UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 SCHOOL OF LAW 
 LIBRARY
 
 INDUSTRIAL 
 
 CONCILIATION AND ARBITEATION. 
 
 COMPILED FROM MATERIAL IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR, 
 
 BY DIRECTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 LEGISLATURE, CHAPTER 43, 
 
 RESOLVES OF 18SL 
 
 BY 
 
 CARROLL D. WRIGHT, 
 
 CHIEF. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 ISanti, ^berg, & Co., Printers to tlje CominoniDcaltf), 
 
 117 Fkaxklin Steeet. 
 1881.
 
 111 
 
 INDUSTRIAL 
 
 CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 COMPILED FEOM MATEEIAL IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR, 
 
 BY DIRECTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 LEGISLATURE, CHAPTER 43, 
 
 RESOLVES OF 1881. 
 
 BY 
 
 CARROLL D. WRIGHT, 
 
 CHIEF. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 ISanti, ^bers, $( Co., printers to tfje C0mmonfoeaItfj, 
 
 117 Franklin Street. 
 1881.
 

 
 ri 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction 5-6 
 
 I. — Industrial, Conciliation and Arbitration in England . 7-75 
 
 Preliminary — Conseils des Prud'hommes .... 8-10 
 
 The establisliment of permanent boards in England . . 10-13 
 
 The Nottingham System 1.3-18 
 
 The Wolverhampton System 18-22 
 
 Arbitration and Conciliation in the Manufactured Iron 
 
 Trade 22-27 
 
 Arbitration and Conciliation in the Coal Trade . . . 27-30 
 
 Arbitration in Other Industries 31-33 
 
 The Acceptance of Awards 34-36 
 
 Advantages of Arbitration 36-39 
 
 DiflScultles of, and Objections to, Arbitration . . . 39-43 
 
 The Relation of Trades Unions to Arbitration . . , 43-48 
 
 Arbitration and the State 48-53 
 
 Conclusion 53-55 
 
 Appendix A 55-56 
 
 Appendix B 56-61 
 
 Appendix C 61-66 
 
 Appendix D 66-68 
 
 Appendix E . . 69-75 
 
 II. — Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration in Massachu- 
 setts .... 76-104 
 
 III. — Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration in Other 
 
 States 105-170 
 
 Conciliation in the Pittsburgh Iron Trade .... 109-119 
 
 Arbitration in Pennsylvania 119-153 
 
 Arbitration in Ohio 154-160 
 
 The Straitou and Storm Board, New York City . . . 161-170 
 
 Conclusion 170-173
 
 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 
 
 This pamphlet has been compiled under the authority of the 
 following resolve of the Legislature of Massachusetts, Chapter 
 43, Resolves of 1881: — 
 
 Resolved, That the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics on the Subject of 
 Labor be, and he is hereby, instructed to prepare forthwith, from material 
 now in the possession of the Bureau, a pamphlet upon industrial conciliation 
 and arbitration ; and in order that the information contained in such pam- 
 phlet may be freely disseminated among the persons most interested, the 
 said Bureau shall cause an edition thereof, not exceeding five thousand 
 copies, to be printed and distributed within the Commonwealth. 
 
 ^Approved April 6, 1881.1 
 
 The material in our possession upon the subject of industrial 
 conciliation and arbitration relates to what has been done abroad 
 as well as in this country, and may be conveniently divided into 
 three parts, relating, first, to England ; second, to our own 
 Commonwealth ; third, to other States. We have therefore ob- 
 served this order of presentation in the following pages. 
 
 The subject was first investigated by this Bureau in 1876, 
 and the results of that investigation were presented in our 
 Eighth Annual Report (March, 1877). The chapter at that 
 time devoted to the topic consisted mainly of an exhaustive 
 account of all that had been attempted in this direction in 
 Massachusetts, accompanied by a resume of what had been 
 accomplished in England, prepared for the Bureau by Alsager 
 Hay Hill, LL.B., of London. This resume was restricted to
 
 6 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 the space at our command, and though accurate was necessarily 
 brief. 
 
 We now have at our disposal a more complete history of the 
 practical operation of the system in England, for which we are 
 indebted to the comprehensive report of Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, 
 Special Commissioner of the State of Pennsylvania to his 
 Excellency Gov. Hartranft (December, 1878) ; and as a knowl- 
 edge of the successes and failures which have attended the 
 English experiments is essential to a thorough understanding of 
 the subject, and properly precedes a co-nsideration of what has 
 been done here, we substitute for the resumS- of Mr. Hill the 
 more exhaustive report of Mr. Weeks, and present substantially 
 in full, as Part I. of this pamphlet, his account of the origin of 
 industrial conciliation and arbitration in England, and of the 
 practical workings of the system in the hosiery, building, coal, 
 and iron industries, with the author's comments thereon, adding 
 to his remarks respecting other industries some facts derived 
 from Mr. Hill.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITEATION. 
 
 Pa e, t I. 
 
 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION IN ENGLAND. 
 
 In transmitting to his government the report on this subject, 
 which we now reproduce, the author makes special acknowl- 
 edgments for aid given him in its preparation to Mr. Rupert 
 Kettle, judge of the county courts of Worcestershire ; Mr. A. 
 J. Mundella, M. P. ; Mr. B. Samuelson, M. P. ; Mr. Thomas 
 Burt, M. P., representative of the colliers ; Mr. Ed. Trow, Sec- 
 retary of the National Amalgamated Iron Workers' Association ; 
 Mr. George Howell, formerly secretary of the parliamentary 
 committee of the Trades Union Congress ; Mr. George Broad- 
 hurst, present secretary of the same ; Mr. Alsager Hay Hill, 
 editor of " The Labour News; " Mr. W. H. S. Aubery, editor of 
 " Capital and Labour ; " and especially to Mr. Charles Wheeler, 
 of Wolverhampton. 
 
 He also says, — 
 
 "•I found, at the beginning of my inquiries, that though there 
 were at least three laws on the statute books of England on 
 this subject, they were virtually dead letters, and therefore I 
 directed my attention to the workings of the voluntary Boards 
 of Arbitration and Conciliation that exist in a number of the 
 trades of that country ; and have given, in this report, some 
 account of their operations, with copies of the rules of the 
 most important. These rules will be found in appendices to the 
 report, together with the latest act of Parliament on the subject 
 of arbitration. 
 
 " The condition of the laboring class, and the strength and 
 extent of the labor organizations, were subjects to which I was 
 forced to devote considerable attention, in order to correctly 
 understand and appreciate the workings of arbitration ; but I 
 have touched upon these subjects incidentally, and only so far 
 as was necessary to an understanding of the difficulties to be 
 
 overcome."
 
 8 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION" AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 The report tlien continues as follows ; — 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. CONSEILS DES PRUD'HOMMES. 
 ARBITRATION" IN" ENGLAND PRIOR TO 1860. 
 
 Industrial arbitration and conciliation had their origin in 
 France early in the present century. The system established 
 was the outgrowth of the trade guilds which had existed in 
 that country, and regulated trade matters, in some cases from 
 the Middle Ages, These were abolished during the last days 
 of the monarchy of Louis XVI., a time when the constitution 
 of industrial as well as political society was being overturned. 
 After a few years of imperfect legislation, in 1806, at the 
 request of the workingmen of Lyons and by command of the 
 First Napoleon, courts of arbitration and conciliation were es- 
 tablished by law. These, with some slight modification, have 
 continued until the present under the title of " Conseils des 
 Prud'hommes." These councils are judicial tribunals, consti- 
 tuted under authority of the Minister of Commerce, through 
 the Chambers of Commerce, which are established at important 
 trade centres of that country. They are composed of an equal 
 number of employer and workingmen members, each class elect- 
 ing its own representatives, with a president and vice-president 
 named by the Government. The authority of these councils 
 extends to every conceivable question that can arise in the 
 workshop, not only between the workman and his employer, 
 but between the Avorkraan and his apprentice or his foreman. 
 There is but one question they cannot settle — future rates of 
 wages; but even this can be done by mutual agreement. Arbi- 
 tration is compulsory upon the application of either, and the 
 decisions of the court can be enforced the same as those of any 
 other court of law. 
 
 The workings of these courts have been beneficial to French 
 industry, especially in conciliation, by which more than ninety 
 per cent of all cases brought before the tribunals are settled. 
 In 1847, the sixty-nine councils then in existence had before 
 them 19,271 cases, of which 17,951 were settled by conciliation 
 in the private bureau, 519 more by open conciliation, and in only 
 529 cases was it necessary to have formal judgment. In 1850,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 9 
 
 of 28,000 cases, 26,800 were settled by conciliation. There 
 were, at the close of 1874, 112 councils in France. This is a 
 most satisfactory showing ; but it falls far short of expressing 
 the great benefit these councils have been to French industry, 
 especially in removing causes of differences or in preventing 
 them from growing into disputes. Their success is sufficient 
 justification of the praise so lavishly bestowed upon them by 
 M. Chevalier, " Une des plus nobles creations dont notre Steele 
 VJionore.'''' 
 
 Tribunals similar to the Conseils des Prud'' homines^ of France, 
 are in existence in Belgium. Their success, however, has not 
 been as marked as in France, owing in part, no doubt, to the 
 fact that they have in some cases criminal jurisdiction. 
 
 In Great Britain, though a law somewhat similar in its char- 
 acter to that of France, and evidently framed from it, has been 
 on the statute books since the fifth year of the reign of George 
 IV. (1824), so little use has been made of its provisions that its 
 existence was practically forgotten. England did not possess 
 the organizations necessary to its successful workings, and the 
 compulsory features seem especially obnoxious to both employer 
 and employed. As Mr. Rupert Kettle, to whom the cause of 
 industrial arbitration owes such a heavy "debt, says, " It is 
 agreed that, according to the spirit of our laws and the freedom 
 of our people, any procedure, to be popular, must be accepted 
 voluntarily by both contending parties." ^ The history of arbi- 
 tration and conciliation in Great Britain fully justifies this 
 remark. 
 
 Previous to 1860, a year which marks an epoch in the his- 
 tory of industrial arbitration in England, it had frequently been 
 applied to the settlement of industrial disputes. Legal sanc- 
 tions, however, were never sought for the awards. They were 
 loyally accepted without any constraint, except a man's sense 
 of honor, and a certain esprit du eorps, both among the em- 
 ployers and employed. These arbitrations were not only 
 frequent, but in some trades were systematically used in every 
 dispute which arose. The pottery trade furnishes a very good 
 example of continuous and successful arbitration. In this in- 
 dustry, — one of the most difficult in which to harmonize the 
 conflicting views of. capital and labor, by reason of the large 
 number of trades into which labor is divided, and the peculiar 
 
 1 Strikes and Arbitrations, p. 26. London, 18G6. 
 2
 
 10 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 customs that have come to be regarded as rights, — in this trade 
 there has not been a general strike since 1836 ; and the reason 
 given is that disputes have been invariably settled by arbitra- 
 tion. The yearly " contracts for hiring " contained the follow- 
 ing clause : " If any dispute arise between the parties as to the 
 prices or wages to be paid, by virtue of such an agreement, the 
 dispute shall be referred to an arbitration board of six persons, 
 to consist of three manufacturers, chosen by the masters, and 
 three working potters, elected by the'workingmen." This clause 
 does not provide for a board to settle future rates of wages ; 
 but both sides have formed what may be called the habit of 
 arbitrating, and they have appealed to this principle in trouble. 
 As a result, for over thirty years this clause has prevented 
 strikes in this trade. 
 
 It is not necessary to extend this report by giving other 
 examples, showing the history and success of arbitration prior 
 to 1860. It was often appealed to in many trades, though in 
 none does it appear to have worked as well, or to have been 
 tried so continuously, as in the pottery trade. There had, as the 
 result of these trials, grown up, especially among the work- 
 people, a decided feeling in favor of industrial arbitration, and a 
 willingness to give it a trial, which, doubtless, rendered the 
 attempts to establish it as a principle much surer of success. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VOLUNTARY PERMANENT BOARDS 
 OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION IN ENGLAND. 
 
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION. 
 
 As already stated, the year 1860 marked an epoch in the his- 
 tory of arbitration and conciliation in Great Britain, and gave 
 it a new character, one more in accordance with the tone of 
 modern thought and the changed relations of capital and labor. 
 
 Late in that year, mainly through the efforts of Mr. A. J. 
 Mundella, the first permanent or continuous board of arbitra- 
 tion and conciliation in England was established, in the hosiery 
 and glove trade, at Nottingham. Mr. Henry Crompton, in his 
 admirable little work on " Industrial Conciliation," in speaking 
 of the establishment of this board says,i " Mr. Mundella must 
 
 1 Page 33,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 11 
 
 be regarded as the inventor of systematic industrial concilia- 
 tion." In view of the fact stated in the previous section, that 
 the large majority of cases brought before the Conseils des Prud*- 
 hommes were settled by conciliation in the private bureau, this 
 claim can hardly be made for Mr. Mundella. The distinguish- 
 ing feature of the board organized by his efforts, and at the 
 same time the marked characteristic of arbitration since 1860, 
 is that it is systematic conciliation or arbitration organized on a 
 purely voluntary basis, without an appeal to legal processes, even 
 to enforce its decisions. That is, its novelty is not that it is 
 systematic — the French Conseils were that — but that it is 
 both systematic and voluntary, and these the French prototypes 
 were not. 
 
 The voluntary feature of these boards is one to which I desire 
 to call particular attention. Both Mr. Mundella and Mr. Kettle, 
 to whom the cause of arbitration and conciliation in England 
 owes much that it is, and who represent somewhat diverse views 
 on the subject, agree that these boards should be voluntary, 
 and not compulsory. Though there are acts of Parliament 
 which provide compulsory legal powers, by which either side 
 can compel the other to arbitrate on any dispute, these powers 
 have never, in a single instance, so far as I could learn, been 
 used ; but the large number of differences that have been settled 
 by arbitration in Great Britain in the last eighteen years have 
 all been voluntary in their submission, and in the enforcement 
 of the award. Mr. Kettle would provide, that, in certain cases, 
 the awards should become part of the contract between the em- 
 ployer and the employed, to be enforced at law as any other 
 contract ; but, as these contracts can be terminated by a short 
 time-notice, it does not take away from the voluntary nature of 
 the arbitrations under what is known as the Wolverhampton 
 system. How this voluntary feature has worked in practice, 
 will be evident in the course of this report. 
 
 In discussing this subject, it is very important at the outset 
 to distinguish between arbitration and conciliation. Though 
 the former is a generic word, and the one more commonly used 
 in referring to the system, there is an essential and important 
 difference between arbitration and conciliation. Unless this 
 is clearly impressed on the mind, and the scope and working of 
 each clearly understood, it will be impossible to learn the secret 
 of the success that has attended these boards, and the reason of
 
 12 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 their continued existence. Arbitration deals with the larger 
 questions of trade, conciliation with the smaller ; arbitration 
 with the whole trade, conciliation oftener with the individuals. 
 Conciliation is not formal : it does not attempt to sit in judg- 
 ment, and decide in a given case what is right and what is wrong ; 
 but its eiforts are, in a friendly spirit, to adjust differences by 
 inducing the parties to agree themselves. It removes causes of 
 dissensions, and prevents differences from becoming disputes, by 
 establishing a cordial feeling between those who may be parties 
 to the same! Conciliation, in a word, may be defined as informal 
 arbitration. Arbitration, on the other hand, is formal. It sits 
 in judgment. It implies that matters in dispute by mutual con- 
 sent or by previous contract have been submitted to arbiters, 
 and an umpire, whose decision is final and binding on both 
 parties. Mr. Crompton, in his work on " Industrial Concilia- 
 tion," says ^ when contrasting arbitration and conciliation, " con- 
 ciliation aims at something higher, — at doing before the fact 
 that which arbitration accomplishes after. It seeks to prevent 
 and remove the causes of dispute before they arise, to adjust 
 differences and claims before they become disputes. A board 
 of conciliation deals with matters that could not be arbitrated 
 upon, promoting the growth of beneficial customs, interfering 
 in the smaller details of industrial life, modifying or removing 
 some of the worst evils incidental to modern industry, such, for 
 example, as the truck system, or the wrongs which workmen 
 suffer at the hands of middlemen and overseers." 
 
 It is this preventive feature that gives conciliation a value 
 beyond estimation. It is a most admirable and praiseworthy 
 object, to provide means for settling disputes when they have 
 arisen. It is much more desirable to prevent them from aris- 
 ing ; and the tendency of conciliation is to do this, by removing 
 the old feelings of bitterness, by inspiring respect for each 
 other, and fostering, at the same time, a spirit of indepen- 
 dence, and compelling a recognition of the dignity and worth of 
 labor and the necessity and beneficence of capital. 
 
 And yet, after all that may be said in praise of conciliation, 
 it is conceded, even by its warmest advocates, that back of all 
 conciliation there must be arbitration. The time may come, 
 and, in the settlement of certain questions, generally will come, 
 when no friendly offices are sufificent to enable capital and labor 
 
 1 Page 17.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 13 
 
 to see alike. Self interest renders it impossible for either to 
 decide fairly, and something more than a master of ceremonies 
 or a conciliator is needed. There must be power to determine 
 as well as hear. That is, arbitration must intervene, and its 
 decisions accomplish what conciliation is powerless to bring 
 about. 
 
 To show the workings of arbitration and conciliation, I have 
 given in the following pages a detailed account of the organ- 
 ization and operation of several of the most prominent boards. 
 The records are mainly those of arbitration, not of conciliation, 
 as in war it is the battles that are recorded, not the skirmishes 
 and movements for position. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THE NOTTINGHAM SYSTEM OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION. 
 
 The so-called Nottingham system of arbitration or concilia- 
 tion owes its establishment to Mr. A. J. Mundella, at present 
 one of the members for Sheffield of the House of Commons. 
 Mr. Mundella has been most earnest and untiring in his efforts 
 to make arbitration the prevailing and recognized method of 
 settling all disputes that may arise between labor and capital ; 
 and it is not too much to say, that to his intelligent efforts 
 much of the success that has attended conciliation is due. 
 
 The hosiery and glove trade, with which Mr. Mundella is 
 connected, is one of the most localized in Great Britain, being 
 carried on only in the immediate vicinity of Nottingham, in 
 Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire. I need not 
 point out that such a concentration of one class of skilled labor 
 led to union, and a consequent power not always judiciously 
 used. According to all accounts, the relations between em- 
 ployers and employed in these trades, prior to 1860, were as 
 ugly as could well be imagined. From 1710 to 1820, there is 
 a frightful list of murders, riots, arsons, and machine-breaking 
 recorded, all arising out of industrial differences. An act was 
 passed by Parliament, early in the century, punishing machine- 
 breaking with death ; and in 1816 six persons suffered this 
 penalty. In the remaining forty years of the century and a half 
 from 1710, while the worst features of this industrial strife 
 nearly or quite disappeared, the relations were in no wise im-
 
 14 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 proved, though the strife assumed a different form. Suspicion, 
 distrust, hatred, were the sentiments cherished towards the 
 manufacturers by the workmen ; and arrogance, oppression, 
 and an equally strong hatred were returned. War, or at least 
 an illy-kept armistice, was the condition of the hostile camps. 
 Strikes and lock-outs were constantly occurring, and no judi- 
 cious, honest effort was made to end them. In 1860, there 
 were three strikes in one of the three branches into which the 
 hosiery trade is divided, one lasting eleven weeks. It was dur- 
 ing this strike that the Board of Arbitration and Conciliation 
 was formed. Though the strike was confined to one branch, it 
 was soon discovered that it was supported by the workingmen 
 in the other branches, and, in what they considered self-defence, 
 it was proposed by the manufacturers to lock out the entire 
 body of workingmen in all branches. Some of the manufac- 
 turers, Mr. Mundella among them, shrank from the misery and 
 suffering, and perhaps crime, that would be the esult. "Some 
 of us thought," says Mr. Mundella, ^ " that we might devise 
 some better means of settling the thing. I had heard of the 
 Conseils des Prud'hommes in France ; and with one 'or two oth- 
 ers I built up a scheme in my imagination of what I thought 
 might be done to get a good understanding with our men, and 
 regulate wages." 
 
 At a meeting of the manufacturers, a committee of three was 
 appointed to invite the workmen to a conference, which they 
 accepted. " We three," to quote Mr. Mundella again,i " met 
 perhaps a dozen leaders of the trades union ; and we consulted 
 with these men, told them that the present plan was a bad one, 
 that it seemed to us that they took every advantage of us when 
 we had a demand, and we took every advantage of them when 
 trade was bad, and it was a system mutually predatory. And 
 there is no doubt that it was so : we pressed down the price as 
 low as we could, and the}'" pressed up the price as high as they 
 could. This often caused a strike in pressing it down, and a 
 strike in getting it up ; and these strike were most ruinous 
 and injurious to all parties, because, when we might have been 
 supplying our customers, our machinery was idle ; and we sug- 
 gested whether we could not try some better scheme. Well, 
 the men were very suspicious at first ; indeed, it is impossible 
 to describe to you how suspiciously we looked at each other. 
 
 1 Trades Union's Commission, 1867. Tenth report, p. 74.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 15 
 
 Some of the manufacturers also deprecated our proceedings, 
 and said that we were degrading them, and humiliating them, 
 and so on. However, we had some ideas of our own, and we 
 went on with them ; and we sketched out what we called a 
 Board of Arbitration and Conciliation." 
 
 The result of this action was the formation of " The Board 
 of Arbitration and Conciliation in the Glove and Hosiery 
 Trade," the first permanent board established. The rules 
 adopted were very simple,^ and have worked so well in most 
 particulars, that they have hardly been amended since the day 
 they were made. The object of the board is declared to be to 
 arbitrate on any question of wages that ma}^ be referred to it, 
 and to endeavor, by conciliator}'- means, to put an end to any 
 disputes that may arise. The board consists of twenty-two 
 members, half operatives and half manufacturers, elected for 
 one year, each class electing its own representatives. The 
 delegates have full powers, and the decisions of the board 
 are considered binding upon all. There is provision for a com- 
 mittee of inquiry, to whom all differences must be referred 
 before the board will act upon them. This committee has 
 no power to make an award, acting only as conciliators. A 
 month's notice is to be given to the secretaries, before any 
 change in the rate of wages will be considered. Regular meet- 
 ings are held quarterly. The chairman, in the original consti- 
 tution of the board, had a vote, and a casting vote as well, in 
 case of a tie. This was one of the weak points in the organ- 
 ization, and, as the chairman was an employer, trouble resulted. 
 Mr. Mundella, who was the first chairman of the board, speak- 
 ing of this says : " I have a casting vote, and twice that casting 
 vote has got us into trouble. And for the last four years it has 
 been resolved that we would not vote at all. Even when a 
 workingman was convinced, or a master convinced, he did not 
 like acting against his own order, and in some instances we 
 had secessions in consequence of that : so we said, ' Do not let 
 us vote again, let us try if we can agree,' and we did agree." 
 
 In the Wolverhampton system this error was avoided. An 
 independent umpire or referee was elected by the board, whose 
 decision was final and binding in case of an equal vote by the 
 board. The Nottingham board has also changed its rule, and 
 the chairman no longer gives a casting vote, a referee appointed 
 
 1 A copy of the rules will be found in Appendix A.
 
 16 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 for the occasion being called in, in case of a failure to agree. I 
 cannot but regard the Wolverhampton system of a referee 
 elected previous to a " dead-lock," as much the better plan. 
 This is the course adopted in the lace trade of Nottingham. 
 
 The proceedings under these rules are very simple. When 
 any difference arises between employers and employed, the 
 secretaries endeavor to arrange it. In the event of their failure, 
 it is brought before the committee of inquiry, who try to settle 
 it ; and, it being unable, it is then brought before the board. 
 One of the invariable conditions of any arbitration is that work 
 shall be continued pending the trial of the case ; that is, that 
 there shall be neither strike or lock-out. The proceedings 
 before the board are very informal. The members sit around 
 a table, workingmen and emplo}»ers interspersed. The discus- 
 sion is without ceremony, and the difference is settled by 
 endeavoring to arrive at the best arrangement possible under 
 the circumstances. 
 
 The most serious questions brought before this board are 
 those of wages, which, considering the nature of the trade, are 
 very difficult of adjustment. On this point, and of the success 
 that has attended its efforts to adjust wages, Mr. Mundella said 
 in a speech at Bradford : " The articles "manufactured in the 
 hosiery trade are exceedingly numerous and varied in character. 
 All work is paid for by the piece, at the rate of so much per 
 dozen. From time immemorial these rates have been fixed by 
 printed statements, and the battles formerly fought were as to 
 whether masters or workmen should make these statements. 
 Since the foundation of the board, all variations in prices, up 
 or down, have been referred to it, and no statement is con- 
 sidered legitimate without the signatures of its members. 
 
 "It is very rarely that the price originally proposed by either 
 masters or workmen is the price ultimately agreed to. Some 
 alterations or concessions are generally made on both sides, and 
 the price, once fixed, is considered mutually binding. In times 
 of depressioQ, when foreign competition has interfered with 
 any branch, a fair reduction has been generally submitted to ; 
 and in times of prosperity, when advances could fairly be given, 
 they have been invariably conceded ; but, in order that the trade 
 may not be taken by surprise, that manufacturers may finish 
 their contracts in times of advance, and that no hasty decisions 
 may be made against either party, we have a resolution on our
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 17 
 
 miniite-book, that a month's notice shall be given before any 
 change of prices can be discussed. Owing to the variable 
 character of the trade, small differences and disputes are con- 
 stantly arising. Some extra work may be required in an article 
 for which the workman may think a shilling would be proper 
 compensation, while the manufacturer may think sixpence is 
 sufficient. 
 
 "If the workmen of any brancli conceive that they have 
 grievances to complain of, in addition to the ordinary repre- 
 sentatives of that branch, a delegation may attend the board, 
 and lay the case fully before it. The first business at our 
 meetings is invariably to receive delegations. They retire after 
 having made their statements, and the board proceeds to delib- 
 erate. We have never met without settling at least half a 
 dozen questions, some important and some trivial, which, if 
 allowed to remain open, would produce irritation." 
 
 The benefits this board has conferred on the hosiery and 
 glove trades are incalculable. A most friendly feeling has taken 
 the place of hostility, and confidence and mutual respect exists 
 ■where formerly all was suspicion and hatred. This was not the 
 result of a day, nor was it accomplished without occasional lapses 
 to the old state of things. The strifes of a century and a 
 half are not so soon forgotten ; but troubles in the board have 
 been so infrequent and unimportant, that I am justified in say- 
 ing that it is a complete success. Strikes and lock-outs are 
 unknown ; contact has developed respect. The changed rela- 
 tions of employer and emploj'ed have been recognized : they have 
 met about the same table as equals; and out of this has grown 
 a condition of affairs that will make it impossible for the old 
 conditions to return. 
 
 A large part of the credit of the success of this board, and of 
 this change in the relations of the two classes, is due to the pro- 
 vision for regular meetings of the board. I do not hesitate to 
 say that this is the most valuable feature of these boards. The 
 great curse of industry, and the fruitful eause of difficulty, is a 
 foolish obstinacy and a false pride. This arises in many cases 
 from a want of knowledge and a lack of common courtesy in 
 matters concerning both capital and labor, and in which both 
 have an equal interest. This quarterly coming face to face, this 
 meeting as equals, — and in all questions that can come before 
 these boards thej^ are equals, a^nd it is foolish to ignore this fact, 
 
 3
 
 18 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AKBITEATION. 
 
 — and this discussing subjects of common interest as sensible 
 men, seeking for the facts, and inclined to moderation and con- 
 cession, if need be, have had a marvellous effect in removing this 
 pride and obstinacy, and bringing about that respect and 
 courtesy that must be at the basis of all friendly negotiations 
 between capital and labor. These meetings have also given 
 the men a knowledge of the conditions of trade and its necessi- 
 ties, which they could not get in any other way, and, from this 
 knowledge, they have been led to moderation in demands or 
 willingness to concede reductions that otherwise they would not 
 have possessed. If the arbitration features were wholly removed 
 from these boards, and they only retained this feature of quar- 
 terly meetings of recognized representatives of trades unions 
 and of manufacturers' associations, their adoption generally in 
 this country would be productive of incalculable benefit. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 THE WOLVERHAMPTON SYSTEM OF ARBITRATION AND CON- 
 CILIATION. 
 
 Some three years after the establishment of the Nottingham 
 board, a system of arbitration, differing from it in some essen- 
 tial particulars, was adopted in the building trades at Wolver- 
 hampton. This plan was worked out without any knowledge 
 on the part of its chief promoter of what had been done at 
 Nottingham. It avoided some of the errors of that plan ; but 
 at the same time it lacked some of its admirable features. 
 
 The building trades are peculiarly liable to industrial con- 
 tests. These contests have been not only over wages, but over 
 certain customs of the trade, which have been regarded as rights 
 on the one side, and submitted to on the other from necessity. 
 Building is so much a matter of contract, and the portion of 
 time in a year in which it can be carried on so circumscribed 
 from various causes, that strikes in its trades are very frequent. 
 At Wolverhampton, prior to 1864, these strikes were of common 
 occurrence, and seriously interfered with the business of the 
 town. One in 1863 lasted seventeen weeks, and left a feeling 
 of discontent that promised trouble at the opening of the build- 
 ing season in 1864. To avert this, the mayor called a public 
 meeting of the trades to devise, if possible, some means of pre-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 19 
 
 vgnting the strike. A meeting was accordingly held, at which 
 one branch of the building trade — the carpenters and joiners — 
 appointed six delegates to confer with six delegates of the em- 
 ployers, and endeavor to arrange their differences ; the latter 
 appointing six delegates on their part. This was on the 14th of 
 March, 1864. On the 21st of March, the twelve delegates met; 
 and they then saw the propriety of choosing a chairman, who 
 should have a casting vote, before they entered upon any other 
 business. This was done by each partj^ using a list of six names, 
 and means were taken to determine bv chance whether the 
 " masters' or the men's " list should have priority of considera- 
 tion. As the first name upon both lists happened to be the 
 same, a chairman was easily chosen. The chairman thus chosen 
 was Mr. Rupert Kettle, judge of the Worcestershire county 
 courts, a gentleman most admirably fitted for the responsible 
 position of arbitrator he has so often been called to fill ; of clear 
 insight, a judicial mind trained by his long experience on the 
 bench, and a most happy faculty of graphic expression. His 
 awards, to quote the language of Mr. Henrj'- Crompton, were 
 "remarkable for very vigorous analysis and skilful unravelling 
 of complicated facts." For ten years Mr. Kettle devoted most 
 of his time to arbitrating industrial disputes, until his judicial 
 duties and private business compelled him reluctantly to decline 
 longer to serve as arbitrator. 
 
 The scheme adopted by Mr. Kettle ^ was a simple but admir- 
 able application of the principles of common law. A code of 
 rules is framed : these rules, signed by the arbitrators and um- 
 pire, are posted in all the workshops represented in the board, 
 and a copy given each workman on his hiring, he being informed 
 that it is the contract under which he is to work. If any ques- 
 tion arises, it is referred to the board, or the conciliation com- 
 mittee under the amended rules, and it is by them decided. Any 
 breach of the rules is a breach of contract, which can be 
 punished the same as the breach of any other contract. It 
 should be noted that this idea of a contract enters much more 
 largely into the question of wages, and the relations of employer 
 and employed, in England than with us. 
 
 These rules, as originally drawn, had no provision for concilia- 
 tion. All disputes were to be referred to the full board, and the 
 thirteen members brought together to settle the most trivial 
 
 1 A copy of the rules will be fouud in Appendix B.
 
 20 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 matters. This was soon found too troublesome, and the concilui- 
 tion rule (Rule No. 2) was adopted. Mr. Kettle says this nas 
 been "found in practice more useful than the arbitration rule." 
 There are two radical differences between this plan and the 
 Nottingham system. The latter provides no method of enfor- 
 cing the awards of the board, while, under the Wolverhampton 
 system, provision is made for their enforcement the same as any 
 other contract. As to which system is the best, is a question 
 much discussed in England. It is evident that no board can 
 force a manufacturer to run his mill at a loss ; nor can he be 
 accused of dishonesty or disloyalty if, when an award goes 
 against him, he closes his mill or mine, if it can only be operated 
 at a loss under the terms of the award. On the other hand, 
 there can be no power to compel a workman to continue work 
 unless he choose. So in these senses it is evident that no pro- 
 vision can be made for enforcing awards, and whether they shall 
 be carried out must be a question left entirely to the will of the 
 parties to the arbitration. Of course, when conciliation is used, 
 there is no question ; it must be in all respects voluntary. 
 
 There are circumstances, however, in which the awards can 
 and should be enforced at law; and, under a scheme that con- 
 templates a code of working rules like those adopted at Wolver- 
 hampton, it is perfectly feasible to do so. These rules and the 
 penalties attached do not contemplate that a workman may not 
 be at liberty to terminate his contract with his employer, or 
 vice versa. It will be seen that this can be done on very short 
 notice ; but, while the relations of employer and employed con- 
 tinue, they are on certain terms, and, when it is desired to end 
 them, there is a business-like way of doing it. That most out- 
 rageous custom of ceasing work in a pet, at a moment's notice, 
 causing the loss at times of thousands of dollars' worth of half- 
 prepared material, as, for example, in the glass trade, when the 
 pots are full of melted glass, cannot occur under these rules, or, 
 if it does, there is a remedy at law for breach of contract and 
 damages for loss. Indeed, the business-like methods of some 
 of these rules must commend them to the good common sense 
 and judgment of business men. Mr. Kettle has done an immense 
 service in insisting on the business character of these boards. 
 As the system becomes more perfect, the aim will be to reach in 
 a business-like way what is fair and just under the circumstances, 
 and then to do it.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 21 
 
 .A second difference in the two systems is the provision for 
 the election of a permanent arbitrator or umpire. This is a 
 feature which I regard as of the greatest value. Mr. Crompton 
 in his work, though strongly favoring conciliation, confesses 
 that "every board of conciliation must have an ultimate appeal 
 of some kind."^ Mr. Mundella found that his method of giving 
 the chairman a casting vote caused trouble. The best plan 
 seems to be the appointment of a standing umpire or referee. 
 Whether he should attend the regular meetings of the board, is 
 an open question. It seems, that, should he attend, much time 
 and expense would be saved, and one of the objections to arbi- 
 tration met. 
 
 Another of the rules embodied -in this system is deserving of 
 more than passing notice ; it is the third : " Neither masters 
 nor men shall interfere with any man on account of his being a 
 society or a non-society man." The society men pledge them- 
 selves not to annoy, nor allow annoyance to, non-society men. 
 The system of arbitration accepts the fact of combination among 
 both employers and employed, and uses it as an agent to accom- 
 plish the ends it aims at, — the establishment of peace and good- 
 will. 
 
 To show the practical workings of this board, it will be inter- 
 esting to append Mr. Kettle's account of the first arbitration 
 before it. 
 
 In November of the first year of its existence, a difference 
 arose between one of the master builders and some of his car- 
 penters, as to the right construction of one of the rules, — that 
 which provided for extra payment for working in winter months 
 upon unprotected buildings. 
 
 Upon receiving a request in writing from each party to settle 
 this difference under the rules, the umpire ascertained what day 
 would be convenient to both sides, and then called a meeting of 
 the delegates — who had, by the operation of the individual 
 contracts of service, become in law the arbitrators in this dis- 
 pute. He also, through the secretaries of the two societies, 
 caused the master and the workmen between whom the dispute 
 existed to attend the arbitration, treating them as the parties to 
 an ordinary reference. At the time appointed, the arbitrators, 
 the umpire, two men who represented the workmen, who were 
 parties to the dispute, and the master from the works where the 
 
 1 Industrial Conciliation, p. 24.
 
 22 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 dispute had arisen, met. As the men were the complainants, 
 they were asked (as plaintiffs) to state their case. The master 
 answered (as defendant), giving his reading and view of the 
 rule alleged to have been broken. The workmen's arbitrators 
 were then asked — taking them in succession as they sat at the 
 table — to express their opinions. The opinions of the master's 
 arbitrators was then taken in the same way. It was a case of 
 conflicting arguments upon construction. The umpire decided 
 that the men had put the true construction upon the rule ; and 
 he offered to make an award which could be legally enforced ; 
 but the master said he would willingly abide by the result, and 
 at once pay the men accordingly. In this the men, on behalf of 
 themselves and their fellow shopmates, cheerfully acquiesced, 
 and so we are deprived of a precedent from this case of the pro- 
 cedure for enforcing such an award. 
 
 . The boards of arbitration existing in England embody the 
 best characteristics of both of these systems. While they differ 
 in detail, their main features are the same. They are all volun- 
 tary. They are composed of an equal number of employers and 
 employed, each class electing its own representatives. There is 
 in all of the boards a provision for conciliation without con- 
 vening the entire membership. Regular meetings of the board 
 are provided for, whether there is any business to be transacted 
 or not. And in some form or other there is a power to which 
 either party can appeal without pride or shame, that has power 
 to determine as well as to hear, and whose decisions are received 
 without exultation or humiliation. That is an umpire. The 
 practical workings of some of the boards will be given in suc- 
 ceding chapters. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION IN THE MANUFACTURED 
 
 IRON TRADE. 
 
 It is important to the purposes of this report to show the 
 practical workings of arbitration and conciliation in some indus- 
 tries in which our State has a special interest. In two industries 
 Pennsjdvania stands pre-eminent among the States, viz., those 
 connected with the manufacture of iron and the mining of coal. 
 It is also in these that labor troubles are most frequent, and the 
 contests the most severe. If arbitration has been successful in
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 23 
 
 averting or mitigating industrial strife in these trades in Eng- 
 land, this fact should be a consideration of no small weight in 
 favor of its trial here. In view of the circumstances, in none of 
 the trades of England has arbitration and conciliation had a 
 greater success than in these. This is especially true of the 
 manufactural iron trades of England. The wages of all classes 
 of labor in the English rolling mills are settled, and have been 
 for nearly ten years, by arbitration. An award has just been 
 given in South Staffordshire, reducing the price of puddling, 
 and other wages ; and the North of England arbitration board 
 , has decided on a corresponding decline. 
 
 Some account of the establishment and practical workings of 
 the Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in the North of Eng- 
 land iron trade cannot fail to be interesting, as no severer test 
 of the value of arbitration and conciliation can be found than 
 in the circumstances accompanying its workings in this trade. 
 This trade, including that of the Cleveland district, began to 
 assume importance as recently as in 1860. For ten years its 
 growth was marvellous, and at the end of this time it rivalled 
 many and surpassed most of the older centres of English iron 
 manufacture. This wonderful growth, at a time when other 
 districts were increasing, created a demand for labor that could 
 not be met from the ranks of those already skilled in the vari- 
 ous processes of iron manufacture, and workmen were drawn 
 from all classes and grades of laborers. The result was a most 
 heterogeneous collection of workmen. There were no ties of 
 friendship or locality. There were none of those attachments 
 that long companionship causes men to form among themselves 
 and for their employers, and even for the very tools with which 
 they work. " Earning higher wages than those to which they 
 had been accustomed, unable to appreciate the difficulties inci- 
 dental to a trade so liable as the iron trade to great and sudden 
 vicissitudes." ^ The result of this state of affairs can be easily 
 imagined. It was endless disputes ; strikes were of frequent 
 occurrence. In 1865-66, there was both a lock-out and a strike, 
 the latter lasting four months; and in the end nothing was 
 settled, except that capital could hold out longer than labor. 
 " Between that time and the winter of 1868-69, repeated reduc- 
 tions in wages became necessary, and gave rise to feelings of 
 
 1 From a paper read by Mr. B. Samuelson, M.P., before the British Iron Trade 
 Association, Feb. 24, 1876, p. 4.
 
 24 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 resentment, which rendered it more than probable that any con- 
 siderable increase in the demand for iron would be the signal for 
 peremptory demands on the part of the workman." ^ Trade 
 began to improve in 1869, and the demand came. To avert 
 the trouble, arbitration was suggested ; and on March 22, 1869, 
 the board was formed, and has continued in successful operation 
 until the present time, and, for these ten years, has settled the 
 wages and other industrial questions in this trade. 
 
 2 This board consists of two representatives from each works 
 joining it, one chosen by the owners of each works joining the 
 board, the other by the operatives. It chooses from among its 
 members, a standing committee, to whom all differences are in 
 the first instance referred, and whose recommendations in minor 
 matters are generally accepted. This committee, however, has 
 no power to make an award except by mutual agreement of the 
 parties to the dispute. All questions not settled by it are 
 brought before the board as soon as possible. In cases of re- 
 adjustment of wages over the whole district, on one occasion 
 two arbitrators had been chosen, who intervened between the 
 board and the independent umpire. The committee meets when 
 there is any business; the board, twice a year, or oftener if 
 necessary. The expenses are paid equally by emploj^ers and 
 employed. At the close of 1875, it represented thirty-five 
 works, and 13,000 subscribed operatives. These works had 1,913 
 puddling-furnaces, — more than all Pennsylvania, and half as 
 many as the entire United States. During the year 1875, the 
 standing committee investigated forty disputes. Since its or- 
 ganization there have been eight or nine arbitrations on the 
 general questions of wages, and scores of references in regard 
 to special adjustment of wages at particular works. 
 
 Since 1874 this board, and the adherence of the workmen to 
 its decisions, have been put to a severe test; and, to their credit, 
 it should be said that, with a few unimportant local exceptions, 
 they have been loyal to the rules of the board. It is a well- 
 known fact that strikes and lock-outs generally occur on a 
 declining wages market ; and the real test of the value of any 
 method of settling wages is not on an advancing market, but a 
 falling one. The first action of this board was, under the um- 
 pireship of Mr. Rupert Kettle, to decree an advance of Qd. 
 
 i Mr. Samuelson's paper, pp. 5, 6. 
 
 2 A copy of the rules will be found in Appeudix C.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 25 
 
 From its formation in 1869 to 1874, wages were advanced from 
 8s. per ton, for puddling, to 13s. M. In 1874 the turn came ; 
 9d. were first taken off. In the middle of the year 3c?. added, 
 and from that time there has been a constant decline in wages 
 until now puddling is only 7s. per ton of 2,400 pounds. That 
 is wages have been reduced, under the action of this board, 
 without any serious difficulty, 472 per cent. 
 
 Does any one believe that this could have been peacefully 
 accomplished without arbitration ? 
 
 The success of arbitration in the South Staffordshire iron 
 trade has not been as marked, nor have its operations been as 
 continuous, as in the North of England. The board was origin- 
 ally formed by the two iron associations in the district, repre- 
 senting employers and employed ; viz., the South Staffordshire 
 Ironmasters' Association and the Local Branch of the Iron 
 Workers' Union. The board represented only these associa- 
 tions, no attempt being made to give a representation, or to 
 allow a vote in selecting representatives, to those who were 
 outsiders and non-unionists. This course — unlike that of the 
 North of England, where the operative members are elected by 
 the vote of all the employes of the works, unionists and non- 
 unionists — was the cause of the failure of the first board. "It 
 was quite powerless to bind those men who were not in the Iron 
 Workers' Union, even though the master himself was bound." 
 
 Out of this failure has grown an organization known as The 
 South Staffordshire Iron Trade Conciliation Board, now ^ some 
 three years old. Profiting by the former experience, it has 
 avoided some of the errors of the old board, while retaining its 
 valuable features Its rules and constitution are not the same 
 as in the North of England. The board consists simply of 
 twelve employers and twelve operatives, but every works join- 
 ing the board shall, if possible, have a representative of the 
 employers and a representative of the operatives. The board 
 elects a president, not connected with the iron trade, whose 
 duty it is to attend at meetings when questions are brought 
 before the board to be settled, but to take no part in the dis- 
 cussion, beyond asking explanations sufficient to guide his judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Besides the president, there is a chairman and vice-chairman, 
 who are elected by the board from themselves, but whose func- 
 
 1 In December, 1878, 
 4
 
 26 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 tions are not clearly defined by the rules. Instead of a commit- 
 tee of inquiry, the rules, which are not very precise, say, that 
 " In case of any difference arising at any works, it is intended 
 that it shall be settled by the works representatives, but, in case 
 of their failing, it is open to them to refer it to the chairman, 
 vice-chairman, and the two secretaries, who may call the board 
 together if they see fit." 
 
