MICHIGAN. CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE 15.-Liability of stockholders of corporations for debts due employees. Stockholders SECTION 7. The stockholders of all corporations and joint stock associations shall be individually liable for all labor performed for liable. such corporation or association. This liability is collateral and secondary. 39 Mich. 594, 597. The liability imposed by this section means a liability beyond that of members of the corporation and does not refer to their separate or several liabilities. The stockholder's property can not be taken until the corporate property is exhausted. 43 Mich. 231. One is not liable for wage debts incurred before he became a stockholder. 65 N. W. Rep. 570. The liability of a stockholder is not affected by the transfer of his stock after the labor has been performed, though before suit has been brought against the company to recover for the same. 97 Mich. 322.⚫ An assignee may sue. 44 Mich. 540. A contractor or subcontractor is not a laborer within the meaning of this section. 44 Mich. 538. Nor is an assistant chief engineer of a railroad company. 39 Mich. 47. 50 Mich. 326. [In furtherance of this provision, statutes have been enacted fix- Classes ing the liability of stockholders in agricultural and horticultural corporations. societies, sec. 5959; stock breeding associations, sec. 6037; partnership associations, sec. 6080; societies for loaning and investing, sec. 6196; railroad companies, sec. 6302; train railway companies, sec. 6411; street railway companies, sec. 6455; pipe line companies, sec. 6490; plank road companies, secs. 6606, 6608; bridge companies, sec. 6636; telegraph companies, sec. 6674; telephone companies, sec. 6694; canal and harbor companies, sec. 6709; river improvement companies, sec. 6746; water power companies, secs. 6787, 6803, 6820; commerce and navigation companies, sec. 6839; land companies, secs. 6863, 6880; mining companies, sec. 7025; manufacturing companies, sec. 7065; gaslight companies, sec. 7126; electric light companies, sec. 7144; printing and publishing companies, secs. 7153, 7183; savings associations, sec. 7553; summer resort associations, sec. 7634; baseball clubs, sec. 7679; of trustees of institutions of learning, sec. 8148; of stockholders in fine arts associations, sec. 8220; associations for maintaining institutions for the treatment of diseases, sec. 8453; automatic fire alarm companies, sec. 8493; and in water companies, sec. 8510.] COMPILED LAWS OF 1897. CHAPTER 30.-Court of mediation and arbitration. of SECTION 559. Whenever any grievance or dispute of any nature Grievances shall arise between any employer and his employees, it shall be may be submitlawful to submit the same in writing to a court of arbitrators for ted. hearing and settlement, in the manner hereinafter provided. SEC. 560. * The governor may, whenever he shall deem Appointit necessary, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint ment, etc., of a State court of mediation and arbitration to consist of three court. competent persons who shall hold their terms of office respectively one, two and three years, and upon the expiration of their respective terms the said term of office shall be uniformly for three years. Said court shall have a clerk or secretary who shall be appointed by the court to serve three years, whose duty it shall be to keep a full and faithful record of the proceedings of the court and also all documents, and to perform such other duties as the said court may prescribe. He shall have power, under the direction of the court, to issue subpoenas, to administer oaths in all cases before said court, to call for and clerk. examine all books, papers and documents, of any parties to the controversy, with the same authority to enforce their production Powers of Quorum. as is possessed by the courts of record or the judges thereof, in this State. * * * SEC. 561. Any two of the arbitrators shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and may hold meetings at any time or place within the State. Examinations or investigations ordered by the court may be held and taken by and before any Single arbi- one of their number, if so directed. But the proceedings and decisions of any single arbitrator shall not be deemed conclusive until approved by the court or a majority thereof. Each arbitrator shall have power to administer oaths. trator. Parties make sion. SEC. 562. Whenever any grievance or dispute of any nature shall arise between any employer and his employees, it shall be lawto ful for the parties to submit the same directly to said State court, submis- and shall jointly notify said court or its clerk, in writing of such grievance or dispute. Whenever such notification to said court Duty of court. or its clerk is given, it shall be the duty of said court to proceed, with as little delay as possible, to the locality of such grievance or dispute, and inquire into the cause or causes of grievance or dispute. The parties to the grievance or dispute shall thereupon submit to