ment, and perhaps the actual facts which it represents, to place the legislation on association in its precise relation to the general system of national law. This is, however, impossible in the present brief report.

In some countries the regulations applying to industrial associations are not uniform; certain categories of workers, such as railwaymen and government officials, are subject to special rules. In most cases, however, workers' associations are in principle given a choice, allowed to acquire certain advantages, but on certain conditions. This appears to be the case in the majority of countries (Argentine, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States). The privileges which may thus be obtained differ considerably in their nature and practical importance; and consequently the conditions attached to them have been accepted by the workers' associations in varying degrees.

In some countries membership of an industrial association is compulsory, either in certain industries only, or in all industries (Germany, Hungary, Roumania, Russia, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom). The compulsory principle makes so profound a difference that it is preferable to deal with such associations apart from the more common type of the free association.

In a large number of countries (Belgium, Brazil, Chili, Czecho-slovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Roumania, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Venezuela), the right of association is guaranteed by the constitution, though not, of course, in identical terms. The value of a constitutional right, however, depends upon the way in which it is interpreted and exercised. In other countries the right of association is no less firmly established by the general spirit of the law. The present report is intended to give an account of the actual situation, and this aim can best be achieved by passing directly to the facts, beginning with an examination of the formalities imposed on industrial associations on their formation and the supervision of their activities. Relations Between Industrial Associations and Public Authorities

In one group of countries industrial associations are not required to go through any formalities in connection either with their formation or with their administration (Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States).

In a second group they are simply required to make a declaration on their formation (France: rules and names. of officials; Latvia: names of officials; Norway: rules, names of officials, minutes of the meeting at which they were elected, number of members; Spain: rules).

In other countries industrial associations must go through further formalities before they can come into being. They must obtain the approval of the authorities,

which may be a more or less formal confirmation or an actual authorization. In Esthonia the rules and the names of the officials must be submitted to the magistrates, who must see that they are in accordance with law. Detailed reasons must be given in case of refusal to register an association and appeal may be made to the Supreme Court. Local branches are registered automatically. In Hungary the rules must be approved by the Government and the institution of local branches is aproved by the local authorities if they consider it to be in the public interest. In Lithuania the procedure is almost identical with that of Esthonia, except that in the case of refusal to register, the reasons must be stated to the founders of the proposed association, who are given 15 days to introduce the necessary modifications. In these three countries measures have been taken to prevent delay in the examination of applications. In Esthonia and Lithuania registration takes place automatically at the end of a month, while in Hungary the association may begin its work, although only provisionally, 70 days after the application was made.

In some countries associations are liable to further formalities or to supervision after they have been set up. In most cases they are required to report all modifications of the facts declared at the time of their constitution. In Greece, the association must also forward an annual summary of its minutes and a list of strikes which have occurred; it is liable at any time to supervision by the factory inspectors, who have to see that the law and the rules of the association have been observed, and that the accounts are properly kept. In Hungary the rules of the association must provide for supervision by the administrative authorities. In Norway the number of members must be reported each year. In Spain the registers must be produced at the request of the authorities. In Poland the reports of the executive committee to the general meeting must be forwarded to the factory inspectors every year.

Private meetings of members of the association may be held freely and without supervision in almost all countries except Hungary, where previous notice must be given of every meeting and the representatives of the authorities must be admitted. In some countries, such at Latvia, previous notice of public meetings must be given. In others they may be held without previous notification, out a representative of the authorities must be admitted; this representative may not take part in the proceedings except if disorder occurs (Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands).

The formalities mentioned above are compulsory on all industrial associations. In many countries, however, associations which voluntarily accept stricter regulations are given certain additional privileges. The privileges thus allowed are of an extremely varied character, of which the following are examples: legal personality or quasi-per

Some countries definitely lay down that freedom of association is one of the rights of citizenship and prohibit any action which impedes its exercise. Thus, for example, the Belgian Penal Act of 1921 prohibits any pressure of this nature, including the attempt to make the engagement of a worker dependent upon his giving an undertaking not to join a union. Similar legislation exists in Germany, Greece, Japan, Roumania, and Czechoslovakia.