 The president of the board is Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P. 
 for Birmingham, who has been quite successful as an arbitrator, 
 and still retains the confidence of the operatives, though he 
 has for several years been forced, by the state of the trade, to 
 award reductions in wages. As the result of the discussion, 
 at a meeting of the board, held Oct. 7, 1878, wages were re- 
 duced to the point mentioned above. At this meeting, Mr. 
 Capper, one of the workingmen's representatives, stated that 
 the reductions conceded since January, 1874, amounted to 521- 
 per cent. Mr. Chamberlain stated, however, that he had seen 
 no reason to believe that any of his past decisions were wrong, 
 or, in fact, that they were not such as were absolutely neces- 
 sary, having regard to the state of trade. In the course of his 
 remarks, he asked what was the intention and object of a board 
 of arbitration ? Surely it was to arrive at a fair decision, with- 
 out the painful necessity of a strike. If this was so, he had to 
 ask himself what would be the result of a strike, if there were 
 no board. Suppose, for a moment, there were no board of con- 
 ciliation to settle the matter, and that the employers thought 
 themselves entitled to ask for a reduction to 7s. of the puddlers' 
 wages. Did anybody doubt that, grievous as such a reduction 
 might be to the workpeople, they would under the existing 
 state of trade be obliged, in the long-run, to submit to it ? He 
 was there rather as a conciliator than as a judge, and the feeling 
 he had, that, if there were no board, the operatives at the present 
 time must yield to the demands made by the employers did 
 certainly weigh with him very much in considering the present 
 application of the employers. 
 
 At a meeting of the board, held since this report has been 
 in press, the members on both sides expressed their continued 
 confidence in the board, and their implicit faith in Mr. Cham- 
 berlain. 
 
 As the two districts mentioned are among the largest and 
 most important of the iron-producing districts of Great Britain,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 27 
 
 I think I may confidently point to the success of arbitration in 
 their iron mills, as giving strong grounds for predicting the suc- 
 cess of arbitration in our irt)n works, were it tried. The fact 
 that good feeling has been fostered, and severe reductions of 
 wages accepted without strikes, is abundant evidence of its 
 value. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION IN THE COAL TRADE. 
 
 The working of arbitration and conciliation in the coal trade 
 is somewhat different from its history in the iron trade. The 
 nature of the work in collieries does not admit of so many dif- 
 ferent trades as in iron working, and, as a result, there are fewer 
 unions. They are larger, more united, and in a better position 
 to enforce any demand they may make. Though this is true, 
 and though, further, there is not, with possibly an exception, 
 a permanent board in this trade, there are many cases, during 
 the last few years especially, in which differences have been 
 adjusted by temporary boards or an arbitrator. The awards 
 have not always been loyally accepted. It is too much to 
 expect that they would be. The fluctuations in this trade in 
 the last five years have been both rapid and large, and the strain 
 on any system that could be devised would have been too great 
 not to have caused it to give way at times. Notwithstanding 
 this, after a careful and thorough study of all the facts I do not 
 hesitate to say that arbitration and conciliation in the coal trade 
 has been a success. The wonder is, it has not failed oftener. 
 There have been cases where both employers and employed have 
 refused to submit their demands to arbitration, and there have 
 been cases where the award, when made, has been rejected ; but 
 the exceptions are so few, that it can be fairly said that for some 
 years, until very lately, arbitration has settled the wages ques- 
 tion in the coal trade, and both sides have abided its results. 
 
 To illustrate its workings in detail in this trade, I have selected 
 the Northumberland, Durham, and South Wales districts. 
 
 In the Northumberland coal trade, wages and other industrial 
 disputes have been settled for some years by conference or con- 
 ciliation between the mine owners and workmen, each side hav- 
 ing its unions or associations. Since March, 1873, up to the 
 close of 1877, a joint committee consisting of six employers and
 
 23 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 six workmen have settled all questions " of mere local impor- 
 tance affecting individual pits." This committee had no power 
 to deal with the question of wages. When this was to be dis- 
 cussed, a board was created for the occasion, consisting generally 
 of two arbitrators for each side, presided over by an umpire. 
 Mr. Rupert Kettle, who acted in this capacity at an arbitration 
 in 1875, defined the constitution of the court very clearly : 
 " We are one body of five, and if by and by it shall be found 
 that you are two and two, and therefore cannot arrive at a con- 
 clusion, the decision will be with me ; but until that time ar- 
 rives you are the judges, and I am only assisting you." 
 
 The last arbitration in this trade in Northumberland was in 
 July, 1877. In May of this year, the employers gave notice of 
 a reduction, and a withdrawal of the allowance of free house and 
 free coal. The men refused to permit the reduction, and also 
 an offer to arbitrate ; and twelve thousand of the fourteen 
 thousand miners in the district went out on a strike. So bitter 
 were the men against arbitration, that their trusted leaders who 
 suggested it were hissed and hooted. After several weeks' idle- 
 ness they, however, agreed to arbitrate. 
 
 Two arbitrators were appointed on each side, with Mr. 
 Farrer Herschell, M. P., as umpire. This arbitration was an 
 important one, as introducing new considerations as reasons for 
 reductions. The employers did not rely upon the claim that 
 there had been such a reduction in the selling price of coal as 
 to justify a reduction in wages, but claimed it on the ground 
 that other districts had advantages over them in the greater 
 number of hours worked per day, and days per week, which, 
 added to a higher wage they were compelled to pay, placed 
 them at a decided disadvantage in the market. The award was 
 in favor of the men; but it recommended that the men, in order 
 to aid the pit-owners to compete with other districts, should 
 work six hours instead of five, at the face, twelve days per fort- 
 night ; to increase the out-put of large coal, and the thro wing- 
 back of small coal. These recommendations practically dis- 
 credited the umpire's own decision ; but they were faithfully 
 adhered to by the employers, while the recommendations were 
 carried out with little grace by the employes. A quarter of an 
 hour was added to the working time, and the other recommen- 
 dations were ignored. 
 
 This arbitration was a most important one in its results. On
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 29 
 
 the 24th of November of the same year, notice of a reduction 
 of twelve and a half per cent was posted ; and the miners, re- 
 fusing to accept, went on strike on Dec. 7. The employers 
 refused to withdraw the notice, and also, in view of the circum- 
 stances attending the last trial, refused to submit their case to 
 arbitration. The men yielded so far as to agree to accept ten 
 per cent, and arbitrate the remaining two and a half per cent ; 
 but this was refused, and, after eight weeks' strike, the men 
 went to work at the full reduction. I have given this case in 
 detail, as it is often referred to as showing the failure of arbi- 
 tration. It certairdy did not fail, for it was not tried ; and no 
 one who has had an opportunity to know the present feeling of 
 the men doubts that there is trouble ahead. The employers, 
 maybe, have been justified in the course they took. As to its 
 wisdom, there is an opportunity for discussion. 
 
 In the Durham coal trade, a much larger one than the North- 
 umbrian, arbitration is in full operation, though it has been 
 subject to a most severe strain in the large reductions of wages 
 that have been decreed. This district has been described as 
 one in which " reason and calm discussion have pre-eminently 
 taken the place of force." The miners in this region number 
 some fifty thousand. Beginning with March, 1872, up to May, 
 1873, wages had been advanced fifty-eight and one-half per cent. 
 In May, 1873, the decline began, wages being reduced ten per 
 cent. In October, 1874, Mr. Russell Gurney, Recorder of Lon- 
 don, after a very exhaustive investigation, awarded a reduction 
 of nine per cent. This was accepted, though not with very 
 good grace. Mr. Kettle says he always expects a little sulking 
 when the award is unpleasant. So great was the depression, 
 that in February, 1875, only three months after the announce- 
 ment of Mr. Gurney's award, another reduction was claimed, 
 and five per cent awarded. At the close of the same year, Mr. 
 Hopewood, M. P., was appointed arbitrator, and awarded, in 
 February, ten per cent reduction. In May, 1876, a notice of a 
 reduction of ten per cent was given and arbitrated. In August, 
 six per cent, and in February, 1877, ten per cent more. In 
 March, 1877, a sliding scale was adopted for two years. Under 
 this it was provided that any differences that might arise were 
 to be settled by reference. All these reductions have been 
 accepted, — not always pleasantly, but nevertheless accepted; 
 and under the sliding scale the men are now working, referring 
 questions as they arise to be settled by conciliation.
 
 30 INDUSTMAL CONCILIATION AND AKBITRATION. 
 
 In South Wales, a strike occurred in 1875, lasting seventeen 
 weeks, and involving 120,000 workmen, whose loss in wages 
 was variously estimated at from X3, 000,000 to £5,000,000. 
 This was settled by conciliation. Immediately after this, as 
 the result of an extended consultation, a sliding scale, based 
 upon the selling price of coal, with a fixed minimum and maxi- 
 mum, was adopted ; all other differences arising to be settled by 
 arbitration. In 1876, several reductions resulted, which caused 
 considerable dissatisfaction, and a vote of the members of the 
 union was taken to get its views on continuing the scale, and 
 abiding by its action. Eighteen thousand four hundred and 
 seventy-five voted for it, and 8,934 voted against it, though 
 wages had been in some cases reduced, thirty per cent. Late in 
 1877, the price of coal had fallen so low that the "Coal Masters' 
 Association " asked the men to consent to lower the minimum 
 of the scale five per cent, which they did, confirming their 
 action in February, 1878, and again in June. 
 
 There have been other arbitrations than these in the coal 
 trade all over Great Britain. In South Yorkshire and North 
 Derbyshire, Mr. Mundella has arbitrated a number of disputes 
 the present year.^ At Barnsly an eight months' strike was settled 
 by Mr. Whitwell and Mr. Mundella. There have been success- 
 ful arbitrations in the coal trade at Ashton, Oldham, North 
 Staffordshire, Cleveland, North of England, and Lancashire. 
 In South Staffordshire, a sliding scale was adopted in 1874, but 
 its working was not satisfactory, owing to the decline in coal 
 being much greater than was expected. At Radstock there 
 have been two awards, one by Mr. Kettle, and the other by Mr. 
 Thomas Hughes, M. P. In North Wales there have been 
 several arbitrations. In all these cases there has seemed to be 
 an earnest desire on the part of the leaders of the unions to 
 hold the men to the award, telling them that they were bound 
 in honor, and threatening to withdraw from their positions if 
 the men were false to their word. The Welsh colliers are 
 rongh, uneducated men, however, and have forgotten honor and 
 interest, and rejected awards that have been made, and at 
 present, arbitration is not practised in this district. 
 
 1 1878.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AIlBITI8!k.TI0N. 31 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 ARBITRATION IN OTHER INDUSTRIES. 
 
 I have spoken at length of the workings of arbitration in the 
 coal and iron trades, for the reason assigned, — that they are the 
 industries in which our State has so large an interest. It must 
 not be inferred that it has been only in these that its success 
 has been obtained, and its adaptation for the purpose designed 
 established. Of its workings in the hosiery trades of Notting- 
 ham and the building trades of Wolverhampton, I have also 
 given an account in previous sections. Of its workings in 
 other industries, I can give, for lack of space, only the most 
 meagre account, and that simply for the purpose of showing to 
 what a diversity of cases arbitration is applicable. The lace 
 trade of Nottingham has a board which was started very soon 
 after Mr. Mundella's in the hosiery trade. As the rules of this 
 board are regarded by this gentleman as the model rules, they 
 are given in full in the Appendix.^ This board was a complete 
 success for over fifteen years. Latterly there has been some 
 dissatisfaction regarding awards, and a desire to repudiate 
 them : but there has been no more difficulty than was to have 
 been expected, or than there will continue to be, so long as 
 human nature remains human. In the textile trades there 
 have been but few attempts at systematic arbitration. The 
 Macclesfield silk trade had a board suggested by the Conseils 
 des Prud'hommes^ as early as 1849. The failure of this board 
 is to be attributed to the fact that, though organized to put an 
 end to strikes and lock-outs, it used them as a means to compel 
 obedience to its awards. In other branches of these trades, 
 notably the cotton trades of East Lancashire, a spasmodic kind 
 of conciliation has been practised in the past ; but during the 
 recent very disastrous lock-out, though arbitration was proffered 
 by the employes, it was refused by the manufacturers, on the 
 ground that there was nothing to arbitrate, as unless they could 
 get the reduction asked for they must cease work. 
 
 In the building trades, a number of boards have been estab- 
 lished ; and, though they are in many respects very complicated 
 trades, their history has been such as to indicate their great 
 usefulness in these trades. 
 
 1 See Appendix D.
 
 32 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Amonof other industries in which arbitration has been sue- 
 cessfully tried, may be mentioned tlie potteries, iron and stone 
 mining, iron tubing, quarrjdng, chemical, and boot and shoe. 
 The best examples of the workings and success of boards are, 
 however, to be found in those industries treated of at length in 
 preceding sections. 
 
 [We add to this section of Mr. Weeks's report the following 
 data obtained from the resume of Mr. Hill previously referred 
 to, Bureau Report, March, 1877.] 
 
 According to the record of Mr. Crompton, the English working-classes 
 have given the most favorable reception to the proposal for courts and boai-ds 
 of arbitration or conciliation. As far back as 1866, Mr. George Odger in- 
 troduced the subject of arbitration at a large meeting in Sheffield, and then 
 expressed his opinion that strikes were to the social world what wars were to 
 the political world : they became crimes unless they were prompted by abso- 
 lute necessity. Where industries are not localized, but, on the contrary, 
 scattered over the country, arbitration arrangements necessarily become 
 more difficult. In the moi-e highly organized of these trades, the question of 
 wages is not so often raised by arbitration, and in some, very slight altera- 
 tions have taken place in a long series of years. The engineers have, as in 
 the case of the nine hours' strike at Newcastle in 1871, so ably recorded by 
 Mr. John Burnett, the secretary of the Amalgamated Engineers, been 
 willing to submit questions in dispute to arbitration; but the great variety 
 of operatives employed in this industry makes the system more difficult to 
 adjust satisfactorily. Mr. John Burnett has, however, expressed his opinion 
 that "a scheme of arbitration might be arranged so as to apply to the 
 various peculiarities of the engineering trade." 
 
 The brass-workers have made an experiment in arbitration, but it does 
 not seem to have been successful. 
 
 At Sheffield the employers did not seem disposed to meet the overtures of 
 the men, who, through the carpenters, desired to form a board. 
 
 The bricklayers cannot be reported as having distinctly pledged them- 
 selves to the system of arbiti-ation ; but Mr. Coulson, the secretary of the 
 Operative Bricklayers' Society, has endeavored to establish boai'ds as oppor- 
 tunities have arisen. 
 
 The masons have not as a class shown so strong a desire for arbitration 
 as the other classes of building operatives; and, in the language of Mr. 
 Crompton, " they have a conservative tenacity which tends to prevent them 
 from changing some practices which cannot stand the test of criticism." 
 At Bristol, however, a code of rules has been drawn up between the Masters 
 Association and that of the Operative Stone Masons. One rule provides 
 that " six employers and six operatives act as a standing committee to hear 
 and determine any minor disput3s that may arise from time to time as to the 
 intention and working of the rules, and their decision shall be equally bind- 
 ing on both pai-ties, and no suspensions of labor shall take place pending the 
 decision of the conciliation committee." 
 
 Among painters, though there is no permanent board in the trade, a code
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 33 
 
 of working rules was established at Manchester in 1870, agreed upon by six 
 operatives and six employers. According to this code, there must be six 
 months' notice of any change, which is settled by conciliation if possible; if 
 not, by reference to some arbitrator. At Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, 
 and Nottingham, arbitration has also taken place in this branch of trade. 
 
 In the potteries a board of conciliation and arbitration has been in exist- 
 ence since 1868 for the china and earthen ware manufactories. The board 
 is established on the model of the Nottingham boards. " The president 
 presides over such meetings of the board as are not convened for the pur- 
 pose of arbitration ; but a standing referee presides over all arbitrations by 
 the board, and his decision is final in the event of an equal vote." Mr. 
 Crompton points out that the advantage of this seems to be, that the referee 
 is not called, or arbitration attempted, until the board has failed to settle by 
 conciliation ; in which case there is to be one final arbitration arrived at, if 
 possible, without difference. The award is made subject to a month's notice 
 on either side. The settlement of the prices of labor is, however, for a year. 
 In the chemical trade of Northumberland and Durham, a board of arbi- 
 tration and conciliation was established in 1875; but it is of too recent for- 
 mation for any results to be reported. This board has a by-law specially 
 directed against strikes and lock-outs. 
 
 In the boot and shoe trade, no board of a formal character has yet been 
 established; but a resolution has been passed at Staiford in support of one in 
 the future. At Leicester, also, steps have been taken recently to form a 
 similar board. 
 
 In the woollen and worsted trades of Yorkshire, there have been no boards 
 of arbitration or conciliation, nor has arbitration been resorted to as a means 
 of settling disputes. 
 
 In the East Lancashire cotton trade, there is no system of arbitration or 
 conciliation; but committees composed of employers and employed are ap- 
 pointed from time to time for the purpose of settling disputes, and they 
 argue the question till one side gives in. Mr. Birtwhistle, the secretary of 
 the East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association, is of opinion they 
 ultimately will have to resort to arbitration. 
 
 In the printing trade, a court of arbitration was established in 1853; but 
 the court broke up because the men, while accepting the award as a decision 
 in an actual dispute, refused to accept it as a decision binding in all other 
 cases arising out of past contracts, and involving similar questions. 
 
 In the Typographical Trades Union, arbitration has been suggested, but 
 not yet adopted. 
 
 At Manchester, a question in dispute has been settled, however, in confer- 
 ence between the masters and men in the printing trade. 
 
 Among unskilled laborers, with the exception of the laborers who are 
 represented on the Birmingham board in the building trade, no settled form 
 of arbitration has as yet been arranged; and, until this large class is more 
 thoroughly organized within its own lines by union, such arbitration will be 
 difficult, if not indeed impossible. 
 
 Among agricultural laborers, into whose ranks the spirit of organization 
 is fast infusing itself, no arbitration has yet taken place ; but Mr. Howard 
 Evans, editor of " The English Laborer," Mr. Crompton, and others have 
 written in favor of the adoption of the system in future disputes.
 
 34 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 THE ACCEPTANCE OF AWARDS BY THE PARTIES TO THE 
 
 ARBITRATION. 
 
 A very important question to be answered in arriving at a 
 true estimate of the value of arbitration and conciliation is, How 
 have the awards of the boards been received ? Have they been 
 frankly accepted, and loyally obeyed ? or have they been re- 
 jected, or, if accepted, received sullenly, and obeyed grudgingly, 
 and with a determination to renew the struggle in the near 
 future ? 
 
 So far as relates to conciliation, these questions are easily 
 answered. From its very nature, its awards or decisions can 
 meet with but little opposition. When differences are settled, 
 through the good offices of committees of inquiry, or the con- 
 ciliation committees of these boards, it is without an award, and 
 a decision is reached because the parties themselves agree to 
 such decision ; and, of course, in such cases there is little or no 
 opportunity for the rejection of the result. The same is true, 
 though not so generally, where conciliation boards exist without 
 a final appeal to an umpire or referee. In these cases the sub- 
 ject in controversy is settled by what the men call " a long jaw," 
 and an agreement is reached by a compromise, or by coming to 
 the best arrangement possible under the circumstances. This is 
 a contest, to be sure ; but it is of a far different character than 
 a strike or lock-out. It also offers an opportunity for rejecting 
 a decision ; and under the working of the Nottingham board, 
 which is on this principle, there have been cases of such rejec- 
 tion. Mr. Mundella mentions one example of a small branch 
 of the hosiery trade, employing some two hundred men, who 
 made a demand which the whole board deemed unreasonable : 
 the representatives of this branch were out-voted, and, in a fit 
 of ill-humor, seceded from the board. They found themselves, 
 however, isolated, and deprived of all sympathy and support, 
 both of their fellow-workmen and the public ; and they soon 
 expressed a desire to be restored to membership. 
 
 Where there have been formal arbitrations and awards, espe- 
 cially in the coal and iron trades, I am constrained to confess 
 that there are more cases of rejection or attempted rejection of 
 awards than there should be. There should be no case of a
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 35 
 
 refusal to accept an award made by a duly appointed umpire or 
 a board. It is worse than useless to submit a case to arbitra- 
 tion, unless both parties agree to be bound by the result, and 
 are prepared to act upon it in good faith. The parties to the 
 arbitration are in honor bound to this course, however unsatis- 
 factory the result may be, or however unwelcome the award. 
 
 It is unfortunate, also, that most of the repudiations of the 
 awards have come from the workmen, and these have at times 
 been coupled with most gratuitous insults to the gentlemen 
 who have acted as arbitrators. A recent case of this kind is the 
 action of the nut and bolt trades of Birmingham, in which Mr. 
 Chamberlain acted as arbitrator. The award was not rejected, 
 but Mr. Chamberlain was so grossly insulted, that he refused in an 
 indignant letter to serve in a subsequent case in the same trade. 
 Mr. Chamberlain said, " I have always been of the opinion that 
 arbitration, as a means of settling such disputes, could only be 
 successful where there existed on both sides a belief in the prin- 
 ciple, and implicit confidence in the discretion, impartiality, and 
 fairness, of the arbitrator. In the present case, these conditions 
 appear to be wanting ; for you will recollect that when recently, 
 at very considerable sacrifi(;e of time and trouble, I settled a 
 dispute which had arisen in your trade, my decision was made 
 the subject of abusive complaint, and my honor was called in 
 question, and improper motives were attributed to me." 
 
 Another example was the rejection of the award of Mr. Ser- 
 geant Wheeler, by the North Wales colliers, who stated in their 
 resolutions that the reduction was a " gross imposition," and 
 gave notice of an immediate demand for twenty per cent ad- 
 vance. A three months' strike grew out of this. 
 
 In addition to these cases and others that might be given, 
 there are some in which there have been cases of disloyalty to 
 the board at particular works. This has been true, even in the 
 North of England. It is interesting, however, to find that the 
 employers, in a recent document, submitting their case for a 
 reduction of wages, most readily record their opinion, that with 
 a few local exceptions, which do not affect the general principle, 
 the operatives, as a body, have been loyal to the rules of the 
 board, — one of these rules being, that, in the event of a dis- 
 pute, the operative shall not abandon his work, but continue 
 his employment, pending its adjustment. And this is confirmed 
 by Mr. Kettle. He writes as follows : " Except in one or two
 
 36 INDUSTRIAL CONCILTATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 instances of a few days' sulks at particular works, my award 
 being against the workmen, I think all have been approved, and 
 all, without exception, have been practically acted upon ; and 
 for six years the peace of the trade, generally, has not been 
 interrupted." 
 
 It is also interesting to note that Mr. Chamberlain, at a recent 
 meeting of the South Staffordshire Conciliation Board, stated, 
 that, during the three years that board had been in existence, 
 three successive reductions had been made in the wages of the 
 operative, but in all these cases his award had been strictly ob- 
 served, both by employers and employed. 
 
 The cases that have occurred when awards have been rejected 
 have, without doubt, brought arbitration somewhat into dis- 
 repute. But there are some things forgotten by those who, for 
 these few cases, condemn the principle. It should be remem- 
 bered that the rejection of an award will be more widely known 
 and commented upon than the acceptance of a score ; and it 
 must further be remembered that the test to which this princi- 
 ple has been subjected in the last five years has been a most 
 severe one. Wages in the coal and iron trades have reached, in 
 some cases, a lower point than they have ever touched before. A 
 reduction of ten per cent, or even five per cent, has come to 
 mean want and misery ; and human nature is often too strong 
 for honor. The wonder is, that the awards have not been 
 oftener rejected. Coming, as I did, from a district in which the 
 iron workers are better paid than in any other district in the 
 world, and seeing the self-restraint of the iron workers of 
 England, in the face of constant reductions of wages, and 
 the too evident fact that others were to come, I could but ad- 
 mire the honorable action of the men, and conceived the highest 
 respect for the principle which enabled these great changes to 
 be made without strikes and lock-outs. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 ADVANTAGES OP ARBITRATION. 
 
 There are two, or possibly three, objects sought in the forma- 
 tion of boards of arbitration and conciliation. The first is to pre- 
 vent differences between employed and employers from becoming 
 disputes, and leading to strikes and lock-outs ; and the second
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 37 
 
 is to settle disputes that have unfortunately arisen, and to put 
 an end to strikes and lock-outs, should they occur. The third 
 object, which is possibly included under the first mentioned, is 
 to promote mutual confidence and respect between these two 
 classes. The only sufficient reason for the adoption of the prin- 
 ciple is that it accomplishes these purposes. 
 
 Whether it has accomplished these objects in the trades in 
 which it has been fairly tried in England, can be judged from 
 the facts set forth in the preceding pages of this report. For 
 myself, I do not hesitate to say that it is not only the best 
 method yet devised, but the only rational one, for adjusting the 
 relative rights of employers and employed under the present 
 constitution of industrial society. In making this statement, 
 I do not forget the method by strikes and lock-outs, nor do I 
 consider it. These methods are neither rational nor civilized. 
 A victory or a defeat for either side, under the pressure of 
 strikes or lock-outs, neither proves nor disproves the justice of 
 a position assumed ; but it is fair to infer that an award given 
 by a board of arbitration, after due consideration, would be as 
 near just and right as it is possible for human judgment to 
 reach. It is to be observed, also, that a decision of a board 
 should not be, and in most cases is not, regarded as a victory 
 by one side, or a defeat by the other. There is no exultation 
 over victory, no smart over defeat, nor a determination to wait 
 for a convenient season and revenge. The burning questions 
 that arise are settled in a friendly manner. 
 
 Another advantage of a permanent board of arbitration, with 
 stated meetings, is that it furnishes an opportunity, seldom pos- 
 sessed without these, for the workmen to obtain a knowledge 
 of the needs of trade and the demands of the future both upon 
 them and the manufacturers. Labor troubles are as often the 
 result of a lack of information as to the true state of a trade, as 
 of any other one thing. It is true that workmen may be told 
 the facts rendering a reduction necessary ; but they are not 
 inclined to credit them, and believe that affairs are not as repre- 
 sented. In the working of the English boards, especially in 
 fixing prices, notice is taken of the state of trade and competi- 
 tion with other countries and other districts, and the information 
 thus gathered, not by the employer members, but by the board, 
 is brought to bear in the settlement of wages. In his testimony 
 before the Trades Unions' Commission of Parliament, Mr. Mun-
 
 38 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 della says, " We sent two of the workmen to France last year, 
 and a third to Germany, to see for themselves the prices paid 
 there for that work. They came home, and said, ' It will not 
 do : we must be content as we are for the present ; ' and we 
 produce on the table the articles made in France and Germany, 
 and the men are convinced by their own senses of the justice 
 of what we say, and by their knowledge of the laws that 
 govern trade, because this system has been a complete educa- 
 tional process for our men : they know as well as we do 
 whether we can afford an advance, or not ; they know whether 
 the demand is good, or bad, and at what prices the article can 
 be made in France or Germany ; and they are accustomed to 
 consider the effect of a fall or rise in cotton just as we do ; and, 
 when they think that things are going well, they ask to share 
 in the benefit ; and, when they think that things are going 
 wrong, they are willing to take low rates." 
 
 Facts gathered in this way, and supplemented by statements of 
 those in whom the workmen have learned to have a degree of 
 confidence, have a greater influence than unnumbered assertions 
 of men who are brought together only to struggle for a victory. 
 
 This suggests another and a most important advantage of 
 these boards. Accepting the fact that unions of workmen 
 exist, and will doubtless continue to exist, it is only through 
 boards of arbitration or conciliation of some kind that the trades 
 unions and those of employers can meet except as antagonists. 
 The manufacturer and his workmen can never be brought face 
 to face to discuss trade questions, except when their interests 
 are hostile. With these boards there is a possibility of meeting 
 as fellow members of the same trade, whose interests are indis- 
 solubly joined. 
 
 Another and perhaps the most important advantage of these 
 boards is the bringing of employer and employed together, 
 and thereby increasing their respect and esteem for each other, 
 and the consequent growth of confidence. One of the greatest 
 barriers to an understanding between capital and labor is a feel- 
 ing on the part of workingmen that they are regarded as holding 
 a servient position, and a feeling on the part of manufacturers 
 that theirs is a dominant one. Out of these feelings, which are 
 altogether too common, come a brood of evils that have cost our 
 industries dear. Even when nothing is further from the mind 
 than the thought of cherishing such sentiments as these, suspi-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 39 
 
 cion, ever quick to grasp an appearance for a reality, catches at 
 some chance word ; and all the horrors of a labor war are the 
 result. Judge Kettle, in speaking of strikes from matters of 
 sentiment, says, — 
 
 " If in the common intercourse of life this is felt, how much 
 more in the excitement of a trade dispute must men be sensitive 
 to influences which clash with their just estimate of their own 
 position ; and still more keenly must they be felt, when those 
 influences are directed to controvert the means taken to main- 
 tain what they believe to be their right." 
 
 For this want of confidence and suspicion, these permanent 
 boards of arbitration furnish a remedy. Confidence is cherished. 
 The intercourse of representative workmen with representa- 
 tive employers, as equals with equals, breaks down all class dis- 
 tinctions, removes suspicion, and makes the task of harmonizing 
 differences a much simpler proceeding. 
 
 But the chief advantage of these boards is that they form an 
 open market, where labor and capital can come together, and in 
 a friendly spirit fix what is " a fair price for a fair day's work." 
 In these boards, the statements made by each side can be 
 challenged, each other's arguments answered, and estimates 
 impeached. " I verily believe that, without limiting the influ- 
 ence of fair competition, boards of arbitration, properly worked, 
 afford the best means of fixing the market price for a fair day's 
 work. I believe, moreover, that their action has a tendency to 
 secure the maximum prices which are consistent with steady 
 employment, and that the presence of an umpire prevents the 
 ruinous consequences to both parties which follow separation 
 upon a disagreement." 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF ARBITRATION, AND OBJECTIONS TO THE SAME. 
 
 In the course of this report, I have incidentally referred to 
 the difficulties that stand in the way of the successful workings 
 of arbitration, and some of the objections to the same. It may 
 not be amiss to group together some of these, and to consider 
 others, selecting those that may be regarded as typical rather 
 than taking up each objection in detail. 
 
 The chief obstacle encountered in the formation of boards of
 
 40 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 arbitration and conciliation, as well as in the earlier operations 
 of the same, is suspicion and prejudice. These are the sources 
 of some of the most bitter and ill-advised strikes and lock-outs 
 that the history of industry has known ; and it is this tendency 
 to quarrel upon what J udge Kettle so aptly terms " matters of 
 sentiment," that stands most in the way of arbitration. Hap- 
 pily, these feelings are passing away ; a more intimate knowl- 
 edge and a more generous estimate of the acts of each other are 
 removing this suspicion and prejudice. Once boards are estab- 
 lished, their very existence, as we have shown, tends to the 
 removal of all sources of strife founded upon passion or igno- 
 rance. 
 
 Another difficulty that arises immediately upon the decision 
 to form a board is the selection of an umpire. Shall he be a 
 permanent officer, or chosen to decide a particular case ? Shall 
 he be practically acquainted with the trade in which he is called 
 to act? or is this not necessary, so that he have the other quali- 
 fications ? These are questions that it seems almost impossible 
 to answer from the results of experience. Judge Kettle, who has 
 been a most successful umpire in some of the most important 
 arbitrations in England, and especially in the coal and iron 
 trades, has no practical knowledge of these trades. Mr. Thomas 
 Hughes, M. P. (" Tom Brown "), Mr. Herschell, M. P., Mr. 
 Thomas Brassey, M.P., Mr. Russell Gurney, Mr. Henry Cromp- 
 ton, and others, are all gentlemen who are not practically con- 
 nected with manufacturing or mining, but have been very suc- 
 cessful as arbitrators. On the other hand, Mr. A. J. Mundella, 
 M. P., Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, M. P., Mr. David Dale, and 
 others, who have been just as successful umpires, are or have 
 been very extensive manufacturers. 
 
 On the part of the workmen there have been very strong 
 objections at times to, what they term " a stranger referee ; " but 
 it will be found that the success of a referee will not depend 
 upon his practical acquaintance with the trade, so much as it 
 will upon the man himself. If he is at all fitted for his respon- 
 sible position in other ways, he can gain sufficient knowledge of 
 the trade to enable him to give a just and intelligent decision. 
 It seems, however, advisable, that, when it is possible, the ref- 
 eree should be an officer selected by the board, with a tenure of 
 office the same as the board. It is not well to wait until the 
 struggle begins, and each side, perhaps, is striving for victory,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 41 
 
 and all they can get, before the one who is to decide between 
 them is named. It is best to select him when judgment and 
 reason rule. In this country, I think little difficulty will be 
 experienced in securing umpires. I think it possible to name 
 men in our own State, in whose fairness and judgment our iron 
 and coal industries would be willing to confide. 
 
 When the practical operation of these boards is considered, 
 a very serious difficulty is found in the absence of any recog- 
 nized definite principle as a basis on which awards shall be 
 made. For example : First and foremost among industrial ques- 
 tions, is that relative to the wages of labor. When this is before 
 a board for decision, the question arises at once. What shall be 
 the basis upon which the award shall be made ? It is because 
 of this very difficulty that arbitration boards exist. If there 
 were such a basis definitely established, and universally acknowl- 
 edged, the decision as to the wages at a given time would be 
 a simple question of arithmetic or of book-keeping. It is to 
 endeavor to discover what is fair and right at a given time that 
 these boards are organized. As a matter of information, it may 
 be said, that in the practical operation of the boards, while all 
 the facts relative to prices, competition, demand and supply, 
 both of labor and products, are considered, wages are generally 
 based on the selling price of the articles produced. Mr. Kettle, 
 in a noted arbitration in the coal trade, found a certain date at 
 which the wages paid for work about the collieries were satis- 
 factory to both sides. This became the ideal, and served to fix, 
 in a general way, a ratio of wages to prices that would be a 
 satisfactory one to both parties. Due notice was taken of any 
 changes that had occurred that should serve to increase or 
 diminish this ratio, such as reduction in the hours of labor, in- 
 creased expense from mine inspection laws, etc. ; and the arbi- 
 trator in his award endeavored to approximate this ratio as near 
 as could be done without injustice or injury. 
 
 It has been objected to this course, that it involves an exposure 
 of secrets in connection with one's business, that a manufacturer 
 should not be called upon to make. To arrive at the wages 
 paid and prices received for any commodity at a given time, an 
 inspection of books is necessary. This objection must arise 
 from a misapprehension of what is really done. The books are 
 not brought into the board, nor are the arbitrators as a body, 
 nor any one of them, permitted to inspect them. An accountant,
 
 42 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 sworn not to divulge the details, but only the results, and these 
 only to the board, unless they direct differently, is elected. He 
 ascertains not how much it has cost to produce an article, unless 
 so agreed upon, nor how much profit has been made ; but what 
 was the actual selling price of the commodity at the times desired. 
 There can be no objection to this. No secrets are divulged, 
 the accountant covering his work in such a way that it is impos- 
 sible to trace a sale. 
 
 It is further argued, as against arbitration, that an umpire 
 may make mistakes. They are human, and consequently liable 
 to err. What would be the result if they did? It would be a 
 very careless or ignorant umpire, one who had no business to 
 occupy the position, who would make a mistake of, say, two per 
 cent in his award. This would be, if the award held for six 
 months, equal to about half a week's work, — three days. 
 Would not this loss be better than a strike or a lock-out for 
 probably many times this? A more pertinent answer to this 
 objection might be to ask the question, whether an arbitrator is 
 any more liable to make a wrong decision than a strike or lock- 
 out ? that is, is cool deliberation more liable to err than passion- 
 ate impulse ? 
 
 There is another objection that I imagine will have more 
 weight in England than in this country. It is that arbitration 
 is an attempt to interfere with the operation of natural laws — 
 by which term is meant the politico-economical theories of 
 Adam Smith and his successors and followers. It is not ger- 
 mane to the purpose of this report, to discuss the truth or falsity 
 of these theories. It is enough for us to say that at present our 
 knowledge as to industrial laws is extremely limited, and that 
 the assumed facts upon which theories have been based, or from 
 which these laws are deduced, have been questioned by some 
 able political economists. However this may be, the law or 
 theory is good only so long as the facts or phenomena remain 
 the same. There is nothing eternal in an economic law ; and 
 when the facts change, or are modified, then the law, which is 
 only a statement of these facts and their relations, changes, or is 
 modified. Would it be wise or truthful to say that the facts or 
 phenomena of labor have not undergone a wonderful change in 
 the past century ? Have not elements been introduced that 
 promise peimanence, that have produced marked changes in the 
 relation of labor to employment, and demand changes in the
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILTATTON AND ARBITRATION. 43 
 
 statements of these relations, or, in other words, of the laws ? 
 But no argument is necessary on this point. No one will deny 
 that interference with these laws is possible. Demand or supply 
 may be increased or diminished, and thus, by a deliberate inter- 
 ference, changes to our advantage or disadvantage made to 
 occur. 
 
 Just here, I suggest, the vital question as to the advantage or 
 disadvantage of arbitration is to be asked. We must acknowl- 
 edge, that, just so long as labor maintains its present constitu- 
 tion, interference with these so-called laws will occur. Now, 
 is it better to interfere with these laws by the peaceful and 
 fiiendly methods of arbitration and conciliation, or by the de- 
 structive and hostile ones of strikes and lock-outs ? 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 THE RELATION OF TRADES UNIONS TO ARBITRATION. 
 
 A most interesting and important study in connection with 
 this subject is its relations to trade unions ; that is, how do 
 these societies regard arbitration and conciliation as a means 
 for settling industrial questions ? What part should they have 
 in the formation of boards, the conduct of cases, and the en- 
 forcement of awards? Whatever may be one's views of trade 
 unionism, it is a fact, and will doubtless continue to be one. 
 It is more than probable, that not only in England, but in all 
 countries, labor will tend more and more to combination, at 
 least until there is some radical change in the relations of capi- 
 tal and labor, and the decisions, as to rates of wages and other 
 economic questions, will be largely controlled by these combi- 
 nations. I am aware that there are certain economic laws, the 
 action of which no union can prevent, however much it may 
 hinder, and these laws will, in spite of unions, prevail; but 
 even the outcome of many of these may be very much modified, 
 and of others entirely moulded, by combinations. It is not 
 germane to my purpose to enter into a discussion of how far 
 unions can affect the rewards of labor. It is a fact that they 
 do ; and so great an authority as the Duke of Argyle, in his 
 " Reign of Law," ^ states that combinations of workingmen for 
 
 1 Tlie Reign of Law, by the Duke of Argyle. 16th edition. London : 1872. 
 Page 373.
 
 44 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 the protection of their labor are recommended alike by reason 
 and experience. 
 
 Such combinations cannot fairly be objected to. They are 
 but unions of the workingmen's capital, — labor ; and it is a 
 question, if, after all that has been said about the evils of union- 
 ism, it is not better to have organized labor which is always 
 somewhat conservative, than disorganized lab or which is radical, 
 and which, when it unites, becomes a mob, with no past to con- 
 serve and no future for which to provide. 
 
 These unions have been a large factor in freeing labor in 
 Europe from the industrial slavery of the feudal system, and in 
 bringing about industrial independence under the restraint of 
 an enlightened intelligence, and equitable customs and laws. 
 Notwithstanding some of the black pages of the history of 
 English unionism, it has been a benefit to English labor, and an 
 important means of its advancement. It is destined largely to 
 rule it, and direct its future ; and in proportion as it surrenders 
 its indefensible practices, will be its value. 
 
 It is these facts that make important the views of trades 
 unions as to arbitration. 
 
 As to their views in general, it can be said that they have for 
 years been its warmest advocates. The report of the Trades 
 Union Committee of the Social Science Association, made in 
 1860, is full of evidences of the truth of this statement. The 
 two largest industrial interests in England to-day are the coal 
 and iron. They have the largest and most ably managed of 
 the unions of that country. In an interview which I had with 
 Mr. Thomas Burt, once a miner, and now a member of Parlia- 
 ment, elected by the coal miners, he expressed his warm appro- 
 val of the principle of arbitration. 
 
 Mr. Edward Trow, the successor of Mr. John Kane as 
 secretary of the National Amalgamated Association of Iron 
 Workers, writes me as follows : " With regard to my views on 
 arbitration, I believe it is the only fair and honorable mode that 
 can be adopted for settlement of questions between capital and 
 labor ; that where both parties meet with an earnest desire for 
 a fair and honorable arrangement, and discuss the various 
 questions in dispute in a kind and conciliatory spirit, there is 
 no fear of failure, but, on the contrary, the old feeling of 
 mistrust and jealousy is banished, and confidence in each other 
 is established.
 
 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 45 
 
 " The fault in connection with arbitration is when workmen 
 come to meetings jealous and suspicious, believing that em- 
 ployers are their natural enemies ; and employers, by not con- 
 versing with delegates in a free and friendly spirit, foster their 
 suspicion ; and only through this action is there any fear of fail- 
 ure. Arbitration in England is regarded with great favor by 
 the workingmen, and only in a few solitary exceptions has it 
 been refused, or its awards been rejected by workmen. 
 
 "If you wish arbitration to be successful, employers must 
 meet delegates in a kind and conciliatory spirit, so as to gain 
 the confidence of the workmen by proving that they only 
 desire full and free discussion, and that no advantage will be 
 taken of men for speaking their opinions. Let this be done, 
 and arbitration will prove successful, and will be a blessing to 
 employers and workmen." 
 
 The rules of this association, which, at the time they were 
 drawn up, numbered thirty-five thousand members, contain 
 the following clauses : — 
 
 Arbitration to he Offered in all Disputes. 
 
 16. That in the event of an}'- misunderstanding or dispute 
 arising with the members at any works and their employers, if 
 connected with the North of England Board of Conciliation 
 and Arbitration, they shall, in the first instance, refer the par- 
 ticulars of their grievance to the general secretary, who shall 
 investigate the claims of the applicants according to the spirit 
 of the arbitration rules, and endeavor to settle the matters 
 referred to him. In the event of the general secretary being 
 unable to settle any question calculated to produce irritation 
 betwixt employer and employed, he shall call upon the stand- 
 ing committee to hold a meeting at an early day for the due 
 consideration and settlement of such matters in dispute ; and, 
 if necessary, the full board shall be summoned to settle the 
 same. 
 
 If a dispute takes place at any works not connected with the 
 Northern Board of Arbitration and Conciliation, the general sec- 
 retary shall hold a meeting with the general council to consider 
 and, if possible, to settle the same. If desirable, a deputation 
 from the council shall visit the works, in accordance with the 
 instruction given by the general council.
 
 46 INDUSTRIAL COXCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 The Duty of Members to form Arbitration Boards. 
 
 17. Where works are not connected with the board, the 
 members of this association shall use their influence with em- 
 ployers and others, to join the present board, and to form new 
 boards to suit the local circumstances of such works and work- 
 men. And in case any dispute should arise where a board of 
 conciliation and arbitration has not been formed, the workmen, 
 who are members of this association, shall, before any step be 
 taken calculated to produce a loss of employment, first make an 
 offer in writing to the employer or employers, to settle the ques- 
 tion in dispute by an appeal to conciliation and arbitration. 
 
 The above forms part of the organic law of one of the most 
 influential of English trade organizations. 
 
 There is held yearly in England a convention known as the 
 Trades Union Congress, or, as it is familiarly called, the Labor 
 Parliament. This is a very important body, composed of dele- 
 gates from the various unions of Great Britain. At the ninth 
 convention, held in 1876, at which 113 societies and 557,488 
 members were represented, the following resolution was car- 
 ried : — 
 
 " That this meeting, recognizing the benefits conferred on 
 many of our great industries by the adoption of the principles 
 of arbitration and conciliation, pledges itself to use every en- 
 deavor to extend the application of those principles to cases of 
 dispute in which there may be a prospect of peaceful settlement 
 by such means." 
 
