[Extract fram Public Law No. 479, Sixty-first Congress, third session. H. R. 32212, naval appropriation bill, approved March, 1911.]

CONSTRUCTION AND MACHINERY: On account of hulls and outfits of vessels and steam machinery of vessels heretofore and herein authorized, thirteen million five hundred and thirty-one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five dollars and seventy-nine cents: Provided, That no part of this appropriation for the construction and machinery of battleships shall be expended for construction of any battleships by any person, firm, or corporation which has not at the time of the commencement and during the construction of said vessels established an eight-hour workday for all employees, laborers, and mechanics engaged or to be engaged in the construction of the vessels named herein: Provided, That this limitation shall not apply to payments. to be made under contracts made prior to the approval of this act: Provided, That the limit of cost of the collier authorized and directed by the naval appropriation act, approved May thirteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, to be built in such Government yard on the Pacific coast as the Secretary of the Navy shall direct, is hereby increased from the modified million-dollar limit of cost imposed by the Act of June twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and ten, to one million two hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of indirect charges. INCREASE OF THE NAVY TORPEDO BOATS: On account of submarine torpedo boats and subsurface destroyers, heretofore authorized, eight hundred and ninety thousand eight hundred and thirty-three dollars and eighty-eight cents: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be expended for the construction of any boat by any person, firm, or corporation which has not at the time of the commencement and during the construction of said vessels esablished an eight-hour workday for all employees, laborers, mechanics engaged in doing the work for which this appropriation is made: Provided, That this limitation shall not apply to payments to be made upon vessels authorized prior to the approval of this act.

[Public No. 199, Sixty-second Congress, Second Session. H. R. 9061.]

AN ACT Limiting the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon work done for the United States, or for any Territory, or for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That every contract hereinafter made to which the United States, any Territory, or the District of Columbia is a party, and every such contract made for or on behalf of the United States, or any Territory, or said District, which may require or involve the employment of laborers or mechanics shall contain a provision that no laborer or mechanic doing any part of the work contemplated by the contract, in the employ of the contractor or any subcontractor contracting for any part of said work contemplated, shall be required or permitted to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day upon such work; and every such contract shall stipulate a penalty for each violation of such provision in such contract of five dollars for each laborer or mechanic for every calendar day in which he shall be required or permitted to labor more than eight hours upon said work; and any officer or person designated as inspector of the work to be performed under any such contract, or to aid in enforcing the fulfillment thereof, shall, upon observation or investigation, forthwith report to the proper officer of the United States, or of any Territory, or of the District of Columbia, all violations of the provisions of this act directed to be made in every such contract, together with the name of each laborer or mechanic who has been required or permitted to labor in violation of such stipulation and the day of such violation, and the amount of the penalties imposed according to the stipulation in any such contract shall be directed to be withheld for the use and benefit of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Territory contracting by the officer or person whose duty it shall be to approve the payment of the moneys due under such contract, whether the violation of the provisions of such contract is by the contractor or any subcontractor. Any contractor or subcontractor aggrieved by the withholding of any penalty as hereinbefore provided shall have the right within six months thereafter to appeal to the head of the department making the contract on behalf of the United States or the Territory, and in the case of a contract made by the District of Columbia to the Commissioners thereof, who shall have power to review the action imposing the penalty, and in all such appeals from such final order whereby a contractor or subcontractor may be aggrieved by the imposition of the penalty hereinbefore provided such contractor or subcontractor may within six months after decision by such head of a department or the Commissioners of the District of Columbia file a claim in the Court of Claims, which shall have jurisdiction to hear and decide the matter in like manner as in other cases before said court.

SEC. 2. That nothing in this act shall apply to contracts for transportation by land or water, or for the transmission of intelligence, or for the purchase of supplies by the Government, whether manufactured to conform to particular specifications or not, or for such materials or articles as may usually be bought in open market, except armor and armor plate, whether made to conform to particular speci

fications or not, or to the construction or repair of levees or revetments necessary for protection against floods or overflows on the navigable waters of the United States: Provided, That all classes of work which have been, are now, or may hereafter be performed by the Government shall, when done by contract, by individuals, firms, or corporations for or on behalf of the United States or any of the Territories or the District of Columbia, be performed in accordance with the terms and provisions of section one of this act. The President, by Executive order, may waive the provisions and stipulations in this act as to any specific contract or contracts during time of war or a time when war is imminent, and until January first, nineteen hundred and fifteen, as to any contract or contracts entered into in connection with the construction of the Isthmian Canal. No penalties shall be imposed for any violation of such provision in such contract due to any extraordinary events or conditions of manufacture, or to any emergency caused by fire, famine, or flood, by danger to life or to property, or by other extraordinary event or condition on account of which the President shall subsequently declare the violation to have been excusable. Nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal or modify the act entitled "An act relating to the limitation of the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon the public works of the United States and of the District of Columbia" being chapter three hundred and fifty-two of the laws of the Fifty-second Congress, approved August first, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, as modified by the acts of Congress approved February twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and six, and June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and six, or apply to contracts which have been or may be entered into under the provisions of appropriation acts approved prior to the passage of this act.

