thirty days from the date of the findings and award, and upon the filing of any such notice of appeal the commissioner of labor shall transmit to the clerk of the superior court to which the appeal is taken the original petition and all exhibits and written evidence filed at the hearing and the original findings and award of the commissioner, and such appeal shall be set down for hearing and shall be heard de novo by the court as appeals from justices of the peace are heard, and the clerk of the court shall notify the parties to the dispute, by mail addressed to their last known place of residence, of the time and place of such trial upon appeal.

SEC. 8. Suits.-In case no appeal is taken from the award of the commissioner and suit shall be brought upon the contract for seasonal labor in any court of competent jurisdiction, the findings and award of the commissioner made in any proceeding under this act at a hearing at which both parties to such suit shall have appeared may be introduced in evidence in such suit for the information of the court in which the suit is pending, and may, in the discretion of the court, be submitted to the jury as a part of the evidence in the case; but such findings and award shall not be conclusive or binding upon the court or the jury in any such case.

ACTS OF 1921

CHAPTER 7.-Administrative code-Department of labor and industries SECTION 2. Department created.-There shall be, and are hereby, created departments of the State government which shall be known, respectively, as (7) the department of labor and industries, which departments shall be charged, respectively, with the execution, enforcement, and administration of such laws and invested with such powers and required to perform such duties as the legislature may provide.

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SEC. 3. Officers.-There shall be a chief executive officer of each of the de partments of the State government created by this act, to be known, respe tively, as (7) the director of labor and industries, * who shall be appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate, and hold office at the pleasure of the governor.

SEC. 19. Powers.--The director of each department created by this act shall have the power to prescribe rules and regulations, not inconsistent with law. for the government of his department, the conduct of its subordinate officers and employees, the disposition and performance of its business, and the cus tody, use, and preservation of the records, papers, books, documents, and property pertaining thereto.

SEC. 20. Office.--Each department created by this act shall maintain its principal office at the State capital in rooms provided by the department of business control. The director of each department may, with the approval of the governor, establish and maintain branch offices at other places than the State capital for the conduct of one or more of the functions of his department.

SEC. 74. Divisions.-The department of labor and industries shall be organized into and consist of three divisions, to be known, respectively, as (1) the division of industrial insurance, (2) the division of safety, (3) the division of industrial relations. The director of labor and industries shall receive a salary of not to exceed seventy-five hundred dollars per annum, and have power to appoint such clerical assistants as may be necessary for the general administration of the department.

SEC. 75. Supervisor of industrial insurance.-The director of labor and industries shall have the power to appoint and deputize an assistant director. to be known as the supervisor of industrial insurance, who shall have charge and supervision of the division of industrial insurance, and, with the approval of the director, appoint and employ such adjusters, medical, and other examiners, auditors, inspectors, clerks, and other assistants as may be necessary to carry on the work of the division.

SEC. 76. Supervisor of safety. The director of labor and industries shall have power, (1) to appoint and deputize an assistant director, to be known as the supervisor of safety, who shall have charge and supervision of the division of safety; (2) to appoint the State mining board, the members of which shall have the qualifications provided by law; and (3) to appoint and deputize a chief inspector of mines, who shall have the qualifications provided by law for the office of the State mine inspector. The supervisor of safety, with the

approval of the director, shall have power to appoint and employ such inspectors, clerks, and other assistants as may be necessary to carry on the work of the division. The chief mine inspector, with the approval of the director, shall appoint such qualified deputies as are provided by law.

SEC. 77. Supervisor of industrial relations.-The director of labor and industries shall have power to appoint and deputize an assistant director, to be known as the supervisor of industrial relations, who shall be the State mediator, have charge and supervision of the division of industrial relations, and, with the approval of the director, shall appoint an assistant, to be known as the industrial statistician, and a female assistant, to be known as the supervisor of women in industry, and have power to appoint and employ such assistant mediators, experts, clerks, and other assistants as may be necessary to carry on the work of the division.

SEC. 78. Industrial insurance.--The director of labor and industries shall have the power, and it shall be his duty through and by means of the division of industrial insurance:

(1) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in and required to be performed by the industrial insurance department and the commissioners thereof;

(2) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in and required to be performed by the State medical aid board;

(3) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in and required to be performed by the local aid boards;

(4) To have the custody of all property acquired by the State at execution sale upon judgments obtained for delinquent industrial insurance premiums or medical aid contributions, and penalties and costs, to sell and dispose of the same at private sales for the sale purchase price, and to pay the proceeds into the State treasury to the credit of the industrial insurance fund or medical aid fund, as the case may be. In case of the sale of real estate the director shall execute the deed in the name of the State;

(5) To exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be provided by law.

