened suggests the possibility of work and workers being smuggled out of sight. (M. Giroud, Nantes.) (Page XXXIX.) "Difficulties of inspection are always the same: first to have the doors opened; next, to find the workwomen. As a rule, the workrooms are empty when the inspector enters." M. Lagard, Marseilles. (Page XXXIX.) Bulletin de V Office du Travail. [Bulletin of the French Labor Office.] Vol. IX. 1902. Travail de Nuit et Repos Hehdomadaire. [Night Work and Week- ly Day of Rest.] A certain number of industries, such as sewing and dress-making, embroidery and lace manufacture, the manufacture and finishing of hats, etc., are authorized to continue work for 12 hours per day during 60 days per year, and to work until 11 o'clock at night during this period. 385 Uniformity for Enforcement. — ^France. The labor inspectors complain of this because it is al- most impossible for them to discover whether different workers are employed for evening overtime shift. Nor can they be certain that the legal working hours are not exceeded on those days when the work continues until 11 P.M. instead of closing at about 7 or 8 o 'clock. The Commission Superieure du Travail can only point out once more the disadvantages of this legal provision, which makes possible a duration of work extending to 14 hours per day, Avithout the possibility of any effective control by the factory inspector. On this subject the inspector of the eleventh district said: "We have often pointed out that there is a contra- diction between the authority to continue work until 11 P.M. and the provision that the 12 hours of work shall not be exceeded. This twofold exception does not seem capable of enforcement. The interval between 6 or 7 'clock in the morning and 11 o 'clock at night is too long not to be favorable to fraud, difficult to detect." (Pages 686-687.) Proceedings of the Second Regular Meeting of the Execu- tive Committee of the International Association for Labor Legislation. Cologne, 1902. Prof. Eaoul Jay: — "Unfortunately French legisla- tion still permits certain exceptions to the prohibition of the night work of women. During two long sessions the French section studied these exceptions, one by one. We invited to these sessions those who were most directly in- terested in the question as employers, workers and labor inspectors. At the close of the second session the section unanimously voted, to demand the abolition of all the ex- ceptions permitted by the law of 1892 to the prohibition of the night work of women in industry. M. Laporte, the eminent divisional inspector of the first department — after informing himself anew by the inquiries among the inspectors whom he directs, after making inquiry as to 386 Uniformity for Enforcement. — ^France. what industries in his territory still employed women at night, and how they might be replaced, did not hesitate to propose and to vote for the abolition of all excep- tions." (Pages 30-31.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes da/ns V Industrie: Rap- ports sur son importa/nce et sa riglementation legale. [Night WorJc of Women in Industry. Reports on Its Importance and Legal Regulation.] Preface hy Etienne Baueb. Jena, Fischer, 1903. The prohibition of night work of women in industry is indissolubly connected, from the technical point of view, with the regulation of the maximum working day and overtime hours of labor. (Page VIII.) It clearly follows from the reports of these countries that the exceptions to the prohibition of night work by women have resulted in abuses and violations of the law and have thus completely failed to accomplish their object, which was to facilitate the operation of the law. It results from the preceding analysis of international legislation and the inquiries of investigators that, except perhaps in industries in connection with sea fisheries, the authorization of night work by women does not con- stitute at all an economic necessity. On the contrary, the example of England proves that, in authorizing overtime to a very small extent, the desired elasticity is given to certain branches of industry. Thus, many exceptions in the law, previously permitted, have been successfully re- moved. (Page XXXI.) 387 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Germany. Die Serabsetzimg der Arbeitsseit fiir Fra/uen und die Erhohung des Schutsalters fiir JugendUche Arbeiter in Fabriken. {The Reduction of Women's Working Hours and the Raising of the Legal Working Age for Towng Factory Employees.) Db. August Pieeeb and Helbnb Simon. Schriften der Gesellschaft fiir Sosiale Reform, Heft 7-8. Jena, Fischer, 1903. Legal recognition of overtime offers a dangerously easy method of evading the law. In many cases the bene- fits of a maximum working day are completely nullified by exemptions, and in all cases the already difficult task of inspection is rendered doubly difficult. "No laws, per- haps are so often disregarded as labor laws, and every legal exemption enhances the difficulty of discovering infractions. ' ' The English government held it to be not only more advisable, but also more profitable, to put a stop to all overtime "except in cases of national emergency". And the English inspectors oppose it unconditionally on the basis of their past experience. One of them says: "Le- gal permission of overtime is in my opinion a public scandal." (Page 117.) In Germany . . . since 1893, there are employers who, after the enactment of legal restrictions upon over- time gave it up altogether and have given assurances that their businesses have remained prosperous. "Many employers (1894) put a stop to overtime, because it had absolutely no advantages." Moreover, the objections made to giving up overtime have been refuted by experi- ence. Many of the German inspectors . . . have ex- pressed their conviction that overtime in factories should be completely abolished and that industry would be able to adapt itself without detriment to such a regulation. (Page 119.) 388 Uniformity for Enforcement. — Grermany. Die Gesetdiche Regelung des Bdcherschutses. [Protec- tive Legislation for Bakers.} Du. Hanatjeb. Fortschritte der Medisin, Berlin, September 23, 1915. It is to be hoped that the perfection of technique will succeed even without night work in supplying customers early in the morning with bread equal in quality to the present supply. By means of legislation the universal prohibition of night work in the baker's trade can be brought about. ... In Norway and Finland night work in bakeries is already completely prohibited and in Italy work in bakeries is prohibited between 9 P.M. and 4 A.M. (Page 1134.) 389 2. Essential fob Justice to Competing Employers. Uniformity of restriction is essential also for justice to competing employers. Employers are not easily able to abolish night work even if convinced of its disadvan- tages, while their competitors are under no obligation to do so. The legal prohibition of women's night work, therefore, not only checks the unscrupulous employer, but makes it possible for the humane and enlightened employer to abolish night work without fear of under- bidding competition. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, No. 91. November, 1910. Working Hours of Wage Earn- ing Women in Chicago. The need of keeping these neighborhood stores open evenings on half of the nights each week seems to be due rather to competition between stores than to the real needs of the customers. Both managers and girls reported that not many years ago the stores were open every night except one. Now they are closed three nights a week. The owner of a large store in one neighborhood reported that he does better business now than he did under the longer hours, and if all the stores were obliged to close earlier he would be glad to close, for he could so arrange the hours that there would be no inconvenience to him. (Page 895.) British Sessional Papers. 1834. Vol. XX. Factory In- quiry Commission. Supplementary Report. Queries addressed by the Central Board of Commis- sioners to Manufacturers. Thomas Bannerman (cotton spinning) : 390 Justice to Competing Employers. — Great Britain. A36. — A total abolition of night work in cotton spin- ning and in every other manufacture, where it is possible, would, in our opinion, be for the interest of the respective trades and good in a moral point of view. Those manu- facturers who practice night work do injury to others, and gain only for themselves a little temporary relief at the expense of a public scandal. A.I. (Page 5.) Peter Bogle (cotton spinning.) : — A.36. — The prohibition of night work would give us great satisfaction as it would put trade on an equal foot- ing. A.I. (Page 130.) Greorge Mackeroy for James Oswald and Co., (cotton spinning) : — A.36. — ^I believe the effect would be beneficial as it would put the whole trade upon the same footing. . . . A.I. (Page 139.) Henry Dunlop (cotton spinning) : — It would be a considerable advantage to those pro- prietors who do not want to work during the night. A.I. (Page 146.) Joseph Wood (spinning) : — A.27. — ^I have no objections to an act of Parliament (provided it be strictly enforced) by which all mills would be obliged to work the same length of time, which, in my opinion, would be a great advantage to the trade generally. C.I. (Page 161.) Booth and Mayer (spinning and weaving) : — A.36. — ^It would prevent night workers from gaining a pecuniary advantage over those more considerate and humane manufacturers, who abstain from night working on the grounds of the health and morals of the people. D.I. (Page 173.) Henry and Edmund Ashworth (cotton spinning) : — A.36. — The effects produced upon manufacture by a prohibition of night- working, providing that a suitable allowance of time for day labour was permitted, would be an increase of profit for the manufacturer, who is accustomed to carry on his work only during the day, by putting an end to this unequal competition. 391 Justice to Competing Employers.