7809 A A r-> SOUTh 9 ■ yj b 9 ! ro Report on international action and machinery regulating labor and international labor opinion as to peace terms r THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND MACHINERY REGULATING LABOR AND INTERNATIONAL LABOR OPINION AS TO PEACE TERMS UNIYERSS1" rv 1956 LIBRA GOVT. TvOOM WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 CONFIDENTIAL REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND MACHINERY REGULATING LABOR AND INTERNATIONAL LABOR OPINION AS TO PEACE TERMS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 CONTENTS. Page. A. Introduction 5 B. Unofficial International Action to Promote Protective Labor Legislation. . . 5 I. Socialist Internationale 5 II. International trade-union movement 6 a. International Trades Secretariat 6 b. International Secretariat 7 III. Semi-official associations for economic and social reform 8 a. International Federation for the Observation of Sunday 8 b. Permanent International Committee on Social Insurance 8 c. International Congress on Occupational Diseases 9 d. International Association on Unemployment 9 e. International Association for Labor Legislation 9 C. Official International Action Regulating Labor Conditions 10 I. History of official international agreements 10 II. Volume of agreements '. 12 III. Subject matter dealt -with 12 IV. International machinery suggested by agreements 13 D. International Labor and Socialist Opinion on the Peace Settlement 14 I. Labor and socialist conferences during the war 14 a. Inter-allied 14 b. International 16 c. Neutral 17 II. Proposals for labor participation at the Peace Conference 17 a. A labor conference at the same time and place 17 b. Labor representation in the peace delegations of participating nations 18 III. Proposals as to the terms of peace 18 a. Political 18 b. Industrial 19 3 876264 OPINION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR AND SOCIALIST GROUPS ON TERMS OF THE PEACE SETTLEMENT. A. INTRODUCTION. This report summarizes the opinion of international labor and socialist groups on the terms of the peace settlement. It aims also to provide a background for the consideration of international machinery to regulate labor conditions. For the latter purpose a brief outline is given of the steps which have been taken by various labor and other groups to promote international protective labor legislation. The step* which governments have taken in this direc- tion are outlined in greater detail, since these provide the nearest approach to a precedent for international action. In conclusion, the report defines the attitude of labor and socialist groups since August. 1914, with reference to the peace settlement in its political as well as its industrial aspects. B. UNOFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL ACTION TO PROMOTE PROTEC- TIVE LABOR LEGISLATION. Organized international opinion in favor of the regulation of labor conditions by international means, exclusive of official treaties and conventions, is chiefly represented by three groups : The Socialist Internationale, the international trade-union movement, and the various semi-official international associations for economic and social reform. These will be dealt with in the order of their origin. I. Socialist Internationale. The Socialist Internationale began to take form about 1864 when Karl Marx became the leader of an organization of radicals called the International Workingmen's Association. The association held seven conferences before its dissolution in 1873, drawing an increas- ingly larger representation from all the European countries, but chiefly from England, Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. From 1873 to 1889 the Internationale was inactive, but socialism itself continued to draw adherents, for it was during this period that political parties founded on socialist principles began to appear. In 1889 a new Internationale was formed, which held a conference in Paris at which 20 nationalities were represented. At the last regu- lar congress in 1910, 33 nations were present. In all, nine international congresses have been held. The resolu- tions passed by these congresses have dealt with both industrial and political questions. For example, the Copenhagen Congress in 1910, reiterating the demands of the 1889 Congress, passed a resolution containing the following minimum standard for international legis- lation : 1. A maximum working day of eight hours. 2. Prohibition of labor under 14 years. 3. Prohibition of night work except when necessary. 4. Uninterrupted rest of 3G hours a week as a minimum for all workers. 5. Absolute right of combination. 