"The System Federation interprets the agreement and suggests local methods of carrying it out in its circular No. 38, issued on February 27, which follows in part: 66 “Depending upon the unimportance of the proposal, the local craft committee may refer it directly to the joint meeting through the local craft representative, or the local committee may first refer it to the next lodge meeting and even perhaps the local shop federation meeting for discussion and action. By following this procedure the ideas of everyone will get fair and adequate consideration. "It is not the intention to utilize these joint local cooperative meetings for the adjustment of grievances. Grievances, when they arise, should be adjusted immediately and not allowed to hold over. Furthermore the mixing up of disputes or matters growing out of the violation of our agreement or working rules with the consideration of measures intended to help improve the shop and its operation will tend to confuse the purpose of these cooperative meetings, will delay consideration of our grievances, and in general will lessen the usefulness and opportunity of the joint cooperative meetings. So to the end that we shall not only continue but extend the functions of our organizations it is, above all else, desirable that we distinguish clearly between our various activities as such, especially first, in respect to the cooperative function of the local federated committee, and, second, in respect to the orderly handling of grievances.' "It is further suggested that at points where advisory board members are located it will be desirable to have them sit in on the original organizing meeting, in order that the local committee may have the benefit of their advice. In case of misunderstandings in carrying out the program above outlined, the secretary of the System Federation is to be advised, and arrangements will be made to have one of the general chairmen attend one of the biweekly cooperative meetings at the point where difficulty is experienced. It is further planned that the consulting engineer employed by the federation will make occasional trips over the system, visiting various points where meetings are in progress, and help out in such ways as may suggest themselves from time to time." Employe Representation and Labor Relations Extract from Commission Report, Sidney, Nova Scotia. A scheme for the formation of committees of work men was proposed to the Company by members of Union who were also employes of the Company in September, 1922. It was not accepted by the Company. In December, 1922, a plan of employes' representation, similar to that which had been in operation for some years in a number of the steel plants in the United States, was proposed to the workmen by the Company. The proposal was put to a vote and rejected by 1,562 votes against to 1,021 in favor. The Union was active against the acceptance of the proposal by the men. After the June-August, 1923, strike was ended a committee of the workmen approached the management with a request to revive the proposal to have workmen's representatives elected to serve on committees and to meet representatives of the management to discuss matters of common interest. The Company favored this proposal and, without calling for a vote of the workmen on the question of its adoption, arranged that the men could go ahead and elect their own representatives to a general Works Committee by secret ballot. The election took place on August 30, 1923, and 2,729 workmen voted. That represented about 93 per cent of the workmen on the plant. The general nature of the scheme is as follows: Proportion of Representatives-One representative to be elected for about every hundred workmen; the representatives to be elected equitably from the different de partments of the plant. Committees-The committee thus elected is a General Works Committee of about thirty-six members elected from among the employes. A Central Works Committee is elected by the General Works Committee from its own members and consists of about eight members. The Management Committee, which is appointed by the Company, has a number of members corresponding or nearly corresponding to the number of the Central Works Committee. When the members of the Central Works Committee and the Management Committee meet in joint conference that is called the Joint Committee. Qualifications for Voters and Representatives-Any employe who is eighteen years of age or over is eligible to vote; but foremen, assistant foremen, chief clerks and others in similar or higher positions are not eligible. Any employe who is 21 years of age or over and who has had one year's aggregate service with the company is eligible for election as a Departmental Representative but foremen, assistant foremen, chief clerks and other employes in similar or higher positions are excluded. Discrimination-Departmental Representatives shall be wholly free in the performance of their duties as such, and shall not be discriminated against on account of any action taken in good faith in their representative capacity. If any representative feels that his independence is being abridged, he has the right to appeal to the Joint Committee for the removal of the discrimination. Meetings The General Works Committee meets once a month and special meetings are held when necessary. The other committees meet regularly and special meetings are held when necessary. Meetings of the committees are held on the Company's premises and time and pay. For any other work done by representatives in connection with their duties no pay is allowed. Support for the Plan-Some of the members of the Management Committee and thirty-five out of the thirtysix members of the General Works Committee appeared as witnesses. Their testimony was to the effect that they were all willing to give the plan a fair trial and were hopeful that satisfactory results would come from it. The following is the gist of the testimony practically in the words