5. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed as depriving any witness of any privilege in respect of answering questions or producing documents if he would be entitled to such privilege in answering questions or producing documents before the supreme court.

6. Save as aforesaid, the board, in conducting an investigation, shall not be bound by the law of evidence in force in this Colony as to the admissibility of evidence and the competency, examination, and cross-examination of witnesses. 22. 1. The board, or any member thereof, and any other person authorized in writing by the chairman of the board, may, at any time, enter upon any premises in or in respect of which any industry or trade or occupation is being carried on, or in which there is taking or has taken place, any occurrence which concerns the investigation being held by the board.

2. Upon entering upon such premises the board, or member thereof, or person aforesaid, may inspect and view any work, material, machinery, appliance, or article therein or thereon, and interrogate any person at work in or about such premises in relation to such trade, industry, occupation, or occurrence.. 3. Any person who obstructs or hinders the board, or members, or person aforesaid in the exercise of the powers by this section conferred, or refuses to answer any interrogation lawfully put to him, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.

23. The board may, with the consent of the minister, call in assessors or employ persons approved by him to examine the books, papers, and other documents of either party, or to advise the board upon technical matters or other facts material to the investigation, but it shall not disclose, or permit to be disclosed, the results of examining such books, papers, or documents, except with the consent of both parties to the dispute.

24. 1. Every board appointed to investigate a dispute shall use its utmost endeavors to settle the dispute which it is appointed to investigate, and for that purpose shall, as expeditiously as may be, inquire into the causes and subject of the dispute and all matters incidental thereto and affecting the merits thereof. 2. In the course of the investigation it may make all such suggestions and do all such things as it may deem expedient and proper to induce the parties to agree to a fair and equitable settlement.

3. The board may adjourn its sittings from time to time and from place to place, prescribing such period as it deems reasonable for allowing the parties to agree upon terms of settlement. The time and place to which any sittings may be adjourned shall be notified to the persons appearing for the parties.

25. 1. Either party to the dispute may, at any time before or after the conclusion of the investigation, agree to be bound by the recommendations of the board in the same manner as parties to a submission under the arbitration ordinance 1904 are thereunder bound, and any agreement between the parties to be so bound may be made a rule of court and enforced in the same manner as an award which has been made a rule of court under section 17 of the said ordinance, and may be enforced as provided by that section.

2. The draft of every such agreement may be transmitted by either party to the inspector, who shall send a copy thereof to the other party; if such other party agrees to be bound by the recommendations of the board, then such recommendations may be made a rule of court and enforced in manner afore

said.

3. Save as aforesaid, the report or recommendations of the board, or any proceedings had before it, shall not be enforced by any court of law.

26. 1. If a settlement of the dispute be effected between the parties while it is being investigated by the board, a memorandum of the settlement shall be drawn up by the board and signed by each of the parties.

2. Every such memorandum shall, if the parties agree to be thereby bound, be as binding and effectual as if made upon recommendations of the board under section 25.

3. A copy of such memorandum so signed, together with the report of the proceedings of the board, shall, as soon as possible, be transmitted to the minister.

27. 1. If a settlement of the dispute be not effected between the parties while it is being investigated by the board, the chairman thereof shall, as soon as may be after the conclusion of the investigation, transmit to the inspector, by registered post, a full report in writing of the investigation, setting forth-

(a) All the facts and circumstances ascertained by it and, in particular, the cause or causes of the dispute.

(b) A chronological account of the proceedings had before. it.

(c) The steps, if any, taken by the board during the proceedings to effect a settlement of the dispute.

(d) The findings of the board and its recommendations for the settlement of the dispute in accordance with the merits thereof and with equity.

2. The recommendations shall be signed by such members of the board as concur therein and shall be addressed to the minister.

3. The recommendations of any member of the board who dissents from its recommendations shall likewise be signed by such member and transmitted through the inspector addressed to the minister.

4. All such recommendations shall deal with every issue of the dispute, and shall state, in plain and concise language, omitting technicalities as far as possible, the opinions of the signatories as to what ought or ought not to be done by either party.

If the signatories are of opinion that any settlement proposed ought to remain in force for a definite period, such period shall be stated.

28. 1. Upon receipt of the report and recommendations of the board the minister shall forthwith cause copies thereof to be published in the Gazette, to be sent to all the parties to the dispute, and, upon request made on behalf of any newspaper circulating in the colony, to be sent to each newspaper for publication therein.

2. The minister may further cause any copies of the report and recommendations of the board to be published or circulated in any other manner which he may deem desirable for the purpose of securing compliance with the board's recommendations. The minister shall give like publicity to the recommendations of any dissenting member of the board.

3. The department shall, upon application and payment of the fee prescribed by regulation, supply certified copies of such reports and recommendations to any person.

