Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-17
Workings of Government In
dustrial Arbitration.
RATHER DISCOURAGING
LAWS PASSED BY TWENTY FOUR
OF THE STATES.
They Are Dead Letters in Some Cases
and in the Others Very Little Has
Been Accomplished.

The practical working of government In
dustrial arbitration here and in other coun-
tries is the subject OF an exhaustive In
yestigation reported I'm the bureau OF labor
official bulletin which has just been Is
sued. The paper is a statistical account
of laws and results OF their operation. tho
record being brought as closely to date as
the necessary reports and documents per-
mitted. 1t includes all laws in any land
which have been enacted for the purpose
of providing means for the settlement OF
collective Industrial disputes.
For the United States II shows that a.
the beginning of the year 1905 twenty-four
states had passed laws for Industrial arbi-
tration or Cancellation. and one other state
by Its constitution directed such legislation
The earliest law upon the subject was
passed In Maryland in 1878 The state laws
have marked similarities in many cases,
and are grouped In four classes follows:
In Four Groups.
Local arbitration. with no permanent
agency therefor; Maryland, New Jersey.
Pennsylvania. Texas.
Permanent district or county boards es-
tablished by private parties: Pennsylvania.
Ohio. Iowa and Kansas.
Arbitration or Cancellation through state
commissioners of labor: Colorado Mis-
souri,, North Dakota, Washington. Mary
land.
Special state board or commission for the
settlement of industrial disputes: New
York, Massachusetts. Montana Michigan,
California, New Jersey. Ohio, Louisiana,
Connecticut. Illinois. Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Utah. Colorado. Idaho Indiana and Mis-
souri,.
The report says that the laws in the first
group have all turned out to be practical-
ly dead letters" Much the same verdict
of failure must be pronounced upon the Sec
ond group of laws. In Pennsylvania alone
was anything accomplished under this sys-
TEN. F4
OF the ten states with laws for state
boards, which provide also for local arbi-
tration. in none OF the reports OF such
boards is any trace to be found that the
latter provision ever made use OF ex-
cept in Massachusetts and Ohio.
Cancellation and Arbitration Boards.
AS to state boards of Cancellation and ar
bitration. involving seventeen states. those
which have been active relatively little or
not at all are the following nine states:
California. Colorado. Connecticut. Idaho.
Louisiana Michigan. Minnesota. Montana
and Utah.
The remaining eight state boards nor
only have been more active ever since the
establishment than the nine mentioned
but also have all published regular re-
ports, as required by their laws. They are
New York. Massachusetts, New Jersey,
Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois. Indiana and
Missouri
OF the five states which provide for in
PREVENTION by state labor commissioners.
the law was In force in North Dakota hut
a year. In Colorado this was superseded
by a state board of arbitration. the records,
however, showing that during ten years
ending 1887, with seyenty-one strikes in
the state, in only three of them is inter-
Venton by the commissioner reported and
in none of the three did he effect settle
ment. In Missouri considerably more APP
pears to have been accomplished. In
Washington state during two years record.
there We're twelve cases of Intervention by
the commissioners, resulting in six settle
mentS 1.-TWO disputes without strike or
lockout and "a failure In Maryland the
provision is so recent that the arbitration
law had not been tested