member is to be appointed upon recommendations of the representatives of the employees, and one by representatives of the carriers. The third member, who is the chairman of the Board, will be appointed without recommendations from either the carriers or the employees. An annuity or pension may not be assigned or taxed and is not subject to garnishment, attachment, or other legal process. Carriers may furnish free transportation to persons receiving pensions.

The Carriers' Taxing Act of 1937 provides for an income tax on each railroad employee receiving $300 or less. The tax will be 2% percent during 1937, 1938, and 1939; during the next 3 years, 3 percent; and during 1943, 1944, and 1945, 3% percent. In 1946, 1947, and 1948, it will be 31⁄2 percent, and after December 31, 1948, 3% percent. A similar tax is levied on the carriers.

In the case of employee representatives, a larger tax is levied, ranging from 51⁄2 percent in 1937, 1938, and 1939, to 71⁄2 percent after December 31, 1948. Under the terms of the new act, the amount contributed by the employees, and the taxes paid by the railroads under the former act, will be returned to the respective taxpayers.

INTRODUCTION OF FRENCH LABOR LAWS
INTO FRENCH INDO-CHINA

THE labor laws enacted in France in June 1936 dealing with the 40hour week, vacations with pay, and collective agreements, specified that similar laws were to be made effective by decrees in Algeria and in the French colonies and protectorates. As there was practically no labor legislation in French Indo-China a decree1 was issued in France December 30, 1936, and published in the Journal Officiel of Indo-China, February 3, 1937, establishing a labor code for native labor in the colony.

The code prohibits forced labor. Contract or indentured labor was already regulated by special legislation. Apprentices may be employed between the ages of 12 and 20, but their number may not exceed one-third of the workmen. Children under 12 years of age may not be employed in any industrial, commercial, or mining establishment. Employment contracts may be written or verbal. No fines are permitted. At the expiration of the contracts employees are entitled to receive a certificate from the employer showing the length of time employed and the kind of work in which they were engaged. Absence for 8 consecutive weeks on account of childbirth is not a cause for terminating a labor contract.

1 Report from Quincy F. Roberts, American Consul, Saigon, French Indo-China, May 14, 1937.

Collective bargaining is provided for in the decree, but as there are no trade-unions or similar organizations, the inspector of labor represents the workers in the negotiations with employers. If no collective agreement in an industry can be reached, an arbitration committee consisting of a Court of Appeals Justice, the Inspector General of Labor, and a representative of the industry are to be appointed to decide upon the terms of the contract. Minimum wages are to be fixed annually by a special commission consisting of representatives of industries, members of elected native assemblies, and the local labor inspector. The scale of minimum wages fixed by the commission is subject to the approval of the chief of the local administration. Wages and salaries must be paid in cash and any cash advances may be deducted only to the extent of one-tenth of the employee's monthly wages.

Hours of work are limited to 9 per day for 1 year beginning January 1, 1937, and will be 8 per day thereafter. A 6-day week was established for employees, workers, and apprentices in industrial and commercial establishments, in mines, and in educational and charitable institutions. Insofar as possible the weekly day of rest should be the same for all employees, but it was provided that special regulations providing for rotation of work would be issued for continuous industries. Night work of girls and women and of males under the age of 18 is prohibited.

Workers with at least 6 months' service are entitled to receive 5 days' leave with pay for the year beginning January 1, 1937, and from January 1, 1938, such workers will be entitled to an annual vacation with pay of 10 days.

The law also provides for protection of the health and safety of workers. Machinery must be safeguarded and the Governor General is authorized to issue regulations covering special health or accident hazards in any particular industry. Provision is made for compensation for industrial accidents.

A French decree dated February 24, 1937, extended the provisions of the foregoing labor code for native workers with necessary modifications to French and other European workers but its application had not taken effect, with the exception of the workmen's compensation act which was made effective January 1, 1937.