4. The report and recommendations of the board and the recommendations (if any) of a dissenting member of the board shall further be laid on the tables of both houses of Parliament, if Parliament be then in session, or if it be not then in session, within seven days after the commencement of its next ensuing session.

5. The provisions of section 37 of the powers and privileges of Parliament act, 1907, shall apply mutatis mutandis to such reports and recommendations as are in this act mentioned, immediately upon publication thereof as if they were such publications as are in the said section described.

29. No proceedings had or evidence given before a board shall be cognizable before any court of law in this colony, for any purpose whatsoever, save as is otherwise provided in this act in respect of offenses thereunder.

CHAPTER V.

MISCELLANEOUS.

30. 1. Any member or officer of the board who, whether for himself or for any other person, corruptly solicits or receives, or agrees to receive from any person any fee, advantage, or reward, whether pecuniary or otherwise, as an inducement to, or in consideration of, or otherwise, on account of his acting or forbearing to act in conflict with the oath of office or secrecy taken by him, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, and shall ipso facto become disqualified for appointment to any public office for a period of seven years from the date of such conviction.

2. Any person who directly or indirectly gives, offers, or promises to a member or officer of the board any fee, advantage, or reward, whether for the benefit of such member or officer or of another person, as an inducement for such member or officer to act or forbear to act in conflict with the oath of office or secrecy taken by him, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, and to a fine not exceeding £500, or in default of payment to a further period of imprisonment, not exceeding two years.

31. Any person who, three months after the coming into operation of this act, shall be carrying on a private registry office without having registered the

same with the department, or who, being the keeper or person in charge of such office, shall at any time fail on the request of the inspector or person authorized by the inspector to produce for inspection the books of such office or to give any information as to the business carried on thereat reasonably required of him, or who, being a keeper or person in charge of such an office, shall charge fees at a higher rate than is prescribed under this act by the inspector, or charge a fee where no fee has been so prescribed shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding £50, or, in default of payment, to imprisoninent for a period not exceeding three months.

32. Whenever any person shall be charged with an offense under this act the registrar or clerk of the court before which such person is charged shall, within one month thereafter and whether or not a conviction is obtained, report concisely in writing to the inspector the particulars of the charge, the verdict or judgment thereon, and the sentence (if any) passed by the court.

33. 1. In any proceedings against an incorporated company for an offense under this act, the secretary and every director or manager thereof in this Colony may be charged with such offense and shall be liable to be punished therefor, unless he proves that he was in no way a party thereto.

2. In like proceedings against a local authority, the mayor, chairman, town clerk, secretary, or other similar officer shall be liable to be so charged with and in like circumstances punished for the offense.

3. In like proceedings against a partnership, every member in this Colony of such partnership shall be liable to be so charged and, in like circumstances, punished for the offense.

4. In like proceedings against a trade-union, the president, secretary, and every other officer thereof in this Colony shall be liable to be so charged and, in like circumstances, punished for the offense.

5. Provided that nothing in this section contained shall be deemed to exempt from liability any other person guilty of such offense.

34. 1. The governor may, from time to time, make, alter, and rescind regulations, not inconsistent with this act, prescribing—

(a) The powers and duties of the inspector;

(b) The forms of registers and other records to be kept by the inspector;

(c) The forms of application for the appointment of a board and of any summons of parties or witnesses to attend its proceedings;

(d) The fees and allowances which may be made to witnesses or to other persons acting on the orders of the board, and the forms of vouchers and receipts for any fees and allowances payable under this act;

(e) The fees payable to the department for registering any private registry office or for supplying copies of any report or recommendation mentioned in this act;

(f) What returns, statistics, information, and reports shall be furnished to the inspector, and the periods at which the same shall be furnished, by employers, masters of apprentices, and by trade unions;

(g) Penalties for any contravention of or default in complying with the regulations, not exceeding a fine of fifty pounds, or, in default of payment thereof, imprisonment for a period of six months.

And generally, for the better carrying of the objects and purposes of this act. 2. All such regulations shall be of force and effect on publication in the Gazette.

3. All such regulations shall, within seven days after such publication, be laid on the tables of both houses of Parliament, if Parliament be then in session, and, if Parliament be not then in session, within seven days after the commencement of its next ensuing session.

35. No proceeding under this act had before a board, nor any act or omission of a board, shall be deemed invalid by reason of any defect in form or technical irregularity.

36. This act may be cited for all purposes as the industrial disputes prevention act, 1909, and shall not come into operation, unless and until the governor shall declare, by proclamation in the Gazette, that it is His Majesty's pleasure not to disallow the act, and thereafter it shall come into operation on such date as the governor may, by like proclamation, declare.

IX. EUROPEAN LEGISLATION.

AUSTRIA.

