1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Labour Legislation

LABOUR LEGISLATION (see ).—The decade 1910–20 was very productive of labour legislation, partly the natural outcome of years of agitation and the growing political power of Labour, and partly the result of the strong economic position in which Labour found itself as a result of the World War and the change of spirit which developed during it. While important progress has been made in connexion with the regulation of the conditions of employment of women, young persons and children, labour legislation has also advanced largely in new directions, such as the limitation of the hours of employment of all classes of workpeople, the fixing of minimum rates of wages for badly paid industries, and the development of social measures such as insurance against sickness, accident or unemployment. One of the most interesting developments, and one which may have far-reaching results, has been the movement towards international labour legislation.

The tendency towards uniformity in industrial conditions in the principal countries, and the world-wide increased economic and political power of the working-classes, had already resulted in a series of industrial laws in the various countries, very broadly on uniform lines. It would appear that Switzerland, in 1876, was the first country to invoke the aid of European diplomacy with a view to international labour legislation. Following on conferences in regard to international labour legislation held at Berlin in 1890, at Zürich in 1897, and at Paris in 1900, there was established in 1901 the International Association for Labour Legislation. By the international treaties of Berne of 1906, the use of white phosphorus in the match industry was forbidden in the interests of the health of the workers, and a night rest of 11 hours secured for female industrial workers.

A development in this direction, so great as to constitute a new era, came with the labour provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. These, together with the subsequent history of the International Labour Office set up under the treaty, are dealt with in the article on.

A series of Acts extending over more than a century had prescribed in the United Kingdom a detailed code for the protection of workers in factories, mines and shops, and especially for the protection of women, young persons and children. Labour legislation was tending strongly in new directions before the World War. Except for war purposes it was temporarily interrupted, but the importance which labour legislation had reached is indicated by the establishment of a separate Ministry of Labour (see ) by the New Ministries and Secretaries Act, 1916.

Before proceeding to a more detailed statement of the various Acts concerning labour that were placed on the statute book between 1910 and 1921, reference may be made to the point emphasized by Prof. Tillyard, that legislation in England is so usually associated with Parliament and with Parliament alone, that it may not be generally realized that, taking into consideration quantity only and disregarding importance, probably the larger part of existing enactments regarding labour have not been directly passed by Parliament but are the creation of inferior bodies to whom law-making powers have been delegated. The reason is that industrial legislation in many cases can hope to be successful only on condition that complicated details are patiently investigated and interested persons listened to. Parliament has of late years become more and more content to

settle principles, and to leave detailed decisions and the working- out of extensions to other bodies, reserving to itself a varying amount of ultimate control. This legislation by inferior law-making bodies takes several forms:

(a) Provisional Orders, made by Government departments and having the force of law provided they are expressly sanctioned by Parliament, e.g. under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906;

(b) Statutory Orders, made by Government departments and requiring to be laid before Parliament for varying periods, but taking effect unless Parliament actively intervenes, e.g. under the Factory Acts;

(c) Determinations such as those under the Trade Boards Acts dealing with wages to be paid in specified trades;

(d) Legislation by local by-laws made by local authorities in exercise of the permissive powers bestowed by Act of Parliament.

Women and Children.&mdash;As regards recent legislation on the subject of the employment of women, young persons and children, it is to be observed that important measures regarding the employment of children were embodied in the Education Act, 1918, which consolidated and amended the various Acts relating to the national system of public education. But, owing to financial exigencies, the operation of several provisions of this Act was postponed in 1920–1.

