The New French Social Insurance Law

Properly to appraise and understand any great social legislation one should be familiar both with the historical background of local institutions and customs and the circumstances immediately attending its passage. This is true even though one is interested mainly or solely in the administrative and technical aspects, for in the absence of abuses causing revolutionary protest it is always easier to secure passage of legislation in harmony with existing customs, traditions, and institutions. There is a tendency to make great concessions in this regard even at the expense of much greater technical difficulty after the legislation comes into effect. The English national insurance act utilizing the existing Friendly Societies as the carriers of the compulsory sickness insurance is a case in point, and as appears below the French Act shows similar tendencies, The peculiar immediate circumstances leading to the enactment of the legislation are, of course, the forces which gave it its final impetus and serve to fix the objectives.