or by posting such notice on the walls or cab of any elevator found to be in an unsafe condition; the owner of any elevator so condemned, or the person for whom it is being operated, shall, by continuing the use thereof without making such repairs as will place it in a safe condition, be liable, civilly and criminally, for any physical injury caused by such use, whether such injury reCommunica-sults in the death of the person injured or not. It is also the duty tion with en- of such officers, when in their judgment it may be necessary, to gine room. see that in every manufacturing establishment, the machinery in which is propelled by steam power, communication, by means of speaking tubes or electric bells, shall be provided between each room in which machinery so operated is placed and the room in which the engineer is stationed. Any person occupying as owner, lessee or manager any manufacturing establishment where machinery so operated is used, or controlling the use of any building or room in which machinery propelled by steam is used, who shall fail to provide such means of communication shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars; but no prosecution shall be commenced for such violation until thirty days after written notice has been given by one of the officers designated in this chapter to such person of the changes necessary to be made to comply with the provisions hereof, nor then, if, in the meantime, changes have been made in accordance with such notice. Collection of SEC. 10211. The said commissioner shall have power to prescribe statistics. blank forms and transmit them to employers, which shall be filled out clearly and completely, under oath, by the persons to whom they are sent, with the facts, statistics and statements asked for, and returned to him within such reasonable time as he may fix. In case any owner or occupant or his agent shall refuse to admit any officer of the said bureau to his workshop or factory he shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars for each and every offense, and if he shall, through his agent or otherwise, neglect, fail or refuse to fill out the said blank forms and verify and return them as required, he shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars for each and every day the said blank may be so delayed beyond the time fixed by the commissioner for their return. The fines authorized by this chapter shall be sued for in the name of the State by the district attorney of the proper county upon complaint of any officer of said bureau or any citizen, and shall be paid into the school fund.

Seal.

Powers.

Report.

Duty of district attorney.

SEC. 1021j. There shall be provided a seal of office for the use of the bureau, and the commissioner or his deputy, for the purpose of making any investigation contemplated by this act, shall have power to administer oaths, take testimony and subpoena witnesses, which witnesses shall receive the same fees as are allowed to persons testifying in circuit courts, to be paid out of the State treasury on the certificate of the commissioner or his deputy: Provided, however, That no person subpoenaed by the said commissioner or his deputy shall be compelled to go outside of the city or town in which he resides to testify in behalf of such investigation.

SEC. 1021k. The commissioner shall make a report to the gov ernor within ten days after the expiration of the biennial fiscal term, which report shall be printed and bound as provided by law. SEC. 10211. Whenever any officer of the bureau of labor and industrial statistics shall give written notice to any district attorney that any hotel, factory, public building or any other structure in his county is being used without fire escapes, watchmen or other means of safety prescribed by law, including means of communication beween the rooms of manufacturing establishments as prescribed in section 1021h, such district attorney shall at once institute the proper proceeding against the offender, and without the aid or presence of any such officer do all that may be necessary to secure a determination of the guilt or innocence of the person complained of; and in case such district attorney shall refuse or neglect so to do any officer of such bureau may file charges against him and demand his removal from office.

CHAPTER 52.-Hours of labor on public roads.

SECTION 1248. Every such person who shall so appear Eight hours a and work agreeably to the direction of such superintendent upon day's labor. the highways in his district shall be credited on his highway tax one dollar and fifty cents for every day he shall actually work eight hours,

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CHAPTER 69.-Employment of intemperate drivers on public con

veyances.

SECTION 1592. No person owning or having the direction or con- Intemperate drivers not to trol of any coach or other vehicle running or traveling upon any be employed. road in this State for the conveyance of passengers shall employ or continue in employment any person to drive such coach or other vehicle who is addicted to drunkenness or to the excessive use of intoxicating liquors; and if any such person shall violate the provisions of this section he shall forfeit five dollars per day for all the time during which he shall have kept such driver in such employment.

SEC. 1593. If any driver, while actually employed in driving such coach or vehicle, shall be guilty of intoxication the owner or person having the charge or control of such coach or other vehicle shall, on receiving written notice of the fact, signed and sworn to by any passenger who witnessed the same, forthwith discharge such driver from such employment; and every person who shall retain or have in such service, within six months after the receipt of such notice, any driver who shall have been so intoxicated shall forfeit five dollars per day for all the time during which he shall keep any such driver in such employment after receiving such notice.

CHAPTER 73a.-—Factories and workshops-Inspection, etc.

Intoxication driver.