SEC. 79. Joint decisions.-The director of labor and industries, the supervisor of industrial insurance, and the supervisor of safety shall have the power, and it shall be their duty to jointly hear and decide by a majority vote all matters arising in either the division of industrial insurance or the division of safety, which the director of labor and industries or the supervisor of industrial insurance or the supervisor of safety, respectively, shall deem to be of sufficient importance to require their joint action, and to hear and decide by a majority vote any matter concerning which any person affected by the decision of either the supervisor of industrial insurance or the supervisor of safety shall, by request in writing, ask for a joint decision: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed as depriving any person feeling himself aggrieved by any decision of either the director of labor and industries, the supervisor of industrial insurance, the supervisor of safety, or by any joint decision of the right of appeal therefrom to a court of competent jurisdiction in the manner provided by law.

SEC. 80. Division of safety.-The director of labor and industries shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, through and by means of the division of safety:

(1) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in, and required to be performed by, the State safety board, except the appointment of the State mining board;

(2) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties in relation to the inspection of factories, mills, workshops, storehouses, warerooms, stores, and buildings, and the machinery and apparatus therein contained, and steam vessels and other vessels operated by machinery, and in relation to the administration and enforcement of all laws providing for the protection of employees in mills, factories, workshops, and other places where machinery is used, and in relation to the enforcement, inspection, and certification of safe places and safety device standards in all industries, now vested in, and required to be performed by, the commissioner of labor;

(3) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in, and required to be performed by, the State mine inspector and deputy mine inspectors;

(4) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties in relation to the inspection of tracks, bridges, structures, machinery, equipment, and ap

paratus of railroads, street railways, gas plants, electrical plants, water systems, telephone lines, telegraph lines, and other public utilities, with respect to the safety of employees, and the administration and enforcement of all laws providing for the protection of employees of railroads, street railways, gas plants, electrical plants, water systems, telephone lines, telegraph lines, and other public utilities, now vested in, and required to be performed by, the public service commission;

(5) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties in relation to the enforcement, amendment, alteration, change, and making additions to, rules and regulations concerning the operation, placing, erection, maintenance, and use of electrical apparatus, and the construction thereof, now vested in, and required to be performed by, the public service commission;

(6) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in, and required to be performed by, the inspector of hotels;

(7) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in, and required to be performed by, the bureau of labor;

(8) To exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be provided by law.

SEC. 81. Industrial relations.-The director of labor and industries shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, through and by means of the division of industrial relations:

(1) To promote mediation in, conciliation concerning, and the adjustment of, industrial disputes, in such manner and by such means as may be provided by law;

(2) To study and keep in touch with problems of industrial relations and, from time to time, make public reports and recommendations to the legis lature;

(3) Statistics.-To, with the assistance of the industrial statistician, exercise all the powers and perform all the duties in relation to collecting, assorting, and systematizing statistical details relating to labor within the State, now vested in, and required to be performed by, the secretary of state, and to report to, and file with, the secretary of state duly certified copies of the statistical information collected, assorted, systematized, and compiled, and in collecting, assorting, and systematizing such statistical information to, as far as possible, conform to the plans and reports of the United States Department of Labor;

(4) To, with the assistance of the industrial statistician, make such special investigations and collect such special statistical information as may be needed for use by the department or division of the State government having need of industrial statistics;

(5) To, with the assistance of the supervisor of women in industry, supervise the administration and enforcement of all laws respecting the employment and relating to the health, sanitary conditions, surroundings, hours of labor, and wages of women and minors;

(6) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties, not specifically assigned to any other division of the department of labor and industries, now vested in, and required to be performed by, the commissioner of labor;

(7) To exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be provided by law.

SEC. 82. Industrial welfare.-The director of labor and industries, the supervisor of industrial insurance, the supervisor of industrial relations, the industrial statistician, and the supervisor of women in industry shall constitute a committee, of which the director shall be chairman, and the supervisor of women in industry shall be executive secretary, which shall have the power, and it shall be its duty:

(1) To exercise all the powers and perform all the duties now vested in, and required to be performed by, the industrial welfare commission.

ACTS OF 1923

CHAPTER 110.-Sale of stock to employees of public service companies SECTION 1. Sale authorized.-[Public service companies may sell stock to their employees without offering the same to existing stockholders, if approved by the holders of a majority of the stock at a regular meeting, prices and terms being fixed by the resolution authorizing sale, or by the trustees if so authorized.]

WEST VIRGINIA

CODE-1913-SUPPLEMENT-1918

Protection of employees as voters

SECTION 160. Attempting to influence vote.-* *; and any corporation which shall, by its officers, agents, or otherwise, prevent or attempt to prevent any voter in its employ from attending any election, or from freely exercising his right of suffrage at any election at which he is entitled to vote, by any threat direct or indirect, express or implied, to discharge, or deprive such voter from his employment, or shall discharge or deprive such voter from its employment because of any vote he may cast, or refuse to cast, at any election at which he is entitled to vote, it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon conviction be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars for every such offense, at the discretion of the jury. SECTION 1881. Threats, etc., forbidden.—The following persons shall be deemed guilty of corrupt practices, and upon conviction shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of this act:

(d) Any person who, being an employer, or acting for or on behalf of any employer, shall give any notice or information to his employees, containing any threat, either express or implied, intended or calculated to influence the political view or actions of his workmen or employees.

