Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 32.djvu/622

586 586 HARVARD LAW REVIEW of cases, one of cases allowing a party to revoke the power of an arbitrator at any time before the award, the other of cases opposed to such revocability. After these are some later cases not definitely assigned to either column. An examination of the cases alleged to be opposed to revocability and of those not placed in either column shows that not a single one of them decides anything about revocability. One case, Drew v. Drew, 2 McQ. Sc. Ap. i, contains a dictum that the common law holds the arbitrator's authority revocable though the court thinks the common law unfortunate. What then do these cases hold? Simply various points in the English law of arbitration. They may be sum- marized as follows: A contract to refer is valid and once made cannot be res- cinded by one party alone. Piercy v. Young, L. R. 14 Ch. D. 200. (Distin- guish rescinding the contract to refer and breaking it by revoking the power of the arbitrator.) An agreement to refer is not a bar to legal proceedings be- fore reference. Collins v. Locke, L. R. 4 A. C. 674. Two early equity cases refusing the special aid of equity to one who had broken his agreement to refer. Waters v. Taylor, 15 Ves. Jr. 10; Harcourt v. Ramsbottom, i Jac. & W. 505. Where arbitration is made an express condition precedent to a cause of action, no suit lies without arbitration whether in equity, Halfhide v. Penning, 2 Bro. Ch. C. 336, Dimsdale v. Robertson, 2 Jones & La Touche, 58, or at law, Scott v. Avery, 5 H. L. Cases, 811, and several later cases following it. Arbitration of the cause of action as well as the amount of damage may be made a condition precedent to suit. Trainor v. Pire Assurance Co., 65 L. T. R. 825, Spurrier v. La Cloche {igo2), A. C. 446, Gaw v. British Law Pire Insurance Co. (1908), i Ir. R. 245. Cases distinguishing from contracts to arbitrate agreements that the suffi- ciency of performance, value, or other matters shall be decided ex parte by an architect or engineer. Northampton Co. v. Parnell, 15 C. B. 630, London Co. v. Bailey, L. R. 3 Q. B. D. 217. Cases on the effect of arbitration agreements in Scotland, Caledonia Co. v. British Law Pire Insurance Co., 10 Sess. Cas. 3d Ser., 869. And, finally, omitting three or four miscellaneous decisions, cases in which suits, brought in breach of an agreement to arbitrate, were stayed under the English statutes. Russell v. Pellegrini, 6 E. & B. 1020, Hamlyn b" Co. v. Dis- tillery (1894), A. C. 202, and others. Did Mr. Cohen think that every case which expressed an opinion favorable to settlement of disputes by arbitration could be cited as establishing that the authority of an arbitrator is irrevocable? Clarke B. Whittier.