Under the Act, subject to specified exceptions, no exemption from school attendance may be granted to any child between the ages of 5 and 14 years, and 15 years is substituted for 14 years as the normal elementary school-leaving age. Subject to certain conditions, all young persons are required to attend continuation schools for a specified number of hours in each year, at such times or on such days as the local education authority may require; and the local education authority may require, in the case of young persons who are under an obligation to attend a continuation school, that their employment shall be suspended on any day when their school attendance is required. The Employment of Children Act, 1903, is also amended so that a child under the age of 12 may not be employed, and a child of the age of 12 or upwards may not be employed on any Sunday for more than 2 hours, or on any day on which such child is required to attend school before the close of school hours on that day, nor on any day before 6 o'clock in the morning or after 8 o'clock in the evening. By a further amendment of the Act of 1903, the employment of children in street trading is prohibited, and certain amendments are made to the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904, in so far as that Act deals with the employment of children for the purpose of singing, playing or performing, or being exhibited for profit or offering anything for sale. The local education authority may further, if they are satisfied by a report of the school medical officer or otherwise, that any child is being employed in such a manner as to be prejudicial to his health or development or as to render him unfit to obtain the proper benefit from his education, either prohibit or attach such conditions as they think fit to his employment. No child (which expression is defined to mean any child up to the age when his parents cease to be under an obligation to cause him to receive efficient elementary instruction or to attend school under the enactments relating to elementary education and the by-laws made thereunder) may be employed in any factory or workshop to which the Factory and Workshop Acts, 1901 to 1911, apply: or in any mine to which the Coal Mines Act, 1911, applies: or in any mine or quarry to which the Metalliferous Mines Acts, 1872 and 1875, apply: unless lawfully so employed when the Education Act becomes operative. The Education (Scotland) Act, 1918, is broadly on the same lines, although it differs in details.

A further important step was taken by the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act, 1920.

Its main purpose was to give legislative ratification in the United Kingdom (a) to three draft conventions adopted at Washington by the first session of the General Conference of the International Labour Organization of the League of Nations, fixing 14 as the minimum age for the admission of children to industrial employment, and prohibiting, with certain exceptions, night-work in industrial undertakings by young persons under the age of 18 and by all women without distinction of age, and (b) to the draft convention fixing the minimum age for the admission of children to employment at sea, adopted at Genoa by the second session of the General Conference. The Act also contains a section permitting double shifts (averaging each not more than 8 hours per day) for women and young persons between the hours of 6 A.M. and 10 P.M., subject to any conditions which the Secretary of State may prescribe. The object of this section was to continue the powers of the Home Secretary in this respect which, in the emergency of the war, he had exercised under section 150 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, as extended by Defence of the Realm Regulation No. 6, A. The provisions of the clause aroused considerable opposition, and, during the progress of the bill through Parliament, a departmental committee was appointed to inquire into the whole question of allowing women and young persons to be employed on the system of two-day shifts. The

committee decided generally that the Home Office should retain its existing power of deciding in which cases the adoption of the system should be allowed, and that for this purpose the adoption of the system in any works should be dependent upon the issue of a Home Office Order and subject to such conditions to secure the welfare of the workers as might be attached by the Home Office. The relevant section of the Act also provides that the Secretary of State may not make an order in any industry if objection is jointly made by organizations representing the majority of employers and workers in the industry; the section and orders made thereunder are to remain in force for a period of five years and no longer.

The Women and Young Persons (Employment in Lead Processes) Act, 1920, prohibited the employment of women and young persons in certain processes connected with lead manufacture, and regulated their employment in certain processes involving the use of lead compounds in accordance with the recommendation of the Washington Conference concerning lead-poisoning.

Hours.&mdash;In addition to the above special measures concerning the employment of women, young persons and children, a bill was introduced in 1921 by the Minister of Labour, providing, subject to certain necessary exceptions and conditions, for the establishment of a maximum working week of 48 hours. A measure for this purpose was recommended by the provisional joint committee appointed by a National Industrial Conference of employers and workpeople held in Feb. 1919, to consider means for removing the existing labour unrest, and by the Washington General Conference. The terms of the bill were still under discussion in 1921. Hours of employment in the coal-mining industry and in shops have been regulated by special measures. (See .)

Coal-Mines.&mdash;The coal-mining industry has been the subject of a number of special laws, which may be accounted for by the vital position which the industry holds in the economic life of the community, the strong organization of the workers, and the exceptional conditions under which the work has to be carried on. The Coal Mines Act, 1911, amended slightly by the Coal Mines Act, 1914, consolidated the existing law relative to coal-mines. The Act deals with management (certificates of competency, etc.); provisions as to safety, health, accidents; employment of boys, girls and women; prohibition of payment of wages in licensed premises and provision as to weekly payment of wages; inspectors, etc. It did not, however, amend the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908, relating to the 8-hour day, nor such part of existing legislation as related to checkweighing. In 1912 the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act was passed to terminate a general strike of coal-miners and provided that certain district minimum rates, fixed by district boards under the Act, should form part of the terms of contract of every person employed underground in a coal-mine.

