personality of Lord Devonport, a gentleman who has earned for himself more execration in the past few weeks than any average honest man with a conscience would care to continue to exist under. This man is the chairman of the Port of London Authority, a semi-public body that controls the London docks, and this post of chairman enables him to play the czar, and he is doing it with true Russian cruelty. He himself is a self-made man and is now a millionaire owning a tremendous string of grocery stores all over the country and a great wholesale tea business. He finds himself at the head of the Port of London Authority and with a title at the end of a busy financial and political life. Born Hudson Kearley, he received his title a few years ago as a reward for the usual services which a wealthy and unscrupulous politician renders his party.

Recently, it will be remembered, a hasty scheme was hatched to extend the London Transport Workers' strike over all the country. This failed. The idea is now being revived on proper and more organized lines, and a body of workmen's leaders, under Havelock Wilson, the veteran sailors' organizer who has just returned from his tour round the world, and Tom Mann, another very popular labor organizer and speaker, are now going round the various ports in the country with a view to finding out how local sentiment lies and whether a really efficient and splendid national withdrawal of all transport labor can be brought about to assist the London dockers and bring the fight to a head.

Amongst the miners also there is a very large number who greatly sympathize with the London dockers and who would be prepared to cordially second any efforts on the part of their executives to bring about a sympathetic strike. Railway unions, although so closely associated with the transportation industry, have not made any official move yet, but a large number of their members also are very sympathetic with the dockers. It is not beyond the bounds of reason therefore that just when the London dock strike appears to be on the verge of collapsing through starvation of the men and their children, that a complete turn round may result and such a national strike follow as will force the hands even of an obstinate tyrant like our above-mentioned Lord Devonport.

In the House of Commons on July 24th Premier Asquith confirmed the announcement made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George on the previous night that a bill dealing with industrial disputes will be introduced by the Government. The measure, the Prime Minister intimated, will be brought in next session. An effort was made by one of the labor members to pin the premier to a description of the bill, asking if it was one to provide for compulsory arbitration, but Mr. Asquith evaded the point by observing that the bill had been described by Mr. Lloyd George in much more general terms.

In connection with the announcement of forthcoming legislation to deal with labor disputes it is believed that the proposals of the Government, unless they are subsequently modified, will provide for machinery to make stoppages of work in such industries as mining, transportation, etc., almost impossible, while, in the case of disputes in other less important industries, conciliation will be tried in the earlier stages, but it will only be in the event of a deadlock that the element of compulsion will enter. With regard to the position of the Industrial Council (which is a public and state supported committee of public men set up by the Government with a view to bringing about peaceful settlements of labor dispates but without any compulsory powers), which has been a failure in the opinion of the Government. it was intended that this body should be experimental. Members were only to serve for twelve months, and as that period expires in October next the council will be disbanded in its present form, but will very probably be reconstituted on an entirely different basis.

Generally speaking, the labor and trade union leaders view the Government's proposals with much apprehension, but they will take no definite step until the actual terms of the Government's proposals are known. It can be stated, however, that any attempt to introduce unqualified compulsory arbitration will be followed by drastic action, most probably the declaration of a generål strike of all organized workers. That has been made clear by recent pronouncements of the General Federation of Trades Unions.

The miners themselves are profoundly discontented with the awards of the district boards created under the Coal

Mines Minimum Wage Act. These awards determining the daily rates of pay which are to be given to coal getters in each district have now been made for each district. To assert that the miners of the country have not secured substantial benefits from the awards under the Minimum Wage Act would be to fly in the face of plain facts. Big gains in hard cash have been secured in various parts of the country. In South Wales alone the annual increase in wages under the award of Lord St. Aldwyn amounts to $2,100,000.

Nevertheless, awards throughout the country give the miners cause for the gravest dissatisfaction and resentment. The reason for this is that the awards fall short of the lowest demand put forward on behalf of the workmen during the miners national strike-namely, that no underground worker in the coal mines of Great Britain should be allowed to work at less than a guaranteed wage of $1.25 per day. The complete schedule of wages for all grades of workmen still remains the goal of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and our miners would in any circumstances continue to work toward that goal; but the failure to establish the irreducible demand of $1.25 a day means that the unrest which led up to the national strike is still with us as acute as ever. That struggle, in which the miners' national strike was but the opening skirmish, must go on until the minimum wage rates which have just been established are substantially increased.