used by witnesses: The Works Committee has had an educational influence towards better understanding of relationships. Men feel they have a channel through which they can get their grievances adjusted. Men find it easier to get in touch with the management. The Committee is working intelligently and amicably and is representative of the men. Agreeably surprised Agreeably surprised at spirit with which everybody seems to enter into discussions. It is doing a whole lot of good. Hopeful that it will help to make conditions better in the plant and also in the homes. Some form of organized works committee is of benefit to both parties. Both parties get confidence well established in one another. Unwarranted suspicions are lessened or removed. Committees provide a means through which the management is able to talk to the men and tell them the conditions of the business, condition of the orders, prospects, etc. Management hopes to work out many of the problems which seem to be irritating now. None of the witnesses who were members of the committees testified that the plan was useless. Some testified that they thought alterations in the plan would improve it and make it more satisfactory to the workmen. Some of these are under consideration. It was said: committee men are more or less in the position of mendicants; they cannot enforce any demands. Some members said they would like to see a Board of Arbitration to deal with any question which the Joint Committee could not settle to the satisfaction of both sides. Some further information on the general principles underlying the plans of employes' representatives' committees was obtained by a study of them and by conversations at steel plants in the United States with representatives of the management and representatives of the workmen who had had experience in connection with them. Objects in View-The employes' representatives plan was adopted in the first instance to keep the personal sympathy and human touch with the men which was being lost by the size of the business and because of absentee management by directors. Employes' representation has brought back part of the human touch which had been lost in big organizations. Employes' representatives' committees are approved by workmen because they are now better informed as to what goes on in the plant from the employes' point of view. Committees lessen friction between the men and the management. Joint Committee meetings representing the management and the workmen are desirable to consider problems of mutual interest. They bring about better understanding and appreciation of mutual rights, obligations and interests. Joint Committee meetings created a new attitude by employers and employed to each other out of which cooperation has grown instead of previous hostility. The most important feature of the plan is the spirit in which the thing is worked and not the machinery of the plan. Employes' representatives plans have been valuable in causing employes to take an interest in increasing production and efficiency. "The Strong Arm Method"-On one plant where labor troubles had been frequent and serious this was said: The strong arm policy had been in use and a blacklist scheme was going strong. They had had a five months' strike. Something had been wrong in the management. Then the nature of the workmen's representatives plan was explained to the superintendents and foremen. They were asked to tell the men under them the nature of the proposed plan. In that way the workmen's representatives plan was brought into operation. The plan itself is a process of education. The feeling and spirit of satisfaction and co-operation has been greatly developed. At monthly joint meetings the management gives the men's representatives information about progress and prospects and intentions in respect to the business. The superintendent who does that, by taking the men into the confidence of the company, is thereby dignified in the esteem of the men. The main service of representatives' committees consists in promoting and preserving friendly relations continuously, not by strong arm methods but by conference, confidence and co-operation to get the best results. The general points stressed by the workmen as being essential to the success of the plan are: On both sides, frankness, sincerity, truthfulness, integrity, confidence and good faith. These are all more important than the machinery of the plan. A Monthly Periodical on the Law of the Labor Problem Vol. 6 LEAGUE FOR INDUSTRIAL RIGHTS 165 Broadway, New York City New York, October, 1924 No. 10 66 The Constitution Is the Will HE interpretation of the laws is the proper and "If there should happen to be an irreconcileable variance between the two, that which has the superior obligation and validity ought, of course, to be preferred; or, in other words, the constitution ought to be preferred to the statute, the intention of the people to the intention of their agents. "Nor does this conclusion by any means suppose a superiority of the judicial to the legislative power. It only supposes that the power of the people is superior to both; and that where the will of the legislature, declared in its statutes, stands in opposition to that of the people, declared in the constitution, the judges ought to be governed by the latter rather than the former. They ought to regulate their decisions by the fundamental laws, rather than by those which are not fundamental.” THE FEDERALIST, No. 78. THE LEAGUE FOR INDUSTRIAL RIGHTS To Preserve constitutional rights in industrial disputes. Protect employer and employe against illegal strikes and conspiracies. Safeguard industrial liberty. Create a public policy on industrial warfare. PUBLISHERS OF Law and Labor SUBSCRIPTION $5.00 THE YEAR MURRAY T. QUIGG, Editor 50 CENTS THE COPY THE LEAGUE WILL APPRECIATE THE COURTESY IF DUE CREDIT IS GIVEN WHEN REPUBLISHING MATERIAL FROM LAW AND LABOR THE POWER TO DECLARE STATUTES UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The origin, theory and prac- 259 267 OLD AGE PENSION STATUTE HELD UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Pennsylvania statute violates provision prohibiting appropriations for benevolent purposes 263 MINIMUM WAGE STATUTE HELD UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Wisconsin statute held invalid on authority of the Adkins Case 265 A TRADE UNION MAY SUE in Canadian Courts to protect its funds, although it may be in some respects a combination in restraint of trade 265 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE CRITICIZING JUDGE must relate to a matter pending, and not past, to constitute contempt of court 274 MR. GOMPERS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY. Extract from an editorial in the September American Federationist.. 