The restrictions imposed by the Austrian Penal Code upon concerted action among employers or workpeople for the purpose of influencing conditions of labor were removed by Article I of an act dated April 7, 1870.

The freedom of workpeople in that country to make effective use of their rights with respect to combinations for the purpose of causing a strike is nevertheless, in practice, very much restricted by the provisions of the associations law of the 15th of November, 1867; which regulates the conditions for exercising the right of combination affirmed by article 12 of the law of the constitution. Under this law, which is still in force, the authorities charged with the administration of that law have power to forbid the formation of a union if it should propose to adopt aims or methods deemed to be 'dangerous to the State," and to dissolve a union whenever it actually adopts aims or applies methods which the authorities hold to be of such a nature, or to be other than those clearly set forth in the sanctioned by-laws of the union.

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The attitude of the Government toward combinations for the purpose of strikes among workpeople and officials employed in the railway service is illustrated by the following examples of judgments delivered by the Austrian Supreme Court in cases in which the decisions of the provincial authorities had been appealed against:

(1) The question as to whether a proposed society should be regarded as dangerous to the State must not be determined solely by reference to its bylaws; regard must also be had to the actual occurrences that have conduced to, or accompanied, its formation, especially where an official record of those occurrences is forthcoming. If the occurrences were of a nature to warrant the conclusion (say) that a union of engine drivers, by organizing and combining with other unions of the same kind, was aiming at bringing about a state of things which would enable the engine drivers as a body to dictate terms to the State and the private railway undertakings. then there could be no doubt as to the union being dangerous to the State. (Judgment dated April

16, 1902.)

(2) It would be dangerous to the State and illegal if a union of railway servants were to participate in a congress which discussed the possibility of using the strong arm of labor for paralyzing the activities of the State or the possibility of bringing civilized life to a standstill by means of a union of forces between the railway servants and organized labor in general. (Judgment dated July 10, 1897.)

From the foregoing it will be seen that the Government has power under the associations law to frustrate from the very beginning any attempt to organize strikes such as might threaten the economic life of the country as a whole, or even of a particular locality.

In the case of a projected union of railway workers, postal officials, or other employees in public-utility services, the authorities would refuse to sanction by-laws in which mention was made of the strike as a means to be applied in the last resort for attaining the objects of the union, or in which provision was made for the accumulation of a strike fund. If, after its formation had been sanctioned, the union were to call a meeting to discuss the possibility of a strike, or to attempt to compel its members to contribute to a strike fund, it would be considered to be overstepping its legal bounds. It would be dissolved and its funds seized. A wide discretion is

thus left to the authorities in determining what objects and methods are to be deemed dangerous to the State or prejudicial to the public welfare.

While there exist in Austria several more or less important trade unions composed of persons employed in the railway, postal, and other public services, no strikes have so far taken place in those services.

BELGIUM.

Combinations for the purposes of strikes and lockouts remained illegal in Belgium until the Penal Code had been amended by a law of June 8, 1867. By the omission from the amended code of articles 414-416 of the original law, workpeople and employers ceased to incur any penalty for taking concerted action with a view to raising or lowering wages, even in cases where the exercise of this right should involve a breach of contract.

While thus legalizing concerted stoppages of work in themselves the new Penal Code provided certain safeguards against practices arising out of the exercise of the right to institute strikes and lockouts. The practices thus provided against were (a) interference with the free exercise of industry or labor, and (b) strikes in the public services.

In the case of persons employed by the State (including the railway, postal, telegraph, and telephone services), strikes were definitely prohibited by a new article (236) of the same code, which provided that

Officials who, as a result of concerted action, shall resign their posts with the object of hindering or suspending either the administration of justice or the accomplishment of a lawful service shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of one month or two years and by a fine of 100 or 200 francs. They may further be deprived of the right to be employed in any capacity in the public service.

With regard to the formation of trade unions, as distinguished from other kinds of societies (cooperative, friendly etc.), and the presentation of collective demands, the rights of persons employed in the railway, postal, telegraph, and telephone services are subject to certain limitations which do not apply to persons employed in private enterprise. Their position in these respects is defined in an amended code of rules issued by the minister of railways, posts, and telegraphs on the 10th of March, 1910. These rules contain. among other provisions, the stipulation that employees of the departments of railways, posts, and telegraphs may, provided they safeguard order and discipline, form trade unions which "have for their object the study of questions relating to the trade and the protection of the trade interests of their members. No other assembly, temporary or permanent, may occupy itself with the same object." It is further provided that employees desiring to form such a trade union shall send to the superior authority for the purpose of receiving authorization, the text of the union's by-laws, the list of the founders, and the list of members on the executive committee. Trade unions so organized may present to the ministry, either directly or through the usual official channels, all the petitions and proposals that they consider advisable and which have reference either to the