Not only may an employer attempt to prevent a worker from joining an association; the association on its side my attempt to compel workers to join it. It is therefore necessary to consider whether there are any legal obstacles in the way of such action. Pressure of the type in question may be exercised by various forms of ostracism, the most typical of which are black lists, and in the last resort strikes or the threat of strikes, in order to induce the employer to dismiss non-union men or to engage only union men. As collective action of this kind, provided that it is not accompanied by violence, is allowed by law in almost all countries, there is conflict at this point between freedom of association in its negative form of freedom not to join a union, and freedom of combination. In this matter again different rules are adopted by the different countries.

There are divergencies of attitude even between those countries which were seen in the last section to be the most attached to the principle of freedom of contract. In the United States, for example, strikes of this type have been regarded as illegal and have been prohibited by injunction in certain States, particularly Massachusetts. In other States, such as New York, they appear to be regarded as legal, and they have been definitely declared legal in California. On the other hand, sympathetic strikes for the same purpose are regarded as illegal in all States except California. In the United Kingdom strikes declared in order to obtain the dismissal of nonunion men appear to be allowed, but an undertaking to employ only union men seems to be unenforceable in civil law. In France the theory of abusive exercise of a right is applied by the courts in this case also. If a demand for the dismissal of non-union men is not to be actionable in civil law, it must be justified by industrial interests, a question of wages, or a question of conditions of labor. If this is not the case, it is regarded as proceeding from an intent to injure and is consequently illegal.

In most countries where freedom to join a union is guaranteed against pressure, freedom not to join is similarly protected. This is the case in Belgium, Greece, and Roumania. The Czechoslovak constitution gives an explicit guarantee only of the right to join a union; strikes to obtain the dismissal of certain workers are legal unless the motive is national, religious, or political. In Brazil, on the other hand, only freedom not to belong

to a union is guaranteed. It may be asked whether guarantees of freedom not to join a union absolutely ex'clude any attempts to remove non-union workers. According to Belgian legislation, this is not the case if the attempt to eliminate such workers is based upon occupational interests, such as the desire to maintain the level of wages or to "prevent unfair competition." This is a matter which is left to the decision of the judge in each individual case.

A considerable number of countries have legislation guaranteeing the right of the individual who has become a member of an association to leave it if he so desires in spite of any clause to the contrary in the rules (Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Roumania, Switzerland).

While the individual remains a member of an association he sometimes receives a certain degree of protection, and the freedom of the association itself may to a certain extent be restricted thereby.

The first point is the question of fines and expulsions. In former times legislation forbade the unions to take any steps of this kind, and thus made it impossible for them to carry on their work owing to lack of discipline. Legislation of this kind has ceased to exist in nearly all countries. Some countries definitely lay down in principle that the members must undertake to observe the rules of the association and decisions which it has adopted in a regular way (Belgium and Switzerland). The unions are generally allowed to impose fines for failure to observe their decisions, but there are only a few countries in which such fines can be recovered by an action at law (Australia, Greece; in the latter country the fine may not exceed three days' wages); in other countries, such as France, they are not recoverable. they are not recoverable. It should be noted that the disciplinary powers of the trade union are sometimes extended in cases of failure to observe collective agreements (France, Roumania; in France the union may claim damages in such cases).

In some countries the law in no way touches on the right of expulsion. This is the case in Switzerland, unless the rules of the association contain no clause relating to the grounds of expulsion. In other countries the courts have wider powers of intervention. Where the objects to be pursued by the association are limited by law, the courts may exercise their powers of supervision over expulsions in such a way as to keep the collective action of the union within the prescribed limits. In France, for example, the expulsion of a member who refused to take part in a May-Day strike, which was deemed to be non-industrial in character, was ruled illegal. In Roumania the law makes it very difficult to expel a member of a trade union; in principle, any person engaged in the occupation in question may enter the union and remain in it as he wishes.

