these grievances are absolutely eliminated. The commission saw that the question of wages was a very broad one, involving numerous factors affected by conditions throughout the Nation. The preliminary plans were laid for a broad, thorough, and exhaustive investigation. Recently the smelter has raised the wages, granting a part of the demands of the men.

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'I believe profoundly that this law will work to the advantage of labor and of capital, and that it will bring a larger measure of industrial peace than our State or any other State has hitherto enjoyed. It may not solve the whole problem of industrial disputes or eliminate all strikes, but it will tend to solve the problem, it will lessen the number of strikes, and it is at the very least a step in the right direction.

"The labor unions of Colorado generally have obeyed the law without question. Their painstaking care to comply with every provision has been a source of gratification to the commission and has been a fine example of the best type of American citizenship in its obedience to the law. No one could have witnessed the general conformity of the trades unions in Colorado to this new industrial law, and say that labor unions do not obey the law. The State Federation of Labor has sent out a letter of instructions to every union affiliated with that organization, notifying them of the steps necessary to conform to the law, and urging them to keep within the law in all disputes. I believe that the great majority of laboring men in Colorado have come to see clearly the great advantage this law brings. There are some individual labor leaders who have not yet indorsed the law nor the principles behind it; some of them are in a mood to be convinced but have not accepted it, fearing that it is some new and strange contrivance designed by the selfish power of capitalists to destroy labor.

"Of course the law is nothing of the sort and its actual operation is rapidly dissipating this idea. The objections offered to the law are these:

"That the law abridges and restrains the right to strike and that any such form of compulsion so called, is unAmerican and is a form of slavery.

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'During the year preceding the date of this present report, the commission has passed upon over 75 industrial complaints. Eight of these have resulted in formal hearings and formal awards by the commission. Probably half of these 75 complaints threatened serious strikes, but most of them were adjudicated informally through conciliation and mediation. The formal awards occurred in the cases of the tailors, machinists, waitresses, biscuit makers, millmen, mailers, and various plants doing business with the above crafts. In these awards, the commission found in some cases in favor of an increase of wages, and in other cases against the increase. The principle on which the commission proceeds is that there are three parties in every industrial controversy employers, employees, and the public. The commission has declared for an eight-hour day and for a minimum wage for women of not less than $8.33 per week. The commission has before it two complaints for formal investigation now pending and awaiting future adjustment. These are the wage demands of the coal miners in the Huerfano County district and the metalliferous miners in the Leadville district. During the two years the commission has been administering this law there has not been a strike of any moment or consequence in the State of Colorado."

These are the statements and conclusions of a member of the commission. A letter from Mr. Thomas B. Stearns, president of the Denver Civic and Commercial Association says:

"The industrial commission in Colorado, in my opinion, has been of great value to the State.

"It has not settled all the controversies, but it did hold off issues which were rather violent, until sober second thought could be exercised, and in many cases it went further and arranged a settlement of a great many impending controversies.

"I believe that a national committee of this kind would be very desirable. I would go further and support arbitration in matters of such moment as the threatened railroad strike was last fall; that is, all matters which, if not settled, would involve the tying up of the common carriers and other matters which are absolutely essential to our life."

Gov. Carlson, in his final message to the Legislature of Colorado, referring to the industrial commission, says:

"It is a matter of common rumor and newspaper report that an attempt will be made to have this legislature abolish the industrial commission, or to limit its power. The commission, contrary to the opinion which certain per

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sons have assiduously attempted to convey, has not the power to prevent permanently a strike or lockout, and hence can not interfere with the personal liberty of workmen or employers. The commission's record, during the year following its establishment, is conclusive proof to any fair-minded person of the success of the principle.

"It is inconceivable how investigations where the status of both parties is preserved can be harmful to either. It would be a terrible thing to annul the work along these lines already started and to prevent the extension of such activities in the future. I urge, therefore, that there be no abridgement of the commission's powers, and that its appropriation be increased in amount as much as the revenues and other demands will permit."

It will be noted that the Colorado Industrial Commission also has jurisdiction of the workmen's compensation act, with certain details of which there was considerable desire for amendment.

Gov. Julius C. Gunter, the incoming governor of Colorado, in his message to the incoming State legislature, January 8, 1917, had the following to say concerning this law:

"The industrial relations law confers upon the industrial commission not only the power to enforce the workmen's compensation act, but likewise to superintend and regulate in various ways the other relations between employer and emeployee. The commission operating under this law ought to prove a tremendous influence for good in the industrial affairs of our Commonwealth. It is a tribunal which in a calm judicial spirit should approach the grave and difficult questions arising between capital and labor, patiently investigate them, and endeavor to rule them wisely and justly.

