clerk in the town where the controversy arose, and one copy shall be served on each of the parties to the controversy.

§ 4. Whenever a strike or lockout shall occur, or is seriously threatened in any part of the state, and shall come to the knowl edge of the board, it shall be its duty, and it is hereby directed to proceed, as soon as practicable, to the locality of such strike or lockout, and put itself in communication with the parties to the controversy, and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement of such strike or lockout; and, if in the judgment of said board it is best, it shall inquire into the cause or causes of the controversy, and to that end the board is hereby authorized to subpoena witnesses, and send for persons and papers.

§ 5. Said board shall, on or before the first day of December in each year, make a report to the governor, and shall include therein such statements, facts and explanations as will disclose. the actual working of the board, and such suggestions as to legislation as may seem to it conducive to harmony in the relations between employers and employed, and to the improvement of the present system of production.

§ 6. Whenever the term "employer" or "employers" is used in this act it shall be held to include "firm," "joint-stock association," "company" or "corporation," as fully as if each of the last-named terms was expressed in each place.

§ 7. The members of the board shall receive as compensation for actual services rendered under this act the sum of five dollars per day and expenses, upon presentation of their voucher to the comptroller, approved by the governor.

§ 8. This act shall take effect from its passage.

39

MINNESOTA.

An Act to provide for the settlement of differences between employers and employes, and to authorize the creation of boards of arbitration and conciliation, and to appropriate money for the maintenance thereof.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota:

Section 1. That within thirty days after the passage of this act the governor shall, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a state board of arbitration and conciliation, consisting of three competent persons, who shall hold office until their successors are appointed. On the first Monday in January, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and thereafter, biennially, the governor, by and with like advice and consent, shall appoint said board, which shall be constituted as follows: One of them shall be an employer of labor, one of them shall be a member selected from some bona fide trade union and not an employer of labor, and who may be chosen from a list submitted by one or more trade and labor assemblies in the state, and the third shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the other two as hereinafter provided, and shall be neither an employe or an employer of skilled labor; provided, however, that if the two first appointed do not agree in nominating one or more persons to act as the third member before the expiration of ten days, the appointment shall then be made by the governor without such recommendation. Should a vacancy occur at any time, the governor shall in the same manner appoint some one having the same qualifications to serve out the unexpired term, and he may also remove any member of said board.

§ 2. The said board shall, as soon as possible after their appointment, organize by electing one of their members as president and another as secretary, and establish, subject to the approval of the governor, such rules of procedure as may seem advisable.

§ 3. That whenever any controversy or difference arises relating to the conditions of employment or rates of wages between any employer, whether an individual, a copartnership or corporation,

and whether resident or nonresident, and his or their employes, if at the time he or it employs not less than ten persons in the same general line of business in any city or town in this state, the board shall, upon application, as hereinafter provided, as soon as practicable thereafter, visit the locality of the dispute and make a careful inquiry into the causes thereof, hear all persons interested therein who may come before them, advise the respective parties what, if anything, ought to be submitted to by either or both to adjust said dispute, and within ten days after said inquiry make a written decision thereon. This decision shall at once be made public and a short statement thereof published in a biennial report hereinafter provided for, and the said board shall also cause a copy of said decision to be filed with the clerk of the district court of the county where said business is carried

on.

§ 4. That said application shall be signed by said employer or by a majority of his employes in the department of the business in which the controversy or difference exists, or their duly authorized agent, or by both parties, and shall contain a concise statement of the grievance alleged, and shall be verified by at least one of the signers. When an application is signed by an agent claiming to represent a majority of such employes, the board shall, before proceeding further, satisfy itself that such agent is duly authorized in writing to represent such employes, but the names of the employes giving such authority shall be kept secret by said board. Within three days after the receipt of said application the secretary of said board shall cause public notice to be given of the time and place where said hearing shall be held. But public notice need not be given when both parties to the controversy join in the application and present therewith a writ ten 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.

§ 5. The said board shall have power to summon as witnesses

any clerk, agent or employe in the departments of the business who keeps the records of wages earned in those departments, and require the production of books containing the records of wages paid. Summons may be signed and oaths administered by any member of the board. Witnesses summoned before the board shall be paid by the board the same witness fees as witnesses. before a district court.

§ 6. That upon the receipt of an application, after notice has been given as aforesaid, the board shall proceed as before provided, and render a written decision which shall be open to public inspection, and shall be recorded upon the records of the board and published at the discretion of the same in a biennial report which shall be made to the legislature on or before the first Monday in January of each year in which the legislature is in regular session.

§ 7. In all cases where the application is mutual, the decision shall provide that the same shall be binding upon the parties concerned in said controversy or dispute for six months, or until sixty days after either party has given the other notice in writ ing of his or their intention not to be bound by the same. Such notice may be given to said employes by posting the same in three conspicuous places in the shop, factory or place of employment.

§ 8. Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of said board, either by notice from the mayor of a city, the county commissioners, the president of a chamber of commerce or other representative body, the president of the central labor council or assembly, or any five reputable citizens, or otherwise, that what is commonly known as a strike or lockout is seriously threatened or has actually occurred, in any city or town of the State, involving an employer and his or its present or past employes, if at the time such employer is employing, or up to the occurrence of the strike or lockout was employing, not less than ten persons in the same general line of business in any city or town in this State, and said board shall be satisfied that such information is cor rect, it shall be the duty of said board, within three days there

after, to put themselves in communication with such employer and employes and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement between them, or to persuade them to submit the matter in dispute to a local board of arbitration and conciliation, as hereinafter provided, or to said State board, and the said State board may investigate the cause or causes of such controversy and ascertain which party thereto is mainly responsible for the continuance of the same, and may make and publish a report assigning such responsibility. The said board shall have the same powers for the foregoing purposes as are given them by sections three and four of this act.

§ 9. The parties to any controversy or difference, as specified in this act, may submit the matter in dispute in writing to a local board of arbitration and conciliation; such board may either be mutually agreed upon, or the employer may designate one of the arbiters, the employes or their duly authorized agent another, and the two arbiters so designated may choose a third, who shall also be the chairman of the board. Each arbiter so selected shall sign a contract to act as such, and shall take and subscribe an oath before an officer authorized to administer oaths to faithfully and impartially discharge his duty as such arbiter, which consent and oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court of the county where such dispute arises. Such board shall, in respect to the matters submitted to them, have and exercise all the powers which the State board might have and exercise, and their decisions shall have whatever binding effect may be agreed to by the parties to the controversy in the written submission. Vacancies in such local boards may be filled in the same manner as the regular appointments are made. It shall be the duty of said State board to aid and assist in the formation of such local boards throughout the State in advance of any strike or lockout, whenever and wherever in their judgment the formation of such local boards will have a tendency to prevent or allay the occurrence thereof. The jurisdiction of such local boards shall be exclusive in respect to the matters submitted to them; but they may ask and receive the advice and assistance of