During the World War the Government assumed control of the coal-mines. Early in 1919 the Coal Industry Commission Act was passed, in connexion with a threatened general strike of coal-miners, to enable the Government to set up a commission to inquire into the condition of the industry. In accordance with an interim report of this commission, the Coal Mines Act, 1919, was passed, providing for a reduction, as from July 16 1919, of the hours of labour of coal-mine workers below ground from 8 to 7 per day, and making provision, contingent upon the condition of the industry, for a further reduction in 1921.

The Mining Industry Act, 1920, established the Mines Department of the Board of Trade for the exercise of the powers of that department and also of the transferred powers of the Secretary of State relating to mines and quarries.

This Act authorized the Board of Trade, for a period of one year from Aug. 31 1920, to issue directions regulating the export of coal and the supply of coal for the bunkering of vessels, and regulating the pithead price to be charged for coal sold for consumption in the British Isles and for the bunkering of vessels other than vessels proceeding to ports outside the British Isles. While any such directions are operative, the Board of Trade can also give directions as to the wages to be paid to workers in coal-mines and to regulate the distribution of profits on principles similar to those shown in the Coal Mines (Emergency) Act, 1920, so as to secure as far as practicable an equitable distribution as between the different collieries.

The Act further provides for the constitution of (a) Pit Committees for each coal-mine where a resolution in favour thereof is passed by the majority of the workers employed in or about the mine; (b) District Committees; (c) Area Boards, and (d) a National Board. Pit

committees consist of representatives, not exceeding 10 in number, of the owners and management of the mine and the workers employed in or about the mine, selected by ballot. The functions of a pit committee are to discuss and make recommendations with respect to (a) the safety, health and welfare of the workers in connexion with their work in the mine; (b) the maintenance and increase of output; (c) reports made on an inspection under section 16 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, which reports shall be referred to the committee by the manager; (d) disputes arising in connexion with the mine, including disputes as to wages; and (e) any other questions and matters relative to the mine which may be prescribed by the regulations to be drawn up by the Board of Trade. Any matters which cannot be satisfactorily disposed of by a pit committee are to be referred to the appropriate district committee, or, in the case of questions to which the Coal Mines Act (1911) applies, to the inspector of the division. To enable a pit committee to exercise its functions on the first two points indicated above, it is required that the committee should be furnished by the manager of the mine with such relevant information as may be necessary for its purpose and may appoint members to make periodical inspections of the mine.

The district committees and the area boards, which likewise consist of representatives of the owners and the management and an equal number of representatives of the workers, consider questions of a similar nature; a district committee is also required to consider any matter referred to them by a pit committee or by the area board or the Board of Trade, and the area board is required to consider any questions which may be referred to it by a district committee or by the national board or the Board of Trade. An area board is in addition required to formulate, at such intervals and on such principles as may be prescribed by the national board, schemes for adjusting the remuneration of the workers within the area; the Board of Trade may by regulation provide for district committees or area boards determining any question and exercising any powers which, before the passing of this Act, were determined or exercised by a conciliation board or by a joint district board constituted under the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, 1912.

The national board, which is equally representative of owners and workpeople, is required to take into consideration questions, including wages questions, affecting the coal-mining industry as a whole, any questions which may be referred to them by an area board, and any questions which may be referred to them by the Board of Trade. The national board is also to determine, subject to the approval of the Board of Trade, the principles on which schemes by area boards for adjusting the remuneration of workers are to be framed. Where any recommendation made by a district committee or area board or by the national board, or any scheme made by an area board and approved by the national board, has been forwarded or referred to the Board of Trade, the Board of Trade may give directions requiring any person engaged in the coal-mining industry to comply therewith.

A further provision of the Act requires the constitution of a fund to be applied to such purposes connected with the social well-being, recreation and conditions of living of workers in or about coal-mines, and with mining education and research, as the Board of Trade, after consultation with any Government department concerned, may approve; and the owners of every coal-mine are required for a period of six years to pay a sum equal to 1d. a ton of the output of the mine for the creation of such a fund.

Shops.&mdash;Further legislation has been enacted in regard to employment in shops. The Shops Regulation Acts, 1892–1911, were consolidated by the Shops Act, 1912, which contains various provisions for protecting shop assistants.