6. Inspection of working conditions, with cooperation of per- sons elected by the workers. The same congress resolved itself in favor of ultimate complete dis- armament and the abolition of secret diplomacy. In 1£00 the International Socialist Bureau was founded, with head- quarters at Brussels. The Bureau is a permanent organization of delegates from every country, called international secretaries, who, during the years 1904 to 1914, met one or more times annually. Its executive committee is composed of Belgian socialists whose chair- man and secretary, respectively, since the year of its founding, have been Emile Vandervelde and Camille Huysmans. II. International Trade-Union Movement. International working-class conferences of various kinds were held at approximately the same time as the early Socialist Internationale. The earliest of these were general congresses of working-class repre- sentatives and their friends, such as the international conference of workers which met in Paris in 1886. and the International Labor Congress of 1897 at Zurich. Before these general congresses disappeared entirely, single crafts or groups of related crafts had become organized internationally and were holding conferences at which each international craft organization was represented. The body of representatives was called the International Trades Secre- tariat. Shortly after the development of the Trades Secretariat, another international body was formed called the International Sec- retariat, composed of representatives of the central trade federations of each nation. This body also held periodic conferences. a. International Trades Secretariat. Most of the international craft federations began to meet about 1890, although there are indications of conferences of international tobacco workers' unions as early as 1871 and 1872. In 1912, about 30 trades were organized internationally. In that year, the Inter- national Metal Workers' Federation and the corresponding federa- tion of miners each had over a million members. Trades like the woodworkers, printers, etc., whose total membership in 1912 Avas smaller, were organized in from 15 to '20 countries. Five of the trades published monthly papers in several Languages. The conferences of the four largest federations, namely, the tobacco workers, transport workers, miner- and metal workers, have been concerned with such questions as mutual assistance in strikes, reci- procity agreements covering sick benefits, traveling and death bene- fits, the reduction of working hours. Sunday rest, the inauguration of a minimum wage, and the protection of women and children in industry. In addition, transport workers, including dockers, seamen and railway men, favored nationalization of railways and other means of production and the introduction of arbitration courts ; miners advocated pensions for those injured in the mines and their widows and orphans, and nationalization of mines. The eight -hour day was advocated by all the trades. The work of these congresses has been confined almost entirely to conducting propaganda in the various federated nations. For this purpose the international secretary or a specially appointed com- mittee has year after year been instructed by the conference to collect information in the form of statistics and reports concerning hours, wages, and conditions of work, to be made available to all the na- tional federations, in order to push the organization of workers in countries which were backward in this respect and to promote con- certed action among the unions of all countries. Weaker federations have concerned themselves primarily with the question of mutual assistance in crises produced by sickness and strikes. The problem of promoting international standards of labor appears to be a development of the stronger federations. In 1913 significant action was taken by the sixth international conference of tailors, which voted to send an organizer to Italy to hold tailors' meetings in all frontier towns. The first conference of the secretaries of the various international craft federations was held in 1913. Steps were taken to encourage uniform statistics and reports among all the trades, and to link the international craft federations closer to the International Secretariat. b. International Secretariat. The Secretariat has been in existence for the last two decades. Affiliated with it are more than 20 national labor federations. Eight international conferences have been held, notably at Amsterdam, Christiania, Paris, Budapest, and Zurich. These conferences have principally served as a medium for the interchange of international opinion on labor matters. Industrial lather than political questions have been discussed. Much of the 8 energy of the conferences has been spent in trying to bring about closer organization among the various affiliated national federations. These efforts, in 1911 and 1913, took the form of two proposals, one made by French delegates recommending international trade-union congresses and the other by American delegates recommending the establishment of an international federation of labor. These pro- posals were referred to the national centers for discussion in 1911, and again in 1913 after favorable comment from the conference. In 1913 the name of the Secretariat, on a motion made by American delegates, was changed to the International Federation of Trades Unions. The change in no wise effected a change in organization, however. In January, 1913, appeared the first issue of the International News Letter, a bi-monthly bulletin containing a synopsis of international labor conditions. From the time of its establishment until July. 1914. when the last regular issue appeared, more than 7.000,000 trade- union members had access to the bulletin. III. Semi-Official Associations for Economic and Social Reform. Beside the international organizations of distinctly working class •character, there have been a number of conferences of associations of economists and professional men for purposes of general economic and social reform or the study of special aspects of the labor problem, such as occupational