 At the tenth session, held at Leicester in 1877, at which 112 
 societies and 691,089 members were represented, the president 
 elect, on taking his seat, said, — 
 
 " The principle of appeal to facts and reasons instead of brute 
 force is rational, and at once commends itself to the judgment 
 of men. There is no wonder, therefore, that the principle of 
 arbitration for settling disputes has grown very rapidly. In 
 the hosiery trade in the midland counties, we were among the 
 first who adopted it, and we do not regret having done so. The 
 workmen sometimes have had adverse decisions ; but on the 
 whole it has worked better than the old mode. It is gratifying 
 to find that the workmen generally are the first to adopt this 
 intelligent and enlightened system. In some disputes which
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 4T 
 
 have arisen in the country, notably the West Lancashire strike, 
 the employers refused to submit to arbitration, although the 
 men suggested it on three occasions. My own experience as a 
 member of one of these boards has led me to this conclusion ; 
 If a board be properly constituted, and proper arrangements 
 are made to give publicity to the facts of a case, the result gen- 
 erally will be a righteous award. I was glad to hear that the 
 National Miners' Union have decided to offer arbitration in 
 every dispute, and it forms a part of their rules. It is a rational 
 arrangement, and it would be a good thing if all would adopt 
 it. I think, too, arbitration boards should be open to the press 
 and the public. Workmen have nothing to fear from either the 
 one or the other. We want right and justice to rule, and we 
 are not afraid of publicity. When men and employers gather 
 round a board to talk over differences, and try to adjust them, 
 they give evidence of their manhood. Beasts and reptiles fight 
 and tear each other, and carry out the law of the strongest; 
 but men reason and think, and by this means show their dig- 
 nity, and arrive at much better conclusions and far less costly. 
 Boards for settling disputes would not do away with unions : 
 they would still be needed, and under increased necessity to 
 enforce the decision of the board when given in favor of the 
 workmen." 
 
 The constituency which these bodies represent is so large as 
 to fully justify the statement that the trades unions of Great 
 Britain are decidedly in favor of the principle of arbitration as 
 a means of settling labor disputes. 
 
 In the practical workings of arbitration, trades unions have 
 been found essential to its success. They have formed the cen- 
 tre around which the entire body of labor, non-unionist as well 
 as unionist, has gathered, and by which the workmen members 
 of the boards have been elected. As the result of his long 
 experience, Mr. Kettle says, — 
 
 " I confess I see no organization but trades unions to fall back 
 upon for the purpose of conducting the business of electing 
 workmen delegates. It must be distinctly understood that I 
 do not here intend that members of a trade society should elect 
 the workmen's arbitrators. In all our staple trades there are 
 unions, but the proportion of their members, to the total num- 
 ber of workmen, differs greatly in different trades. In all there 
 are a greater number of what are called non-society men.
 
 48 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION" AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 " All the workmen, whether unionists or not, should be rep- 
 resented at the arbitration board. I susraest that the trades- 
 union organization is, at present, the most accessible means of 
 carrying this out." 
 
 The organized union also gathers the facts upon which the 
 arguments for the labor side are based; and it is in them that 
 the moral power resides which has been found not onlj essen- 
 tial, but sufficient to the enforcing of the awards of the boards. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 ARBITRATION AND THE STATE. 
 
 As has already been stated, arbitration and conciliation in 
 their practical workings in England have been purely volun- 
 tary. Not only is this true of tlie submission of the dispute or 
 difference, but of the acceptance and carrying out of the awards. 
 The very nature of conciliation precludes the idea of legal sanc- 
 tions for its awards, or a legal enforcement of the same. With 
 arbitration it is different : its methods are nearer those of a 
 court of law, and its decisions somewhat of the nature of ver- 
 dicts based on testimony, and it is possible to give them the force 
 of judicial decisions, capable of enforcement, with penalties in 
 case of evasion. Some of the warmest and most intelligent 
 advocates of arbitration have insisted that arbitration should 
 have this legal aspect ; while others, equally friendly and intel- 
 ligent, have argued that to take away its purely voluntary char- 
 acter would be to destroy its usefulness. 
 
 There are at present, in the statute books of Great Britain, 
 three acts relating to arbitration, — the first of these, passed in 
 1824, and generally referred to as 5 George IV., cap. 96 ; and 
 the others later, passed in 1867 and 1872,^ known commonly, 
 respectively, as Lord St. Leonards' and Mr. Mundella's. 
 
 The first of these acts is evidently based on the French law 
 for the establishment of Conseils des Prud'hommes, and, like 
 that, gives considerable powers of compulsory arbitration. 
 There is no permanent board or council established, but a jus- 
 tice of the peace or a referee appointed by him acts as umpire 
 or referee. The operation of the act is restricted to disputes 
 in certain trades, and upon certain subjects; and, although it 
 
 1 The act of 1872 will be found in full in Appendix E.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 49 
 
 admits of very extensive application, yet the act has not been 
 generally received with favor. It only provides for the settle- 
 ment of existing and not future disputes, and contains a pro- 
 viso that " nothing in this act contained shall authorize any 
 justice or justices, acting as hereafter mentioned, to establish a 
 rate of wages, or price of labor or workmanship, at which the 
 workmen shall in future be paid, unless with the mutual con- 
 sent of both masters and workmen." The time, also, within 
 which complaint is to be made, is, as to disputes about materials, 
 within three weeks, and, as to complaints from any other cause, 
 within three days. 
 
 As to the character of the awards. Sect. 13 of this act pro- 
 vides : — 
 
 " As well in all such cases of dispute as aforesaid " (meaning 
 those enumerated in the second section) " as in all other cases, 
 if the parties mutually agree that the matter in dispute shall be 
 arbitrated and determined in a different mode to the one hereby 
 prescribed" (that is, by justices, referees, etc.), "such agree- 
 ment shall be valid, and the award and determination thereon 
 final and conclusive between the parties, and the same proceed- 
 ings of distress, sale, and imprisonment, as hereafter mentioned, 
 shall be had towards enforcing such awards " (by application 
 to any justice of the peace of the county, stewartry, riding, 
 division, barony, city, town, burg, or place within which the 
 parties shall reside) " as are by this act prescribed for enfor- 
 cing awards made under and by virtue of its provisions." 
 
 The proceedings to enforce awards are as follows : Sect. 47 
 enacts that, " If any party shall refuse or delay to fulfil an 
 award under this act for the space of two days after the same 
 shall have been reduced into writing, it shall be lawful for any 
 such justice as aforesaid, on application of the party aggrieved, 
 and he is hereby required by writing under his hand, according 
 to the form (A) of the schedule hereunto annexed, or in some 
 other form to the like effect, to cause the sum and sums of 
 money directed to be paid by any such award to be levied by 
 distress and sale of any goods and chattels of the person or per- 
 sons liable to pay the same, together with all costs," etc. And, 
 in case there is no sufficient distress, " it shall be lawful for any 
 justice, as aforesaid, and he is hereby required by warrant 
 under his hand, according to the form (C) of the schedule here- 
 unto annexed, or in some other form to the like effect, to com- 
 7
 
 60 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION" AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 mit the person or persons so liable as aforesaid to the common 
 gaol or some house of correction within his or their jurisdic- 
 tion, there to remain without bail for any time not exceeding 
 three months." 
 
 Sect. 25 provides for committal to prison in the first in- 
 stance, where the justices think the issuing of a distress war- 
 rant would " be attended with consequences ruinous or in an 
 especial manner injurious to the defaulter and his family." 
 
 Sect. 26 provides for the release from prison upon paying by 
 the person committed " to the governor or keeper of the prison 
 the full amount of the sum awarded, with all reasonable ex- 
 penses incurred through such refusal or delay." 
 
 Sect. 28 says : " No appeal or certiorari shall lie against any 
 proceedings under this act ; " and Sect. 20, that " no proceed- 
 ings under this act shall be invalid for want of form." 
 
 The fees to be taken under the act are very low, — 2d. for a 
 summons, 4id. for an order, Qd. for a warrant, 4r?. for service of 
 summons or order. Is. for execution and sale, 2>d. per diem for 
 custody of goods, etc. 
 
 The act of 1867, commonly called Lord St. Leonards' Act, is 
 entitled " An act to establish equitable councils of conciliation 
 to adjust differences between masters and men." Quoting Mr. 
 Kettle's analysis of this act : " It proposes that the councils 
 should be formed under license of the Home Secretary, granted 
 upon the petition of masters and men in any particular trade 
 or place ; such petition to be based upon the resolution of a 
 public meeting called for that purpose. This is subject to cer- 
 tain restrictive conditions as to residence and other qualifica- 
 tions. The bill provides that the petitioners shall elect the first 
 council, and that succeeding councils should be elected each by 
 registered members of the trade — masters and men — who 
 shall be licensed by the council, and have resided six months in 
 the town, etc., and, as to men, have worked seven years in the 
 trade. The bill further provides for the appointment of a chair- 
 man (who must be unconnected with the trade), a clerk, and 
 other officers. It also provides for registration, polling, the 
 holding of meetings, the making of by-laws, and other matters 
 necessary to carry on proceedings as a body corporate. 
 
 " The provision for determining disputes is Sect. 5, and is 
 as follows : ' That a quorum of not less than three (one being 
 a master, and another a workman, and the third the chairman)
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 51 
 
 may constitute a council for the hearing and adjudication of 
 cases of dispute, and ma}^ accordingly make their award ; but a 
 committee of council, to be denominated the committee of con- 
 ciliation, shall be appointed by the council, consisting of one 
 master and one workman, who shall sit at such times as shall be 
 appointed, and be renewed from time to time as occasion shall 
 require ; and all cases or questions of dispute which shall be 
 submitted to the council by both parties shall, in the first 
 instance, be referred to the said committee of conciliation, who 
 shall endeavor to reconcile the parties in difference. When 
 such reconciliation shall not be effected, the matter in dispute 
 shall be remitted to the council, to be disposed of as a con- 
 tested matter in regular course.' " 
 
 By the fourth section power is to be given to these councils 
 to hear and determine all questions of dispute and difference 
 between masters and workmen, as set forth in the 5th George 
 IV., cap. 96, which might be submitted to them by both parties ; 
 and, as to which, the council is to have all the authority granted 
 to arbitrators and referees by the before-mentioned act. The 
 council are to be further authorized to adjudicate upon and 
 determine any other case of dispute or difference submitted to 
 them by mutual consent ; but with the same proviso as in the 
 act of George IV. against fixing future prices. Such awards to 
 be enforced according to the provisions of the last-mentioned 
 act. This bill of Lord St. Leonards would also establish a com- 
 mittee of two for the purpose of conciliation, in addition to the 
 council before mentioned. The power would not be operative 
 until a dispute had commenced ; and then the two conciliators, 
 or the two trade members of the quorum, would be in the posi- 
 tion of ordinary arbitrators, and the independent chairman in 
 that of the umpire. The defect in the system of Lord St. Leon- 
 ards is that it does not make it obligatory to settle future dis- 
 putes by the means provided in his act. His lordship had, no 
 doubt, some good reason for confining his system to the settle- 
 ment of existing disputes ; but it is remarkable that the general 
 law as to the binding effect of agreements to submit future dis- 
 putes to arbitration has been finally settled by a most able judg- 
 ment of his given in the case of " Dimsdale vs. Robertson " (2 
 Jones and Latouche), 58, given when his lordship was Lord 
 Chancellor of Ireland. 
 
 The last act, that of 1872, we have given in full in the
 
 52 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Appendix. This act was the result, in some measure, of the 
 sentiment in England in favor of Mr. Kettle's plan. It is to be 
 regretted that it was not passed as drawn up by Mr. Kettle. 
 This act gives all powers consistent with freedom of contract 
 for the establishment of permanent boards of arbitration, with 
 authority to fix future rates of wages, and power to enforce 
 their awards by legal process. 
 
 Notwithstanding the existence of these laws, T was unable to 
 learn of any recent cases of their use, if, indeed, they have ever 
 been used. Moral coercion, in case of any attempt to repudiate 
 the awards, and what Mr. Kettle so happily terms " that aggre- 
 gate honor of individuals, which our French neighbors call 
 ' esprit du corps,'' " have generally been sufficient to secure the 
 enforcement of an award. The love of justice and fair play, 
 which has led the parties to agree to submit their disputes to 
 arbitrators, has also led them to act in good faith when the 
 award has been made. Still it would not be without its effect 
 if some simple, inexpensive legal method were provided for 
 enforcing such of the awards of arbitration as in their nature 
 are capable of such enforcement. I am aware of the impossi- 
 bility of enforcing an award that relates to a future rate of 
 wages, the most prolific source of disputes. In the very nature 
 of the award, when it includes working rules or rates of wages, 
 these rules or the contracts for hiring must be subject, so far as 
 the individual is concerned, to termination on short notice ; and 
 therefore the award in its action must be bounded by this 
 notice; but it seems just and right that until such notice has 
 been given, and the contract ended in accordance with its terms, 
 it should be conformed to, or penalties provided for its non- 
 observance. 
 
 There is another obstacle to legal arbitration. An employ^ 
 cannot be compelled to work unless he choose, nor a manufac- 
 turer to run at a loss. The advocates of the Wolverhampton 
 system do not claim nor propose that this shall be done ; but 
 they wish to provide that one party shall not, on a moment's 
 notice, discharge the other, nor shall the latter cease work with- 
 out a moment's warning. This does not in any degree detract 
 from the voluntary nature of arbitration. It simply is carrying 
 out the evident truth, that, whilst one remains a party to an 
 agreement, he is bound to abide by the terms. If he does not 
 like the terms, his remedy is to free himself in the proper way.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 53 
 
 Legal arbitration in the' sense in which Mr. Kettle advocates it 
 only proposes to secure by legal means the performance of hon- 
 orable oblisrations. 
 
 *o' 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In the foregoing pages I have endeavored to give, in as brief 
 a space as possible, the history and practical workings of Indus- 
 trial Arbitration and Conciliation. My inclination and the im- 
 portance of the subject would have led me at times to much 
 fuller details and a more complete discussion of the subject, had 
 I not rigidly adhered to a determination to include this report 
 within such limits as would secure a reasonable probability of 
 its being read. With such limitations, it has been impossible 
 to more than touch upon the history and accomplishments of 
 arbitration and conciliation. In fact, a large part of its history, 
 especially that which relates to the working of conciliation, by 
 which ninety per cent of the cases are settled, is of such a 
 nature that its details cannot be given. It can only be known 
 by its results; and these have been a better and more cordial 
 feeling between employers and employed, and a mutual co- 
 operation and trust that promises the most satisfactory and 
 speedy solution of some of the most vital questions that vex in- 
 dustrial society. 
 
 I have not forgotten that the present constitution of indus- 
 trial society is not for all time. There are great and vital 
 changes that must take place. There are, even at the present 
 time, important re-adjustments in progress in the relations of 
 capital and labor. These must continue, and with these changes 
 new modes and new expedients must be adopted. 
 
 While this is true, the practical question for us is. What, in 
 the present condition of the relations of capital and labor, is 
 best calculated to harmonize those relations, and give to each 
 its just proportion of the results of their united energies? 
 
 I believe that the practice of arbitration and conciliation will 
 tend to these ends. As a result of the fair and open discussions 
 of the boards, knowledge will be acquired, the views of each 
 modify those of the other, and out of it, and as a result of it, 
 will come such relations between capital and labor as will effect- 
 ually put an end to industrial conflict.
 
 64 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AKBITE.ATION. 
 
 Of the great value of arbitration and conciliation as means of 
 settling trades' disputes, there can be no question. That it is 
 infinitely to be preferred to the barbarous method of strikes and 
 lock-outs, is scarcely a subject of argument. In the terse lan- 
 guage of Mr. George Howell, formerly secretary of the Trades 
 '""'"nion Congress, "the whole question lies in a nutshell. Is 
 brute force better than reason ? If it be, then a costermonger 
 may be a greater personage than a philosopher, and Tom Sayers 
 might have been considered superior to John Stuart Mill." 
 
 I do not claim for arbitration that it is a wonder worker. It 
 is not perfect. It is used by men that are jery human, and who, 
 under the present condition of things, are extremely selfish. 
 For these reasons it will fail to accomplish all that is expected. 
 Though it may fail at times, when it is fairly and honestly tried 
 it will in most cases succeed ; and under its action, wherever 
 established, an intelligent co-operation between employers and 
 employed will be effected, and steady employment secured at 
 those rates of wages which the industrial conditions of a com- 
 petitive market enable capital to pay. 
 
 As before stated, differences between capital and labor must 
 constantly arise. They are here now. It is for our workmen 
 and manufacturers to say how these differences shall be settled, 
 whether by reason or by brute force. Decide they must, and 
 in some cases soon. The solicitude to discover some more 
 rational way of settling these differences than by the barbarous 
 methods of strikes and lock-outs is shared equally by workmen 
 and employers, and probably most of all by the on-looking 
 public. While this end may be the immediate object of the 
 solicitude of these classes, underneath it lies an earnest desire 
 to find a permanent, honorable, reasonable solution of this and 
 other phases of that most important of all human problems, the 
 labor question. We are greatly in the dark on this subject. I 
 believe we are moving toward the light. Looking back a hun- 
 dred years, we can see the gradual brightening of what was then 
 the darkest of all social problems, and need have no fears of the 
 result. It may be delayed ; but reason will rule, and determine 
 the nature of the relations of capital and labor. There are cer- 
 tain facts that we may refuse to acknowledge, and, refusing to 
 own, may go on in the old way ; but the new way of reason and 
 a respect for the rights of each other will win. I believe that 
 arbitration and conciliation will aid in bringing about the rec-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 55 
 
 ognition of these rights. It is not an end nor a solution of the 
 problem. It is on the way to the end, and is much nearer it 
 than a strike or a lock-out. It will be a day of the greatest 
 promise, when in our State we shall put aside our preconceived 
 prejudices and the notions of the past, when we shall realize 
 that something higher than brute force has come into the affairs 
 of men to adjust and harmonize them, and when, acting on this 
 belief, we shall urge forward an industrial re-organization on the 
 basis of reason and right. There can be no nobler or more 
 sacred work for men to do. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION FOR THE HOSIERY 
 
 AND GLOVE TRADE. 
 
 Rules. 
 
 1. That a board of trade be formed, to be styled the "Board 
 of Arbitration and Conciliation for the Hosiery and Glove 
 Branches." 
 
 2. That the object of the said board shall be to arbitrate on 
 any questions relating to wages that may be referred to it from 
 time to time by the employers or operatives, and by concilia- 
 tory means to interpose its influence to put an end to any dis- 
 putes that may arise. 
 
 3. The board to consist of eleven manufacturers and eleven 
 operatives. The operatives to be elected by a meeting of the 
 respective branches. The manufacturers to be elected by a 
 public meeting of their own body. The whole of the deputies 
 to serve for one year, and to be eligible for re-election. The 
 new council to be elected in the month of January, in each year. 
 
 4. That each delegate attend the board with full powers from 
 his own branch, and that the decision of the board shall be 
 considered binding upon the branch he represents. 
 
 5. That a committee of inquiry, consisting of four members 
 of the board, shall inquire into any cases referred to it by the 
 secretaries. Such committee to use its influence in the settle- 
 ment of disputes. If unable amicably to adjust the business 
 referred to it, it shall be remitted to the board for settlement ; 
 but in no case shall the committee make any award. The com- 
 mittee to be appointed annually.
 
 66 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 6. That the board shall, at its annual meeting, elect a presi- 
 dent, vice-president, and two secretaries, who shall continue 
 in office one year, and be eligible for re-election. 
 
 7. That the board shall meet for the transaction of business 
 once a quarter, viz., the first Monday in January, April, July, 
 and October ; but on a requisition to the president, signed by 
 three members of the board, specifying the nature of the busi- 
 ness to be transacted, he shall, within seven days, convene a 
 meeting of its members. The circular calling such meeting 
 shall specify the nature of the business for consideration, pro- 
 vided that such business has first been submitted to the com- 
 mittee of inquiry, and left undecided by them. 
 
 8. That all complaints submitted to the board for their in- 
 vestigation be embodied in writing, stating, as clearly as possi- 
 ble, the nature of the grievance complained of; such statement 
 to be sent at least one week prior to the board meeting. 
 
 9. That, prior to any advance or reduction in the rate of 
 wages being considered by the board, a month's notice shall be 
 given in writing to the secretary, that such change is desired. 
 
 10. That the president shall preside over the meetings of the 
 board, and, in his absence, the vice-president. In the absence 
 of both president and vice-president, a chairman shall be 
 elected by a majority present. The chairman to have a vote, 
 and, in case of members being equal, the chairman to* have the 
 casting vote. 
 
 11. That any expense incurred by this board be borne equally 
 by the operatives and employers. 
 
 12. That no alteration or addition be made to these rules, ex- 
 cept at a quarterly meeting, or a special meeting convened for 
 the purpose. Notice of any proposed alteration shall be given 
 in writing one month previous to such meetings. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 RULES OF THE WOLVERHAMPTON BUILDING TRADE. 
 
 Rules for Regulating the Carpenters' and Joiners'' Branch. 
 
 We, the undersigned [A B], umpire; [C D, E F, and four 
 others], arbitrators appointed by the master builders; [G H, 
 I J, and four others], arbitrators appointed by the opera- 
 tive carpenters and joiners, — having fully, and fairly discussed
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 57 
 
 certain alterations in the rules proposed on behalf of the masters 
 and men respectively, of which due notice had been given, do 
 hereby certify that we have, by unanimous resolution, agreed 
 upon the following rules, to come into operation on the first day 
 of May next. 
 
 Arbitration. 
 
 Rule 1. That if any trade dispute shall arise between mas- 
 ter and workman, such dispute shall be settled by the award of 
 [C D, E F, and four others], on the part of the master 
 builders, and [G H, I J, and four others], on the part of the 
 operative carpenters and joiners, who are hereby appointed 
 trade arbitrators, or by a majority of them ; or, in case they or 
 a majority of them cannot agree, then by the award of [A B], 
 who is hereby appointed umpire ; and that in case any or either 
 of the masters' arbitrators shall happen to die, or cease to carry 
 on business in the town of Wolverhampton, or be ill and unable 
 to attend to the business of arbitration during the continuance 
 of these rules, then the surviving or remaining masters' arbitra- 
 tors shall appoint another or other master builder or builders 
 then carrying on business in the town of Wolverhampton, in 
 the place of him or them who shall so have died or ceased to 
 carry on business, or become incapable of acting ; and in case 
 any or either of the workmen's arbitrators shall happen to die, 
 or cease to work as a carpenter and joiner in the town of Wol- 
 verhampton, or become ill and incapable of attending to the 
 business of arbitration during the continuance of these rules, 
 then the surviving or remaining workmen's arbitrators shall 
 appoint other or another carpenter and joiner, then working in 
 the town of Wolverhampton, in the place of him or them who 
 shall have died or ceased to work, or become incapable of act- 
 ing. And in case either or any of the masters or men appointed 
 arbitrators shall be a party or parties to the dispute to be de- 
 cided, other arbitrators shall, for the purpose of that arbitration 
 only, be appointed in manner hereinbefore provided for filling 
 up vacancies. That, upon any dispute arising, either the master 
 or workman may forthwith give notice to the umpire of the 
 same, who shall thereupon summon the arbitrators to meet at 
 some convenient time and place within seven days, for the pur- 
 pose of hearing and determining the said dispute. At the meet- 
 ing so to be held, both parties, and such others as the arbitrators 
 
 8
 
 58 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 O' umpire may think necessary, shall be heard ; and both parties 
 shall produce before the arbitrators and umpire such documents 
 in their possession relating to the dispute as they or either of 
 them shall require. The award of the said arbitrators, or a 
 majority of them, or, in case they or a majority of them cannot 
 agree, then the award of the umpire shall be binding, and con- 
 clusive upon all parties to the dispute arbitrated. The award 
 shall be made within three days after the sitting, or, if more 
 than one, after the last sitting, of the arbitrators. The award 
 shall not be void or voidable for want of form ; and may be 
 referred back for amendment in form to the arbitrators or um- 
 pire, as the case may be, by any judge or magistrate. No pro- 
 ceedings whatever at law or in equity shall be taken against 
 either arbitrators or umpire, or any of them, for any thing done 
 under this rule. 
 
 And, lastly, that the arbitrations hereinbefore provided are 
 intended between masters and workmen to be, and for all in- 
 tents and purposes shall be, taken and held to be under the 
 provisions of Sect. 13 of the 5th of George IV., cap. 96. 
 
 Conciliation. 
 
 2. That in case any trade dispute or difference of a private 
 nature shall arise between any individual master and any indi- 
 vidual workman or workmen, by which the general interests of 
 the trade are not directly affected, then in such case, before pro- 
 ceeding to arbitration under the last rule, the master shall 
 nominate one of the hereinbefore appointed masters' arbitrators, 
 and the workman or workmen one of the hereinbefore appointed 
 workmen's arbitrators, who shall, as soon as conveniently may 
 be, meet together, and endeavor, if possible, to arrange such 
 private dispute or difference without proceeding to a formal 
 reference ; and, in case they cannot so arrange such difference 
 to the mutual satisfaction of both contending parties, the matter 
 in dispute shall be determined by arbitration under Rule 1, as 
 though no such meeting for conciliation had been held. 
 
 Society and Non-society Men. 
 
 3. Neither masters nor men shall interfere with any man on 
 account of his being a society or non-society man. The society 
 men pledge themselves not to annoy, nor allow annoyance to, 
 non-society men.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 59 
 
 Mastei's' Conduct of Business. 
 
 4. Each master shall have power to conduct his own business 
 in the matter of the employment of any man he thinks fit, on 
 any work he considers him capable of doing ; in taking appren- 
 tices; in using machinery and implements; and in all details of 
 the management of his business, not infringing on the individ- 
 ual liberty of the workman. Provided that, on any job where 
 a number of carpenters and joiners are employed, their instruc- 
 tions shall be given by the employer, or, in his absence, by the 
 general manager, through the carpenter and joiner appointed to 
 take the lead of the job. 
 
 Wages, Payment hy the Hour. 
 
 5. All time shall be reckoned and paid for by the hour, at the 
 following rates : The class of men who have hitherto been paid 
 five pence three farthings per hour shall be paid sixpence per 
 hour, and other classes of men in proportion ; but men working 
 only on unprotected buildings shall be paid one halfpenny per 
 hour additional for six weeks before and six weeks after Christ- 
 mas Day. Provided that when a man employed on unprotected 
 buildings has the option of making up his full time by working 
 in the shop, he shall be paid at the ordinary rate only, it being 
 the intention of both parties that men of the same class shall 
 have the opportunity of earning the same wages in each week. 
 
 Time of Work. 
 
 6. The shops and works shall be open from six o'clock in the 
 morning till half-past five o'clock in the evening for the first 
 five working days in the week, and from six o'clock in the 
 morning till four in the afternoon on Saturday, allowing one and 
 an half hour per day for meals ; but from six weeks before till 
 six weeks after Christmas Day, workmen on unprotected build- 
 ings, who are not provided with work in the shop to fill up their 
 full time, shall work from seven o'clock in the morning till five 
 o'clock in the evening on the first five working days of the 
 week, and from seven o'clock in the morning till four o'clock in 
 the afternoon on Saturday, with one hour per day allowed for 
 meals. Provided that for men who wish to be paid at the office 
 on Saturday, between one and two o'clock, under the next rule, 
 the hour of ceasing to work on that day shall be one o'clock 
 instead of four.
 
 60 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION" AND ARBITEATION. 
 
 Reckoning and Payment. 
 
 7. Time unci wages shall be reckoned up to Friday night in 
 each week, and wages shall be paid at the pay office, at the shop, 
 on Saturday, between the hours of one and two, to all men who 
 require a half-holiday ; the men requiring payment then to walk 
 to the pay office in their own time. Other men will be paid 
 either at the pay office, at the shop, or upon the job, at four 
 o'clock, as heretofore. 
 
 Overtime. 
 
 8. All time made at the request of the master, between 
 eight o'clock in the evening and five o'clock in the morning, 
 shall be paid for at the rate of ninepence per hour, and on Sun- 
 day shall be paid for at one shilling per hour. 
 
 Distant WorJc. 
 
 9. Walking time shall be paid as follows : that is to say, if the 
 distance of the work or job be within two miles from the High 
 Green, Wolverhampton, the men shall walk in their own time. 
 If more than two miles from that place, then walking time shall 
 be allowed at the rate of three miles per hour beyond the first 
 mile and a half. The men to walk back in their own time, ex- 
 cept on Saturdays, when the wages are not paid on the job or 
 place of work. Lodgings to be paid for at all jobs beyond four 
 miles distance, at the rate of two shillings per week. Railway 
 fares shall be matters of special arrangement between master 
 and man. 
 
 JVotice. 
 
 10. One working day's notice shall be given before a man 
 leaves an employer, or before a master discharges a man. 
 
 Rules, How Long in Force, and How and When to he Altered. 
 
 11. These rules shall come into operation on the first day of 
 May next, and shall continue in force for one year. Should 
 either party require an alteration in. these rules at the end of 
 the time specified, notice shall be given to the other party of 
 such required alteration, in the month of January next. If no 
 such notice shall be given, then these rules shall continue in 
 force until the first of May in the next year, and so on from year 
 to year, until either party shall give notice to the other, in the
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 61 
 
 month of January in any year, that an alteration in these rule 
 will be required on the first day of May next following such 
 notice. 
 
 Printing^ Publishing^ and Proving these Rules. 
 
 12. That these rules shall be printed and posted up in some 
 conspicuous place in each of the master builders' workshops in 
 Wolverhampton ; and that a printed copy of these rules, issued 
 by the umpire, shall be read as evidence of the contract and 
 submission to arbitration, between any master builder carrying 
 on business in the municipal borough of Wolverhampton, and 
 any carpenter and joiner, in any proceedings to enforce any 
 award made under these rules, unless a special contract in writ- 
 ing shall have been entered into between the parties. 
 
 Dated this thirty-first day of March, 1866. 
 
 [^Signatures of Masters^ Arbitrators.'] 
 [Signatures of Men'' s Arbitrators.'] 
 [Signature of Umpire.] 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION FOR THE NORTH 
 OF ENGLAND MANUFACTURED IRON TRADE. 
 
 Rules. 
 
 1. The title of the board shall be " The Board of Arbitra- 
 tion and Conciliation for the Manufactured Iron Trade of the 
 North of England." 
 
 2. The object of the said board shall be to arbitrate on 
 wages, or any other matters affecting their respective interests, 
 that may be referred to it from time to time by the employers 
 or operatives, and, by conciliatory means, to interpose its in- 
 fluence to prevent disputes, and put an end to any that may 
 arise. 
 
 3. The board shall consist of one employer and one operative 
 representative from each works joining the board. Where two 
 or more works belong to the same proprietors, each works may 
 claim to be represented at the board. 
 
 4. The employers shall be entitled to send one duly accred- 
 ited representative from each works to each meeting of the 
 board.
 
 62 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 5. The operatives of each works shall select a representative 
 by ballot in the month of December in each year : the name of 
 such representative and of the works he represents shall be 
 given in to the secretaries on or before the 1st of January next 
 ensuing. 
 
 6. The operative representatives so chosen shall continue in 
 office for the calendar year immediately following their election, 
 and shall be eligible for re-election. 
 
 7. If any operative representative die, or resign, or cease to 
 be qualified by terminating his connection with the works he 
 represents, a successor shall be chosen within one month, in the 
 same manner as is provided in the case of annual elections. 
 
 8. Each representative shall be deemed fally authorized to 
 act for the works which has elected him ; and the decision of a 
 majority of the board, or of its referee, shall be binding upon 
 the employers and operatives of all works which have joined the 
 board. 
 
 9. At the meeting of the board, to be held in January in 
 each year, it shall elect a president and vice-president, one from 
 the employers and the other from the operatives, also a deputy 
 president and a deputy vice-president in like manner, and two 
 secretaries, who shall continue in office till the corresponding 
 meeting of the following year, but shall be eligible for re-elec- 
 tion. The president and vice-president shall be ex-officio mem- 
 bers of all committees. 
 
 10. At the same meeting of the board a standing committee 
 shall be appointed, as follows : The employers shall nominate 
 ten of their number (not more than five of whom shall be sum- 
 moned to any meeting of the committee), and the operatives 
 five of their number. The president and vice-president shall 
 be also ex-officio members of the committee. 
 
 11. All questions shall, in the first instance, be referred to 
 the standing committee, who shall investigate and endeavor to 
 settle the matter so referred to it, but shall have no power 
 to make an award, unless by consent of the parties. In the 
 event of the committee being unable to settle any question, it 
 shall, as early as possible, be referred to the board. 
 
 12. The president shall preside over all meetings of the board, 
 and in his absence the vice-president. In the absence of both 
 president and vice-president, a chairman shall be elected by the 
 meeting.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 63 
 
 13. All votes shall be taken at the board by show of hands, 
 unless any member calls for a ballot. The chairman and vice- 
 chairman shall not be entitled to vote, but the works for which 
 the chairman and vice-chairman respectively were elected shall 
 be entitled to nominate another representative in each case. If 
 at any meeting of the board the emploj^er representative or the 
 operative representative of any works be absent, the other rep- 
 resentative of such works shall not, under the circumstances, 
 be entitled to vote. 
 
 14. In case of an equality of votes at the board, it shall 
 appoint an independent referee, whose decision shall be final and 
 binding ; but, whenever such equality of votes arises on the 
 choice of independent referee, the original question shall be 
 referred to and finally decided by the award of three indifferent 
 persons, or a majority of them, one of such persons to be named 
 by each section of the board, and the third by the two persons 
 so named by the board, within fourteen days of such meeting. 
 
 15. The board shall meet for the transaction of business twice 
 a year, in January and July ; but on a requisition to the presi- 
 dent, signed by five members of the board, specifying the nature 
 of the business to be transacted, and stating that it has been 
 submitted to the standing committee, and left undecided by 
 them, he shall, within fourteen days, convene a meeting of the 
 board. The circular calling such meeting shall specify the 
 nature of the business for consideration. 
 
 16. All questions requiring investigation shall be submitted to 
 the standing committee or to the board, as the case may be, in 
 writing, and shall be supplemented by such verbal evidence or 
 explanation as they may think needful. 
 
 17. No subject shall be brought forward at any meeting of 
 the standing committee or of the board, unless notice thereof 
 be given to the secretaries seven clear days before the meeting 
 at which it is to be introduced. 
 
 18. The standing committee shall meet for the transaction of 
 business prior to the half-yearly meetings, and in addition as 
 often as business requires. The place of meeting shall be ar- 
 ranged between the president and secretaries, in default of any 
 special direction. 
 
 19. Any expenses incurred by this board shall be borne 
 equally by the employ,ers and operatives ; and it shall be the 
 duty of the standing committee to establish the most conven-
 
 64 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 ient arrangements for collecting what may be needed to meet 
 such expenses. 
 
 20. The sum of ten shillings for each member of the board 
 or standing committee shall be allowed for each meeting of the 
 board or standing committee, together with such percentage 
 addition as is for the time being made by order of the board to 
 the standard wages. This sum shall be divided equally between 
 the employers and operatives, and shall be distributed by each 
 side in proportion to the attendances of each member. In addi- 
 tion each member shall be allowed second-class railway fare each 
 way ; and, when an operative member is engaged on the night 
 shift following the day on which a meeting is held, he shall be 
 allowed payment for a second shift. 
 
 21. If any works desires to join the board at any other time 
 than is contemplated in Rules 4 and 5, such desire shall be 
 notified to the secretaries, and by them to the standing com- 
 mittee, who shall thereupon admit such works to membership, 
 on being satisfied that representatives have been chosen in the 
 manner prescribed by the rules. 
 
 22. No alteration or addition shall be made to these rules, 
 except at the first meeting of the board to be held in January 
 in each year ; and unless notice in writing of the proposed alter- 
 ation be given to the secretaries at least one calendar month 
 before such meeting. The notice convening the annual meeting 
 to state fully the nature of any alteration that may be proposed. 
 
 By-Laws. 
 
 Rule 5. In the month of November in each year, the secre- 
 taries shall issue a notice to each firm connected with the board 
 requesting them to elect representatives in the month of Decem- 
 ber, and shall supply them with the requisite forms. 
 
 Rule 10. The committee shall have power to fill up all 
 vacancies that may arise during the quarter. 
 
 Rule 11. An official form shall be supplied to each repre- 
 sentative, on which complaints can be entered. Either secretary 
 receiving a complaint shall be required to forward a copy of the 
 same to the other secretary, and the complaint shall be consid- 
 ered as officially before the board from the date of such notice. 
 
 Rule 17. This rule to be interpreted to mean that no case 
 in which the committee are called upon to deal finally with a 
 complaint from any member of the board, shall be taken up.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 65 
 
 without seven days' notice has been received ; but this not to 
 apply to routine business, or to such preliminary investigation 
 of complaints as may be necessary. 
 
 Rule 19. The sum of M. per head, per quarter, shall be 
 deducted from the wages of each operative earning 2s. Qd. per 
 day and upwards (in case he does not object in writing to such 
 deduction), on the first day in the months of January, April, 
 July, and October. Each firm shall pay an amount correspond- 
 ing to the total sum deducted from the workmen. The contri- 
 butions shall be forwarded on official forms, to be supplied by 
 the secretaries, to the bankers (the National Provincial Bank 
 of England), within one week from the day when the money is 
 deducted from the operatives. 
 
 Rule 20. If any member be compelled in the service of the 
 board to attend meetings on two or more days consecutively, 
 the sum of 3s. 6d. each be allowed per night. This is not to 
 apply to any members living in the place where the meeting is 
 held. Members attending meetings on any day except Mon- 
 days or Saturdays, and being that week employed on the night 
 turn, to be paid for two days for each sitting. 
 
 The board earnestly invites the attention of a,ll who belong 
 to it, either as subscribers or as members, to the following in- 
 structions : — 
 
 If any subscriber of the board desires to have its assistance 
 in redressing any grievance, he must explain the matter to the 
 operative representative of the works at which he is employed. 
 
 The operative representative must question the complainant 
 about the Inatter, and discourage complaints which do not 
 appear to be well founded. 
 
 If there seems good ground for complaint, the complainant 
 and the operative representative must take a suitable oppor- 
 tunity of laj'ing the matter before the foreman or works' man- 
 ager or head of the concern (according to what may be the 
 custom of the particular works). An official form on which 
 complaints may be stated can be obtained from the secretaries. 
 
 The complaint should be stated in a way that implies an 
 expectation that it will be fairly and fully considered, and that 
 what is right will be done. 
 
 In most cases this will lead to a settlement without the mat- 
 ter having to go further. 
 
 9
 
 66 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 If, however, an agreement cannot be come to, a statement of 
 the points in difference must be drawn out, signed by the 
 employer and the operative representative (and, if possible, by 
 the employer also), and forwarded to the secretaries of the 
 board, with a request that the standing committee will consider 
 the matter. 
 
 It will be the duty of the standing committee to meet for this 
 purpose as soon after the expiration of seven days from receipt 
 of the notice as can be arranged. 
 
 It is not, however, always possible to avoid some delay ; and 
 the complainant must not suppose that he will necessarily lose 
 any thing by having to wait, as any recommendation of the 
 standing committee or any decision of the board may be made 
 to date back to the time of the complaint being sent in. 
 
 Above all, the board would impress upon its subscribers that 
 there must be no strike or suspension of work. The main 
 object of the board is to prevent any thing of this sort ; and, if 
 any strike or suspension of work takes place, the board will 
 refuse to inquire into the matter in dispute till work is resumed ; 
 and the facts of its having been interrupted will be taken in 
 account on considering the question. 
 
 It is recommended that any changes in modes of working 
 requiring alterations in the hours of labor, or a revision of the 
 scale of payments, should be made matters of notice, and, as far 
 as possible, of arrangement beforehand, so as to avoid needless 
 subsequent disputes as to what ought to be paid. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION FOR THE LACE 
 
 TRADE FOR 1876. 
 
 Rules, as adopted at the Meeting of Delegates held at the Mechan- 
 ics' Hall^ Sept. 17, 1874, *^<^ amended July 10, 1876. 
 
 1. That a board of trade be formed, to be styled the " Board 
 of Arbitration and Conciliation for the Lace Trade." 
 
 2. That the object of the said board shall be to arbitrate 
 on any questions that may be referred to it, from time to time, 
 by the joint consent of employer and workman, and, by concil- 
 iatory means, to interpose its influence to put an end to any dis- 
 pute that may arise.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 67 
 
 3. This board to consist of twelve manufacturers and twelve 
 operatives, five of each to form a quorum. The manufacturers 
 to elect six levers, three curtain, and three plain net representa- 
 tives, and the operatives six levers, three curtain, and three 
 plain net representatives, each to be chosen by their respective 
 associations. The whole of the delegates to serve for one year, 
 and to be eligible for re-election. The new council to be elected 
 in the month of January in each year. That when a special 
 question arises, upon which the members of the board have not 
 sufficient information, it shall be competent for either side to 
 introduce, after seven days' notice to the secretaries, not more 
 than two extra delegates, who shall give information and enter 
 into discussion upon such question ; but, in every case, only 
 members of the board shall vote. The above alteration shall 
 also apply to special meetings of each branch. No changes 
 shall be made in the extra delegates whilst the question is under 
 discussion. 
 
 4. The decision of the board shall be binding on the parties 
 to any dispute submitted by them. 
 
 5. That a committee of inquiry of six members of the board, 
 three employers and three workmen, engaged in that particular 
 branch in which the dispute arises, shall inquire into any cases 
 referred to it ; such committee to use its influence in the settle- 
 ment of disputes. If unable, amicably, to adjust the business 
 referred to it, it shall be remitted to the whole of the members 
 of that branch upon the board, and, should no agreement then 
 be arrived at, the case shall be submitted to a full board ; but in 
 no case shall the committees make any award. The committees 
 to be appointed annually at the first meeting of the board. 
 
 6. That the board shall, at its first meeting in each year, 
 elect a president, vice-president, treasurer, referee, and two sec- 
 retaries, who shall continue in office for one year, and be eligi- 
 ble for re-election. 
 
 7. That the board shall meet for the transaction of business 
 once a quarter, viz., the second Monday in January, April, 
 July, and October ; but on a requisition to the president, signed 
 by three members of the board, specifying the nature of the 
 business to be transacted, he shall, within seven days, convene a 
 meeting of its members. The circular calling such meeting 
 shall specify the nature of the business for consideration, pro-
 
 68 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 vided that such business has first been submitted to the com- 
 mittee of inquiry, and left undecided by them. 
 
 8. The parties to any dispute remitted to the board shall, if 
 possible, agree to a joint written statement of their case ; but, if 
 they cannot agree, a statement in writing from each party shall 
 be made, and in either case forwarded to the secretaries within 
 seven days of the board's meeting. 
 
 9. That the president shall preside over the meetings of the 
 board, and in his absence the vice-president. In the absence of 
 both president and vice-president, a chairman shall be elected 
 by the majority present. The chairman to have but one vote, 
 and, in case of numbers being equal, appeal shall be made to the 
 referee. 
 
 10. That the decision of the referee shall be final, and imme- 
 diately binding on both sides. 
 
 11. That when at any meeting of the board the number of 
 employers and workmen is unequal, all shall have the right of 
 fully entering into the discussion of any matters brought before 
 them, but only an equal number of each shall vote. The with- 
 drawal of the members of whichever body may be in excess, to 
 be by lot. 
 
 12. That any expenses incurred by this board be borne 
 equally by the operatives and employers, and the accounts to be 
 produced and passed at each quarterly meeting. 
 
 13. That no alteration or addition be made to these rules 
 except at a quarterly meeting, or a special meeting convened 
 for the purpose. Any member of the board intending to pro- 
 pose an alteration or addition shall furnish the exact terms 
 thereof, in writing, to the secretaries, twenty-eight days before 
 such meeting ; and the secretaries shall give twenty-one days' 
 notice of the same to each member of the board.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILTATION AND ARBITRATION. 69 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 ARBITRATION ACT OF 1872. 
 
 Masters and Workmen (^Arbitration') Act (35 and 36 Victoria, 
 
 Chap. 46). 
 
 An Act to make further provision for arbitration between masters and workmen. 
 
 6th August, 1872. 
 