The Act requires inter alia that, on at least one weekday in each week, a shop assistant may not be employed about the business of the shop after 1:30 P.M.; it contains requirements as to intervals for meals, and further requires that no person under the age of 18 years is to be employed in or about a shop for a longer period than 74 hours (including meal times) in any one week. Besides these provisions, the Act contains provisions under which every shop, save for exceptions allowed by the Act, must be closed for the serving of customers not later than 1 P.M. on one weekday in every week; closing orders may also be made fixing the hours on the several days of the week at which, either throughout the area of a local authority or in any specified part thereof, all shops or shops of any specified class are to be closed for the serving of customers, but the hours fixed by the closing order may not be earlier than 7 P.M. on any day.

The Shops Act, 1913, amended the Act of 1912 in its application to premises for the sale of refreshments. The Shops (Early Closing) Act, 1920, continues Regulation 10 B. of the Defence of the Realm Regulations, as amended, and requires that, subject to certain specified exceptions, every shop shall be closed for the serving of customers not later than 8 o'clock in the evening on every day other than Saturday and not later than 9 o'clock in the evening on Saturday.

Minimum Wage.&mdash;One of the most important developments

of labour legislation in recent years has been minimum-wage legislation. Minimum-wage boards had been in existence for some time in Australasia before they were tentatively introduced into the United Kingdom by the Trade Boards Act, 1909, followed by the Trade Boards Act, 1918 (see ). The latter empowers the Minister of Labour to extend by Special Order the provisions of the Trade Boards Act, 1909, to other trades, and under its provision trade boards have now been set up in a large number of trades. The Corn Production Act, 1917, extended similar legislation to agriculture. A rather different kind of minimum-wage legislation was that embodied in the Coal Mines (Minimum Wage) Act, 1912, which was passed to terminate a general strike of coal-miners in respect of their claims for &ldquo;individual district minimum rates.&rdquo; The method of administration of the Act is different from that of the Trade Boards Acts: no inspectorate was appointed, the payment of the minimum rate being part of the workman's contract of service and enforceable in an ordinary court of law.

The Munitions of War Acts, 1915–7, contained provisions which enabled minimum rates of wages to be fixed. These were repealed, however, by the Wages (Temporary Regulation) Act, 1918, the purpose of which was to secure that the standard district rates existing at the date of the Armistice should be continued during the transition period when industry was changing from war to peace conditions. It was extended to Nov. 21 1919 by the Wages (Temporary Regulation) Extension Act, 1919, and the principle of the Acts was continued up to Sept. 30 1920 by the Industrial Courts Act, 1920. In connexion with this subject it should be recorded that the Industrial Conference of 1919 recommended the enforcement by legal enactment of minimum time rates of wages to be of universal applicability.

Old Age and Sickness.&mdash;For an account of the recent considerable developments in the United Kingdom in connexion with unemployment insurance, see. Legislation of widespread social importance has been undertaken in a series of measures designed to relieve distress arising from old age or sickness. The Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, under which, subject to certain conditions as to means of support, etc., a pension at the rate of 5s. per week became payable to persons who had attained the age of 70, was preliminary to the National Health Insurance Act of 1911, which instituted, with certain specified exceptions, a universal scheme of compulsory insurance against sickness. Contributions are payable by the insured person and by the employer, and, in return the insured person receives certain benefits. These benefits in the main are:&mdash;

(1) Sickness benefit, i.e. a periodical money payment to the insured person while rendered incapable of work by some specified disease, either bodily or mental;

(2) Disablement benefit, i.e. a periodical payment after the right to sickness benefit has been exhausted, and continuing so long as the incapacity continues;

(3) Maternity benefit, being a lump-sum payment in the case of the confinement of an insured woman, or the wife or widow of an insured man;

(4) Medical benefit, being medical treatment and attendance and the provision of medicine and of prescribed medical and surgical appliances; and

(5) Sanatorium benefit, being the treatment of persons suffering from tuberculosis or any other disease specified by the Ministry of Health.

Sickness and disablement benefits cease when the insured person reaches the age of seventy. The Act is administered largely through approved societies, these being principally friendly societies, trade unions, and industrial insurance societies.

The Old Age Pensions Act was amended in certain respects in 1911 and the National Insurance Act in 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, and 1918. As a result of the war, certain other amendments became necessary in order to bring the rates of money contributions and benefits into closer relationship with the lessened value of money and the higher cost of living. During the latter part of the war, additional allowances were paid in view of the increased cost of living: the Old Age Pensions Act, 1919, increased the weekly sum to 10s. per week and made various other amendments to earlier Acts.

