New-York tribune., 1917-12-30
A Week of Labor
Abroad

war and peace will be the es.,
subject Of discussion at the ca.
enth annual conference Of the Labor n.,,,,
beginning January %. A break with tbs
government is feared. Revolutiou.yv
steps. IL is said, will be discussed. n.
taking part in peace conference %iu
be sought and levy Of p per cent on
capital wealth may be asked
IN Italy, as we'll rs in France, England
and Russia, labor protection standards
were relaxed at the beginning Of the war
only 10 be restored and strengthened as
experience showed that long hours. nigh,
and Sunday work did not pay, says a re-.
port Of the ChildrcH'5 Bureau, Federal De.
partment Of Labor Canada, New lea.
land and Australia have maintained their
standards practically unchanged through
the war period. A bill introduced in the
British Parliament fixes the compulsory
school attendance age at fourteen.
The defeat Of conscription in Australia
foreshadows the overthrow Of Premier
Hughes, ex-Labor leader, it is believed in
some quarters.
4 conference between Reichstag depu.
ties and members Of the German govern.
ment has resulted in the securing Of what
the press describes as number Of con
cessions with regard TO the treatment Of
Polish laborers in that country. The Mn
ister for War has issued orders that the
treatment already prescribed by the War
Office IS 20 be scrUpulously accorded ,hem.
Second, it was conceded that each Polish
laborcr should be granted leave once
year. Third, officials are to be appointed
in each military district for the purpose
Of looking after the Polish working peo-
pie. and commissions for supervising their
journeyings are TO be established by the
War Office. their own nominees being as.
sociated in the work.
American Consul John +. Jewell, re-
parting from Lourenco Marquee. Portu-
guese East Africa, says that, owing to
the great advance in the cost Of living,
the local government has increased the
salaries Of all its employees who were paid
under 500 escudos ($l.9l5l year. The
increases in some cases have amounted 20
IS per cent.
William W. Canada, United States Con-
sui to Vera Cruz, Mexico, reporting on
the new constitution Of the State of Vera
Cruz-Llave, promulgated in Cordoba (the
cepitaD and in Vera Cruz, deyotes
whole section 10 the question Of labor and
the relations of the workmen to employ
ers in order to prevent abuses, especially
in tie various forms Of peonage which ex.''
isted in the past. .ro1 rsr -ocee f'e'
Many workingmen have been arrested
in Germany and Austria for distributing
revolutionary literature, printed in Rus
sia. in which the masses in the Teutonc
countries are urged to rise against the
Efforts are being made by English Labor
unions to have the pay OF soldiers in.
creased. The unions want SO cents day
to be paid to the fighting men. II Is
claimed that the colonial troops get about
three times as much as the British
Tommy"
The female machine operators en-
ployed in the Birmingham and Walssll
leather trades have been awarded ad-
vances in wages.
News has leaked through to this eoun-
try that an important strike involving
fifty thousand workers in munition works
and airplane factories has been settled
The settlement, which was reached Deem
Der 3, after the highest members Of tne
British government had interyened, was
substantially a victory for the working
men.