given as aforesaid, each of the parties to the controversy, the employer on one side, and the employes interested on the other side, may in writing nominate, and the board may appoint, one person to act in the case as expert assistant to the board.

The two persons so appointed shall be skilled in and conversant with the business or trade concerning which the dispute has arisen. It shall be their duty, under the direction of the board, to obtain and report to the board, information concerning the wages paid, the hours of labor and the methods and grades of work prevailing in manufacturing establishments, or other industries or occupations, within the state of a character similar to that in which the matters in dispute have arisen. Said expert assistants shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duty; such oath to be administered by any member of the board, and a record thereof shall be preserved with the record of the proceedings in the case. They shall be entitled to receive from the treasury of the state such compensation as shall be allowed and certified by the board not exceeding dollars per day, together with all necessary traveling expenses. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent the board from appointing such other additional expert assistant or assistants as it may deem necessary, who shall be paid in like manner. Should the petitioner or petitioners fail to perform the promise made in said application, the board shall proceed no further thereupon without the written consent of the adverse party. The board shall have power to summon as witness any operative or employe in the department of business affected and any person who keeps the records of wages earned in those departments, and to examine them under oath, and to require the production of books containing the record of wages paid. Summons may be signed and oaths administered by any member of the board. [§ 3334. Act approved March 15, 1895.]

$3335. Upon the receipt of such application and after such notice, the board shall proceed as before provided, and render a written decision, which shall be open to public inspection, shall be recorded upon the records of the board, and published at the discretion of the same in an annual report to be made to

the governor on or before the first day of December in each year. [§ 3335. Act approved March 15, 1895.]

§ 3336. Any decision made by the board is binding upon the parties who join in the application for six months, or until either party has given the other notice in writing of his intention not to be bound by the same at the expiration of sixty days therefrom. The notice must be given to employes by posting the same in three conspicuous places in the shop, office, factory, store, mill, or mine where the employes work.

Such

§ 3337. The parties to any controversy or difference as described in § 3333 of this code may submit the matters in dispute, in writing, to a local board of arbitration and conciliation; such board may be either mutually agreed upon, or the employer may designate one of the arbitrators, the employes, or their duly authorized agent, another, and the two arbitrators so designated may choose a third, who shall be chairman of the board. board shall, in respect to the matters referred to it, have and exercise all the powers which the state board might have and exercise, and its decision shall whatever binding effect may be agreed by the parties to the controversy in the written submission. The jurisdiction of such board shall be exclusive in respect to the matters submitted to it, but it may ask and receive the advice and assistance of the state board. The decision of such board shall be rendered within ten days of the close of any hearing held by it; such decision shall at once be filed with the clerk of the county in which the controversy or difference arose, and a copy thereof shall be forwarded to the state board and entered on its records. Each of such arbitrators shall be entitled to receive from the treasury of the county in which the controversy or difference that is the subject of the arbitration exists, if such payment shall be approved by the commissioners of said county, the sum of three dollars for each day of actual service, not exceeding ten days for any one arbitration.

Whenever it is made to appear to the mayor of any city or two commissioners of any county, that a strike or lockout such as described hereafter in this section is seriously threatened or actually occurs, the mayor of such city, or said commissioners of such county, shall at once notify the state board of the fact.

Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the state board, either by notice from the mayor of a city, or two or more commissioners of a county, as provided in this section, or otherwise, that a strike or lockout is seriously threatened or has actually occurred in any city or county of this state, involving an employer and his present or past employes, if at the time he is employing or up to the occurrence of the strike or lockout was employing not less than twenty persons in the same general line of business in any city, town or county in this state, it shall be the duty of the state board to put itself in communication as soon as may be with such employer and employes, and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement between them, or to endeavor to persuade them, providing that a strike or lockout has not actually occurred or is not then continuing, to submit the matters in dispute to a local board of arbitration and conciliation as above provided, or to the state board; and said state board may, if it deems it advisable, 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 may 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 § 3333 of this code.