It may also be noted that the Blind Persons Act, 1920, provides

that every blind person who has attained the age of 50 shall be entitled to such pension as, under the Old Age Pensions Acts, 1908–19, he would be entitled to receive if he had attained the age of 70. In the case of the health insurance scheme, the National Health Insurance Act, 1919, increased from £160 to £250 per annum the rate of remuneration for the purpose of exemption from insurance; and the National Health Insurance Act, 1920, amended the scales of weekly contributions and benefits.

Workmen's Compensation..&mdash;Reference may also be made to the Acts dealing with compensation to workpeople in the event of accidents which occur notwithstanding the preventive measures required by the Factory and Workshops Acts, Coal Mines Regulation Acts, Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, Merchant Shipping Acts and kindred legislation.

Originally, under the common law of England, all workmen suffering injury, as the result of the negligence or wilful act or omission of an employer, might sue for damages. Lord Campbell's Act of 1846 introduced an improvement whereby, if the injury resulted in death, relatives of a specified relationship might bring an action; previously the right to bring an action had been deemed to die with the injured person. The Employers' Liability Act of 1880 introduced further changes, as also did the Workmen's Compensation Acts of 1897 and 1900, which were repealed by the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1906 under which any injured workman (or his relatives in case of death) can recover compensation from the employer, if the accident arises out of and in the course of his employment. The employer cannot protect himself by proving either contributory negligence or common employment. The amount of compensation is limited to £300 in case of death and £1 per week in case of injury.

Amendments in details were made by Acts of 1918, and as a result of the fall in the value of money brought about by the war, the Workmen's Compensation (War Addition) Act, 1917, increased the compensation payable in the event of total incapacity by 25% and the Workmen's Compensation (War Addition) Amendment Act, 1919, again increased it by 50%, making the maximum allowance 35s.

Another step necessitated by the war was the Disabled Men (Facilities for Employment) Act, 1919, which enables arrangements to be made to relieve or indemnify an employer in respect of the whole or part of any increase of expenditure arising from his liability to pay compensation in respect of accidents or industrial disease, where such increase is attributable to the employment of men disabled in the war. It may further be noted that a committee appointed by the Home Secretary presented a report in July 1920, recommending various modifications of the present system and a considerable widening of the scope of the 1906 Act.

Trade Unions.&mdash;Recent years have witnessed in the United Kingdom a remarkable growth in the trade-union movement, and also some changes in the legal status of trade unions. Thus, following on the Trade Disputes Act of 1906, the Trade Union Act, 1913, made provisions relative to the application of trade union funds for political purposes, and the Trade Union Amalgamation Act, 1917, amended the Act of 1876 in respect to the amalgamation of trade unions. The growth of the unions has been followed by legislation to meet emergencies in strikes.

War Measures.&mdash;Reference has been made to some of the special measures necessitated by the World War; these include legislation directly for war purposes, such as the Munitions of War Acts, designed to increase the output of munitions; Defence

of the Realm Regulations, such as those concerning incitement to strike; employment of women under the two-shift system, and the closing hours of shops. The war also indirectly necessitated, through the change in the value of money, amendments to the Insurance Acts, Old Age Pensions Act, and Workmen's Compensation Acts.

A war measure to which attention may specially be called is the Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act, 1919. In connexion with the steps taken at the beginning of 1915 to increase the output of munitions, the Government held conferences with representatives of a large number of trade unions and came to an understanding known as the &ldquo;Treasury Agreement,&rdquo; whereby the unions agreed to relax such trade practices as tended to restrict output of munitions or equipment, on condition that their position in regard to such practices after the war should not be prejudiced by relaxation during the war. Certain provisions in this respect were embodied in the Munitions of War Act, 1915. The Restoration of Pre-War Practices Act, passed in Aug. 1919 (which applied only to establishments in which munitions work was carried on during the war, and to other establishments in which a departure from practice was made in consequence of the Treasury Agreement or in pursuance of some other agreement in writing), provided that the owner of the establishment should be under obligation from Oct. 1919 to restore the trade practice previously obtaining, and to maintain the practice for 12 months. Failure to comply with the obligation rendered him liable to prosecution before a munitions tribunal. In nearly every case the practices were restored where the workpeople so desired.