said court in writing, succinctly, clearly and in detail, their grievances and complaints, and the cause or causes thereof, and severally agree in writing to submit to the decision of said court as to matters so submitted, and a promise or agreement to continue on in business or at work, without a lockout or strike, until the decision of said court, provided it shall be rendered within ten days after the completion of the investigation. The court shall thereupon proceed to fully investigate and inquire into the matters in controversy, and to take testimony under oath in relation thereto, ** * Decision. Mediation. Subpoenas. Report. Definitions. Duty of mayor, etc. SEC. 563. After the matter has been fully heard, the said board, or majority of its members, shall, within ten days, render a decision thereon in writing, signed by them or a majority of them, stating such details as will clearly show the nature of the decision and the points disposed of by them. The decision shall be in triplicate, one copy of which shall be filed by the clerk of the court in the clerk's office of the county where the controversy arose and one copy shall be served on each of the parties to the controversy. The limitation of ten days is directory and not binding. An award within a reasonable time, considering the circumstances, will be valid. 87 N. W. Rep. 943. SEC. 564. Whenever a strike or lockout shall occur, or is seriously threatened in any part of the State, and shall come to the knowledge of the court, it shall be its duty, and it is hereby directed to proceed, as soon as practicable, to the locality of such strike or lockout and put itself in communication with the parties to the controversy, and endeavor by mediation to effect an amicable settlement of such controversy; and if in its judgment it is deemed best, to inquire into the cause or causes of the controversy, and to that end the court is hereby authorized to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, and send for persons and papers, * SEC. 565. All subpoenas shall be signed by the secretary of the court, and may be served by any person of full age authorized by the court to serve the same. SEC. 566. Said court shall make a yearly report to the legis lature and shall include therein such statements, facts and explanations as will disclose the actual working of the court, and such suggestions as to legislation, as may seem to them conducive to harmonizing the relations of, and disputes between, employers and the wage-earning [wage-earners]. 66 SEC. 568. Whenever the term "employer' or employers" is used in this act it shall be held to include "firm," "joint stock association," company" or "corporation," as fully as if each of the last named terms was expressed in each place. SEC. 5684 (added by act No. 69, Acts of 1903). It shall be the duty of the mayor of any city, the supervisor of any township, or the president of any village to promptly furnish, or cause to be furnished to the court provided for in this act, information of the threatened or actual occurrence of any strike or lockout within his jurisdiction. SEC. 568b (added by act No. 69, Acts of 1903). There shall be Reports. printed biennially ten thousand copies of the report of the court, together with the act under which the court was instituted, for distribution among labor unions and the public generally The above act (secs. 559 to 568b) is constitutional. 83 N. W. Rep. 620. CHAPTER 34.-Judgments for wages of female employees-Exemptions-Attorney's fee. Exemptions SECTION 900. No property, except as exempted by the State constitution, shall be exempt from levy or sale, under an execution, limited. issued upon a judgment obtained before any justice of the peace, for work, labor, or services done or performed by any woman, when such amount does not exceed the sum of twenty-five dollars, exclusive of costs. * * In addition to all other costs allowed by law, the plaintiff in any such suit shall recover an attorney's fee of five dollars, * Attorney's fee. CHAPTER 34.-Execution on judgment for wages not to be stayed. Attorney's fee. SECTION 901. Any judgment hereafter obtained before a justice Execution to of the peace for personal services performed by the plaintiff, shall issue without not be stayed, but execution may issue thereon immediately on stay. rendition of judgment. In entering such judgment the justice shall recite upon the docket that the same was rendered for the personal work and labor of the plaintiff; and in addition to all other costs allowed by law, the plaintiff in any such suit shall recover an attorney's fee of five dollars, to be taxed with the other costs in the case [cause] and to be collected in the same manner as such other costs are collected: Provided. That no attorney fee Provisos. shall be taxed in cases not contested unless the plaintiff shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the justice that at least twenty-four hours before the commencement of the said suit a demand of payment therefor has been made of the debtor: And provided further. That no attorney fee shall be allowed the plaintiff unless he shall obtain judgment for the whole amount demanded by him of the defendant before such suit was commenced, and in no case shall a greater attorney fee be recovered than the amount of damages recovered. This section is unconstitutional and void so far as the provision for taxing an attorney's fee is concerned. 