SECTION 1636j. No person or corporation shall employ and put Overcrowding. to work in any factory, workshop or other place where labor is performed, or in any part of any such place, a larger number of persons than can be kept at work there without doing violence to the laws of health. The local board of health shall have power to determine any question arising under this provision, and its written determination shall be conclusive upon all parties to any action

or proceeding under the same. The owner or manager of every Guards for place where persons are employed to perform labor shall surround machinery, etc. every stationary vat, pan or other vessel into which molten metal or hot liquids are poured or kept with proper safeguards for the protection of his employees, and all belting, shafting, gearing, hoists, fly wheels, elevators and drums therein which are so located as to be dangerous to employees in the discharge of their duty shall be securely guarded or fenced. Any person or corporation which shall neglect for thirty days after the receipt of written notice from the State factory inspector to provide a suitable place for the persons employed by him to work in or who shall fail to make and maintain such safeguards as this section requires and as said inspector shall specify, shall forfeit not to exceed twenty-five dollars for each offense, and every day's neglect or failure, after a conviction hereunder, shall constitute a separate offense.

Failure to guard machinery dangerous to an employee engaged in his ordinary duties is a violation of this act and is negligence per se. 73 N. W. Rep. 563.

The statute does not require every place to be guarded that might possibly cause injury, but only such places as are dangerous to employees engaged in the discharge of their duties. 86 N. W. Rep. 153.

A plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence can not recover, even if defendant has failed to cover his gears. 89 Wis. 523.

Whether machinery is so located as to be dangerous to employees is a question for the jury. 95 Wis. 482.

What preferences void.

CHAPTER 80.-Wages preferred-In assignments.

SECTION 1693a. ** * # All assignments which shall contain or give any preference to one creditor over another, except for the wages of laborers, servants and employees earned within six months prior to the making thereof, shall be void as to the preference, but valid for all other purposes.

Wage debts SEC. 1700. * * * before making any dividend the assignee to be paid first after shall pay all taxes assessed upon the property assigned, which taxes, etc. remain unpaid, and the compensation due all laborers, servants and employees for labor or personal services performed for the assignor within six months next preceding the making of the assignment, the claims for which shall be paid by him next after the payment of unpaid taxes and assessments, debts due the United States or this State, the expenses of the assignment and the execution of the trust.

Limit of day's labor.

Age limit.

Permit for employment.

One who goes from place to place erecting and repairing machinery is an employee within the meaning of this statute; likewise bookkeepers and salesmen, though paid by the month or year and whether their com pensation is usually called salary or wages. 47 N. E. Rep. 915.

One doing work under contract at job or piece rates is not an employee. 64 Wis. 525.

CHAPTER 83.-Employment of women and children.

SECTION 1728. In all manufactories, workshops and other places used for mechanical or manufacturing purposes the time of labor of children under the age of eighteen years and of women employed therein shall not exceed eight hours in one day; and any employer, stockholder, director, officer, overseer, clerk or foreman who shall compel any woman or any such child to labor exceeding eight hours in any one day, or who shall permit any child under fourteen years of age to labor more than ten hours in any one day in any such place, if he shall have control over such child sufficient to prevent it, or who shall employ at manual labor any child under twelve years of age in any factory or workshop where more than three persons are employed, or who shall employ any child of twelve and under fourteen years of age in any such factory or workshop for more than seven months in any one year shall be punished by fine not less than five nor more than fifty dollars for each such offense.

The mere employment of a child under the prescribed age and his presence in a factory do not constitute actionable negligence on the part of the employer. 93 Wis. 448.

SEC. 1728a. No child under fourteen years of age shall be employed at labor or service in any mine, factory, workshop or place of public entertainment or amusement except upon permit as hereinafter provided; but nothing herein shall interfere with or prohibit the employment of such child in the service of its parent outside of school hours. The county judge of the county wherein any child resides may, by order entered of record, grant a permit and deliver a copy thereof under seal to any child over twelve years of age exempting such child from the operation of this seetion as to employment. Every such permit shall specify the conditions and the time during which such child may be employed and fix such limitations as to said judge shall seem proper; and in determining whether such permit shall be granted the judge shall consider the moral and physical condition of the child. his state of education, the necessities of the family to which such child belongs and such other circumstances as, in the discretion of the judge, ought to affect the question of exemption. No charge or fee shall be required in any matter under this section: Provided, That where such child resides at a distance of more than ten miles from the county seat the power to grant permits herein conferred upon the county judge may, under the same limitations and with the same conditions, be exercised by the mayor of the city or the president of the village in which or nearest to which

said child or its parent resides. Any person, company, firm or corporation that employs or permits to be employed at work any child in violation of the foregoing provisions and any parent or other person having the control of any such child who permits such employment shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars.

CHAPTER 83.-Hours of labor.

SECTION 1729. In all engagements to labor in any manufacturing Eight hours a or mechanical business, where there is no express contract to the day's labor. contrary, a day's work shall consist of eight hours and all engagements or contracts for labor in such cases shall be so construed; but this shall not apply to any contract for labor by the week, month or year.

CHAPTER 83.-Payment of wages.

Time of pay

Proviso.