 Whereas, B j the Act of the fifth year of George the Fourth, 
 chapter ninety-six, intituled " An Act to consolidate and amend 
 the laws relative to the arbitration of disputes between masters 
 and workmen," hereinafter referred to as the "principal Act," 
 provision is made for the arbitration in a mode therein pre- 
 scribed of certain disputes between masters and workmen. 
 
 And whereas. It is expedient to make further provisions for 
 arbitration between masters and workmen : 
 
 Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and 
 with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
 and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the 
 authority of the same, as follows : 
 
 I. The following provisions shall have effect with reference 
 to agreements under this Act. 
 
 (1) An agreement under this act shall either designate some 
 board, council, persons or person as arbitrators or arbitrator, or 
 define the time and manner of appointment of arbitrators or an 
 arbitrator ; and shall designate by name, or by description of 
 ofiBce or otherwise, some person to be, or some person or persons 
 (other than the arbitrators or arbitrator), to appoint an umpire 
 in case of disagreement between arbitrators. 
 
 (2) A master and a workman shall become mutually bound 
 by an agreement under this Act (hereinafter referred to as 
 "the agreement"), upon the master or his agent giving to the 
 workman, and the workman accepting, a printed copy of the 
 agreement : Provided, That a workman may, within forty-eight 
 hours after the delivery to him of the agreement, give notice to 
 the master or his agent that he will not be bound by the agree- 
 ment, and thereupon the agreement shall be of no effect as be- 
 tween such workman and the master. 
 
 (3) When a master and workman are bound by the agreement, 
 they shall continue so bound during the continuance of any
 
 70 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 contract of employment and service which is in force between 
 them at the time of making the agreement, or in contemplation 
 of which the agreement is made, and thereafter so long as they 
 mntually consent from time to time to continue to employ and 
 serve without having rescinded the agreement. Moreover, the 
 agreement may provide that any number of days' notice, not 
 exceeding six, of an intention on the part of the master or 
 workman to cease to employ or be employed shall be required, 
 and in that case the parties to the agreement shall continue 
 bound by it, respectively, until the expiration of the required 
 number of days after such notice has been given by either of 
 the parties. 
 
 (4) The agreement may provide that the parties to it shall, 
 during its continuance, be bound by any rules contained in the 
 agreement, or to be made by the arbitrators, arbitrator, or 
 umpire, as to the rates of wages to be paid, or the hour or 
 quantities of work to be performed, or the conditions or regula- 
 tions under which work is to be done, and may specify penalties 
 to be enforced by the arbitrators, arbitrator, or umpire, for the 
 breach of any such rule. 
 
 (5) The agreement may also provide that in case any of the 
 following matters arise they shall be determined by the arbitra- 
 tors or arbitrator : viz., 
 
 (a) Any such disagreement or dispute as is mentioned in the 
 second section of the principal Act ; or, 
 
 (Z>) Any question, case, or matter to which the provisions of 
 the Master and Servant Act, 1867, apply : 
 
 And thereupon, in case any such matter arises between the 
 parties while they are bound by the agreement, the arbitrators, 
 arbitrator, or umpire shall have jurisdiction for the hearing and 
 determination thereof; and upon their or his hearing and deter- 
 mining the same no other proceeding shall be taken before any 
 other court or person for the same matter ; but, if the disagree- 
 ment or dispute is not so heard and determined within twenty- 
 one days from the time when it arose, the jurisdiction of the 
 arbitrators, arbitrator, or umpire shall cease, unless the parties 
 have, since the arising of the disagreement or dispute, consented 
 in writing that it shall be exclusively determined by the arbi- 
 trators, arbitrator, or umpire. 
 
 A disagreement or dispute shall be deemed to arise at the 
 time of the act or omission to which it relates.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 71 
 
 (6) The arbitrators, arbitrator, or umpire may hear and de- 
 termine any matter referred to them in sucli manner as they 
 think fit, or as may be prescribed by the agreement. 
 
 (7) The agreement, and also any rules made by the arbitra- 
 tors, arbitrator, or umpire in pursuance of its provisions, shall, in 
 all proceedings, as well before them as in any court, be evidence 
 of the terms of the contract of employment and service between 
 the parties bound by the agreement. 
 
 (8) The agreement shall be deemed to be an agreement 
 within the meaning of the thirteenth section of the principal 
 Act, for all the purposes of that Act. 
 
 (9) If the agreement provides for the production or exam- 
 ination of any books, documents, or accounts, subject or not to 
 any conditions as to the mode of their production or examination, 
 the arbitrators, arbitrator, or umpire, may require the produc- 
 tion or examination (subject to any such conditions) of any 
 such books, documents, or accounts in the possession or control 
 of any person summoned as a witness, and who is bound by the 
 agreement ; and the provisions of the principal Act for compel- 
 ling the attendance and submission of witnesses shall apply for 
 enforcing such production or examination. 
 
 II. This Act may be cited as " The Arbitration (Masters and 
 Workmen) Act, 1872." 
 
 MEMORANDUM. 
 
 The Uses of the Act. 
 
 Briefly stated, the uses of the Act are three : viz., — 
 
 1. To provide the most simple machinery for a binding sub- 
 mission to arbitration, and for the proceedings therein. 
 
 2. To extend facilities of arbitration to questions of wages, 
 hours, and other conditions of labor, and also to all the numer- 
 ous and important matters which may otherwise have to be 
 determined by justices under the provisions of the " Master 
 and Servant Act," 1867. 
 
 3. To provide for submission to arbitration of future disputes 
 by anticipation, without waiting till the time when a dispute 
 has actually arisen, and the parties are too much excited to 
 agree upon arbitrators.
 
 72 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 Mode of putting the Act in Operation. 
 
 1. A form of agreement must be drawn up and printed either 
 by the employer or by the workman. Such a form is appended 
 (No. I.). But this form is not obligatory, and it may be varied 
 to any extent not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act. 
 
 2. When the form of agreement is settled and printed, it will 
 become binding on an employer and a workman, reciprocally, 
 upon the employer giving to the workman — and the workman 
 accepting — a printed copy. But the workman has forty-eight 
 hours to consider and satisfy himself of the effect of the agree- 
 ment, and if within that time he gives a written or verbal notice 
 to the employer or his agent, that he rejects it, he will not be 
 bound by it. If, after accepting the copy, he does not give such 
 notice, then both he and the employer will be bound by the 
 agreement during the agreed term of employment (whether 
 that term be a day, or a week, or a year), and no longer. 
 The agreement, however, may itself provide that six days' 
 notice shall be given of an intention to terminate the employ- 
 ment. And, in any case, upon an expiration of an agreement, 
 it may be renewed in the same manner as before. 
 
 3. In case any dispute, of a kind to which the agreement 
 relates, arises between the parties bound by it during the con- 
 tinuance of the agreement, the dispute will be heard and deter- 
 mined ; not by the parties, but by the arbitrators in the mode 
 prescribed by the agreement; or, if no mode is so prescribed, 
 then at their discretion. The attendance of witnesses, and the 
 production of evidence, may be enforced in the manner provided 
 by the Arbitration Act of 1824 (5 George IV., c. 96). 
 
 4. The award of the arbitrators may be in the annexed form 
 (II.). And it may be enforced in the manner provided by the 
 Arbitration Act, 1824 (5 George IV., c. 96), by distress, or im- 
 prisonment, and otherwise, or it may be enforced by plaint in 
 the county court. 
 
 5. An analysis is appended of the clauses of the Arbitration 
 Act, 1824, which will be applicable for the purposes of this Act.
 
 INDUStEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 73 
 
 FORMS OF AGREEMENT AND AWARD. 
 I. FORM OF AGREEMENT. 
 
 The Arbitration (^Masters and Workmen} Act, 1872. 
 
 A B [here insert name or usual description of the employer's 
 firm and the name of the works] and C D [here insert the 
 name and occupation of the workman]. 
 
 1. The arbitrators shall be E F and G H (or an arbitrator 
 shall, on or before the . . day of . . . , 18 . , be named in writ- 
 ing by H I on the part of the employer, or by J K on the part 
 of the workman). 
 
 2. The umpire, in case the arbitrators are equally divided, 
 shall be L M (or shall be the person for the time being holding 
 the office of ... or shall be appointed by N O). 
 
 3. In case a person by whom any thing is to be done under 
 this agreement as an arbitrator or umpire, or as a person ap- 
 pointed to nominate any arbitrator or umpire, dies, or declines to 
 act, or becomes incapable of acting, or is interested as a party 
 or otherwise in the matter referred to him, a person shall be 
 appointed in writing by P Q, or, if P Q do not appoint within 
 three days after request in writing from either party to the 
 agreement, then by K, S, to act in the place of the person so 
 dying, declining, or becoming incapable, or being interested. 
 
 4. Six days' notice shall be required of an intention on the 
 part either of the employer or of the workman to terminate the 
 contract of employment and service in respect of which this 
 agreement is made. 
 
 5. The parties to this agreement agree to the following rules 
 (or to such rules as may be made by the arbitrators on the fol- 
 lowing subjects): viz., — y 
 
 (a) As to the rate of wages [here insert any such rule 
 agreed on]. 
 
 (6) As to the hours and quantity of work to be performed 
 [here insert any such rule agreed on]. 
 
 (c) As to the conditions or regulations under which work is 
 to be done [here insert any such rule agreed on] . The penal- 
 ties for the breach of the above rules shall be the following 
 [here insert the penalties] . 
 
 6. The following disputes arising between employer and
 
 74 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 workman during the continuance of this agreement shall be 
 determined by arbitration under this agreement: viz., — 
 
 (a) Any such disagreement or dispute as is mentioned in 
 the second section of the Arbitration Act, 1824 (5 George IV., c. 
 96), except [here insert a description of any such disagreements 
 or disputes which it is intended to except]. 
 
 (6) Any question, case, or matter to which the provisions of 
 the Master and Servant Act, 1867, apply, except [here insert 
 a description of any such question, case, or matter which it is 
 intended to except]. 
 
 7. The arbitrators or umj^ire shall hear any matter referred 
 to them in the following manner: viz., [here insert any regula- 
 tions by which it is desired to govern the proceedings of the 
 arbitrators or umpire, e. g., that they shall decide on written 
 statements from each side, or that they shall hear oral evi- 
 dence]. 
 
 8. The following books, documents, and accounts shall, on 
 demand by the arbitrators or umpire, be produced, and submit- 
 ted for examination, subject to the conditions hereafter men- 
 tioned : viz., — 
 
 (joi) Books, documents, and accounts [here insert a descrip- 
 tion of them, or any such books, documents, and accounts 
 as the arbitrator or umpire think fit to demand]. 
 
 (5) Conditions [here insert an}^ condition as to the mode 
 of production or examination]. 
 
 II. FORM OF AWARD. 
 The Arbitration (^Masters and Workmen^ Act, 1872. 
 
 Atvard. 
 
 We, A B and C D [name the arbitrators or umpire], the 
 
 arbitrators or umpire in the matter in dispute between [here 
 
 state the names of complainant and defendant], do hereby 
 
 adjudge and determine^ that [here set forth the determination], 
 
 (Signed) A B. 
 
 CD. 
 This . . day of . . . , 18 . . 
 
 1 Note e. g. — That A B left his employment without due notice, and that A B 
 shall pay to C D the sum of . . . for his breach of contract; or that C D dis- 
 missed A B without due notice, and that C D shall pay to A B the sum of . . . 
 for his breach of contract.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 75 
 
 Analysis of the Applicable Sections of the Arbitration Act, 1824. 
 
 C5 George IV., c. 96.) 
 
 § 9. Attendance of witnesses by a justice of the peace by 
 summons or commitment. 
 
 § 23. Acknowledgment of fulfilment of award by the person 
 in whose behalf it is made. 
 
 § 24-30. Performance of award may be enforced by distress 
 or imprisonment. 
 
 § 31. Costs and expense to be settled by the arbitrators. 
 
 § 32. Exemption from stamp duty. 
 
 § 30-34. Protection of arbitrators, etc., from actions.
 
 76 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Paet II. 
 
 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITMTION IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The facts contained in this part were collected by Mr. John 
 Carruthers, an agent of this Bureau in 1876, and are repro- 
 duced from our Eighth Annual Report. 
 
 At the time of making the investigation in 1876-77, no real 
 arbitration had been accomplished in this State ; nor has any 
 board been established since that time, in any industry, so far as 
 we have been able to learn. A few attempts to secure settle- 
 ments of difficulties have been made, notably one in Fall River 
 in 1878. Before proceeding to inaugurate a strike, <the spinners 
 proposed to submit the matter in dispute to a board of arbitra- 
 tion; but their proposition was summarily rejected by the man- 
 ufacturers, who, however, gave their reasons for such rejection.^ 
 
 The following account of the efforts which have been made 
 towards the amicable settlement of some of the labor disputes 
 which have arisen in the boot and shoe industry at Lynn, in 
 this Commonwealth, is interesting and profitable, inasmuch as 
 it shows some of the obstacles encountered in attempts to intro- 
 duce a system of arbitration. 
 
 In the collection of facts relating to the subject of arbitration 
 in Lynn between the shoe manufacturers and their workmen, 
 one of the chief difficulties has been, that scarcely any record 
 of their doings has been kept by either party. Indeed, most of 
 the agreements between employers and their employes seem to 
 have been verbal; and, though in some cases written compacts 
 have been made and signed by both parties, but few have been 
 preserved, and these only show the results reached. 
 
 Many of the shoe manufacturers can recollect, in a general 
 way, that at various times they have had disputes and difficul- 
 ties about prices with their workmen ; but as to the questions 
 involved, or how finally settled, they have now very vague im- 
 
 • 1 See Eleventh Report of Bureau of Statistics, p. 54.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 77 
 
 pressions. Therefore the statements herein made are fragment- 
 ary, being gathered by repeated personal interviews with such 
 manufacturers and workmen as, from their position, were prom- 
 inent and active participants in the various troubles that have 
 arisen during the last seven or eight years in that city. It is 
 pleasant to be able to say, that, in making the necessary in- 
 quiries, only the most courteous treatment has been received 
 from those appealed to for information; there is also every 
 reason to believe that the statements made have been truthful 
 and correct, according to the best recollections of the persons 
 questioned. As any account of arbitration in Lynn must ne- 
 cessarily be on one side a part of the history of the Order of St. 
 Crispin, some facts with regard to that organization and its 
 methods seem indispensable to a proper presentation of the sub- 
 ject, and required at the very outset. 
 
 Some time in the year 1864, Newell Daniels, then living in the 
 town of Milford, Mass., conceived the idea of organizing the 
 shoemakers of that place on the plan of not allowing any one to 
 teach the trade to new hands without first obtaining the con- 
 sent of the organization. He went so far as to draught a 
 constitution, and, with Stephen Onion and Elba Underwood, 
 took some steps toward forming a boot-treers' society upon that 
 plan. Before the preliminary arrangements were completed, 
 however, Mr. Daniels left Massachusetts, settled in the West, 
 and for the time being the matter dropped. 
 
 About two years afterwards, Mr. Daniels, with some others, 
 succeeded in organizing in the city of Milwaukee, Wis., a 
 society of shoemakers, comprising all who had worked at any 
 branch of the shoe trade for the space of one year, with the 
 restriction that no member should teach his trade to any one 
 unless by consent of the organization. The constitution written 
 by Mr. Daniels was adopted; and a committee, consisting of 
 W. C. Haynes, F. W. Wallace, and Henry Palmer, prepared a 
 secret ritual, which at the next meeting was adopted by the or- 
 ganization. F. W. Wallace gave the new society its name, — 
 The Knights of St. Crispin. 
 
 They soon afterwards engaged a hall as a place of meeting, 
 and on the 1st of March, 1867, in the city of Milwaukee, estab- 
 lished the first lodge of the order. Very shortly thereafter the 
 German Custom Shoemakers' Union of that city adopted the plan 
 and principles of the order, and founded a second lodge. Both
 
 78 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 lodges increased very rapidly in numbers and influence, and 
 soon commenced active exertions to introduce the order in the 
 Eastern States, and, finally, to form a national organization. 
 
 Circulars setting forth the plan and principles of the order 
 were prepared, and sent to all parts of the country where it was 
 known that shoes were manufactured. By these means Cris- 
 pinism was introduced into Eastern Massachusetts, where it 
 spread with great rapidity through all the shoe towns. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1868, the first lodge was formed in 
 Lynn, — Unity Lodge, No. 32, — and in less than a year two 
 others were added, the three having a membership of about 
 five thousand. On the 23d of April, 1869, a general conven- 
 tion of the order was held in Worcester, and a preamble and 
 constitution for the International Grand Lodge adopted. 
 
 The effects of the revolution, through which, as is well known, 
 the entire shoe business was at that time gradually passing, 
 were nowhere more felt than in Lynn. The complete and final 
 change of methods brought about by the introduction of steam 
 power and labor-saving machinery, and the consequent sub- 
 division of labor whereby production was greatly increased, and 
 cost reduced, the employment of unskilled labor being allowed 
 to an extent before impracticable, were of course disastrous to 
 small manufacturers, whose business now began to be absorbed 
 in larger firms. 
 
 The small-shop system was mostly abandoned, and the large- 
 factory system adopted in its place. The Lynn shoemaker, 
 hitherto more or less independent in the management of his 
 business, began to sink into the mere operative ; and in place of 
 making a shoe throughout, as formerly, was obliged to work 
 continuously and monotonously at one or another of the thirty 
 or forty branches into which the industry, under the new sys- 
 tem, was divided. He thus became a cutter, a laster, a heeler, 
 a beater-out, etc., or was sent to run a McKay sewing machine, 
 a skiving machine, a pegging machine, etc., in many of which 
 labors the skilled shoemaker found that the knowledge and ex- 
 perience gained by years of practice gave him little advantage 
 over the green hand. 
 
 The natural result of this state of things was to give to the 
 large manufacturers, who could command the necessary capital, 
 a manifest advantage over those of smaller means, who were 
 still struggling along in the business. This is, no doubt, one of
 
 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 79 
 
 the reasons why the small manufacturers looked with more or 
 less favor on the combinations of workingmen, and in par- 
 ticular on their efforts, by means of the Crispin organization, to 
 keep up the rate of wages ; for there is every reason to believe 
 that these employers sympathized to some extent with the work- 
 ingmen, and that it was owing largely to their friendly support 
 and encouragement that the Crispin organization attained to 
 such power and wielded so much influence during the years 
 1868 and 1869. It was a power they might have continued to 
 retain, to a great extent, had the wise counsels of some of their 
 members prevailed in the lodge-room, and certain provisions of 
 the constitution been altered or repealed ; as it is now generally 
 conceded, even by members of the order, that at that time some 
 of their rules were arbitrary, and unjustly interfered with the 
 rights of employers. 
 
 In the constitution for subordinate lodges which was adopted 
 by the International Grand Lodge, April 23, 1869, and which 
 was binding on the order everywhere, were some provisions 
 which bore injuriously upon the rights of manufacturers, or, at 
 all events, left their interests subject to the caprice of tempo- 
 rary majorities in the lodge-room. 
 
 The following is from a printed copy : — 
 
 "ARTICLE X. — NEW HELP. 
 
 "No member of this order shall teach, or aid in teaching, any part or 
 parts of boot or shoe making, unless this lodge shall give permission by a 
 three-fourths vote of those present and voting thereon, when such permission 
 is first asked : provided, this article shall not be so construed as to prevent a 
 father from teaching his own son; provided, also, that this article shall not 
 be so construed as to hinder any member of this organization from learning 
 any or all parts of the trade." 
 
 The following extract is taken from the constitution of 
 the International Grand Lodge, adopted in Worcester, April, 
 1869: — 
 
 " ARTICLE XIV. — GRIEVANCES. 
 
 " Section 1. Grievances shall consist of, first, being discharged for 
 refusing to teach new help; second, hemg discharged for belonging to the 
 Crispin organization ; third, being discharged for being conspicuous in organ- 
 izing new lodges of this order, or advocating its principles. 
 
 " Sect. 2. Whenever a grievance is supposed to exist in any lodge of 
 this organization, notice shall be sent by the said lodge to the two nearest 
 lodges of the order, whose duty it shall be, when notification is received, to
 
 80 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 appoint one delegate from ea«li lodge, which delegates shall, in connection 
 with one appointed from, the lodge complaining, form an investigating com- 
 mittee. 
 
 "Sect. 3. It shall be the duty of said committee to listen to the evi- 
 dence on both sides of the case, and endeavor to arrange the matter in dis- 
 pute. If said matter cannot be arranged satisfactorily, it shall be referred 
 to the State or Province Grand Lodge, which shall decide upon the matter, 
 subject to appeal to the International Grand Lodge." 
 
 The committees appointed under Sect. 2 of the preceding 
 article, copied from the International Grand Lodge constitution, 
 were regarded by Crispins as arbitration committees. Members 
 of these committees declare that, in the settlement of all griev- 
 ances, they were always willing not only to listen to the em- 
 ployers' side of the question, but took special pains to get that 
 side of the case, even when employers refused to treat with 
 them or in any way recognize their authority. 
 
 The following extract, taken from the special laws, will serve 
 to show how grievances were brought before the lodge : — 
 
 "article I. 
 
 " Section 1. It shall be the duty of members of the order employed by 
 the same firm to organize by the choice of one of their number as director. 
 
 " Sect. 2. Whenever any cause for trouble or grievance is supposed to 
 exist in a shop between the employer and members of the order, it shall be 
 the duty of the director to ascertain the facts of the same ; when, if the 
 matter cannot be adjusted satisfactorily to the parties interested, he shall, by 
 majority vote of the workers on the part or parts in which the trouble occurs, 
 refer the case to the lodge. 
 
 " article ii. 
 
 " Section 1. The director of each shop shall collect the dues of all mem- 
 bers working in his shop, etc. 
 
 " Sect. 2. When a member working in a shop is six months in arrears 
 for dues, the members in good standing shall demand that he become square 
 on the books of his lodge, when, if he refuses, the director shall require of 
 the foreman or employer the discharge of such delinquent : such request not 
 being complied with, the director shall immediately refer the case to the 
 lodge. 
 
 " article III. 
 
 " Section 1. Every member taking a job in a new shop shall, upon enter- 
 ing, inquire for the director, and shall deliver up for inspection his paid-up 
 card or director's receipt ; and, any member evading or refusing to comply 
 with the provisions of this special law, the director shall proceed as laid 
 down in Art. II., Sect. 2, of these special laws. All directors and members 
 of the order are hereby instructed and empowered to attend to the rigid 
 enforcement of this article."
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 81 
 
 Many of the most intelligent Crispins state that they always 
 believed some of these rules to be unjust and arbitrary, and that 
 the order, by their enforcement, was attempting to deal with 
 matters not within its proper province ; that they had often 
 urged their repeal, giving it as their opinion, in the course of 
 discussion in the lodge-room, where these matters came up, that 
 employers were only submissive to such restrictions to save 
 themselves from loss, and were determined to free themselves on 
 the first opportunity from restraints under which they were 
 every day becoming more and more restive. 
 
 Manufacturers of the smaller class, as we have before re- 
 marked, express themselves, for the most part, as having been 
 favorable to the order on its first establishment. They think it 
 might have been made a means of protection to their interests, 
 as well as those of the workmen. But they say that, in the lat- 
 ter part of the year 1868 and during a portion of 1869, when 
 the organization had almost full sway, the Crispins became 
 exacting, presumptuous, and insolent in their demands upon 
 employers, often interfering with matters they did not under- 
 stand, and which, at any rate, were not their concern ; that, by 
 the operation of the special laws, manufacturers were subject to 
 loss and continual annoyance ; that they could not discharge a 
 man for any reason, but he was almost sure to make complaint 
 to his lodge, calling it a grievance, and asking for a committee 
 of arbitration ; that there were many instances where they felt 
 such committees liad not treated manufacturers with even a 
 shadow of justice ; that it sometimes happened that an employer 
 had reasons for his action, which he was not willing or even 
 justified in unfolding to the committee ; that, in all sucli cases, the 
 committees were apt to be influenced by the most narrow views, 
 and almost certain to decide against the employer ; and that, 
 even when the matter was fairly investigated and fairly reported 
 to the lodge, it was always easy for a few demagogues or a 
 small faction, by specious talk, to carry any vote they desired, 
 sometimes ordering manufacturers to take men back into their 
 employment whom they did not want, and sometimes to dis- 
 charge men they needed and were anxious to keep, and who, on 
 their part, were contented and willing to stay. 
 
 Manufacturers who are conducting a large business, and em- 
 ploy many hands, express themselves as having always been 
 opposed to Crispiiiism, and indignant at its claims. They have 
 11
 
 82 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 no objection to combinations of workingmen to keep up the rate 
 of wages, in any fair and legitimate way ; but, they say, " These 
 men assumed to control our whole business. We claim the 
 right to employ any who are willing to work for us, for as long 
 as we please, and to discharge them when we please, without 
 giving outsiders any reason." They further say that no dis- 
 putes were ever properly settled by arbitration in the lodge- 
 room or elsewhere ; that, in any disagreement with their own 
 workmen, they felt that matters could have been much more 
 easily arranged in the shop than by men outside, who could 
 have little knowledge of the points at issue, and, perhaps, no 
 regard for the various interests involved ; that Crispin rule had 
 been of great injury to the shoe business in Lynn ; that, under 
 its influence, the workman had given up his independence ; he 
 had ceased to make his own bargains, and might at any time be 
 obliged to leave a profitable situation at the dictation of his 
 lodge, and without respect to his interest or inclination ; that, 
 under the operation of Crispin interference, manufacturers had 
 been afraid to make contracts or take heavy orders for goods, 
 having no certainty that they could control their own business, 
 and that, in consequence, many of the orders of 1869, which 
 would otherwise have been filled in Lynn, were taken elsewhere ; 
 that at that time some of the large firms began to establish shoe- 
 shops in other places. Factories were opened in Pittsfield, 
 N. H., where the proprietors felt themselves safe from the effects 
 of Crispin authority, and could command the advantages of 
 cheap rents and cheap labor. In consequence, a large part of 
 the work was done out of the city, which in other years had 
 been retained there ; for there was so much sharp competition 
 among manufacturers, that each was on the watch continually 
 to gain, if possible, any advantage over others : thus, though the 
 workmen did receive more for their labor while at work, there 
 was so much less work done in Lynn, that it is believed they 
 really earned less money than they would have done had there 
 been no organization. And they further state that during the 
 year 1869, though there was no outbreak of a public nature, nor 
 any mention of troubles by the press, yet the relations between 
 the employers and the operatives were full of distrust and ill- 
 feeling on both sides. 
 
 The records of the Crispin lodges seem to confirm the latter 
 statement, as they show many cases of difficulty and trouble in
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 83 
 
 the shops about that time. A manufacturer, at that time one 
 of the largest in Lynn, states that he had but little trouble with 
 his workmen on any occasion, and that most of the difficulties 
 in which he became involved arose from his taking part with 
 other firms ; that during the year 1869 he had much more 
 respect for the Crispins than for the employers, as the former 
 held together and stood firmly to their rules, arbitrary and un- 
 just though, in his opinion, they were: whereas manufacturers 
 were so jealous of each other, that they could unite in nothing, 
 but, on the contrary, were continually seeking to overreach or 
 undermine each other. Further, he says Crispinism did not 
 affect his business much, as he only manufactured first class 
 work, and always paid the very highest price for labor. But he 
 was opposed to it from principle, and, if he could have had other 
 employers see as he did, it could never have gained such power 
 in Lynn, and might at any time have been broken up by united 
 action. 
 
 The following statement embodies the views and opinions of 
 many of the leading shoe manufacturers of Lynn, as gathered 
 from time to time by personal interviews and conversations 
 with them on this subject. 
 
 About the spring of 1870, many manufacturers, finding it 
 impossible to prosecute their business with any certainty of suc- 
 cess, under the vexatious, unjust, and arrogant demands of the 
 Crispin organization, determined to endeavor by concert of 
 action to find some means through which they might free them- 
 selves. In this they professed to be influenced not alone by 
 motives of self-interest, but by a sincere regard for the best 
 interests and welfare of their workmen. They saw very clearly 
 that unless something was done, trade would leave the city, as 
 no manufacturer felt safe in taking orders for goods, or entering 
 into contracts with dealers in boots and shoes. While these 
 matters were under consideration, and before any plans had 
 been matured, one of the most prominent manufacturers in the 
 city, without consultation, and almost entirely on his own 
 responsibility, by means of one of his workmen got himself 
 invited into a meeting of one of the Crispin lodges, and there 
 and then made a speech, in which he commended their organi- 
 zation and its principles. Deploring the misunderstanding 
 between employer and employ^, he pledged his word, that, if 
 they would appoint a committee of five of their number, he
 
 84 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 would see that a like number of manufacturers were appointed 
 to meet with them, and talk over matters in an amicable man- 
 ner; so that, if possible, some agreement might be reached 
 which would be mutually satisfactory. In taking this unauthor- 
 ized step, this gentleman was regarded by the other manufac- 
 turers as having betrayed their cause. His action excited con- 
 siderable indignation among- them, and the committee of five 
 who finally met with the Crispin committee to arrange a scale 
 of prices were self-appointed ; but being all of them prominent 
 men in the business, and large employers, their influence was 
 such as to ver}^ much strengthen and encourage the Crispin 
 organization. The manufacturers felt that their interests had 
 been betrayed, and their attempted union broken up : yet they 
 were obliged, as the best they could do under the circumstances, 
 to adopt generally the scale of prices which had been agreed 
 upon by the so-called committees. They were, however, none 
 the less restive under the arrogant and arbitrary demands of the 
 Crispins, and indignant that any employer of labor should 
 acknowledge the right of an employe to interfere with his 
 business. 
 
 In justice to this gentleman, it should be stated, that he felt 
 the steps taken by him at that time were for the best interests 
 of all concerned. He states that he has always tried to treat 
 his workmen as equals, and has never been intentionally oppres- 
 sive. The princij)le of arbitration inaugurated by him at that 
 time, he believes to be just, and that it might be made an effect- 
 ual means of settling all disputes, if both parties could only be 
 prevailed upon to carry it out in good faith. He regards some 
 union of workingmen as necessary for the protection of their 
 own interests, and such union is, in many other respects, likely 
 to be more or less advantageous to them ; and, though at that 
 time there was much in the Crispin organization which he could 
 by no means approve, it was his idea that it would have been 
 better for the interests of the whole city if employers, by 
 adopting a kind and forbearing policy towards the working- 
 men, could have established a better understanding of each 
 other's interests ; and when, by mutual consultation and mutual 
 concessions, confidence and good feeling should have obtained, 
 it would not have been difficult to change or abolish the most 
 objectionable provision of the Crispin organization. 
 
 On the whole, this gentleman seems to entertain broad and
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AUBITRATION. 85 
 
 compreliensive views of the subject, looking rather to the per- 
 manent welfare of the whole community than to any individual 
 interest. The ideas of the workingmen are various, but they 
 may be summed up into three classes, as follows : — 
 
 The first class are those who do not believe in arbitration 
 with employers, who have seen nothing but what is right in 
 the most rigorous rules the Crispins ever adopted, and who 
 would willingly have adopted those more stringent. The 
 admission of a manufacturer into their lodge-room, as men- 
 tioned previously, was regarded by these members of the 
 organization as a departure from the established principles of 
 the Crispin order, and the acceptance of the doctrine of arbi- 
 tration as a clear violation of its laws. 
 
 They argue that workingmen having their labor to sell ought 
 to combine and fix among themselves what its price shall be; 
 that, if workingmen would only so unite, good wages could be 
 maintained with certainty, employers would be obliged to agree 
 to their demands, and, as they would make their contracts for 
 goods accordingly, it would be advantageous to the community 
 as a whole. They say that arbitration between employer and 
 employ (3 always did and alwa3^s will result to the advantage of 
 the former and the disadvantage of the latter ; and that, there- 
 fore, they regarded the establishment of such a principle in 1870 
 as a delusion and a snare : it was the entering wedge which first 
 weakened and finally led to the complete overthrow of the Cris- 
 pin organization. 
 
 A second class are of the opinion that a proper system of 
 arbitration would do much to put an end to the disagreements 
 between employers and operatives ; that if such aboard could be 
 permanently established, composed of representative men from 
 both parties, clothed with powers and supported by the general 
 consent of those interested, strikes might be rendered impossible, 
 and the relations between employers and their workmen made 
 mutually pleasant. But, they say, under existing circumstances, 
 such a scheme is altogether impracticable. 
 
 • Manufacturers generally are not sincere when they talk of 
 justice to labor. It is their interest and object to get all the 
 labor they can, for as little pay as possible ; and they will never 
 give a cent more than they are obliged to. They do not gener- 
 ally believe in the right of workingmen to combine, but are 
 continually arguing that the law of supply and demand regu-
 
 86 rNDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITEATION. 
 
 lates the rate of wages, and that it i& their right as employers 
 to hire Labor in a free market for as low a price as possible. 
 They claim that while employers hold such views it is very evi- 
 dent they cannot be induced to treat with workingmen on equal 
 terms under any form of organization. 
 
 They further say that, in their opinion, the arrangements made 
 in 1870 were only agreed to because employers could not help 
 themselves, and that they were sure to be violated whenever 
 interest demanded. 
 
 The third class of workingmen, though perhaps not the most 
 numerous, hold about the same sentiments as those expressed 
 by the manufacturer previously quoted. They state that they 
 have been always more than ready to welcome any overtures 
 from the manufacturers looking toward arbitration in the settle- 
 ment of disputes or difficulties, and have been ready on all 
 occasions to do their utmost to bring about friendly relations 
 between employers and the Crispin organization. They concede 
 that some of the Crispin laws were illiberal and unjust, placing 
 improper restrictions upon both parties, — restrictions which, 
 from their very nature, could not be successfully maintained for 
 any length of time. They specify in particular those laws 
 relating to the hiring and discharge of help, against the 
 enforcement of which they declare they often protested in the 
 lodge-room, pronouncing interference in these matters one of 
 the most fatal weaknesses of the Crispin order. 
 
 This class of men say they always have deplored strikes, and 
 never gave consent to one, except as a last resort. When, 
 therefore, arbitration was proposed by a leading manufacturer, 
 the idea was hailed by them as a long step in the right direc- 
 tion, and they were ready to aid it by every means in their 
 power. A mass meeting of the lodges was held ; and, after 
 some discussion, a committee of five was appointed to confer 
 with a like number of manufacturers. On the 21st of July, 
 1870, these committees met in the Board of Trade rooms. 
 There seems to have been no record kept of the transactions of 
 this meeting ; but members on the part of the Crispins state* 
 that it was any thing but harmonious, and that more than once 
 open rupture seemed imminent. One manufacturer made a 
 speech, in the course of which he said that if any one had told 
 him twenty-four hours before, that he could have been persuaded 
 to meet and treat with Crispins on any terms, he should have
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 87 
 
 felt insulted. Through the exertions of a few more temperate 
 minds, however, a better spirit finally prevailed ; and after 
 much discussion, taking up two full days, a list of prices was 
 agreed upon and adopted, to continue in force for one year. 
 The two committees then exchanged congratulations. Speeches 
 were made by some of the manufacturers, in which they com- 
 mended the Crispin organization, and pledged themselves to 
 rigidly adhere to the agreement made, and to use every proper 
 means in their power to have it recognized and adopted in the 
 trade throughout the city. After this united action, several 
 strikes, which had previously been inaugurated, came at once 
 to an end. The Crispins were jubilant, and considered they 
 had gained a point in being recognized by employers as a body 
 to be negotiated with on equal terms ; and much confidence was 
 expressed on all sides, that at length amicable relations had been 
 permanently established between the manufacturers and work- 
 ingmen of Lynn. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fault found with the doings of the self- 
 appointed committee (so called), there is no doubt that for 
 the time being, at all events, they were successful ; and the list 
 of prices agreed to by them was substantially that of the trade 
 throughout the city for the next year. 
 
 It is charged, however, by members of the Crispins, that 
 they could never again get that board of arbitration to meet 
 with them ; that, in the settlement of difficulties which now and 
 then arose from various causes, in several of the shops, they 
 received no aid or countenance from the employers ; and that 
 they had to assume the whole burden of enforcing the scale 
 of prices, which, however, being printed, and headed, " List of 
 prices agreed upon between the manufacturers and Knights of 
 St. Crispin for one year from date," gave them a support in the 
 arrangement of grievances they could not otherwise have had. 
 Yet, still, it is evident that the Lynn shoe manufacturers gener- 
 ally considered that during this year there had been established 
 some principle of arbitration to which they felt themselves, to a 
 great extent at least, obliged to conform. 
 
 At the expiration of the time agreed upon, another committee 
 of employers met with the Crispin committee of arbitration. 
 They congratulated each other upon the success which had 
 attended the fulfilment of the agreement just ended, the gen- 
 eral peace and harmony which had prevailed, and the prosper-
 
 88 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 ous condition of the city ; after which, a scale of prices was 
 agreed to and adopted for another year, which was subse- 
 quently printed and circulated through all the shoe shops in the 
 city. It is worthy of notice, that during these two years, when 
 a fixed rate for labor had been established by this joint commit- 
 tee, the shoe business prospered, and the active and material 
 growth of Lynn was the subject of frequent and flattering com- 
 ment, not only in the local press, but throughout the country. 
 
 The statements made regarding the condition of affairs dur- 
 ing the year of the second compact between the manufacturers 
 and the workmen, ending June 10, 1872, are in some respects 
 conflicting. While there was no noticeable outbreak, those ac- 
 quainted with the inside history of that time state that dis- 
 trust and bitter feelings began to be engendered as early as the 
 fall of 1871 ; that, though latent and smouldering, the fires of 
 strife were then kindled which burst into flame the next sum- 
 mer, and thus brought about the disastrous strike of 1872. 
 The records of the Crispin lodge show several complaints against 
 manufacturers for cutting under the established prices, in less 
 than three months from the date of agreement ; and the lodge 
 records for the latter part of 1871 and the first part of 1872 
 show continual difficulties of that nature brought into the 
 lodge-room. The Crispins said, that, in their efforts to adjust 
 these difficulties, they received neither sympathy nor aid from 
 employers ; that, though they repeatedly tried, they never could 
 get a meeting with any board of arbitration on the part of 
 employers ; and that, finally, those manufacturers who had 
 taken part in assisting to establish the scale of prices refused 
 to be considered as belonging to a board of arbitration, were 
 unwilling even to recognize the existence of any such board or 
 principle, and absolutely declined to discuss the subjects which 
 had been considered with so much harmon}' and good feeling 
 when the compact was made. 
 
 On the other hand, it is conceded that bitter and vindictive 
 feelings crept into the lodge-room, and at times controlled the 
 counsels of Crispins. The more intelligent and reasonable 
 among them lost much of their influence; and there were some 
 instances where temporary majorities, in meetings of the order, 
 made decisions very clearly unjust, and against the interests 
 and rights of employers. It is also conceded that in many 
 respects Crispinism lost much of its former power over its
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 89 
 
 members generally: they paid little regard to its rules, and 
 were seemingly weary of the restraints imposed by the organiza- 
 tion. It is said, however, that these troubles were but little 
 known to the general public ; that the Crispins, as an organiza- 
 tion, adhered to the established price list, and still struggled to 
 maintain it throughout the city. 
 
 Manufacturers, on the other hand, charge that Crispinism 
 had become perfectly unbearable ; that the Crispins, elated 
 with success, and full of self-confidence, became every day more 
 and more unreasonable in their demands ; that they were con- 
 tinually trumping up fresh grievances, and insisting upon con- 
 ditions, not only inconvenient to employers, and injurious to 
 their interests, but tending, if carried out, to drive trade from 
 the city, and ruin all concerned. 
 
 They further charge that certain of the Crispins had entered 
 into secret contracts with some firms to work for less than the 
 established prices, induced to do so by promise of steady work 
 throughout the year; and that these veiy men were the loudest 
 in insistance that the trade generally should conform to the 
 established price list. A few declare that the Crispin organiza- 
 tion was at this time entirely in the hands of demagogues, who 
 only used the order for their own selfish purposes. 
 
 Some of the most intelligent and reliable men who, in 1872, 
 were leading and prominent members of the order, state that 
 shortly before the termination of the second compact it was 
 evident to them that certain manufacturers were determined, 
 if possible, to prevent any further agreements of that nature ; 
 and that in the spring of that year they united, with the 
 resolute purpose of breaking up the Crispin organization. 
 
 They further say, that, while it must be admitted that there 
 is some truth in the charges brought against the order, it is not 
 the less true that employers never sincerely tried to make the 
 best of it, but all along showed by their actions a spirit of 
 opposition to it in any form ; that, if the committee of arbitra- 
 tion on the part of employers had even partially done as they 
 promised, there would have been no trouble, as the workingmen 
 were always more than willing to leave any grievance, real or 
 supposed, to be settled upon that plan ; that, had emploj^ers 
 generally shown such interest in the well-being of their em- 
 ployes as they all of them professed to feel, any of the unrea- 
 sonable rules or laws of the Crispin order could and would 
 have been modified or abolished. 
 
 12
 
 90 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 They express respect for the position taken by some, who, 
 from the very first, were the avowed and consistent opponents 
 of the order, but were still too high-minded and honorable to 
 take underhanded action against it. 
 
 But they allege that there were some employers so mean as 
 to bribe certain of their men to divulge the secrets of the 
 lodge-room, and to act the part of traitors to the order ; that 
 many of the wrongs, and much of the injustice, with which the 
 order was charged, were instigated and brought about by these 
 very men, acting under the instructions of their employers. 
 They further point out, that the contentions about prices for 
 labor have always been caused by a few of the manufacturers, 
 who, with selfish greed, were struggling to gain advantage 
 over their neighbors ; that the difference of two or three cents 
 per pair on the price of the finished shoe is a difference the 
 consumer will never feel, but that it is a matter of serious 
 importance to the workman. They claim that employers should 
 consider this fact first of all, in making contracts for goods with 
 dealers. They finally allege, that in the spring of 1872, when 
 contracts with the dealers were made for the next season's 
 work, there was such sharp competition among manufacturers; 
 that they were taken at rates too low to afford the price for 
 labor established by the board of arbitration ; and that this, 
 more than any other cause, led to the strike the next summer, 
 and united employers to overthrow the Crispin organization. 
 
 About the middle of June, 1872, the following circular, signed 
 by the Crispin committee, was sent to all the shoe-shops in the 
 city: — 
 
 " To the Boot and Shoe Manufacturers of Lynn. 
 
 "Gentlemen, — We the undersigned, a committee appointed by the 
 Knights of St. Crispin, in mass convention assembled, respectfully notify 
 you that we are prepared to meet with a similar committee of the shoe manu- 
 facturers of Lynn, with a view to arranging a list of prices for the coming 
 year. Please inform us, through our seci-etary, of your action, at as early a 
 date as convenient." 
 
 To this communication no reply was ever received. About 
 the beginning of July, some of the large firms intimated their 
 intention of reducing the price for setting edges one-half of a 
 cent per pair, claiming that having introduced edge setting 
 machines the workmen could afford the reduction. This re-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 91 
 
 duction they held necessary to enable them to compete with 
 firms outside of the city. 
 
 The workmen replied that the edge setting machine did not 
 in the least facilitate their labor ; that manufacturers were pay- 
 ing contentedly the higher price with or without machines, 
 and urged that the contracts were taken on that basis ; they 
 finally invited their employers to appoint a committee to fix a 
 scale of prices, in consultation with the Crispins, as in the pre- 
 ceding years. To this the employers rejoined, that for the 
 future they intended to manage their business without consul- 
 tation with any one ; the price olfered was all they could or 
 would pay, and the workmen must either take that, or leave. 
 Of course this condition of things speedily became a sul)ject of 
 discussion in the Crispin lodges. They held mass meetings, 
 some of which were full of intense excitement, and lasted all 
 night. New members joined, and old members in arrears came 
 flocking forward to pay their dues. 
 
