INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION. .Modern industry, with its sharp distinction betweim employer and em ployed, and its rapidly changing methods of pro duction and of employment, has given rise to a new class of disputes. which affect vital ly not only the parties immediately concerned, but the general public. as well. These disputes lie for the most part beyond the province of courts of justice. and therefore an imperative need has arisen for a new form of tribunal to which they may be referred. To meet this need, hoards of arbitration, official or unofficial, have been organized in all of the leading countries of the world.
A preliminary function of these organs of industrial arbitration is what is usually termed conciliation. Before a dispute can be arbitrated it, is necessary that the facts in the, ease should be investigated and placed in their true light. 1Vhen industrial disputes result from mere mis understandings—and it is safe to affirm that a 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 work of settling disagree ments of this kind should be assigned to two bodies, a board of conciliation, which investigates each ease and attempts to clear away misunder standings, and a board of arbitration, which gives awards on the cases 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 upper court, the organ of conciliation 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 arbitration 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 connected 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 classes, 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 eases 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 eases 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 unable 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 have power to summon witnesses and to take testimony; in cases in volving 100 marks or more, appeal to the regular courts is permitted. Few municipalities have availed themselves of the privilege. Moreover, unofficial arbitration has made little headway in the Empire. In Switzerland far greater progress 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 Lnzerne, where refusal to accept an award may be punished by fines and imprisonment; in some cantons it is optional, as in France.