Eight-hour Day.&mdash;The movement for reduced hours of labour which set in after the signing of the Armistice was world-wide, and, either by way of legislation or by agreement between the representatives of employers and workpeople, the length of the working day formerly in operation has been curtailed in many countries.

Hours of Women and Children.&mdash;A great deal was done, in various countries, to improve conditions under this heading during 1910–20 (see also ).

Minimum Wage.&mdash;An important development in recent labour legislation outside England has been that for the fixing of statutorily enforceable minimum rates of wages, in certain cases for home-workers only.

Unemployment Insurance.&mdash;Before the World War, little had been done outside England in the way of the compulsory insurance of the working-classes against unemployment. Schemes have for some time been established in a number of European countries whereby voluntary funds managed by trade unions and other societies, and compulsory or voluntary municipal funds providing unemployment benefit, receive subsidies from

the State, provincial council, or municipality. Unemployment resulting from strikes and lockouts, and also from sickness and accident where the provision exists, is excluded. As a rule, the receipt of benefit is further dependent upon a qualifying term of membership and of local residence. A maximum duration of benefit is invariably fixed, and it is usual to impose a short &ldquo;waiting time&rdquo; during which no benefit can be obtained. Subsidized schemes of unemployment benefit are usually worked in conjunction with labour registries.

Old Age and Infirmity Insurance.&mdash;Compulsory insurance of the working-classes against old age and infirmity has existed in some countries for a number of years, e.g. Germany since 1889,

France since 1910, etc. Certain other countries have also for some time applied this principle to special classes, as, for example, Austria, Hungary and Belgium to miners; while State or other public subsidies have been granted in aid of voluntary insurance or savings it, France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Spain. The more recent developments have been as follows:&mdash;

Sickness and Accident Insurance.&mdash;Compulsory insurance against sickness and accident has been applied in a number of countries, for example in Germany (1883), Austria (1888), Hungary (1891), United Kingdom (1911), etc., but the range of occupations covered by the various schemes varies considerably. In a number of other countries (e.g. Sweden) the sick funds recognized by the State receive State subsidies. The principal developments in recent years are as follows:&mdash;

Workmen's Compensation.&mdash;Compensation for industrial accidents was established in Germany in 1884, in Austria in 1887, and Norway followed in 1894. The development of legislation providing for workmen's compensation for industrial accidents in Europe and throughout the world has been extremely rapid. Recent legislation (whether of compensation or insurance) recognizes the principles of compensation as distinguished from fhe older idea of employers' liability.

For in labour disputes, see the article under that heading.

During the decade 1910–20 there was a remarkable development of labour legislation in the United States. Within these years were enacted, by the Federal and state Governments, statutes dealing with workmen's compensation, minimum wage, health and safety, hours of labour, vocational education and employment service. Even more significant was the creation by several states of industrial commissions with power to issue rules and regulations having the force of law and thus relieving the Legislature of a mass of technical details. It was a period also of distinct forward movement in the field of judicial interpretation, particularly with regard to the police power in the application of the principles of &ldquo;public benefit&rdquo; and &ldquo;equal protection of the laws&rdquo; as first stated in the case of Holden v. Hardy (18 Sup. Ct. 383, 1898).

Individual Bargaining.&mdash;Since the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, there has been a steady development of laws designed to equalize bargaining power between employer and employee. Laws dealing with labour as debtor and as creditor have included such subjects as contract labour, the padrone system, wage exemptions, assignment of wages, time of payment, place of payment, basis of payment, medium of payment, deductions, mechanics' liens and wage preference.

Collective Bargaining.&mdash;Though the right of workmen to combine was secured in the United States by common consent and favourable construction without legislation earlier than by law in Great Britain, the conspiracy law has remained without being clarified. When the Sherman Anti-Trust Law was enacted in 1890 it was almost immediately held applicable to labour unions, and it was feared that it rendered all strikes, if not all labour organizations, unlawful. The Clayton Act (1914), however, declared that the anti-trust laws should not be construed to forbid the existence of labour organizations or to restrain their members from carrying out the &ldquo;legitimate objects&rdquo; thereof. This provision has probably eliminated the danger of the extension of the restraint-of-trade doctrine to a possible outlawing of all labour organizations, though the decision by the Supreme Court in the Duplex case (The Duplex Printing Press Co. of Battle Creek, Mich., v. International Association of Machinists, 41 Sup. Ct., 172) has demonstrated that labour organizations in their actual practices are still within the anti-trust laws.