diseases, social insurance, housing, child labor, unemployment and the like. These conferences have acquired a semi-official character because of the participation in them of states- men and government officials. a. International Federation for the Observation of Sunday. One of the earliest organizations of this kind, called the Interna- tional Federation for the Observation of Sunday, was largely re- ligious in origin and impulse. It met in 1876. and again in 1878 and 1885, and passed resolutions favoring Sunday rest for railroad and post-office employees, telephone and telegraph operators, sailors, and industrial workers. b. Permanent International Committee on Social Insurance. The International Congress of the Permanent International Com- mittee on Social Insurance met for the first time in Paris in 1889. The Committee is composed of about a dozen national committees whose purpose is to encourage the adoption of insurance measures protecting the workman against accident, old age, sickness, and un- employment. Ten international conferences have been held at irregu- lar intervals varying from one to three years since the year of its founding. 9 c. International Congress on Occupational Diseases. The International Congress on Occupational Diseases, which met first at Milan in 1906, held an important congress at Brussels in 1910, when representatives, including government officials, from 20 or more countries of Europe, Asia, North and South America were present. Special congresses, such as the Congress on Ankylostomasie, which was held at Berlin in 1907, and the International Congress of Hy- giene at Brussels, should also be noted. d. International Association on Unemploy?nent. The first International Conference on Unemployment was called together Iw a private foundation in Milan, about 1905. Representa- tives from Germany, France, Belgium, and Hungary participated. In 1910 the International Association on Unemployment was formed to encourage national efforts to combat unemployment. The associa-. tion is assisted in carrying out its investigations by the Permanent International Committee on Social Insurance and the International Association for Labor Legislation, and in some instances the national sections of these organizations form likewise the national sections of the Association on Unemployment, but the two are in other re- spects independent of each other. National sections of the Association have been constituted in IT countries. In most of these, local or State governments grant subsidies to the Association and otherwise co- operate with and indorse its activities. Permanent headquarters of the Association are in Ghent, where a third international congress was held in 1913 . e. International Association for Labor Legislation. The most important of the nonworking class organizations for the improvement of labor conditions is the International Association for Labor Legislation, which is in some degree a result of the repeated demands of various labor bodies for the establishment of an inter- national bureau of information. The Association was formed in Paris in 1900 by a group of international statesmen, economists and professional men. In 1901 an International Labor Office was set up at Basle. Since then the membership of the Association has been extended to include more than 25 countries. Seven international conferences have been held. In the last conference before the war, held in Zurich in 1912, 22 governments participated. Fourteen governments contribute to the support of the International Labor Office. In 1906 the Hungarian Government formally invited the conference to meet at Budapest, an invitation which was not ac- cepted, however, as political neutrality is one of the policies of the Association. 100269—19 2 10 At the L904 conference held at Basle, action was taken on two resolutions submitted by the International Office its a result of several years' study of the effect, of night work on the health of women workers find the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches. The conference voted to request the Swiss Federal Council to call an international official conference to consider these resolu- tions: This action influenced the international treaties signed at Berne in 1906, prohibiting night work for women and forbidding the use of white phosphorus in manufacture. The resolutions passed at the 1912 conference in Zurich indicate the emphasis put upon the necessity for international action in dealing with labor questions. They cover such subjects as the administra- tion of international labor treaties and labor laws, child labor, rela- tions between employers and workmen, the regulation of home work, hours of labor in continuous industries, the protection of workmen from accident and industrial disease, workmen's holidays, and the length of the working day. In June, 1918, the Association submitted to the Swiss Federal Council a memorandum requesting the latter's support for the incor- poration in the world's peace treaty of a program of international protective labor legislation. The memorandum designates the Inter- national Association for Labor Legislation as the recognized official agency for the enforcement of international labor standards agreed upon, through the International Office at Basle. The Office is to be supported by the various signatory countries. Standard forms for reports bearing on the