77 Mich. 111. CHAPTER 35.-Exemption of wages from garnishment. Garnishee Wages of householders. SECTION 991 (as amended by act No. 172, Acts of 1901). The person summoned as garnishee, from the time of the service of such liable. summons, shall be deemed liable to the plaintiff in such suit, to the amount of the property, money and effects in his hands or possession, or under his control, or due from him to the defendant in such suit: Provided. That when the defendant is a householder having a family, nothing herein contained shall be applicable to any indebtedness of such garnishee to the defendant for the personal labor of such defendant, or his family to the amount of eighty per centum of such indebtedness, but in no case shall more than thirty dollars of such indebtedness be exempt from the operation of this act, and in all cases at least eight dollars shall be so exempt: Provided further, That in case the defendant is not a householder having a family, nothing hereinbefore contained shall be applicable to any indebtedness of such garnishee to the defendant for the personal labor of such defendant to the amount of forty per centum of such indebtedness, but in no case where the principal defendant is not a householder shall more than fifteen dollars of such indebtedness be exempt from the operation of this act, al Other em. ployees. though in all cases of the description mentioned in this proviso at least four dollars shall be so exempt. A householder's family need not reside within the State to bring his wages within this statute. 74 Mich. 214. A garnishee pays over exempted wages at his peril. 98 Mich. 651. CHAPTER 104.-Employment of intemperate drivers on public conveyances. Employing SECTION 4293. No person owning, or having the direction or conintemperate trol of any coach, or other carriage or vehicle running or traveling drivers. upon any road in this State, for the conveyance of passengers, shall employ, or continue in employment, any person to drive such coach, carriage, or other vehicle, who is addicted to drunkenness, or to the excessive use of intoxicating liquors; and if any such person shall violate the provisions of this section, he shall forfeit at the rate of five dollars per day for all the time during which he shall have kept such driver in such employment. Driver to be SEC. 4294. If any driver, whilst actually employed in driving discharged. such coach, carriage, or vehicle, shall be guilty of intoxication, it shall be the duty of the owner or person having the charge or control of such coach, carriage, or other vehicle, on receiving written notice of the fact, signed by any passenger who witnessed the same, and certified by him under oath, forthwith to discharge such driver from such employment; and every person who shall retain, or have in such service, within six months after the receipt of such notice, any driver who shall have been so intoxicated, shall forfeit at the rate of five dollars per day for all the time during which he shall keep any such driver in such employment after receiving such notice. Commissioner of labor. Bureau. Duties of bureau. CHAPTER 113.—Bureau of labor and industrial statistics. SECTION 4597. The governor is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint, within sixty days after this act shall take effect, and every second year thereafter, in the month of February, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, and also within thirty days after the occurrence of any vacancy in the office, a suitable person, who shall be a citizen of this State, as commissioner, who shall hold his office until his successor is appointed and qualified, the title of which officer shall be commissioner of labor. The office of the commissioner appointed for a full term under this act after the year eighteeen hundred and eighty-three, shall commence on the first day of March, next after such appointment. Such commissioner shall keep his office at the capitol, in the city of Lansing, and shall appoint a deputy, whose term of office shall continue during the pleasure of such commissioner. The commissioner may appoint such assistants from time to time, as shall be necessary for the transaction of the business of his office. Said commissioner, with his deputy, and the secretary of state, who shall be ex officio member thereof, shall constitute a bureau of statistics of labor. SEC. 4598. The duties of such bureau shall be to collect in the manner hereinafter provided, assort, systemize, print, and present in annual reports to the governor, * statistical details relating to all departments of labor in this State, including the penal institutions thereof, particularly