 Resolutions were passed declaring their firm determination to 
 adhere to the principles of the order. Finally committees were 
 appointed to wait upon the manufacturers, and endeavor to 
 bring about a settlement of the difficulties. Members of those 
 committees state that when, in the performance of the duty as- 
 signed them, they approached the same parties by whom they 
 had been so courteously received on previous occasions, and 
 Avith whom they had arranged the scale of prices for the pre- 
 ceding year, they were met by contempt, and ordered to leave 
 the premises ; so that those who before had shown a most kindly 
 feeling toward their society were then unwilling to recognize 
 its existence. 
 
 These facts being reported to the lodges, a mass meeting was 
 called, at which it was ordered that the men in such of the 
 shops as were cutting under the established prices be requested 
 to finish what work they had in hand, and then at once leave 
 the shop. In accordance with this action, the hands in thirty- 
 five shops stopped work; and it became evident that the rela- 
 tions of capital and labor in Lynn were to go through a serious 
 crisis. At first, however, the other shops in the city kept 
 steadily at work ; some of the employers freely saying that they 
 could see no particular reason for the reduction, and therefore 
 they should continue to pay the old prices. 
 
 It is believed, that had this dispute about prices been the real
 
 92 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 question at issue, and had it been left to be decided upon its 
 merits, the Crispins would have gained their point. It very- 
 soon became evident, however, that this was only the first move, 
 — a mere outpost in the battle, — the real object of which was 
 to be the utter and complete overthrow of the Crispin organiza- 
 tion in Lynn. For, with this object openly avowed, the manu- 
 facturers commence to organize, funds were raised, and agents 
 sent to the several employers to enlist their aid and sympathy 
 in the movement. 
 
 The following is an extract from "The Lynn Reporter," 
 August 10, 1872: — 
 
 " On the 2d of August, a meeting of the shoe manufacturers was held, at 
 which were present about fifty of those most prominent in the business. At 
 this meeting, the opinion was generally expressed, that the state of things as 
 had for some time past existed in Lynn could not continue without serious 
 injury to the business of the city. It was stated that some of the manufac- 
 turers had already established flourishing factories in distant towns, where 
 labor was untrammelled and consequently cheaper than in Lynn, and that 
 others were making arrangements for an early removal. It seemed to be the 
 unanimous feeling, that something should be done to check this emigration 
 of business, and the first step towards tliat end must be in each manufacturer 
 maintaining the same control of his business, especially in regard to the pay- 
 ment of wages, that is enjoyed by the manufacturers in other places, thus 
 enabling the Lynn manufacturers to successfully compete with those in other 
 places. ... It was then unanimously resolved, ' That it is for the best 
 interests of the city of Lynn, that every manufacturer manage his own busi- 
 ness irrespective of any organization.' " 
 
 After the passage of this resolution condemning organizations 
 of workingmen, the manufacturers proceeded to organize under 
 the following agreement : — 
 
 " We the undersigned, manufacturers of the city of Lynn, hereby agree 
 that on and after Saturday, August 10, 1872, we will employ no person sub- 
 ject to, or under the control of, any organization claiming the power to inter- 
 fere with any contract between employer and employe." 
 
 A committee was appointed to circulate the above through 
 the city, and it was subsequently printed with fifty names 
 appended. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of manufacturers, held in Music 
 Hall, August 8, it Avas unanimously — 
 
 " Resolved, That we notify our workmen that after Saturday, August 10, 
 we will give no new work to any person subject to, or under the control of,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 93 
 
 any organization claiming the power to interfere with any contract between 
 employer and employe." 
 
 The result of this action was that more than two thousand 
 workmen gave up their situations, rather than leave the Crispin 
 organization. 
 
 At a mass meeting of the Crispins, held soon after, the fol- 
 lowing preamble and resolutions were adopted : — 
 
 " Whereas, There is a disposition on the part of certain manufacturers in 
 the city of Lynn to dictate unjust, illiberal, and — to use a mild phrase — 
 tyrannical terms, to those in their employ; and 
 
 " Whereas, Our acceptance of such terms could only be made by a com- 
 plete sacrifice of self-respect and personal independence: therefore, be it 
 
 ^^ Resolved, By the Crispins of Lynn, in mass meeting assembled. That, 
 while we recognize the right of manufacturers to offer such terms as justice 
 and regard for their own interests may require, we also assert and main- 
 tain, at every cost and every hazard, our right to belong to, and partici- 
 pate in, any organization, social, industrial, religious, political or beneficiary, 
 which in our judgment is wise and proper ; and any attempt on the part of 
 any one to abridge or obstruct such right is a vile and indefensible interfer- 
 ence with personal liberty." 
 
 Thus the Crispins joined issue in a struggle which they felt 
 was to be for the life of their organization ; and they clearly saw 
 that the manufacturers were bound together as they never had 
 been previously. The employes in a certain shop were all 
 Crispins ; there had been no trouble there, as Crispin prices 
 were paid ; but this firm had signed the agreement of the man- 
 ufacturers not to employ Crispins after August 10, and on that 
 day the senior partner called his men together, and told them 
 they must either abandon the Crispin organization, or cease to 
 be employed by him. " You can go," he said, " or you can re- 
 main. I do not ask you to work at any reduction of wages, for 
 I am ready to pay the very highest prices ; but, if you remain, 
 you must cease to be Crispins, for no member of that order 
 shall occupy a bench here after to-day." They were given a 
 day to think of it ; but in fifteen minutes they reported, that, 
 rather than submit to such unjust and arbitrary interference 
 with their personal liberty and rights as freemen, they would 
 leave ; and they therefore all left at once. 
 
 In another shop, the following letter was read to the work- 
 men by one of the firm, in connection with the agreement signed 
 by them : —
 
 94 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 " In submitting the proposition herewith placed before our employes, we 
 desire to state the following facts : — 
 
 " First, That in assuming the position taken in the accompanying reso- 
 lution, manufacturers of the city of Lynn, representing at least three-fourths 
 of the shoe manufacturing business of this city, have acted from a convic- 
 tion, reached after the most careful and deliberate thought, that upon no 
 other basis can this business be successfully prosecuted. 
 
 " Second, That, in taking this position as a body, we have fully counted 
 the cost, and feel that we are united, as never before, in solemn agreement 
 to abide the result of this action, at whatever sacrifice to our business and 
 to our capital. 
 
 " Third, That the question of wages has in no manner entered into our 
 counsels, but that this question is left open to the unembarrassed action of 
 employer and employe. 
 
 " Fourth, That we, as a firm, have had, and still have, no desire to change 
 our prices for work during the present season. 
 
 " Fifth, That it is the earnest desire of this firm to conduct its business 
 in such a manner that the annual earnings of our employes may reach the 
 largest possible amount; and we submit the fact that our books show that 
 this result was much more fully attained during the years when we were left 
 free to arrange prices with our workmen to our mutual satisfaction, than it 
 has been during the two years just passed, when subject to outside dictation. 
 
 " Sixth, That while this firm will in no case recede from the position 
 now taken, whether supported by others or not, we would express the sincere 
 desire that, whatever may be the issue in the question now before us, no 
 action will be taken upon either side in a spirit which will tend to destroy 
 the feelings of friendship and x'espect which we believe now mutually prevail 
 between us. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 " Lynn, Aug. 9, 1872." 
 
 The alternative of withdrawing from the Knights of St. 
 Crispin, or giving up their situations, being thus placed before 
 the workmen, they one and all preferred the latter, and left the 
 shop. These examples were quickly followed in other shops ; 
 very soon the city swarmed with idlers, and the Crispin com- 
 mittees found a most difficult task upon their hands. By Art. 
 V. of the general laws, every one of these unemployed men 
 was entitled to draw from the funds of the order : for a siuQ-le 
 man, six dollars per week ; for a man with a family, six for him- 
 self, two for a wife or mother dependent upon him, and one for 
 each child under twelve years of age. As no ordinary treasury 
 could long endure such a drain u]3on its resources, the Crispins 
 soon began to realize that the situation was grave in the ex- 
 treme, and that their prospects of success were every day 
 becoming more and more doubtful. Notwithstanding the great
 
 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND AKBITRATION. 95 
 
 excitement, and though various rumors were daily floating 
 through the city, it was never alleged that any sort of coercion 
 was threatened against those of the trade who did not belong 
 to the order. Indeed, it was the subject of much comment, in 
 newspapers which in other respects did them less than justice, 
 that the workingmen were worthy of praise for the quiet and 
 peaceable manner in which they conducted themselves through- 
 out the whole of the troubles. 
 
 August 17, the Crispin committee of arbitration held an all- 
 nig^ht session, during: which tlie situation was discussed in all its 
 aspects; and the result of their deliberations was a determina- 
 tion to make an attempt to effect a reconciliation. A committee 
 was appointed, which, the next Monday forenoon, waited upon 
 many of the leading manufacturers who had signed the agree- 
 ment of August 8, and made to them the following proposition, 
 upon tlie adoption of which the committee guaranteed that the 
 men would return to their work: Firstly^ That the question be 
 not raised by the employers, whether or not the men belonged 
 to the Crispin organization, which order should continue to exist 
 as heretofore. And, secondly^ that the list of prices be abol- 
 ished, and that each firm make its own contracts, and arrange 
 its own prices with its own workmen, irrespective of any other 
 firm, and without interference by the Crispin organization. It 
 was confidently expected that this action would impress the 
 manufacturers favorably, and that they would consent upon 
 these terms to resume business. 
 
 But, when waited upon by the above-mentioned committee, 
 they one and all refused to receive any proposition from Cris- 
 pins, taking the ground, that, having agreed to give no employ- 
 ment for the future to any men subject to the control of such 
 organization, they felt bound not to acknowledge its existence. 
 
 At a mass meeting of the Crispins, held next forenoon, the 
 board of arbitration reported the failure of their efforts at recon- 
 ciliation ; and when it became known that the ultimatum of the 
 manufacturers was an entire and final renunciation of Crispin- 
 ism on the part of the workmen before any proposition of 
 settlement would be entertained, there was considerable excite- 
 ment ; speeches were made, and resolutions passed by a unani- 
 mous vote, and amidst much enthusiasm, pledging unwavering 
 fidelity to the order. Notwithstanding this last display of spirit, 
 it soon became evident that the Crispin organization was fast
 
 96 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 becoming weaker ; that its power of resistance was gone, and 
 its unity broken up. 
 
 Manufacturers commenced work with what help they could 
 get, either in Lynn or in other places. Some firms sent their 
 stock to Portland, Newburyport, and other towns, to be made 
 up ; other firms set men to work under what they called a 
 special agreement, — which was, that, though they belonged to 
 the Crispin organization, there was an express understanding 
 that this fact should have nothing to do with any of their rela- 
 tions to their employers. The board of arbitration having 
 remonstrated against such arrangements as a violation of the 
 rules of the Crispin order, the workmen in one case published a 
 card in the newspapers to the effect that they were not at work 
 under the force of the manufacturers' resolution, but that they 
 still regarded themselves subject to the orders of the Knights of 
 St. Crispin. For this action, these men were at once discharged 
 from their employment, and ordered to leave the establishment. 
 They soon afterwards, however, published another card, retract- 
 ing their former statement, and were again set to work in their 
 old places. 
 
 By this time, the Crispin board of arbitration began to feel 
 itself powerless : the treasury was exhausted ; two thousand 
 members of the order were without employment and mostly 
 without means of living. Manufacturers were offering work 
 and the highest prices to all who would consent to renounce 
 fealty to the Knights of St. Crispin. It is not surprising, there- 
 fore, that one shop's crew after another met together, and, com- 
 ing to the conclusion that any further struggle was hopeless, 
 voted to go to work, on the best terms they could get. By the 
 24th of August the strike was virtually at an end; and, though 
 lodge meetings were still held by an indomitable few, the Cris- 
 pin organization, in spite of their efforts, finally fell entirely to 
 pieces in Lynn. About the beginning of 1873 the last charter 
 was surrendered to the International Grand Lodge. During 
 the next two years there was, as is well known, a general 
 depression in all kinds of business ; and the shoe trade came in 
 for its share. There was little demand for goods, the sales 
 being chiefly of the cheaper grades. Manufacturers were in 
 sharp competition with each other for orders, and workingmen 
 without organization and at their mercy. Prices for labor in 
 nearly all departments of the business went down until, it is
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 97 
 
 said, a good workman, laboring hard ten or twelve hours a day, 
 could not earn more than eight or nine dollars a week. To 
 understand the full force of this statement, it is necessary to 
 remember that at the best of times the busy seasons are brief, 
 and that there are always many months in the year when there 
 is but little chance of employment. 
 
 Manufacturers themselves admitted that the prices for labor 
 were too low, and confessed that they could not understand 
 how men with families to suppol-t managed to do so, even when 
 they had constant work. Some of them even began to admit 
 that the Crispin organization, with all its faults, contained some 
 gfood features, and that some association of workingmen was 
 necessary, not only for their own protection, but for certain 
 advantages to employers. 
 
 With considerable countenance and aid, therefore, from some 
 of the manufacturers, the workingmen again organized, under 
 the name of the Shoemakers' League. One of the main fea- 
 tures of this organization was the establishment of a board of 
 arbitration. This was about the beginning of 1875, and, though 
 they held meetings more or less regularly, there is no evidence 
 that they ever exercised much influence ; and as the members 
 hardly numbered three hundred at the most, the League could 
 never claim properly to represent the general interests of the 
 Lvnn working-men. Therefore, after about an eleven-months 
 struggle to maintain an existence, on the seventh day of 
 December, 1875, by unanimous vote, the League dissolved, and 
 the members organized as Unity Lodge, K. O. S. C, adopting 
 the ritual of the order, and receiving from the International 
 Grand Lodge the charter which was surrendered in 1873. 
 Unity Lodge numbered, in 1876, nearly three thousand mem- 
 bers, and after its organization sent delegates into twenty-eight 
 towns, and instituted thirty-one new lodges, as follows : — 
 
 West Boylston, Milford, Haverhill, Marblehead, Worcester, 
 Spencer, Stoneham, Hopkinton, jNIedway Village, West Med- 
 way, Rockland, Stoughton, Randolph, Methuen, Newburyport, 
 Millbury, Beverly, Salem, Marlborough, Natick, Cochituate, 
 Quincy, Weymouth, Tapleyville, Holbrook, Webster, Brockton, 
 and North Brookfield, in Massachusetts ; and Pittsfield in New 
 Hampshire. All these continued, for a time, in a prosperous 
 condition. The most objectionable features of the old order 
 were done away with. No claim was made to any right of 
 
 13
 
 98 IKDUSTETAL COKCILIATTOU Al^^D AEBITEATION. 
 
 interference with employers in the hiring and discharge of help, 
 nor in the teaching of new help any part or parts of the trade. 
 No strike could be ordered, sustained, or allowed, except by 
 vote of the board of arbitration, and the unanimous consent of 
 the shop's crew where such strike took place. 
 
 The board of arbitration was composed of eleven members, 
 each from a different branch of labor, as follows : a cutter, 
 stock fitter, laster, McKay stitcher, beater-out, trimmer and 
 edge setter, hand nailer and 'shaver, Tapley heel burnisher, 
 McKay nailer and shaver, bottom finisher, channeller. 
 
 They were elected to office for a year, and chosen not alone 
 for their integrity and general intelligence, but also because 
 they were regarded as superior workmen, each being an expert 
 in his branch of the business. 
 
 To this board were committed all the active powers of the 
 lodge. The following is an extract from the by-laws : — 
 
 "ARTICLE X. — ARBITRATION. 
 
 " Sect. 2. At the first meeting of the board, they shall organize, by 
 electing a president, secretary, and treasurer. It shall be the duty of the 
 president to convene the board, on the written application of any five mem- 
 bers of the lodge working in a shop, or on application of a manufacturer who 
 has cause to think he is aggrieved. The secretary shall keep a true and cor- 
 rect record of the proceedings of all meetings of the board, and of all subjects 
 referred to them for decision, and shall report the doings of the board to the 
 lodge, at the first meeting in every month. 
 
 " Sect. 4. The board shall have power to settle all difficulties that may 
 arise between any member or members of the lodge and their employers, by 
 arbitration; and it shall be the duty of the board, when such case has been 
 referred to them, to carefully examine all the circumstances connected with 
 it, and endeavor to effect a settlement by arbitration, before giving their 
 consent to a strike. It will not be the duty of the board to give aid or 
 encouragement to a strike begun without their consent, by any members of 
 the order. 
 
 "Sect. 5. When any matter has been referred to the board for arbitra- 
 tion, it shall be their duty to appoint a committee from the board, who shall 
 meet a committee appointed by the employer. 
 
 " If the committees agree upon any plan of settlement, any decision they 
 may make shall be final. An appeal may be made to the lodge from all de- 
 cisions made by the board, except in cases referred to them for arbitration. 
 This section shall never be repealed. 
 
 " Sect. 6. The board shall meet once in two weeks, or oftener if neces- 
 sary, and shall require at all times a majority of its members to transact 
 business. 
 
 " Sect. 7. The board shall have power to call a special meeting of the 
 lodge at any time they may deem it necessary."
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 99 
 
 In the thirteen months immediately succeeding its organiza- 
 tion, this board settled about one hundred cases of difficulty in 
 different shops, most of them amicably and without much 
 trouble. Nearl}^ all of them arose from attempts on the part of 
 employers to cut under what was considered a fair price; and as 
 the chief object of the board was to establish and maintain, as 
 nearly as possible, a uniform price for labor in all branches and 
 grades of work in shoemaking, many of the manufacturers 
 looked upon the plan with favor, and they extended to it 
 a certain moral support, though they appointed no committee 
 to act in conjunction witli the Crispin board. Still the smaller 
 employers especially regarded its establishment as useful and 
 efficient in preventing ruinous competition in the business. 
 
 The following cases illustrate sufficiently the various work of 
 the board : — 
 
 A reduction in the prices paid for trimming and edge setting 
 was proposed by a certain firm. This was resisted by the work- 
 men, who made complaint to the board of arbitration. It was 
 claimed by the firm, in reply to questions put by the committee, 
 that they had at considerable expense introduced edge setting 
 machines, which materially lessened the labor, and their use 
 would enable the men to earn as much pay notwithstanding the 
 proposed reduction of price. On the other hand, it was stated 
 by the men, that the machines were of little or no service in the 
 way of saving labor or facilitating the work. 
 
 After a full investigation, the board arranged the prices for 
 work with edge setting machines in this shop, as follows : -11.65 
 for first, $1.60 for second, and $1.25 for third quality. This 
 arrangement, which was satisfactory to both parties, was con- 
 sidered to be a settlement of the difficulty without a reduction. 
 
 Complaint was made to the board that certain channellers 
 had been discharged from a shop for the reason that they had 
 been active in inducing what is termed a boss channeller — that 
 is, one who underlets part of the work taken out by him — to 
 give up that position. On the report of a committee appointed 
 to investigate, the board were of opinion that the men had 
 been discharged without reasonable cause ; and they therefore 
 informed the manufacturer that no Crispins would be allowed 
 to take their places. The result was, that the men who had 
 been discharged were re-instated. 
 
 In another shop a general reduction of prices was proposed,
 
 100 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 which being resisted by the men, the subject came before the 
 board, who appointed a committee to wait upon the employers, 
 directing the men in the mean time to continue work as usual. 
 After due investigation the board sustained the men in their 
 resistance. The firm retreated from their position, and con- 
 tinued to pay former prices. 
 
 The channellers in another shop complained to the board that 
 they were receiving less for their work than established rates, 
 and that they had requested an advance, which was refused. 
 A committee from the board waited upon the proprietor, found 
 the facts to be as stated, and finally induced him to concede the 
 demand of his workmen. 
 
 A certain firm proposed to reduce the prices paid for trim- 
 ming, edge setting, nailing, and shaving. The reduction was 
 resisted by the men, and two of those most prominent in oppo- 
 sition were discharged. The board of arbitration sustained the 
 operatives, and, after several meetings with their employers, 
 finally induced them to continue to pay old prices, and also to 
 re-instate the men who had been dicharged. 
 
 Another firm proposed to make a general reduction on certain 
 kinds of work, and the matter came before the board for adjudi- 
 cation. After considerable discussion the board prepared a list 
 of prices for the shop, which the firm consented to adopt for 
 the season. 
 
 A shoemaker complained to the board that he had been dis- 
 charged from his shop without valid reason. The committee 
 of investigation reported that he was discharged for making an 
 assault on the foreman of the shop. The action of the propri- 
 etor was sustained by the board, and the complaint dismissed. 
 
 A difiiculty arose in a shop with regard to the price to be paid 
 for machine lasting. On investigating this case the board held 
 that lasting machines were of no advantage to the operator, 
 there being no saving of time or labor by their use ; that there- 
 fore the prices should be fixed at the same rates as were paid 
 for hand lasting. This was finally agreed to by the proprietor, 
 who also, at the suggestion of the board, consented to employ 
 his hand lasters to work such lasting machines as he should de- 
 cide to use. 
 
 In the same shop, a McKay machine operator, who had been 
 discharged for seeking an advance of price, was re-instated in 
 his position by the, exertions of the board, and the advance 
 secured to him.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 101 
 
 The lasters, trimmers, edge setters, and buffers in a shop, be- 
 lieving that they were working for lower prices than were paid 
 elsewhere for simihir work, demanded an advance. On investi- 
 gation the board sustained them in their demand, and eventually 
 succeeded in securing for them the prices paid in other shops 
 for the same grade of work. 
 
 A certain firm had a shop in Lynn, and also one in another 
 State. The hands in the latter struck work when a reduction 
 of prices was proposed to them ; and complaint was subsequently 
 made to the board of arbitration in Lynn, that the firm was 
 having certain parts of its work done in their Lynn shop, and 
 afterwards sent to their shop out of the State to be completed. 
 The board, on investigating the case, came to the conclusion 
 that it was beyond their province to interfere with prices paid 
 in other places, but determined to insist that all work done in 
 Lynn should be paid for at the established rates. The firm 
 finally closed the shop in which the difficulty arose, and now 
 manufacture all their goods in Ljam, and pay the established 
 prices. 
 
 Complaint was made by a man, on account of his discharge 
 from a shop, another man being put in his place. In this case 
 the complaint was dismissed, as it was found, on investigation, 
 that the proprietor had good ground for his action. 
 
 The men in a certain shop complained that a reduction had 
 been made in their pay. The board succeeded in settling the 
 case amicably by securing an advance on some kinds of work, 
 and allowing a reduction on others. 
 
 In another case the men in one of the departments of a shop 
 demanded an advance, which the proprietor refused to pay; 
 finally the men struck work, and left the shop in a body. This 
 action coming to the knowledge of the board of arbitration, 
 they informed th'e operatives that unless they resumed work at 
 once, their places would be filled by others, as it was a flagrant 
 violation of the laws of the order, for any shop's crew to inaug- 
 urate a strike without authority from the board of arbitration. 
 In accordance with these instructions, the men quietly returned 
 to their places, and no further complaint was made. 
 
 The three-handed teams in another shop demanded an ad- 
 vance. The proprietor appeared before the board, and explained 
 his position, stating his entire willingness to pay regular prices. 
 Subsequently, in consultation with a committee from the board.
 
 102 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 an advance for some parts of the work was made, and the 
 trouble was amicably settled. 
 
 In another shop, the lasters demanded an advance. The 
 matter was referred to the board, who sustained the men in 
 their demand ; and the firm finally agreed to it. 
 
 In another case the board sustained the lasters in resisting a 
 proposed reduction, and the firm yielded, and continued to pay 
 regular prices. 
 
 The McKay stitchers in a certain shop complained of a pro- 
 posed reduction of their pay on a certain grade of work. The 
 board investig^ated, and concluded that the men should be sus- 
 tained. This decision being reported to the proprietor, he re- 
 ceded from his position, and continued to pay the former price. 
 
 A man complained to the board that he had been discharged 
 from employment on account of his connection with the order 
 of St. Crispin. The case was investigated and dismissed, it 
 being found that his late employer Lad other and sufficient 
 reasons for his action. 
 
 The McKay nailers in a certain shop demanded an advance 
 of price, which the proprietor refused to pay. On the case 
 being investigated by the board, the latter was sustained, and 
 the men ordered to continue work at the same rates. 
 
 Two firms complained to the board that they had reason to 
 believe they were paying higher prices for some branches of work 
 than was paid by a certain other manufacturer, and requested 
 the board to investigate. The board appointed a committee to 
 ascertain the facts ; finding these to be as stated, they reported 
 accordingly. A new list of prices was then drawn up ; and the 
 board of arbitration, in consultation with the three firms men- 
 tioned, settled the difficulty harmoniously by adopting a scale 
 of prices as nearly as possible in accordance with that paid in 
 other shops for similar work. 
 
 Complaint was made to the board by a manufacturer that he 
 had reason to believe that the men in a certain shop were work- 
 ing at reduced prices, and the board was desired to inquire into 
 the case. A committee from the board, accordingly, Avaited 
 upon the proprietor of the shop mentioned ; they subsequently 
 reported the facts to be as alleged, and that the said proprietor 
 stated to them, in justification, that he was manufacturing goods 
 in advance of orders, and could not afford to pay full prices 
 under such circumstances ; moreover, that the men working for
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 103 
 
 him otherwise would be without employment. The board held 
 that the general welfare was paramount to any individual inter- 
 ests ; that, if a reduction in prices were to be allowed under the 
 plea that goods were being manufactured in advance of the 
 market, it would establish a bad precedent. They therefore 
 informed the manufacturer in question that, as others of his 
 class depended upon the board of arbitration to maintain an 
 established scale of prices, he must either consent to pay regu- 
 lar rates, or the board would order the men to leave his shop. 
 The result was that he gave up making goods in advance of 
 orders, and a number of his hands were discharged. 
 
 In another shop the proprietor informed his men that he 
 intended to make a general reduction of prices on all parts and 
 grades of work, and that for the future he proposed to make 
 his own bargains with his men without the interference of the 
 board of arbitration or any other outside parties. This action 
 was opposed by the workmen, and complaint was made to the 
 board of arbitration. A committee from the board waited upon 
 the manufacturer, but they utterly failed to move him from his 
 position. The board, after several meetings and various efforts 
 to compromise the difficulty, finally gave the men leave to strike 
 when they had finished such work as they had in hand. Accord- 
 ingl}^ each man, as he finished his job, took his tools, and left 
 the shop. Considerable ill-feeling was engendered in this case. 
 Placards from the manufacturer were posted throughout the 
 city, calling for workmen, to whom the highest prices were 
 promised. Immediately under these might be seen a card from 
 the board of arbitration notif\'ing all shoemakers that the hands 
 of this manufacturer were out on strike to resist a reduction of 
 pay, and warning all Crispins to keep away from the shop. 
 This condition of things continued about two weeks, when the 
 board of arbitration effected a compromise by allowing a reduc- 
 tion for some parts of the work, and securing an advance on 
 others. The men then returned to their work. 
 
 A manufacturer gave notice that he intended to make a 
 cheap grade of shoes. The board sent a list of prices to him 
 for such shoes as he proposed to make. He was informed, how- 
 ever, that he would be expected to allow the old prices for his 
 other work. He adopted the list, and agreed to the conditions 
 demanded by the board. 
 
 The cases which we have given sufficiently exemplify the
 
 104 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 work the board had to do. They illustrate most of the diffi- 
 culties which they were called upon to arbitrate. For several 
 months the duties of the board were almost continuous and 
 very often arduous and difficult, involving the exercise of con- 
 siderable prudence and patience. Meetings were held as often 
 as required ; generally at least twice a week. For attending 
 evening meetings the members received no compensation ; but 
 when they were obliged to spend time during working hours, 
 they were allowed thirty cents per hour for the time actually 
 spent in the performance of their duties. 
 
 The efforts at arbitration and conciliation were not perma- 
 nently successful : not the less, however, did the work accom- 
 plished by the board show the value of the principle ; nor is it 
 easy to estimate the extent of its services in allaying ill-feeling 
 and preventing strife. It would be absurd to suppose that any 
 body of men could discharge such duties as that of the board 
 of arbitration, and escape criticism. However, the moderation, 
 firmness, and fairness which the members of this board brought 
 to bear upon the various cases referred to them for adjudication, 
 prevented many strikes, and secured for their decisions the 
 respect and confidence of their fellow workmen, and, to a great 
 extent, also that of the manufacturers.
 
 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 105 
 
 Paet III. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION IN OTHER STATES. 
 
 The legislature of 1880 passed the following resolve, chapter 
 48, relative to Industrial Arbitration and Conciliation : — 
 
 Resolved^ That the Bureau of Statistics of Labor is hereby directed to 
 make a full investigation as to the practical working of the principles of 
 industrial conciliation and arbitration, and to consider what legislation, if 
 any, is necessary to enable employers and employes in this State to secure 
 the benefit of such principles, and to report the results to the next legisla- 
 ture. \_Ap2}roved April 13, 1880.} 
 
 In taking the preliminary steps to make the investigation 
 ordered by the legislature, we found that Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, 
 whose account of conciliation and arbitration in England we 
 have given in Part I., had already collected the very data we 
 were in search of, but which had not been used by him. We 
 were very fortunate in making arrangements with Mr. Weeks, 
 to give the public the use of the very full data in his hands, 
 through a report to this office which we now reproduce. 
 
 This report presents the history of those wonderful labor 
 struggles in the great iron and coal producing States, inaugu- 
 rated perhaps for selfish ends, but which, in time, will. result in 
 the adjustment of difficulties on the basis of justice and equity. 
 Beside these struggles, an account is given of a most interest- 
 ing experience among cigar makers in New York City. 
 
 Mr. Weeks's report is most heartily commended to the careful 
 consideration of the manufacturers and employes of this State. 
 From it we shall find that there are methods which can be 
 applied in the settlement of industrial disputes ; these we shall 
 endeavor to point out at the close of this Part. 
 
 Mr. Weeks's report is as follows : — 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith an account of such 
 attempts at arbitration in disputes between employers and em- 
 
 14
 
 106 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 ployed in this country, concerning which I have been able to 
 gain any information. I have also included an account of the 
 action of conference and conciliation committees in the iron 
 trade at Pittsburgh, regarding this as a type. 
 
 It will be noticed that I have in most cases given some 
 account of the condition of the trade at the time of the attempts 
 at arbitration, as well as of the causes that led to such condi- 
 tion, believing that this was necessary to an understanding of 
 the subject. 
 
 Boards or courts of arbitration and conciliation, for the settle- 
 ment of certain or all disputes or differences between employers 
 and employed, have existed generally in the industries of France 
 and Belgium, since early in this century, and in England, in 
 certain trades, for twenty years. The constitution and the 
 methods of these boards, and the success that has attended 
 them, can be learned in detail from the report of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1877, or from a report 
 of an investigation, with their practical workings, made to the 
 Governor of Pennsylvania in 1879, by the writer.^ It is suf- 
 ficient here to remark, that in France, in 1878, there were 
 brought before these boards, the Oonseih des Prud'hommes , — 
 which are established at important trade centres, and which are 
 quasi-judicial bodies with legal sanctions for their awards, — 
 35,016 cases, of which 25,834 were heard in private without a 
 formal trial, and 71 per cent settled without a public- hearing. 
 Of the entire number of cases, 21,368 were relative to wages, 
 4,733 to dismissals, and 1,795 to matters relative to apprentices. 
 
 In England, where these boards are purely voluntaiy, without 
 any legal existence or sanction to their decisions, their success 
 in removing causes of difference between employer and em- 
 ployed, or in settling disputes should they arise, has been most 
 marked in those trades in which the principle has been fairly 
 tried. In the hosiery trade of Nottingham, in which a board 
 has been in existence for twenty years, there has been no general 
 strike since its organization. In the manufactured iron trade of 
 the North of England, where the board has a history for ten 
 years, it is also true that in that time there has been no gen- 
 eral strike ; though in both of these trades, piior to the estab- 
 lishment of these boards, strikes and other labor troubles were 
 exceedingly frequent, and though, further, the nature of these 
 
 1 See Part I. of this paiupblet.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITEATION. 107 
 
 trades is such as to render the settlement of questions of wages 
 extremely difficult. 
 
 In this country formal arbitration and conciliation, in the 
 sense that these words are understood in England, has a very 
 meagre history. The cases are very few in which boards have 
 been organized on a basis similar to the English boards, and 
 formal arbitration attempted ; and in only a single instance 
 have these boards outlived the first attempt to settle a dispute 
 or difference. 
 
 Preliminary to an account of these attempts, it is necessary 
 to define arbitration and conciliation, not only for a clearer un- 
 derstanding of the subject, but to indicate the limitations of our 
 inquiry into the history of arbitration and conciliation in t:his 
 country. 
 
 Industrial arbitration is both the name of a principle, and the 
 specific application of that principle. As a principle, arbitration 
 is a method of settling disputes or differences between emj)loyers 
 and employed, by a reference of the matters at issue to a board 
 composed of representatives of each of the two parties to the 
 question, the representatives of each being elected or appointed 
 by the parties themselves ; the board to have power to hear 
 testimony and decide the question, or, in the event of a failure 
 of the board to decide, with power to call in one or more parties, 
 whose decision in the case shall be final, and binding on both 
 parties represented in the board. 
 
 An application of this principle to a specific case would also 
 be termed arbitration. 
 
 It will be noted, that this definition confines arbitration to 
 those cases in which both parties to the dispute, or difference, 
 or question, have an equal representation; not as advocates 
 or counsel, but as members in the board, or committee, or court, 
 by whatever name it is called, which decides the matter in 
 question, this representation being appointed or elected by the 
 party which it represents. This is the meaning of the word in 
 England, where the practice of arbitration for twenty or more 
 years has given a definition to the word that should be accepted 
 as final. I am thus careful in defining arbitration, as the term 
 has been applied to a practice in this country, which, however 
 commendable it may be in itself, is not arbitration. This is the 
 custom that exists in some of the labor organizations, of choos- 
 ing a committee, composed entirely of the members of the
 
 108 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 organization, that is termed an arbitration committee, before 
 which, all or certain specified disputes between employers and 
 employed are brought. In some cases the employer is allowed 
 or asked to appear before this committee to state his case ; and 
 in others the committee visits the works, and examines both 
 parties ; but in either event the decision rests with a body com- 
 posed of but one party to the dispute, and a body in whose forma- 
 tion the other party had no voice. Whatever such a principle 
 may be called, it is not arbitration. It is, no doubt, a very com- 
 mendable proceeding to endeavor to investigate fairly both sides 
 of a dispute, rather than rush headlong into a strike ; and there 
 is no doubt but that in such cases the board or committee 
 honestly endeavor to arrive at a just conclusion : but, notwith- 
 standing this, the act and the decision are not those of a board 
 of arbitration. In a word, it is as impossible for one party to a 
 dispute to arbitrate, as it is for one man to fight a duel.^ 
 
 Industrial conciliation difi'ers widely from industrial arbitra- 
 tion, though the object of both is the same, — the prevention 
 and settlement of disputes and differences between employers 
 and employed. Conciliation is not formal ; it does not sit in 
 judgment. It does not necessarily imply a board or court, 
 although the best results follow when the conciliation is system- 
 atic ; under the influence, direction, and authority of a board. 
 Conciliation may be the act of conference committees, formed 
 for the purpose of settling a given dispute ; but, however the 
 result is reached, it is by the friendly offices of others, or by the 
 parties agreeing between themselves without the intervention of 
 an umpire or arbitrator with power to judge and decide. While 
 there has been little or no conciliation in this country, such as 
 exists in the trades of England, that is, systematic through the 
 medium of permanent committees organized for the purpose of 
 conciliation, there are certain forms of conciliation that have a 
 history, that if it could be told would be the brightest and most 
 hopeful chapter in the industrial history of our country. Un- 
 fortunately for the advance of mutual confidence and sympathy 
 between the two parties to labor contests, these examples of con- 
 ciliation, for the most part, never come to the knowledge of the 
 world. They are worked out in the quiet of the counting-house 
 and office, where employer and employed meet as equals, and 
 
 1 An account of a very successful committee of the nature indicated will be 
 found in Part II. of this pamphlet.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATIOlSr AND ARBITRATION. 109 
 
 as man should meet man, and then and there in all kindliness 
 and good feeling settle their differences before they become dis- 
 putes. If the acts of these counting-rooms could become the 
 rule of action in all our land, it would be a blessing to industry 
 whose value could not be estimated. 
 
 There is, however, a form of conciliation that has been prac- 
 tised in centres where certain industries have gathered, of which 
 we have the history. A committee representing the organized 
 labor in these industries has met a similar committee represent- 
 ing the manufacturers in the same industry ; and between them 
 they have agreed upon future rates of wages, and settled other 
 differences. This is notably the case in the iron industries at 
 Pittsburgh. As the methods adopted in these industries may 
 be taken as a type, a very full account of the procedure and 
 results will obviate the necessity of further examples of this 
 method of conciliation. 
 
 Conciliation in the Pittsburgh Iron Trade. 
 
 The city of Pittsburgh and its immediate neighborhood is at 
 present, and has been for years, the chief centre of the heavy 
 iron trade of the country. In no district in the world, with 
 the possible exception of that about Middlesboro' in England, 
 certainly in no district in this country, has the iron and steel in- 
 dustry grown with such rapidity during the last thirty years as 
 at Pittsburgh. This rapid growth brought together a large body 
 of trained and skilled workmen, chiefly from the iron working 
 centres of England, Scotland, and Wales. Hon. Miles S. Hum- 
 phreys, the present chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Pennsyl- 
 vania, has given in his report for 1878-79 an admirable account 
 of the attempts at conciliation in the iron rolling mill industry 
 of this city, of which we make liberal use in this account. Mr. 
 Humphreys can say, with JEneas, " that all of this he saw, and 
 most of which he was," for he was for years a woikman in the 
 iron mills, and the founder and first president of the United 
 . Sons of Vulcan, the organization which represented the work- 
 men in these conferences. 
 
 In sketching the history of the United Sons of Vulcan, and 
 the conditions of the iron trade relative to labor that preceded 
 and attended its organization, Mr. Humphreys states, — 
 
 "The first great strike occurred while the iron business was compara- 
 tively yet in its infancy, in 1849, when the manufacturers attempted and
 
 110 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 finally succeeded in reducing puddling below six dollars per ton. This 
 memorable strike commenced upon the 20th of December, 1819, and ended 
 about the 1st of the following May, the puddlers resuming work at igl.SO per 
 ton. While the manufacturers succeeded in effecting a reduction -in the 
 price of puddling, the result left the men greatly depressed, dissatisfied, and 
 discontented, many scattering to new fields of operation throughout the 
 West. The ten following years witnessed many petty strifes, as the men, 
 at every available opportunity, would seek to redress some real or imaginary 
 wrong, while manufacturers, in turn, when prices tended downward, would 
 retaliate in an effort to save fleeting profits through a reduction of wages, as 
 well as to alter the rules forced upon them in the times of high prices when 
 they were powerless to resist. To such an extent did wages decline, that 
 during 1857 and up to 1860, puddling ranged from 83. .50 to f 4 per ton, the 
 lower price being paid in cash, while the higher was in part or in whole 
 paid in store goods." 
 
 In April, 1858, a few of the men connected with the puddling 
 department of the mills assembled, and organized a trades union 
 under the name of the " United Sons of Vulcan." 
 
 The fact of the organization was kept a profound secret 
 through fear of discharge, and at last operations were suspended 
 until a more favorable opportunity. This came in 1860-61. 
 The growth of the organization was slow at first ; but it soon 
 showed signs of vigorous life, and in 1863 its power began to 
 be felt, and the union recognized. The great fluctuations of iron 
 during the war led to repeated demands for increase in wages. 
 Finally a general conference of representative men from each 
 side, employer and employed, suggested itself, through whom 
 wages were to be fixed, and difliculties avoided, while its action 
 and conclusion would, in common, bind all. The fluctuations, 
 requiring repeated conferences, began to develop the propriety 
 as well as the necessity of agreeing upon some general plan 
 which would obviate frequent meetings, and yet fix wages in 
 accordance with the price of iron. With that end in view, 
 committees of conference were appointed ; and, after repeated 
 meetings, finally agreed, on the thirteenth day of February, 
 1865, upon a scale of prices to be paid for boiling pig iron based 
 on the manufacturers' card of prices. 
 
 An original copy of this scale, in the possession of the writer, 
 reads as follows : —
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made lliis thirteenth day of February., 1865, hetioeen a Committee of Boilers and 
 a Committee from the Iron Manufacturers, appointed to fix a scale of prices to 
 he paid for Boiling Pig Iron, based on the Manujacturers^ Card of Prices ; 
 it being understood either party shall have the right and privilege to terminate 
 this agreement by giving ninety days^ notice to the other parly, and that there 
 shall be no deviation loithoul such notice. 
 
 When the manufacturers' card of prices are at the rates named below, the 
 price for boiling shall be at the prices opposite per ton of 2,240 pounds. 
 
 Manufactdeers. 
 
 Boilers. 
 
 Manufacturers. 
 
 Boilers. 
 
 8i cents per pound . 
 
 8| " " . , 
 
 8 " " . 
 
 7| " 
 
 Ih and 7i 
 
 7 and (i| 
 
 6h and (il 
 
 6" and 5| 
 
 
 
 $9 00 
 8 75 
 8 50 
 8 25 
 8 00 
 7 50 
 7 00 
 6 50 
 
 5^ and 5J cents per pound 
 6 and 4| " " 
 4h and 4| " " 
 4 and sj " " 
 oh and o? " " 
 3' and 2| " 
 2i 
 
 $6 00 
 5 75 
 5 50 
 5 00 
 4 75 
 4 50 
 4 00 
 
 This is probably the first important attempt at conciliation in 
 this country. It is, at least, the first one that involved such 
 large interests, and is probably the earliest example of a sliding 
 scale in the industries of the country, antedating four years the 
 basis arrangement in the anthracite regions. 
 
 The operation of this scale was of short duration. The 
 price of iron fell from seven and a half cents per pound in 
 February to four cents in July ; and the wages for boiling fell 
 in proportion. The men gave the ninety days' notice to ter- 
 minate the scale. At the expiration of the notice the price 
 of boiling had risen to six dollars under the scale ; but the men 
 demanded eight dollars without a scale, and received it. This 
 price prevailed to near the close of 1866, when the puddlers 
 demanded an advance to nine dollars, which was conceded, 
 though under protest, as the other advances had been. This 
 concession, however, was not of long standing ; for soon the 
 manufacturers gave evidence of unwillingness to continue the 
 prices, culminating in a notice of reduction to seven dollars per 
 ton. In this notice all the manufacturers, with but very few 
 exceptions, united, not only in Pittsburgh, but in all iron works 
 in the adjacent country. The puddlers refused to accejDt the 
 reduction ; and, as a consequence, a lock-out was inaugurated
 
 112 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 wliich extended from December, 1866, to the middle of May, 
 1867, all the mills, with two or three exceptions, remaining idle 
 all that time. This lock-out terminated in the manufacturers 
 paying the old wages. 
 
 Though the manufacturers had resumed work, it was evident 
 that they could not and would not long pay this price : and 
 the " Sons of Vulcan " determined to endeavor to again 
 secure the adoption of a sliding scale. A circular was adopted, 
 and addressed to each iron firm in the city, by the committee 
 of officials of the association, suggesting a conference with the 
 manufacturers, with a view of adopting, if possible, another 
 scale regulating the wages paid. The circular was responded 
 to by the manufacturers affirmatively. The committees came 
 together, and after a number of meetings agreed, on the twenty- 
 third day of July, 1867, upon a scale of prices, as follows : — 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made this twenty-third day of July, 1867, between the Committees of Boilers 
 
 and Manufacturers, to tvit: — 
 
 That nine dollars per ton shall be paid for boiling iron until the seven- 
 teenth day of Angust, 1867. From that time until the fifteenth day of 
 September, eight dollars shall be paid. 
 
 After latter date the following scale shall be operative: — 
 
 lion. Boiling. 
 
 5 cents card rates . . . . . . . . $8 00 
 
 4f " " " 7 75 
 
 4A " " " 7 50 
 
 4^ " " " 7 25 
 
 4 " " " 7 00 
 
 '3| " " " 6 75 
 
 3^ " " " 6 50 
 
 si " " " 6 25 
 
 3 " " " 6 00 
 
 Being twertity-five cents per ton reduction or advance for each change of 
 one-quarter of a cent per pound on card rates. Either party to this arrange- 
 ment can terminate the same by giving thirty days' notice to the other party. 
 It is further understood that immediate steps shall be taken by both 
 parties, following said notice, to meet, and endeavor to arrange the differ- 
 ence, and settle the difficulty which occasioned said notice. 
 
