SEC. 11. Registration of factories, etc.-Every person, firm, or corporation shall within one month after he, they, or it shall begin to occupy a factory, workshop, mill, or other place of employment notify in writing the chief labor inspector, department of labor at Frankfort, of such occupancy, giving the legal title of such corporation and name of agent upon whom service of summons can be made and in case of firm, the individual names of members of the firm, and its legal title.

SEC. 12. Duties of prosecuting attorney. The prosecuting attorney of each county and city in this State shall conduct all prosecutions for violations of the provisions of this act occurring in their respective jurisdictions.

SEC. 13. Labor disputes.-The chief and deputy labor inspectors shall not take any part, interfere, or become involved in any lockout, strike, or similar labor difficulty. Upon proof of such behavior he or she shall forfeit his or her office.

SEC. 14. Expenses.-There shall be appropriated for the expenses of the department of labor of the bureau of agriculture, labor, and statistics, in cluding the salaries of all persons appointed under it, the sum of $15,000 per annum. All salaries, office expenses, and necessary traveling expenses incurred in the regular performance of the duties of the inspectors shall be paid out of the fund appropriated for the department upon the submission of an itemized statement of same duly certified by the chief labor inspector. The biennial reports of the department of labor, also an adequate number of pamphlets containing abstracts of the labor laws of Kentucky and such other educational material as the commissioner may deem advisable, shall be printed by the public printer under the direction of the commissioner of public printing and paid for out of the general fund provided by law for the printing for the executive departments.

SECS. 15, 16. Exemptions.—[These sections declare mine inspectors and the workmen's compensation board not to be affected by this act.]

CHAPTER 71.-Payment of wages in scrip

SECTION 1. Redemption; records.—An individual, firm, partnership, or organi zation or corporation employing labor who may hereafter issue any script [scrip], due bills, checks, or other evidence of debt in any form for labor shall redeem same in cash or legal tender at face value at least once in each month on a regular pay day from any person or persons, firm, or corporation who may present the same for payment: Provided, That any person, firm, or corporation buying said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt which has been issued to employees for labor shall be entitled to sue the person, firm, or corporation issuing the same if payment is refused, and shall be entitled to recover face value therefor if it has been paid for in goods and merchandise in store, and if paid for in cash shall be entitled to recover the amount paid for said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt issued to employees, together with 6 per cent interest from date said script [scrip] was purchased, and in the event said amount paid for said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt issued to employees is less than the face value thereof, and that the amount paid and interest thereon is less than face value of said script [scrip], the residue of the face value thereof shall be credited on the books of the employer to the employee to whom it was issued and said employee shall be entitled to receive same on any regular pay day of said employer: And provided, That the person, firm, or corporation suing said employer to recover on said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt shall not be required to make the persons from whom said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt was purchased party or parties to any action brought to enforce collection for same. All persons, firms, and corporations purchasing script [scrip] or other evidence of debt issued to employees on account of labor shall keep an accurate record of the amount of script [scrip] or other evidence of debt purchased and this record so kept shall show the name of each person from whom script [scrip] or other evidence of debt issued to employees for labor was purchased, the amount purchased, date thereof, and amount paid in goods or in cash or other thing of value, and who issued said script [scrip] or other evidence of debt so purchased. This act shall not apply to persons, firms, or corporations employing less than twenty persons. The itemized statement from the record so kept shall be presented when payment is demanded for script [scrip] or other evidence of debt so purchased from any person, firm, or corporation and said statement shall be properly sworn to by the person presenting same or by his or its agent.

LOUISIANA

CONSTITUTION-1921

ARTICLE IV.-Labor legislation

SECTION 4. Restrictions.-The legislature shall not pass any local or special law on the following specified subjects:

Regulating labor, trade, manufacturing, or agriculture.

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual any special or exclusive right, privilege, or immunity.

*

SEC. 7. No wage regulation.-No law shall be passed fixing the price of manual labor, but the legislature, through a commission or otherwise, may establish minimum wages for and regulate the hours and working conditions of women and girls, except those engaged in agricultural pursuits or domestic service.

ARTICLE X.-Exemption of laborers from license tax

SECTION 8. Laborers exempt from license.-[Authorizes the legislature to levy a license tax on trades, callings, etc., from which, among others, laborers and those engaged in mechanical pursuits or in operating sawmills are exempt.]

ARTICLE XI.-Suits for wages-Homesteads not exempt

SECTION 2. Exemption not applicable.-[Homestead exemptions are provided for, but they do not apply in the case of debts owing for labor, money, and material furnished for building, repairing, or improving homesteads.]

REVISED LAWS-1897

Arbitration and conciliation of labor disputes

SECTION 1. Appointment of board.-Within thirty days after the passage of this act the governor of the State, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint five competent persons to serve as a board of arbitration and conciliation in the manner hereinafter provided. Two of them shall be employers, selected or recommended by some association or board representing employers of labor, two of them shall be employees, selected or recommended by the various labor organizations and not an employer of labor, and the fifth shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the other four: Provided, however, That if the four appointed do not agree on the fifth man at the expiration of thirty days, he shall be appointed by the governor: Provided also. That if the employers or employees fail to make their recommendation as herein provided within thirty days, then the governor shall make said appointments in accordance with the spirit and intent of this act; said appointments, if made when the senate is not in session, may be confirmed at the next ensuing session.