enforcement of labor laws are to be drawn up by the Office an claccepted by the powers in a special agreement. C. OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL ACTION REGULATING LABOR CONDITIONS. The following paragraphs constitute a critical summary of the various conferences and agreements entered into by governments for the protection of workers. The material contained in the summary is grouped under four heads: (1) an historical review of the agree- ments, (2) an indication of their volume, (3) a review of the subject matter dealt with, and (4) a description of the international ma- chinery either suggested or agreed upon. I. History of Official International Agreements. The history of international action b} 7 governments in the inter- ests of better labor conditions goes back to a suggestion made by President Frey of the Swiss Federal Council, to that body, that the Swiss Government take steps to encourage an agreement among the industrial States of Europe regarding uniform labor standards. In 1880, M. Frey proposed to the same body that an official conference be called to consider the question. 11 The next year the Swiss Government issued a circular to the Gov- ernments of the principal industrial States of Europe, inviting them to a conference on factory labor. The response was not encouraging, however, and the proposition was dropped as premature. In 1882, the first treaty granting an international exchange of savings-bank facilities was made between France and Belgium. The treaty itself is insignificant except as a model for important treaties "which followed. In 1889, the Swiss Government again tried to organize an official international conference. This time the powers were more agreeable to the suggestion and a program of deliberations was actually made out, but at the moment of its acceptance, a request came from Ger- many that the Swiss conference be set aside for an official conference at Berlin. The request was granted and the conference accordingly met at Berlin in 1890. The Berlin conference was a technical conference purely. The delegates were bound only to recommend to their respective govern- ments the adoption of such measures as were approved by the con- ference. Fourteen European countries were present. The action taken at the 1890 meeting was never followed up. No diplomatic conference was ever called to negotiate on the basis of the program formulated. The conference paved the way for later parleys between governments, and may have given impetus to the formation of the International Association for Labor Legislation in 1900, but left no other permanent trace. In 1904 a treaty was signed between France and Italy which was not only important in itself, but by serving as a model for other treaties gave encouragement to international official action. The treaty in its inception was a savings-bank agreement, pat- terned after the Franco-Belgian treaty of 1882. As such it benefited Italy more than France, since there were at that time more Italian laborers in France than French laborers in Italy. The French Government, however, used the savings-bank clause as a means of obtaining concessions from Italy along the line of internal regulation of labor conditions, equalizing the labor standards of the two coun- tries, and thus removing a serious disadvantage to French industry and commerce. Two other treaties between France and Italy followed the treaty of 1901, extending further the principles laid down in the first agreement. A series of treaties dealing with accident and other social insurance was also founded on it. In December, 1901, steps were taken toward another official con- ference. This time the request came from the International Asso- ciation for Labor Legislation to the Swiss Federal Council for a 12 conference to consider two resolutions prepared by the International Labor Office. Two conferences resulted. First, a technical conference of experts from 15 countries to determine the basis of the treaties to be con- sidered, was held at Berne in 1905. The formal official conference met at Berne in September, 1906, with 14 States represented. These two conferences resulted in the signing of the treaties prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches and for- bidding night work for women. The first was signed by only 7 of the 14 convening States, while the last was signed by all. In January, 1913, the Swiss Government approached the coun- tries which had participated in the 1905 and 1906 conference, with a view to considering further international labor legislation. Two proposals prepared by the International Association for Labor Legis- lation, prohibiting night work for young persons and fixing a 10-hour working day for young persons and women, were the basis of consideration. The previous plan of a technical conference followed by a conference of diplomatic representatives, was again used. Thirteen nations were present at the preliminary meeting at Berne. The attitude of the conference is shown by the fact that the consensus of opinion favored the adoption of international standards which were so low as not to necessitate serious modification in the existing legislation of any country. The final protocol on night work for young persons affected Italy only of all the important industrial nations, and in regard to the length of the working day for women and young persons caused