La Abra Silver Mining Co., claim of against Mexico, 4697, 4760, 4982, 4987, 5193, 5502, 6432, 6679.

La Crosse, Wis., bridge over Mississippi River at, 4148.

La Manche, The, appropriation for claims regarding, recommended, 3399. La Pensee, The, judicial proceedings against, referred to, 706.

La Plata River:

Transactions in region of, affecting political relations with other powers referred to, 3890, 3898, 3899. Treaties regarding navigation of,

2813.

Labor (see Commerce and Labor, Department of):

Alien, discussed, 6065, 6348, 6455. Arbitration. (See Labor Arbitration.) Benefits to, through efficient guidance, 6973, 7071.

Capital and, discussed, 6715, 6899,

8390, 8713, 8773, 8816, 8817, 8818. Child, discussed, 6898, 6980, 6983,

7035, 7436. (See also Child Labor.) Chinese, exclusion of, 6650. (See also Chinese Immigration.)

Commodity status of, wrong, 8818. Compensated plantation, referred to, 3470.

Conditions for, 6650.

Contract

Convict, should be abolished, 6650. Foreign, should be excluded, 6649. Cooperation of, in prosecution of war, praised, 8389.

Courts and, 7210. (See also Injunetions.)

Demand of, for judiciary legislation, discussed, 7209.

Discussed by President

, Cleveland, 4979, 5095, 5111, 5359. Grant, 4255.

Lincoln, 3258.

Roosevelt, 6715, 6786, 6895, 6898, 6973, 6983, 7035, 7089, 7205, 7210,

7213.

Taft, 7431, 7436, 7540, 7865.
Wilson, 8029, 8030, 8144, 8159,

8183, 8255, 8349, 8359, 8389, 8390, 8576, 8713, 8773, 8783, 8816, 8818. Disputes (see also Labor Arbitration)

Discussed by President Wilson, 8359.

Investigation of, effect of, 7036. Injunctions in, power of courts to grant, discussed, 6983, 7027, 7086, 7123, 7190, 7213, 7341, 7378, 7431, 7524. (See also Injunctions.) Settlement of, successive steps for, 7089.

Eight-hour day urged for, 6650, 7540, 8144, 8183.

Extremist leaders of, denounced, 8773.
Freedom of, 8389.
Government-

Appointment of, 6707, 6781, 6804.
Eight-hour day for 6348, 6455, 7540.
Relations with, 6648, 6715, 6897.
Ten-hour day, on public work
ordered, 1819.

Hours of-

Railroads, on, discussed, 6982, 7035, 8144, 8183. (See Railroads.) Uniform course regarding, urged, 1819.

Wages of Government employees not to be affected by reduction in, 3969, 4129.

Injunctions against, discussed, 6983, 7027, 7086, 7123, 7190, 7213, 7341, 7378, 7431, 7524.

Laws of states, compilation of, urged, 6898.

Leaders' attitude toward courts, 7210. League of Nations and, provisions concerning, and, discussed, 8671, 8680, 8758, 8792.

Lockouts, compulsory investigation of, urged, 7088. Loyalty of, 8349.

Organizations' exemption from provision of Anti-trust LawApproved by President Roosevelt, 7194, 7343.

Disapproved by President Taft, 7865.

Peace treaty with Germany's provisions regarding, discussed, 8671, 8680, 8755, 8792.

Carpenters in shipyards, 8456.
Coal industry, 8797.

Machinists in Bridgeport, 8581.
Policemen, 8796.
War-time, 8773.

Right of, supported, 8819.

Tariff protection of, against foreign
competition, 6649. (See also Tariff.)
Unclassified, to be appointed, 6707,
6780.

Union, in government service, 6897.
Unskilled, recruiting of, through Fed-
eral Employment Service, 8526.
Welfare of, 7205.

Woman, 7035. .(See also Women in Industry.)