Minimum Wage.&mdash;The first minimum-wage law for women and children was passed by Massachusetts in 1912. By 1920, 13 states and Porto Rico had followed this example, and Congress had legislated for the District of Columbia. Constitutional amendments specifically allowing minimum-wage legislation were passed by California in 1914 for women and children, and by Ohio in 1912 for all classes of workers. In general the laws are very much restricted in scope and are regarded as a remedy for exceptional conditions, providing only a bare subsistence wage for those considered the most helpless class of sweated workers—women and children.

Hours of Labour.&mdash;Beginning with Illinois in 1903, the 8-hour standard for children under 16 has been established in 25 states and the District of Columbia, with certain exemptions in a few states. Other states have less favourable laws, especially some of the southern states, which still allow children to work legally 11 hours a day. To meet the arguments of employers who opposed restriction of hours of labour of children on the ground that it put them at a disadvantage with their competitors in neighbouring states, Congress in 1916 enacted a measure which forbade the transportation in interstate commerce of the products of factories or mines on which children between 14 and 16 had worked more than eight hours a day or more than six days a week or at night. The law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court as an undue extension of the power to regulate interstate commerce. In 1919 Congress again enacted a law containing similar standards based on the taxing power, which levies a tax of 10% on the annual net profits of any concern which employs children in violation of the above standards.

Unemployment.&mdash;Private employment agencies situated in industrial and railway centres have long been a means of connecting the man with the job. The abuses of these profit-making agencies have resulted in restrictive legislation designed to prevent fraud and extortion and to ensure moral surroundings. These laws usually require owners of private employment agencies to deposit a bond with the State Department of Labor or the city authorities and to secure a licence. Twelve states prohibit the location of such offices in saloons, and several others forbid association with lodging-houses, restaurants or gambling-places. Frequently the sending of minors and women to immoral resorts is forbidden. Fees are regulated as to maximum amount. Some laws specify that all advertisements or other information must be truthful. Several states require records, but, with the exception of New York, they are rarely comprehensive enough to be valuable. There was almost unanimous testimony of investigators and public officials up to 1921 that these laws had not been successful in eradicating abuses, and there arose a widespread movement to abolish them altogether. The state of Washington took the initiative by prohibiting the collection of fees from workers by an employment agent. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, held the law unconstitutional as &ldquo;arbitrary&rdquo; and &ldquo;oppressive,&rdquo; an undue restriction on the liberty of the appellants, and therefore a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1919 the Wisconsin Legislature gave the State Industrial Commission discretionary power to refuse licences to private employment agencies if the public bureau in the district is sufficient to supply the needs.

At the time of the entrance of the United States into the World War there were between 80 and 90 public employment exchanges maintained by 23 states and more than a dozen cities. In 1920 44 states and the District of Columbia were coöperating with the U.S. Employment Service. The older laws which create only a state employment office and make no

provision for local branches have been practically a dead letter. The more recent legislation, however, which can be exemplified by the N.Y. statute of 1014, has been successful. It establishes a bureau of employment in the State Department of Labor under the immediate charge of a director who must be under civil service rules. The industrial commission is given power to establish such free local offices as it deems necessary. The activities of the local bureaus are coordinated by a labour market bulletin and the interchange of lists of vacancies. Partial recognition of the policy of joint control is given in the appointment by the Commissioner of Labor of a representative committee of employers and employees. Other clauses provide for registration, special regulations for children, and various details. The most controversial point in the administration of a bureau is the policy to be pursued in the case of a strike or lock-out. The first laws forbidding applications under those conditions were declared illegal. Since then the problem has been dealt with by some form of publicity clause requiring the exhibition at the exchanges of statements in regard to trade disputes. But state offices cannot organize the labour market. The war-time demands of labour emphasized the weaknesses of the state systems and led to the development of new administrative machinery, the U.S. Employment Service (see ).

