also designate not more than two other officials of the Government who have been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the officials thus designated, together with the Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation, shall constitute a board to be known as the United States Board of Mediation and Conciliation.

There shall also be an Assistant Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and whose salary shall be $5,000 per annum. In the absence of the Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation, or when that office shall become vacant, the assistant commissioner shall exercise the functions and perform the duties of that office. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Mediation and Conciliation, the assistant commissioner shall assist in the work of mediation and conciliation and when acting alone in any case he shall have the right to take acknowledgments, receive agreements of arbitration, and cause the notices in writing to be served upon the arbitrators chosen by the respective parties to the controversy, as provided for in section five of this act. The act of June first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, relating to the mediation and arbitration of controversies between railway companies and certain classes of their employees is hereby repealed: Provided, That any agreement of arbitration which, at the time of the passage of this act, shall have been executed in accordance with the provisions of said act of June first, eighteen hundred and ninety- eight, shall be governed by the provisions of said act of June first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, and the proceedings thereunder shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of said act. Approved, July 15, 1913.

NOTE. An Act To establish an eight-hour day for employees of carriers engaged in interstate commerce, and for other purposes, commonly known as the Adamson law, will be found between pages 150 and 151.

PROPOSED LEGISLATION.

In connection with the threatened strike of transportation employees in August, 1916, relative to the establishment of an eighthour working day on the railroads, several drafts of legislation framed to amend the existing law as to mediation and arbitration of railway wage disputes were submitted to the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. Hearings were held on August 31, 1916, on these tentative bills by the committee and they will be undoubtedly the subject of further discussion and debate. They are as follows:

TENTATIVE COMMITTEE PRINT NO. 2.

IN THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE.

[PUBLIC-No. 6.]
[S. 2517.]

[The part printed in roman is existing mediation law; the part indicated in linetype and italic shows proposed amendments thereto.]

AN ACT Providing for mediation, conciliation, and arbitration in controversies between certain employers and their employees.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of this act shall apply to any common carrier or carriers and their officers, agents, and employees, except masters of vessels and seamen, as defined in section forty-six hundred and twelve, Revised Statutes of the United States, engaged in the transportation of passengers or property wholly by railroad, or partly by railroad and partly by water, for a continuous carriage or shipment from one State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, or from any place in the United States to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the United States through a foreign country to any other place in the United States.

The term "railroad" as used in this act shall include all bridges and ferries used or operated in connection with any railroad, and also all the road in use

by any corporation operating a railroad, whether owned or operated under a contract, agreement, or lease; and the term " transportation " shall include all instrumentalities of shipment or carriage.

The term " employees" as used in this act shall include all persons actually engaged in any capacity in train operation or train service of any description, and notwithstanding that the cars upon or on which they are employed may be held and operated by the carrier under lease or other contract: Provided, however, That this act shall not be held to apply to employees of street railroads and shall apply only to employees engaged in railroad train service. In every such case the carrier shall be responsible for the acts and defaults of such employees in the same manner and to the same extent as if said cars were owned by it and said employees directly employed by it, and any provisions to the contrary of any such lease or other contract shall be binding only as between the parties thereto and shall not affect the obligations of said carrier either to the public or to the private parties concerned.

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A common carrier subject to the provisions of this act is hereinafter referred to as an employer," and the employees of one or more of such carriers are hereinafter referred to as "employees."

SEC. 2. That whenever a controversy concerning wages, hours of labor, or conditions of employment shall arise between an employer or employers and employees subject to this act interrupting or threatening to interrupt the business of said employer or employers to the serious detriment of the public interest, either party both parties to such controversy may apply to shall notify the Board of Mediation and Conciliation created by this act and either party may apply to said board and invoke its services for the purpose of bringing about an amicable adjustment of the controversy; and upon the request of either party the said board shall with all practicable expedition put itself in communication with the parties to such controversy and shall use its best efforts, by mediation and conciliation, to bring them to an agreement; and if such efforts to bring about an amicable adjustment through mediation and conciliation shall be unsuccessful, the said board shall at once endeavor to induce the parties to submit their controversy to arbitration in accordance with the provisions of this act.

If the Board of Mediation and Conciliation is unable to induce the parties to submit their controversy to arbitration, it shall be referred to a board of investigation, and it shall be unlawful for the employer or employers to declare or cause a lockout or for the employees to declare or cause a strike on account of the controversy prior to and during mediation and conciliation or during the investigation of said controversy and the report thereon, as hereinafter provided.

In any case in which an interruption of traffic is imminent and fraught with serious detriment to the public interest, the Board of Mediation and Conciliation may, if in its judgment such action seems desirable, shall proffer its services to the respective parties to the controversy.

In any case in which a controversy arises over the meaning or the application of any agreement reached through mediation under the provisions of this act either party to the said agreement may apply to the Board of Mediation and Conciliation for an expression of opinion from such board as to the meaning or application of such agreement, and the said board shall, upon receipt of such request, give its opinion as soon as may be practicable.

