208 



CONGRESS. (MISCELLANEOUS.) 



of by a labor organization as their representative, 

 shall", when duly acknowledged as herein provided, 

 be transmitted to the Chairman of the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission, who shall cause a notice in 

 writing to be served upon the arbitrators, fixing a 

 time and place fora meeting of said board, which 

 shall be within fifteen days from the execution of 

 said agreement of arbitration : Provided, however, 

 That the said Chairman of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission shall decline to call a meeting of arbi- 

 trators under such agreement unless it be shown to 

 his satisfaction that the employees signing the sub- 

 mission represent or include a majority of all em- 

 ployees in the service of the same employer and of 

 t In-" same grade and class, and that an award pur- 

 suant to said submission can justly be regarded as 

 binding upon all such employees. 



-SKC. 7. That during the pendency of arbitra- 

 tion under this act it shall not be lawful for the 

 employer, party to such arbitration, to discharge 

 the employees* parties thereto, except for ineffi- 

 ciency, violation of law, or neglect of duty; nor for 

 the organization representing such employees to 

 order, nor for the employees to unite in, aid, or 

 abet, strikes against said employer ; nor, during a 

 period of three months after an award under such an 

 arbitration, for such employer to discharge any such 

 employees, except for the causes aforesaid, without 

 giving thirty days' written notice of an intent so 

 to discharge ; nor for any such employees, during a 

 like period, to quit the service of said employer 

 without just cause, without giving to said employer 

 thirty days' written notice of an intent so to do; 

 nor for such organization representing such em- 

 ployees to order, counsel, or advise otherwise. Any 

 violation of this section shall subject the offending 

 party to liability for damages : Provided, That 

 nothing herein contained shall be construed to pre- 

 vent any employer, party to such arbitration, from 

 reducing the number of its or his employees when- 

 ever in it* or his judgment business necessities re- 

 quire such reduction. 



"SKc. 8. That in every incorporation under the 

 provisions of chapter 567 of the United States 

 Statutes of 1885 and 1886 it must be provided in the 

 articles of incorporation and in the constitution, 

 rules, and by-laws that a member shall cease to be 

 such by participating in or by instigating force or 

 violence against persons or property during strikes, 

 lockouts, or boycotts, or by seeking to prevent others 

 from working through violence, threats, or intimi- 

 dations. Members of such incorporations shall not 

 be personally liable for the acts, debts, or obliga- 

 tions of the corporations, nor shall such corpora- 

 tions be liable for the acts of members or others in 

 violation of law ; and such corporations may appear 

 by designated representatives before the board 

 created by this act, or in any suits or proceedings 

 for or against such corporations or their members 

 in any of the Federal courts. 



"SEC. 9. That whenever receivers appointed by 

 Federal courts are in the possession and control o'f 

 railroads, the employees upon such railroads shall 

 have the right to be heard in such courts upon all 

 questions affecting the terms and conditions of their 

 employment, through the officers and representa- 

 tives of their associations, whether incorporated or 

 unincorporated, and no reduction of wages shall be 

 made by such receivers without the authority of the 

 court therefor npon notice to such employees, said 

 notice to be not less than twenty days before the 

 hearing upon the receivers' petition of application, 

 and to be posted upon all customary bulletin boards 

 along or upon the railway operated by such re- 

 ceiver or receivers. 



" SK.I-. 10. That any employer subject to the pro- 

 visions of thi^act and any officer, agent, or receiver 



of such employer who shall require any employee, 

 or any person seeking employment, as a condition 

 of such employment, to enter into an agreement, 

 either written or verbal, not to become or remain a 

 member of any labor corporation, association, or 

 organization; or shall threaten any employee with 

 loss of employment, or shall unjustly discriminate 

 against any employee because of his membership in 

 such a labor corporation, association, or organiza- 

 tion; or who shall require any employee, or any 

 pel-son seeking employment, as a condition of such 

 employment, to enter into a contract whereby such 

 employee or applicant for employment shall 

 agree to contribute to any fund for charitable. 

 social, or beneficial purposes; to release such 

 employer from legal liability for any personal 

 injury by reason of any benefit received from 

 such fund beyond the proportion of the benefit 

 arising from the employer's contribution to such 

 fund; or who shall, after having discharged an em- 

 ployee, attempt or conspire to prevent such employee 

 from obtaining employment, or who shall, after 

 the quitting of an employee, attempt or conspire to 

 prevent such employee from obtaining employment, 

 is hereby declared to be guilty of a misdemeanor, 

 and, upon conviction thereof in any court of the 

 United States of competent jurisdiction in the dis- 

 trict in which such offense was committed, shall be 

 punished for each offense by a fine of not less than 

 $100 and not more than $1,000. 



"SEC. 11. That each member of said board of ar- 

 bitration shall receive a compensation of $10 per 

 day for the time he is actually employed, and his 

 traveling and other necessary expenses; and a sum 

 of money sufficient to pay the same, together with 

 the traveling and other necessary and proper ex- 

 penses of any conciliation or arbitration had herc- 

 under, not to exceed $10,000 in any one year, to be 

 approved by the Chairman of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission and audited by the proper ac- 

 counting officers of the Treasury, is hereby appro- 

 priated for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1898, and 

 June 30, 1899, out of any money in the Treasury 

 not otherwise appropriated. 



" SEC. 12. That the act to create boards of arbi- 

 tration or commission for settling controversies and 

 differences between railroad corporations and other 

 common carriers engaged in interstate or Territorial 

 transportation of property or persons and their 

 employees', approved October 1, 1888, is hereby 

 repealed.'' 



Postal Cards. Congress passed, and the Presi- 

 dent approved, the following act in regard to post a 

 cards : 



"Be it enacted, etc.. That from and after the 1st 

 day of July, 1898, it shall be lawful to transmit by 

 mail, at the postage rate of a cent apiece, payable 

 by stamps to be affixed by the sender, and under 

 such regulations as the Postmaster-General may 

 prescribe, written messages on private mailing 

 cards, such cards to be sent openly in the mails, 

 to be no larger than the size fixed by the conven- 

 tion of the Universal Postal Union, and to be ap- 

 proximately of the same form, quality, and weigh c 

 as the stamped postal card now in general use in 

 the United States." 



Miscellaneous. This was distinctly a working 

 session of Congress, and many measures were passed, 

 besides private bills, among'them the following: 



An act, of great importance, for the protection of 

 the people of Indian Territory and other purposes. 



An net to settle the Bering Sea award, appropri- 

 ating $473,151.26 to enable the President to pay 

 to the Government of her Britannic Majesty the 

 amount awarded by the commissioners appointed 

 pursuant to the stipulations of the convention of 

 Feb. 8, 1896, between the United States and Great 