Labor Agitator.-Any person who agitates for the improvement of the conditions of the laboring class. Usually used contemptuously to describe the organizers of the American Federation of Labor or of other trade unions (q. v.), the implication of

the term in this sense being that such person is endeavoring to make workingmen discontented without improving their condition. (See Agitator.)

as

Labor, American Federation of.-This body arose largely through the failure of the Knights of Labor (q. v.), and soon took the latter's place as the most powerful organization of workers in the United States. The Knights of Labor had failed largely because of its entrance into politics and of the secrecy and other characteristics incident upon its status as a fraternal body. The American Federation of Labor therefore at the outset determined to function an economic force entirely, although of late years it has pursued a policy of "rewarding its friends and punishing its enemies" at elections. Except for the Socialist Party and the American Labor Party (organized in 1919-1920 by non-Socialist workers, many of them A. F. of L. members who believed in the political organization of Labor), the United States has been practically the only great Western Power without a political labor party of great strength.

The preliminary organization meeting of the American Federation of Labor was held in 1881 at Terre Haute, Indiana; and the first convention, at which the name of "Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada" was adopted, was held in Pittsburgh, Pa., in November of the same year. The organizers were to a great extent members of the the Knights of Industry and American Labor Union, the latter composed chiefly of seceding members of the Knights of Labor. The present name was not adopted until December 8, 1886, when the organization amalgamated with an independent trade union congress. From 1886 to 1921, with the exception of 1894, the president was Samuel Gompers.

The membership of the American Federation of Labor rose from some 45,000 in 1881. to more than 250,000 in 1892, whence it remained largely stationary until 1899, when it rose to 325,000. It went over 1,000,000 in 1902, reaching 1,676,200 in 1904. It then declined slightly for a number of years until 1911, when it rose to 1,761,835. It went over 2,000,000 in 1914, and its recent growth has been as follows:

1917 .... ..2,371,434

The last fiscal year showed receipts of $654,688 to the Federation, with expenditures of $587,517.

The organization is a federation in fact as well as in name, most of its members with being affiliated it through their There national and international unions. are 111 of the latter, with 46 state federations, 816 central city bodies, 884 local trade and federal labor unions, 33,852 local unions, five departments and 573 local department councils. All elected officers must be members of unions connected with the Federation. Most of the unions in the A. F. of L. are organized according to craft, that is, the various subdivisions of a general industry such as bricklayers, carpenters, hodcarriers, painters, plasterers, roofers, of the general building industry; but there are a few industrial unions, comprising all the membership connected with an industry, irrespective of individual trade, such as the Brewery Workers and the United Mine Workers.

There are many Socialists within the unions comprising the A. F. of L., but the Socialists are a distinct minority. The most important labor bodies outside the American Federation of Labor are the four railway brotherhoods, which by 1920 were considering joining it; the Amalgamated Clothing Workers; the Amalgamated Textile Workers.

Among the measures for which the Federation has fought are the eight-hour day, one and one-half days' holiday each week, restriction of immigration, the abolition of child labor, opposition to compulsory labor arbitration, opposition to the use of injunctions in labor disputes, the abolition of tenement and sweatshop labor, the closed shop, employers' liability and workmen's compensation. The Federation is opposed to minimum wage legislation and prohibition.

An unofficial report of the 1920 convention gave the following figures for the twelve unions of largest membership comprised with the A. F. of L.:

(See also Trade Unions and Labor Arbitration.) Labor, American Federation of, address of President Wilson before, 8386. Labor Arbitration.-Although definite steps for the arbitration of disputes between Labor and Capital have not been taken on a large and effective scale until the last several decades, records exist of much industrial arbitration before the twentieth century. The medieval guilds were guided to an extent by industrial arbitration, although the arbitration was usually determined by the legal authorities. The English Statutes of Laborers in 1351 attempted to provide for compulsory labor, but unsuccessfully. In France, councils of experts (conseils des prud'hommes) nected with the guilds in the silk industry, functioned successfully from medieval times until the French Revolution and were officially resurrected in 1806, although Labor was not given representation on them until 1809 and was not given equal representation until 1848. By the sixteenth century, compulsory arbitration of disputes between individual masters and their workmen by local magistrates had become common in England.

con

the

In the nineteenth century, England led the way in provisions for labor legislation. Laws of 1800, 1803, 1804, and 1813 provided for compulsory arbitration in cotton trade. The act of 1824 extended arbitration to all trades, but insured the principle of freedom of contract by making