— Great Britain. Such a prohibition would remove a foul stigma which at present overhangs the whole of the trade, owing to the practices of a few individuals in it; prevent an un- natural, imwholesome, and demoralizing practice; and would probably lead to an extension of mills, and thereby provide day labour for those unfortunate work people, who have heretofore been compelled to seek a disrep- utable occupation in night working. D.I. (Page 279.) The Laboy/r Problem. Geoffbey Dkage, M.P. London, Smith, Elder, 1896. The only other questions with regard to the usual hours of labour to which attention need be directed are those of work at night and of work on Sunday. (Page 93.) The system is chiefly regarded as a grievance in the baking trade, in which the work is carried on both in England and Ireland to a great extent by night. The workmen in this trade contend that the unavoidably un- favourable conditions of their trade are aggravated by the practice of working at night, and that night work is unnecessary, since bread, even when sold new, is seldom eaten until it is at least twelve hours old. The em- ployers, on the other hand, consider that night work is necessary so long as any establishments are worked by night, because it is impossible for those worked by day to compete with them. They maintain that its aboli- tion would mean the closing of many wholesale bakeries, which must bake at night in order to let the retail dealers have the bread for sale early the next day. Organized effort on the part of the men has to some extent lessened the prevalence of night work, but the employers are of opinion that its total abolition can only be obtained by legislation. (Pages 93-94.) 392 Justice to Competing Employers. — France. British Sessional Papers. Vol. X. 1901. Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories cmd Workshops for the year 1900. ... A lack of loyal adherence to reasonable hours of employment by many laundry occupiers increases the difficulty for those who make the attempt in real earnest- ness. Many employers gladly welcome further regula- tion as a means of organizing and controlling their work- ers. "What is the use of my making the effort to so or- ganize my work that the laundry shall close at 8 P.M. like other reasonable workplaces do," said a disheart- ened employer; "all the neighboring laundries are open until nine, ten, or even eleven o'clock, and my women find it suits their irregular habits to go and work in these places after they leave my premises ; they are then too tired out to arrive at my laundry till 9.30 or 10 next morning. If we all had to keep the same rules and close at the same time, the law would work fairly; as it is I must just scramble on with the others in the stupid expensive old way." (Page 385.) Documents Parlementaires. Chambre des Deputes, 10 Juin, 1890, Annexe 649. Rapport sur le Travail des Enfants, des Filles Mineures at des Femmes dans les Mahlissements Industriels. [Report on the Industrial Work of Children, Young Oirls and Women.] Deputy R. Waddington. Spinners who do not operate at night declare that night work is as ruinous to the health as it is disastrous to the morals ; yet they may be forced by competition to resort to it; even while disapproving it. (Page 1087.) . The temptation to increased production . . makes it hard for the man who desires to work under normal conditions, and it is more difficult for him to compete. However much he may dislike night work, little by little he is drawn into it. Today he is opposed 393 Justice to Competing Employers. — France. to it; tomorrow he is hesitating, and soon he will imitate his less scrupulous rivals. Night work if not prohibited by the law will spread little by little into all manufactur- ing countries where the different branches of the textile industries are found ; over production will bring on crises which will prove ruinous to the manufacturer, and tragic for the workers who have deserted the farms to earn the higher pay offered by the mUls. (Page 1068.) Rapports presentes a M. le Ministre de Commerce, de. V Industrie, des Postes et des Telegraphes par les Inspecteurs du Travail. [Reports of the French Factory Inspectors.] La Question de I' Interdic- tion du Travail de Nuit. Paris, 1900. The increasing strenuousness of modern life and the intense nervous energy demanded by modern industry must not be forgotten. The workman must apply an ever greater concentration to his work. . . . Why work at night? Hygienists declare it dangerous to health. Business men recognize that it is but feebly productive; it promotes over production and lowers prices. . . . What reasons are there for retaining it . . . only one, the frenzied competition which producers carry on with one another. . . (Page 85.) Le Travail de Nuit des Femmes. [Night Work for Women.] Georges AiiFassa. La Revue de Paris, Sept.-Oct., 1904. Many employers are compelled by competition to work at night, even though complaining that it is not actually profitable to them, indeed not profitable at all, for it tends to over production and stagnation, with the resulting misery of unemployment for the workers. Thus the sad paradox is realized of workers contributing undf»r com- pulsion to future lack of work by performing labor that is materially and morally ruinous to them. (Page 373.) 394 Justice to Competing Employers, — Germany. Royaume de Belgique. Bureau de Travail. Le Travail de Nuit des Ouvrieres de I' Industrie dans les Pays Strangers. [Belgian Bureau of Labor. Night Work of Women in Industry in Foreign Countries.] Maurice Ansiaux. Brussels, 1898. SwiTZEELAND. The very manufacturers who would not on any ac- count, even if they had the chance, resume the system of night work in the case of women, do nevertheless frankly and clearly insist upon its being prohibited to aU alike. One of them looks upon the legal prohibition as a measure of protection for right minded employers against any competitors who might be less scrupulous. In a word, the idea is to forestall and repress Schmutskon- hurrens — unfair (literally "dirty") competition, which stops at nothing in the effort to gain its ends, and which might occur in Switzerland as well as elsewhere, in spite of the good spirit there prevalent. (Page 83.) Amtliche Mitteilungen aus den Jdhres-Berichten der Gewerhe-AufsicMsbeamten, 1889. [Official In- formation from the Reports of the German Fac- tory Inspectors, 1889.] MiiUiausen : Two factory owners who did not work at night com- plained bitterly because the laws permitted night work (in wool-carding). Their reasons were the technical dis- advantages of night work ; also its general disadvantages to the workers. . . . All, indeed, agree that it was desirable that night work should be discontinued. It was however held by some that competition forces them to it, that even a national law would not be sufficient; there would have to be international agreement. The fact that many employers did not use night work, and were satis- fied with a lesser product, was perhaps overlooked. Night 395 Justice to Competing Employers, — Germany. work in the form of overtime is frequent, sometimes run- ning far into the night. The workers, both men and women, submit most unwillingly to this overwork, especi- ally the married women, and some effort is made to re- lieve them from it. (Page 90.) Die Gewerbliche Nachtarheit in der Praxis. [Industrial Night Work in Practice.] Paul. Sohitltzes. Jahr- huch fiir Gesetsgebimg, VerwalPung and Volhs- wirtschaft. Vol. 38, 1914. The restriction of night work is not well possible by any other than legislative methods, because the manu- facturer is hindered by reasons of competition from going ahead independently and the demands of the public, so far as they affect the question, are not in aU cases based on the necessary insight. (Page 304.) 396 PART SECOND LEGISLATION PROHIBITING EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AT NIGHT. I. THE AMERICAN LEGISLATION. Massachusetts. First enacted in 1890, Chap. 183, amended by Acts of 1907, Chap. 267, now embodied in Acts of 1913, Chap. 758. "No person, and no agent or officer of a person or corporation, shall employ a woman ... in any ca- pacity for the purpose of manufacturing between ten o'clock at night and six o'clock in the morning. No per- son, and no agent or officer of a person or corporation engaged in the manufacture of textile goods, shall em- ploy a woman . . . before six o'clock in the morn- ing or after six o'clock in the evening." Acts of 1917, Chap. 342, Sec. 24 (summarized).* The state board of labor and industries is directed to appoint a committee of five persons, commissioner of labor, chairman. Any employer may set forth to the state board of labor and industries or to the committee that any labor law interferes with work which he is do- ing and which is required by the emergency arising from the war, and may ask for a permit suspending operation of such law as to his work or establishment. After hear- ing, the committee may grant permit, subject to restric- tions it deems proper; permit to be revocable and to be- come void sixty days after ending of the war. In urgent cases, before committee can be assembled, commissioner of labor may grant permit for not more than 72 hours. * For number of exemptions granted In 1917, see Page A 16, ante. 397 The American Legislation. Indiana. Enacted in 1894, embodied in Anno. Stat. 1908, S. 8021, etc. "No person or corporation or officer or agent there- of, shall employ any woman ... in any capacity for the purpose of manufacturing, between the hours of 10 o'clock at night and 6 o'clock in the morning." Nebraska. First enacted in 1899, Chap. 107, embodied in Eev. Stat. 1913, Sec. 3564, amended by Acts of 1915, Chap. 71. "In metropolitan cities, in cities of the first class having more than 40,000 and less than 100,000 inhab- itants, in cities of the first class having less than 40,000 and more than 25,000 inhabitants, in cities of the first class having more than 5,000 and less than 25,000 inhab- itants, no females shall be employed in any manufactur- ing, mechanical or mercantile establishment, laundry, hotel or restaurant, office, or by any public service cor- poration in this State more than nine hours during any one day or more than fifty-four hours in one week. The hours of each day may be so arranged as to permit the emplojTuent of such female at any time from six o'clock a. m. to ten o'clock p. m., but in no case shall such em- ployment exceed nine hours in any one day: Provided, hoivever, such female shall not be employed between the hours of 10 p. m. and 6 a. m. : Provided, further, public service corporations may employ females between the hours of 10 p. m. and 6 a. m." New York. Enacted in 1913, Consol. Laws, 1909, Chap. 31. Sec. 93b. "In order to protect the health and morals of females employed in factories by providing an ade- quate period of rest at night no woman shall be employed 398 The American Legislation. or permitted to work in any factory in this State bef pre six o'clock in the morning or after ten o'clock in the evening of any day." Sec. 161.2, "No female employee over the age of 16 years shall be required, permitted or suffered to work in or in con- nection with any mercantile establishment . . . be- fore seven o'clock in the morning or after ten o'clock in the evening of any day." Pennsylvania. First enacted in 1913, No. 466, Sec. 4. "No female shall be employed or permitted to work in any manufacturing establishment before the hour of six o'clock in