275 RESPONSIBILITY IN CASE OF STRIKE under a clause relieving the seller therefor, construed. 276 RAILROAD LABOR ARBITRATION COURTS. Royal Decree of Spain creating such courts issued in December, 1923 .... 277 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS IN THE HENRY A. DIX & SONS CORPORATIONS 284 285 The Truth About the Origin, Theory and Practice of the Judicial Power to Declare Statutes Unconstitutional The literature of the trade unions is giving increasing attention to their attack and that of Mr. LaFollette's, on the power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional. In fact, the militant strength of trade unions seems to be at this moment entirely directed to political activity intended to end this power of the court. LaFollette's championship of the attack on the independence of the judiciary is everywhere played up in reporting his speeches. The subject claims attention in a leading article by Samuel Gompers in the current issue of the American Federationist. In the literature emanating from the Federation three propositions are principally relied upon as arguments against the exercise by the courts of the power to refuse to enforce laws, found to violate the constitution. These propositions are: 1. That the power to declare a statute unconstitutional was not contemplated by the framers of the Constitution, is not given by the Constitution to the court, and was originated, or at any rate given initial vitality, by Chief Justice John Marshall in 1803. 2. That this power is peculiar to the United States and its exercise by the judiciary in any other country would not be tolerated. 3. That the exercise of this power defeats the will of the people. These propositions are untrue in fact. 1. The proposition that the idea of the power to declare a statute unconstitutional originated or was given life by John Marshall is contradicted by the numerous references to the power in the debate in the federal constitutional convention in 1787 and in the conventions of the several states which thoroughly debated the constitution before ratifying it, in the Federalist, published during the debates, and in resolutions of state legislatures in 1799, as well as in judicial opinions in the state courts prior to John Marshall's elevation to the Supreme Court of the United States. In the Federal Constitutional Convention it was urgently insisted by the delegates of three of the states that the laws enacted by Congress should be submitted to a council of revision composed of the Executive and the members of the Supreme Court of the United States. The proposition was rejected upon the ground, among others, that it would be the duty of the courts to refuse to enforce laws that were, in their opinion, inconsistent with the Constitution and that the judiciary should be free from bias when the question of constitutionality was presented to them. Mr. Gerry, on the floor of the convention, said that he "doubts whether the judiciary ought to form a part (of council) as they will have a sufficient check against encroachments on their own department by their exposition of the laws which involved a power of deciding on their constitutionality. In some states the judges had actually set aside laws as being against the Constitution. This was done, too, with general approbation." Mr. L. Martin said "and as to the constitutionality of laws that point will come before the judges in their official character. In this character they have a negative on the laws."2 Colonel Mason: "They (the judiciary) could declare an unconstitutional law void." These views seem to have been accepted as sound since they are nowhere challenged or debated. Even the pending proposal of the American Federation of Labor was considered. Mr. Madison proposed that exercised by the executive, and that if a statute should be the judiciary shall have a veto on statutes, similar to that reenacted by a two-thirds vote of Congress it shall then be valid regardless of its constitutionality. This proposal was defeated by the votes of eight states against three.* In the state constitutional conventions which met to ratify the federal constitution the power of the courts to determine the question of constitutionality was often discussed. In the Connecticut convention Mr. Elsworth said, "If the United States go beyond their powers, if they make a law which the Constitution does not authorize, it is void; and the judicial power, the national judges, who in order to secure their impartiality, are to be made independent, will declare it to be void."5 Samuel Adams in the Massachusetts convention said, "*** If any law made by the federal government shall be extended beyond the power granted by the proposed constitution and inconsistent with the constitution of this state, it will be in error, and adjudged by the courts of law to be void." Patrick Henry, in the Virginia convention said, "Yes, Sir, our judges opposed the acts of the legislatures. We have this landmark to guide us. They had fortitude to declare that they were the judiciary and would oppose unconstitutional acts. * I take it as the highest encomium on this country that the acts of the legislature, |