SEC. 5. INJUNCTIONS AGAINST STRIKES, BOYCOTTS, AND OTHER LABOR COMBINATIONS.

This matter is of English origin. No statute exists regulating injunctions in Great Britain nor any of its colonies. The law, therefore, of Great Britain and her colonies is identical with our own. The whole doctrine is necessarily peculiar to English chancery courts, and the American law is founded on English chancery decisions.

SEC. 6. RIOTS.

I find no special statute regulating rioting in England or continental countries other than those contained in the ordinary criminal laws.

CHAPTER X.

UNIONS OR COMBINATIONS OF EMPLOYERS, TRUSTS,

ETC.

SEC. 1. BLACKLISTING.

Germany.-In Germany an employer is prohibited, under heavy penalties, from placing any marks or signs on the certificate which he is required to give his employee upon cessation of employment conveying any information not expressed in the certificate.

Austria.-In Austria, if desired by the employee on leaving service, the employer must furnish him with a certificate setting forth the nature and duration of his employment and the conduct and degree of technical skill that he has displayed. The contents of this certificate may, if the employee so desires, be entered in the pass book and attested by the local police authorities, and refusal to make such a certificate or the willful making of a certificate which is untrue is a penal offense.

SEC. 2. PINKERTON MEN.

The employment of private guards or watchmen or other armed bodies of men, at least since the middle ages, seems to be peculiar to some of the United States. As nothing upon As nothing upon the subject appears in the legislation of other countries, it is to be presumed that in them the ordinary civil authorities, supplemented by the military, give adequate protection.

SEC. 3. TRUSTS.

This matter having been fully covered by Professor Jenks in his able reports to the Industrial Commission, it would be impertinent to refer to the subject here. The matter is only mentioned for the sake of uniformity with the first volume of this report, contained in volume 5 of the Industrial Commission reports.

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CHAPTER XI.

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION.

ART. A.-BOARDS OF ARBITRATION, ETC.

SEC. 1. CREATED BY THE STATE.

GREAT BRITAIN.

The first English act concerning arbitration was passed in 1603, but the first act referring specially to the arbitration of labor disputes is the first of Anne, chapter 22, passed in 1701, which legislated in Lord St. Leonard's act, 30 and 31 Vict., c. 105, passed in 1867, which attempted to establish councils of conciliation something after the pattern of the French councils of prudhommes. But in 1896 all these acts were repealed and the conciliation act (59 and 60 Vict., c. 30) substituted.

AN ACT to make better provision for the prevention and settlement of trade disputes. (7th August, 1896.)

Any board established either before or after the passing of this act which is constituted for the purpose of settling disputes between employers and workmen by conciliation or arbitration, or any association or body authorized by an agreement in writing made between employers and workmen to deal with such disputes (in this act referred to as a conciliation board), may apply to the board of trade for registration under this act.

The application must be accompanied by copies of the constitution, by-laws, and regulations of the conciliation board, with such other information as the board of trade may reasonably require.

The board of trade shall keep a register of conciliation boards, and enter therein, with respect to each registered board, its name and principal office, and such other particulars as the board of trade may think expedient, and any registered conciliation board shall be entitled to have its name removed from the register on sending to the board of trade a written application to that effect.

Every registered conciliation board shall furnish such returns, reports of its proceedings, and other documents as the board of trade may reasonably require.

The board of trade may, on being satisfied that a registered conciliation board has ceased to exist or to act, remove its name from the register.

Subject to any agreement to the contrary, proceedings for conciliation before a registered conciliation board shall be conducted in accordance with the regulations of the board in that behalf.

Where a difference exists or is apprehended between an employer, or any class of employers, and workmen, or between different classes of workmen, the board of trade may, if they think fit, exercise all or any of the following powers, namely:

1. Inquire into the causes or circumstances of the difference.

2. Take such steps as to the board may seem expedient for the purpose of enabling the parties to the difference to meet together, by themselves or their representatives, under the presidency of a chairman mutually agreed upon, or nominated by the board of trade or by some other person or body, with a view to the amicable settlement of the difference.

3. On the application of employers or workmen interested, and after taking into consideration the existence and adequacy of means available for conciliation in the district or trade and the circumstances of the case, appoint a person or persons to act as conciliator or as a board of conciliators.

4. On the application of both parties to the difference appoint an arbitrator.

If any person is so appointed to act as conciliator he shall inquire into the causes and circumstances of the difference by communication with the parties, and otherwise shall endeavor to bring about a settlement of the difference, and shall report his proceedings to the board of trade.

If a settlement of the difference is effected, either by conciliation or by arbitration, a memorandum of the terms thereof shall be drawn up and signed by the parties or their representatives, and a copy thereof shall be delivered to and kept by the board of trade.

