TABLE XI.-Water Works-Prices (Private Plants) and Cost of Production (Municipal Plants) of Water Service.

LABOR LEGISLATION:

The following laws affecting the interests of labor were enacted at the session of the Forty-first General Assembly:

ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION.

25.

Decision binding for six months, either party may withdraw by giving sixty days notice.

25a. A failure to abide by decision, any person aggrieved may file petition in court, how disregarded.

b Court to rule on parties to answer in ten days.

c Court or judge in vacation to have and determine questions, penalties.

25b. Powers of board, when two or more employers or the employés of two or more employers apply for arbitration. Board may act as mediator in certain cases of threatened strikes or lockouts.

26.

26a. Duties of mayors of cities and presidents of town or village boards in case of strikes or lockouts.

b Duties of head officer of labor organizations in case of strikes or lockouts. Compensation of members of board. Notices, how served.

27.

2 8.

AN ACT to create a State board of arbitration for the investigation or settlement of differences between employers and their employés, and to define the powers and duties of said board.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: a. As soon as this act shall take effect the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint three persons, not more than two of whom shall belong to the same political party, who shall be styled a "State board of arbitration," to serve as a State board of arbitration and conciliation; one and only one of whom shall be an employer of labor, and one and only one of whom shall be an employé, and shall be selected from some labor organization.

b. They shall hold office until March 1, 1897, or until their successors are appointed, but said board shall have no power to act as such until they and each of them are confirmed by the Senate.

C. On the first day of March, 1897, the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint three persons as members of said board in the manner above provided, one to serve for one year, one for two years and one for three years, or until their respective successors are appointed, and on the first day of March in each year thereafter the Governor shall in the same manner appoint one member of said board to succeed the member whose term expires, and to serve for the term of three years or until his successor is appointed. If a vacancy occurs at any time, the Governor shall in the same manner appoint some one to serve out the unexpired term. Each member of said board shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, be sworn to a faithful discharge thereof.

d. The board shall at once organize by the choice of one of their number as chairman, and they shall, as soon as possible after such organization, establish suitable rules of procedure.

e. The board shall have power to select and remove a secretary, who shall be a stenographer, and who shall receive a salary to be fixed by the board, not to exceed $1,200 per annum, and his necessary traveling expenses, on bills of items to be approved by the board, to be paid out of the State treasury.

§ 2. a. When any controversy or difference not involving questions which may be the subject of an action at law or bill in equity, exists between an employer, whether an individual, co-partnership, or corporation, employing not less than twenty-five persons, and his employés in this State, the board shall, upon application as herein provided, and as soon as practicable thereafter, visit the locality of the dispute and make a careful inquiry into the cause thereof, hear all persons interested therein who may come before them, advise the respective parties what, if anything, ought to be done or submitted to by both to adjust said dispute, and make a written decision thereof.

b. This decision shall at once be made public, shall be recorded upon proper books of record to be kept by the secretary of said board, and a short statement thereof published in the annual report hereinafter provided for, and the board shall cause a copy thereof to be filed with the clerk of the city, town or village where said business is carried on.

APPROVED and in force August 2, 1895.

§ 3. a. Said application shall be signed by said employer or by a majority of his employés in the department of the business in which the controversy or difference exists, or by both parties, and shall contain a concise statement of the grievance complained of, and a promise to continue on in business or at work without any lockout or strike until the decision of said board, if it shall be made within three weeks of the date of filing said application.

b. As soon as may be after the receipt of said application the secretary of said board shall cause public notice to be given of the time and place of the hearing thereon; but public notice need not be given when both parties to the controversy join in the application and present therewith a written 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.

C. The board in all cases shall have power to summon as witnesses any operative or expert in the department of business affected, and any person who keeps the records of wages earned in those departments, or any other person, and to examine them under oath, and to require the production of books containing the records of wages paid, and such other books and papers as may be deemed necessary to a full and fair investigation of the matter in controversy.

d. The board shall have power to issue subpoenas, and oaths may be administered by the chairman of the board. If any person, having been served with a subpoena or other process issued by such board, shall willfully fail or refuse to obey the same, or to answer such questions as may be propounded touching the subject matter of the inquiry or investigation, it shall be the duty of the circuit court or the county court of the county in which the hearing is being conducted, or of the judge thereof, if in vacation, upon application by such board, duly attested by the chairman and secretary thereof, to issue an attachment for such witness and compel him to appear before such board and give his testimony, or to produce such books and papers as may be lawfully required by said board; and the said court or the judge thereof shall have power to punish for contempt as in other cases of refusal to obey the process and order of such

court.

APPROVED April 12, 1899.

§ 4. 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 before the first day of March of each year.

§ 5. Said decision shall be binding upon the parties who join in. said application for six months. or until either party has given the other notice in writing of his or their intention not to be bound by the same at the expiration of sixty days therefrom. Said notice may be given to said employés by posting in three conspicuous places in the shop or factory where they work.

APPROVED and in force August 2, 1895.

§ 5a. a. In the event of a failure to abide by the decision of said board in any case in which both employer and employés shall have joined in the application, any person or persons aggrieved thereby