the morning, or after the hour of ten o'clock in the evening of any day: Provided, that this section shall not apply to managers, superintendents, or persons doing clerical or stenographic work. ' ' Oregon. Orders of Industrial "Welfare Commission, pursuant to authority granted by General Laws 1913, Chap. 62. Effective September 1, 1916. Order No. 7. "6. No person shall employ any women in the City of Portland in a mercantile establishment, other than cigar stands in hotels and confectionery stores, later than 6:00 o'clock p. m." Order No. 8. "6. No person shall employ any woman in the State of Oregon, outside of the City of Portland, in a mercan- tile establishment other than cigar stands in hotels and confectionery stores, later than 8:30 o'clock p. m." Orders No. 9 and 10 (Summarized). '7. No person shall employ any woman in the City ilr 399 The American Legislation. of Portland or in the State of Oregon in any manufac- turing establishment later than 8:30 o'clock p. m." Orders No. 13 and 14 (Summarized). "7. No person shall employ any woman ia the City of Portland or in the State of Oregon in any laundry establishment later than 8:30 o'clock p. m." Delaware. First enacted in 1917, Revised Code, 3135, Section 35, Chap. 90, Art. II. "No female shall be employed or permitted to work ia any mechanical or manufacturing establishment, laundry, baking or printing establishment, office, or dressmaking establishment between the hours of 10 o'- clock P. M. and 6 o'clock A. M. of the following day. The provisions of Sections 35 to 43, inclusive, of this Chapter shall not apply to females employed in the can- ning or preserving of perishable fruits and vegetables." Wisconsin. Orders of the Industrial Commission, June 29, 1917. Order No. 1. "Night work for women in and about manufactories and laundries ia this state is hereby forbidden. Night work is declared to be work performed between the hours of 6 P. M. of one day and 6 A. M. of the foUowiag day." Laws Prohibiting Nightwork of Women in Mercanttte Establishments, etc., Are Found in: SoTJTH Carolina. Enacted in 1911, No. 83, Sec. 1, amended in 1913, Chap. 262. "Female employes (i. e. in mercantile establish- ments), shall not be allowed to work later than the hour of ten o'clock p. m." 400 The American Legislation. GoN^NBcaaouT. Enacted in 1913, Chap. 179. "No female over sixteen years of age shall be em- ployed in any such establishment (i. e., mercantile es- tablishment) after ten o'clock in the evening." Enacted in 1917, Chapter 300, Section 1. "No public restaurant, cafe, dining room, barber shop, hair dressing or manicuring establishment or photograph gallery shall employ . . . any woman, between the hours of ten o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morning." Act of 1917, Chap. 326. (Summarized.) • The governor by proclamation may modify or sus- pend labor laws for definite specified periods during the war. Such power to be exercised only on request of the, Council of National Defense when essential to national defense. 401 The Foreign Legislation. II. THE FOREIGN LEGISLATION: The British law of 1844 was the first statute in any- country limiting the hours of labor for adult women. It provided for all women employed in textile mills a period of rest at night between 8:30 p. m. and 5.30 a. m., and it restricted work to twelve hours in one day. Thus the first legislation for women prohibited their employment at night and fixed opening and closing hours. By succes- sive enactments between 1847 and 1907 further restric- tions were introduced (see appended table). Next after G-reat Britain, the night work of women in factories before and after specified hours was prohibited by law in the following countries : Switzerland — Federal Law of 1877. Austria — Industrial Code of 1885. Netherlands — Law of 1889. Germany — Industrial Code of 1891. France— Law of 1892. Italy— Law of 1902. In addition to the legislation of these countries, inter- national action followed. Beginning with the Interna- tional Congress of Hygiene and Demography in 1887, various international meetings passed resolutions de- claring that the prohibition of industrial night work for women was necessary to preserve their health and morals. In 1901 the International Association for Labor Legislation determined to investigate the extent and effects of industrial nightwork for women in the various countries and the results of prohibiting such nightwork by law. Following this investigation and upon recom- mendation of the Liternational Association, the Federal Council of Switzerland called a conference of the Euro- pean powers to meet at Berne, Switzerland, on Sept. 26, 1906. Eepresentatives of fourteen European govern- ments met and signed the International Convention or agreement given in full below. Between 1906 and 1913 all the powers represented 402 The Foreign Legislation. with the single exception of Denmark ratified the con- vention, after extended legislative debates, and in many cases they provided a longer period of rest at night than required by the international agreement. It went into effect on January 14, 1912, for all the signatory powers except Spain, where its operation was postponed two years, and for textile mills eight years. The appended table gives the list of signatory states and the main provisions of their national legislation. It gives also the main provisions of those states which have not joined the International Convention. International Convention for the Prohibition of Night Work of Women Employed in Factories and Workshops.* Article 1. Industrial night-work shall be prohibited for all women without distinction of age, with the exceptions herein- after noted. This agreement shall apply to all industrial estab- lishments employing more than ten men and women; in no ease shall it apply to those establishments in which only members of the proprietor's family are employed. Upon each of the con- tracting states devolves the duty of defining what shall be under- stood by "industrial establishment." Among these shall be in- cluded, in any case, mines and quarries, as well as industries for the manufacture or working up of raw materials. On this last subject legislation in the individual states shall fix the limit between industry on the one hand and agriculture and com- merce on the other. Article 2. The night-rest contemplated in the preceding article shall have a minimum duration of eleven consecutive hours ; in those eleven hours, whatever else be the legislation of each state, shall be included the interval from ten o'clock in the evening to five o'clock in the morning. In the states in which the night-work of adult women employed in industry has not yet been regulated, however, the length of uninterrupted rest may, temporarily, for a period of not over three years, be limited to ten hours. Article 3. The prohibition of night work may be suspended ; (1) in case of force majeure — ^the interruption of operations by •Bulletin New York State Department of Labor, Dec, 1906, p. 437. 403 The Foreign Legislation. abnormal and non-recurrent causes beyond the control of the proprietor; (2) in case the labor is applied either to raw ma- terials or materials in course of manufacture which may be liable to very rapid deterioration, when it is necessary to save the materials from inevitable loss. Article 4. In iadustries affected by the seasons and, in case of exceptional circumstances, for all industries, the length of un- interrupted night rest may be reduced to ten hours for sixty days a year. Article 5. Upon each of the contracting states devolves the duty of adopting the administrative measures which may be necessary to insure, within its territory, the strict execution of the provisions of this agreement. The governments shall inform each other, through diplomatic channels, of the laws and regula- tions upon the subject of this agreement, which are, or may hereafter be, in force in their respective countries, and shall re- port periodically to each other concerning the operation of these laws and regulations. Article 6. The terms of this agreement shall be applicable to a colony, possession or protectorate only in case a notification to that effect shall be given to the Swiss federal council by the home government concerned. The home government in an- nouncing its application to a colony, possession or protectorate, may give notice that the agreement will not apply to those native industries over which supervision would be impossible. Article 7. In states outside of Europe, as well as in colonies, possessions or protectorates, when the climate or the condition of native populations demands it, the length of uninterrupted night rest may be less than the minimum fixed by this agree- ment on condition that in compensation rest shall be granted during the day. Article 8. This agreement shall be ratified and the ratifica- tions shall be filed not later than December 31, 1908, with the federal council of Switzerland. A report of the filing of the ratification shall be prepared, of which a duly certified copy shall be sent through diplomatic channels to each of the con- tracting states. This agreement shall go into effect two years after the com- pletion of the report. The period to elapse before enforcement is increased from two to ten years — 1. For the manufacture of unrefined beet sugar. 2. For the combing and spinning of wool. 3. For day work in mines when this work is interrupted for at least four months a year by climatic conditions. 404 The Foreign Legislation. Article 9. The states not signing this agreement may declare their adherence to it by an act addressed to the Swiss federal conacil, which shall communicate such act to each of the other contracting states. Article 10. The delay provided in Article 8 for the en- trance of this agreement into force shall begin, for the states not signing it, as well as for colonies, possessions or protectorates, from the date of their adherence to it. Article 11. This agreement may not be renounced either by the states signing it, or by the states, colonies, possessions or protectorates which subsequently agree to it, before the expira- tion of a period of twelve years from the completion of the re- port of ratifications. It may then be renounced from year to year. The renunciation shall become effective one year after it shall be sent in writing to the Swiss federal council by the government concerned or, in case of a colony, possession or pro- tectorate, by the home government concerned ; the federal coim- cil shall immediately communicate such renunciation to the gov- ernment of each of the other contracting states. The renuncia- tion shall have effect only for the state, colony, possession or pro- tectorate, in the name of which it shall be sent. 405 TABLE OF FOREIGN LEGISLATION PROHIBITING NIGHTWORK OF WOMEN IN INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS. INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL State* Bigning International Convention Provisions of Acts Estailishing Earlier Closing Hour than International Convention. AXTSTBIA Act of February, 1911. Nlghtwork prohibited between 8 P. M. and 5 A. M. Exceptions allowed to 10 P. M. by local authori- ties and also in accordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention. Bgloiuu Act of August, 1911, amended May, 1914. Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 5 A. M. Exceptions allowed by royal order, and in ac- cordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention. Fbawcb Also ratified as Home Country for: Aloebia Tusia Act of 1892, amended December, 1911 (Art. 4). Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 5 A. M. Exceptions allowed to 10 P. M., by departmental decree in accordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention GEBMAirr Industrial Code of 1891, amended December, 1911. (Art. 137-1S9T>). Nightwork prohibited between 8 P. M. and 6 A. M. Exceptions allowed to 9 and 10 P. M. by special permits, and also in accordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention. Notification of Federal Council, November, 1911. Nightwork in fruit and vegetable preserving pro- hibited between 10 P. M. and 4:30 A. M. Great Britain The Factory and Workshop Act of 1901. (1 Edw. yil. Cn. 22). Hours— Textile Factories. (Sec. 2i). The period of employment, except on Saturday, shall either begin at 6 A. M., and end at 6 P. M., or begin at 7 A. M. and end at 7 P. M. There shall be allowed for meals during said period of employment on every day except Saturday not less than two hours of which one hour at least shall be before 3 P. M. Saturday, 6 A. M. to 12 if not less than one hour is allowed for meals; or 6 A. M. to 11:30 A. M. if less than one hour is allowed for meals; or 7 A. M. to 1 P. M., not less than half an hour for meals. 406 Great Bbitain (Continued). Also signed as Home Country for: Ceylon Fiji Islands GiBKALTAE Gold Coast Leewaed Islands New Zb;aland NOETHEEN NiGEEIA Tbinidad UOANDA PKOTBOTOEATB Holland HUNGAET Italy Non-Textile Factories and Workshops (Sec 25). The period of employment, except on Saturday, shall either begin at 6 A. M. and end at 6 P. M. or begin at 7 A. M. and end at 7 P. M. or begin at 8 A. M. and end at 8 P. M. There shall be allowed for meals during the said, period of employment on every day except Satur-' day not less than one and one-half hours, of which one hour at the least shall be before 3 P. M. Saturday, 6 A. M. to 2 P. M., or 7 A. M. to 3 P. M., or 8 A. M. to 4 P. M., not less than half an hour' for meals. Special exceptions granted permitting work between 9 A. M. and 9 P. M. (Sec. 36). In a Workshop Which Does Not Employ Children or' Young People (Sec. 29). The period of employment shall, except on Saturday, be a specified period of twelve hours taken be- tween 6 A. M. and 10 P. M. and on Saturday a specified period of eight hours taken between 6' A. M. and 4 P. M. j There shall be allowed to a woman for meals and^ absence from work during the period of employ-^ ment not less than one hour and a half, and on Saturday than half an hour. Special Order of Secretary of State, September, 1901 (Sec. 6a). Nightwork in fruit preserving factories prohibited between 10 P. M. and 6 A. M. Factories Act of 1906 (Sec. 19). Nightwork prohibited between 6 P. M. and 8 A. M. Act of October, 1911 (Sec. 2, Suisec. 6). Nightwork prohibited between 7 P. M. and 6 AM. Exceptions granted by decree in accordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention. Act XIX of 1911. Provisions same as Convention. Lams of 1902, amended July, 1907 (Sees. 4, 5, Id). Nightwork prohibited between 8 P. M. and 6 A. M. from October 1 to March 31; 9 P. M. and 5 AM. from April 1 to September 30. Exceptions grant- ed by departmental decree in accordance with articles 3 and 4 of Convention. 407 LUXEMBUBO POETTTOAI. Spain Sweden Switzerland NON-SIGNATORY STATES Bbitish COLXrUBIA BUXOABIA Gbeece India Liechtenstein Manitoba New Betjnswick Act of August, 1901. Provisions same as Convention. Decree of June, 1911, amended January, 1915. Provisions same as Convention. Act of July, 191Z, amended August, 191S. Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 5 A. M. Exceptions allowed in accordance with article 3 of Convention. Act of November, 1909. Provisions same as Convention. Act of November, 1912, amended June, 1914. Nightwork prohibited between 10 P. M. and 5 A. M. Exceptions allowed in accordance with article! 3 and 4 of Convention. NATIONAl, AND STATE LEGISLATION Factories Act of 1908 (Sec. 14). Nightwork prohibited between 8 P. M. and 7 A. M. Act of MarcJi, 1905 {Art. 7). Nightwork prohibited between 8 P. M. and 5 A. M. April 1 to October 1; 6 P. M. to 6 A. M. from October 1 to March 31. Act of February, 1912, amended May, 1914. Nightwork prohibited between 6 P. M. and 6.30 A. M. April 1 to September 30; 5.30 P. M. and 7.30 A. M. October 1 to March 31. Exceptions allowed by decree in accordance with articles ^ 3 and 4 of Convention. Factories Act of 1911. Nightwork prohibited between 7 P. M. and 5.30 A. M. Industrial Code of April, 1910 (Bees. 47-50). Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. Government may issue special rules for particu- lar industries or In emergency not more than 60 days in one year. Factories Act of 1902 {Sees. 10-15), amended iy Acta of 1904 (Cnap. 16). Nightwork prohibited between 10 P. M. and 7 A. M. Overtime allowed 36 days in one year. Factories Act of April, 1905. Nightwork prohibited between 10.30 P. M. and 6. A. M. 408 New South Wai-es Consolidated Acts of 1909; Factories and Shops Act, 1912 Part II (Sec. 46). Nightwork prohibited between 6 P. M. and 6 AM. Exceptions allowed by administrative authorities. Nova Scotia Factories Act of 1901 (Sees. 17-18). Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. Ontabio Factory, Shop and Office Building Act of 191S (Secs.Sl-SS). Nightwork prohibited between 6.30 P. M. and 7 A M. Overtime allowed 36 days in one year but not between 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. Quebec Industrial Establishments Act of 1909 (Art. S8S7) amended Stat. 1912 (Chap. 36). Nightwork prohibited between 9 P. M. and 6 A. M. In cotton or woolen factories, between 6.30 P. M. and 7 A. M. Queensland Factories and Shops Act of 1900, amended t>y Acts of 1908 (Sec. 46). Nightwork prohibited after 9.30 P. M. Saskatchewan 1 Factories Act of 1909 (Arts. 8 and 9). Nightwork prohibited after 6.30 P. M. Overtime al- lowed 36 days in one year, but not between 10 P. M. and 7 A. M. Sebvia Industrial Act of July, 1910 (Sec. 61). Nightwork prohibited in summer between 8 P. M. and 5 A. M. In winter between 8 P. M. and 6 A. M. South Australia Factories Act of 1907 (Sec. 65) amended 1910 (Sec. 16). Nightwork prohibited after 9 P. M. Westebn Austbalia Factories Act of 1904 (Sees. 20 and 82). Nightwork prohibited between 6 P. M. and 8 A. M. Overtime allowed not more than 30 days in one year. Viotobia Factories and Shops Act of 1912, amended 1914. Nightwork prohibited after 9 P. M. Overtime allowed for two months by minister of labor. In 1911 Japan enacted preliminary legislation to prohibit employment of women at night. 409 III. WAR TIME EXEMPTIONS IN FOREIGN LEGISLATION. Upon the outbreak of the war, most of the European countries which had signed the international convention on night work in 1906, legislated to grant wide exemp- tions from the labor laws, authorizing among other things, night work and over-time hours for women. But in the 3 years between 1914 to 1917 these general exemptions have in many countries been gradually narrowed again, so as to limit their application to certain classes of women and to tend toward restoring the original scope of the acts. While the most notable progress in aU countries has been made in re-establishing the Sunday rest law and reducing hours of labor, successive steps have been taken also to limit the authorization of night work and to restore a period of rest at night for in- creasing numbers of women. In the synopsis of laws and decrees which here fol- lows, the excellent compilation of a recent publication of the Children's Bureau has been used throughout.* AU the original sources have been searched in the prepar- ation of this government report; the authorities therein quoted are followed here so far as concerns the night work of women; and the conclusions of the report on various points are quoted direct. France. Thus, in France, on August 2nd, 5th, and 14th, 1914, the Minister of Labor issued circulars to the inspectors of labor authorizing them to grant exemptions from the restriction of hours provided in the labor law and to stimulate national production in various ways. Yet the inspeetors were especially cautioned on August 22nd against allowing over-time in neighborhoods where there was unemployment. (Bulletin du Minister e du Travail, 1914, pp. 99*, 100*; 1912, p. 340; 1913, Actes et Documents, p. 20.*) ♦Child Labor in Warring Countries. A Brief Review of Foreign Reports. Anna Rochester. United States Department of Labor. Children's Bureau. Industrial Series No. 4, 1917. 