reductions in hours in four countries only. The age limit proposed was below the age limit enforced in six States. The diplomatic conference scheduled for September, 1914, was never held because of the outbreak of war. No further group action to regulate labor conditions has since been taken. II. Volume of Agreements. In all, between the years 1882 and 1914, there have been 30 bi-par- tite agreements affecting 12 European States, Japan, the United States, the Transvaal, and the Portuguese Province of Mozambique. Four official international conferences have been held — the first at Berlin in 1890, with 14 governments present; the second at Berne in 1905. with 15 governments represented; the third, a diplomatic con- ference in 1906, with 13 official representatives attending; and the last at Berne in 1913, with 13 countries present. Two poly-partite treaties have been signed, both in 1906. III. Subject Matter Dealt With. . An analysis of the content of the treaties divides them into those which extend to alien workmen the advantages and safeguards of the 13 industrial legislation of the country in which they live and work; and those which involve the simultaneous adoption of the same labor standards by two or more countries. To the first class belong 4 savings-bank agreements, similar to the Franco-Belgian treaty of 188:2 ; 19 treaties which deal specifically with accident insurance, and 4 which deal with general social- insurance laws. To the second class belong the Franco-Italian treaties of 1904, 1906, and 1910, in which the extension of savings-bank facilities to alien workmen is made the basis for equalizing the labor regulations of both countries, particularly in regard to the protection of young persons and women in industrial establishments. The Berlin conference of 1890 belongs to this class of agreement, although probably little of permanent value ^resulted from it. Such discussion as there was centered on the regulation of work in mines, Sunday rest, protective measures for children, young persons, and women, and the ma- chinery of enforcement for the measures which were finally adopted. The Berne treaties of 1906, as well as the Berne Conference of 1913 which was largely inspired by the success of these treaties, were like- wise agreements among several nations to adopt the same labor regula- tions. This group of international agreements is, therefore, the more significant of the two classes of agreements, inasmuch as it involves a change of existing labor standards in accordance with standards scientifically determined, whereas the former involve merely the ex- tension of existing standards to a larger group. There are. in addition, three or four miscellaneous treaties whose classification as labor treaties is derived merely from the fact that they concern the emigration of workingmen from one country to another. IV. International Machinery Suggested by Agreements. Discussion of proposals for enforcing these international agree- ments has particular significance for this report. In the agreements touching the protection of alien workmen by the social insurance laws of the country in which they work, enforce- ment is quite generally left to the local authorities with the coopera- tion of the consular authorities of the alien country. In a treaty between Italy and Hungary (1909), there is an added provision to the effect that an international court of arbitration shall be created for the settlement of disputes arising under the treaty. Much discussion took place at the 1890 conference over a proposal made by Switzerland that a permanent international labor bureau be formed to act as a clearing house of information, as well as to plan periodic international conferences. The proposal was rejected in favor of a suggestion by Germany that enforcement be left to the 14 ■ individual Stales and be reinforced by an interchange of data among them. The German motion also contained a general recommendation for a similar conference at some future time. At the technical conference which preceded the signing of the treaties of Berne in 1906. Switzerland proposed an organ to enforce the phosphorus agreement. The idea again met with no favor and was dropped. At the ratifying conference in 1906 proposals were presented by Great Britain and by France and Switzerland jointly for the estab- lishment of an international commission to function for the exchange of views preliminary to the holding of future international confer- ences. The British proposal empowered the commission also to ob- serve and report on the enforcement of the treaties which were signed at that time ; whereas the French-Swiss plan would have made the commission consultative merely, on the initiative of the States themselves. Neither proposal was embodied in the final treaties, although 10 of the 14 signatories to the night-work treaty passed a resolution favor- ing the French-Swiss proposal and agreeing to its incorporation in the final agreement on condition that the other four countries were persuaded also to adhere. In default of an international commission, the Swiss Federal Coun- cil acted as an intermediary for the settlement of several questions of minor importance which developed in connection with the 1906 treaties. D. INTERNATIONAL LABOR AND SOCIALIST OPINION ON THE PEACE SETTLEMENT. Since the first day- of the war labor has been one of the chief factors in the