Bureau of labor

SECTION 460. Bureau created.-There hereby is created a State bureau of labor, to be under the control and management of a commissioner to be known as the State commissioner of labor, who is to be appointed as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 465a. Commissioner.-The governor shall, with, the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a competent person, who is identified with the labor interests of the State, to be State commissioner of labor, who shall hold his office for a term of four years and until his successor is appointed and qualified. In case of a vacancy in the office of the commissioner of labor, caused by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, the governor shall appoint a commissioner of labor for the unexpired term in the manner above provided.

SEC. 465b. Duties.-It shall be the duty of the commissioner of labor to collect, compile and present to the governor an annual report, statistical details relating to all departments of labor and the industrial interests of the State, especially in relation to the financial, social, educational and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and all statistical information that may tend to increase the prosperity of the productive industries of the State. He shall, once at least in every year, visit and inspect the principal factories and workshops of the State; and shall, upon complaint and request of any three or more reputable citizens, visit and inspect any place where labor is employed and make true report of the result of his inspection.

SEC. 4650. Entering work places.-The commissioner of labor shall have power, in the discharge of his duties, to enter and inspect any public institution of the State and any factory, workshop or other place where labor is employed. He may furnish a written or printed list of interrogatories asking information essential to a proper discharge of his duties, to any person, company or corporation employing labor, and require full and complete answers thereto. And if any person, or the officers of any company or corporation shall neglect or refuse to answer, within a reasonable time, any proper question propounded to him by the commissioner of labor, or if any person or the officers of any company or corporation to whom a list of interrogatories has been furnished, shall neglect or refuse to fully and truthfully answer and return the same, such person or such officer of such company or corporation shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

SEC. 465d. Violations.-The commissioner of labor shall report to the prosecuting attorney of the proper county all such violations of this act; whereupon said prosecuting attorney shall proceed against the guilty persons thereof, as in any other cases of misdemeanor; and any person, or any officer, or any company or corporation, convicted in such proceedings shall be fined not less than ten dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, or shall be confined in the county jail not less than ten nor more than ninety days, or shall be both fined and imprisoned within the above limits.

SEC. 465e. Duty of officers.—All State, county, district and city officers shall furnish the commissioner of labor, upon request, all statistical information relating to labor which may be in their possession as such officers. The commissioner of labor shall report to the governor, on or before the first day of December in each year, all the statistics he has collected and compiled, with such suggestions as he may deem advisable as to legislation tending to promote and increase the prosperity of the industrial establishments of the State, and to protect the lives and health and to promote the prosperity of the persons employed therein.

SEC. 465f (as amended 1923, ch. 48). Safety; accident reports; inspectors.— All rooms, buildings, and places in this State where labor is employed or shall hereafter be employed in any factories, mercantile establishments, mills, or workshops shall be so constructed, equipped, and arranged, operated, and conducted in all respects as to provide reasonable and adequate protection for the life, health, safety, and morals of all persons employed therein. Where accidents occur in any factories, mercantile establishments, mills, or workshops causing employees, from the nature of the accident, to be away from his or her duties for a period of ten consecutive days a report shall be made to the bureau of labor of said accident on blanks to be furnished by the commissioner of labor. If death occurs, report shall be made within ten days thereafter. For the carrying into effect of these provisions and the provisions of all the laws of this State the enforcement of which is now or shall hereafter be intrusted to or imposed upon the bureau of labor, the commissioner of labor shall appoint six factory inspectors. The commissioner of labor may at any time divide the State into inspection districts as to him may seem advisable and assign the inspectors to the several districts. The commissioner of labor shall appoint a chief clerk and such other clerks and stenographers as the good of the service requires and within the appropriation made by the legislature. The salary of the commissioner of labor provided for in this act shall be four thousand dollars per annum.

Free public employment offices

(As amended 1923, ch. 49)

SECTION 466. Establishment.-The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized to organize and establish in connection with the bureau of labor and in cooperation with the United States Employment Service of the United States Department of Labor a free employment bureau for the purpose of receiving applications from persons seeking employment and application from persons seeking to employ labor.

SEC. 467. Service.-No compensation or fee shall be charged or received directly or indirectly from persons applying for work, information, or help through said department. The commissioner of labor is hereby authorized to employ such assistance and incur such expense as may be necessary to carry into effect the purpose of this act. But such assistance and expense shall not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars per annum.

Mine regulations

SECTION 495-1 (as amended 1919, ch. 32). Department of mines.-[A department of mines, with a chief at its head, is charged with the execution and enforcement of the mine inspection laws of the State.]

SEC. 495-2 (as amended 1919, ch. 32). Chief-[The chief of the department of mines is appointed by the governor for a term of 4 years.]

SEC. 495-3. Bond.-[An oath of office and a bond in the sum of $2,000 are required.]

SEC. 495-4 (as amended 1919, ch. 32). Qualifications.—[The chief must have had at least 8 years' practical experience and have a practical and scientiae