Trouble has broken out at the Liverpool docks in connection with the inauguration of the so-called clearing-house system which is apparently a very fair attempt to do something to reduce the evils of casual labor at the docks. The scheme affects Liverpool and Birkenhead docks and has been worked out by the Board of Trade, a state department, in conjunction with a joint committee representing shipowners and the National Union of Dock Laborers. Clearing houses have been placed at convenient points on the dock system, which will be used for the registration of all dock laborers, for the payment of wages, and for the adjustment and collection of contributions under the National Insurance Act. These clearing houses are controlled by officials of the Board of Trade labor exchanges

or employment bureaus. Every docker is required to register, and on doing that he will receive a numbered tally. Each morning he will proceed to a dock labor stand in the usual way to apply for work. A number of surplus labor stands have been provided, connected by telephone with the clearing houses. Dockers not successful in obtaining work at the employers' stands will proceed to the surplus labor stands, and in that way learn of openings for labor at any other dock. It is calculated that, with this machinery, a glut of labor at any one point will be obviated and that the industrial army will be distributed evenly throughout the whole dock system. This marshaling of the forces of labor, it is claimed, will possess advantages for both men and masters. At the end of each week paysheets will be made up by the employers, and forwarded with the money to the clearing houses for disbursement once a week. Besides their uses for registration and for the payment of wages, the clearing houses will be employed for the fulfilment of obligations of the National Insurance Act.

Over 10,000 dockers ceased work at these docks on July 15th, and some thousands are still out. The malcontents declare that the clearing house system is meant to kill the union ticket and replace it with the clearing house tally and they see other insidious attacks upon their unions. Against this it must be pointed out that the union officials themselves are entirely in favor of the new scheme and have helped to work it out. It is probable that the men will return to work shortly and give the scheme anyhow a trial.

The above reference to the Insurance Act may perhaps require a little explanation. Under the official title of the National Insurance Act there came into force on July 15th in this country an insurance scheme divided into two classes, one dealing with sickness and invalidity and the other with unemployment. The first, the so-called health section, is compulsory upon the whole of the working population with very few exceptions. Every person in the service of an employer must be insured if between the ages of 16 and 70 and must (1) Get a contribution card either from the approved society of which he or she is a member or from any post office; and (2) Produce it to his or her employer to be

stamped on every pay day. Every employer must (1) See to it that every person in his employ has a contribution card from an approved society or an emergency card from a post office; (2) Obtain health insurance stamps at the post office; and (3) Stamp the card before paying wages. If he disregards these provisions he is liable for each offense to be fined an amount not exceeding $50.

All kinds of societies have been approved, and they include trade unions, friendly societies and industrial assurance companies that form special branches for the administration of the act. Practically, the scheme is drawn up so widely as to secure that every person shall either be an insured worker or an income tax payer. The contributions are compulsory. Every working man has to pay 8 cents per week, to which contribution is added another 6 cents from the employer and a further 4 cents from the state, making a total contribution per workman of 18 cents per week.

The benefit secured for these payments are (1) Medical benefit, that is, doctor and medicine free throughout life; (2) Sanatorium benefit, that is, treatment in a sanatorium or in some other way in case of consumption; (3) Sickness benefit, $2.50 per week for 26 weeks, commencing on the fourth day of sickness; (4) Disablement benefit, $1.25 per week ever afterwards as long as he is incapable of work; and (5) Maternity benefit, $7.50 for the wife on confinement.

Working women pay 6 cents per week and the employer and the state contribute the same as for men, making a total contribution per woman or girl 16 cents per week. The medical, sanatorium and disablement benefits are the same as for men. The sickness benefit, however, is less, being just under $2 per week. The maternity benefit is the same, and should the woman worker be also the wife of an insured workman she would secure a total of $15, that is, the two benefits together. All these benefits are subject to certain waiting periods and other conditions, and the earliest will not be available for at least six months after the coming of the act into operation. Dues are compulsory from the start, however. There are also certain special rates of contribution and special benefits, both reduced in certain cases, but the vast majority of workers come under the general scheme.

The workers' contribution card has 13 spaces, in each of which an adhesive stamp is to be fixed weekly, representing the sum total of the employer's and the worker's contribution. When the card is full it has to be handed to the worker's approved society, when a fresh one for the next thirteen weeks will be issued, and so on. The stamps are purchased at the post offices.

