Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/687

* INDUSTBIAL AKBITRATION. 601 INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION. majority of them have no deeper origin — the preliminary investigation may suffice to bring the contending parties to an agreement. It is there- fore natural that the worlc of settling dis.agree- ments of this kind should be assigned to two bodies, a board of conciliation, which investigates each case and attempts to clear away misunder- standings, and a board of arbitration, ■hich gives awards on the ca.ses in which more essen- tial points are at issue. Where, however, boards of conciliation and arbitration are actually or- ganized separately, their relation is often merely that of a lower and an upjx'r court, the organ of eonciliatioa giving awards, subject to re- vision in the board or court of arbitration. Arbitration and conciliation may be voluntary or compulsory. In the former case, the organ of aibitration may be created by the contending parties, or may be officially constituted; but either party is free to refuse its services or to accept its awards. When arbitration is com- pulsory, disputes must be arbitrated at the re- quest of either party, and decisions of the court of arbitration are sanctioned by legal penalties. The earliest systematic arbitration of indus- trial disputes appears in France. Before the French Revolution there was a tribunal at Lyons for the settlement of disagreements arising in the silk trade. This tribunal was connecte<l with the guild, and disappeared with the abolition of corporations (1791). It had worked so success- fully that it was restored in 1808, forming the germ of the conseils des prud'hommes (boards of experts) which still perform this function in France and Belgium. The example of Lyons was soon followed by several cities in Southern France, and with excellent success. These early boards contained no representative of the work- ing cla-sscs, the one at Lyons being composed of five merchants and four overseers. By a law of 1809 workmen were admitted, but they were always in the minority until 1848, when they were given, for a short time, equal representation. At the present day, the conseils des prud'hommes are found in all of the important cities of France. They are composed of a board of conciliation, consisting of a representative of the workmen and a representative of the employers, which has jurisdiction in disputes involving less than 200 francs, and a board of arbitration consisting of three employers and three workmen, whose find- ings are subject to appeal to the Tribunal of Commerce in cases involving more than 200 francs. The court of arbitration has power to summon witnesses and to take testimony under oath. Acceptance of the decision is voluntary. Nevertheless, two-thirds of the cases brought be- fore the court are settled by the board of con- ciliation ; only a small percentage are appealed to the tribunal of commerce. It is, however, only minor matters that are brought before the courts. They have proved imable to prevent strikes and lockouts, which in late years have seriously crippled French industry. In Prussia industrial courts were established in 1849. but did not prove to be of much use, and were later abolished. In 1890 an Imperial law authorized the municipalities to create such courts. The president is appointed by the commune; the assessors must be workmen and employers in equal numbers. They h,ave power to summon witnesses and to take testimony; in cases in- volving 100 marks or more, appeal to the regilar courts is permitted. Few municipalities have availed themselves of the privilege. Moreover, unollicial arbitration has made little headway in the Empire. In Switzerland far greater jjrogress has been made in this direction. Unofficial arbi- tration is carried on under the direction of trade unions, and several of the cantons have estab- lished conseils des prud'hommes, after the French model. Arbitration is compulsory in some of the cantons, notably Luzerne, where refusal to accept an award may be punished by fines and imprisonment; in some cantons it is optional, as in France. In England voluntary and unofficial arbitra- tion was instituted early in the nineteenth cen- tury, and has made greater progress than in any other country. In 18:JG disputes in the pottery trade were settled in this way; and within the following decades several important trades adopt- ed the same practice. Committees of employers and employed meet informally to discuss griev- ances, and usu.iUy succeed in reaching an amica- ble agreement; and where these committees are best organized, as in the coal trade of Durham, the decisions of the committee are rarely rejected by the disputants. In the last decade, upon the initiative of the London Chamber of Commerce and the trade unions, local boards not connected with any particular trade have been created in large numbers, and have been successful in di- minishing the number of serious disturbances in industry. But in England, as in France, the more important disagieements have had to be ad- justed by protracted and costly strikes and lock- outs. New Zealand enjoys the distinction of being the- only country which undertakes systematically to prevent strikes and lockouts by a general law of compulsory arbitration. In 1894 a law was enacted creating boards of conciliation and a court of arbitration, the latter having power to enforce its awards by penalties. The boards of conciliation consist of four to six members, one-half representing the labor asso- ciations, the other half representing associations of employers. They are elected every three years by the associations of employers and em- ployed. Each board elects as chairman an im- partial outsider, who votes in case of a tie. The arbitration court is composed of three members appointed by the Governor, one from a list nomi- nated by the employers, a second from nominees of the laborers, and the third from the judges of the Supreme Court. Cases are tried before the court only upon the request of one of the dis- putants, and all means of conciliation are at- tempted before resort is had to arbitration. Strikes and lockouts are forbidden while the ca.se is pending. Awards of the court may he ex- tended to a whole district. lender the act trade unions arc recognized as corporate bodies: and only by belonging to such a body does a work- man secure standing in the court. Numerous disputes have been settled by the court, and light fines have hitherto been sufficient to enforce its awa rds. The first noteworthy case of unofficial arbitra- tion in the United States was in 186.5. when a committee was appointed to arbitrate difTerences between the Sons of Vulcan and their em- ployers. Since that date arbitration committees have been chosen in many trades, often operating with marked success. Mucii attention lias been