CHAPTER IV. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. This chapter contains statistics of strikes and lockouts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, compiled from official reports of these countries. In most cases the countries mentioned issue annual reports on strikes and lockouts, but there are some which give merely brief annual summaries in their monthly bulletins, and others which compile and publish data at longer and irregular intervals. In addition to the countries mentioned, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Russia, and Switzerland have published strike and lockout statistics which were not in such form as to be conveniently used in the present compilation. The Austrian Government has been collecting statistics of labor disputes since 1891. The reports for the years 1891 and 1892 were published by the Government, (a) but not for general distribution. The figures for these years presented in this chapter were obtained from Volume XI of the Foreign Reports of the British Royal Commission, the original publications not being available. The report for 1893 was published in the form of a supplement to the monthly statistical bulletin in the bureau of statistics of the Austrian ministry of commerce. () The report for 1894 was the first that appeared in the form of a regular annual report of the bureau of statistics of Austria, (c) a decree of the imperial ministry of commerce dated December 7, 1893, requiring the publication annually of such statistics. In 1898 a bureau of labor statistics was created in Austria by imperial decree, and the work of collecting and publishing strike and lockout statistics. was transferred to this bureau. The report for 1897, (d) published in 1899, was the first to appear under this new régime. The reports for a Zusammenstellung der in den Jahren 1891 und 1892 stattgefundenen Arbeitseinstellungen im Gewerbebetriebe. Beilage der statistischen Monatschrift, 1894. Herausgegeben vom Statistischen Departement im Handelsministerium. c Die Arbeitseinstellungen im Gewerbebetriebe in Oesterreich während des Jahres 1894. Herausgegeben vom Statistischen Departement im k. k. Handelsministerium. d Die Arbeitseinstellungen und Ausperrungen im Gewerbebetriebe in Oesterreich während des Jahres 1897. Herausgegeben vom k. k. arbeitsstatistischen Amte im Handelsministerium. 777 the years 1891 to 1897, inclusive, ao not cover aisputes in the mining industry, but since 1898 this industry has been included, and the report for that year contains the detailed statistics of strikes and lockouts in the mining industry for the years 1894 to 1898, and a summary of all strikes and lockouts for these years, with the statistics of mine disputes included. The strikes and lockouts in the agricultural and forestry industries are not included. At the present time the data relating to strikes and lockouts are collected by the bureau of labor statistics under authority of the decree of February 22, 1899, of the ministry of commerce, and of the decree of April 6, 1899, of the ministry of agriculture (which has jurisdiction over mineral lands). The administrative officials of the local governments are directed to fill out a schedule blank for each establishment, unless the strike or lockout affects only small establishments in the same administrative district, when one schedule may be used for all the establishments in dispute. The material is then sent directly to the bureau of labor statistics, where an examination of the statements is made in regard to completeness, consistency, etc. In order to discover strikes that may have been overlooked by the local officials, and to secure the greatest possible measure of accuracy and completeness, newspapers published by workingmen, reports of organizations, and other publications are consulted, and the strike and lockout material is submitted for verification to the factory inspectors under whose supervision the establishments involved are placed. A strike or lockout to be included in the Austrian reports must involve at least ten persons. In order to present definite information on the subject, the schedule of inquiry calls for full statements regarding the hours of labor, the rates of wages, and the weekly earnings of the persons in the various occupations affected by the strike or lockout, even if the question of hours or wages is not involved in the dispute. In view of the difficulty of presenting the various phases of labor disputes in tabular form, the reports give a summarized account of each dispute. This feature is probably carried to a greater extent in the Austrian reports than in the reports of other countries, and is supplemented by the reproduction of important documents, such as the minutes of arbitration committees, proclamations of either party, formal demands upon each other, etc. At the request of the labor organizations, special attention has been given to reporting unlawful acts which have occurred during the disputes, for the purpose of showing the effectiveness of the control of the workmen's organizations. The facts reported include statements regarding the violation of labor contracts, attacks upon persons or property, etc. An effort is also made to show the extent to which strikes have been managed by labor organizations, the amount of |