 This scale, with a modification that allowed of an advance 
 by tenths of a cent per pound instead of by quarters of a cent, 
 remained in force, and regulated the price of wages for boiling
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 113 
 
 iron for seven years. It will be noted that there is no provision 
 in the scale when the card rate is below three cents. As the 
 card rate approached this figure, the manufacturers asked for 
 a conference, with a view to arrange for a price for boiling 
 when the card reached this point, or went below it ; claiming, 
 which was not denied, that it was an understanding at the time 
 of the adoption of the scale, that it should be revised when 
 iron reached three cents per pound. 
 
 The first conference was held Nov. 7, 1874, when the manu- 
 facturers gave the required thirty days' notice to terminate 
 the agreement, coupled with the proposition to effect '' a reduc- 
 tion of one dollar per ton on a three cent card and all below 
 that figure, and at the same time providing for an extension 
 of their card rates from three cents to two and a half cents. 
 During the thirty days, and before the notice had expired, a 
 number of meetings were held, at which the men proposed a 
 reduction of fifty cents per ton on a three cent card, wages, 
 however, to extend no lower, should the price list be reduced. 
 This, however, the manufacturers refused. On the 5th of 
 December, 1874, they held their last meeting, adjourning with 
 the understanding that they agree to disagree." Then com- 
 menced the memorable strike which kept the many mills of 
 Pittsburgh in an almost complete state of idleness, especially 
 the puddling departments, during the entire winter. In March 
 the manufacturers proposed to arbitrate ; but the men at that 
 late day refused. Matters continued without material change 
 until the 15th of April, 1875, when, at a meeting of the manu- 
 facturers, it was decided to resume at $i5.50, iron having fallen 
 to two and a half cents per pound. This ended the strike ; and 
 it also ended all agreement between the manufacturers as a 
 body and the puddlers as a body, each manufacturer signing 
 the scale for himself, though the scale signed by each was the 
 same. In a word, though attempts have been made each year 
 since to reach an agreement by committees, conciliation in 
 arranging a scale for boiling ended with the strike of 1874-75. 
 
 In other classes of the iron work, however, scales had been 
 adopted that are still in force. Several classes of these workers 
 had unions separate from the " Sons of Vulcan." 
 
 After the long puddlers" strike of 1874, each organization 
 began to agitate the propriety of amalgamating into one grand 
 general organization. The agitation at last ended in each 
 
 15
 
 114 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 organization, at their annual conventions of 1875, appointing 
 committees who were authorized to meet during the year to 
 devise and prepare plans looking to the federation of all the 
 associations, and to report to the next annual conventions, 
 which were all arranged to meet the following year at Pitts- 
 burgh, at which time the several associations were merged into 
 one, under the distinctive title of the " Amalgamated Associa- 
 tion of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers of the United States." 
 
 A curious feature of the history of this association since the 
 amalgamation is, that, though it fails as a body to arrange a 
 scale for boiling with the manufacturers, as a body it has 
 arranged scales covering most of the other important classes 
 of skilled work in the rolling mills. A number of the scales 
 now in force in the Pittsburgh mills are appended to show their 
 character and scope. 
 
 GUIDE MILL ROLLING. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREExMENT 
 
 Made this second day of Aprils 1872, between a Committee of Guide Rollers and 
 a Committee from the Iron Manufacturers, appointed to fix a Scale of Prices 
 to he paid for Rolling Iron, based on the Manufacturers'' Card of Prices; it 
 being understood that either party shall have the rigid and privilege of terminat- 
 ing this agreement by giving sixty days' notice to the other party, but there shall 
 be no deviation without such notice and a conference. 
 
 It is agreed that tlie base price at a four and five-tenths manufacturers' 
 card shall be the straight four dollars rate for guide rolling, with two (2) 
 per cent additional for each one-tenth advance of manufacturers' card, and 
 two (2) per cent decline for each deduction of one-tenth (^L) from manu- 
 facturers' card. 
 
 Committee of Rollers. Committee of Manufacturers. 
 John E. Saiall, James I. Bennett, 
 
 John Davies, Charles H. Zug, 
 
 Samuel Carson, B. F. Jones, 
 
 James H. Riley, William Varnum, 
 
 ( Louis O'Donnell, A. E. "W. Painter, 
 
 Robert Moore. James C. Lewis, 
 
 H. W. Oliver, Jun.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 115 
 
 BAR AND NAIL PLATE ROLLING AND HEATING 
 
 AGREEMENT. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made this seventeenth day of October, 1879, between a Committee of Bar and 
 Nail Mill Rollers and Heaters, and a Committee from the Iron Manufac- 
 turers, appointed to fix a Scale of Prices to be paid for Rolling and Heat- 
 ing Iron, based on the Manufacturers^ Card of Prices ; it being understood 
 that either party shall have the right and privilege of terminating this agreement 
 by giving sixty days^ notice to the other party, but that there shall be no devia- 
 tion without such notice and a conference. 
 
 It is understood and agreed that in mills running on specialties, separate 
 contracts may be made between the manufacturers, roUers, and heaters, 
 without interfering with this arrangement. 
 
 When the manufacturers' card of prices are at the rates named below, 
 the price of rolling and heating shall be at the prices opposite, per ton 
 (2,240 lbs.). Nail-plate rolling ten cents per ton less than bar rolling. 
 
 KoUing and 
 Casd Rates. 
 
 Heating. 
 
 Card Rates. 
 
 RoUingand 
 HeaOng. 
 
 2^5_ cts. 
 
 9_5_ 4 4 
 OV 44 
 
 2A " 
 3 " 
 
 Ho " 
 
 
 
 
 
 65 cts. 
 664 " 
 68 " 
 
 691 44 
 
 71 " 
 721 4. 
 74 " 
 76 " 
 
 3A cts. . 
 3A " 
 
 It" 
 
 3-9- " 
 1- 44 
 
 
 
 
 
 78 cts. 
 
 80 " 
 
 82 " 
 85 " 
 88 " 
 91 " 
 94 '« 
 97 " 
 
 Committee of Rollers and Heaters. 
 James Penny, 
 John L. Mills, 
 Morgan Z. Evans, 
 John Krepps, 
 Charles P. Bowman, 
 Peter Straus, 
 Joseph Bishop. 
 
 Committee of Manufacturers. 
 B. F. Jones, 
 J. R. Wilson, 
 Charles L. Fitzhugh, 
 DavId B. Oliver, 
 A. F. Keating.
 
 116 
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITKATION. 
 
 SCALE OF PRICES FOR KNOBBLING. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made at Pittsburgh this twenty-third day of February y 1880, between a Committee 
 of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, and a Committee 
 of Iron Manufacturers, appointed to fix a Scale of Prices to be paid for 
 Knobbling, based on the Western Iron Association^ s Card of Prices ; it being 
 understood that either party shall have the right and privilege of terminating 
 this agreement by giving sixty days' notice to the other party, but that there shall 
 be no deviation without such notice and a conference. 
 
 When the Western Iron Association's card of prices is at the rates named 
 below, the price of knobbling shall be at the prices opposite, per ton 
 (2,4G4 lbs.). 
 
 Associa- 
 tion's 
 Card. 
 
 Scrap. 
 
 Per Ton, 
 
 2,464. 
 
 Keflned 
 
 Iron. 
 
 Per Ton, 
 
 2,464. 
 
 Pig 
 
 Metal. 
 
 Per Ton, 
 
 2,464. 
 
 Associa- 
 tion's 
 Caed. 
 
 Scrap. 
 
 Per Ton, 
 
 2,464. 
 
 Keflned 
 Iron. 
 
 Per Ton. 
 2,464. 
 
 Pig 
 
 Metal. 
 
 Per Ton, 
 
 2,464. 
 
 Bar Iron. 
 
 
 
 
 Bar Iron. 
 
 
 
 
 2A 
 
 S4 70 
 
 $6 11 
 
 17 52 
 
 4 3 
 
 6 42 
 
 8 21 
 
 10 34 
 
 
 4 80 
 
 6 22 
 
 7 68 
 
 4i 
 
 6 52 
 
 8 33 
 
 10 50 
 
 4 89 
 
 6 34 
 
 7 83 
 
 44 
 
 6 62 
 
 8 45 
 
 10 66 
 
 2-8 
 To 
 
 4 99 
 
 6 45 
 
 7 99 
 
 44 
 
 6 72 
 
 8 57 
 
 10 82 
 
 9 9 
 
 3" 
 
 5 08 
 5 17 
 
 6 57 
 6 68 
 
 8 14 
 8 30 
 
 4^ 
 4/o 
 
 6 82 
 6 92 
 
 8 69 
 8 81 
 
 10 98 
 
 11 14 
 
 h\ 
 
 5 27 
 
 6 80 
 
 8 45 
 
 44 
 
 7 02 
 
 8 93 
 
 11 30 
 
 44 
 
 5 37 
 
 6 91 
 
 8 61 
 
 5 
 
 7 12 
 
 9 05 
 
 11 46 
 
 3^4 
 
 5 46 
 
 7 02 
 
 8 76 
 
 5t^o 
 
 7 22 
 
 9 17 
 
 11 62 
 
 3i*o 
 
 5 56 
 
 7 13 
 
 8 92 
 
 4^7 
 
 7 32 
 
 9 29 
 
 11 78 
 
 h'o 
 
 5 65 
 
 7 24 
 
 9 07 
 
 44 
 
 7 42 
 
 9 41 
 
 11 94 
 
 1 
 
 5 75 
 
 7 37 
 
 9 23 
 
 44 
 
 7 52 
 
 9 53 
 
 12 10 
 
 5 84 
 
 7 49 
 
 9 38 
 
 5^ 
 
 7 62 
 
 9 65 
 
 12 26 
 
 3A 
 
 5 93 
 
 7 61 
 
 9 55 
 
 44 
 
 7 72 
 
 9 77 
 
 12 42 
 
 3i4 
 
 6 02 
 
 7 73 
 
 9 71 
 
 4o 
 
 7 82 
 
 9 89 
 
 12 58 
 
 4 " 
 
 6 12 
 
 7 85 
 
 9 86 
 
 h\ 
 
 7 92 
 
 10 01 
 
 12 74 
 
 4tV 
 
 6 22 
 
 7 97 
 
 10 02 
 
 44 
 
 8 02 
 
 10 13 
 
 12 90 
 
 4tV 
 
 6 32 
 
 8 09 
 
 10 18 
 
 6^ 
 
 8 12 
 
 10 25 
 
 13 06 
 
 This scale not to go below two and a half cents, Western Iron Associa- 
 tion's card. Knobbler to pay his helper one-third the above price for refined 
 iron and pig metal. 
 
 Co7n. of Amal. Asso. of Iron and Steel Workers. 
 T. C. Craavford, 
 Mark Lewis, 
 George G. Moyers, 
 John Jarrett, 
 William Martin. 
 
 Com. of Manuf 
 G. F. McCleane, 
 W. D. Wood, 
 P. XI. Laufman, 
 r. C. Kirkpatricic, 
 W. C. Cronemkyer.
 
 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 117 
 
 SCALE OF PRICES FOR ROLLING ON SHEET AND 
 
 JOBBING MILLS. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made at Pittsburgh this first day of March, 1880, between a Committee of the 
 Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, and a Committee of Iron 
 Manufacturers, appointed to fix a Scale of Prices to be paid for Rolling, on a 
 Sheet and Jobbing Mill, based on the Western Iron ^Association^ Card of 
 Prices ; it being understood that either party shall have the right and privilege 
 of terminating this agreement by giving sixty days' notice to the other party, but 
 that there shall be no deviation without such notice and a conference. 
 
 It is agreed that at a three and a half (3|) cents Iron Association card the 
 prices for rolUng on a sheet and jobbing- mill, per ton of 2,240 lbs., shall be 
 as follows, with two (2) per cent additional for each one-tenth advance of 
 association's card, and two (2) per cent decline for each deduction of one- 
 tenth (j-L) from association's card. 
 
 
 Prices for Rolling 
 
 
 Prices for Rolling 
 
 Gauges. 
 
 on a 3J Card, per 
 
 Gauges. . 
 
 on a 3 J Card, per 
 
 
 Ton, 2,240 lbs. 
 
 
 Ton, 2,240 lbs. 
 
 No. 8 and heavier 
 
 U 50 
 
 Nos. 25 and 26 . 
 
 Ill 00 
 
 Nos. 9 to 11 . 
 
 5 00 
 
 No. 27 . . . 
 
 12 00 
 
 12 to 14 . 
 
 6 00 
 
 28 . . . 
 
 13 00 
 
 15 to 17 . 
 
 7 00 
 
 29 . . . 
 
 14 00 
 
 18 to 21 . 
 
 8 50 
 
 30 . . . 
 
 15 00 
 
 22 to 24 . 
 
 10 00 
 
 
 
 This scale not to go below two and one-half (2^) cents. Western Iron 
 Association's card. 
 
 Ten per cent added on all strong iron, by whatever name called. No. 22 
 and lighter. 
 
 All sheets, No. 18 and lighter, over thirty-two inches wide, ten per cent 
 extra on above prices. 
 
 Heater to receive one-fourth ({) above prices ; shearman one-fifth Q) ; 
 roller to receive balance, and pay rougher and catcher only. 
 
 Com. of Manuf. Com, of Amal. Asso. of Iron and Steel Workers. 
 
 B. F. Jones, E. H. Davies, 
 
 A. M. Byers, Walter F. Davis, 
 
 G. F. McCleane, D. H. Summers, 
 
 W. C. Cronemeyer, John Jarrett, 
 
 G. A. Steiner, Richard Morgan, 
 
 P. H. Laufman, William Martin, 
 
 H. McDonald, Isaiah Whitehead. 
 John Q. Everson.
 
 118 
 
 rNDUSTEIAL CONCILTATIOK AKD ARBITRATION. 
 
 PITTSBURGH SCALE OF PRICES FOR BOILING. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made this day of 188 , between the firm of 
 
 and the Boilers in their employ. 
 
 When Cakd Rates of Bab 
 Ikon akb, pkk Potjkd. 
 
 Boiling shall be 
 
 per Ton of 2,240 
 
 pounds. 
 
 When Card Kates of Bab 
 Ikon are, per Pound. 
 
 Boiling shall be, 
 
 per Ton of 2,240 
 
 pounds. 
 
 2-^^ cents 
 
 ^> " 
 2t't) " 
 
 
 
 
 15 50 
 5 60 
 5 70 
 
 3j«g cents 
 
 Q 9 (< 
 
 
 
 
 17 10 
 7 25 
 7 40 
 
 2^ " 
 
 l^ :: 
 
 
 
 
 5 80 
 
 5 90 
 
 6 00 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 57 
 7 75 
 7 92 
 
 3iV " 
 
 
 
 
 6 12 
 
 4t4 " 
 
 
 
 
 8 10 
 
 ^.\ " 
 
 
 
 
 6 25 
 
 4^ " . 
 
 
 
 
 8 30 
 
 3^7 " . 
 
 
 
 
 6 37 
 
 4t4 " 
 
 
 
 
 8 50 
 
 It'' : 
 
 
 
 
 6 50 
 6 65 
 
 ti '' 
 
 
 
 
 8 70 
 8 90 
 
 ^'' ■ 
 
 
 
 
 6 80 
 6 95 
 
 V^ :: 
 
 • ' 
 
 
 
 9 10 
 9 30 
 
 The above agreement and scale of prices shall continue until the first day 
 of June, 1881. 
 
 For the Manuf. For the Amal. Asso. of Iron and Steel Workers. 
 
 SCALE OF PRICES FOR MUCK ROLLING. 
 
 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEME^^T 
 
 Made at Pittsburgh this seventh day of September, 1880, between a Committee of 
 the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and a Committee of 
 Iron Manufacturers, appointed to fix a Scale of Prices to be paid for Muck 
 Polling, based on the price of Boiling ; it being understood that either party 
 shall have the right and privilege of terminating this agreement by giving sixty 
 days^ notice to the other party, but that there shall be no deviation without such 
 notice and a conference. 
 
 It is agreed that the price to be paid for muck rolling per ton of 2,240 lbs. 
 shall be twelve and one-half per cent, or one-eighth of the price paid for 
 boiling iron, from and after the fii'st day of September, 1880. 
 
 It is further agi-eed that the price, viz., twelve and one-half per cent, of 
 boiling iron shall not go below the price paid on a two and one-half cent 
 card of the Western Iron Association as a basis for boiling iron. 
 
 The above price to include all labor in taking iron from squeezer, and 
 delivering upon bank straightened, except bloom boy. In such case, where
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 119 
 
 a bloom boy is used, the manufacturers hereby agree to pay one-half the 
 wages paid to said bloom boy. 
 
 Com. of Manuf. Com. of Amalgamated Asso. of Iron Workers, 
 
 A. F. Keating, Peter Stuaub, 
 
 A. C. MiLLiKKN. August Miller, 
 
 Jacob Wertz, 
 John Jarrett, 
 M. L. Morgan. 
 
 It should be noted, as showing the importance of the action 
 in adopting these scales, that, for the most part, they governed 
 for years the wages paid in all the rolling mills west of the 
 Allegheny Mountains. At Wheeling, however, scales have 
 been adopted through conference committees, based in most 
 instances on the price of nails, which are the chief production 
 of the mills of that vicinity. Even the price of mining coal is 
 fixed by a scale based on the price of nails. At Cincinnati the 
 workmen and manufacturers in the iron mills, early in the 
 present year, by committees, arranged a series of scales based, 
 like the Pittsburgh scales, on the card rate of iron, which are 
 now in force. At Philadelphia, at the close of a long strike 
 early in this year, and as the result of a conference, a scale of 
 wages was agreed upon for the ii'on mills of that vicinity, that 
 has been in force since. 
 
 It should be said in regard to these agreements, that they 
 have in every instance been faithfully kept, the terms have 
 been strictly adhered to, and, if any change in the terms of the 
 agreement has been desired, the agreement has always been 
 abrogated in the way named in its terms. A possible exception 
 to this statement is in certain cases where certain employes 
 working under these scales have struck, though there was no 
 question as to their wages, to assist in enforcing the demand of 
 some other class of labor, — as when the rollers would strike to 
 assist the puddlers to obtain a scale ; but even in such cases it 
 should be stated that the workmen do not regard it as in any 
 fair sense a violation of their agreement. 
 
 Arbitration in Pennsylvania. 
 
 In no State of the Union has industrial arbitration received 
 so much attention as in Pennsylvania. We have narrated the 
 history of conciliation in the iron trade of this State, but 
 this account by no means covers the history of conciliation in
 
 120 INDUSTEIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 its industries ; from its very nature it is well-nigh impossible 
 to gather the facts necessary to a complete history. 
 
 With arbitration it is different, its methods being open and 
 formal, and of such a nature as to demand a record of some kind 
 which can be made available for historical purposes. 
 
 In the coal trade of this State there are records of at least 
 three attempts at formal arbitration in three of the great coal 
 basins, — the Anthracite, the Pittsburgh, and the Shenango 
 Valley. In these centres arbitration has found most earnest 
 advocates both among operators and workmen ; and notwith- 
 standing its failure in each case in which it has been tried, not 
 through any inherent fault in the system, but from faults in 
 some of those who have attempted to apply the principle to 
 industrial disputes, there are still many of the leading men 
 who would be glad to see a new trial if it could be made under 
 the proper conditions. 
 
 It has also been a subject of careful investigation and discus- 
 sion by the executive and legislative branches of the state 
 government. At the meeting of the legislature next after the 
 Pittsburgh riots of 1877, a bill was introduced providing, upon 
 the application of either party to a labor dispute, for compulsory 
 arbitration with legal sanctions and enforcement of the award. 
 Just here it may be proper to state that compulsory arbitration 
 is a complete failure in England ; or perhaps it would be better 
 to say that, though laws providing for such arbitrations have 
 been on the English statute books since 1824, in no single in- 
 stance have they been appealed to. Arbitration in England has 
 been purely voluntary in the submission of the case, the conduct 
 of the investigation, and the enforcement of the awards. 
 
 Previous to thfe introduction of this bill. Gov. Hartranft had 
 requested the writer to visit England as special commissioner of 
 the State to examine into the practical workings of arbitration 
 and conciliation. The appointment was accepted, and the inves- 
 tigation made in 1878; and the result embodied in a report ^ 
 which Gov. Hartranft transmitted to the legislature with his 
 last message in 1878, devoting consideralile space in the message 
 to a discussion of the labor question and the advantages to be 
 derived from arbitration. 
 
 Notwithstanding the agitation of the subject, however, there 
 is not at present any arbitration board in the State, nor is formal 
 and systematic arbitration employed as a means of settling dis- 
 putes between employers and employed. 
 
 1 Forming Part I. of this pamphlet.
 
 industrial conciliation and arbiteation. 121 
 
 Arbitration in the Pennsylvania Anthracite Regions. 
 
 Referring to attempts at arbitration mentioned already, it 
 appears that the first formal arbitration in this country of which 
 we have any details — if, indeed, it is not the first attempt at 
 arbitration in any of our industries — took place in the anthra- 
 cite regions of Pennsylvania in 1871.^ 
 
 The industrial history of the anthracite regions has been 
 marked by greatest fluctuations in demand and prices for its 
 product, and a most terrible catalogue of outrages connected 
 with labor difficulties. 
 
 Relative to demand and prices, the chief features of the trade 
 have been times or eras of greatly increased demand united with 
 high prices, to be soon followed by other times and eras of over- 
 production, and then low prices and resu-lting depression and 
 disaster. The total result, however, so far as relates to produc- 
 tion, has been a constant increase. In the decade ending 
 with 1849, the amount of anthracite coal actually sent to market 
 was 18,954,678 tons (see Report, Pennsylvania Bureau of Sta- 
 tistics, 1872-73, p. 214). In the next decade the amount in- 
 creased to 58,333,469 tons ; and in the decade following, ending 
 with 1869, the total reached 106,883,488 tons. That is, the in- 
 crease in twenty years was nearly five hundred per cent. 
 
 This rapid increase in production created an unprecedented 
 demand for labor, coupled in the seasons of demand with such 
 inducements in the way of wages that vast bodies of workmen 
 were attracted from other industries and other sections, and 
 even from foreign countries, to the anthracite regions and the 
 mining of coal. It is estimated that at the time of the arbi- 
 tration under consideration over fifty thousand persons were 
 directly employed in connection with the mining of anthracite 
 coal. 
 
 This large body of men thus gathered from all trades and all 
 sections, to the following of an industry that has but little in 
 itself to attract men to it, did not readily unite. That intangible 
 thing that the French call esprit du corps, which is such a con- 
 servator at times of impulse and passion, and so inspiriting in 
 hours of depression and disaster, grew but slowly. The work- 
 men had but little in common except their occupation, and 
 
 1 These attempts in Pennsylvania were contemporaneous with those in Lynn, 
 Mass. See Part II. of this pamphlet. 
 16
 
 122 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATIOISr AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 between employes and employer there seemed not the least 
 community of interest. In the periods of over-demand, prices 
 for labor would be forced by the men or conceded by the opera- 
 tors to a ruinously high figure ; but the inevitable glutting of 
 the market that followed brought wages to a point inadequate 
 to sustain life, and a period of privation and suffering followed. 
 
 These periods of plenty and suffering that followed each 
 other with a grim regularity soon told upon the character of the 
 workmen of this region ; and a condition of society almost 
 surpassing belief developed itself, marked by the most terrible 
 evidences of its existence. Strikes were the normal condition 
 of the region ; and, their outcome being for the most part the 
 constant defeat of the workingmen, a feeling of utter hopeless- 
 ness and. blind recklessness became the ruling spirit of many of 
 the workmen, though it should not be forgotten that there was 
 still a large class of miners who were as thoughtful, provident, 
 and self-respecting as any class of citizens. Unfortunately, 
 however, it is not this class that give character and reputation 
 to a section. A writer, speaking of the condition of this region 
 during the war, describes it as " a pandemonium of outrage, vio- 
 lence, and anarchy, utter disregard of the sanctity of law, and of 
 immunity through its lax enforcements, such as has never been 
 known before in Pennsylvania, and seldom in the nation. The 
 long train of murders and of attempted murders, of horrible 
 beatings, of outrages by waylaying, of robberies and attempted 
 robberies, none of them prosecuted to conviction, and which, by 
 prejudiced representation, were made to give their coloring to 
 the character of the whole working population, constituted a 
 reign of horrors never to be forgotten or thought of without a 
 shudder by those who lived through them." (Report, Pennsyl- 
 vania Bureau of Statistics, 1872-73, p. 329.) 
 
 It was in the midst of such a condition of affairs that two 
 associations were formed, that for years exerted a powerful 
 influence on the employes and trade of this region. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1868, a petition was presented to the 
 Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, asking for a 
 charter for the " Workingmen's Benevolent Association of St. 
 Clair," which petition was granted in due course. On the 
 fourteenth day of the same month, the Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania approved an act which made eight hours a legal day's 
 work, the act to take effect July 1.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 123 
 
 About the middle of June a movement in favor of this law, 
 which originated in the Malianoy Valley, terminated in a strike 
 that lasted several months, and resulted in the discomfiture of 
 the men. The suspension of operations caused by this strike 
 advanced the price of coal, which was ruinously low before, 
 and taught the miners a lesson that they were not slow to 
 learn, as to the immediate effect of suspension on production 
 and prices. It also had the more important effect of extending 
 the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, which before this 
 had been local, throughout all that region. Branches of the 
 association were formed in various parts of the region ; and on 
 March 17, 1869, a General Council of the Workingmen's Benev- 
 olent Association was formed at Hazelton, in which the differ- 
 ent counties were allowed representation as follows : Schuylkill, 
 4 ; Luzerne, 4 ; Carbon, 3 ; Northumberland, 3 ; Columbia, 2 ; 
 Dauphin, 1. 
 
 Prior to the organization of the "Workingmen's Benevolent 
 Association of St. Clair, as above noted, an association of coal 
 operators was formed north of the Broad ^Mountain in the year 
 1867, under the name of the Mahanoy Valley and Locust 
 Mountain Coal Association. It embraced nearly all the larger 
 collieries in that region; and its success in the disposition of 
 questions heretofore occasioning strikes was such as to lead to 
 the formation of other organizations at different points during 
 the year 1868, by representatives from each of these. The 
 Anthracite Board of Trade of the Schuylkill coal region was 
 formed on Nov. 19, 1869, with Mr. William Kendrick as presi- 
 dent. This organization controlled at its formation 4,437,000 
 tons ; and, having been duly incorporated, acted thereafter in 
 all negotiations with the workmen. 
 
 Each party to the labor contests in this region was thus pre- 
 pared with an organization that could give voice to its wishes 
 and intentions, and could conduct any contest that should be 
 joined. It should be noted, however, that neither the entire 
 body of workmen nor all the operators were members of the 
 respective organizations. 
 
 At the meeting at Hazelton, noted above, at which the Gen- 
 eral Council of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association was 
 formed, the members resolved to prepare for a general suspen- 
 sion of work, which was to be ordered by the president when 
 four counties should unite in favor thereof. As the result of
 
 124 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ABBITEATION. 
 
 the suspension at the time of the eight hour strike referred to 
 above, and the consequent reduction of production and advance 
 in price, a strong impression was prevalent in the minds of the 
 men that a minimum should be fixed to the price of coal, and 
 that a suspension of work should be ordered when the market 
 would not afford this price ; the suspension to continue until 
 the demand should advance the price of coal to the minimum 
 fixed. 
 
 In accordance with this view and the action of the Hazelton 
 meeting, a suspension was resolved on ; and on the 29th of 
 April, 1869, Mr. John Siney, as president of the Schuylkill 
 Association, here called the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent 
 Association, ordered a general suspension of all work excepting 
 rock work timbering and repairing, the suspension to go into 
 effect May 10. This suspension was general throughout the 
 anthracite region, with the exception of the mines of the Penn- 
 sylvania Coal Company, and the Delaware, Lackawanna, and 
 Western Coal Company, whose workmen by a unanimous vote 
 decided " to postpone suspension to some future time." ^ The 
 suspension continued in the other upper regions for five months, 
 — from April to August. 
 
 The General Council of the Workingmen's Benefit Associa- 
 tion held another meeting at Hazelton, May 11, 1869, at which 
 the first formal action was taken by the miners on the " basis 
 system." The theory of this system is the establishment of a 
 scale of wages having a certain fixed relation to the selling 
 price of coal, with a minimum limit or basis below which the 
 selling price of coal shall not fall, or, if it does, wages shall not 
 fall below the rate provided for at this minimum. 
 
 At this Hazelton meeting of May 11, the basis system was 
 discussed, and it was resolved, — 
 
 " That the minimum price of coal be fixed at five dollars at Elizabeth 
 Port, and three dollars at Port Carbon; and the basis to be fixed in accord- 
 ance therewith." 
 
 The questions as to what the wages were to be at the basis, 
 and what the percentage of advance as the price went up, were 
 
 1 See Review of the Operations of the Basis System in the Schuylkill Coal Regions, 
 p. 4. I am under obligations to Mr F. B. Go wen, President of the Reading Rail- 
 road, for a copy of this review, with manuscript notes, of which free use has been 
 made.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 125 
 
 referred by the council to the executive boards of the several 
 districts "for their settlement and final disposal to the best 
 advantages possible," only providing that, if any district failed 
 to obtain a fair basis, they were to be supported by the others. 
 
 This resolution, it should be noted, virtually attempted to fix 
 two things : — 
 
 1st, A minimum rate, below which the price of coal should 
 not fall at the mines or at the point of shipment in the mining 
 regions, — that is, at Port Carbon ; and 
 
 2d, It attempted to fix a rate of freight for the transportation 
 of coal, which was to be two dollars. 
 
 Or, in other words, the Workingmen's Benevolent Associa- 
 tion proposed to regulate the mining, transportation, and price 
 of coal, — an undertaking of no little magnitude, and one that 
 had tasked the best energies and intelligence of the anthracite 
 regions. 
 
 While the strike or suspension of work was in progress, the 
 Executive Committee of the Coal Association of the Schuylkill 
 region submitted to the men, on the 4th of June, 1869, the 
 following propositions : — 
 
 " 1. Prices of labor to be regulated by prices of coal, taking the average 
 of all sizes at Port Carbon ; the percentage to be regarded in making the 
 average to be : larger sizes, seventy-five per cent ; chestnut, twelve and a 
 half per cent ; and pea, twelve and a half per cent. 
 
 " 2. When the average price of coal is three dollars per ton at Port Car- 
 bon, outside labor to be eleven dollars per week ; platform men, eleven 
 dollars and a half per week ; inside labor, twelve dollars per week ; and 
 miners, fourteen dollars per week, clear of costs. 
 
 " 3. For each advance of twenty-five cents per ton at Port Carbon, an 
 advance of fifty cents per week and five cents per wagon ; and for each 
 decline of twenty-five cents, a similar reduction, yardage to be in proportion. 
 
 "4. The advance and decline in price of coal to be determined by a 
 board of five operators, to be appointed by the Workingmen's Benefit 
 Association, who will pledge themselves to make a true and correct state- 
 ment of their sales for each month. 
 
 " 5. The rates of wagon work and yard work to be those now existing at 
 each colliery, on which the advance or decline is to operate unless modified 
 by amicable agreement between employer and employe. 
 
 "6. No stoppage of work until a notice of six days has been given. 
 
 " 7. If any colliery in this association is prevented from starting by reason 
 of any threats against bosses or other employers, or by reason of any at- 
 tempted dictation as to who shall or who shall not be employed, whether as 
 boss or other employe, we, as representatives of the Coal Association, pledge 
 ourselves to remain idle until such colliery be able to start wholly free from 
 any such restraint or interference.
 
 126 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 " 8. We also require that the local committees shall abstain from all ille- 
 gitimate interference with the working of the collieries." 
 
 At a meeting of the General Council of the Workingmen's 
 Benevolent Association, held at Mahanoy City, June 9, the 
 proposition of the operators having been considered, it was 
 resolved, — 
 
 " That, the object of the suspension having been attained by the deple- 
 tion of the surplus of coal in the market, on and after June 16, all districts 
 or branches that can agree with their employers as to basis and condition 
 of resumption do resume work." 
 
 The council refused to acquiesce in or discuss the seventh 
 and eighth clauses of the operators' proposition, on the ground, 
 as stated by Mr. John Parker, the president of the Working- 
 men's Benevolent Association, that the workmen claimed no 
 such rights. 
 
 Immediately after the adjournment of the General Council, 
 the Executive Board of Schuylkill County of the Working- 
 men's Benevolent Association met, and made the following 
 proposition as a basis on which to resume work : — 
 
 " That we demand for outside labor eleven dollars; platform men eleven 
 dollars and a half; inside labor twelve dollars; and miners fourteen dollars 
 per week, when working on wages — all inside work to be clear of expenses ; 
 also, that contract work to be raised in accordance therewith : this to be 
 asked when coal is at three dollars at Port Carbon. 
 
 " That we receive one-fifth of all advances thereafter, and all reduction 
 to be taken off in accordance to above advances. 
 
 " The advances and reduction to be on all sizes above pea." 
 
 This proposition being but little different from that of the 
 operators, it was accepted, and work resumed in the Schuylkill 
 district in June. In those parts of the northern region in 
 which the suspension occurred, the operators refused to accept 
 a basis, and the suspension continued as before stated until 
 August, when the men yielded and went to work without a 
 basis and scale. 
 
 The wages for June, July, and August, as presented in the 
 following table, were agreed upon by the committees repre- 
 senting the two associations, upon hearing the statements of the 
 presidents as to prices, — that for August being increased to 
 make up a deficiency claimed for July. Thereafter, the prices
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATIOlSr AND ARBITEATION. 
 
 127 
 
 were reported in writing by the five firms selected, on the 25th 
 of each month, and the wages were based on the average so 
 obtained ; it requiring, however, an advance or decline of over 
 twelve and a half cents per ton to permit the advance or re- 
 duction of wages. 
 
 The prices of coal at Port Carbon so reported, the average, 
 and wages paid thereon per week, are given in the following 
 table : — 
 
 
 
 Prices eeported 
 
 AT Poet Carbon, 
 
 
 1869. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Second. 
 
 Third. 
 
 Fourth. 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Average. 
 
 June 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 July . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 August . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 September . 
 
 m 201 
 
 $3 151 
 
 12 99 
 
 $2 611 
 
 $2 49 
 
 $2 89 
 
 October 
 
 3 66 
 
 3 62 
 
 3 58 
 
 3 271 
 
 3 21 
 
 3 44 
 
 November 
 
 3 91 
 
 3 81 
 
 3 75 
 
 3 75 
 
 3 54 
 
 3 75^ 
 
 December 
 
 2 84 
 
 2 82 
 
 2 75 
 
 2 68 
 
 2 61 
 
 2 74 
 
 Averages 
 
 $3 40| 
 
 $3 351 
 
 !1^3 26f 
 
 13 07i% 
 
 $2 96i 
 
 -13 20^ 
 
 1869. 
 
 PAID AT 
 
 Wages paid per Week. 
 
 Miners. 
 
 Inside 
 Labor. 
 
 Outside 
 Labor. 
 
 June 
 July 
 
 August . 
 September 
 October 
 November 
 December 
 Averages 
 
 10 per cent advance 
 
 15 " " 
 
 35 " " . 
 
 Basis 
 
 10 per cent advance 
 
 15 " " . 
 
 Basis 
 
 
 $15 40 
 
 113 20 
 
 
 16 10 
 
 13 80 
 
 
 18 90 
 
 16 20 
 
 
 14 00 
 
 12 00 
 
 
 15 40 
 
 13 20 
 
 
 16 10 
 
 13 80 
 
 
 14 00 
 
 12 00 
 
 
 $15 70 
 
 113 46 
 
 112 10 
 12 65 
 14 85 
 
 11 00 
 
 12 10 
 12 65 
 11 00 
 
 $12 33^
 
 12S INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 As will be seen by an examination of this table, the fluctu- 
 ations in wages under the basis and sliding scale had been quite 
 marked, but the average for the seven months of its operation 
 had been 12^ per cent above the basis. For the whole year the 
 advance was 7.08, an amount fully twenty-five per cent above 
 the average of 1868, which was again higher than that of 1867. 
 It will also be noted that the closingf' month of 1869 found the 
 price of coal twenty-six cents per ton below the basis. 
 
 In view of these facts, the Anthracite Board of Trade at a 
 meeting held at Tremont, Penn., Dec. 29, 1869, offered the 
 following terms for 1870 : — 
 
 " Resolved, That hereafter the basis shall be fixed at two dollars per ton 
 at Port Carbon, and wages, whilst coal brings that rate, shall be, — 
 
 Outside labor $7 50 per week. 
 
 Inside 8 50 " " 
 
 Miners 10 50 " " 
 
 " The contract work to be reduced from the present three dollar basis, 
 forty per cent. 
 
 " The advance in wages as the price of coal advances shall be as follows : 
 When the average of all sizes from lump to chestnut (both inclusive) reaches 
 f2.50, five per cent; $3, ten per cent; S3 25, fourteen per cent; $3.50, 
 seventeen per cent; $3.75, twenty-oue per cent; $4, twenty-five per cent; 
 and further advances in the same proportion; aud in all cases costs nmst be 
 paid by the parties using the same. 
 
 " These prices to be obtained from the average of actual sales, as shown 
 by the books of five operators." 
 
 This proposition was rejected, and the collieries represented 
 in the association stopped work. A number of outside col- 
 lieries, however, continuing to work, the restriction was with- 
 drawn Jan. 17, that those might work who thought proper to 
 do so. 
 
 On Feb. 18, the above offer was withdrawn, and new terms 
 offered on a basis to be fixed at two dollars and a half per ton 
 at Port Carbon: outside labor to be nine dollars per week; 
 inside labor to be ten dollars per week ; miners' wages to be 
 twelve dollars per week, clear of expenses. Contract work 
 to be reduced thirty per cent below present prices. Labor to 
 receive twenty per cent advance on coal. 
 
 On March 15, the largest meeting of the trade ever held 
 took place in Union Hall, Pottsville, with Mr. James Neill as 
 president. Seventy-six firms, representing over four million
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 129 
 
 tons, were present, and agreed to stand by the offer of the 
 Anthracite Board of Trade, of the two dollars and a half basis, 
 declaring the terms to be " even more liberal than the present 
 or prospective condition of the trade warranted ; " and notice 
 was given, that, if these terms were not accepted, work would 
 be suspended on April 2. 
 
 The workingraen still adhering to the claim for three dollar 
 basis as a minimum, work at once ceased, the tonnage decreas- 
 ing until it was only 16,038 tons in the third week after the 
 stoppage. 
 
 Through the instrumentality of F. B. Gowen, Esq., president 
 of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, the follow- 
 ing terms (known as the " Gowen compromise") were offered by 
 the men, July 22, and finally accepted by the operators, on 
 learning that a number of operators had given orders to start, 
 strongly protesting against the justice of the terms : — 
 
 " Resolved, That we, the members of the Workingmen's Benevolent Asso- 
 ciation, do offer to our employers of Schuylkill County to start on the basis 
 of 1869, when coal is worth three dollars per ton at Fort Carbon. 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That, when coal brings f3.25, we demand eight and one- 
 quarter per cent of an advance; $3.50, sixteen and one-half per cent of an 
 advance; $3.75, twenty-four and three-quarters per cent advance; $i.OO, 
 thirty-three per cent advance. 
 
 '* Resolved, That when coal falls below the basis of 1889, say $2.75, we 
 accept a reduction of eight and one-quarter per cent; $2.50, sixteen and 
 one-half per cent; $2.25, twenty-four and three-quarters per cent; $2.00, 
 thirty-three per cent, and nothing lower. 
 
 " Resolved, That any miners working on contract, after they start earning 
 over $100 per month, be reduced ten percent; $125 and over, twenty per 
 cent; $150 and over, thirty per cent; $200 per month, if there be any, forty 
 per cent. 
 
 " Resolved, That the above figures be taken from the six grades of coal^ 
 pea coal not included. 
 
 " Resolved, That the above resolutions be handed to F. B. Gowen, Esq., 
 President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. 
 
 (Signed) JOHN SINEY, President. 
 
 "Geo. Corbett, Secretary." 
 
 At the time the basis of 1869 was adopted, it was tacitly 
 agreed that interference on the part of the workingmen, or 
 "victimizing" on the part of the manufacturers, was to cease. 
 This tacit understanding was not kept. The Workingmen's 
 Benevolent Association sustained its members in what the An- 
 thracite Board of Trade regarded as illegitimate and arbitrary 
 
 17
 
 130 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 interference with their business ; and in return the Anthracite 
 Board of Trade, or collieries connected with it, had the mem- 
 bers of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association arrested for 
 conspiracy, and they were convicted and imprisoned. These 
 facts, and a desire to avoid all causes of trouble, led to the sign- 
 ing of the following agreement as supplementary to and ex- 
 planatory of the Gowen compromise. 
 
 AGREEMENT 
 
 Made at Pottsville this S9th of July, 1870, between the Committee of the Anthra- 
 cite Board of Trade, and the Committee of the Workingmen's Benevolent 
 Association. 
 
 It is agreed that the Workingmen's Benevolent Association shall not sus- 
 tain any man who is discharged for incompetency, bad workmanship, bad 
 conduct, or other good cause; and that the operators shall not discharge any 
 man or officer for actions or duties imposed upon him by the Workingmen's 
 Benevolent Association. 
 
 It is further agreed that the spirit and intention of the resolution (called 
 the equalization resolution), passed by the Workingmen's Benevolent Asso- 
 ciation, is that each man shall work regularly; and it is the place of the 
 bosses and operators to see that he does. The resolution is, that any miner 
 earning above expenses, over one hundred and less than one hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars, shall be reduced ten per cent on the basis ; earning over 
 one hundred and twenty-five dollars and less than one hundred and fifty 
 dollars, shall be reduced twenty per cent on the basis; earning over one 
 hundred and fifty dollars and under two hundred dollars, to be reduced thirty 
 per cent on the basis ; earning over two hundred, to be reduced forty per 
 cent on the basis. 
 
 For obtaining the price of coal monthly, the president of the Anthracite 
 Board of Trade and the president of the Workingmen's Benefit Association 
 of Schuylkill County shall meet on the twentieth day of each month, and 
 select five operators, who shall, on the 25th inst. following, produce a state- 
 ment, sworn or affirmed to, of the prices of coal at Port Carbon, for all sizes 
 above pea coal. 
 
 The five operators shall be selected from a list of those shipping over forty 
 thousand tons annually, and none shall be selected the second time until the 
 list is exhausted. 
 
 The price of coal so obtained shall fix the rate of wages for that month; 
 and this agreement in regard to the mode of obtaining prices shall remain in 
 force during the year 1870. 
 
 Under these terms, which continued in force for the year, the 
 average prices per ton at Port Carbon, exclusive of pea, rates 
 of payment, and weekly wages, were as follows : —
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 131 
 
 
 
 Pricks Reported 
 
 AT Poet Cakbon. 
 
 
 1870. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Second. 
 
 Third. 
 
 Fourth. 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Average. 
 
 August . 
 
 $3 27 
 
 $2 92j2^ 
 
 $2 85^ 
 
 $2 74^3^ 
 
 $2 48jV 
 
 $2 85-^ 
 
 September . 
 
 2 501 
 
 2 47A 
 
 2 42f 
 
 2 41 
 
 2 39^ 
 
 2 44^ 
 
 October 
 
 2 70 
 
 2 51,V 
 
 2 50J, 
 
 2 47,-V 
 
 2 33^ 
 
 2 50,V 
 
 November 
 
 2 39 
 
 2 39 
 
 2 351 
 
 2 15| 
 
 2 09^ 
 
 2 27,T^ 
 
 December 
 
 2 28 
 
 2 20i 
 
 2 17f 
 
 2 17^ 
 
 2 OOf 
 
 2 17 
 
 Averages 
 
 $2 62^V 
 
 $2 50,^ 
 
 $2 46,=^ 
 
 12 39^ 
 
 12 26^ 
 
 $2 45 
 
 
 PAID AT 
 
 Wages Paid per Week. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Miners. 
 
