a pension up to sixteen years. This pension will be equal to 10 per cent of the annual wages of the victim, but in no case can it exceed 30 per cent. These pensions (c) can be reduced proportionally, according to circumstances.

The pensions allowed in virtue of the present law are payable quarterly, and can not be transferred, nor are they subject to seizure.

Foreign workmen, victims of accidents in France, who cease to reside in French territory will receive as total indemnity an amount equal to three years' pension; members of their families not resident in French territory at the time of the accidents will receive no indemnity.

Employers are also held responsible for medical, pharmaceutical, and funeral expenses. The maximum funeral expenses can not exceed 100 francs ($19.30).

Employers can relieve themselves, during the thirty, sixty, or ninety days following accidents, of the obligations of paying to the victims the expenses of the accidents and the temporary indemnities or parts only of these indemnities, as specified herewith following, if they can show

(a) That their workmen have joined a mutual aid society and they (the employers) have paid their share of the subscriptions to such society by mutual agreement; but such share shall never be less than one-third the total subscriptions.

(b) That such society assure its members, in case of accidents, during thirty, sixty, or ninety days, medical care and daily indemnity. If such indemnity is less than one-half the daily wages of the injured, the employers must make good the difference.

Full pensions and indemnities are allowed on wages amounting to 2,400 francs ($463.20) per annum; on all wages above that sum, pensions and indemnities are calculated at the rate of one-fourth the regular allowances.

Workingmen and employees can not, by reason of accidents of which they are the victims in their work, invoke any other provisions than those of this law.

Independently of the action resulting from the present law, the victim, or his or her family, possesses the right to claim damages for the injuries caused by the authors of the accident other than employer or his workmen, according to the rules of common law. The indemnity allowed in such case will exonerate in the same proportion the employer from the obligation imposed upon him by the accident. This action against a third party (responsible for the accident) can be exercised by the employer at his own risk, should the family of the victim fail to prosecute.

At the time of the definite settlement of the life pension, the victim can ask that one-fourth of the capital necessary to establish such life pension (calculated according to the tariffs made out for victims of accidents in the reserve fund for old age) be paid to him in money. He can also ask that his capital, less the one-fourth just mentioned, shall constitute a life pension for him, revertible as to one-half at most to his widow. The court in council chamber will decide these questions.

The remaining provisions of the law relate to declarations of accidents and inquiries thereinto, competence, jurisdiction, procedure, revision, guaranties as to expenses incurred, etc.

In transmitting the text and translation of the foregoing law, Consul Brunot says:

I must state that the law has provoked a great outcry in the public press, while the heads of small industries assert that if it is enforced they will have to throw up their business altogether.

The workmen are, naturally enough, well pleased at the guaranties given them in this law; but it is feared that the result will

not be entirely to their benefit, as employers will, in order to minimize their risks, refuse, as much as possible, to employ married men, especially those with children, and will also give preference, especially in the border districts, to foreign workmen.

These and other considerations have agitated public opinion, and this agitation found an echo a few days ago in the Parliament, where the question was warmly debated by the deputies, some of whom denounced the law in strong terms, while others asked the Government to postpone the application of the law until the beginning of the next year. The Government refused to postpone, but promised to appoint a committee to examine the law and report upon such modifications as might be considered necessary.

FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN.

Consul-General Gowey sends the following, dated Yokohama, June 15, 1899:

I give below a statement showing the number of foreigners resident in Japan in March, 1899, as compared with the year 1891. I am assured of the official character and correctness of these figures. The returns for 1899 were compiled by the Foreign Office, and those for 1891 are taken from publications of the cabinet of the Japanese Government.

Under date of May 11, 1899, the consul-general transmitted the following figures as to the number of foreigners resident in Tokyo:

TRADE OF HONGKONG IN 1898.

As Hongkong has no custom-house, the only official source of information concerning imports and exports is the annual report of the harbor master. His report for the year ending December 31, 1898, has just been published, and it contains many items of interest to American exporters and shipowners who are interested in the commerce of southern China and the Philippines. It will also be interesting to note the increase of American shipping in this port in 1898 over 1897. This has all taken place since August, within a period of four months. The increase for 1899 will be fully double that of 1898, because of the large number of ships plying between Manila and Hongkong that have gone under the American flag, and because of the greater consumption of American goods in Manila.