formulation of opinion regarding the aims of the war and the terms of the final settlement. In so far as international labor opinion has been able to express itself through organization, it has been concerned with two propositions, namely, the steps neces- sary to insure consideration of the special claims of labor in the peace treaty, and the formulation of the specific purposes for which consideration is desired. These aims have been resolved by means of a series of international conferences which will be treated apart from the subject matter with which they deal. I. Labor and Socialist Conferences During the War. a. Inter-aZUed. The first of these was held in London February 14, 1915. Labor and socialist representatives from England, France, Belgium, and Russia were present. Resolutions were passed dealing with the ter- ritorial provisions of the peace treaty, favoring the establishment 15 of a super-national authority to keep peace among nations, and con- demning secret diplomacy. Representatives of trade unions from England. France. Belgium, and Italy met in Paris in May, 1916 to make plans for a later meeting, at which it was proposed to discuss an international labor conference to be held at the same time and place as the Peace Conference, and the formulation of labor clauses to be included in the peace treaty. Two months later, the International Congress of Trades Unions met at Leeds. The proposal for an international labor conference at the same time and place as the Peace Conference was rejected in favor of a conference he fore peace negotiations were begun, for the purpose of discussing syndicalistic and social matters exclusively. The congress also adopted the report drawn up by M. Jouhaux, of the French Confederation Generale du Travail, containing the special labor standards which it was desired to make part of the peace treaty. An inter-allied socialist congress was to have been held in Paris the early part of 1917, but did not take place because of the refusal of the British Labor Party to send delegates. The refusal was based on objection to the narrowness of the program, which contained only two questions, namely, condemnation of a war of aggression and de- nunciation of economic war after the war. A later Allied Conference was called hy the British section of the Socialist Internationale in August, 1917, for the purpose of discuss- ing the Inter-allied War Aims drawn up by the special committee of the British Labor Party and Trades Union Congress. Final agree- ment on the Aims was not reached, however. The conference voted to attend the proposed meeting, at Stockholm, at which socialists from all the warring countries were expected to be present. The Trades Union Congress of the allied nations met in London in September of the same year to discuss moving the headquarters of the International Federation of Trades Unions from Berlin to a neutral country. As this could not be done without the cooperation of the German members of the Federation, it was decided to call an international conference at Berne, and to have French and Serbian delegates to the conference report its conclusions to British. Ameri- can, and Canadian federations, inasmuch as the latter refused to meet with delegates from the enemy countries. An important Inter-allied Labor and Socialist Conference was held in London February, 1918, followed by a later one in September. Delegates from Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy were pres- ent at the first meeting. The American Federation of Labor received notice of the meeting too late to attend. Comprehensive proposals relating to political and industrial aspects of the peace treaty were drawn up and accepted. 16 At the September meeting the United States, Canada, Greece, Ser- bia, and Roumania were also represented. Consideration was given to replies received from enemy socialists in answer to the proposals made at the February conference. Satisfaction was expressed with the response from Bulgarian and Hungarian socialists and from the German Social Democratic Party of Austria, but the reply of the German majority socialists was voted a bar to the holding of an international meeting. It was voted by the conference to continue to state inter-allied aims by means of national and inter-allied con- gresses. b. International. These sum themselves up in a number of frustrated attempts to hold meetings of delegates from allied and enemy nations, some of which did not evolve beyond mere proposals, and include a meeting between delegates from the Central Powers and neutral nations which had considerable significance. An International Socialist Congress was proposed in 1914, but French socialists refused to attend as long as the enemy was on French soil, and the congress was not held. This attitude was con- firmed in 1916, when the Confederation Generale du Travail, by a small majority, voted against the resumption of friendly relations with labor delegates from enemy countries. In 1917 the proposal to convene an international socialist congress at Stockholm agitated labor and socialist groups in every country. The conference was called by the International Socialist Bureau, with the cooperation of representatives of the Russian Council of "Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies and the Dutch-Scandinavian Socialist Committee. The meeting was favored by the British Labor Party and by the Inter- Allied Socialist Conference of August. 