SEC. 3. That whenever a controversy shall arise between an employer or employers and employees subject to this act, which can not be settled through mediation and conciliation in the manner provided in the preceding section, such controversy may be submitted to the arbitration of a board of six, or, if the parties to the controversy prefer so to stipulate, to a board of three persons, which board shall be chosen in the following manner: In the case of a board of three, the employer or employers and the employees, parties respectively to the agreement to arbitrate, shall each name one arbitrator; and the two arbitrators thus chosen shall select the third arbitrator; but in the event of their failure to name the third arbitrator within five days after their first meeting, such third arbitrator shall be named by the Board of Mediation and Conciliation. In the case of a board of six, the employer or employers and the employees, parties respectively to the agreement to arbitrate, shall each name two arbitrators, and the four arbitrators thus chosen shall, by a majority vote, select the remaining two arbitrators; but in the event of their failure to name the two arbitrators within fifteen days after their first meeting the

said two arbitrators, or as many of them as have not been named, shall be named by the board of Mediation and Conciliation.

When it is deemed necessary the membership of any board of arbitration may be increased to nine or twelve, as may be agreed upon by the parties to the controversy, which board shall be chosen in the manner and ratio provided above.

In the event that the employees engaged in any given controversy are not members of a labor organization, such employees may select a committee which shall have the right to name the arbitrator, or the arbitrators, who are to be named by the employees as provided above in this section.

SEC. 4. That the agreement to arbitrate

First. Shall be in writing.

Second. Shall stipulate that the arbitration is had under the provisions of this act;

Third. Shall state whether the board of arbitration is to consist of three or six or more members;

Fourth. Shall be signed by duly accredited representatives of the employer or employers and of the employees;

Fifth. Shall state specifically the questions to be submitted to the said board for decision;

Sixth. Shall stipulate that a majority of said board shall be competent to make a valid and binding award;

Seventh. Shall fix a period from the date of the appointment of the arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the board, as provided for in the agreement, within which the said board shall commence its hearings;

Eighth. Shall fix a period from the beginning of the hearings within which the said board shall make and file its award: Provided, That this period shall be thirty days unless a different period be agreed to;

Ninth. Shall provide for the date from which the award shall become effective and shall fix the period during which the said award shall continue in force. Tenth. Shall provide that the respective parties to the award will each faithfully execute the same.

Eleventh. Shall provide that the award and the papers and proceedings, including the testimony relating thereto, certified under the hands of the arbitrators, and which shall have the force and effect of a bill of exceptions, shall be filed in the clerk's office of the district court of the United States for the district wherein the controversy arises or the arbitration is entered into, and shall be final and conclusive upon the parties to the agreement unless set aside for error of law apparent on the record;

Twelfth. May also provide that any difference arising as to the meaning or the application of the provisions of an award made by a board of arbitration shall be referred back to the same board or to a subcommittee of such board for a ruling, which ruling shall have the same force and effect as the original award; and if any member of the original board is unable or unwilling to serve, another arbitrator shall be named in the same manner as such original member was named.

SEC. 5. That for the purposes of this act the arbitrators herein provided for, or either of them, shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, sign subpoenas, require the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of such books, papers, contracts, agreements, and documents material to a just determination of the matters under investigation as may be ordered by the court; and may invoke the aid of the United States courts to compel witnesses to attend and testify and to produce such books, papers, contracts, agreements, and documents to the same extent and under the same conditions and penalties as is provided for in the act to regulate commerce, approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and the amendments thereto.

SEC. 6. That every agreement of arbitration under this act shall be acknowledged by the parties thereto before a notary public or a clerk of the district or the circuit court of appeals of the United States, or before a member of the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, the members of which are hereby authorized to take such acknowledgments, and when so acknowledged shall be delivered to a member of said board or transmitted to said board to be filed in its office.

When such agreement of arbitration has been filed with the said board, or one of its members, and when the said board, or a member thereof, has been furnished the names of the arbitrators chosen by the respective parties to the

controversy, the board, or a member thereof, shall cause a notice in writing to be served upon the said arbitrators, notifying them of their appointment, requesting them to meet promptly to name the remaining arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the board, and advising them of the period within which, as provided in the agreement of arbitration, they are empowered to name such arbitrator or arbitrators.

When the arbitrators selected by the respective parties have agreed upon the remaining arbitrator or arbitrators, they shall notify the Board of Mediation and Conciliation; and in the event of their failure to agree upon any or upon all of the necessary arbitrators within the period fixed by this act they shall, at the expiration of such period, notify the Board of Mediation and Conciliation of the arbitrators selected, if any, or of their failure to make or to complete such selection.

If the parties to an arbitration desire the reconvening of a board to pass upon any controversy arising over the meaning or application of an award, they shall jointly so notify the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, and shall state in such written notice the question or questions to be submitted to such reconvened board. The Board of Mediation and Conciliation shall thereupon promptly communicate with the members of the board of arbitration or a subcommittee of such board appointed for such purpose pursuant to the provisions of the agreement of arbitration, and arrange for the reconvening of said board or subcommittee, and shall notify the respective parties to the controversy of the time and place at which the board will meet for hearings upon the matters in controversy to be submitted to it.

