The draft rules, and each modification of the rules of the fund concerned, shall in the first instance be submitted for the sanction of the Ministry of the Interior.

17. Mutual aid societies shall only acquire or maintain real estate for the establishment of their offices, assembly or lecture halls and libraries, and, in general, for the carrying into effect of their aims, after a special permit shall have been obtained from the Ministry for Social Welfare.

A contravention of this Section, provided the permit of the Ministry had been previously obtained, shall not invalidate a legal contract.

18. Funds which are established and managed exclusively by the workers in one and the same undertaking shall be considered as pension and insurance funds, within the meaning of (c) of $3 of the Act No. 4030*, relating to the payment of workers and the wages of servants and employees, provided that the said funds are recognised in pursuance of the present Act.

Funds which are established and managed subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be considered as pension or insurance funds, within the meaning of (c) of the same Section of the Act mentioned in the preceding Section, provided that not less than two-thirds of the managing committee consist of the workers themselves.

PART III.-TRADE UNIONS [§§19-23].

19. Trade unions shall serve exclusively the purpose of studying, protecting and furthering the economic or trade interests of their members, and shall be composed of persons who, respective of sex, as a rule follow the same or an affiliated industrial, commercial, agricultural or other occupation.

The participation of employers and employees, or of owners and tenants,

in one and the same union shall be prohibited.

As agricultural workers shall be considered any persons who are in any way bound to a ground landlord, either by a labour contract or under conditions of serfdom. The ground landlord shall be considered the employer.

A worker who is a member of a workers' trade union shall legally cease to be a member of the said trade union as soon as he becomes an employer or enters upon a different occupation.

20. Trade unions shall not carry on any trade or industry. They may however :

(a) Enter upon any buying or other contract for the purpose of carrying on schools or educational workshops;

(b) Purchase raw materials, seeds, fertilisers, animals, machinery or other appliances or goods required for the exercise of their members' occupations, with a view to re-selling, letting or lending the same to the members;

(c) Purchase the goods produced by their members for the purpose of re-selling;

(d) Acquire real estate; exclusively, however, for the establishment of their offices, assembly and lecture halls, libraries, trade schools and, in general, for the carrying into effect of their aims, and after obtaining a special permit from the Ministry for Social Welfare;

(e) Conclude collective labour contracts with persons, corporate bodies, or with representatives of groups, fixing working conditions, i.e., as regards engagement, dismissal and leaving of workers, payment of wages, hours of work, etc.

* Act dated 24th January/6th February, 1912. Text E.B. VII., p. 290, No. 8.

One or more members, acting as representatives of the union and appointed for the purpose at a meeting of the members, shall conclude the contract.

No commissions or profits shall be accepted with respect to the business transactions set out under (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 of this Section. Trade unions shall also be prohibited from distributing among their members profits in any form in connection with the said business transactions.

In pursuance of the provisions of Act No. 2156 of 16th February/Ist March, 1893, relating to the protection of industrial and commercial trade marks, trade unions may also cause industrial and commercial trade marks to be registered for the personal use of their members. Such trade marks shall be the property of the unions, which, in pursuance of the rules, or of the special regulations of the particular union, may cede them to their members, but without thereby making any kind of profit.

Business undertaken by unions in accordance with this Section shall not be considered as being a commercial transaction. Separate accounts shall be kept with respect to such business.

Should a trade union establish a trade school or a training workshop, the Ministry for Social Welfare may grant an annual subsidy to the union for the purposes of the said school or workshop or appoint Greek or foreign instructors and shall enter the necessary credit in the special preliminary estimate of the Ministry.

Provident and pension funds, established by recognised trade unions and recognised federations of trade unions, shall be administered by a separate managing committee and shall constitute corporate bodies. In virtue of the rules, however, the said committee may be composed of the same persons as the managing committee of the trade union or of a federation of such unions. Unrecognised trade unions or unrecognised federations of trade unions shall not establish and maintain provident funds.

