700
THE GREEN BAG
may be added, that a valuable precedent was created by the establishment, by agree ment before the Board of the parties con cerned, of a permanent committee of con ciliation for the adjustment of any further disputes that might arise between the com pany, and its employees, with the exception only of such as might relate to a general increase or decrease of wages. The com mittee consists of a director of the com pany on the one side, and a president of the local union of cotton spinners on the other, the third member of the committee being the mayor, or, in his absence or inability to act, the cure1 of Valleyfield. Provision is also made for the appointment of a third member by the Minister of Labour should either of the gentlemen named be unable or unwilling to act. What was done in this case, under the elastic provisions of the statute, is worth noting, inasmuch as it points the way to a satisfactory solution of minor differences that may arise between employer and employed, if the parties to the dispute will only approach each other in a reasonable spirit of trust and confi dence. The settlement is also significant from the fact, that the industry concerned was brought within the Act by the mutual agreement of the parties themselves, the successful results achieved affording good ground for the hope that the scope of the Act may be so widened by the voluntary consent of those affected as to gradually embrace all classes of labour disputes. In the month of September, a Board was . established for an enquiry into the differences between the Canadian Pacific Railway Com pany and the railroad telegraphers in its employment. This dispute, it is hardly necessary to observe, affected vitally the interests of a great railway corporation trans-continental in its service, and upon whose efficiency in every department the whole dominion is in a large measure depend ent. The Board established in this case was identical with that for the adjustment of the dispute between the Grand Trunk
Railway Company and its machinists, Pro fessor Shortt being this time chosen as chairman by his former colleagues. The matters in dispute were numerous and important, including not only the question of rates of pay over the whole system, but such points as the classes of employees to be included in the schedule of rules and rates of pay applying to telegraphers, the character of the services to be performed, the hours of work, the conditions for over time and Sunday work, the commission to be allowed on commercial messages, and the question of payment while on leave of absence. The sittings of the Board were held off and on for a fortnight, partly in Montreal and partly in Toronto. The Board reported complete success in its efforts for a settlement, and set forth the terms of an agreement effected between the company and its employees. "Notwithstanding," it was said, "the difficulty and trying nature of many points in dispute, harmony and good feeling prevailed throughout the negotiations." There are three other disputes which, for the time being, call only for a brief reference, namely (i) between the Canadian Consoli dated Mining and Smelting Company and their employees at Movie, B.C.; (2) between the owners of the Hosmer Mines, B.C., and their employees; and (3) between the Hillcrest Coal and Coke Company and their employees at Hillcrest, B.C. The first of these disputes is still before the Board. In the second case the parties have accepted as an agreement the unanimous recommen dations of the Board. In the third case two reports have been presented, one of these being a minority report by the official rep resentative of the men. No agreement appears as yet to have been reached, and the ultimate result is at present uncertain. The results of this legislation are perhaps best seen in the statement that, although the Act has been in force only a little over seven months, no less than twenty-three applica tions have been received for Boards of Con
