Cumulative index of labor laws and decisions relating thereto Concluded. Railroads, shelters for workmen on: Telegraph operators, etc., railroad, The Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of Canada became a law March 22, 1907, following several prior acts-the last a consolidation, made only a year before, of previous statutes-for the voluntary conciliation, investigation, and arbitration of labor difficulties. The immediate occasion of the new law was a strike of great local interest and public importance in the coal mines of southern Alberta, which the previous autumn had threatened to leave the prairie Provinces without a winter's supply of fuel. Consequently the dominant motive of the act was to prevent strikes that seriously and directly affect the general welfare. The method of the law in such disputes is to prohibit a cessation of industry, under adequate penalties, until the public is officially informed of the grounds of the controversy. The act differs from the compulsory arbitration laws of Australasia in that strikes and lockouts are not prohibited after an investigation of their causes has been made. The power of well-informed public opinion is then relied upon to prevent or shorten such disturbances. Another important difference is that the provisions of the Canadian law extend only to public utilities—such as steam and electric railways, power and lighting plants, and similar industries-and to mines. Coal mines may perhaps be considered as public utilities, but the extension to metal mines is a departure from the leading theory of the law. Therefore the act is the logical first step toward government intervention in labor disputes, if a policy of intervention is to be adopted. It recognizes the right of the public to continuous service in indus |