The total tonnage entering and clearing this port for the year 1898 amounted to 17,265,780 tons, an increase compared with 1897 of 1,327,606 tons. There arrived 39,815 vessels, aggregating 8,648,274 tons. Eleven steamers flying the American flag entered during 1898, as against 4 in 1897. Thirty-two sailing vessels came in under the American flag, as against 30 in 1897; America standing second to Great Britain, with 36 under the British flag.

The year 1898 was marked by heavy trade in rice and coal, and the introduction of oil from Langkat, Sumatra. The demand for rice was largely from Japan, and that for coal was a result of the late war with Spain and the centering of so many foreign fleets in this

The American kerosene-oil trade remained practically the same as in 1897. American flour shows a considerable increase in spite of the fact that from April to August the Manila market was practically closed to it. Hongkong imported from the United States 270,204 tons of cargo, as against 278,711 tons from the continent of

Europe and 416,377 tons from Great Britain. The imports from the Philippine Islands amounted to 169,526 tons. The exports

from Hongkong to the United States amounted to 148,525 tons and to the Philippine Islands to 152,395 tons, leaving a balance of trade heavily in our favor. Among the imports in which the United States is interested are 103,544 tons of flour, 36,611 tons of cotton and cotton yarn, 55, 160 tons of hemp, 67,362 tons of kerosene in bulk, and 59,115 tons of kerosene in case, all of which items except kerosene show an increase over 1897. There arrived during 1898, on vessels of all classes, 3,290,902 passengers. The total revenue of the har

bor department, which is made up of light dues, licenses, and internal revenue and court and office fees, amounted to $183,628.01. These figures in some measure show Hongkong's importance in the shipping world. The peculiarity of the Hongkong trade is that the consumption of imports on the island itself is so small, as compared with the bulk of the trade, that it can be stated that almost all imports are again exported. Hongkong has often been called a vast bonded warehouse and clearing house for southern China and the surrounding countries.

HONGKONG, May 17, 1899.

ROUNSEVELLE WILDMAN,

Consul-General.

NOTES.

Licenses for Commercial Travelers in Russia.-Consul Marshal Halstead, of Birmingham, on July 11, 1899, writes:

The London correspondent of the Birmingham Post sends the following information concerning the new regulations for commercial travelers in Russia:

The Board of Trade have received from the Foreign Office the following translation of an explanatory notice relative to the provisions of the new Russian regulations respecting commercial travelers and their licenses, which has just been issued by the Russian Government. By article 59 of the law of the 8th of June, 1898, which imposes the industrial tax, the right of employing commercial travelers is confined to commercial firms which have paid the tax in question under class I and to industrial enterprises which have paid the said tax under the first three clauses. This provision applies equally to commercial firms and to industrial enterprises which may or may not possess businesses of the same kind in Russia. The tax under class I amounts to 500 rubles ($257) in the case of commercial firms and to 500, 1,000, and 1,500 rubles ($257, $515, and $772) in that of industrial enterprises. Moreover, every commercial traveler must pay a personal tax of 50 rubles ($25.75) annually. Industrial enterprises which have no business of the same kind in Russia, but which carry on a wholesale trade in the Empire through their commercial travelers, are placed on the same footing as commercial enterprises, and consequently pay a tax of 500 rubles, instead of that of 500 to 1,500 rubles imposed in the case of industrial enterprises. In view of the fact that the industrial tax is raised by the issue of industrial licenses, commercial travelers who wish to provide themselves with personal licenses must present for inspection either the original or a duly attested copy of the licenses issued to their employers. Commercial travelers in the employment of commercial firms or of industrial enterprises which are not provided with licenses according to the regulations, will not be permitted to carry on business until their employers have taken out the licenses in question, either on personal application or through their commercial travelers. Commercial firms or industrial enterprises provided with licenses according to the regulations may have an unlimited number of commercial travelers in their employment, on condition that each of these commercial travelers shall take out annually a personal industrial license of 50 rubles ($25.75).

Leather Industry in Russia.-Consul-General Holloway sends. the following from St. Petersburg, June 9, 1899:

For the purpose of encouraging the leather industry in Russia, the Government has decided to place the quebracho tree-found in Chile and Mexico-on the free list.

The principal material for tanning in Russia is willow bark, which is collected in the early spring by the peasants before field labor