Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1889-12-31
woRkINo.NaEN ABROAD.
WhAs . Day.s week In tho CoantsAso q
EHFOD0 Ooo0lsEs OF


WhAS DAy'0 Woek In the CoantSaoO -
EurODo Coo0lSts OF
,, A return Just issued In pursuance Of
an address from the House OF Commons
throws considerable light on the ques-
ton of working hours, in Europe, says
the st. James Gazette.
In France the hours Of adult labor are
regulated by series Of decrees, Of
which the earliest, promulgated Sep
tember, 1848, enacts that the working
mans day in manufactures and mills
shall not exceed twelve hours Of ''ef-
fective" or actual labor. A decree Is
sued In My, 1851, made exceptions, 30
that more hours might be worked in Ger
tain trades. Practically, tho legal time
Is made to exclude rest. This makes the
working day 30 much the longer. Thus,
one OF the French inspectors states that
the hours Of attendance In factories
under the act Of 184S are from FIVE in
the morning until seven in the evening,
or a total of fourteen hours, out Of
which there are twelve hours Of "effect-
i've labor" But the same authority also
states that effective" time often ex-
tends TO- thirteen and fourteen hours in
many weaving establishments. Finally,
we are told that, .sas rule" 1t may
be taken that Frenchmen employed in
factories are present in the shops at
least fourteen hours out Of every twenty
four.
: Among the countries having no laws
affecting the hours OF adult labor Ger
many is conspicuous. Employers, how
over, can not force their servants to
work on Sundays and feast days. EN-
ployment of youthful or female labor in
certain kinds Of factories, which is at
tended with special danger to health or
morals, is forbidden or made condi-
tional on certain regulations, by which
night labor for female workpeople Is
especially, forbidden. In Germany, as
in other countries also, women may not
be employed in factories for O certain
time after childbirth. In Hesse-D Darn
stadt the medium duration OF labor Is
from ten to twelve hours; the cases in
which the latter time is exceeded be-
ing, however, more frequent than those
In which the former Is not exceeded.
Tho normal work day throughout Sax
ony in all the principal branches of indus
try Is from six a. m. to seven p. M, with
half an hour for breakfast, an hour for
dinner and half an hour for supper. In
the manufacturing industry there are
departures from these hours, tho period
OF work in spinning and weaving mills
not infrequently being twelve.
In Austria the law provides that tho
duration Of work for factory hands shall
not exceed eleven hours out of the
twenty-four, exclusive" Of the periods
OF rest. These are not to be less in the
aggregate than an hour and half Tho
rule can be modified by the Minister of
Commerce, in connection with the Min
lister Of the Interior, allowing longer
hours. The hours have been 80 extended
to twelve hours in certain Industries,
such as spinning mills, and even to
thirteen in silk manufactures. Sunday
rest is enforced. In Hungary there is
no limit laid down by law, but the hours
arc not generally longer than in Austria.
Concerning the actual hours Of adult
labor in Belgium, some difficulty is said
to be experienced in getting at the facts.
, The evidence given before belgium
royal commission showed that railway
guards are sometimes on duty for fifteen
and even nineteen and o half hours at q
stretch, and the Brussels tramway
drivers are at work from fifteen to seven
teen hours daily, with a rest of only an
hour and half at noon. Brick-makers
work during the summer months sixteen
hours day. In the sugar reflneries the
average hours are from twelve to thir-
teen for men and from nine to ten for
women. The cabinet-makers, both at
Client and Brussels, assert that they
have often to work seventeen hours .
day.
In Switzerland the law provides that
normal working day shall not exceed
eleven hours, reduced on Saturdays and
public holidays to ten. Power Ia re-
served for prolonging the working day
in certain circumstances. Except in
cases Of absolute necessity Sunday labor
is prohibited, and in atablishments
where uninterrupted labor Is required
each working hand must have one free
Sunday out Of two. Women can not
! under any circumstances be, employed
In night or Sunday labor. Italy has not
! lo0islatad for ndulta but hna niodo ss.,s,