SEC. 7. That the board of arbitration shall organize and select its own chairman and make all necessary rules for conducting its hearings; but in its award or awards the said board shall confine itself to findings or recommendations as to the questions specifically submitted to it or matters directly bearing thereon. All testimony before said board shall be given under oath or affirmation, and any member of the board of arbitration shall have the power to administer oaths or affirmations. It may employ such assistants as may be necessary in carrying on its work. It shall, whenever practicable, be supplied with suitable quarters in any Federal building located at its place of meeting or at any place where the board may adjourn for its deliberations. The board of arbitration shall furnish a certified copy of its awards to the respective parties to the controversy, and shall transmit the original, together with the papers and proceedings and a transcript of the testimony taken at the hearings, certified under the hands of the arbitrators, to the clerk of the district court of the United States for the district wherein the controversy arose or the arbitration is entered into, to be filed in said clerk's office as provided in paragraph eleven of section four of this act. And said board shall also furnish a certified copy of its award, and the papers and proceedings, including the testimony relating thereto, to the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, to be filed in its office.

The United States Commerce Court, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics are hereby authorized to turn over to the Board of Mediation and Conciliation upon its request any papers and documents heretofore filed with them and bearing upon mediation or arbitration proceedings held under the provisions of the act approved June first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, providing for mediation and arbitration.

SEC. 8. That the award, being filed in the clerk's office of a district court of the United States as hereinbefore provided, shall go into practical operation, and judgment shall be entered thereon accordingly, at the expiration of ten days from such filing, unless within such ten days either party shall file exceptions thereto for matter of law apparent upon the record, in which case said award shall go into practical operation, and judgment be entered accordingly, when such exceptions shall have been finally disposed of either by said district court or on appeal therefrom.

At the expiration of ten days from the decision of the district court upon exceptions taken to said award as aforesaid judgment shall be entered in ac-cordance with said decision, unless during said ten days either party shall appeal therefrom to the circuit court of appeals. In such case only such por-tion of the record shall be transmitted to the appellate court as is necessary to the proper understanding and consideration of the questions of law presented by said exceptions and to be decided.

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The determination of said circuit court of appeals upon said questions shall be final, and, being certified by the clerk thereof to said district court, judgment pursuant thereto shall thereupon be entered by said district court.

If exceptions to an award are finally sustained, judgment shall be entered setting aside the award in whole or in part; but in such case the parties may agree upon a judgment to be entered disposing of the subject matter of the controversy, which judgment when entered shall have the same force and effect as judgment entered upon an award.

Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to require an employee to render personal service without his consent, and no injunction or other legal process shall be issued which shall compel the performance by any employee against his will of a contract for personal labor or service.]

Sec. 9. Whenever a controversy shall arise between an employer or employers and employees subject to this act which can not be settled through mediation and conciliation in the manner provided in section two, and the board of mediation is unable to induce the parties to submit their controversy to arbitration in accordance with the provisions of this act, the said controversy shall be referred to a board of investigation, which shall consist of three members, of which each of the parties to the controversy shall recommend one, and these two, together with the third member, who shall act as chairman of the board, shall be appointed by the President of the United States. Upon notice by the President of the appointment of the board of investigation the Board of Mediation and Conciliation shall arrange a time for the beginning of the investigation and a place where such proceedings may be held. The board of investigation shall organize and make all necessary rules for conducting its hearings. The board shall fully and carefully ascertain all the facts and circumstances, and in its report shall set forth such facts and circumstances, and its findings therefrom, including the cause of the dispute and the board's recommendation for the settlement of the dispute according to the merits and substantial justice of the case. Its recommendations shall deal with each item of the dispute and shall state what, in the board's opinion, ought or ought not to be done by the respective parties concerned. Wherever it appears to the board expedient so to do, its recommendation shall also state the period during which the proposed settlement should continue in force and the date from which it should commence. The report shall be made to the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, who shall cause the same to be published. All testimony before the board of investigation shall be given under oath or affirmation, and any member of the board shall have the power to administer oaths or affirmations. It shall be furnished such assistants as may be necessary in carrying on its work.

Each member of the board of investigation shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, together with his traveling and other necessary expenses. So much as may be necessary of the appropriation of the Board of Mediation and Conciliation for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, is hereby made available for the payment of the necessary and proper expenses of boards of investigation. Authority for incurring expenses, including subsistence, by boards of investigation shall first be obtained from the Board of Mediation and Conciliation.

SEC. 11. That whenever receivers appointed by a Federal court are in the possession and control of the business of employers covered by this act the employees of such employers shall have the right to be heard through their representatives in such court upon all questions affecting the terms and conditions of their employment; and no reduction of wages shall be made by such receivers without the authority of the court therefor, after notice to such employees, said notice to be given not less than twenty days before the hearing upon the receivers' petition or application, and to be posted upon all customary bulletin boards along or upon the railway or in the customary places on the premises of other employers covered by this act.

SEC. 10. That each member of the board of arbitration created under the provisions of this act shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, together with his traveling and other necessary expenses. The sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, to be immediately available and to continue available until the close of the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and fourteen, for the necessary and proper expenses incurred in connection with any arbitration or with the carrying on the work of mediation and con