 Inside 
 Labor. 
 
 Outside 
 Labor. 
 
 August . 
 September 
 October . 
 November 
 December 
 
 81 per cent reduction . 
 16^ " " 
 161 " « 
 244 <' «' 
 243 " <' 
 ..... 
 
 $12 85 
 11 69 
 11 69 
 10 54 
 10 54 
 
 $11 01 
 10 02 
 
 10 02 
 9 03 
 9 03 
 
 $10 09 
 9 19 
 9 19 
 
 8 28 
 8 28 
 
 Averages 
 
 $11 461 
 
 $9 821 
 
 $9 OOf 
 
 On the 7th of November, 1870, the committees representing 
 the Anthracite Board of Trade, and the Workingmen's Benevo- 
 lent Association of Schuylkill County, met in Pottsville, to 
 arrange for the basis for 1871. Both parties signed an agree- 
 ment to advocate the adoption of the following terms, provided 
 that satisfactory arrangements could be made with the railroad 
 company for a fair reduction of tolls ; to commence with coal 
 at 12.50 per ton at Port Carbon. Outside wages, nine dollars 
 per week ; inside wages, ten dollars per week ; miners, day, 
 twelve dollars per week ; contract work to be reduced sixteen 
 and a half per cent from the present basis. The reduction or 
 addition of percentage to be graded on the new price thus
 
 132 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 
 
 formed, at the rate of one per cent for each three cents advance 
 or decline in coal. 
 
 Pending the consideration of this agreement, and before 
 action, on the 1st of December, 1870, the northern districts 
 decided to reduce wages, and gave notice accordingly. The 
 workmen resisted, and finally, through the General Council of 
 the Workingmen's Benevolent Association (the delegates from 
 Schuylkill County voting no, but being out-voted by the other 
 counties), a general suspension was ordered Jan. 10, 1871. 
 
 On Jan. 25, the delegates of the Workingmen's Benevolent 
 Association in Schuylkill County resolved to adhere to the 
 three dollar basis, if the northern companies co-operated with 
 them; if not, they would make the best terms for themselves 
 they could. This entirely repudiated the action of the com- 
 mittees on Nov. 7, 1870. 
 
 The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company having 
 decided to increase the rates of tolls as shipments decreased, 
 until increased shipments could be secured, the authority of the 
 Legislature was invoked by the men, and the Judiciary Commit- 
 tee of the Senate was instructed to take testimony and report. 
 
 This investigation resulted in nothing but a virtual defeat of 
 the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, the committee re- 
 porting that in accordance with certain decisions of the Supreme 
 Court, the Legislature had no power to interfere. 
 
 We have entered thus fully into the history of the labor 
 troubles in the anthracite region prior to and at the time of the 
 first trial of the basis system, as it shows most admirably the 
 advantages that result from the adoption of conciliation in the 
 settlement of labor troubles. If in such a trade, with such a 
 class of men as we have described, under so many adverse cir- 
 cumstances, an agreement could be reached that should be self- 
 acting, and should regulate the wages with the fluctuations of 
 the market, it need scarcely be said that other trades that will 
 not encounter any such adverse circumstances need not despair 
 of finding through it a settlement of some of the vexed ques- 
 tions that afflict their special industry. 
 
 We have now reached the time when, under the decision of 
 an umpire and as the result of a careful trial, the basis system 
 received a deliberate sanction, and became a feature of the 
 method of the payment of wages in the Schuylkill Valley. 
 
 We have already noted the act of the General Council of the
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 133 
 
 Workingraen's Benevolent Association, in abrogating without 
 notice the basis for 1871, agreed upon by the president of the 
 Workingmen's Benevolent Association, for adoption in Schuyl- 
 kill County, and the demand for the old three dollar basis. 
 Coupled with this we have noted the advance of tolls on the 
 Reading Road, the appeal to the legislature by the Working- 
 men's Benevolent Association, and its failure to accomplish the 
 purpose designed. 
 
 The subject of arbitration as a means of settling these dis- 
 putes had for some time received a good deal of attention. 
 Reports had been received of its operations in England, and 
 published in the local journals; and some of the most influential 
 of these had urged its adoption. At the time of the coal inves- 
 tigations by the legislature above referred to, Mr. Gowen of the 
 Reading Road used his utmost influence to prevail upon the 
 workmen to accept arbitration. His views of arbitration, and 
 his efforts to secure its adoption, he thus states in his argument 
 before the committee: — 
 
 ' ' I believe that the only permanent remedy for personal differences is arbi- 
 tration, with an umpire whose decision shall be final. There never has been 
 a time when we were not willing to resort to this plan. For two years we 
 have been trying to bring it about. In the last annual report of the Reading 
 Railroad Company, it was suggested as the px'oper method of avoiding future 
 troubles ; but the Workingmen's Benevolent Association has never been 
 willing to adopt it. Acting entirely upon the principle that no one had any 
 rights but themselves, and that what they did not know was not worth know- 
 ing, they have persistently refused to accept any other arbiter than that of 
 their own wills. Whatever we suggested has been considered as the advice 
 of an enemy ; and they have never yet arrived at the conclusion that the 
 interests of the workiugman and his employer are identical, and that both 
 can be best subserved by unity of action. 
 
 " Even so late as this afternoon, I stated to the officers of the association, 
 that, if they would agree to the postponement of this argument for one week, 
 I would call a general meeting of the railroad and mining interests for to- 
 morrow, and would hand to them on the following day (Friday) a proposi- 
 tion that work should be resumed on Monday in all the districts, without any 
 agreement about wages, and that before the end of the month a board of 
 arbitration and conciliation, with an umpire whose decision should be final, 
 should meet in each district to adjust the wages ; that whatever such board 
 agreed to would be paid ; and that the charges for transportation should be 
 reduced as soon as work was commenced : but this proposition was pi'omptly 
 rejected, and I was told that the ai-gument should be proceeded with to-day."
 
 134 INDUSTRIAL CONCrLIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 During his testimony, earlier in the investigation, in answer 
 to the question, " How is this [that is, the troubles] going to 
 end ? " he said, — 
 
 " It can end whenever the workingmen listen to reason, and sit quietly 
 down among themselves, and meet the operators, and let some umpire decide 
 it. I have been trying to do that. I have cited cases in England where it 
 has done great good ; let the workingmen have their committee, and the 
 operators their committee, and, if they cannot agree, let some umpire decide 
 between them." 
 
 His appeal and offer, in the end, were not without effect ; for, 
 by an agreement made soon after the legislative investigation, 
 arbitrators were selected from both sides for Carbon, Luzerne, 
 Schuylkill, Columbia, and Northumberland Counties, who met 
 at Mauch Chunk, April 17, 1871, and chose Judge William 
 Elwell of Bloomsburg as umpire. The board had been con- 
 vened "to settle the difficulties now [then] existing, but no 
 others;" but, to the surprise of the operators, the delegates 
 from the Luzerne and Lehigh regions refused to allow the ques- 
 tion of wages to be submitted to the decision of the umpire, and 
 the men from Schuylkill introduced a new proposition, basing 
 wages upon the price of coal on board vessels at Philadelphia, — 
 an evident attempt to control transportation charges, in which 
 they had just been defeated before the legislature. These posi- 
 tions thus taken by the workmen resulted in the failure of the 
 arbitration, so far as wages were concerned; but the question as 
 to the respective rights of employers and employed was submit- 
 ted to Judge Elwell for his decision. E. W. Clark, on the part 
 of the operators, and James Kealy, on the part of the workmen, 
 formally presented theu" statements in reference to the questions 
 of interference with the works, and discharging men for their 
 connection with the Workingmen's Benevolent Association. 
 Votes taken on the adoption of the presentments of either side 
 being rejected, they were referred to the umpire, who at the 
 next session gave the following decision : — 
 
 DECISION OF HON. WILLIAM ELWELL, UMPIRE. 
 
 To whom teas referred, by the Board of Arbitration convened at Mauch Chunk, 
 the question of Interference of Mines. 
 
 CONTROL OF WORK. 
 
 The umpire, to whom was referred certain points in reference to control of 
 collieries, upon which points arbitrators here present, chosen respectively by 
 operators and miners, have failed to agree, makes the following report : —
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 135 
 
 First, The right of an owner or lessee and operator of a colliery to the 
 entire and exclusive control and management of his works is guaranteed to 
 him by the law of the land, and is of such an unquestionable character that 
 it ought not to be interfered with, either directly or indirectly. 
 
 Second, The umpire concurs with and adopts, as a correct statement of 
 the law, that part of the late proclamation of the Executive of this Common- 
 wealth, wherein he says, that " it is unlawful for any person, or association 
 of pei'sons, by violence, threats, or other coercive means, to prevent any 
 laboi-ers or miners from working when they please, for whom they please, 
 and at such wages as they please ; and alike unlavpful, by such violence or 
 threats, to deter or prevent the owners or operators of mines from employing 
 whomsoever they may choose to employ, and at such wages as may be agreed 
 upon between the employer and the person employed." 
 
 Third, It is the undoubted right of men to refuse to work except upon 
 such terms as shall be agreeable to them ; but a general understanding that no 
 person of a particular association of laborers shall work for any operator who 
 has in his employ a member of such association, who has not paid his dues to 
 the association ; or any person who does not belong to such association, — is 
 contrary to the policy of the law, and subversive of the best interests of the 
 miners and their employers. An association may inflict fines upon its mem- 
 bers for breach of by-laws, and expel for non-payment ; but it has no right, 
 by combined action, to place the defaulter in the light of au outlaw in the 
 transaction of business with others. 
 
 Fourth, The umpii'e decides that it is contrary to the spirit of the law, as 
 stated secondly above, for a body of men to agree not to work, because their 
 employer refuses to employ a particular person, or because he has discharged 
 such person. If such a case arises where the act of the operator is deemed 
 to be oppressive, and he refuses to redress the wrong, it is a proper one for 
 local arbitration, by which, in most cases, the difficulty could be properly 
 settled without the disastrous consequences arising both to the employers 
 and employed by a strike, even at one colliery. 
 
 Fifth, As persons of sound mind and competent age are permitted by law 
 to bargain for themselves, their contracts in regard to labor at mines should 
 be held as sacred as other contracts, and should not be annulled or set aside 
 in any manner different from that provided for other cases. Interference by 
 persons not parties to the contract is not to be tolerated. 
 
 Sixth, Operators ought not in any manner to combine against persons 
 who belong to the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association. Any 
 operator who refuses to employ a person because he is so connected, or who 
 shall discharge him for that reason, would thereby give good grounds for 
 censure, and for other members to refuse to work for him. 
 
 Seventh, No member of the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association 
 ought to be deprived of his work because of his being selected by his branch 
 to perform the duties mentioned in Sect. 3, Art. 16 of the by-laws of that 
 association, if his duties are performed in the manner there mentioned. 
 
 Eighth, In regard to the right claimed by the miners to cease work when 
 they see cause, whether in a body or otherwise, it is impossible to lay down 
 any rule, and I am not aware that it is expected of me to do so ; but I may 
 be allowed to recommend that — after resumption again takes place, and
 
 136 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 
 
 business is again moving in its accustomed channel — immediate steps be 
 taken to provide for the adjustment of difficulties, if any shall arise in 
 future, before they reach the disastrous proportions of those which now 
 afflict not only the laborers and operators, but the vphole country. 
 
 Ninth, Whenever it is stated in the foregoing report that an act is unlaw- 
 ful, is censurable, or ought not to be, it is to be understood in the same 
 manner as if the umpire had awarded that such act shall not be done nor 
 allowed by either of the parties represented in this arbitration. 
 
 WILLIAM ELWELL, Umpire. 
 Maugh Chunk, April 19, 1871. 
 
 The board of arbitration having failed to settle the wages 
 question, the operators of Schuylkill County determined to 
 ignore the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, and appealed 
 directly to the men ; and under date of April 22, 1871, through 
 a committee they made a proposition to pay wages on a fixed 
 basis of $2.75 for coal for the balance of the year. 
 
 The proposition was as follows : — 
 
 To the Workingmen of Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Columbia Counties. 
 
 Having failed to make terms with your representatives, for the resump- 
 tion of work, we have come to the conclusion that the best way to start our 
 collieries, and furnish you employment, is to address ourselves directly to you. 
 
 We have left no effort untried on our part to come to some reasonable ad- 
 justment with your representatives. In the board of arbitration which lately 
 met at Mauch Chunk, we hoped to find a solution for all difficulties, because 
 we believed that that board was convened, and the umpire selected, in accord- 
 ance with the resolution of your General Council, " to settle the difficulties 
 now existing, and no others ; " but to our surprise we were met with an 
 entirely new proposition. Finding that the present difficulties about wages 
 were entirely ignored by your representatives, and that new issues were pre- 
 sented, and also that the men of the Luzerne and Lehigh regions were not 
 willing to submit to the decision of the umpire upon the question of wages, 
 we have, after careful consideration, determined to offer you a fixed rate of 
 wages, without regard to the price of coal. 
 
 We propose to pay you for the balance of this year the following rates : 
 Outside laborer, flO per week; inside laborer, $11 per week; miners, by 
 day's work, f 13 per week; and a reduction of contract work of ten per cent 
 upon the prices paid under the $3 rate of the basis of 1869. 
 
 We wish you to distinctly understand that we do not desire to interfere 
 with your association in any manner whatever. The question of interfer- 
 ence with the management of our collieries has been clearly settled by the 
 decision of the umpire; and we shall at all times be willing to assist you in 
 maintaining your association for the relief of those members who by accident 
 or sickness may require your aid. 
 
 We believe that, if this offer is accepted by you, immediate resumption 
 can take place, aiid that we can give you steady work for the remainder of 
 the year, and put an end to the unpleasant and unprofitable bickerings that
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 137 
 
 have heretofore taken place almost monthly. We make this offer under the 
 belief that it will be more acceptable to you than the offer of the |2.50 basis; 
 but, if you prefer the basis system, we will be willing to submit in writing, 
 to Judge El well, the umpire, the relative merits of the |2.50 basis hereto- 
 fore offered by us, and the $3 basis heretofore claimed by you, and to abide 
 
 by his decision, whatever it may be. 
 
 F. BORDA, Chairman. 
 C. M. Hill., Jun., Secretary. 
 Philadelphia, April 22, 1871. 
 
 This was a liberal offer ; but the evident design to ignore 
 the leaders of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, and 
 the association itself, led to the issuing of the following card, 
 and the adoption of resolutions by the Workingmen's Benevo- 
 lent Association, in which it will be seen they recede from their 
 refusal to arbitrate on wages : — 
 
 " Whereas, A committee of operators have made a proposition directly to 
 the miners, thus utterly ignoring our organization, and grossly insulting its 
 legally elected officers ; and 
 
 " Whereas, We regard said proposition as a bribe to the men to surrender 
 the basis, and agree that the organization shall cease to be protective in its 
 character ; and 
 
 " Whereas, Even at such great cost the men are not guaranteed steady 
 work during the year : therefore 
 
 " Resolved, That we cannot accept said proposition." 
 
 Mr. Williams, for No. 9 District, voted against the resolution, because 
 instructed by his district to accept conditionally the proposition of the op- 
 erators; but he and others who voted nay guaranteed that their constituents 
 would abide by the above decision. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Ryan, the following resolutions were adopted: — 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That Schuylkill County will resume work as soon as prac- 
 ticable on a basis of $2.75, with wages for miners at $12.85 per week, in- 
 side laborers fll.Ol per week, and outside laborers $10.10 per week, with a 
 sliding scale to $2.50, or one cent in three reduction; also with an advance 
 of one cent in three in the price of coal at Port Carbon, above $2.75 per ton; 
 the basis price of contract work to be eight and a quarter per cent below the 
 basis of 1869. We make this offer in good faith, knowing that this scale is 
 quite as favorable as the prices offered to the men on Saturday last, knowing 
 that it is as little as the men can afford to accept, less in fact than they 
 ought to accept, and that it may be the means of breaking the dead-lock. 
 
 ♦' Resolved, That, if this offer is not agreeable to the operators, we are 
 willing to submit the question of wages, including all propositions thus far 
 made by either side, to arbitration; to appoint committees of four on each 
 side to support, by argument, their several offers." 
 
 A committee was aj^pointed to wait on Mr. Kendrick, President of the 
 Anthracite Board of Trade, to give him the result of the meeting. 
 
 JOHN SINEY, President. 
 George CounETT, Secretary. 
 PoTTSViLLE, April 27, 1871. 
 
 18
 
 138 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 The following reply was returned in answer to the above : — 
 
 Mr. John Siney, President. 
 
 Sir, — I am in receipt of resolution passed by the Executive Committee 
 of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, April 27, 1871. In reply 
 would say, that I have submitted it to the operators, and they adhere to the 
 proposition as made to the men on Saturday, April 22, 1871. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 WM. KENDRICK, President A. B. T. 
 
 However, arbitration in the question of Avages was decided 
 upon, May 11, for Schuylkill County, the other regions having 
 resumed work by mutual agreement, as the following article 
 will show : — 
 
 ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made and entered into between the Anthracite Board of Trade and ike 
 
 Miners^ and Laborers^ Benevolent Association, this eleventh day of May^ 
 
 1871. 
 
 We agree to submit for the decision of the umpire, Judge Elvv^ell, the 
 question of wages for Schuylkill County, for the year 1871, as follows : — 
 
 First, The operators' proposition as made in Philadelphia : namely, 
 basis to be $2.50 at Port Carbon, with outside wages at $9 per week; 
 inside wages at $10 per week; miners, by day's work, $12 per week; con- 
 tract work to be reduced sixteen and a half per cent from the present 
 rates; the advance or decline of wages to be one per cent for every three 
 cents advance or decline in the price of coal, to be graded on the new price 
 thus formed. Wages not to be less than would be paid with coal at $2 at 
 Port Carbon. 
 
 Second, The Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association's proposition 
 of $3 at Port Carbon as a minimum, with wages as last year at that rate : 
 namely, outside wages, $11 per week; inside wages, $12 per week; miners, 
 by day's work, $14 per week; advance to be one percent for every three 
 cents in the advance in price of coal. 
 
 We agree* to the reference of the above proposition under the following 
 conditions and terms : 
 
 First, Each side to submit their proposition, with argument thereon, in 
 writing, to the umpire. 
 
 Second, Men to resume work at all the collieries immediately. The 
 wages to be paid, to be in accordance with the decision of the umpire. 
 
 Third, Prices shall be obtained from a list of aU operators shipping over 
 20,000 tons in 1870. Five operators shall be chosen from this list by lot on 
 the tenth day of each month (if Sunday, then the preceding day), by four 
 pei-sons, two to be chosen by the Anthracite Board of Trade, and two by 
 the Miners' and Laborers' Association. The operators so chosen to forward 
 to each side of the committee chosen as above, on or before the fifteenth 
 day of the month, a statement of the average of all sales of coal for the 
 thirty days preceding, calculated at Port Carbon. They (the committee)
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITEATION. 139 
 
 shall meet on the fifteenth day of the month (or if Sunday, then the pre- 
 ceding day), and announce by circular the average obtained from the 
 statements so presented, and the wages for the current month shall be based 
 on the average so obtained. 
 
 For the month of May the operators to furnish prices shall be chosen on 
 the 20th inst., and the prices shall be furnished and announced on the 
 25th inst. 
 
 Fourth, Provision is hereby made for future arbitration in the following 
 manner : 
 
 I. All questions of disagi-eement in any district, excepting wages, which 
 cannot be settled by the parties dii"ectly interested, shall be referred to a 
 district board of arbitration, to consist of three members on each side, with 
 power, in case of disagreement, to select an umpire whose decision shall be 
 final. No colliery or district to stop work pending such arbitration. 
 
 II. If any question arises involving the whole county, a board of 
 arbitration shall be chosen, consisting of five members on each side, with 
 the same rights and duties as for district boards. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the parties hereto, 
 
 WM. KENDRICK, 
 
 President A. B. of Trade. 
 CHAS. M. HILL, 
 
 Secretary pro tern., A. B. of Trade. 
 
 JOHN W. MORGAN, 
 
 Pres. pro tern., Schuylkill Co. Ex. Board M. and L. B. Association. 
 
 GEORGE CORBETT, 
 
 Secy. Schuylkill County Ex. Board M. and L. B. Association. 
 
 JOHN P. FRANCIS, 
 
 THOMAS LEONARD, 
 
 MICHAEL LAWLER, 
 
 Coinmittee, 
 
 And the following was the decision of the umpire for wages 
 in Schuylkill County : — 
 
 DECISION OF THE UMPIRE. 
 
 The umpire mutually chosen by the Anthracite Board of Trade of the 
 one part, and the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association of the 
 other part, to decide the question of wages now at issue before them, having 
 received and fully considered the written propositions and arguments of the 
 parties, has decided and established the basis rates of wages below men- 
 tioned, as in his judgment just, both to the operators and the men in their 
 employ; viz., — 
 
 Basis, $2.75 at Port Carbon. 
 
 Miners, by day's work, $13 per week. 
 
 Inside laborers, $11 per week. 
 
 Outside laborers, $10 per week. 
 
 Contract work to be reduced ten per cent, upon the prices paid under the 
 $3 basis of 1869. »
 
 140 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Wages to be advanced one cent for every three cents advanced on the 
 price of coal at Port Carbon above $2.75 per ton, and to decline at the same 
 rate when coal is below that price, down to $2.25 per ton. 
 
 The articles of agreement under which the submission was made, together 
 
 with the agreements and statements of the parties laid before me, are hereto 
 
 attached. 
 
 WM. ELWELL, Umpire. 
 PoTTSviLLE, May 17, 1871. 
 
 This result was hailed throughout the entire region as a set- 
 tlement of troubles for the year ; not only that, but it was 
 believed that an era of peace had at last dawned on the trou- 
 bled coal regions. It is true, that under the agreement the 
 decision had to be accepted by both parties, and that the result 
 was not satisfactory to a portion of the men, who received it 
 grumblingly, thinking that the umpire should have decided in 
 favor of the three-dollar basis. At some collieries, also, there 
 was trouble over the employment of some men who were not 
 members of the Workingmen's Benevolent Association ; but 
 these troubles were soon adjusted, and all the collieries were in 
 full operation under the award of the umpire. 
 
 All these anticipations were doomed to disappointment, as 
 the terms of the decision remained in force only until Septem- 
 ber. Coal having fallen at this time below the basis of $2.75, 
 the loaders of the Thomas Coal Company, in flagrant violation 
 of the award of the umpire, demanded an advance equal to the 
 basis rates for the year, and ceased work. The officers of the 
 Workingmen's Benevolent Association used their efforts in favor 
 of adhering to the basis, and the difficulty was on the point of 
 adjustment, when the company acceded to the demand, and 
 entered into a written agreement with all their employes, includ- 
 ing even the miners, who had not asked an advance, and prom- 
 ised not only to pay wages on a fixed basis of |2.75 for the 
 balance of the year, but also to pay any deficiency that had 
 occurred in the previous months. Of course the men at the 
 other collieries in the vicinity demanded the same agreement. 
 It was resisted at some, and the men struck ; at others they 
 agreed,. under protest, to pay it until action was taken by the 
 committees. Appeals were made to the officers of the Work- 
 ingmen's Benevolent Association, and the men, to adhere to the 
 agreement, notwithstanding its violation by the Thomas Coal 
 Company, and many of them did use their exertion to maintain 
 the agreement ; but gradually one by one agreed to pay on a 
 basis of 12.75 for the balance of the year, and the president of
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 141 
 
 the Workingmen's Benevolent Association candidly admitted 
 that it was impossible for them to check the current, because 
 so many had already acquiesced rather than have a strike. 
 
 This action ended arbitration in the anthracite region. So 
 far as we are aware, no attempt has since been made to adjust 
 any wages difficulty in this region by the use of this method. 
 
 With whom should rest the blame of this failure, can be 
 judged from the details we have given. The better class of the 
 workmen regarded the violation of faith, on the part of their 
 class, with a deep sense of shame and a dread of consequences ; 
 but the action was so rapid that the mischief was done before 
 they could make their influence felt. On the other hand, the 
 hasty and unwise action of the Thomas Coal Company was by no 
 means blameless, and was not so regarded by the Anthracite 
 Board of Trade, as the company was expelled from membership. 
 
 The effect of the repudiation of the umpire's decision, on the 
 future relations of employers and employed, cannot be esti- 
 mated. Gov. Hartranft in his last message to the legislature of 
 Pennsylvania expresses the belief that those horrible pages in 
 the history of the anthracite industry, connected with the Molly 
 Maguire outrages, the deep disgrace to the State, and the hang- 
 ing of nearly a score of its citizens for participation in these 
 outrages, might have been avoided by the adoption and prac- 
 tice of arbitration. If this opinion is correct, the utmost haste 
 should be made to rehabilitate arbitration, not only in the an- 
 thracite industry but in all the industries of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The attempt at arbitration, however, was not wholly without 
 beneficial effect. The chagrin of a very large portion of the 
 workmen at what they regarded as a violation of good faith on 
 their part was so great that they resolved that the spirit of the 
 decision should be carried out in 1872, even if the letter had 
 been violated in 1871. And in virtual accordance with the sec- 
 ond section of article fourth of the agreement of May 11, 1871, 
 a committee of five each, from the Anthracite Board of Trade, 
 and the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association of 
 Schuylkill County, met at Pottsville, Jan. 6, 1872, and agreed 
 upon the basis of wages for 1872 as follows : — 
 
 ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 
 
 Made and entered into between the Anthracite Board of Trade of the Schuylkill 
 Region, and the Miners^ and Laborers'' Benevolent Association of Schuylkill 
 County, this sixth day of January, 1872. 
 First, Wages to be fixed on a basis of two dollars and fifty cents (|2.50)
 
 142 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 per ton for coal at Port Carbon, with outside labor at ten dollars ($10) per 
 week; inside labor at eleven dollars (-111) per week; miners, by day work, 
 at thirteen dollars ($13) per week; and contract work at a reduction of eight 
 and one-third (8^) per cent below the basis price at $2.75 last year. 
 
 Second, All advance and decline to be at the rate of one (1) per cent on 
 wages for every three (3) cents advance or decline in the price of coal; with 
 the understanding that when coal reaches 82-.75 or upwards, the wages shall 
 be the same as at the same price of coal in 1871: provided, that wages shall 
 not be less than the $2.50 basis price for more than two months out of the 
 year, and that those two months shall be between April 1 and Dec. 31, and 
 that in those two months the wages shall not be less than at a $2.25 rate. 
 
 Third, Prices shall be obtained from a list of all collieries shipping over 
 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad over thirty thousand (30,000) tons 
 in 1871, and none shall be chosen a second time until the list is exhausted. 
 Five operators shall be chosen, by lot, from this list the first day of each 
 month (if Sunday, then the day preceding) by four persons, two to be cho- 
 sen by the Anthracite Board of Trade, and two by the Miners' and Laborers' 
 Benevolent Association. The operators so chosen shall be required to for- 
 ward to each side of the committee chosen as above, on or before the 10th of 
 the month, a statement of the average of all sales of coal (excepting pea 
 coal) for the preceding month, calculated at Port Carbon. The committee 
 shall meet on the 10th of the month (or, if Sunday, then the day preceding), 
 and announce by circular the average obtained from the statements so pre- 
 sented; and the wages for the current month shall be based upon the average 
 so obtained. For the month of January, it is agreed that wages shall be 
 paid on the $2.50 basis. 
 
 Signed at Pottsville, Penn., on the sixth day of January, 1872, on behalf 
 of the parties hereto. 
 
 For the A. B. of T. For the M. and L. B. A. 
 
 WM. KENDRICK, JNO. J. WILLIAMS, 
 
 J. K. SIGFRIED, JAMES RYAN, Jun., 
 
 GEO. W. COLE, JNO. H. DODSWORTH, 
 
 J. L. NUTTING, WM. J. McCARTY, 
 
 CHAS. M. HILL, Jun. MICHAEL FARRELL. 
 
 The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the 
 committees : — 
 
 Whereas, There having been some complaints about the unequal prices of 
 powder and oil throughout the country : 
 
 " Resolved, That, whenever difficulties occur on that question, it shall be 
 the duty of the president of the Anthracite Board of Trade, and the presi- 
 dent of the Miners' and Laborers' Benevolent Association, to investigate the 
 matter either in person or by deputy, and endeavor to have it amicably 
 arranged. ' ' 
 
 By this agreement the basis wages were to be paid for Janu- 
 ary and for the months following as per table below. 
 
 The prices of coal (excluding pea) were for the sales of the
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 
 
 143 
 
 month preceding that in which here entered, but were to fix 
 wages for the month given. 
 
 As per agreement the reduction allowed for two months was 
 taken off in April and May. 
 
 
 
 Pbicbs Reported 
 
 AT Port Carbon, 
 
 
 1873. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Second. 
 
 Third. 
 
 Fourth. 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Average. 
 
 January 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 _ 
 
 February , , 
 
 
 $2 44^ 
 
 $2 36,;'^ 
 
 $2 27^% 
 
 12 25^-% 
 
 $2 17^*^ 
 
 $2 30^3^ 
 
 March . 
 
 
 2 33 
 
 2 31^ 
 
 2 20 
 
 2 04^ 
 
 - 
 
 2 22,3^ 
 
 April . 
 
 
 2 38 
 
 2 17 
 
 2 091 
 
 2 05 
 
 2 03 
 
 2 14i 
 
 May 
 
 
 2 091- 
 
 2 08 
 
 1 98 
 
 1 96J_ 
 
 1 95 
 
 2 01,V 
 
 June 
 
 
 2 19 
 
 2 13^ 
 
 2 09 
 
 1 881 
 
 - 
 
 2 07^ 
 
 July . 
 
 
 2 11 
 
 2 07 
 
 2 01 
 
 1 91 
 
 1 85 
 
 1 99 
 
 August . 
 
 
 2 051 
 
 2 0^\ 
 
 1 97 
 
 1 80 
 
 1 73 
 
 1 92,% 
 
 September 
 
 
 2 31f 
 
 2 15 
 
 1 80 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 09 
 
 October 
 
 
 2 23^ 
 
 2 19 
 
 1 971 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 13^ 
 
 November 
 
 
 2 45,^^ 
 
 2 38J^ 
 
 2 32 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 38,V 
 
 December 
 
 
 2 43^«^ 
 
 2 26i 
 
 2 27^ 
 
 2 26,V 
 
 2 21 
 
 2 29^3^ 
 
 Averages 
 
 3 
 
 $2 27j-V 
 
 $2 19^^^ 
 
 $2 09 
 
 $2 02^2_ 
 
 $1 99 
 
 12 14,% 
 
 
 
 PAID AT 
 
 Wages paid per 
 
 Week. 
 
 1873. 
 
 Miners. 
 
 Inside 
 Labor. 
 
 Outside 
 Labor. 
 
 January 
 
 Basis .... 
 
 $13 00 
 
 $11 00 
 
 $10 00 
 
 February 
 
 
 .... 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 March . 
 
 
 .... 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 April 
 
 
 8| per cent reduction . 
 
 11 93 
 
 10 09 
 
 9 18 
 
 May 
 
 
 8^ " " 
 
 11 93 
 
 10 09 
 
 9 18 
 
 June 
 
 
 Basis .... 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 July 
 
 
 u 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 August . 
 
 
 <( 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 September 
 
 
 (( 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 October . 
 
 
 (( 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 November 
 
 
 (( 
 
 13 00 
 
 11 00 
 
 10 00 
 
 December 
 
 
 . • . • • 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Averages 
 
 
 U2 82^ 
 
 $10 84| 
 
 $9 86^
 
 144 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 The blank spaces in the table are on account of operators failing to report 
 prices when called upon. 
 
 A noticeable event of the year was the agreement made at 
 Pottsville, on Aug. 27, for the sale of coal to line and city 
 trade at prices to be regulated by a committee each month, after 
 the Scranton sales. 
 
 The agreement was signed by fifty-two firms, representing 
 three-fourths of the trade ; a number of those declining to sign 
 the agreement pledged themselves, however, to adopt the same 
 rates. 
 
 This fixed the basis for coal for calculating wages for that 
 year. 
 
 In December, 1872, committees of five again met to arrange 
 the basis and wages for 1873. 
 
 '* The miners demanded a minimum basis of $2.75 for contract work, and 
 $3.00 for day's labor. The operators oifered a basis of $2.50 and $2.75, the 
 same as in 1872, running down to $2.00 minimum. This the committee 
 declined, and referred the offer to the different divisions throughout the 
 county for their action. On the 10th inst., the Executive Committee of the 
 Workingmen's Benevolent Association met, and, after discussing the whole 
 question, made an offer of compromise to the operators, making the basis 
 for contract work $2.50, and for day's labor $2.75 minimum, with an advance 
 of one cent in wages for every three cents advance in the price of coal, and 
 no work to be done until the proposition is accepted. They consider this as 
 their ultimatum. 
 
 " The Anthracite Board of Trade, after discussing the compromise made 
 by the Workingmen's Benevolent Association, resolved to accept it." 
 
 Similar success, however, did not attend the attempt to fix 
 a basis and wages for 1874. In January of this year the oper- 
 ators' committee, in view of the depression caused by the panic 
 of 1873, proposed a reduction of twenty per cent, which the 
 miners refused ; and a five months' strike ensued, the miners 
 at the end of this time yielding, and resuming work at the 
 reduction proposed. 
 
 It is not necessary to give further details of the operation of 
 the basis system and sliding scale. It has become the unwritten 
 law of the anthracite regions ; and while under its operation, 
 or rather in order to arrive at a basis, some very important and 
 long-continued strikes have occurred, the basis system has done 
 away with the constant annoyance of petty strikes about wages, 
 and, the basis and scale once settled, during its operation there 
 can be no question as to the rate of wages to be paid.
 
 industrial conciliation and arbitration. 145 
 
 Arbitration in the Coal Mines of the Pittsburgh, 
 
 Penn., District. 
 
 Shortly after the return of the \yriter from his investigation 
 into the practical operation of arbitration and conciliation in 
 England, upon the request of the Chamber of Commerce, he 
 delivered an address before the manufacturers and workingmen 
 of Pittsburgh and vicinity on this subject. The address was 
 printed in pamphlet form, and widely circulated among the 
 workingmen. In the following summer, whether as a result of 
 the. discussion following this address or not we are unable to 
 say, Mr. David Fitzgerald and Mr. D. R. Jones, president and 
 secretary respectively of the Miners' Union, addressed a letter 
 to the Pittsburgh Coal Exchange, virtually suggesting arbitra- 
 tion for settling the constant disputes that were characteristic 
 of the coal trade of this region. The president of the Coal 
 Exchange, as it afterwards appeared, without convening the 
 Exchange, answered in its behalf, to the effect that the Ex- 
 change could not take action on such a subject. This was no 
 doubt a fact ; but if the disposition had existed it would have 
 been possible to have met the objection as the Pittsburgh iron 
 manufacturers do, — by calling a meeting of the trade outside 
 of the association. 
 
 It was further a fact that the Coal Exchange as constituted 
 only represented those mines that were situated on the Monon- 
 gahela River, and which made all or most of their shipments by 
 river. 
 
 With a knowledge of these facts, and also assurances that a 
 large number of the proprietors of the railroad mines, so called, 
 or the mines located on the railroad near Pittsburgh, and which 
 did most of their shipping by rail, as well as some of the river 
 mines, favored arbitration ; the writer endeavored to bring about 
 a meeting of committees representing the operators and miners, 
 and after some effort succeeded. 
 
 A call for a meeting of operators was issued as follows : — 
 
 PiTTSBUKGH, Sept. 20, 1879. 
 To the River and Railroad Coal Operators : 
 
 Gentlemen, — The interest I have taken in endeavoring to inaugurate 
 
 some better method of settling disputes between employers and employed 
 
 than strikes and lock-outs is my excuse for this circular. On the 21st of 
 
 July a letter was addressed to the Coal Exchange by a committee of miners, 
 
 19
 
 146 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 suggesting a conference to exchange views upon the advisability and practic- 
 ability of devising some plan by which differences in the future could be 
 settled. Through a misunderstanding as to the intention and scope of this 
 letter, it was not as fully considered, or brought to the attention of the oper- 
 ators as widely, as was intended. It has occurred to me that now might be 
 a favorable time to endeavor to bring about such a conference as was sug- 
 gested. I am assured that a committee of miners will be willing to meet a 
 committee of operators, if such is appointed, to discuss and endeavor to 
 suggest some plan to put an end to strikes and lock-outs. 
 
 After consultation with several operators, I am led to believe that such a 
 movement would be received with favor by the operators ; and I therefore 
 request that you attend a meeting of river and railroad operators at the Iron 
 Association Rooms, 77 Fourth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 
 1879, at ten a. m., to consider the propriety of appointing such a committee. 
 
 I do not desire to be impertinent, but it has been suggested, that in view 
 of the investigation of the practical workings of arbitration I have made as 
 a commissioner of the State, and as I am in no way connected with either 
 party, that the movement might be inaugurated in this way without either 
 operators or miners being responsible for its outcome. 
 
 All operators are earnestly invited to be present at the meeting. It is 
 
 suggested that the call be confidential until after the meeting is held. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 JOS. D. WEEKS. 
 
 We heartily indorse the above call, and earnestly urge every operator to 
 
 be present, that a full discussion may be had. 
 
 New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Company. 
 
 The Fort Pitt Coal Company. 
 
 Hartley & Marshall. 
 
 Jno. McIntyre. 
 
 Hampton Coal Mines. 
 
 Dickson, Stewart, & Co. 
 
 Joseph Walton & Co. 
 
 George Lysle & Sons. 
 
 Foster, Clark, & Wood. 
 
 Three of the indorsers to this paper were river operators, and 
 some of them among the largest. The remainder were rail- 
 road operators. 
 
 A meeting of the miners was called for the same day as that 
 of the operators. The two bodies met at different places in 
 Pittsburgh, Sept. 24, 1879, and chose committees of conference 
 which met the next day, Sept. 25. At this meeting a board of 
 arbitration was substantially agreed upon, and a sub-committee 
 appointed to adopt rules for its government. 
 
 These rules were presented to the committee at a meeting 
 held Oct. 6. The operators objected to certain parts of them, 
 the objection being chiefly to the character of the questions to
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 147 
 
 be submitted to the board ; but, in the end, they waived their 
 g! objections, and, with some slight amendments, the rules as pre- 
 sented were adopted by the conference committee and ordered 
 to be submitted to separate meetings of miners and operators 
 to be held Oct. 21. 
 
 At these meetings the operators at once adopted the rules as 
 agreed upon ; but the miners proposed certain amendments, and 
 demanded that they be adopted or rejected by the 24th. 
 
 To one of these, which reads as follows, the operators took 
 decided objections : — 
 
 " Twenty-fourth If any miner repi-esentative or operator representa- 
 tive shall become incapable of serving on this board, by reason of negligence 
 or crime, the party whom he represents shall have power to censure, suspend, 
 or expel him by a two-thirds vote of the party aggrieved." 
 
 The chief objection to this was that it was virtually a threat 
 to any member who should exercise his individual judgment, 
 and act as the arguments and facts presented should dictate. 
 The operators again, however, waived their objections, and 
 adopted the amendments proposed. A copy of the rules as 
 finally adopted is as follows : — 
 
 Rules for the Formation and Government op a Board of Con- 
 ciliation AND Arbitration for the Coal Mines of Western 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 [The following correspondence gives the official announcements of the 
 adoption of the within rules by miners and operators : — 
 
 Pittsburgh, Oct. 21, 1879. 
 Jos. D. Weeks, Secretary. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Per instructions from Miners' Arbitration Convention of this 
 date, I hereby transmit to you an official copy of the rules for the government 
 of a board of arbitration, with changes and amendments as adopted by the 
 delesrates after a considerate and an exhaustive discussion of the same. The 
 concurrence of the operators to them is respectfully requested on or before 
 Friday evening, Oct. 24, 1879. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 D. R. JONES, Gen. Secretary. 
 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., Oct. 24, 1879. 
 D. R. Jones, General Secretary. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am instructed to inform you that at the convention of coal 
 operators held this day, the changes and amendments made by the Miners' 
 Convention in the rules of the Board of Conciliation and Arbitration were 
 concurred in. 
 
 I am also instructed to call a meeting of operators to elect members of the
 
 148 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 board on the same day that the miners meet for the same purpose, and would 
 
 thank you to inform me of the date of the miners' meeting at your earliest 
 
 convenience. 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 JOS. D. WEEKS, Secretary.^ 
 
 First. The title of this board shall be, " The Board of Conciliation and 
 Arbitration for the Coal Mines of Western Pennsylvania." 
 
 Second. The object of said board shall be, First, to settle all questions of 
 wages. Second, to determine such other general matters affecting the inter- 
 ests of either party as may be submitted to it from time to time by operator 
 or miner, and by conciliatory means to use its influence to prevent disputes 
 and put an end to any that may arise; local questions may be referred to the 
 board by either the miner or operator for adjustment. 
 
 Third. The board shall consist of eighteen members, four from the rail- 
 road miners, four fi-om the river miners, four from the railroad operators, 
 four from the river operators, and a miners' secretary, and an operators' 
 secretary at large. 
 
 Fourth. The operators and miners shall each select their own representa- 
 tives in such a way as shall seem to them best: provided only, that, with the 
 exception of the secretaries, the representatives so selected shall be actively 
 engaged in mining or in operating mines. 
 
 Fifth. The members of the board shall be chosen the second Tuesday in 
 January, and shall hold office for one year and be eligible for re-election. 
 The board so elected shall meet for organization, at the call of the president, 
 within two weeks succeeding such election. 
 
 [Note. — It is understood that the members of the board and officers elected 
 at the adoption of these rules shall serve until the time of the regular election iu 
 January.] 
 
 Sixth. If any representative die or resign, or cease to be qualified by ter- 
 minating his active connection with coal mining, a successor shall be chosen 
 within one month in the same manner as is provided in the case of an 
 annual election. 
 
 Seventh. Each representative shall be deemed fully authorized to act for 
 the parties which have elected him. 
 
 Eighth. At the meeting of the board, to be held in January of each year, 
 it shall elect a president and vice-president, one from the operators, the other 
 from the miners, who shall continue in office for one year and be eligible for 
 re-election. The president, vice-president, and secretaries shall be ex-officio 
 members of all committees. 
 
 Ninth. At the same meeting of the board a conference committee shall 
 be chosen, to consist of one representative each of the river and railroad 
 operators, and of the river and railroad miners, and the secretaries. The 
 operators and miners shall each elect their own representatives on the com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Tenth. All questions shall, in the first instance, be referred to the con- 
 ference committee, who shall investigate and endeavor to settle the matters 
 so referred to it, but shall have no power to make an award, unless by con- 
 sent of the parties. In the event of the committee being unable to settle any 
 question, it shall, as early as possible, be referred to the board.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 149 
 
 Eleventh. The president shall preside over all meetings of the board, and 
 in his absence the vice-president, and, in the absence of both president and 
 vice president, a chairman shall be elected by the meeting. 
 
 Twelfth. All votes shall be taken at the board by a show of hands, unless 
 a ballot is called for by any member. The president and vice-president shall 
 be entitled to vote on all questions, but shall have no casting vote in case of 
 a tie. If at any meeting of the board the operator and miner representatives 
 are unequal, all shall have a right to discuss any questions that may arise ; 
 but only an equal number of each shall vote, the representative of the same 
 section as the absent member not being entitled to vote. The decision of the 
 majority of the board shall be final and binding on both parties 
 
 Thirteenth. In case of a tie vote in the boai"d, it shall appoint an inde- 
 pendent referee, whose decision in the matter in question shall be final and 
 binding; but said referee shall be the unanimous choice of the board, and 
 his selection and decision shall not occupy more than five working days. 
 
 Fourteenth. Immediately upon the organization of the board it shall pro- 
 ceed to fix a scale of prices "to be paid for digging coal. 
 
 Fifteenth. All questions requiring investigation shall be submitted to the 
 conference committee or to the board, as tlie case may be, in writing, and 
 shall be supplemented by such verbal evidence or explanation as they may 
 think needful. 
 