“Various amendments are suggested to this law, some of them, as we think, wise, some unwise. One of the most important and constructive provisions in this act reates to the power of the industrial commission to maintain industrial peace as between the employer and employee. To promote this end the commission is given power to investigate industrial disputes, and during this time the employer is forbidden to lock out the employee and the employee is forbidden to go on a strike. In order to prevent a possible abuse and to not interfere too long with the liberty of each side to take such measures of relief as the law permits, a limit should be set upon the period of time to be consumed by the commission in the investigation of any particular industrial dispute. Another amendment is one providing that the State, at its own expense, shall furnish and maintain a few well-equipped rescue cars to save the lives of workmen entombed in mines, the control of which should be under the industrial commission.

"We prefer to leave you and the executive unembarrassed to further consideration of this law, and urge that in making any important changes all parties interested, whether employer, employee, labor unions, employers' associations, or the State fund or the various kinds of insurance carriers, be given ample opportunity to present their views. It is only after a full consideration that laws should be enacted."

At the fourth annual convention of the Colorado Metal Mining Association, held in Denver, January 9 to 11, inclusive, 1917, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

Whereas it is reported that an attempt will be made in the present legislative session to repeal and amend the Colorado workmen's compensation and industrial commission's acts: Be it

“Resolved by the Colorado Metal Mining Association, That these laws, in their main essentials, have been found satisfactory, and accordingly this association recommends the retention of these laws in substantially their present form, and that this association in particular recommend that no strike or lockout be permitted by law without notice of at least 30 days and a reasonable opportunity on the part of the industrial commission to investigate the merits of the controversy."

In an editorial under the caption, "An onslaught on arbitration," the Rocky Mountain News of January 19, 1917, says:

"Eighteen months' practical experience with the industrial legislation enacted two years ago has developed weaknesses in the law that doubtless require amendment. No one claims that the laws are perfect. The consensus of public opinion, however, is that, taken all in all, they have been of immense service to the State, and the principles involved in them ought not to be abandoned.”

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Personal inquiry of a considerable number of citizens not representing either side of industrial controversies brought out from them the unanimous opinion that the Colorado Industrial Commission law has proved to be a success. J. F. CALLBREATH.

[The Ledger, Columbus, Ga., Jan. 18, 1917.]

RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC.

Congressman Adamson has introduced an innovation in announcing that he has taken" only the public into consideration in framing his new blanket railway bill. While the genial Representative from the fourth always takes the public into consideration, the public announcement is as unusual as it is just and right.

Commenting on the announcement, the Macon News truly says in part:

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Disputes between railroad employees and railroad managements have proceeded for a great many years as private enterprises from which the public, which pays the freight, has always been excluded. It seemingly never occurs to either side of the controversy that it could be anybody's business except theirs if commerce is halted, business paralyzed, and millions of dollars of property values destroyed while the men who own the transportation systems and the men who operate them indulge in a private war that injures nobody quite so much as the innocent bystander.

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'Congressman Adamson's proposed law, if enacted and enforced, may rid the country of this periodical spectacle of two mastiffs quarreling over a bone that belongs to neither. Constituting strikes or lockouts illegal without a 90-day notice will insure opportunity for public sentiment to crystallize and compel compromise. Enabling the military to take over transportation lines upon the President's orders when public convenience demands it is an additional step toward compelling recognition of the public's share in a public utility."

Congressman Adamson's bill is far-reaching, and it is sure to revolutionize things, so far as the public is concerned, when enacted into law, as it will be in the very near future.

WHO IS BOSS, ANYHOW?

Representative Adamson's indignation at the suggestion that the railroad brotherhoods and the railroad managers disregard the so-called eight-hour law and agree on a bill for Congress to pass is most proper and commendable.

The assumption of any body of men, whether they be capitalists or labor unionists, or both, that an act of Congress may be ignored and displaced by an agreement of private citizens is arrogant and un-American.

The Adamson law, passed last September, may be a good or a bad law. But it is the law until the courts upset it or until Congress repeals it. The threat of one railroad president last fall to ignore it was a threat of anarchy. The conspiracy of two of the parties in interest-the public is not implicated-now said to be forming to supersede the statute by a private agreement is a conspiracy of anarchy.

This is a government of laws. If Congress is convinced that the passage of the Adamson law was a mistake, it can be repealed. If Congress exceeded its powers in passing the law, the courts will so declare. The law is now before the courts. It is more important just now that the courts pass upon the powers of Congress to interfere in the details of the conditions of employment on the railroads than that the employees and employers get together before January 1. The nation is in no mood to tolerate men who try to make ducks and drakes of the laws.

(Whereupon, the committee adjourned to meet at the call of the chairman.)

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