SEC. 3. Organization.-Each member of said board shall before entering upon the duties of his office be sworn to a faithful discharge thereof. They shall organize at once by the choice of one of their number as chairman and one of their number as secretary. The board shall, as soon as possible after its organization, establish rules of procedure.

SEC. 4. Mediation.-Whenever any controversy or difference not involving questions which may be the subject of a suit or action in any court of the

State exists between an employer, whether an individual, copartnership, or corporation, and his employees, if at the time he employs not less than twenty persons in the same general line of business in any city or parish of this State, the board shall, upon application as hereinafter provided and as soon as practicable thereafter, visit the locality of the dispute and make careful inquiry into the cause thereof, hear all persons interested therein who may come before them, advise the respective parties what, if anything, ought to be done or submitted to by either or both to adjust said dispute.

SEC. 5. Decision to be published.-Such mediation having failed to bring about an adjustment of the said differences, the board shall immediately make out a written decision thereon. This decision shall at once be made public, shall be recorded upon proper books of record to be kept by the secretary of said board, and a short statement thereof published in the annual report hereinafter provided for, and the said board shall cause a copy thereof to be filed with the clerk of the court of the city or parish where said business is carried on.

SEC. 6. Applications to board.-Said application for arbitration and conciliation to said board can be made by either or both parties to the controversy, and shall be signed in the respective instances by said employer or by a majority of the employees in the department of the business in which the controversy or difference exist[s], or the duly authorized agent of either or both parties. When an application is signed by an agent claiming to represent a majority of such employees the board shall satisfy itself that such agent is duly authorized in writing to represent such employees, but the names of the employees giving authority shall be kept secret by said board.

SEC. 7. To contain what.--Said application shall contain a concise statement of the grievances complained of and a promise to continue on in business or at work in the same manner as at the time of the application without any lockout or strike until the decision of said board if it shall be made within ten days of the date of filing said application.

SEC. 8. Hearing.-As soon as may be after the receipt of said application the secretary of said board shall cause public notice to be given of the time and place for the hearing therein, but the public notice need not be given when both parties to the controversy join in the application and present therewith a written request that no public notice be given. When such request is made notice shall be given to the parties interested in such manner as the board may order, and the board may, at any stage of the proceedings, cause public notice to be given, notwithstanding such request. Should the petitioner or petitioners fail to perform the promise made in said application, the board shall proceed no further therein until said petitioner or petitioners have complied with every order and requirement of the board.

SEC. 9. Witnesses, etc.-The board shall have power to summon as witnesses any operative in the department of business affected and any person who keeps the record of wages earned in these departments, and examine them under oath and to require the production of books and papers containing the record of wages earned or paid. Summons may be signed and oaths administered by any member of the board. The board shall have the right to compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of papers.

SEC. 10. Notification by mayor or judge.-Whenever it is made to appear to the mayor of a city or the judge of any district court in any parish, other than the parish of Orleans, that a strike or lockout is seriously threatened or actually occurs, the mayor of such city or the judge of the district court of such parish, shall at once notify the State board of the fact. Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the State board either by the notice of the mayor of a city or the judge of the district court of the parish, as provided in the preceding part of this section or otherwise, that a lockout or strike is seriously threatened, or has actually occurred, in any city or parish of this State, involving an employer and his present or past employees, if at the time he is employing, or up to the occurrence of a strike or lockout was employing not less than twenty persons in the same general line of business in any city or parish in the State, it shall be the duty of the State board to put itself in communication as soon as may be with such employer and employees.

SEC. 11. Duty of board.-It shall be the duty of the State board in the above described cases to endeavor, by mediation or conciliation to effect an amicable settlement between them, and to endeavor to persuade them, provided a strike

or lockout has not actually occurred or has [is] not then continuing to submit the matters in dispute to the State board of arbitration and conciliation; and the State board shall, whether the same be mutually submitted to them or not, investigate the cause or causes of such controversy and ascertain which party thereto is mainly responsible or blameworthy for the existence or continuance of the same, and shall make and publish a report finding such cause or causes, and assigning such responsibility or blame. The board shall have the same powers for the foregoing purposes as are given it by section 9 of this act.

SEC. 12. Reports.-Said State board shall make a biennial report to the governor and legislature, and shall include therein such statements, facts and explanations as will disclose the actual workings of the board, and such suggestions as to legislation as may seem to the members of the board conducive to the relations of and disputes between employers and employees.

SEC. 13. Compensation.—The members of the State board of arbitration and conciliation hereby created shall each be paid five dollars a day for each day of actual service, and their necessary traveling and other expenses. The chairman of the board shall quarterly certify the amount due each member, and on presentation of his certificate the auditor of the State shall draw his warrant on the treasury of the State for the amount.