In many cases legislative provisions have been adopted to ensure that the trade union is really democratic. Such provisions relate to the periodicity of meetings and the quorum. In Greece it is laid down by law that the number of votes allotted to each union in a federation must be proportional to its membership. Some provisions of this kind, however, are more particularly intended to exercise a moderating influence. It is thus often laid down that the members must be specially consulted before very important decisions are taken. In Greece, for example, a strike may only be declared as the result of a secret ballot vote. In the United Kingdom trade union funds may only be used for a political object such as an electoral campaign after the members have been consulted. Each member is free to remain in the trade union without contributing to the special fund which must be instituted for political purposes.

Definition of Industrial Action

The next point for consideration is whether the state takes steps to restrict the sphere of action of the association to the occupation it covers, and if so, how it defines it.

In one group of countries this question presents no difficulties, as industrial associations are simply governed by the general law on associations. Here there is no question of legal definition of the industrial association and its sphere of action. In its composition, objects, and aims it has all the latitude allowed to any association, including political associations.

In other countries an attempt is made by legislation to define the industrial association and to allocate to it a more or less extensive sphere of action. Where this attitude is adopted, the first object is to lay down the precise meaning of the word "occupation" in this connection (the phrase adopted is almost always "similar or allied occupations," the first term corresponding to organizations by craft and the second to organizations by industry), and the second to prevent persons not engaged in the occupation in question from belonging to the association. This is particularly important in the case of workers who cease to be engaged in their ordinary work owing to labor disputes. In some countries the law makes no exception in favor of such persons; once they have left their occupation they cease ipso facto to be members of their union (Greece, Serb-Croat-Slovene Kingdom). More frequently, however, they retain their membership provided that they have previously been engaged in their occupation for a given period (Brazil, five years; France, one year). In Brazil, however, such persons must have left the occupation not more than ten years before, and must not have engaged in any other; the provision thus applies almost exclusively to superannuated workers. In Belgium recognized unions-others are subject to no restriction may not include persons not belonging to the

occupation to the extent of more than one quarter of the membership. A similar proportion is allowed in the case of union officials, but keepers of public houses may not be officials of the unions.

The conception of the proper scope of industrial action which is adopted by the legislation of each country is further illustrated by its attitude towards federations of trade unions. Such federations of course are intended to serve not the special interests of a group but the more general interests of the workers as a whole. Legislation in recent years has shown a tendency to treat federations in the same way as trade unions. The rights and obligations of trade unions and of federations are expressly declared to be the same in Brazil, France, Geece, Italy. Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Roumania. In Belgium, on the other hand, federations including occupations which are not allied cannot acquire legal personality.

In certain countries the aims of the associations must be exclusively industrial in character on pain of dissolution (Brazil, France, Hungary, Poland, Roumania, SerbCroat-Slovene Kingdom). Industrial aims are generally understood to include the institution of mutual benefit organizations, trade schools and journals, etc. It has already been pointed out, however, that some activities of this kind are in certain countries expressly reserved for recognized associations. The United Kingdom occupies an intermediate position. As has already been pointed out, the trade union may carry on political activities; it is allowed to benefit by the trade union Acts provided that its objects are mainly industrial. It may not, however, incur expenditure for political purposes unless its members decide to set up a special fund for the purpose; each member is free to refuse to contribute to a fund of this kind. Failure to observe this rule is a purely civil and not a criminal offence.

The position of industrial associations as regards the right of combination is generally regulated by the law on combination together with the civil and criminal law on associations. These questions cannot be dealt with in the present brief report. In some countries, however, there are regulations specially restricting the action of associations in industrial disputes. In Hungary the trade unions are not allowed to give strike pay. In Belgium legal personality may only be acquired by those employers' and workers' organizations which bind themselves by their rules to attempt to settle disputes by negotiations with the other party In Brazil the right to represent the industry is dependent upon a similar condition.

In some countries, but not in all, government officials are subject to special regulations on the right of association. In one group of countries they are subject to the general law in this respect, either because this is laid down in the constitution explicitly (Germany) or inplicitly (Czechoslovakia) or in accordance with estab