Witnesses summoned by the state board shall be allowed the sum of fifty cents for each attendance, and the further sum of twenty-five cents for each hour of attendance in excess of two hours, and shall be allowed five cents a mile for travel each way from their respective places of employment or business to the place where the board is in session. Each witness shall

certify in writing the amount of his travel and attendance, and the amount due him shall be (see § 9 of Massachusetts act and make such provision as deemed best) certified to the state board of examiners for auditing, and the same shall be paid as other expenses of the state from any moneys in the state treasury. [§ 3337. Act approved March 15, 1895.]

§ 3338. The arbitrators hereby created must be paid five dollars for each day of actual service and their necessary traveling expenses and necessary books or record, to be paid out of the treasury of the state, as by law provided.

MICHIGAN.

[Public Acts, 1889, No. 238.]

An Act to provide for the amicable adjustment of grievances and disputes that may arise between employers and employés, and to authorize the creation of a State court of mediation and arbitration.

SECTION 1. The people of the State of Michigan enact, That whenever any grievance or dispute of any nature shall arise between any employer and his employés, it shall be lawful to submit the same in writing to a court of arbitrators for hearing and settlement, in the manner hereinafter provided.

SEC. 2. After the passage of this act the Governor may, whenever he shall deem it necessary, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a State court of mediation and arbitration, to consist of three competent persons, who shall hold their terms of office, respectively, one, two and three years, and upon the expiration of their respective terms the said term of office shall be uniformly for three years. If any vacancy happens by resignation or otherwise he shall, in the same manner, appoint an arbitrator for the residue of the term. If the Senate shall not be in session at the time any vacancy shall occur or exist, the Governor shall appoint an arbitrator to fill the vacancy, subject to the approval of the Senate when convened. Said court shall have a clerk or secretary, who shall be appointed by the court, to serve three years, whose duty it shall be to keep a full and faithful record of the proceedings of the court and also all documents, and to perform such other duties as the said court may prescribe. He shall have power, under the direction of the court, to issue subpoenas, to administer oaths in all cases before said court, to call for and examine all books, papers and documents of any parties to the controversy, with the same authority to enforce their production as is possessed by the courts of record, or the judges thereof, in this State. Said arbitrators and clerk shall take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office, and be sworn to the due and faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices before entering upon the discharge of the same. An office shall be set apart in the capitol by the person or persons having charge thereof, for the proper and convenient transaction of the business of said court.

SEC. 3. Any two of the arbitrators shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and may hold meetings at any time or place within the State. Examinations or investigations ordered by the court may be held and taken by and before any one of their number, if so directed. But the proceedings and decisions of any single arbitrator shall not be deemed conclusive until approved by the court or a majority thereof. Each arbitrator shall have power to administer oaths.

SEC. 4. Whenever any grievance or dispute of any nature shall arise between any employer and his employés, it shall be lawful for the parties to submit the same directly to said State court, and shall jointly notify said court or its clerk, in writing, of such grievance or dispute. Whenever such notification to said court or its clerk is given, it shall be the duty of said court to proceed, with as little delay as possible, to the locality of such grievance or dispute, and inquire into the cause or causes of grievance or dispute. The parties to the grievance or dispute shall thereupon. submit to said court, in writing, succinctly, clearly and in detail, their grievances and complaints, and the cause or causes thereof, and severally agree in writing to submit to the decision of said court as to matters so submitted, and a promise or agreement to continue on in business or at work, without a lockout or strike, until the decision of said court, provided it shall be rendered within ten days after the completion of the investigation. The court shall thereupon proceed to fully investigate and inquire into the matters in controversy, and to take testimony, under oath, in relation thereto, and shall have power, by its chairman or clerk, to administer oaths, to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses, the production of books and papers, to the same extent as such power is possessed by courts of record, or the judges thereof, in this State.

SEC. 5. After the matter has been fully heard the said board, or majority of its members, shall, within ten days, render a decision thereon in writing, signed by them, or a majority of them, stating such details as will clearly show the nature of the decision and the points disposed of by them. The decision shall be in triplicate, one copy of which shall be filed by the clerk of the court in the clerk's office of the county where the controversy arose, and one copy shall be served on each of the parties to the controversy.