SEC. 3. That this act shall become effective and be in force on and after January first, nineteen hundred and thirteen.

Approved, June 19, 1912.

[Extract from Public Laws No. 336, Sixty-second Congress, second session.]

SEC. 5. That on and after March fourth, nineteen hundred and thirteen, letter carriers in the City Delivery Service and clerks in first and second class post offices shall be required to work not more than eight hours a day: Provided, That the eight hours of service shall not extend over a longer period than ten consecutive hours, and the schedules of duty of the employees shall be regulated accordingly.

That in cases of emergency, or if the needs of the service require, letter carriers in the City Delivery Service, and clerks in first and second class post offices can be required to work in excess of eight hours a day, and for such additional services they shall be paid extra in proportion to their salaries as fixed by law.

That should the needs of the service require the employment on Sunday of letter carriers in the City Delivery Service and clerks in first and second class post offices, the employees who are required and ordered to perform Sunday work shall be allowed compensatory time on one of the six days following the Sunday on which they perform such service.

SEO. 6. That no person in the classified civil service of the United States shall be removed therefrom except for such cause as will promote the efficiency of said service and for reasons given in writing, and the person whose removal is sought shall have notice of the same and of any charges preferred against him, and be furnished with a copy thereof, and also be allowed a reasonable time for personally answering the same in writing; and affidavits in support thereof; but no examination of witnesses nor any trial or hearing shall be required except in the discretion of the officer making the removal; and copies of charges, notice of hearing, answer, reasons for removal, and of the order of removal shall be made a part of the records of the proper department or office, as shall also the reasons for reduction in rank or compensation; and copies of the same shall be furnished to the person affected upon request, and the Civil Service Commission also shall, upon request, be furnished copies of the same: Provided, however, That membership in any society, association, club, or other form of organization of postal employees not affiliated with any outside organization imposing an obligation or duty upon them to engage in any strike, or proposing to assist them in any strike, against the United States, having for its objects among other things, improvements in the condition of labor of its members, including hours of labor and compensation therefor and leave of absence, by any person or groups of persons in said postal service, or the presenting by any such person or groups or persons of any grievance or grievances to the Congress or any Member thereof shall not constitute or be cause for reduction in rank or compensation or removal of such person or groups of persons from said service. The right of persons employed in the civil service of the United States, either individually or collectively, to petition Congress, or any Member thereof, or to furnish information to either House of Congress, or to any committee or member thereof, shall not be denied or interfered with.

Approved, August 27, 1912.

[Extract from Public Law No. 290, Sixty-second Congress, second session. Naval appropriation law.]

The act entitled "An act limiting the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon work done for the United States, or for any Territory or for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes," approved June nineteenth, nineteen hundred and twelve, shall be in force as to all contracts authorized by this act from and after the passage of this act.

Approved, August 22, 1912.

[PUBLIO NO. 408.]

[H. R. 18787.]

An Act Relating to the limitation of the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon a public work of the United States and of the District of Columbia, and of all persons employed in constructing, maintaining or improving a river or harbor of the United States and of the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections one, two, and three of an Act entitled "An Act relating to the limitation of the hours of daily service of laborers and mechanics employed upon the public works of the United States and of the District of Columbia" be amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. That the service and employment of all laborers and mechanics who are now, or may hereafter, be employed by the Government of the United States or the District of Columbia, or by any contractor or subcontractor, upon a public work of the United States or of the District of Columbia, and of all persons who are now, or may hereafter be, employed by the Government of the United States or the District of Columbia, or any contractor or subcontractor, to perform services similar to those of laborers and mechanics in connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor of the United States or of the District of Columbia, is hereby limited and restricted to eight hours in any one calendar day; and it shall be unlawful for any officer of the United States Government or of the District of Columbia, or any such contractor or subcontractor whose duty it shall be to employ, direct, or control the services of such laborers or mechanics or of such persons employed to perform services similar to those of laborers and mechanics in connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor of the United States or of the District of Columbia, to require or permit any such laborer or mechanic or any such person employed to perform services similar to those of laborers and mechanics in connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor of the United States or of the District of Columbia, to work more than eight hours in any calendar day, except in case of extraordinary emergency: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall apply or be construed to apply to persons employed in connection with dredging or rock excavation in any river or harbor of the United States or of the District of Columbia while not directly operating dredging or rock excavating machinery or tools, nor to persons engaged in construction or repair of levees or revetments necessary for protection against floods or overflows on the navigable rivers of the United States.

"VIOLATION OF ACT BY OFFICER OR CONTRACTOR PUNISHABLE

"SEC. 2. That any officer or agent of the Government of the United States or of the District of Columbia, or any contractor or subcontractor whose duty it shall be to employ, direct, or control any laborer