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INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION

Published monthly by the

American Association for International Conciliation.
Entered as second class matter at New York, N. Y.,
Postoffice, February 23, 1909, under act of July 16, 1894.

I. Report of the Commission on International Labor Legislation of the Peace Conference

II. The British National Industrial Conference: Report of the Provisional Joint Committee

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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION
SUB-STATION 84 (407 WEST 117TH STREET)
NEW YORK CITY

I

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON INTER-
NATIONAL LABOR LEGISLATION OF

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

1. Terms of Reference and ConSTITUTION OF COMMISSION

The Commission on International Labor Legislation was appointed by the Peace Conference on the 31st January, 1919. The terms of reference were as follows:

"That a Commission, composed of two representatives apiece from the five Great Powers, and five representatives to be elected by the other Powers represented at the Peace Conference, be appointed to inquire into the conditions of employment from the international aspect, and to consider the international means necessary to secure common action on matters affecting conditions of employment, and to recommend the form of a permanent agency to continue such inquiry and consideration in coöperation with and under the direction of the League of Nations."

At a meeting of the other States on the 27th January, 1919, it was agreed that Belgium should nominate two representatives on the Commission, and Cuba, Poland, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic one each.

The Commission was composed as follows:

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Mr. Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor; Hon. A. N. Hurley, President of the American Shipping Board. (Substitutes: Hon. H. M. Robinson, Dr. J. T. Shotwell, Professor at Columbia University.)

THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The Rt. Hon. G. N. Barnes, M.P., Member of the War Cabinet. (Substitute: Mr. H. B. Butler, C.B., Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Labor.) Sir Malcolm Delevingne, K.C.B., Assistant Under-Secretray of State, Home Office.

FRANCE. Mr. Colliard, Minister of Labor. (Substitute: Mr. Arthur Fontaine, Counsellor of State, Director of Labor.) Mr. Loucheur, Minister of Industrial Reconstruction. (Substitute: Mr. Léon Jouhaux, General Secretary of the Confédération Générale du Travail.)

ITALY. Baron Mayor des Planches, Hon. Ambassador, Commissioner-General for Emigration. Mr. Cabrini, Deputy, Vice-President of the Supreme Labor Council. (Substitute: Mr. Coletti.)

JAPAN. Mr. Otchiai, Envoy Extraordinary, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty The Emperor of Japan at The Hague. Mr. Oka, formerly Director of Commercial and Industrial Affairs at the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. BELGIUM. Mr. Vandervelde, Minister of Justice and of State. (Substitute: Mr. La Fontaine, Senator.) Mr. Mahaim, Professor at Liège University, Secretary to the Belgian Section of the Association for the Legal Protection of Workmen. CUBA. Mr. De Bustamante, Professor at Havana University. (Substitutes: Mr. Raphael Martinez Ortiz, Minister Plenipotentiary; Mr. De Blanck, Minister Plenipotentiary.) POLAND. Count Zoltowski, Member of the Polish National Committee, afterwards replaced by Mr. Stanislas Patek, Counsellor of the Court of Cassation. (Substitute: Mr. François Sokal, Director-General of Labor.)

CZECHO-SLOVAK REPUBLIC. Mr. Benès, Minister for Foreign Affairs, afterwards replaced by Mr. Rudolph Broz.

The following were appointed officers of the Commission:

President, Mr. Samuel Gompers (U. S. A.);

Vice-Presidents: The Rt. Hon. G. N. Barnes, M.P.
(British Empire), Mr. Colliard (France);

General Secretary, Mr. Arthur Fontaine (France);
Assistant General Secretary, Mr. H. B. Butler (British
Empire);

Secretaries: Baron Capelle (substitute, Count de Grunne),
Belgium; Mr. di Palma Castiglione, Italy; Mr. Oyster,
U. S. A.; Mr. Yoshisaka, Japan.

2. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION

The Commission has held thirty-five meetings, and has drawn up its conclusions in two parts. The first is a draft convention

containing provisions for the establishment of a permanent organization for international labor legislation. This convention, which was based on a draft presented by the British Delegation, has been the subject of the most careful examination and discussion. The first part of this report may conveniently take the form of a commentary thereon. The second part of the Commission's conclusions is in the form of clauses containing declarations of principle in regard to a number of matters which are of vital importance to the labor world. At the opening sittings, the various Delegations agreed on the need for such declarations, which the Commission suggests should be included in the Treaty of Peace, in order that it may mark not only the close of the period which culminated in the world-war, but also the beginning of a better social order and the birth of a new civilization.

PART I. PERMANENT ORGANIZATION

PREAMBLE

The main idea underlying the scheme embodied in the Convention is that the constitution of the League of Nations will not provide a real solution of the troubles which have beset the world in the past, and will not even be able to eliminate the seeds of international strife, unless it provides a remedy for the industrial evils and injustices which mar the present state of society. In proposing, therefore, to establish a permanent organization in order to adjust labor conditions by international action, the Commission felt that it was taking an indispensable step towards the achievement of the objects of the League of Nations and has given expression to this idea in the Preamble, which defines the objects and scope of the proposed organization.

CHAPTER I

Chapter I provides the machinery of the permanent organization proposed. In the first place, it is stipulated (Article 1) that participation in this organization shall be a condition of membership of the League of Nations, since every State Member of the League is morally bound to accept the principles set forth in the Preamble, if it has really at heart the promotion of the cause of justice and humanity.

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