State and Worker

STATE AND WORKER Labour Legislation.—In recent years, labour legislation has been largely promoted by public groups composed neither exclu sively of employers or of unions. Progress, however, has been hampered by the individualist traditions of the country. Then again, though there were many examples of unsatisfactory conch dons in factories, it is probable that they existed to no such extent as they did in the early English factories, or in Continental fac tories. The result was no such intense reaction as in England to bring about a public outcry for labour legislation. Besides, labour legislation had to meet the usual criticism that it was based upon "foreign socialistic ideas." There was little sympathy with German bureaucratic ideas and as such legislation found its most scientific exposition in Germany, the cry that it was un-American and collectivist was easily raised against it.

As a result, there is no health insurance law, old-age pension provisions or unemployment insurance law in any State in the Union or in the Federal Government. Many of the larger com panies have made elaborate provision for pensions, health insur ance and even group life insurance, but of course this has left the employees of smaller companies without protection of this char acter. The various attempts to regulate child labour federally have been upset and the constitutional amendment was defeated by an overwhelming vote of the people, so that this regulation of child labour must depend upon the various types of legislation passed in each State in accordance with its own particular standards. Mini mum wage legislation for women and children which has been on the statute books in 14 of the States, was recently interpreted so unfavourably by the United States Supreme Court as largely to nullify it.

But in factory codes, sanitary regulation and safety provisions State regulation has decidedly advanced. This has been accom panied by a wide-spread safety movement on the part of em ployers, resulting in part from the recently awakened interest in systematic management, and in part from an admirable system of workmen's compensation in approximately 4o States. This legis lation, once bitterly opposed by the employers, now includes industrialists as its strongest supporters.

Mediation and Arbitration.

In accordance with the con flict theory of labour relations, a technique of mediation and con ciliation was developed both in the Federal and State administra tions, and within industries in private contract between groups of employers and the unions. But compulsory arbitration of the type developed in Australia has made no headway. For the most part Governmental intervention has avoided compulsion and relied upon the friendly offices of governmental agencies in investigating the dispute and bringing the parties together. The only element of compulsion is the power to summon witnesses, hold hearings and command evidence. The distinction has been made that there is more cause for the State exercising compulsion on essential indus tries than on so called non-essential ones. Nevertheless, neither in Federal or State legislation has compulsion obtained any perma nent foothold. In only two important instances—the Colorado law of 1915 and the Kansas "Court of Industrial Relations" of 192o—has an element of compulsion been included. In the latter instance, the law met with determined opposition on all sides and was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court so far as it applied compulsory arbitration to other than transport or public utilities, and was superseded by a new law which abol ished the court.

Federal legislation applicable to disputes on transportation cor porations engaged in interstate commerce began with the act of 1888, and gave the president power of voluntary arbitration, and of making an inquiry into the facts that would make it easier to settle such disputes. The principle of voluntary arbitration was maintained in the Erdman Act of 1898 and the Newlands Act of 1913, the successive laws which superseded the act of 1888. The Transportation Act of 1920 gave certain powers to render awards to the National railway board. Though the awards of that board were not legally binding there was dissatisfaction with the element of compulsion which inhered in its powers to invoke public opin ion without the submission of both parties. Largely as a conse quence of this dissatisfaction the latest law, the Railway Labor Act of 1926, abolished the provision for such a board. Voluntary mediation and arbitration are outstanding features.

The prejudice against compulsory arbitration has had a definite basis in the fear that under a system of compulsory arbitration awards would finally be made even in matters of minute detail.

Thus both nationally and locally judicial process has been confined to conciliation and voluntary arbitration. A department of conciliation was included in the scope of powers of the Federal Department of Labor by an Act passed in 1913, and its commis sioners intercede whenever a situation suggests that they may be able to prevent a break. National commissions have also been appointed to take testimony on important strikes and to recom mend the principles upon which the issue should be settled and these have also been of a voluntary character. One of the out standing ones was President Roosevelt's anthracite coal commis sion of 1902, whose report was long a basis of agreement.

Within the field of private agreement there have been many experiments in setting up judicial machinery, such as the protocols of the New York garment trades, in which a complicated extra legal industrial Government was established. Since the back ground for such experiments have been grievances, the subject was handled largely from a juridical point of view, rather than from the point of view of co-operation and production, as is the case in the more recent clothing agreements.

These processes of mediation and conciliation, and judicial processes as a of solving the labour problem, have been given a disproportionate popular interest. For a while there were indications that they were regarded by many as panaceas, but recently the attitude has changed.