22. Recognised trade unions shall have the right :—

(a) To send to the Superior Labour Council the representatives designated in §3 (e) and (f) of Act No. 3932,* relating to the establishment of a Department for Labour and Social Questions ;

(b) To report to the competent authorities, through their legal representatives, those persons who contravene the labour laws, the Orders for the administration of the said laws and special regulations;

(c) To establish, subject to approval, employment bureaux, as well as bureaux for the giving of free medical and legal advice.

23. Employers, directors, agents or other employees of any undertaking shall be prohibited :

(a) From hindering workers, employees, or other salaried persons, in their work, by dismissal or the threat of dismissal, or from preventing the said persons by other inadmissible means from founding trade unions, joining such such unions or from becoming members of political parties;

(b) From compelling the said persons by the same means to refrain from founding trade unions or to become members of any particular association;

(c) From compelling workers by any means, when hiring their labour or prolonging their existing contract, to give a written undertaking that they will become members or cease to be members of such associations.

*Act of 12-25th November, 1911. Text E.B. VII., p. 280.

PART IV.-ASSOCIATIONS FOUNDED FOR OTHER PURPOSES [§§24-25].

PART V.-RECOGNITION, SUPERVISION, DISSOLUTION [§§26-38].

29. The supervision of associations shall consist exclusively in:(a) the application of the provisions of the present Act; (b) compliance with the rules of the association, and (c) the control of the management of the funds maintained by the association.

The competent Labour Inspection Department shall be charged with the supervision of workers' associations, mutual benefit societies and trade unions, the competent Prefecture with the supervision of other associations. In the absence of the labour inspector or labour overseer, the Prefect shall replace them in regard to the supervision of workers' associations.

The Ministry for National Economy shall act as the superior inspecting authority with respect to trade unions and mutual benefit societies, and, as regards other associations, the Ministry mainly concerned with the principal aim of the association in question.

An appeal may always be lodged with the competent Ministry, in its capacity as superior inspecting authority, against every action taken by the State officials designated in §2; the decision of the said Ministry shall be final. 31. The Courts may order the dissolution of an association :

(a) Should the said association not comply with the provisions of §§1, 2, 3 and 20, paragraphs 1 and 2 (d) ;

(b) Should the capital of the association be used for a purpose other than that fixed by its rules;

(c) Should the association deviate from the purposes with respect to which it was recognised;

(d) Should the association have remained so long inactive that, in the opinion of the Court, its aim may be considered as having been relinquished.

PART VI. PENAL REGULATIONS [$$39-42].

PART VII. SPECIAL REGULATIONS [$$43-49].

43. Two or more trade unions or associations, founded for different purposes, may combine or federate for the pursuit of their common interests, each, however, retaining entire economic and administrative independence.

Such federations may be recognised in pursuance of the provisions of the present Act; they shall, however, be bound to make known, in a suitable manner, the names of the members of the managing committee of each of the associations concerned.

With respect to the elections and decisions of such federations, each association shall dispose of a number of votes proportionate to the number of members who have fulfilled their obligations.

Recognised federations shall have the same rights and duties as those incumbent on individual associations in pursuance of the present Act.

48. Every three years the Minister of National Economy shall submit to the Chamber a report, accompanied by statistical tables, of the trade unions and mutual benefit societies established within the State.

PART VIII.-TEMPORARY AND FINAL REGULATIONS [$$50-56].

52. Every association which, upon the coming into force of the present Act, was already established both as a trade union and as a mutual benefit society, shall comply with the following regulations. Should the said association consist exclusively of either workers or employers, it may, within three

months from the coming into force of the present Act, by decision taken at a meeting of its members, arrived at by simple majority of the members present, specify the particular purpose it intends to pursue, or transform itself, in pursuance of §20 of the present Act, into a trade union which maintains a provident fund, by dividing its assets into two parts. Should such an association, however, consist both of workers and of employers, it may, after the coming into force of the present Act, only continue as a mutual benefit society, with the obligation of adapting its rules to the provisions of the present Act; in the contrary event, the provisions of §§37 and 49 of the present Act shall apply. Until the coming into force of the Act, however, a meeting of the members of such an association may determine its dissolution and the formation of two or several associations each consisting of those members who follow the same calling, and the division among the new associations of the joint capital of the original association. Such a meeting of members shall be invalid if the inspecting authority designated in §29, paragraph 2, of the present Act is not invited to attend; the said authority shall draw up a report of the meeting and give an opinion with respect to the questions which have been considered. In the event of a difference of opinion in regard to the division, the Provincial Court shall decide upon request and taking into consideration the report of the said authority.

