The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-13
THE WORLDS LABOR BUREAU.
An International Office Opened at
Basic, Switzerland, May 1.

IL DASH III Writing OF the matter 10 Ailt
State Department. calls attention to the
fact that the central offices of the Red
Cross Society, the International TeIe-
graph Bureau. the Bureau for the Regu-
Iation of International Freight Tariffs,
the Latin Monetary Union. and the In
teTnatiOEaI Postal Union, are in operation
in Switzerland.
The International Labor Office" he
says, will apparently have at first less
pronouncedIy official character than the
bureaus already in existence; but the fol-
lowing account Of its origin and purpose.
complied from 4 report Of it's director.
Prof Stephen Bauer, OF the University Of
Basic formerly Professor of Political
Economy in the University of Chicago,
Will show that its scope is distinctly in
ternatiOnaI and that It IS already recog-
nized by several Governments 1t is the
partial realization of plans that have long
been the subject of discussion, sometimes
between ;he Governments Of European
nations a-ld sometimes between private
represent tives OF their people
"One { the first suggestions in this di-
TeCtion was made as long ago as 1876. by
Col Emil Frey, d Swiss statesman, known
in America as q volunteer in our civil
war, afterwards as Swiss Minister in
Washington, and finally as President of
the Swiss Republic He suggested that
International conventions establish uni
form conditions of labor in all Industrial
communities, since the danger resulting
from foreign competition is a great OBJ
stacIe IN the way Of Isolated social re-
form. But when, five years later. the
Swiss National Council unanimously vot-
ed to begin negotiations with other coun-
tries for this purpose, thc answers were
all unfavOrabIe-
The idea did not cease to make prog
ress, however. 1t was q second time rec
commended In 1888. and in 1890 the German
Emperor called an international confer
ence at Berlin Here. all the propositions
in regard to regulating hours of labor, the
work of women and children, and Sunday
labor were rejected by Che delegates of
the different countries
In 1885,, Switzerland again took up the
question. and the answers, though not 50
distinctly adverse as on the first oCCa-
sion. were again unfavorable. Only four
States gave the scheme some platouic
support.
The workingmen, however, did not
abandon the idea Of an international con-
gress at Zurich in September, 1897, TO
which they invited as guests Government
labor officials, factory inspectors, and
economists. and it was here that the pro
jet OF an international labor bureau OF
serni-privatc character took definite form.
A congress held soon afterward at
Brussels appointed q committee TO make
proposals for carrying out the plan. To
this committee and TO the parallel action
of meeting at Berlin IN 1893, Is due the
foundation of the international Union for
the Legal Protection of Workingn1en-
This association is designed to organize
the efforts for social reform in every
country as well as TO serve as a financial
basis for an international labor office The
committees which pursued this aim met
at the international congress for the pro-
lection Of norKiugHnen which was held at
Paris in July, 800. where the statutes Of
the new organization were approved
The Swiss National Council, on motion
of the Government council. has voted an
annual contribution of $3.50 francs {SI,5aD
toward the foundation Of the Information
al Labor Office and 1,993 francs to the
Swiss section. Two other Governments
are disposed to assist the Office in SINH
lar way.
Prof. Bauer. Of the University Of Basic.
has been entrusted with the direction
of the international Office, which is stu
ated in a public building, CIarahof, Reb-
gasse l.
According to the statutes the Inter
national Labor Office fulflIs the follow
ing duties:
la PubIications-It will publish first.
a code of existing labor laws IN the En-
gIish, French and German Iangua gez;
second an international bulletin. and
third, and international annual OF labor.
The international code viii contain the
texts, as well as the motives and the in
depreciation. of the existing legislation
The International Labor Office hopes to
enjoy the cooperation OF experts Of every
country for this scientific work, who viii
be appointed as correspondents The work
of translation viii be done by the office
itself The bulletin VIII contain current
legislative and administrative matter: ex-
tracts from parliamentary debates and
from reports Of commissions Of enquiry
concerning social reform survey of
strikes and Iockouts; q photography of
o.IciaI documents concerning labor fegisIa-
ton The annual viii contain the annual
report Of the association. the proceedings
of the congress for labor protection. and
the current supplement Of the information
al code
"Cb) Service of Informatiou-Gover
ments. industrial and labor organizations,
as wen as private members of the asso-
cation VIII receive Information concern
ing texts and motives of foreign labor
legislation This branch of the Iuterna-
tI0naI Labor Office is already in fun ac-
tivity. The office. in order TO fulfill this
mission, relies on the IiberaIity Of Gov
cTnmeutS. which, by sending their labor
laws ana furnishing information through
official authorities can do much to i'm
prove the service of iufurma ton
tc) Development of Labor Legislation
II IS not proposed to aim at mechanical
uniformity of labor legislation, which
must adapt itself to differences of M
ti0ual character and administration in
the various industrial countries Labor
legislation will be promoted by the In
teTUGtiouaI Labor Office first by finding
the most adequate technical formulation
tcctIve purposes for example the forrnu-
latIOu of the periods Of reStJ second
by enquiring into industrial efficiency
as far as 1t Is affected by labor
hours of labor; third, by establishing
a statistical standard measure for tn.
degree in which social politics makes it
self felt in each country
The International Labor Office will he
able. by means of its correspondents to
form an opinion in regard to questions of
iuridicaI. hygieniC. and technical import
ance which arise in IegislatinE about
labor. Committees consisting of manu-
factureFs. wOTkingmeu. and economic eX-
pertS will be COnVOked by each section
and Will report to the office on questions
of industrial efficiency The director of
the Office viii request the inspectors Of
factories and directors OF labor depart
Tneuts to give information on these
points If these documents should not be
considered sufficient, International statiS-
teal Investigations viii be set on foot
The whole material viii be compiled for
the congress by the director of the office