410 War Time Exemptions. The views of the Provincial mixed labor commissions on the operation of these exemptions during 1915 are given in the bulletin of the Minister of Labor, Some of them desire continuance or increase of the exemptions (The Ain, Charente, Ariege, Haute Saone), while some asked for enforcement of the labor laws, prohibition of night work, etc. (The Rhone, the Gironde, Seine-In- ferieure.) (Bulletin du Ministere du Travail et de la Prevoyance Sociaie, Jvly-August, 1916, p. 288. Trava/ux des commissions mixtes departementales pour la mavn- tien du travail national. Reglementation du trav- ail.) From the beginning of the war, says the Report of the Children's Bureau, "the G-overnment emphasized the importance of protecting the health of the workers." In February, 1916, the Minister of War appointed a committee on women's work to study and report on conditions necessary for the protection of women. (Bulletin du Ministere du Travail, January-February, 1916. Sous-Secretariat d'Etat de VArtillerie et des Munitions, Circular February 28, 1916.) Following the advice of this committee, the under secretary for arms and munitions on June 29, 1916, pro- hibited the employment of girls- under 18 years of age at night in munitions works, allowed the employment of girls up to 21 years as an exceptional and temporary measure only and required that other women who are employed at night be carefully supervised, if irregular attendance shows illness on their part; if they are the mother of families, etc. ' ' The necessity of pushing the production of mu- nitions indispensible to the national defense has de- manded that, in a certain number of establishments, women take part in night work, like men. It is im- portant, however, to watch with the greatest care lest this exceptional and temporary measure involve 4H War Time Exemptions. for the health and morals of the working women disadvantages which onr labor legislation has been designed to prevent, and to limit to a miTiiTTmTrj the exemptions allowed. . . . "The employment of young girls, less than 18 years of age, in night work shall be forbidden. "You will permit only as an exceptional right and temporarily the employment of working women from 18 to 21 years of age in night work. You will not grant this authorization except after you have as- certained that the scarcity of female labor does not enable the manufacturers to arrange for additional workers enough to replace these women in the night shifts. "I shall ask you to examine the make-up of the night shifts, with the assistance of the manufactur- ers, in order to avoid the dangers or the serious dis- ad.vantages which night work may present for cer- tain women, women whose frequent absences reveal precarious condition of health, women who are preg- nant, mothers of families who are obliged to care for young children, etc." {Bulletin du Ministere du Travail, July-Aiiqust, 1916, p. 131* Sous-Secretariat de V Artillerie et des Mu- nitions, circular on night work of women, June 29, 1916.) In July, 1916, the Minister of Labor pointed out to the factory inspectors the importance of re-establish- ing labor standards : "The prolongation of the war has made apparent the serious disadvantages involved in the continued use of certain of these exemptions. As the under- secretary of state indicated in the address which he delivered on June 6, 1916, the experience of war time has only demonstrated the necessity — ^technical, economic, and even physiological — of the labor laws enacted before the war. It is in our legislation of the time of peace that we shall find the conditions 412 War Time Exemptions. for a better and more intense production during the war.' * * * ijijie minister of labor then refers to the circular of June 29, 1916, sent out by the un- der secretary of state for arms and munitions upon the advice of the committee on women's work and indicating the limits which must be observed in grant- ing exemptions relating to night work by women. He states that these exemptions are the maximum al- lowed, and not to be regarded as regular substitutes for the former law which should tend to be re-estab- lished so far as possible." {Bulletin du Ministere du Travail, Juli/-Augii^t, 1916, p. 123*, summarised.) Upon recommendation of the committee on women's work additional limitations upon women's night work were ordered on January 4, ISIZ, in a circular of the minister of armaments and war manufactures. They prohibit night work and over time by pregnant women and nursing mothers. (Revue Philanthropique. January, 1917, p. 36.) Finally, an investigation begun by the Ministry of Labor on May 31, 1917, shows that the employment of women at night has been reduced to "almost insignifi- cant proportions." The investigation included 787 in- dustrial establishments. Only about a third of the total number of women working in these establishments, that is 56,784 women were employed at night. In many places 8-hour shifts have been introduced, so that nightwork is required of each shift only every third week. "In the belief that in the interest of the family further modifications might be made . . . with- out jeopardizing the requirements of the national defense, the committee in charge of female labor conditions gave expression to a certain number of desiderata which will soon be carried into effect. . . . It is also urged that nightwork for females of all ages, tolerated since the beginning of the war 413 War Time Exemptions. by suspension of the rules on this subject, shall be suppressed wherever the conditions affecting the supply of raw materials, of motive power and of la- bor are such as to make it possible to obtain the same output by means of day labor alone ; that when the output of a factory is decreased, nightwork be curtailed first of aU for women; that whenever the hours of labor are decreased, the reduction apply first to nightwork." {United Stafes Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Dom,estic Commerce. Daily Consular and Trade Reports. No. 47. Feb. 26, 1918, p. 738, Night Labor for Women in France. Commercial Attache, C.W. A. V edits. Paris, January 28.) Great BaiTAiiir. In Great Britain the Secretary of State had, before the war, power to exempt establishments belonging to the Crown or workers for the Crown from the operation of the factory acts. In June, 1915, by an order in council this power was extended to cover other factories and workshops. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office. Vol. X, p. 374.) Under these exemptions, night work and over time hours were permitted by special order. In September, 1915, the minister of labor appointed a committee of men and women to study the health of munition workers, including "industrial fatigue, hours of labor, and other matters affecting the physical health and physical efficiency of workers." 414 War Time Exemptions. Up to October, 1917, this committee has pubKshed twenty memoranda and an interun report dealing with various phases of the subject. It has emphasized the injuries to health and productivity, especially among wo- men and young persons, arising from excessive hours, over time and night work; it has made detailed studies of the effects of reducing hours, and has recommended a return to regular labor standards. In January, 1916, the Committee wrote: ' ' Taking the country as a whole the committee are bound to record their impression that the muni- tions workers in general have been allowed to reach a state of reduced efficiency and lowered health which might have been avoided without reduction of out- put by attention to the details of daily and weekly rests. ' ' {British Ministry of Munitions, Health of Munition Workers' Committee, Memorandum 'No. 7, Indus- trial Fatigue and its Causes {January, 1916), p. 10.) Other investigations of industrial fatigue have been made for the Home Office by Dr. A. F. Stanley Kent, Professor of Physiology in the University of Bristol. These studies also show the relation of output to health and fatigue and call for a reasonable working day. Meanwhile towards the end of 1915, according to the Children's Bureau, "An interdepartmental committee on hours of labor was set up to insure that the ministry was ful- ly informed as to the points at issue, and also to focus the attention of its officials on the importance of regulating the number of hours which could be worked fo maintain adequate efficiency. The mem- oranda of the health of munition workers' committee served as a basis for the committee's work. The committee includes a representative of the Home Of- 415 War Time Exemptions. fice, who is responsible for the conditions of employ- ment of women, girls, and boys in munition fac- tories, and officers representing the admiralty and the various supply departments and welfare section of the ministry. As a result of the committee's work certain definite orders have been issued for controlled factories, eliminating night work by girls under 16 years of age, providing one day of rest in seven for all females, and practically eliminating Sunday production in certain kinds of plants."* These orders required also that if women are em- ployed on night shifts they must be supervised by a wel- fare worker or responsible forewoman, and that they must be carefully selected and not iudiscriminately em- ployed. (Home Oifice General Order, Sept. 9, 1916, p. 1, and Cir- cular' Letter 198802 to accompany said order.) In its latest memorandum (No. 20, October, 1917) the Health of Munition Workers Committee states its belief that after two years of war, it is necessary to reduce hours of labor still further, and draws attention to the probable wastage of workers during this period, shown by the "large number of workers who for one reason or another, and often because they find the work too ardu- ous, are continually giving up their job."** Italy. In Italy a royal decree of August 30, 1914, a.uthorized the suspension of the existing prohibition of night work for women and children, under specified conditions. (Bolletino dell' Ufficio del Lavoro, Fortnightly Seiies, Sept. 16, 1914, p. 190, and Bulletin of the Interna- tional Labor Offlce, Vol. X, p. 73.) * Child Labor in Warrlns: Countries. Page 45. •* For full text, see Page A 15, ante. 416 War Time Exemptions. On March 7, 1915, a royal decree authorized prefects in cases of necessity to allow exemptions from the night work law for bakers. {Bolletino dell' Ufjficio del Lavoro, Fortnightly Series, March 16, 1915, p. 72, and Bulletin of the Interna- tional Labor Office, Vol. X, p. 146.) The exemptions allowing night work were further encouraged by a ministerial circular exempting appli- cations from the stamp tax. {Circular of June 30, 1915, No. 5538, Referred to in Boll. dell' Uffi'cio del Lavoro, Fortnightly Series, Jvly 1,1915, p. 159.) On the other hand the dangers of suspending pro- visions of the labor laws were recognized by the institu- tion of medical inspection of industry and labor, in Jan- uary, 1915, under the direction of two men of high stand- ing. Professor Griovani Loriga mth the collaboration of Professor Luigi Carozzi. {Circular of Feb. 1, 1915, of the Minister of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce to the Prefects of the Realm in II Lavoro, Feb. 26, 1915.) In July, 1915, the public health experts of the group for Medicinal Propaganda in War Time pointed out the special dangers of night work for women. "Women are now admitted to night work in cer- tain industries. The evil effects of night work on the female organism are well known — the consequent predisposition to blood troubles and to diseases of the digestive and nervous systems. These women are serving the State; they should be safeguarded and supervised by committees." {Leaflets Issued by the Group for Medical Propaganda in War Time, No. 9, in II Lavoro, July 31, 1915, p. 221, Su/mmarised.) 