MINIMUM-WAGE LEGISLATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AS OF JULY 1, 1937

THE recent decision of the United States Supreme Court upholding the validity of the minimum-wage law of the State of Washington (West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U. S. 379)1 caused many States again to consider legislation in this field. During 1937, four States (Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania) passed new minimum-wage laws, and two States (Massachusetts and New York) reenacted their statutes, while Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin passed amendatory legislation. In three jurisdictions (Arkansas, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico) the laws which had been on the statute books for many years without being enforced, were revived and made effective.

As a result of the action taken in 1937, there are now minimum-wage laws in 24 jurisdictions. Most of the laws apply to women and minors only and do not attempt to afford any protection to men. However, the new statute of Oklahoma, which was approved on April 22, 1937, applies to men as well as to women and children, while the Nevada law protects women only.

With the exception of Arkansas, Nevada, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico, where the minimum wages are fixed by the law, the laws generally provide for the establishment of wage boards to investigate and recommend to the commission or other organization authorized to administer the law, the minimum wage to be fixed for certain industries. Such agency may accept or reject the recommendation.

Prior to the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital (261 U. S. 525) most of the laws fixed the minimum wage on the basis of the cost of living. The decision of the Supreme Court in this case, however, held that the law of the District of Columbia was unconstitutional. This statute, which was passed by Congress in 1918, provided that a wage conference should recommend to the minimum-wage board the min

See Monthly Labor Review, May 1937 (p. 1202). For an account of earlier court action on minimumwage legislation, see Monthly Labor Review, March 1235 (pp. 655-666).

ticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South 1 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connec- Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.

imum wages to be paid in certain occupations, and that these recommendations were to be either approved or rejected by the minimumwage board. It specified that the wage must be "adequate to supply necessary cost of living and to maintain health and protect morals." As a result of the Adkins decision, little legislation was enacted during the next 10 years and a few of the laws on the statute books were enforced. In 1933, however, seven States (Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Utah) passed minimum-wage laws. With the hope that such laws would be held constitutional, and to overcome the objection raised in the Adkins decision, most of these laws were based upon a standard minimumwage bill sponsored by the National Consumers' League. A similar law was passed by Massachusetts in 1934, and by Rhode Island in 1936. The standard bill did not attempt to regulate wages generally, but provided that whenever a substantial number of women and minors in any occupation were receiving less than a subsistence wage, an investigation should be made to determine whether the wages were "fairly and reasonably commensurate with the value of the service or class of service rendered." It defined an unreasonable wage as "less than the fair and reasonable value of the services rendered and less than sufficient to meet the minimum cost of living necessary for health."

In the Utah law, the State industrial commission is empowered to ascertain the wages paid, the hours, and conditions of labor in the various occupations. Upon investigation, if it is determined that the wages paid "are inadequate to supply the cost of proper living", the law provides that the commission shall call a "wage board" into conference. After a public hearing, the commission is empowered to fix a minimum wage, a maximum number of hours, and the standard conditions of labor "demanded by the health and welfare of the women and minors engaged in any occupation." A mandatory order may be subsequently issued setting forth the minimum wage and the maximum hours.

In 1936 minimum-wage legislation was given a considerable setback when the Supreme Court, by a five to four decision, held the New York law unconstitutional (Morehead v. Tipaldo, 298 U. S. 587). After this decision was rendered, Massachusetts amended its law by placing the minimum-wage administration under the department of health. However, following the later decision in the State of Washington case, the legislature restored the administration of the act to the department of labor and industries.

The decision of the Supreme Court previously referred to, upholding the validity of the Washington minimum-wage law, in effect validated all the minimum-wage laws, and the Attorney General of the

3 See Monthly Labor Review for July 1936 (p. 78).

United States recently ruled that, as a result of the decision, the District of Columbia law was revived. A similar ruling was made in Puerto Rico, and the inflexible minimum-wage law of the island, providing for a fixed minimum wage, is now in effect. Most of the laws enacted this year base the minimum-wage on the cost of living.

Principal Provisions of Laws

The principal provisions of the acts are summarized in the following table. For additional information on this subject, especially with reference to minimum-wage orders, see United States Women's Bureau Bulletin No. 144: State Labor Laws for Women.

• For complete text of the minimum-wage law of Washington State, see Monthly Labor Review, May 1937 (pp. 1205-1208).