Pfaus tilted his head to blow cigar smoke towards the ceiling and smiled. Swallow saw something between smugness and pride in his host’s expression.

‘Ah, yes. It is a very advanced measure, one of many that reflect the personal thinking of Chancellor Prince Von Bismarck. He devised this particular piece of legislation himself for Prussia, and now it applies across the empire. Essentially, it means that if anyone is injured in the course of their employment, and if it can be shown that this is due to some neglect or failure to provide safe conditions, then the employer is obliged to compensate them.’

‘Are there many cases in which this has happened?’ Swallow asked.

Pfaus rapped on the table to emphasise his point.

‘That is the very success of the measure. Because employers know that they can face financial penalties, factories and other places of employment are now much safer. The numbers of accidents have come down, even in dangerous work like mining and heavy industry. It means work for the city police forces, of course: they have to inspect factories and other premises to ensure that there are safety measure in place.’

He threw back the last of his peach brandy. Swallow did likewise. He was grateful that Pfaus did not offer a refill.

‘In fact,’ Pfaus said, ‘I read in the newspaper recently that the increases in our industrial output have more than met the additional costs of policing and inspection. So the exchequer and the empire are actually better off as a result.’

He blew more smoke to the ceiling and smiled again. Definitely smugness this time, Swallow reckoned.

‘I understand the concept may be difficult for you to grasp, Joseph. Industry in England does not think progressively as it does here.’

Swallow resisted the temptation of yet again explaining that Ireland was not England. But it would have been beside the point. No such provisions had even been thought of in Ireland or England, as far as he knew.

‘Perhaps you are right, Johann. But what I’m interested to know is if this compensation scheme would apply to someone who is injured while working in a restaurant?’

‘Of course. One or two of the earliest cases involved accidents in hotels and restaurants here in Berlin. A kitchen worker lost an arm in a machine used for grinding meat at one of Berlin’s finest hotels. There should have been a protective shield, but it had been removed for some reason. He was unable to work again. So the hotel had to pay his medical costs and give him a lot of money. I think it was the equivalent of a year’s wages.’