417 War Time Exemptions. Special attention was called to the need of safeguard- ing women employed at night in a circular of the under secretary of arms and munitions of Sept. 28, 1916. {Comitato Nasionale per il Mwnisionamento, II Lavoro Femminile nella Industria di Chierra Italicma, January, 1917. Quotations from Circular of Sep- tember 28, 1916, of the Under Secretary of Arms and Munitions.) Beginning in the autumn of 1916, memorials were addressed to the Government by the Federation of Labor and other bodies urging the re-establishment of former labor standards. {La Gonfederazione del Lavoro, October 1, 1916, p. 523. Bollettino dell' Ufflcio del Lavoro, November 16, 1916, p. 171.) By February, 1917, the restoration of the weekly day of rest was ordered with exceptions allowed in impera- tive cases only, in establishments working for the na- tional defense. ..." Now that industry has passed through the period of feverish adjustment that characterized the second half of 1915 and a large part of 1916, such a provision, while not diminishing the intensity of production, will indubitably aid in maintaining the health of the workers and so add continuity of pro- duction," says the circular of the under secretariate of arms and munitions. (Bollettino dell' Ufficio del Lavoro, Fortnightly Series, March 16, 1917, pp. 51, 52.) Finally, in accordance with a decree of March 15, 1917, regulations were issued on April 30, 1917, by the under secretariate of arms and munitions including among other things limitation of the hours of labor of 418 "War Time Exemptions. women to 60 hours in one week, and prohibition of night work of women under 18 years, and children, "Since the exeesaive prolonging of the hours of labor, if done in normal times, is in the end of more disadvantage than advantage to production, espe- cially when it is a question of a labor force of women and young persons, the working hours of women of whatever age and of children must not as a rule exceed 60 hours per week." {Circular No. 309813 {April 30, 1918) of the under Secre- tariate of Arms and Mtmitions for the Protection of the Labor Force of Women and Young Persons in Bollettino dell" Ufficio del Lavoro, Fortnightly Series, June 1, 1917, pp. 97, 98.) "These regulations," says the Report of the Chil- dren's Bureau, "do more than re-establish pre-war labor standards; in some respects the standards are even higher than those demanded before Italy entered the struggle." The Netheblands. In the Netherlands, the military authorities were em- powered under the martial law to order suspension of the labor laws. {Decree of August 10, 1914, {Staatsblad No. 406), Law of October 16, 1914, {Staatsblad No. 491), and other decrees.) Under this authority, military commanders granted various temporary exemptions and permitted night work in three textile mills. "Ail these exemptions on war orders had expired or were cancelled by November 1, 1915, except one which ran until December 1, 1915." {Child Labor in Warring Countries, p. 62.) 419 War Time Exemptions. Russia, In Eussian exemptions from the labor laws for wo- men and children were not authorized nntil March 9/22, 1915, when a decree of the Czar permitted night work in coal mines. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol X, p. 381.) An imperial decree of October 19/November 1 au- thorized the minister of commerce and industry to grant es?emptions for night work and overtime on articles neces- sary for the state defense. {Collection of working regulations issued in accordance with Article 87 of the fundamental laws of the Rus- sian empire. Third supplement to the collection issued in 1913, Petrograd 1916, pp. 166, 167.) According to the report of the Children's Bureau, "no information is available about the administration of these exemptions or the frequency with which they were granted." {Child Labor in Warring Countries, p. 64.) But on June 1, 1917, (apparently by order of the Min- ister of Labor) both the exemption laws of March 9/22, 1915, and October 19/November 1, 1915, permitting night work and overtime of women and children in coal mines and for national defense, were repealed. {ViestniJc Vremiennago Pravitelstva, July 13/27, 1917.) The Minister of Labor has also proposed to the Pro- visional Grovernment a bill prohibiting night work in in- dustries coming under the factory inspection law.* Switzerland. On August 11, 1914, the Swiss Federal Council ad- dressed a circular letter to the Cantonal governments au- thorizing them to grant temporary exemptions from the * Information received from the Children's Bureau, under date of December 21, 1917. 420 War Time Exemptions. factory acts, in "cases where this is the only possible way of continuing work." Exemptions shall be refused if the emergency can be met by the engagement of unem^ ployed workers. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. X, pp. 75-76.) In November and December, 1915, specific instruc- tions were issued as to the exemptions to be allowed, in- cluding the requirement of payment of 25 per cent ad- ditional wages for all over-time work and 50 per cent ad- ditional for all night or Sunday work. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. X, pp. 384-386.) A later order reduced this payment to 25 per cent increase for all over-time, Sunday or night work. {Bulletin of the International Labor O^ce, Vol. XI, p. 54.) Attstria-Hxtngaiiy. In Austria Hungary exemptions allowing, night work of women and girls were not resorted to by a general decree until September 11, 1915, following a Royal order of October 10, 1914, which empowered the government to adopt extraordinary war measures. This decree of the Minister of Commerce required that if exemptions from prohibition of night work were granted in case of need, ' ' each individual application for exemptions must be investigated by the competent industrial inspector and if the inspector and the provincial authorities disagree as to whether permit should be granted the ministry of commerce would decide. " {Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. XI, p. 31, summarised.) 421 War Time Exemptions. It was required that registers of the permits granted must be sent quarterly to the Minister of Ck)mmerce. .{Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol XI » 31.) The Sunday and Holiday Rest Law which had been abrogated by the Imperial Decree of July 31, 1914, was restored in the book printing trade by ministerial order of August 20, 1914, and in commercial establishments by an order of December 28, 1915. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office, January^Feb- ruary, 1915, Vol. X, p. 59, omA Jamuary-Fehruary, 1916, Vol. XI, p. 33.) In 1915 also the Provincial authorities were instructed not to grant exemptions for the employment of women and girls at night and for overtime in establishments where cotton was prepared. The reason for this order was the danger of unemplojmient because of the scar- city of raw material. {Bulletin of International Labor Office, Vol. XI, p. 32.) On February 8, 1917, all nightwork in bakeries was prohibited between 9 P. M. and 5 A. M. Military bakeries are not included and special exemptions are allowed. This order is for the duration of the war only, but the Govern- ment has stated that it would try to make the provision permanent.* {Bulletin du Ministere de Travail et de la 'Prevoyance Sociale, January-March, 1917.) In Hungary too the "only change in labor standards reported" is a new prohibition of nightwork in bakeries, between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. by a ministerial order of June 16, 1917. {Bulletin of the International Labor Office. German Edition. Vol. XV, p. 291.) * Information received from the Children's Bureau, December 21, 1917. 422 War Time Exemptions. GBBAtA.NY. In Grermany the Imperial Chancellor was authorized by the act of August 4, 1914, to grant exemptions from the provisions of the labor laws. (Bulletin of the International Labor Office. Vol. X, p. 38.) While these exemptions allowing night work and over- time for women do not appear to have been again nar- rowed by law, it is reported that protests against them have come from social workers, working people and so- cial democrats, and petitions have been addressed to the Reichstag urging the repeal of the emergency law of Aug. 4, 1914. (Zentralblatt fiir Gewerbehygiene, January, 1915, p. 12). (Bulletin of the International Labor Office, 1916, Vol. XI, p. 239.) On the other hand, one of the German war measures was the prohibition of all nightwork in bakeries. (Soziale Praxis, Sept. 9, 1915, p.' 1176.) According to the Report of the Children's Bureau very little information has been received from Germany since the spring of 1916. Gbebob In Greece a law was passed in October, 1915, also authorizing suspension of the labor laws under special conditions in case of mobilization. (Bulletin of the International Labor Office, Vol. II, p. 52.) Between December 24, 1914, and January 6, 1915, the prohibition of nightwork in bakeries was in part sus- pended by special permission. (Bulletin of the International Labor Office. Vol. XI, German tldition I and II, p. 15.) 423 DECISION OF THE NEW YORK COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDING THE NEW YORK LAW PROHIBIT- ING EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AT NIGHT IN FACTORIES. The People of the State op New York, Respondent, vs. Chables Schweinleb Press, a Corporation, AppELiiANT. The statute for violation of which the appellant was con- victed reads as follows : "Par. 93-b. Period of rest at night for women. In order to protect the health and morals of females employed in factories by providing an adequate period of rest at night no woman shall be employed or permitted to work in any factory in this state before six o'clock in the morning or after ten o'clock in the evening of any day". Hiscock, J. This appeal presents for consideration a ques- tion of the constitutionality of certain industrial legislation, so- called. It is undisputed that the appellant caused or permitted a married woman to work in a factory operated by it between the hours of ten o'clock in the evening and six o'clock in the morn- ing, and thereby violated the provisions of the act above quoted, and became subject to the punishment duly prescribed for such violation. It challenges, however, the legality of its conviction for the reason as claimed that said act unduly and unjustifiably interferes with the right of an adult woman to contract for he£ own labor, and thus violates various provisions of the Consti-J tution both of the State and of the United States, which in effect provide that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty or property except by due process of law, and that no unjust discrimination shall be made between different classes of citizens by denial of the equal protection of law. The answer to this challenge is that night work in factories as contrasted with day labor substantially affects and impairs the physical condition of women