This statute authorizes investigation on proper application without the consent of all parties. Boards are governed by the broad rules of law and equity, and not by technical rules of law. Objections upon grounds of irregularity must be made before the board, both parties being represented, before application to the courts to correct errors. Apprehension that the conclusion and decision of the board will be erroneous is not ground for an injunction. 17 So. 418.

Labor organizations-Incorporation

SECTION 677. Who may incorporate.-Whenever any number of persons exceeding six may be desirous of forming themselves into a corporation or body politic for the preservation of life or property, or for any religious, scientific, literary or charitable purpose, and to acquire and enjoy the rights, privileges and powers of a body corporate and politic in law, it shall be lawful for such persons to prepare and sign an instrument, either in authentic form or under private signature, wherein they shall declare and specify the purposes and objects of such corporation; the name, style and title thereof; the place chosen for its domicile; the manner in which such managers and officers are to be chosen; the officer on whom citations may be served, and the length of time during which the corporation shall exist and continue. The act of incorporation shall be handed to the district attorney, in which its domicile is fixed for examination as to its legality; and should he be of opinion that the purposes and objects of the corporation, as specified in said act, are legal, and that none of the provisions therein contained are contrary to law, he shall indorse his opinion to that effect thereon. The act, together with the opinion of the district attorney, shall then be recorded in the office of the parish recorder, or other official performing the duties of parish recorder, which act, when so recorded, shall constitute the subscribers to the same, and their associates and successors, a body politic and corporate, for the purposes and objects declared and contained in the act, and shall have continuance and succession by the name, style and title as set forth in the act, a copy of which, duly certified by the officer in whose office the same is recorded, shall be full and complete evidence of the contents of the original act.

(Page 136. Act No. 50, Acts of 1890.)

SECTION 1. Incorporation of trades-unions, etc.-Any trades-unions, Knights of Labor assemblies or lodges, Farmers Alliances or any similar organizations as now established in this State or as may hereafter be established for similar purposes, may form themselves into incorporated bodies: Provided, That no less than six members or persons comply with the requirements of section six hundred and seventy-seven of the Revised Statutes, relative to the organization of corporations for literary, scientific, religious and charitable purposes, and all acts amendatory thereof, and the provisions of section 677

shall apply to and include all corporations organized under the provisions of this act.

Antitrust law-Labor organizations exempt

(Page 205. Act No. 90, Acts of 1892.)

SECTION 8. Exemption of labor combinations.-The provisions of this act shall not ** be so construed as to affect any combination or confederation of laborers for the purpose of procuring an increase of their wages or redress of grievances.

Protection of employees as voters

SECTION 902. Attempting to influence votes, etc.-Any planter, manager, overseer, or other employer of laborers in this State who shall, previous to the expiration of the term of service of any laborer in their employ, or under their control, discharge from their employ any laborer or laborers on account of their political opinions, or who shall attempt to control the suffrages or votes of such laborers by any contract or agreement whatever, entered into at any time with such laborers, shall pay a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction, and it shall be the duty of the district attorney for the judicial district, or the district attorney pro tempore of the parish in which such offender resides, to institute such suit in the name of the parish of the offender's residence, and he shall be entitled to twenty-five per cent of the amount of all fines he may so recover as his fees in the case, and the balance shall be paid to the treasurer of the common school fund of such parish for the use of common schools in such parish, and upon due conviction for any such offense such offender shall be imprisoned not exceeding one year.

SECTION 1. Actions against nonresidents. In all parishes of the State it shall be lawful for mechanics, laborers, and others doing work on the plantation or plantations of the nonresident proprietors thereof to institute suit for the recovery of their wages, labor, work, or portion of the crop, as the case may be, against the nonresident proprietors of said plantation in the parish in which said labor or work was done and performed.

SEC. 2. Service of citation.-In all cases when suits are to be instituted it shall only be necessary to make service of the copy of citation and petition upon the agent, overseer, manager, or other person having control, management, or administration of said plantation, and in the employ of the said nonresident proprietor.

(Page 683. Act No. 25, Acts of 1874.)

SECTION 1. Time of trial.-In all cases instituted before any court of this State by a laborer or laborers upon any farm or plantation for the recovery of his or their wages, it shall be legal and competent for the judge, upon application of either plaintiff or defendant, to try the suit either in chambers or in open court after three days' service of citation.

SEC. 2. Appeals.-In case of appeal from any judgment so rendered either plaintiff or defendant shall be entitled to have the case tried de novo in the appellate court, either in chambers or in open court, and all appeals in such cases shall be returnable to the appellate court within three days after rendition and signing of judgment.

(Page 683. Act No. 16, Acts of 1886.)

SECTION 1. Venue.-Parties holding claims against any citizen of this State for labor performed, or for supplies or materials furnished, or for improvements made upon any farm or plantation, or real estate, are hereby authorized to institute suit for the recovery of such claims before any competent court having territorial jurisdiction of the property, whether the owner be domiciled or not in the parish where the property is situated.