SECTION 1729a (as amended by chapter 47, Acts of 1901). All wages or compensation for labor or service, unless there shall be ment. a written contract to the contrary, shall be paid weekly or biweekly in cash: Provided, That this section shall not apply to agricultural laborers, commercial travelers, persons employed on commission, traveling employees of railway or express companies, persons employed in logging camps, or in driving, running or manufacturing logs or lumber, nor to any person whose occupation is such as to render him inaccessible on the regular pay day. Whenever any person engaged in lumbering or building or in the Evidence of manufacture of lumber, shall defer the payment of all or any part indebtedness. of the wages due employees, after the same become due, such employer shall, on demand, give his employees written evidence

of indebtedness for the amount so due them, which shall be payable at a date agreed upon and be negotiable. Any such employer who shall refuse to give such evidence of indebtedness for money earned, shall forfeit not more than fifty dollars.

CHAPTER 83.--Boards of arbitration and conciliation.

SECTION 1729b. The State board of arbitration and conciliation Appointment. as heretofore established is recognized and continued. On the expiration of the terms of the two members thereof appointed by the governor, or sooner if a vacancy shall otherwise occur, the governor shall apoint one member of such board who shall be an employer of labor or be selected from some association representing employers of labor; the other shall be selected from the members of some labor organization and shall not be an employer of labor. The terms of such members shall be for two years unless they are sooner removed by the governor. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term. The third member of said board shall be appointed by the governor upon recommendation of those previously appointed: Provided, That if such recommendation is not made to the governor within thirty days after their appointment he may appoint any person such third member. Each member shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take the oath prescribed by the constitution; such oath shall be filed in the executive office. Said board shall organize by choosing one member as chairman and another as secretary, and shall adopt rules of procedure and submit them to the governor and attorney-general, which rules shall be in force on approval thereof by them. All requests and communications intended for said board may be addressed to the governor at Madison, who shall at once refer the same to the board for their action.

SEC. 1729c. Whenever any controversy or difference, not the Duty of board. subject of litigation, exists between an employer, whether an individual, copartnership or corporation, and his employees, if at the time he employs not less than twenty-five persons in the same general line of business in any one place, said board may, without any

Application.

Decision.

Assistants.

Effect of decision.

Duty of mayor, etc.

Mediation.

application therefor, or upon application, and as soon as practicable thereafter, visit the locality where the controversy exists and make careful inquiry into the cause thereof, hear all persons interested therein who may come before them, advise the respective parties what, if anything, should be done or submitted to by either or both to adjust the same and make a written decision thereof. Such decision shall at once be made public by publication in two or more newspapers published in the locality where such controversy exists, shall be recorded upon books of record to be kept by the secretary of said board, and a succinct statement thereof, published in the report hereinafter provided for, and said board shall cause a copy of such decision to be filed with the clerk of the city, village or town where said business is carried on.

SEC. 1729d. Said application shall be signed by such employer or by a majority of his employees in the department of the business in which the controversy exists, or by their duly authorized agent, or by both parties, and shall contain a concise statement of the grievances complained of and an agreement to continue in business or at work without any lockout or strike until the decision of said board is made known: Provided, That said board shall render its decision within thirty days after the date of filing such application. 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 for the hearing thereof; but such notice need not be given when both parties to the controversy join in the application and request in writing that it be not given. When notice has been given or dispensed with as aforesaid the board may in its discretion appoint two expert assistants, one to be nominated by each of the parties to the controversy, and such additional expert assistants as they may deem necessary. Such assistants shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duty. Should the petitioner or petitioners fail to perform the agreement 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 subpoena as witnesses any operatives in the departments of business affected by the controversy and any person who keeps the records of wages earned in such departments, to examine them under oath and require the production of books containing the record of wages paid. Subpoenas may be signed and oaths administered by any member of the board.

SEC. 1729e. The decision of said board shall be binding upon the parties who join in the application therefor for six months after the same is filed with the proper city, village or town clerk or until either party has given the other notice in writing of his intention not to be bound thereby from and after the expiration of sixty days from the date thereof. Said notice may be given by serving it upon the employer or his representative, and upon the employees by posting it in three conspicuous places in the shop, factory, yard or upon the premises where they work.

SEC. 1729f. Whenever any mayor, board of village trustees or town board shall believe that a strike or lockout is seriously threatened or has actually occurred, and that it threatens to or does involve the business interests of the city, village or town represented by said mayor, trustees or board, such mayor, trustees or board shall at once notify the secretary of the State board of arbitration and conciliation of the fact and furnish him with such information as may be available; and it shall be the duty of the State board to investigate the condition there prevailing as soon as may be, and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement between the employer and employees directly concerned in such strike or lockout, and to endeavor to persuade them to submit the matters in controversy to the local board of arbitration and conciliation, as hereinafter provided for, or to the State board; but the latter may, if it deems it advisable, investigate the cause or causes of such controversy, ascertain which of the parties is mainly or wholly responsible for the existence or continu