The arbitration act, 1889 (a), shall not apply to the settlement by arbitration of any difference or dispute to which this act applies; but any such arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with such of the provisions of the said act, or such of the regulations of any conciliation board, or under such other rules or regulations as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties to the difference or dispute. If it appears to the board of trade that in any district or trade adequate means do not exist for having disputes submitted to a conciliation board for the district or trade, they may appoint any person or persons to inquire into the conditions of the district or trade, and to confer with the employers and employed, and, if the board of trade think fit, with any local authority or body, as to the expediency of establishing a conciliation board for the district or trade.

The board of trade shall from time to time present to Parliament a report of their proceedings under this act.

The expenses incurred by the board of trade in the execution of this act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.

FRANCE.

ARBITRATION TRIBUNALS-COUNCILS OF PRUDHOMMES.

In France the distinction between individual and collective labor disputes is clearly made. It has been only within recent years that any important legislation for the settlement of disputes of the second class, or strikes, has been attempted. For the adjustment of individual disputes, however, France has long had, in her conseils de prudhommes, a special system of labor courts that constitutes one of her most distinctive social institutions.

These councils have been defined as "special tribunals composed of employers and workingmen, created for the purpose of adjusting, by conciliation if possible, or judicially if conciliation fails, disputes between employers and workingmen, or between employers or superintendents and apprentices. They have also, in addition to their judicial functions, certain attributes of an administrative character, notably in respect to the registering of factory designs. In respect to their jurisdiction they are hierarchically below the tribunals of commerce, to which an appeal from their decisions, involving over a certain sum, can be made. "1

The first council of prudhommes was created by the law of March 18, 1806, for the city of Lyons, at the solicitation of the silk merchants of that city, who desired an institution to take the place of their common tribunal, which they had had before the abolition of the guild system. Although this law related to but a single city, it was so framed that similar councils might be organized by decree in other cities. This privilege was quickly availed of by other important industrial centers.

1 Traité élémentaire de législation industrielle, par Paul Pie, p. 508. I C-VOL XVI-01-12

The general conditions to be followed in the creation of the councils were set forth in a decree issued June 11, 1809. Various other decrees introducing greater or less changes followed. The first general law on the subject was that passed June 1, 1853, which in turn has been modified by subsequent legislation. The laws now in force regarding councils of prudhommes are the whole or parts of the acts of March 18, 1806, August 7, 1850, June 1, 1853, June 4, 1864, February 7, 1880, February 23, 1881, November 24, 1883, and December 10, 1884.

Councils of prudhommes are created for particular localities and industries by decrees of the central government, upon the recommendation of the chambers of commerce, the consultative chambers of arts and manufactures, and the municipal councils of the districts for which the councils are proposed. The decrees determine in each case the geographical boundary of the jurisdiction of the council, which may be a city, one or more communes or cantons, or an entire arrondissement; the number of the members of the council, which must not be less than 6, exclusive of the president and vice-president; and also the particular industries for which the council is created.

The members of the council are elected by the following two electoral classes: (1) Employers 25 years of age and having had a patent or permission to carry on their trade for at least 5 years, the last 3 of which have been in the district, or those associated under a collective name, whether having a patent or not, and having exercised for 5 years a trade subject to a patent, and domiciled in the district during the last 3 years; and (2) superintendents, foremen, and workingmen who have exercised their trades for at least 5 years and who have resided in the district of the council for the last 3 years.

Only electors 30 years of age or over, and who can read and write, are eligible for election as members of the councils.

Foreigners and persons who have been deprived by law of the right of suffrage are ineligible either as electors or members of the council. The formalities of elections are as follows: In each commune of the district covered by a council, the mayor, assisted by two assessors selected by him, one from among the employer electors and one from the workingman electors, compiles a list of electors, which he sends to the prefect. From these lists the prefect prepares and publishes a list of the electors. In case of dissatisfaction, recourse may be had to the council of the prefecture or to the civil tribunals, according to the provisions of the law in relation to municipal elections. Upon the appointed day the employer electors and the superintendent, foreman, and workingman electors meet in separate assemblies and elect their representatives to the council.

An equal number of members is elected by each class. The president and vice-president are elected by the council itself from among its members in full assembly. When the president is a representative of the employers, the vice-president must be a representative of the employees, and vice versa. In case, however, either class collectively abstain from voting at an election for the councils, or cast their votes for a person notoriously ineligible, or the persons elected refuse to serve or systematically abstain from attending meetings, a new election must be held within the following fortnight. If the same obstacles are again met with, the persons duly elected, if they are equal to one-half the total number of members of the council, can