This regulation shall also apply to any federation of such associations. 53. Until the promulgation of a special Act respecting co-operative societies recognised associations shall have the right, subject to a special permit from the competent Ministry, to enter into contracts in their own name with the State, the Demes or the Communes for the carrying out of works and the supply of goods.

55. The necessary regulations for the application of the present Act shall be issued by Royal Order.

56. The present Act shall come into force three months after its publication in the Government Gazette and §22 on 1st-14th January, 1915.

VI. Switzerland

Loi fédérale sur l'assurance militaire. Du 23 décembre, 1914. (Schweizerisches Bundesblatt 1915, I., 45.)

Federal Act respecting Military Insurance. (Dated 23rd December, 1914.)

(A.) GENERAL PROVISIONS.

I. The Confederation shall insure persons in military service against the consequences of sickness and accidents, in conformity with the following provisions.

If any person in military service has been called up for service, exclusively in the interest of a particular canton or locality, the Confederation shall be entitled to claim back the cost of the insurance from the said canton. The Federal Assembly shall decide in the highest instance upon all disputes arising with regard to such matters between the Confederation and the

cantons.

2. The following persons shall be insured against the consequences of sickness and accidents :

(1) Soldiers of all ranks while on service.

(2) Officers on special service with foreign armies.

(5) Divisional Controllers of arms and their substitutes and assistants, during the exercise of their military functions.

(6) Officials, guards and other permanent employees in fortifications. (7) Permanent employees and the auxiliary staff of the cavalry remount depot and of those connected with the horse department.

(8) Permanent attendants at the Federal military hospitals.

(9) The sanitary staff forming part of the Swiss Societies for assisting the wounded, duly organised and placed under the orders of the military authority, while on active service.

service.

(10) The members of the voluntary corps of motorists, while on

3. As regards the persons insured in virtue of §2, Sub-sections 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10, the insurance shall apply :

(1) To sickness and accidents happening during service or during the exercise of military functions;

(2) To sickness and accidents by which the insured persons are affected when going on duty or returning to their homes, provided that such going and returning takes place within a reasonable period;

(3) To sickness, resulting from injurious influences to which they were subjected during the above-mentioned period, provided that the said sickness has been verified by a duly qualified physician within three weeks. reckoned from the date on which the said period expired.

As regards the insured persons referred to in §2, Sub-section 3, the time comprised between the taking up of the command and the resignation of such command or the expiration of any other military function in connection with the said command, and, as regards the insured persons referred to in Subsections 4, 6, 7 and 8 of the said Section, the time comprised between the commencement and the termination of their engagement, shall be considered as the duration of service.

4. The following persons shall be insured against the consequences of accidents happening during the exercise of their functions:

(1) District commanders, sectional chiefs and other functionaries under command, during their service in connection with recruiting and the inspection of arms.

(2) Officers, instructors and gymnastic experts and secretaries attached by the Confederation to the recruiting operations.

(3) Experts charged with the valuation of horses.

(4) Officers giving shooting instruction and the members of the shooting committees.

(5) Officers' servants.

(6) The assistant staff, whose task it is to attend to the targets and other appliances used in the instruction.

(7) Persons engaged by a corps of troops on behalf of the Confederation. 5. The following persons shall be insured against the consequences of accidents happening during their period of office :

(1) The military members of rifle clubs;

(2) Persons taking part in preparatory military instruction;

(3) Persons employed as markers in connection with rifle clubs and

preparatory military instruction;

(4) Young persons called up for examination as recruits, during such examination.