Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/248

 they adopt of settling disputed claims and other matters of difference between themselves instead of having recourse to expensive litigation. By the terms of an Act passed in the year 1859, and entitled the "Railway Companies' Arbitration Act," it was provided that any two or more companies might, by writing under their Common Seal, agree to refer to arbitration any differences or disputes in which they were mutually concerned, and which they might legally settle by agreement between themselves. This Act is incorporated in all modern Acts of Parliament and in most agreements entered into by railway companies, and the effect is to reduce litigation between them to a minimum, with a consequent great saving in expense. Under the Act, the arbitrators have power to call for the production of books and documents, to administer oaths, and hear evidence, and their decisions are final and binding upon all concerned, and may be legally enforced in any of the Superior Courts of Law. Two companies may agree to appoint a single arbitrator, or each company concerned may appoint one, in which case the arbitrators appoint an umpire to decide between them in case of difference. In the event of either company failing to appoint an arbitrator after having agreed under seal to do so, or of the arbitrators failing to appoint an umpire, the Board of Trade may be called upon by either of the other companies concerned to name an arbitrator or an umpire, as the case may be.

A very complete machinery exists for the settlement of cases of disputed liability for claims arising on through traffic in which two or more companies are concerned. A tribunal has been constituted which is termed the