Safety and Health.&mdash;Legislative activities for the control of industrial accidents and occupational diseases have developed along four main lines: reporting, prohibition, regulation and compensation or insurance. Though the early laws did not bring satisfactory results, accident-reporting laws have proved useful as a guide for inspection, safeguarding and advanced legislation, and have continued to spread to new states and to new branches of industry. Laws relating to the reporting of occupational disease are of more recent origin. California in 1911 was the first state to pass such a law, and within five years 16 states had enacted similar measures. The latest tendency is to include within the laws &ldquo;any ailment or disease contracted as a result of the nature of the patient's employment&rdquo; instead of limiting them to certain diseases.

Social Insurance.&mdash;The first accident compensation law of general application was passed by New York in 1910. This statute was declared unconstitutional, but an amendment to the state constitution made possible the enactment of a compulsory law in 1914. Other states followed, and by 1919 compensation laws had been passed by 42 states in addition to Alaska, Hawaii and Porto Rico. The Federal law of 1908 was repealed in favour of the Act of 1916, which covers all civilian employees of the Federal Government. Early laws had been declared unconstitutional on the ground that to require an employer to pay damages for an accident for which he was not to blame was taking property without due process of law; that both employer and employee were deprived of the right of trial by jury and that the employer was charged with liability without fault. In 1917, however, the constitutionality of the chief types of compensation was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in three far-reaching decisions (New York Central R.R. Co. v. White, 37 Sup. Ct., 247, 1917; Hawkins v. Bleakly, 37 Sup. Ct., 255, 1917; Mountain Timber Co. v. Washington, 37 Sup. Ct., 260, 1917). The Court ruled that the enactment of laws providing compensation for industrial accidents tended to promote the public welfare and were, therefore, within the scope of the police power. It upheld laws requiring compulsory insurance in state funds on the ground of a &ldquo;fair and reasonable exercise of governmental power.&rdquo; Because of the adverse decision of the first N.Y. law, most American compensation acts have been made elective according to the

following device. The employer is given the choice of accepting the law or of operating under the liability laws with the old liability defences—fellow-servant's fault, contributory negligence, and assumption of risk—abrogated or greatly modified.

Vocational Education.&mdash;The Federal Act for the promotion of vocational education in the fields of agriculture, trade, home economics and industry was passed in 1917, and since then there has been a rapid expansion of this form of labour legislation. The law popularly known as the Smith-Hughes Act is based on four ideas, namely: that vocational education is essential to national welfare; that Federal funds are necessary in order to equalize the burden of carrying on the work among the states; that since the Federal Government is vitally interested in the success of vocational education it should, so to speak, purchase a degree of participation in that work; and that only by such Federal and state relationships can proper standards be set up. According to the statute, the Federal Government does not undertake the organization or immediate direction of vocational training in the several states, but agrees to make substantial yearly contributions to its support. The Federal grants are conditional and their acceptance imposes on the state specific obligations. By 1919 every state had accepted the Act.

Administration of Labour Laws.&mdash;The development of industrial commissions is the most significant fact in the recent history of the administration of labour legislation. The growing complexity of conditions has made it practically impossible to embody sufficient details within laws or to make them flexible enough to provide for constant changes. To meet the varying needs and to set the different standards required, the legislatures at first established special commissions, such as the minimum-wage commissions. This policy, however, led to duplication of functions and conflict of authority, and in their place six states have created industrial commissions which have general administrative control over the branches of labour legislation dealing with minimum wage, hours of labour, public and private employment offices, workmen's compensation and other related laws. Under these statutes the Legislature lays down the general state policy of reasonable standards and leaves to the commission the intricate details of investigation. It is given authority to make the findings necessary for the effective application of the standard to each case or class of cases. It can make classifications and issue different rules for different conditions and can change its rules when conditions change or when it discovers new and more effective remedies. These rulings of the commission are known as orders and are prima facie lawful.

This substitution of administrative rules for legislative details has made it possible to apply the principle of representation of interests. In Wisconsin, for example, joint committees representative of capital and labour are appointed by the employers and workers to serve in an advisory capacity. Generally these

committees actually draw up the rules, assisted by the staff of the industrial commission, after an exhaustive coöperative investigation. In some cases, as, for instance, in the determination of the minimum wage, consultation with joint committees is made mandatory. These committees form, in fact, an inferior industrial legislature, composed of leaders and representatives of both interests, who are continually in session under state supervision and working on those details of administration which, after all, are the actual substance of such legislation as is enforced.