concerning the hours of labor, the number of laborers and mechanics employed, the number of apprentices in each trade, with the nativity if [of] such laborers, mechanics, and apprentices, wages earned, the savings from the same, the culture, moral and mental, with age, and sex, of laborers employed, the number and character of accidents, the sanitary condition of institutions where labor is employed, as well as the influence of the several kinds of labor, and the use of intoxicating liquors upon the health, and mental condition of the laborer, the restrictions, if any, which are put upon apprentices when indentured, the proportion of married laborers and mechanics, who live in rented houses with the average annual rental of same, * the average number of members in the families of married laborers and mechanics, the value of property owned by laborers and mechanics, together with the value of property owned by such laborers or mechanics (if foreign born), upon their arrival in this country, and the length of time they have resided here, the subjects of cooperation, strikes, or other labor difficulties, trades unions, and other labor organizations, and their effects upon labor and capital, with such other matter relating to the commercial, industrial, and sanitary condition of the laboring classes, and permanent prosperity of the respective industries of the State, as such bureau may be able to gather, accompanied by such recommendations relating thereto, as the bureau shall deem proper. SEC. 4599. Such bureau or any member thereof, shall have full power to examine witnesses on oath, compel the attendance of witnesses, the giving of testimony and the production of papers while acting in any part of this State, and witnesses may be summoned by such bureau, or any member thereof, by its process in the same manner, and paid the same fees as are allowed to witnesses attending in the circuit court of any county. Any person duly subpœnaed under the provisions of this section, who shall willfully neglect to attend or testify at the place named in the subpœna served for such purpose, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction before any court of competent jurisdiction, may be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court: Provided, No witness shall be compelled to go outside the county in which he resides to testify. Powers. Compensa SEC. 4600. The compensation of such commissioner shall be two thousand dollars per annum, and that of his deputy fifteen hundred tion. dollars per annum, which compensation, together with all necessary expenses, including the employment, and paying the expenses of such assistants as are provided for in section one of this act [sec. 4597], also the expenses provided for in section three of this act [sec. 4599], shall be audited and paid in the same maner as the salaries and expenses of other State officers: Provided, The amount thereof, exclusive of the compensation allowed to said commissioner and his said deputy, shall not, in any one year, exceed the sum of eight thousand dollars: And provided further, That in addition to the above allowance for expenses, said bureau shall be authorized to have printed not to exceed four thousand copies of its annual reports for the use of the bureau, for general distribution, Annual reand all printing, binding, blanks or map work shall be done under ports. any contract which the State now has, or shall have for similar work with any party or parties, and the expense thereof shall be audited and paid for in the same manner as other State printing. SEC. 4601. Said bureau may collect the information called for Collecting in. in section 2 of this act [sec. 4598], or such information as shall by formation. the commissioner be considered essential to perfect the work of the bureau, from the several State, county, city, village, and township officers, and from the officers of prisons, penal and reformatory institutions, or by means of special canvassers under the direction of the commissioner, and it shall be the duty of all such officers to furnish upon the written or printed request of the commissioner, such information as shall be considered necessary for the bureau, upon blauks furnished by said bureau. SEC. 4602. It shall be the duty of the several supervisors of the Duty of sutownships, and the supervisor or assessor of the wards of cities pervisors, etc. in this State, at the time of assessing the property thereof, to obtain the facts and information determined upon by said bureau, as provided in section five of this act [sec. 4601], in accordance with the terms, conditions, and requirements of said blanks, and to return said blanks properly filled and duly certified to, by such officer without delay to the commissioner of labor at Lansing. Testifying SEC. 4603. Any person who shall willfully and intentionally testify falsely, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction falsely. thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a period not exceeding five years, and any person who shall |