At a 111inisterial Council on Tuesday M. Briand explained the
character of the Bills he proposes to introduce for regu- lating the relation of the State to railways. The Times correspondent believes that there will be four or five Bills. The first will institute a permanent Council of Conciliation, on which both employers and employees will be represented. There will also be a Council of Arbitration. Strikes will be illegal while negotiations are in progress. Another Bill classifies the public services so as to distinguish between rail- ways which affect national defence and those which affect the national life and national health. The Government will also be enabled to mobilise railway servants as soldiers in any emergency. Apparently those who were recently mobilised could not legally be called out again until after a certain period. The remaining Bills give the Government power to requisition personal service and property in public emergencies, and to deal with sabotage by special laws.
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