1917, but was never held because of the failure of the delegates from allied nations to receive passports. Delegations from other countries did not arrive at Stockholm simultaneously. The same year the international conference which was to consider moving the headquarters of the International Federation of Trades Unions from Berlin to a neutral country met at Berne (Ociober, 1917). Representatives from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Den- mark. Norway, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, and Bohemia were present. Delegates from Great Britain, the United States, and Belgium declined to attend, and French and Italian dele- gates were denied passports. The conference adopted resolutions in favor of. general protective legislation providing certain minimum industrial standards. In 1917 also, the Executive of the British Labor Party, in con- junction with the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, instituted measures to secure international agreement 17 among labor and socialist groups. This action took the form of drawing up a Memorandum of Inter-allied War Aims, which was made the basis of international as well as inter-allied discussion. The Inter-allied Labor and Socialist Conference which met in February. 191b, and the British Trades Union Congress the follow- ing September, both passed resolutions favoring an international labor and socialist conference in principle. More recently still, Scandinavian trade-union federations in joint conference decided to call an international trade meeting as soon as peace was declared, in order to reconstitute the international labor movement and con- sider international economic stabilization. c. Neutral. Two conferences of socialists from neutral nations have been held in addition to the Scandinavian meeting. The first of these was called by the Danish section of the International Socialist Bureau and met in Copenhagen, January, 1915. In June, 1916, another meet- ing of neutrals was called by the Bureau to meet at The Hague. II. Proposals for Labor Participation at the Peace Conference. Discussion of the way in which voice should be given to organized labor opinion regarding the final treaty of peace has centered around two proposals: (1) for a labor and socialist conference at the same time and place as the Peace Conference; (2) for labor representation in the peace delegations of each of the countries participating in the settlement. The first proposal was made originally by the American Federa- tion of Labor at its annual convention in 1914, and specified that the conference should be international. The Canadian Trades Union Congress and the French Confederation Generale du Travail both indorsed the American proposal after a considerable lapse of time, but other allied labor groups preferred an inter-allied instead of an international meeting. The British Trades LTnion Congress in 1916 voted 2 to 1 against the American motion, but in 1917 the Congress not only voted that an international conference was a necessary preliminary to peace, but in October, 1918, joined with the British Labor Party in making a formal request of the British Government for permission to attend such a conference. The principle of an inter-allied conference was indorsed by both in- ter-allied conferences held in London in 1918. The February confer- ence appointed a commission to organize delegates to the conference. Recent reports indicate that a labor and socialist conference will be held at Berne during the progress of the Peace Conference with socialist representatives from Austria and Germany present. Plans are being made to hold an International Trades Union Congress 13 simultaneously with the Peace Conference also, but the two labor congresses will not meet together. The second propositi, namely for labor representation in the vari- ous peace delegations, was first urged by the American Federation of Labor at its 1916 convention. The Berne conference of October, 1917, framed a resolution asking for the participation of trade union representatives in the consideration of social economic questions at the Peace Conference. The Confederation Generale du Travail and the Inter- Allied Labor and Socialist Conference of February, 1918. have each voted for labor representation at the peace table. On October 9 last the British Labor Party and the Trades Union Congress requested the British Government to include an official representative of labor in the peace delegation. A similar request has been made to the French Government, M. Emile Vandervelde, Minister of Justice and President of the International Socialist Bureau, is said to be one of the Belgian delegates to the Peace Con- ference. III. Proposals as to the Terms of Peace. a. Political. Opinion regarding political aspects of the peace settlement con- cern general peace terms, the League of Nations, and specific ques- tions such as the abolition of secret diplomacy, limitation of arma- ments, right of self-determination, economic war after the war and the like. The most conspicuous definition of allied war aims by labor con- sists of the Memorandum on War Aims framed by the British Labor Party and the Trades Union Congress jointly. The War Aims were originally drawn up by a subcommittee of the National Executive of the Labor Party, consisting of Arthur Henderson, Ramsay Mac- Donald. F. W. Jowett. G. H. Roberts, George J. Wardle, and Sidney Webb. They were presented to the Inter-Allied Labor and Socialist Conference in London August, 1917, but agreement on the terms was not reached and a standing committee was appointed to give further consideration to the memorandum. The following month the Trades Union Congress and the Labor Party joined forces in the task of bringing about a general agreement of war aims among the working classes of the allied nations. The Aims were revised, and after approval by the national committees of the two bodies, were presented to Premier Lloyd George as the opinion of the organized workers of Great Britain. The memorandum was accepted by the Labor Party in conference on January 23-25. 