and prevents them from dis- charging in a healthful and satisfactory manner the peculiar functions which have been imposed upon them by nature, and that, therefore, it was within the power of the Legislature to enact the statute as a police regulation tending to protect the well-being of a large class of citizens and promote the public welfare. "We are, therefore, presented with the issue whether it can be said that night work by women in factories is so generally and substantially injurious to their health that the Legislature was 424 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. justified by public considerations in preventing the evil by for- bidding the cause. In the determination of this question it will be well first to summarize some of the facts and reasons which induced the legislation, and, second, to test the sufficiency of these as a basis for the statute by certain principles of law applicable to such a case. There are certain fundamental facts involved in the decision of the question which are beyond any dispute. The statute for- bids night work simply in factories. "We know as a matter of common observation that much labor is generally performed in- doors and that under average conditions and surroundings exist- ing in factories, even when performed in the day time, it is ordinarily arduous and exacting. Impairment caused by exhaustion or even ordinary weari- ness must be repaired by normal and refreshing sleep and rest if health and efficiency are to be preserved. The natural and common order of work and rest is that the former shall be for the most part performed during the hours of day and the latter enjoyed during the night. Habitual and continuous work by night is at variance with this order. Protection of the health of women is a subject of special con- cern to the state. However confident a great number of people may be that in many spheres of activity, including that of the administration of government, woman is the full equal of man, no one doubts that as regards bodily strength and endurance she is inferior and that her health in the field of physical labor must be specially guarded by the state if it is to be preserved and if she is to continue successfully and healthfully to discharge those peculiar duties which nature has imposed upon her. This proposition is fully recognized and stated in MuUer vs. Oregon (208 U. S. 412, 421). And if any further brief evidence of the truth of the propo- sition were necessary it would be found in the many statutes which have been adopted in this state without question of their constitutionality particularly designed to protect and preserve the health of women when engaged in various kinds of physical labor. Moved in part it may be by such general and underlying con- siderations as these, under and in accordance with two statutes adopted by our Legislature in 1911 and 1912 (Laws of 1911, chapter 501; Laws of 1912, chapter 21), there was appointed in the latter year a factory investigating commission. This com- mission considered this subject of night work by women in fac- 425 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. tories and in 1913 made a report to the Legislature, recommend- ing that there be passed the law now before us prohibiting it. It reported that such prohibition was essential to protect and preserve the health and to some extent the morals of women. While it is impossible to review at length this report and recommendation and the foundations therefor, it may briefly and generally be stated that it was based upon and supported by quite an extensive investigation by the commission of actual factory conditions in this state where women performed night work, by many opinions of medical and other experts, and ex^ amination of other industrial investigations and legislation adopted in other jurisdictions in obedience we must assume to public opinion, forbidding such night work. It was also sup- ported, whether expressly so stated or not, by the general con- siderations first above set forth. Amongst other things in the report to which special reference may be made, it appeared that in 1906 there assembled in Switzerland representatives of four- teen European governments who signed an international con- vention for the prohibition of industrial work at night by women, and that prior to 1912 all of the powers represented ex- cept one had ratified the convention, and that in many cases such legislation provided for a longer period of rest at night than that recommended by the international agreement. It also appears now by the briefs submitted to us, whether that was stated in the report or not, that nine of the United States had passed legislation prohibiting such night work for women. Thus at the time when this statute was adopted there was before the Legislature the report of a commission created by it to consider and report on this subject, based on natural laws and on actual investigation, a large volume of expert and medi- cal opinion and a large number of statutes adopted in various jurisdiction, all of which tended to show a careful and long- continued study and examination of the subject of night work by women, and as a result of such study and examination a widespread belief that such work was so injurious to their health that it ought to be prohibited both for their own sakes and for the sake of the offspring whom they might bear. "We then come to the query whether such facts, evidence and information furnished a sufficient reason for action by the Legis- lature and justified the statute which was adopted, and I think the answer must be in the affirmative. In the decision by the Legislature whether it should adopt such legislation, and in the determination by us whether the 426 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. Legislature was justified in adopting it, it was and we are en- titled to take into account the report made by the commission, such facts tending to support it as were matters of common knowledge, and the wide-spread and long-continued belief evi- denced by statutes and in other manners that night work by women in such a place as a factory is so injurious that grave dangers therefrom are to be apprehended. In Muller vs. Oregon (supra) it was said: "Constitutional questions, it is true, are not settled by even a concensus of present public opinion, for it is the peculiar value of a written constitu- tion that it places in unchanging form limitations upon legisla- tive action, and thus gives a permanence and stability to popu- lar government which otherwise would be lacking. At the same time, when a question of fact is debated and debatable, and the extent to which a special constitutional limitation goes is affected by the truth in respect to that fact, a widespread and long- continued belief concerning it is worthy of consideration. We take judicial cognizance of all matters of general knowledge." (p. 420.) In Matter of Viemeister (179 N. Y. 235, 240), which considered the constitutionality of a statute passed in the exercises of the police power of the state concerning vaccination, it was said: "A common belief, like common knowledge, does not require evidence to establish its existence, but may be acted upon with- out proof by the Legislature and the courts. While the power to take judicial notice is to be exercised with caution and due care taken to see that the subject comes within the limits of common knowledge, still, when according to the memory and conscience of the judge, instructed by recourse to such sources of information as he deems trustworthy, the matter is clearly within those limits, the power may be exercised by treating the fact as proved without allegation or proof. "... The knowledge and information before the Legislature which it was thus entitled to consider presented to it a subject of gen- eral interest and public concern which justified consideration and legislation. It warranted the belief that night work by women in factories is generally, substantially and especially detrimental to their health, and surely it is a matter of vital importance to the state that the health of thousands of women working in factories should be protected and safeguarded from any drain which can reasonably be avoided. This not only for their own sakes but, as is and ought to be constantly and legiti- mately emphasized, for the sake of the children whom a great 427 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. majority of them will be called on to bear and who will almost inevitably display in their deficiencies the unfortunate inherit- ance conferred upon them by physically broken down mothers. The Legislature was justified in preventing any such evils as those which were outlined, both real and fairly to be antici- pated, by any legislation which reasonably tended to prevent them, and it had a wide discretion in formulating the means which it would adopt to this end. (People ex rel. Nechameus vs. Warden, etc., 14 N. Y. 529, 535 ; People vs. Ewer, 141 N. Y. 129.) It was a sufficient basis in that respect for action if only there were reasonable grounds for belief that such labor was thus in- jurious, even though there was an "earnest conflict of serious opinion on the subject. (Holden vs. Hardy, 169 U. S. 366, 395; Erie Railroad Co. vs. New York, 233 U. S. 671, 699.) The only question then left is the one whether the Legisla- ture was justified in going so far as to prohibit night labor in factories between the hours named by it as a means of promoting the public welfare by averting the actual or apprehended mis- fortune of broken health of working women. There are well established general rules by which to test this question. In considering legislation adopted for such a purpose we must start out with the presumption that it is constitutional and valid. (People ex rel. Kemmler vs. Durston, 119 N. Y. 569, 577). If the statute upon its face appears to be reasonable and just and appropriate, and we can fairly believe that its natural conse- quences will be in the direction of betterment of public health and welfare, and therefore, that it is one which the state for its protection and advantage may enact and enforce, it will be the duty of the courts to pronounce it constitutional even though they should doubt its wisdom. (People vs. Klinck Packing Co., 214 N. Y. 121; Holden vs. Hardy, 169 U. S. 366, 395.) Or, to state the rule in converse form, before we can pronounce such a statute as that now before us unconstitutional we must be able to see either that there is no real, substantial evil of public inter- est to be guarded against or that there is no reasonable relation between the evil and the purported cure or prevention offered by the statute. (Booth vs. Illinois, 184 U. S. 