the board must not be active members or officers of labour or- ganizations or hold stocks or bonds of any carrier. Disputes may come before the Railroad Labor Board either upon failure of Adjustment Boards or directly. A majority vote is all that is necessary to constitute a decision except on matters taken up directly, in which case one of the members representing the public must concur in the decision. It has power to suspend any decision on wages made by the initial conference if, in its opinion, such a decision involves increases in wages or salaries which would necessitate a substantial readjustment of rates. In such cases the board must, after hearings, affirm or modify the suspended de- cision, and must also hold hearings on alleged violations of decisions and publish its decisions.
The Act of March 4 1913, creating a Department of Labor, provides that the Secretary of Labor shall have power to act as mediator and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labour disputes, whenever in his judgment the interests of industrial peace require it to be done. In case mediation fails, arbitration may be proposed by the mediators, who cannot act as arbitrators. During the five years inclusive, 1915-9, the Secretary of Labor took cognizance of 3,644 cases and effected 2,539 adjustments. During 1919 alone 1,780 assignments of com- missioners of conciliation resulted in 1,223 adjustments. In addition to the direct efforts of the Secretary of Labor, two other Boards of Labor Adjustment were established as part of the war machinery of the country.
The President's Mediation Commission was appointed in the fall of 1917 to conduct an investigation into the underlying causes of labour unrest which was threatening the output of material needed for war industries and to make specific adjust- ments. The Secretary of Labor was appointed as Chairman of the Commission. It made investigations in the copper mines of Arizona, the California oil-fields, the Pacific Coast telephone dis- pute, the unrest in the lumber industry of the north-west, and the packing industry. Settlements were made in all disputes except in the lumber industry, generally after arbitration had failed. In Jan. 1918, the Secretary of Labor upon nomination of representatives of capital and labour appointed a War Labor Conference Board to devise a method of labour adjustment which would be acceptable to employers and workers.
As a result of the Conference Board's report, the National War Labor Board was created by Presidential proclamation in April 1918. The membership consisted of two joint chairmen, five representatives of employees' organizations -and five representatives of employers' organizations. As stated in the Proclamation, its powers and duties were " to settle by mediation and conciliation controversies arising between employers and workers in fields of production necessary for the effective conduct of the war, or in other fields of national activity, delays and ob- structions in which might, in the opinion of the National Board, affect detrimentally such production " and to provide necessary machinery for these purposes. Its authority did not extend to controversies between employers and workers in any field of industrial or other activity where there was by agreement or by Federal law a means of settlement which had not been invoked. Tliisprovision excluded from the jurisdiction of the Board, except by way of appe'al, a large group of cases. The ship-building industry had set up by agreement its own Labor Adjustment Board; the Ordnance Department and other producing depart- ments of the Government had created special industrial service sections to consider the complaints of their employees; the coal- mining industry had its labour policy controlled by agreement of all parties with the Fuel Administration and the Government had adopted a separate labour policy for the railways. The statement of principles and policies contained in the report, which governed the decisions and which became an official expression of the Government's labour policy, was as follows: (i) abolition of strikes and lockouts during the war; (2) equal right of employers and workers to organize without discrimination; (3) right of collective bargaining; (4) observance of the status quo ante helium as to union or open shop in a given establishment and as to union standards of wages, hours and other conditions of
employment, except that the War Labor Board might grant improvements in labour conditions as the situation warranted; (5) maintenance of established safeguards and regulations for the protection of the health and safety of the workers; (6) payment of equal wages for equal work to women in industry and allotment of tasks proportionate to their strength; (7) recognition of the basic eight-hour day in all cases in which existing laws required it, in other cases settlement of the question of hours with regard to Governmental necessities and the welfare, health and proper comfort of the workers; (8) maintenance of maximum production; (9) regard to be had for labour standards, wage scale and other conditions prevailing in the localities affected, in fixing wages, hours and conditions of labour; (10) right of all workers to a living wage which insures subsistence of the worker and his family in health and reasonable comfort. Provision was made for the settlement where possible by local mediation and conciliation and in event of failure of local machinery, for hearings before the National Board. When the National Board found it impossible to settle the controversy, provision was mgde for the appoint- ment of an umpire by the National Board or by the President from a panel of disinterested persons. In the enforcements of its awards, the National War Labor Board had no special legal sanction or penalty either to force any party to submit disputes to arbitration or to enforce its awards. So outspoken however was public opinion on the necessity of avoiding interruptions in the war industries and so far-reaching were the wartime powers of the Government over both the employers and workers, that the indirect powers of the Board were sufficient. In only three cases were the Board's awards resisted. In two instances where the employers discriminated against the union employees and refused to abide by the decision in favour of the men, the President was sustained by Congress in taking over the industries. In the case of the strike by the organized workers at Bridgeport, Conn., against the Board's award, the President's threat of unemploy- ment enforced by Governmental agencies compelled the men to return to work.
Besides legislative programmes, the Federal Government has made several other attempts to devise plans for the adjustment of labour disputes. In 1913 President Wilson appointed the Industrial Relations Commission to diagnose the cause of in- dustrial unrest, and in the fall and winter of 1919 he appointed two industrial conferences to formulate a reconstruction labour policy. None of the programmes suggested has been given practical application. Experience during the war demonstrated the possibility of successful Government intervention in in- dustrial disputes through mediation. Even voluntary arbitration was resorted to only in a few instances. Legislation was still needed in 1921 to extend the field of Federal mediation with regard to disputes involving agencies of interstate commerce and disputes so vital and comprehensive in extent that existing state agencies are unable to meet the situation. Though the Secretary of Labor is empowered to intervene in such cases, his inter- vention introduces political and trade union partizanship, which is objectionable to the parties to the dispute. The rapid increase of state agencies has created the need for cooperation between the state and Federal agencies. (For collective bargaining and arbitration in private industries see TRAIJE UNIONISM.)
Bibliography. John R. Commons and John B. Andrews, Princi- ples of Labor Legislation (1920) ; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulle- tins, Nos. 148, 1 66, 186, 213, 244, 257; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review; U.S. Secretary of Labor, Annual Reports; American Labor Legislation Review, Annual Sum- maries; U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation, Report rinder Newlands Act, Dec. 1917; Alexander M. Bing, War-Time Strikes and their Adjustment (1921). (J. R. Co.)
ARBUTHNOT, SIR ROBERT KEITH, 4TH BART. (1864-1916),
British sailor, was born March 23 1864, and succeeded his
father, the 3rd bart., in 1889. He entered the navy in 1877 and was promoted commander 1897, captain 1902 and rear admiral in the 2nd Battle Squadron 1913. Early in the World War he took over the 1st Cruiser Squadron and led it in the battle of Jutland, flying his flag in the " Defence," which was sunk with the loss of all on board May 31 1916.
