AN ACT authorizing the appointment of a commission to inquire into the causes and results of industrial accidents; to study advanced methods for safeguarding against the same; to inquire into the subject of fair compensation for those injured or killed as a result thereof; and to study the operation and effect of the workmen's compensation law of 1913; and making an appropriation for the expenses of said commission.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That the governor is hereby authorized to appoint a commission of seven persons, to be known as the industrial accidents commission-two of whom shall be employers of labor, two of whom shall be employees in either mines or industrial establishments of this Commonwealth, or duly accredited representatives thereof, two of whom shall be learned in the law, and one of whom shall be a person skilled and experienced in making investigations to inquire into the causes and results of industrial accidents in the mines, mills, factories, stores, and upon the railroads, street railways, ships, wharves, and in all industrial establishments, and in all other places where men, women, and children are employed in manual labor in this Commonwealth; to study the most advanced methods for safe-guarding against these accidents; to inquire into the subject of fair compensation for those who are injured in these accidents, and for the families of those who shall be killed as a result thereof; and to study the operation and effect of the Workmen's Compensation Law of 1913.

SEC. 2. The chairman of said commission shall be designated by the governor, and the person named on said commission as a skilled and experienced investigator shall be the secretary of the commission. The commission shall have power to employ such legal counsel and other officers and employees as it may deem necessary to properly perform its duties.

SEC. 3. The secretary of said commission shall receive an annual salary of $2,400 and his actual necessary expenses; and the other members of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual traveling and other necessary expenses. The salaries of any other persons employed by the commission shall be fixed by it.

125672°-20-1

1

SEC. 4. Said commission shall make a full report, in writing, of its findings, together with such recommendations as it may deem proper, to the next meeting of the general assembly, which will convene in January, 1915.

SEC. 5. The sum of $12,000 ** * * be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the expenses of said commission. The said expenses shall be paid on warrant duly signed by the chairman of the commission.

EMPLOYERS TO REPORT ACCIDENTS.

LAWS 1913, P. 843.

JULY 19, 1913. AN ACT requiring employers to make report to the department of labor and industry of accidents to employees, and prescribing a penalty for noncompliance therewith. SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That within thirty days after the beginning of the disability of an employee because of any personal injury, caused by an accident occurring in the course of his employment, the employer, whether a person, firm, or corporation, shall make report of such accident to the department of labor and industry. Such report shall set forth the name, address, and nature of the business of the employer; name, address, sex, age, nationality, and occupation of the employee; date, day of week, hour, place, and character of the accident, and the nature of the injury, and the duration of the disability or probable disability, as far as the same can be ascertained. Such employer shall, also, upon request of the department of labor and industry, make such further report as may reasonably be required by it.

SEC. 2. Any person, firm, or corporation having knowledge of the occurrence of such personal injury to an employee, in the course of employment, who shall fail to make report as aforesaid, shall be liable to the Commonwealth for a penalty of one hundred dollars to be recovered by action brought by said department.

SEC. 3. Reports made in accordance with this act shall not be evidence against the employer in any proceeding, either under the Workmen's Compensation Law of 1913 or otherwise.

SEC. 4. No employer who has made the report required by this act shall be required to make any other or further report of such accident to any other department of the government of the Commonwealth.

SEC. 5. This act shall not apply to casual employments; nor to accidents resulting in disability continuing less than two days.

ANNOTATIONS.

ACCIDENTS-INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS.

STATISTICS-REPORTS OF ACCIDENTS.

This act provides the machinery for procuring the statistics and information and requires every employer to report within thirty days all personal injuries caused by an accident occurring in the course of the employment. This applies to all kinds and classes of industries. Section 4 of the act provides that the employer who has made the report required shall not be required to make any other or further report of any accident. But this act can not be taken as a repeal of the act of June 9, 1911 (P. L. 756), requiring a mine foreman to make weekly reports of accidents in and about the mine.

Mine Accidents, In re (Opinion of Attorney General), 23 Pa. Dist. Rep. 136, p. 137.

ARBITRATION-SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES.

SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES BETWEEN OPERATORS AND MINERS.

LAWS 1893, P. 102.

MAY 18, 1893.

AN ACT to establish boards of arbitration to settle all questions of wages and other matters of variance between capital and labor.

WHEREAS, The great industries of this Commonwealth are frequently suspended by strikes and lockouts resulting at times in criminal violation of the law and entailing upon the State vast expense to protect life and property and preserve the public peace: AND WHEREAS, No adequate means exist for the adjustment of these issues between capital and labor, employers and employees, upon an equitable basis where each party can meet together upon terms of equality to settle the rates of compensation for labor and establish rules and regulations for their branches of industry in harmony with law and a generous public sentiment; therefore,

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That whenever any differences arise between employers and employees in the mining, manufacturing, or transportation industries of the Commonwealth which can not be mutually settled to the satisfaction of a majority of all parties concerned, it shall be lawful for either party, or for both parties jointly, to make application to the court of common pleas wherein the service is to be performed about which the dispute has arisen to appoint and constitute a board of arbitration to consider, arrange, and settle all matters at variance between them which must be fully set forth in the application, such application to be in writing and signed and duly acknowledged before a proper officer by the representatives of the persons employed as workmen, or by the representatives of a firm, individual, or corporation, or by both, if the application is made jointly by the parties, such applicants to be citizens of the United States, and the said application shall be filed with the record of all proceedings had in consequence thereof among the records of said court.