425 ; Chicago, B. & Q. R. R. Co. vs. McGuire, 219 U. S. 549.) It is not a basis for a constitutional objection to a statute like this generally prohibiting the labor of women between cer- tain hours that in exceptional eases it may prevent employment of some women for a short time between those hours under such conditions as would be productive of no substantial harm. A 428 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. Legislature must legislate in general terms, and its mandates are not constitutionally vulnerable because having power to act con- cerning a certain subject and to legislate in terms reasonably calculated to accomplish the general purpose within the scope of its authority, it covers and prohibits some isolated transaction which by itself would be harmless and unobjectionable. (Purity Extract & Tonic Co. vs. Lynch, 226 U. S. 192; People ex rel. Hill vs. Hesterberg, 184 N. Y. 126, 131; Otis vs. Parker, 187 U. S. 606.) Neither is it an effective objection to a statute if some of those who will be protected by its provisions oppose such protec- tion, for the state has such an interest in the welfare of its citi- zens that it may, if necessary, protect them against even their own indifference, error or recklessness. (Holden vs. Hardy, 169 U. S. 366 ; Hennington vs. Georgia, 163 U. S. 299.) Nor if some cases which might have been included are omitted, for police legislation may rest on narrow distinctions. (Keokee Cons. Coke Co. vs. Taylor, 234 U. S. 224 ; German Alliance Ins. Co. vs. Kan- sas, 233 U. S. 389.) Tested and fortified by these rules, we cannot and ought not to say that the Legislature did not act within the wide powers of discretion and judgment possessed by it in adopting the pro- hibition which it did as a means of preventing the evils with which it was justified in believing the state to be threatened as the result of such night work by women. There can be no doubt that the means adopted tended to pre- vent the apprehended danger. The only chance for debate would be whether the prohibition is so wide and so universal that it can be said that it is so out of proportion to the benefits sought that it is burdensome and unreasonable to a degree which transcends the discretion of the Legislature. "We feel sure this cannot be said. What is reasonable and appropriate in such a matter must be largely decided by prevailing opinion and judgment, and by reference to what has been and is being done with approval by this and other states and countries in the same and similar mat- ters, and, as has been pointed out, there is no lack of support in such respects for the present enactment. If it is proper, as it certainly has been held to be both by widely held public opin- ion and by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the land, to protect the health of woman by restricting the hours during which she may labor in certain pursuits, it cannot be said as a matter of constitutional law that it is illogical and improper for the Legislature to take the further step, which it now has taken. 429 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. and say that those hours of labor must not be performed at times and under conditions which as a matter of general experience tend generally and substantially to break down the health of the laborer. It requires no very great exercise of judgment and dis- cretion to justify this additional forward step in protective regu- lation, and it seems to us to be within the power possessed by the Legislature. Of course we are well aware that the process of justifying a new step by the fact that it marks but a short advance over the last preceding one if continued long enough may lead to extremes which cannot be approved. But while we may appreciate that possibility, we only have before us now the specific advance taken by this particular statute, and as we have indicated we think that it is not only not condemned by the test of all the facts and principles of law which are applicable, but is supported and sustained by them. Various other grounds have been urged upon our attention as ones upon which the constitutionality of the statute might rest. They have not been overlooked, but it is deemed unnecessary to consider _them in view of our conclusion in respect of the question which has been discussed. Therefore, we conclude the statute is constitutional as a] police regulation in the interest of public health and the general welfare of the people of the state. ^ In reaching the conclusion above set forth we have not over- looked or failed to consider the forcibly expressed argument of the appellant that we have been passing through days when many people were prodigal in their generous willingness to de- vise statutory cures for other people who neither demanded, de- sired or needed them, and that this statute in its universal appli- cation to aU factories will inflict unnecessary hardships on a great many women who neither ask nor require its provisions by depriving them of an opportunity to earn a livelihood by per- fectly healthful labor although performed during some of the hours of the night. There may or may not be force in some of these arguments. They are of the kind which involve questions of discretion, judgment and public policy and must be addressed to the Legislature. ... At any rate, it ought not to be ex- pected that this court will seek to offset the errors in judgment of the Legislature, if any there be, in the case of such legislation by straining to overcome the presumption of validity which attaches to such a measure when it comes from the hands of the law-making body and by affixing the stamp of unconstitu- tionality unless it is clearly called for. 430 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals, Lastly, it is urged that whatever might be our original views concerning this statute, our decision in People vs. Williams (189 N. Y. 131) is an adjudication which ought to bind us to the con- clusion that it is unconstitutional. ■ While it may be that this argument is not without an apparent and superficial foundation and ought to be fairly met, I think that a full consideration of the Williams case and of the present one will show that they may be really and substantially differentiated and that we should not be and are not committed by what was said and decided in the former to the view that the Legislature had no power to adopt the present statute. The statute under consideration in the Williams case, like the present one, prohibited night work by women in factories, and while its provisions were somewhat more drastic than those of the present one, it may be conceded that these differences were of details and would not serve to distin- guish that statute from the present one in respect of its consti- tutionality. But the facts on which the former statute might rest as a health regulation and the arguments made to us in be- half of its constitutionality were far different than those in the present case. That statute bore on its face no clear evidence that it was passed for the purpose of protecting the health and welfare of women working in factories, and while of course the presence or absence of such a label would not be controlling in determin- ing the purposes and validity of the statute, it still was in that case an incident of some importance as leading to the conclu- sions finally expressed by Judge Gray and adopted by the court as appears by the quotations from his opinion hereafter made. While theoretically we may have been able to take judicial notice of some of the facts and of some of the legislation now called to our attention as sustaining the belief and opinion that night work in factories is widely and substantially injurious to the health of women, actually very few of these facts were called to our attention, and the argument to uphold the law on that ground was brief and inconsequential. Especially and necessarily was there lacking evidence of the extent to which during the intervening years the opinion and belief have spread and strengthened that such night work is in- jurious to women; of the laws, as indicating such belief, since adopted by several of our own states and by large European countries, and the report made to the Legislature by its own agency, the factory investigating commission, based on investi- gation of actual conditions and study of scientific and medical 431 Decision of the New York Court of Appeals. opinion that night work by women in factories is generally in- jurious and ought to be prohibited. The failure adequately to fortify and press upon our atten- tion the constitutionality of the former law as a health arid police measure and to sustain its constitutionality by reference to proper facts and circumstances is sufficiently evidenced by what was said by Judge Gray. So, as it seems to me, in view of the incomplete manner in which the important question underlying this statute — the dan- ger to women of night work in factories — was presented to us in the Williams case, we ought not to regard its decision as any bar to a consideration of the present statute in the light of all the facts and arguments now presented to us and many of which are in addition to those formerly presented, not only as a matter of mere presentation, but because they have been developed by study and investigation during the years which have intervened since the Williams decision was made. There is no reason why we should be reluctant to give effect to new and additional knowledge upon such a subject as this, even if it did lead us to take a different view of such a vastly important question as that of public health or disease than formerly prevailed. Par- ticularly do I feel that we should give serious consideration and great weight to the fact that the present legislation is based upon and sustained by an investigation by the Legislature deliberately and carefully made through an agency of its own creation, the present factory investigating commission. I, therefore, think that the order appealed from should be affirmed. Chase, Hogan, Miller and Cardozo, JJ., concur; Willard Bartlett, Ch. J., concurs in the result and in that part of the opinion which discusses the Williams case; Collin, J., not vot- ing. Order affirmed, March 26, 1915. INDEX OF SOURCES QUOTED 434 I. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS United States Federal Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce Daily Consular and Trade Reports, No. 266, Nov. 13, 1917. Post-War Industrial Status of Women in France 305 Bureau of Labor Bulletins No. 80, January, 1909. Women and Child Wage- Earners in Great Britain. Victor S. Clark, Ph.D 348, 359 No. 91, November, 1910. 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