1918, and by labor representatives of the allied nations in conference on February 20-23, 1918. President Wilson's Fourteen Points have received significant in- dorsement from such representative labor groups as the Inter- Allied ,19 Conference of September, 1918, the Confederation Generate clu Trav- ail, and the French Socialist Conference of October, 1918. In No- vember the convention of the Pan-American Federation of Labor at Laredo, Tex., passed a resolution adopting the aims formulated by the American Federation of Labor in 1917 which were expressly based on the President's peace principles. Besides the general indorsement by labor of terms of peace either based on the Fourteen Points, or similar to them in spirit and inten- tion, support of the plan for a League of Nations to be incorporated in the settlement has been unanimous. In 1915, before the League of Nations plan had been clearly de- fined, labor groups began to formulate proposals which embodied the principle of an international authority to arbitrate in disputes be- tween nations. The Inter-Allied Conference of February, 1915, called the workers of every country to unite for the purpose of helping to establish such a body. The Comite Confederal the same year de- clared in favor of the principle of compulsory arbitration in all con- flicts between nations. In 1915 also the Fabian Society drew up a scheme for a League of Nations, including an international high court and an international legislative organization. The international Congress of Trade-Unions in July, 1916, on accepting the report of the French delegates containing international labor standards to be considered in the terms of peace, indorsed the idea of an international commission to control the enforcement of these standards. The British Labor Party, the Trades-TJnion Congress, the Confederation Generale du Travail and the Inter-Allied Socialist Conference of August, 1917, all went on record in 1917 as favoring a League of Nations. In addition the German Socialist majority and minority parties have expressed support of the plan. Certain specific points in the peace program have received special indorsement. The right of small nations to self-determination, limi- tation of armaments, and abolition of secret diplomacy have been adopted as political ideals at least five distinct times by British, French, and American labor groups, as well as by German and Aus- trian socialists. The same allied groups have expressed condemna- tion of the program adopted by the Paris Economic Conference of June, 1916, involving an economic war after the war. b. Industrial. Labor standards put forward by international labor groups for incorporation in the peace treaty are fairly uniform. The protection of women and children, social insurance provisions, prohibition of night work, the 8-hour day, safe and sanitary working conditions have been indorsed by all the important inter-allied conferences and bv the international conference at Berne in 1917 in which neutral 20 nations, as well as Germany, Austria, and countries allied with them. participated. Certain of these conferences have stressed additional points. The Inter- A Hied Congress of Leeds, 1916, favored general clauses in the Peace Treaty, guaranteeing the right to organize and the right .of free movement, and providing measures to protect workmen against unemployment. The Memorandum on War Aims includes a clause urging the prevention of " sweating " and unhealthy trades. The International Conference at Berne emphasized the need for regulat- ing home work. The British General Federation of Trades Unions, in a letter to the Prime Minister September G, 1918, urged inter- national legislation dealing among other things with the importance of rest days. The American Federation of Labor draws attention to the necessity of abolishing child labor and establishing a basic 8-hour workday- These aims have been indorsed by the Pan-Ameri- can Federation also. Finally, the Labor Committee of the French Chamber of Deputies has adopted a report on labor clauses to be included in the Peace Treaty, which includes the measures considered by the official inter- national conference at Berne in 1913, prohibiting night work for young persons and fixing a 10-hour workday for women and chil- dren in industry. o UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-40m-7,'56(C790s4)444 THE LiiiKAKY VXWtik&*Y OF CALIFORNIA EOS ANGBLES HP U.S . ^r labor 7809 policies board - U5flr Re port on inter - 1919 national action agH mp-^hinery regulating [Labor and UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRAR' HD 7809 U*8r 1919 AA 000 959 933