The above refers only to the health section. With regard to the unemployment section, that is also compulsory, but not upon so many workers. It applies for the time being only to men employed in the building, engineering, shipbuilding and vehicular construction trades, which with their general laborers and mill sawyers will make something under 21 million men. The compulsory contribution for unemployment insurance payable by workmen is 5 cents per week. To this the employer adds another 5 cents per week and the state 3 cents per week, making a total contribution per workman of 13 cents per week. Each workman is provided with an insurance book in which at the end of the week the employer when paying wages will insert a 10-cent stamp for his own and the workman's contribution, first deducting the workman's share from his wages. No contributions are required during unemployment. The benefits are the payment of $1.50 per week whilst unemployed after the first week of unemployment in the building trades and $1.75 per week in the engineering, shipbuilding or vehicular construction trades. No more than 15 weeks' benefit will be paid in any one year, and there are some other conditions.

The worker, before he receives any benefit, must have been employed in an insured trade for at least 26 weeks; must have applied to a labor exchange (or Government employment bureau) and failed to obtain work through such bureau or otherwise; and must be capable of work. This last condition will not be broken by the unemployed man's refusal to accept a job vacant because of a labor dispute or to undertake work at a rate lower than that which he habitually earns when employed or at a rate lower than that current in the district in which the employment is offered. Strikers of course will not obtain benefit whilst on strike by their own act in their own trade, and situations lost by misconduct

or by the worker's own wish will not entitle to benefit.

The labor exchanges will play the principal part in the machinery of administration, and an unemployed workman will take his insurance book and claim benefit from the insurance office at the exchange. If he is dissatisfied with this official's decision he may appeal to a court of referees, composed of equal numbers of employers and workmen, with an impartial chairman. When the officer and the court of referees agree, their decision will be final; otherwise there will be a further and final appeal to an umpire appointed by the Board of Trade. In districts without labor exchanges special offices of the nature of sub postoffices will be opened.

Most of our trade unions have become approved societies because they have practically no option, owing to their already paying their members sickness and other benefits. Many critics regard the act as a scheme to tie up large, sections of union funds and to do other things that are undesirable from a union-labor standpoint, but that such criticisms are in any way justified is yet to be seen.

Industrial Items of Interest.*

Injunction and Contempt Legislation.-The Injunction Limitation Bill, H. R. 23635, is still before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Attorneys for the manufacturers and railroads are appearing in opposition to the measure. President Gompers and other labor officials are doing everything

possible in its behalf. Letters coming to the Senators from trade unionists are having a very perceptible effect in favor of it. If this practice is continued and the Senators are given to clearly understand that they will be each held responsible if Congress adjourns without this legislation being enacted, the Senators undoubtedly will heed the directions given them by their constituents.

The Contempt Bill, II. R. 22591, was brought before the House with a special rule on July 8. The rule was adopted by a vote of 152 to 27. After considerable debate the bill was passed on July 11, by a vote of 233 "ayes" to 18 "nays." The opposition to labor's measures is steadily growing less. If labor watches its interests vigilantly the following eighteen gentlemen will not have many *From A. F. of L. News Letter.

more opportunities to vote "nay" when its interests are before Congress for action: Cannon, Dalzell, Danforth, Dodds, Griest, Harris, Howell, Howland, Langham, McCreary, Madden, Mann, Moore (Pennsylvania), Payne, Sterling, Tilson, Utter and Weeks. The passage

of this measure (the Contempt Bill) again verifies the contention made by labor that if the bills advocated by labor can be brought up on the floor of Congress there is no question or doubt about their passage. This Contempt Bill is

now before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, together with the Injunction Limitation Bill. Timely pressure brought to bear upon Senators by "the folks back home" will bring it out of committee and secure its passage before Congress adjourns.

Injunction Against Workers Organizing.-A temporary injunction has been granted by the District Court of Shawnee County (Kan.) against the officers of the Industrial Council of Topeka, including Edward D. McKeever, an attorney, and all others aiding or abetting in the work of organizing the street railway employes of the Topeka Street Railway Company. The complaint includes a plea that the organization of the employes would establish a boycott against the Topeka Railway Company, and the organizers are restrained from creating "dissatisfaction or causing dissention among employes of the railway company." Date for hearing has been set and the Industrial Council of Topeka is hopeful that a permanent injunction will not be granted.