SEC. 2. That when the application duly authenticated has been presented to the court of common pleas, as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for said court, if in its judgment the said application allege matters of sufficient importance to warrant the intervention of a board of arbitrators in order to preserve the public peace, or promote the interests and harmony of labor and capital, to grant a rule on each of the parties to the alleged controversy, where the application is made jointly, to select three citizens of the county of good character and familiar with all matters in dispute to serve as members of the said board of arbitration, which shall consist of nine members, all citizens of this Commonwealth; as soon as the said members are appointed by the respective parties to the issue, the court shall proceed at once to fill the board by the selection of three persons from the citizens of the county of well-known character for probity and general intelligence, and not directly connected with the interests of either party to the dispute, one of whom shall be designated by the said judge as president of the board of arbitration.

Where but one party makes application for the appointment of such board of arbitration the court shall give notice by order of court to both parties in interest, requiring them each to appoint three persons as members of said board within ten days thereafter, and in case either party refuse or neglects to make

such appointment the court shall thereupon fill the board by the selection of six persons who, with the three named by the other party in the controversy, shall constitute said board of arbitration.

The said court shall also appoint one of the members thereof secretary to the said board who shall also have a vote and the same powers as any other member, and shall also designate the time and place of meeting of the said board. They shall also place before them copies of all papers and minutes of proceedings to the case or cases submitted to them.

SEC. 3. That when the board of arbitrators has been thus appointed and constituted and each member has been sworn or affirmed and the papers have been submitted to them, they shall first carefully consider the records before them and then determine the rules to govern their proceedings; they shall sit with closed doors until their organization is consummated after which the proceedings shall be public. The president of the board shall have full authority to preserve order at the sessions and may summon or appoint officers to assist and in all ballotings he shall have a vote. It shall be lawful for him at the request of any two members of the board to send for persons, books, and papers, and he shall have power to enforce their presence and to require them to testify in any matter before the board, and for any willful failure to appear and testify before said board, when requested by the said board, the person or persons so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in the court of quarter sessions of the county where the offense is committed, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, either or both, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 4. That as soon as the board is organized the president shall announce that the sessions are opened and the variants may appear with their attorneys and counsel, if they so desire, and open their case, and in all proceedings the applicant shall stand as plaintiff, but when the application is jointly made, the employees shall stand as plaintiff in the case, each party in turn shall be allowed a full and impartial hearing and may examine experts and present models, drawings, statements and any proper matter bearing on the case, all of which shall be carefully considered by the said board in arriving at their conclusions, and the decision of the said board shall be final and conclusive of all matters brought before them for adjustment, and the said board of arbitration may adjourn from the place designated by the court for holding its sessions, when it deems it expedient to do so, to the place or places where the dispute arises and hold sessions and personally examine the workings and matters at variance to assist their judgment.

SEC. 5. That the compensation of the members of the board of arbitration shall be as follows, to wit: each shall receive four dollars per diem and ten cents per mile both ways between their homes and the place of meeting by the nearest comfortable routes, or travel to be paid out of the treasury of the county where the arbitration is held, and witnesses shall be allowed from the treasury of the said county the same fees now allowed by law for similar services.

SEC. 6. That the board of arbitrators shall duly execute their decision which shall be reached by a vote of a majority of all the members, by having the names of those voting in the affirmative signed thereon and attested by the secretary, and their decisions, together with all the papers and minutes of their proceedings, shall be returned to and filed in the court aforesaid for safe keeping.

SEC 7. All laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act be and the same are hereby repealed,

BUREAU OF MINES.

CREATION AND DUTIES OF CHIEF.

See also Department of Mines, p. 11.

LAWS 1897, P. 279.

JULY 15, 1897.

AN ACT establishing a bureau of mines in the department of internal affairs of Pennsylvania, defining its purpose and authority, providing for the appointment of a chief of said bureau and assistants, and fixing their salaries and expenses.

SEC. 1. Be it enacted, etc.:

That there is hereby established in the department of internal affairs of Pennsylvania a bureau to be known as the bureau of mines, which shall be charged with a supervision of the execution of the mining laws of this Commonwealth, and the care and publication of the annual reports of the inspectors of coal mines. SEC. 2. The chief officer of said bureau shall be denominated chief of the bureau of mines, and shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, within thirty days after the final passage of this act, and every four years thereafter, who shall be commissioned by the governor to serve a term of four years from the date of his appointment, and until his successor is duly qualified, and shall receive an annual salary of three thousand dollars and traveling expenses; and in case of a vacancy in the office of chief of said bureau, by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise, the governor shal! appoint a qualified person to fill such vacancy for the unexpired balance of the term.

SEC. 3. The chief of the bureau of mines shall be a competent person having had at least ten years practical experience in the working and ventilation of coal mines of this State, and a practical and scientific knowledge of all noxious and dangerous gases found in such mines. The said chief of the bureau of mines so appointed shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed by the constitution, the same to be filed in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth, and give to the Commonwealth a bond in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars, with surety to be approved by the governor and secretary of internal affairs, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the chief of the bureau to devote the whole of his time to the duties of his office, and to see that the mining laws of this State are faithfully executed; and for this purpose he is hereby invested with the same power and authority as the mine inspectors to enter, inspect, and examine any mine or colliery within the State, and the works and machinery connected therewith, and to give such aid and instruction to the mine inspectors from time to time as he may deem best calculated to protect the health and promote the safety of all persons employed in and about the mines; and the said chief of the bureau of mines shall have the power to suspend any mine inspector for any neglect of duty, but such suspended mine inspector shall have the right to appeal to the secretary of internal affairs, who shall be empowered to approve of such suspension or restore such suspended mine inspector to duty, after investigating the causes which led to such suspension. Should the chief of the bureau of mines receive information by petition, signed by ten or more miners,