Workmen Can Not Waive "Rights."-The United States Supreme Court in a recent decision, upheld that feature of the Employers' Liability Act which prevents an employe from waiving his rights in order to obtain employment from a railroad by signing a contract for benefits in a company's so-called "Voluntary Relief Association." It can not in the future be held as a defense for the railroad

and a prevention from the recovery of damages in case of negligence. A brakeman employed by the Washington Terminal Company lost his arm in a collision. A suit for damages followed. The District of Columbia Court ruled the section of the Employers' Liability Act, relied upon by the company, was unconstitutional. The case was appealed and was reversed. Another trial was had, which resulted in

the court directing a verdict for the company, this time upon the ground that it was not a common carrier. The District Court of Appeals ruled the company was a common carrier. The United States Supreme Court now finally settles both issues by deciding in favor of the crippled brakeman and allowing him $7,500 damages.

Timely Debates on Contempt Bill.-During the House debate on the Contempt Bill, Congressman Wilson of Pennsylvania said: "This bill is the natural complement of the Anti-Injunction Bill in so far as it applies to cases arising in trades disputes. It is within the constitutional power of Congress to enact. It will extend the right of trial by jury to indirect contempt cases where the acts alleged to have been committed are of a criminal character, and removes the suspicion that bias on the part of some judge does injustice to innocent parties. It will regulate the exercise of judicial power so as to protect the people in the exercise of all their rights." Congressman Kendall said: "The protest against the abuse of the injunctive process has become national in its character. It is not unreasonable clamor. It is too insistent to be ignored as temporary discontent. There is a confirmed conviction that the equity powers of the Federal judiciary have been employed not exclusively to preserve property from destruction, but frequently to compel the settlement of industrial disputes. This Contempt Bill regulating the procedure in prosecutions for contempt is complementary to the AntiInjunction Bill recently passed. If they both become law it will not be possible in future for the injunction to be invoked and abused in labor disputes as it has been in the past. No court then will entertain an application for the restraint of men in their lawful, peaceful rights. The system under which we have been operating can no longer be successively defended. A judge appointed for life and responsible to nobody (sitting as a chancellor), issues an injunction invading the natural rights of men, and then when violation is alleged he appropriates to himself the functions of prosecutor, court, and executor. This situation is intolerable, and it is to correct it that this legislation is universally demanded."

The Mitchell Sentence.-On July 23, just three years and seven months from the

day the original sentence was imposed, in re The Buck Stove and Range case, John Mitchell, second vice-president of the American Federation of Labor, was sentenced to nine months imprisonment in the District jail, by Justice D. T. Wright, of the District of Columbia. The sentence was imposed during Mr. Mitchell's absence, he having made the following request of waiver on July 17: "Now comes John Mitchell, respondent in the above entitled cause, and showing to the court that he is at this time at a great distance from the city of Washington and that attendance there at this time would be occasion of serious inconvenience to him, requests that the sentence to be imposed upon him in the above entitled cause, may be imposed without requiring his personal presence, he hereby waiving, so far as the imposition of sentence is concerned, any right upon his part to be present at the time of its imposition, and stipulating that it shall have the same force and effect as if he were personally present." An appeal was noted and bonds furnished to insure the appearance of Mr. Mitchell should the District Court of Appeals affirm the decision of Justice Wright.

Congressional Labor Items.-The Department of Labor and Industrial Commission bills, which passed the House July 17, were ordered favorably reported to the Senate by the Committee on Education and Labor, on July 23, 1912.

The eight-hour provision for postoffice clerks and letter carriers, which was included in the Postoffice Appropriation bill, has been favorably reported by the Senate committee. The eight-hour regulation will become effective March 4, 1913. The Senate committee struck out of the House bill the provision giving postal employes the right to combine in labor organizations, and denied the right to petition Congress for redress of their An effort will be made on grievances. the floor of the Senate to restore these provisions covering the rights of petition, association, etc.

The locomotive boiler inspection appropriation has been increased by the Senate $50,000.

All American vessels must now carry at least two wireless operators so that service may be continuous.

The pay of pressmen in the Government printing office has been increased by Congress from 50 to 55 cents per hour.