 Sixteenth. No subject shall be brought forward at any meeting of the 
 conference committee or of the board, unless notice thereof be given to the 
 secretaries five clear days before the meeting at which it is to be considered. 
 
 Seventeenth. The conference committee shall meet for the transaction of 
 business prior to the half-yearly meetings, and, in addition, as often as busi- 
 ness requires. The place of meeting shall be arranged between the president 
 and secretaries in default of any special direction. 
 
 Eighteenth. In case of any difference or dispute arising having reference 
 to the river or railroad interest exclusively, it shall be the privilege of the 
 interest invoh'ed to ask that the difference or dispute be settled by the repre- 
 sentatives of the river or railroad mines, together with the secretaries. 
 
 Nineteenth. The board shall meet for the transaction of business twice a 
 year, in January and July; but on a requisition to the president, signed by 
 five members of the board, specifying the nature of the business to be tran- 
 sacted, and stating that it has been submitted to the conference committee 
 and left undecided by them, he shall, within five days, convene a meeting of 
 the board. The circular calling such meeting shall specify the natm-e of the 
 business for consideration. 
 
 Twentieth. Pending the discussion and decision of any difference or dis- 
 pute, there shall be no lock-out on the part of the operators, or strike on the 
 part of the miners. 
 
 Twenty-First. Neither operators nor miners shall interfere with any man 
 on account of his being a union or non-union man. 
 
 Twenty- Second. Any expenses incurred by this board shall be borne 
 equally by both parties, the operators paying one-half and the miners paying 
 one-half; and it shall be the duty of the conference committee to establish 
 the most convenient arrangements for collecting what may be needed to meet 
 such expenses.
 
 150 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Tioenty-TIiird. Parties may at any time join this board by filing with 
 the two secretaries an agreement to be bound by these rules. 
 
 Twenty- Fourth. If any miner representative or operator representative 
 shall become incapable of serving on this board, by reason of negligence or 
 crime, the party whom he represents shall have power to censure, suspend, 
 or expel him by a two-thirds vote of the party aggrieved. 
 
 Twenty- Fifth. No alteration shall be made in these rules except at the 
 half-yearly meeting of the board, nor then, unless notice in writing of the 
 proposed change be given to the secretaries at least one calendar month be- 
 fore such meeting. 
 
 Attest: JOS. D. WEEKS, D. R. JONES, 
 
 Operators^ Secretary. Miners^ Secretary. 
 
 Under these rules the operators and miners elected their 
 members of the board. It was found impossible to prevail on 
 some of the more prominent river operators to join the board ; 
 and as a result it was organized by the representatives of the 
 railroad miners only. 
 
 The members of the board elected were as follows : — 
 
 Representing the railroad operators, William A. Mcintosh, 
 S. McCrickart, D. Reisinger, Alexander Patterson, and Joseph 
 D. Weeks at large. Representing the river miners, John 
 Beveridge, F. Gates, M. T. Conway, William Gallagher, and D. 
 R. Jones at large. At the first meeting of this board, held Oct. 
 29, William A. Mcintosh was elected president, John Beveridge 
 vice-president, Joseph D. Weeks operators' secretary, and D. R. 
 Jones miners' secretary. 
 
 Under the fourteenth rule of the board, the first business of 
 the organization was the fixing of a scale of prices for mining 
 coal. The miners proposed that the board adopt as a basis of 
 the scale the price paid in the iron mills of Pittsburgh for boil- 
 ing iron : arguing that a large amount of the coal mined in the 
 pits represented, entering into a manufacture of iron, decided 
 largely the price of coal ; and, further, that, the price of boiling 
 being fixed, the miners would always know what the basis was. 
 
 The operators answered that not one-fourth of the coal pro- 
 duced by the mines represented was used in the iron mills of 
 Pittsburgh, and that it was illogical to base the price of mining 
 coal on the price paid some other labor when it could be based 
 on the price of the product of mining ; and they proposed that 
 the price of mining be based on the price of coal in the yard of 
 the Pennsylvania Road at Pittsburgh. 
 
 The miners insisted on their basis; and again, rather than
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 151 
 
 have a dead-lock over preliminaries, the operators yielded, and 
 voted for the basis at the price of boiling. 
 
 Following this, three scales were presented, two by the miners 
 and one by the operators. After a discussion lasting five and a 
 half days, no agreement as to a scale could be reached, and the 
 following was adopted : — 
 
 " Resolved, 1st, That the price of digging coal shall be three and one-half 
 cents per bushel for the month of November, 1879. 
 
 " Resolved, 2d, That in making this advance of one-half cent per bushel 
 by said board of arbitrations, that the miners and their secretary agree to 
 make the said price for mining coal universal; that is to say, on the Pan- 
 Handle and Chartiers Branch, Montour Run, Saw-mill Run, Castle Shannon 
 and Keeling Works, and country pits around Saw-mill Run ; all shippers by 
 rail on P. V. & C. Railway, Connellsville, Pennsylvania Central, and Alle- 
 gheny Valley Railways. 
 
 " Resolved, 3d, That the acceptance by the board of this rate of mining 
 to cover a contingency shall in no wise be regarded as an acceptance of this 
 rate as a basis when the price of boiling is $5.50, nor shall its acceptance at 
 this time be used as an argument for or against such a basis." 
 
 It should be noted that this price, three and a half cents, 
 was the demand of the scale of the miners at the price for 
 boiling that was ruling at the time it was made, which was 
 regarded by the operators as another concession to the miners. 
 During the discussions of these five and a half days, a ques- 
 tion arose as to the selling price of coal ; and to prove their 
 assertions correct the operators permitted the miners' repre- 
 sentatives to inspect their books thoroughly, not only as to the 
 selling price of coal at the time, but its price even in the past, 
 and even permitted an inspection of balance-sheets to show 
 profit and loss, with no question whether such privilege was 
 ever before allowed employes. 
 
 The investigation resulted in the complete vindication of the 
 statements of the operators. 
 
 It was also manifest during the discussion, that, contrary to 
 the spirit and letter of the seventh rule, and contrary to their 
 statement at the beginning of the sessions, the miners' repre- 
 sentatives had come to the board bound by instruction as to 
 the lowest price they could accept ; and, though members of 
 the board honestly confessed that their scale was too high, they 
 also stated that they did not dare, with the twent^'-fourth rule 
 enforced, to accept a lower scale.
 
 152 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Pursuant to the resolution of adjournment, the board again 
 met on Nov. 21, and again endeavored to arrive at a scale of 
 prices, the miners still adhering to the old basis and scale, and 
 the operators again suggesting a scale based on the selling price 
 of coal. Meeting after meeting was held, and, as it seemed 
 impossible to agree. Judge Collier of the court of Common 
 Pleas of Allegheny County was selected as umpire ; but unfor- 
 tunately his judicial duties were such as to compel him to 
 decline the position. Several other names were suggested, but 
 no agreement could be reached. Failing to agree upon an 
 umpire, the question arose, at a meeting held Dec. 4, 1879, as 
 to the price to be paid for mining during the month of Decem- 
 ber ; no agreement could be reached, and the board adjourned 
 sine die. 
 
 It is evident that the cause of the failure of this attempt at 
 arbitration was that tlie miners' representatives did not come 
 to the board with full powers as the operators' representatives 
 did, but were bound by the instructions of the convention 
 which appointed them. Failure is nearly if not quite inevita- 
 ble under such circumstances. The very intent of arbitration 
 is that the arbitrators shall come to the arbitration prepared to 
 hear the argument and facts, and decide in accordance with 
 these, and not in accordance with the instructions of a body 
 that have not heard the argument nor considered all the facts. 
 It might perhaps be said that there was a reason back of this 
 for the failure, and that was the suspicion of the miners that 
 would not allow them to believe that their representatives 
 would be honest and loyal to their best interests, and would not 
 decide and accept the best result under the circumstances and 
 in view of all the facts : this suspicion led the miners, in oppo- 
 sition to the spirit of the rules, to bind their representatives 
 with instructions, and hold over them the twenty-fourth rule if 
 they dared to disobey. Under such circumstances failure was 
 a foregone conclusion from the first, and always will be in 
 similar cases. 
 
 Attempt at Arbitration in the Shenango Valley, 
 
 Penn. 
 
 At the time the coal miners and operators of the Pittsburgh 
 District were organizing a board of arbitration, and endeavor-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITEATION. 153 
 
 ing to get it in working order, a similar attempt was made in 
 the Shenango Valley, and with a like result. 
 
 The miners in this valley made a demand early in November, 
 1879, for an advance of ten cents per ton for mining. 
 
 The operators refused to concede the advance, and asked for 
 a conference with the miners to consider the advisability of 
 resorting to arbitration to decide this question. 
 
 This conference was held at Sharon, jNov. 14. Several meet- 
 ings took place, and a code of rules similar in most of their fea- 
 tures to the Pittsburgh rules were adopted. The important 
 variations Irom these rules were the following: — 
 
 i( 
 
 1. The object of this board shall be :* First, to determine the basis price 
 of mining coal, and all questions relating to the same as may be submitted 
 to it from time to time, becond, by conciliatory means use its influence to 
 prevent disputes, and determine any that may arise in reference to the afore- 
 said basis price of mining coal. 
 
 " 2. The board shall consist of one operator and one miner representative 
 from each mine joining the board. 
 
 " 3. When two or more mines belong to the same proprietors, either 
 wholly or in part, each mine shall have the right to be represented in the 
 board ; and one operator may represent two or more mines in which he is an 
 owner, having one vote for each mine represented. 
 
 "4. The ' basis price' to be paid for mining coal shall be based on the 
 price of number one (1) coal at JSliarpsville. 
 
 " It will be observed that these rules provide for the basis, and the board 
 was saved the trouble experienced at Pittsburgh on this subject. However, 
 when the scale on the basis adopted came to be discussed, the same inability 
 to agree became manifest at once. The operators offered a scale of one- 
 fourth the market price of jS'o. 1 coal at iSharpsville ; tlie miners demanded 
 one-third, and, failing to agree, tlie board dissolved. 
 
 " Here again one cause of the failure seems to have been a lack of power 
 on the part of the miners' representatives, they having to refer the proposi- 
 tion of the operators to a mass convention, for adoption or rejection." 
 
 Another vital error, both here and at Pittsburgh, was the 
 failure to elect an umpire until the situation had reached a 
 dead-lock. It is true, that, in a great many successful arbitra- 
 tions, the umpire has not been elected until the board has failed 
 to agree ; but it is always better to agree upon all umpire before 
 entering upon the discussion, especially if there is a probability 
 that an agreement will not be reached ; and it is also best that 
 he should be present at the meetings and discussions, so as to 
 be able to decide promptly. 
 
 20
 
 154 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Arbitration in Ohio. 
 
 In Ohio the attention not only of employers and employed, 
 but of the legislature and the people of the State, has been 
 repeatedly called to industrial arbitration, and to its advantages 
 in the settlement of disputes arising between labor and capital. 
 Mr. H. J. Walls, the Chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
 of Ohio, has written at length upon this topic in every report 
 he has made, and has endeavored to excite an interest in the 
 subject, and gather information as to its operations, by inquiries 
 extending through all the industries of the State. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Roy, the mine inspector, has discussed the sub- 
 ject in his reports ; and the only report made by his successor, 
 James D. Poston, quoted, in full, an address made on Industrial 
 Arbitration and Conciliation before the Chamber of Commerce 
 of Pittsburgh. For several sessions a bill for establishing courts 
 of arbitration and conciliation was before the legislature of the 
 State, though of its fate I have no knowledge. This bill pro- 
 vided, — 
 
 "1. That when employers and employes met and agreed upon a question 
 of wages, etc., for a definite period, such agreement could be legally 
 enforced. 
 
 " 2. That if they met, and failed to agree, an arbitrator mutually accept- 
 able might be called in, and the decision to be legally binding for a definite 
 term. 
 
 "3. If the parties could not agree upon an arbitrator, then the judge of 
 a court of record would, upon notification, be required to act as arbitrator, 
 and his decision to be a court record, and legally binding upon the parties." 
 (Ohio Labor Statistics for 1878, p. 67.) 
 
 In his message to the legislature of 1880, Gov. Bishop speaks 
 of arbitration as follows : — 
 
 "Boards of arbitration and conciliation are a simple, inexpensive, and 
 complete plan by which labor troubles may be avoided, to the great benefit 
 of employer and employe, as well as the great consuming public, which is, 
 at times, a great suffei-er from ' strikes,' over which it in no manner exercises 
 any control. There are certain prejudices that must be overcome before the 
 plan of amicable adjustment will be generally adopted. 
 
 " Legislation can only aid in bringing about this certainly desirable sys- 
 tem of preventing 'strikes,' by making such settlements legally binding 
 upon both parties when voluntarily entered into by both." 
 
 In the account of conciliation given in an earlier portion of
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 155 
 
 this paper, a statement has been made regarding conciliation in 
 the rolling mills of this State. In addition to what is stated 
 there, it may be said that the Wheeling district includes mills 
 in Ohio, and that nail mills at Bellair, Marten's Ferry, and 
 Steubenville, were parties to the conference committees that 
 arranged prices at Wheeling. In some of the stove founderies 
 of Cincinnati, conference committees arranged wages for several 
 years ; and it is no doubt true that in many works this method 
 has been adopted to avoid trouble. 
 
 Arbitration in the Tuscarawas Valley. 
 
 Though it has often been proposed in different sections, so far 
 as we have been able to learn, arbitration has been attempted in 
 but one section of this State, — the Tuscarawas Valley. 
 
 The history of the first attempt in this valley is given by Mr. 
 Andrew Roy in his report as mine inspector for 1876, to which 
 we are indebted for the following account : — 
 
 The operators of the Tuscarawas Valley proposed, at the 
 beginning of December, 1874, to reduce the price of mining 
 from ninety to seventy cents per ton. The officers of the 
 Miners' National Association, desirous of avoiding a strike, and 
 in accordance with their rules of establishing boards of arbitra- 
 tion for the settlement of wages disputes, proposed that a joint 
 conference of the operators' and miners' representatives be had 
 to discuss the question in dispute. This committee, which met 
 in the city of Akron on the 17th of December, unanimously 
 agreed to refer the dispute to the decision of a board of arbi- 
 trators. The following is the resolution adopted at the meet- 
 ing:— 
 
 '■''Resolved, That the present differences in prices between the operators 
 and miners in the Tuscarawas Valley be submitted to a committee of three 
 operators and three miners, who shall elect an imipire, whose decision shall 
 be final and binding on both parties." 
 
 The committee consisted of Messrs. Hanna, Wagoner, and 
 Loomis on behalf of the operators, and Messrs. Thomson, Pol- 
 lock, and Graham on behalf of the miners. At the suggestion 
 of the miners' representatives, the venerable Judge Andrews of 
 Cleveland was chosen umpire. The matters in dispute were 
 ably and fairly discussed, neither party wishing to take any
 
 156 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATIOISr AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 advantage. The condition of the trade, and prices paid in 
 other districts, were stated and discussed. The decision of the 
 umpire was as follows : — 
 
 The producers and miners of coal in the Tuscarawas Valley having sub- 
 mitted for my determination the price that, in the present condition of the 
 coal trade, shall be paid for mining coal of standard thickness in said valley 
 (said submission being made with a view to equalize mining in said valley 
 •with mining in competing districts), and the said parties, by their respective 
 committees, appeared before me at the office of Rhodes & Co., in the city of 
 Cleveland, on the twenty-second day of December, A.D. 1874; and being 
 fully heard in the premises, and their statements and their evidence there- 
 with submitted having been duly considered by me, I do hereby award as 
 follows : to wit, — 
 
 First, That the producers in the Tuscarawas Valley shall reduce the price 
 of powder, oil, and rent furnished by them to the miners, so as to make 
 them correspond with the prices charged for the same respectively by 
 producers in the Mahoning Valley. 
 
 Second, That the said producers in the Tuscarawas Valley shall pay the 
 miners for every twenty-one hundred pounds of raked coal, such as is 
 now given, of standard thickness (that is, four feet and over), the sum of 
 seventy-one cents. 
 
 (Signed) 8. J. ANDREWS. 
 
 The above reward was accepted and subscribed by the miners' 
 representatives, the operators pledging themselves to pay for 
 all " extras " — deficienc}' work — on the basis of 1870. 
 
 For the purpose of adjusting the prices of deficiency work, 
 another meeting of the representatives of the operators and 
 miners of the valley was held in IMassillon on the 22d of 
 January following, the operators being represented by Messrs. 
 Loomis, Weaver, Brewster, Hanna, Faultz, and Millhoff, and 
 the miners by Messrs. Kirkly, Jacobs, Cummock, Treat, Young, 
 Archibald, and Penburthy. The following schedule of prices 
 for deficiency work was agreed to by this committee : — 
 
 "1. To pay five cents per ton extra for mining coal on every three inch 
 drop under four feet. 
 
 "2. For turning rooms, two and a half and three dollars. 
 
 "3. To pay thi-ee dollars for break-throughs any distance under nine 
 feet, and over nine feet, two dollars per yard for the whole distance. 
 
 " 4. Wet entries and wet rooms to be paid a fair compensation, and to 
 be left to the agreement of pit boss and the men ; and horsebacks to be paid 
 for as heretofore. 
 
 " 5. Break-throughs, from entry to entry, fifty cents per yard less than 
 entry driving for three yards or less; and, on the distance over three yards, 
 entry price.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 157 
 
 " 6. In all cases -where the roof is rotten and bad, and slate and dirt 
 come down unavoidably, the man shall be paid five cents per ton on the 
 coal for every six inches. But where the roof is good, and this occurs from 
 carelessness or neglect on part of miners, no compensation shall be allowed. 
 This is to be determined by the pit boss. 
 
 "7. Entry driving and day work by miners to be reduced in the same 
 proportion as mining. 
 
 "8. In all cases where it is not necessary for the producer to work that 
 part of the mine where deficiency work occurs, he may do so on ai^plication 
 of the miners by special contract. 
 
 "9. The price of powder to be four dollars per keg, and oil one dollar 
 and twenty-five cents per gallon; it being understood that the men shall 
 have the privilege of buying each wherever they choose. 
 
 " 10. In cases where house rent has been advanced in proportion to 
 previous advances in mining, a corresponding reduction will be made. 
 
 "11. House coal to miners at lowest wholesale price." 
 
 All the miners resumed work under the above arrangement, 
 except those of the Crawford Coal Company. The miners in 
 the employ of this firm wished to employ a check weigh ip aster, 
 a right given them by the mining law. The miners wished to 
 make no interference with the weighing of the coal or with the 
 scales, but simply wanted to employ and pay a man to see their 
 coal fairly weighed. The company peremptorily refused to 
 allow this to be done, and stopped the mine. This coal firm 
 urged the other operators to sustain them against the demand 
 of the miners ; but they refused to do so, asserting that it was 
 a matter with which they had no concern, and was moreover 
 against the law of the State. 
 
 The superintendent of the Crawford Coal Company then 
 told the miners of that firm that if they would withdraw their 
 claim for a check weighmaster the company would raise the 
 price of mining to eighty cents per ton, being nine cents 
 advance over the award of the umpire. This proposition the 
 miners eagerly accepted. In the other mines of the valley, the 
 workmen who had resumed work under the award of Judsre 
 Andrews, seeing the Crawford Coal Company voluntarily raise 
 the price to eighty cents per ton, demanded to be placed on the 
 same footing. The officers of the Miners' Union advised the 
 miners to respect the award of the arbitration board, and to 
 continue work at seventy-one cents ; but no attention was paid 
 to such counsel. 
 
 The majority of the miners had received the decision of 
 the board of arbitration in a sullen spirit, alleging that the
 
 158 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATIOlSr AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 redaction of iiiueteen cents was uncalled for and unjust ; and 
 when they saw one leading coal company voluntarily disregard 
 an award in favor of the operators, and advance wages nine 
 cents on the ton, they became confirmed in this view. All the 
 companies conceded the demands of the miners, and the work 
 of the arbitration board was thrown to the winds. The officers 
 of the Miners' Union were roundly berated for not securing 
 better terms. 
 
 It will be noted that the cause of the failure of this attempt 
 at arbitration was very similar to the cause of the failure in the 
 anthracite region; but here the men had not even the excuse 
 that the men in the anthracite region had, as the rates of wages 
 of the men that struck in the latter region were confessedly too 
 low. In the Tuscarawas Valley, however, the miners for a 
 seemingly temporary advantage were willing to yield a safe- 
 guard the law gave them against fraud ; and it is very evident 
 that the company would not be willing to pay nine cents a ton 
 more than other mines, unless they expected some advantage 
 to arise from not having a check weighmaster. 
 
 A second attempt was made in the same valley in 1877. In 
 August of that year the miners demanded an advance in the 
 price of mining, of fifteen cents per ton, or sixty cents to 
 seventy-five. The operators having refused, by default, to 
 meet a committee of the miners, the latter decided to offer 
 arbitration, and again requested the operators to meet them; 
 the offer and request being contained in the following letter, 
 which was sent to the operators: — 
 
 " Gentlemen, — The miners in the above valley in your several employ, 
 in convention assembled, having met to consider the result of the joint 
 meeting held in Canal Fulton one week ago, regret that the employers felt 
 it not to be their duty to meet us on that occasion, and show cause why our 
 demand for seventy-five cents per ton should not be granted. We have 
 keenly felt that sixty cents per ton is too low a price to live upon, which 
 fact you yourselves have acknowledged. We fully realize the disastrous 
 results of a strike to the employers and employed, as well as to the business 
 community generally. 
 
 " Therefore, in order to avoid the disastrous results of a strike to the 
 community generally, and the calumny put upon the miners on such occa- 
 sions, we submit the following proposition : — 
 
 " Resolved, That we, the miners of the Tuscarawas Valley in convention 
 assembled, do agree to submit the present demand to a board of arbitration 
 to consist of six miners and six operators, who shall agree upon an umpire, 
 whose decision, on hearing the question argued, shall be final.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 159 
 
 " Resolved, That an answer to or against this proposition shall be made 
 within the 13th inst. 
 
 " Resolved, That, the board shall meet in Akron or Massillon, as the 
 employers may choose, such meeting to be held on or before the 25th inst. 
 
 '■'■Resolved, That the decision of the umpire shall take effect from the 
 loth. 
 
 '■'■Resolved, That in case the employers refuse to accept this means of 
 settling disputes between them and their employes, that they, not us, are 
 responsible for forcing us to the old method, a strike, to settle labor dis- 
 putes." 
 
 The operators acceded to this request for a conference, and a 
 joint meeting was held Aug. 25. Propositions as a basis for 
 arbitration were submitted by both miners and operators, neither 
 of which were agreed upon, and the meeting adjourned without 
 date. Through correspondence, however, another meeting was 
 arranged for at Massillon, which was held Sept. 8, at which the 
 operators offered to arbitrate on the basis proposed by the 
 miners, Aug. 25. 
 
 The miners' committee, however, did not have power to accept 
 the proposition, but submitted it to a meeting of the miners, at 
 which the following proposition was agreed to : — 
 
 " The miners of this valley accept the proposition of their committee at 
 Akron, on Aug. 25, which was accepted by the operators at their general 
 meeting, Sept. 7, and that we meet the operators at Massillon on Sept. 21, on 
 arbitration ; the board to be chosen as proposed by the operators, viz., each 
 party to select a man, and they choose a third as an umpire, whose award 
 shall be final. 
 
 " The price so awarded by the umpire to be the minimum price of mining. 
 
 " The per cent of the relative prices of 1874 and 1877, so awarded, to be 
 the per cent to be paid the miners on all advances in the wholesale price of 
 coal in the Cleveland market in the future. There shall be a standing com- 
 mittee of three miners and three operators, who shall adjust all differences 
 between employer and employe in the future. The miners' part of the com- 
 mittee to have access to the companies' books, monthly if desired, to ascer- 
 tain the selling price of coal ; two months preceding and two months following 
 the opening of navigation in each year to be chosen to determine the selling 
 price of coal ; viz., February, March, April, and May." 
 
 The operators claimed the proposition was not the original 
 one, the difference being in the months which should decide the 
 selling price of coal. Finally, on Oct. 5, Mr. J. P. Burton, on 
 the part of the operators, and Mr. John Pollock, on the part of 
 the miners, met in Massillon as arbitrators. Mr. Pollock makes 
 the following statement of the result, which we extract from the
 
 160 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Report of the Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics for 1877, which 
 is also our source for the material for the account of this attempt 
 at arbitration : — 
 
 " The arbitrator for the operators presented in writing the operators' 
 proposition, as to the time to determine the selling price of coal from Jan. 1 
 to Sept. 1 of each year. To this proposition I could not agree, for two 
 reasons : First, at a general meeting of miners, Sept. 15, it was agreed to 
 take two months preceding and two months following the opening of naviga- 
 tion ; viz , February, March, April, and May ; the object in selecting these 
 months being, that the car trade before and the lake trade after the opening 
 of navigation commanded different prices; and these four months it was 
 proper to strike a fair average of the different prices. Second, the operators 
 were responsible for delays caused in not arbitrating ; and then to accept of 
 the time thus spent to determine the selling price of coal, insisted on by the 
 operators, would leave strong grounds for believing that the selling price of 
 coal had been cut since the negotiations commenced. Mr. Burton raised the 
 point that navigation seldom opened before the 1st of May: hence, to take 
 the above-named four months, was not giving two months after the opening 
 of navigation. To this I consented, and allowed June to be taken in, mak- 
 ing two and a half months before and after the opening of navigation. The 
 point was then raised, that the companies' books could not be taken from 
 the offices, and the arbitration would have to be in Cleveland ; to which I 
 consented in order to have the matter settled. The arbitrator for the opera- 
 tors then considered it necessary to take into consideration the difference in 
 cost of freight, etc., in 1877 to that of 1874 ; and Mr. Burton, in a letter 
 since, considered it right to take in the difference, not only in freight, but iu 
 powder, oil, etc. To this I objected, since the operators refused to arbitrate 
 on the selling price of coal, as proposed on the 29th of August." 
 
 Mr. J. F. Rhodes, of the operators' committee, in a letter to 
 the Ohio Bureau says : — 
 
 " The long and short of it is simply this : Aug. 25, the miners made a 
 proposition which the producers did not that day accept, but which they did 
 accept on Sept. 8, with one or two modifications, suggested by the miners' 
 committee. 
 
 " From Sept. 8 to Oct. 1 the miners' committee attempted to drag in other 
 questions, but at last came back to their original proposition of Aug. 25, 
 where we, the producers, had stood all the time since Sept. 8. On Oct. 5 or 
 6, we sent our arbitrator to Massillon to meet theirs, when he was met by a 
 modification of the Aug. 25 and Sept. 8 proposition, which, on his return, 
 he submitted to the producers' committee. The producers' committee then 
 declined further negotiations, having gone to the extent of their powers, and 
 considering that the miners had not acted in good faith towards them. 
 From an Associated Press despatch of Nov. 19, 1879, it appears that an 
 attempt was again made in this valley to arbitrate, the miners having ap- 
 pointed a committee of six to meet a like committee of the operators, with a 
 view to the formation of a board of arbitration. I am unable to learn that 
 any thing resulted from this action."
 
 estdustrtal conciliation and arbitration. 161 
 
 The Straiton & Storm Board of Arbitration, New 
 
 York City. 
 
 The most interesting of all the efforts at industrial arbitration 
 in this country is that in the extensive cigar manufactory of 
 Straiton & Storm, New York City. In at least three respects, 
 outside of the success with which it has been attended, this 
 board is noticeable. In the first place, it is the only board of 
 arbitration in existence in this country, of which the writer has 
 any knowledge ; secondly, it is the only one that has survived 
 attempts to settle a wages difference ; and, thirdly, in its com- 
 position it differs materially from any other board of which we 
 have any knowledge. As will be seen from the rules given 
 below, the Cigar Makers' Board is composed of nine persons, of 
 whom five, or a majority, are employes, giving the casting vote 
 in case of a division, in accordance with their respective interests, 
 to an employ^. This is certainly a noticeable feature of the 
 board, and as will be seen from their letter it was the deliberate 
 intention of Messrs. Straiton & Storm that it should be so. A 
 somewhat analogous feature existed in the board in connection 
 with the hosiery and glove trades of Nottingham, under the 
 presidency of Mr. A. J. Mundella ; when a casting vote was given 
 to the president in case of an equal division, — a right that was 
 exercised by Mr. Mundella, who was an employer. This feature 
 was soon abandoned, however, and each party now has equal 
 representation and vote. 
 
 This board of arbitration grew out of a benefit association 
 organized in the Straiton & Storm manufactory after the great 
 strike of 1876, in which this firm are reported to have lost forty 
 thousand dollars. It is more than probable that the constant 
 intercommunication between employer and employed, necessi- 
 tated by this association, led to the breaking down of the barriers 
 that too often separate those two classes, and fostered that mutual 
 respect and confidence that furnish not only the necessary basis 
 for the formation of the board, but which makes possible its 
 continued existence, and successful operation. 
 
 The board was formed in January, 1879. The reason for its 
 existence is thus admirably given in the preamble to the 
 rules : — 
 
 " Reviewing the past four years, one cannot help but notice the injurious 
 effects produced by strikes, both to the employer and employe, and particu- 
 21
 
 1G2 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 larly to the latter class; and, taking into consideration that these strikes 
 invariably ended in failure, resulting in a gradual reduction instead of an 
 advance in wages, and that by reason of these strikes an abundant quantity 
 of unemployed labor of all other kinds had been drawn into our branch of 
 industry, thus considerably increasing the productive force from year to year, 
 one should naturally come to the conclusion that plain common sense should 
 dictate to every one having at heart their own interest and welfare, that the 
 proper time has come for the devisement of practical measures to protect the 
 interest of both parties concerned, thus effectually and permanently closing 
 the chasm now existing between employer and employe. 
 
 " In order to secure this object, and insure its permanent existence, it is 
 absolutely necessary that inconsiderate and fierce passions heretofore re- 
 sorted to must give way to wise council, and, above all, peaceful delibera- 
 tions. 
 
 " We, therefore, now propose to leave hereafter all matters of difference 
 as to wages, or of any other kind and nature whatsoever, to a court of arbi- 
 tration. 
 
 " We are convinced that by the adoption of measures suitable to the 
 wants of the times, the cigar makers, as a class, will be vastly benefited, 
 and their condition surely advanced in the community. 
 
 " Although we are willing to concede that the degrading, demoralizing, 
 and filthy system of ' tenement-house ' work cannot be abolished with one 
 stroke, we have no hesitation in stating it as our firm belief that eventually 
 the moral influence which the adoption of our plan will bring to bear will 
 materially aid in gradually diminishing the number of such disgraceful pest- 
 houses. 
 
 " We now beg to offer for your consideration our opinion as to the neces- 
 sary and proper manner of construction of such court of arbitration." 
 
 The rules as amended November, 1880, are as follows : — 
 
 Article I. 
 Cigar Makers^ Board of Arbitration. 
 
 Section 1. There shall be a board of arbitration composed of four 
 cigar makers, one packer (to be elected as hereinafter provided), and three 
 foremen, appointed by the firm, and one member of the firm. 
 
 Sect. 2. These together shall constitute the Cigar Makers' Board of 
 Arbitration, to whom shall be submitted all questions of wages, and such 
 other tilings as may be in dispute between employer and employes. 
 
 Sect. 3. They shall hear such evidence as may be necessary to a proper 
 
 understanding of the questions before them, and then proceed to call the 
 
 roll and vote openly ; and the action of the majority shall be binding on all 
 
 parties concerned. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Packers^ Board of Arbitration. 
 
 Section 1. There shall be a board of arbitration composed of two pack- 
 ers, one cigar maker (to be elected as hereinafter provided), the packer fore- 
 man, and one member of the firm.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 163 
 
 Sect. 2. These together shall constitute the Packers' Board of Arbi- 
 tration, to whom shall be submitted all questions of wages, and such other 
 matters as may be in dispute between employer and employes. 
 
 Sect. 3. They shall hear such evidence as may be necessary to a proper 
 understanding of the questions before them, and then proceed to decide by 
 an open vote; and the action of the majority shall be binding on all parties 
 concerned. 
 
 ARTIC1.E III. 
 
 Electing Cigar Makers^ Delegates on Arbitration. 
 
 Section 1. There shall be elected, at regular annual meetings, by bal- 
 lot, from each of the three departments, five delegates. 
 
 Sect. 2. One week after such election the delegates so elected shall 
 assemble and organize, and elect by ballot fom- of their number (two hand 
 cigar makers and two rollers) to the board of arbitration, who shall hold 
 office for one year. 
 
 Sect. 3. Should any vacancies occur during that period in the board of 
 arbitration, the remaining delegates shall proceed to fill such vacancies iu 
 the same manner as they have elected the first four. 
 
 Sect. 4. Should the number of delegates at any time be less than three, 
 the cigar makers shall proceed, by ballot, to fill the whole number for the 
 unexpired term ; this number not to exceed ten. 
 
 Article IV. 
 Packers^ Delegates on Arbitration. 
 
 Section 1. There shall be elected at the regular annual meetings, by 
 ballot, seven packers. 
 
 Sect. 2. One week after such election they shall assemble and organ- 
 ize, and elect by ballot two of their number to the board of arbitration, who 
 shall hold office for one year. 
 
 Sect. 3. Should any vacancies occur during that period iu the board of 
 arbitration, the remaining delegates shall proceed to fill such vacancy in the 
 same manner as they have elected the first two. 
 
 Sect. 4. Should the number of delegates at any time be less than two, 
 the packers shall proceed, by ballot, to fill the whole number for the unex- 
 pired term ; this number not to exceed four. 
 
 Article V. 
 
 Section 1. One week after the election of the board of arbitration, both 
 the Cigar Makers' and the Packers' Board of Arbitration, constituted as 
 above, shall meet separately and organize. 
 
 Sect. 2. The Cigar Makers' Board shall elect one from the packers' del- 
 egates, who hereafter shall act with them in the Cigar Makers' Board; and 
 the Packers' Board shall elect one from the cigar makers' delegates, who 
 thereafter shall act with them in the Packers' Board of Arbitration; and 
 vacancies shall be filled in the same manner. 
 
 Sect. 3. At all meetings the firm and its representatives shall consti- 
 tute a part as before stated.
 
 164 INDUSTKIAL CONCTLIATBON AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 Sect. 4. All tliis being complied with, the board will be ready for such 
 business as may come before it. 
 
 Sect. 5. At no time shall a vote affecting the interests of either employ- 
 ers or employes be taken, except in presence of a full board. 
 
 Sect. 6. Should a difference arise between the employers and the 
 bunchmakers, such case shall also be submitted to the Cigar Makers' Board 
 of Arbitration, which shall be enlarged by two representatives of the firm, 
 and two bunchmakers, who shall be members of the board for that case only. 
 
 BY-LAWS. 
 
 Article I. 
 
 Section 1. The secretary shall notify (if requested by a majority of the 
 men interested) each member of the board of the time and place of meeting, 
 within three days of such meeting taking place. 
 
 Sect. 2. The meeting shall be called to order within fifteen minutes 
 after the appointed time. 
 
 Sect. 3. Six members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the 
 transaction of all business, except the taking of the final vote. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Section 1. Where a meeting of the board has been called for the pur- 
 pose of adjusting any difference between employers and employes, when such 
 subject has been brought properly before the board, meetings shall be held 
 daily until the matter before them has been disposed of. 
 
 Sect. 2. At the meeting at which a final vote is to be taken, all dele- 
 gates shall be present, so that in case any member of the board is absent his 
 place can be filled immediately (sic). 
 
 Article III. 
 
 Section 1. One of every fifty employes shall have the privilege to ap- 
 pear before the boai'd to represent their case ; but in no case shall such repre- 
 sentation be less than three. 
 
 Sect. 2. Such representatives may present their views either in writing 
 or otherwise. 
 
 Sect. 3. If verbal, they shall confine their remarks to the subject, and 
 not occupy more than fifteen minutes. 
 
 Sect. 4. In no case shall these representatives enter into any discussion 
 other than a plain statement of their case, and answer such questions as the 
 members of the board may ask. 
 
 Sect. 5. Such representatives shall not be members of the board, or 
 
 delegates. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 When the final vote is taken, the names shall be called in alphabetical 
 order, and the votes to be given in ayes or nays. 
 
 The first use made of this board was on the 26th of April, 
 1879, upon an application for an advance on six different styles
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 165 
 
 of cigars, the shape of which had been changed in consequence 
 of believing the change to be an improvement. The cigar 
 makers claimed they could not earn as much making the new 
 shapes as they could making the old. Each cigar was taken up 
 by itself, and voted as follows : " Shall there be an advance on 
 this cigar ? " and in four instances out of six it was unani- 
 mously decided in the affirmative, and in the other two instances 
 it was voted unanimously that there should be no advance. 
 As an evidence of the spirit of fairness and justice of the men 
 on that occasion, it may be said that one of the men on the 
 committee was making one of the identical cigars passed upon, 
 and he voted that there should be no advance on that style of 
 cigar. The next question was, taking each cigar separately, 
 " How much shall the advance be ? " Of the four sizes advanced, 
 three were advanced one dollar each, and one was advanced 
 fifty cents. 
 
 The second arbitration was held July 12, 1879. From a 
 statement that appeared in " The New York Sun " we condense 
 the following account of the meeting : — 
 
 It was called at the request of Mr. Storm, to dispose of a 
 petition presented by the " rollers," on Thursday evening, for an 
 increase of their rate of pay fifty cents per thousand. Mr. 
 Storm told the committee presenting the petition that the firm 
 could ill afford to make the increase, but, if the board of arbi- 
 tration should decide against them, they would not hesitate in 
 obeying the decision. The committee retired well pleased, and 
 the work went on in the manufactory as smoothly as ever until 
 the hour for closing. Then the members of the board of arbi- 
 tration, excepting Mr. Storm, who was detained by business, 
 proceeded to the packing room, and seated themselves in a semi- 
 circle about a table. Many of their fellow workmen entered, 
 and provided themselves without any formalities with seats. 
 Presently Mr. Storm came in, and took an inconspicuous seat 
 among his fellow members of the board, and Mr. Straiton chose 
 a chair among the workingmen. The petition of the rollers was 
 read both in English and German. Then President Huth 
 invited Mr. Storm to give the reasons of the firm for declining 
 to grant the increase, which he did. There were addresses by 
 the representatives of the employes in the board, and by " roll- 
 ers " among the spectators. The purport of every address was 
 a strong appeal for the increase, and that it would produce a
 
 166 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 general increase throughout the city. Not a voice was raised 
 above the pitch of quiet earnestness, nor was any harsh word 
 uttered. Mr. Storm replied, and then President Huth declared 
 the discussion closed. 
 
 " There are three questions before the board," he said. " I 
 ask for a vote upon the first question : Shall there be an in- 
 crease ? " 
 
 " Ay," was the response of the other members, including 
 Mr. Storm. 
 
 " Now for the second question : Shall the increase be fifty 
 cents per thousand ? " 
 
 " Ay," was again the voice of the other members, still includ- 
 ing Mr. Storm. 
 
 " The third question is now in order : Shall the increase go 
 into effect at once ? " 
 
 " I oifer the amendment that it go into effect two weeks 
 hence," said Mr. Storm. " The firm have orders on hand for 
 two million cigars ; and, if we are compelled to pay fifty cents 
 per thousand more for them than we calculated upon, we shall 
 lose one thousand dollars. But, on second thought, I will with- 
 draw the amendment." 
 
 " I move as an amendment," Mr. Sucker said, " that the 
 increase go into effect a week from to-day. That's a fair com- 
 promise." Five votes were given for the amendment, and three 
 against it ; and then Mr. Storm's turn came. " Let me see how 
 the vote is," he said, leaning over the teller's shoulder. "Oh," 
 he added, " I vote for the amendment, and move that the vote 
 be declared unanimous." Mr. Storm's motion was adopted, and 
 the board adjourned. 
 
 On application to Messrs. Straiton & Storm for a statement 
 of the history of the board, and their views regarding its bene- 
 fit and efficiency, they kindly replied that they had laid the 
 matter before the board, which had appointed a committee of 
 employes to present their views, which would be supplemented 
 by the views of the firm. 
 
 These two documents, which are notable ones in the history 
 of labor, are given in full below. 
 
 New York, Nov. 29, 1880. 
 Joseph D. Weeks, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, — In conformity with your request, we, the employes of Messrs. 
 Straiton & Storm, send you the following information concerning our board 
 of arbitration.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 167 
 
 For a sketch of its organization, and the causes that led to its fornaation, 
 we would respectfully refer to the constitution and its preamble. 
 
 The board, which has been in existence since January, 1879, has been 
 used four times up to date, with the following results : — 
 
 1. On April 26, 1879, when six different kinds of hand-made cigars were 
 changed in their shape, the men making them claiming to be entitled to an 
 advance of $2, $1.50, and $1 per thousand, respectively. Result: An ad- 
 vance of $1 was granted on four kinds, — two kinds remaining at the old 
 standard. 
 
 2. On July 12, 1879, when the cigar rollers asked for an advance of fifty 
 cents per thousand, which was granted. 
 
 3. Oct. 11, 1879, when the bunchmakers asked for an increase of twenty- 
 five cents per thousand, which was rejected; but an advance of ten cents 
 was granted on some, while the others remained at the old price, which 
 failed to give entire satisfaction to all of that branch. 
 
 4. April 20, 1880, when the hand cigar makers asked for an advance of 
 one dollar per thousand, the rollers fifty cents, and the bunchmakers twenty- 
 five cents. Result: The hand made cigars received an advance of fifty cents 
 per thousand, with the exception of one kind, which remained at the old 
 price ; the rollers received an advance of forty cents, and the bunchmakers 
 ten cents per thousand. 
 
 The Packers' Board has been used on July 12, 1880, when an increase of 
 seven and a half cents per thousand was asked for, to establish former price. 
 The demand was granted. 
 
 We, the employes of Messrs. Straiton & Storm, are convinced that the 
 board of arbitration has been a success, and the objects which it had in 
 view, and which led to its formation, have been fully realized, and that it 
 has worked to our entire satisfaction. 
 
 We have also formed a beneficial society, where every employe pays five 
 cents per week, and, the firm having contributed liberally towards it, we 
 were enabled to pay to every sick member a weekly benefit of five dollars, 
 and, in case of death, one hundi'ed dollars. This has also worked to our 
 satisfaction. 
 
 P. WALDOCK, LOUIS SCHROEDER, 
 
 GEORGE MANN, JuN., JOHN JINDRACK, 
 
 EMIL ROESSERT, HENRY ZIPPERIAN, 
 
 C. SCHRAEDER, JOSEPH MARTIN, 
 
 JOHN SCHMITT, R. T. C. WALDECK, 
 
 JOHN JOCHUM, JOHN PLERKA, 
 
 HENRY CORODIE, MICHAEL HUTH, 
 
 RICHARD HUNKE, FRANK HORR, 
 
 W. KRUSE, GUSTAN ANE, 
 
 F. W. REHBOCK, HUGO FINSTERINI, 
 
 FRED. STRADE, Delegates representing the 
 
 Board of Arbitration. 
 
 New York, Dec. 4, 1880. 
 Hon. Joseph D. "Weeks. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Agreeably as per our letter of the 1st inst., we beg to hand 
 you enclosed report of meeting of our board of arbitration, held on the
 
 168 INDUSTKIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 29th ult. This meeting was called by our board of arbitration, and the 
 names attached to it are the delegates chosen by our workmen to act jointly 
 with the members of the board to prepare this report. 
 
 It is therefore as correct as it can be, and represents the feelings of our 
 workmen as truly as in their own language they can describe it. It has not 
 been dictated in any way by us, and you must, therefore, accept it as the 
 sincere and earnest conviction of our peoj^le. 
 
 The principle of arbitration is evidently not a new one to you ; but the 
 great difficulty that always presents itself has been, to put theory into 
 practice. 
 
 AU interests, whether they be those of employer or employed, are natu- 
 rally selfish ; and our joint aim should be to harmonize these, and teach 
 them respectively that at a certain point their interests become one and the 
 same ; if they are but honest in purpose, and respect the rights which belong 
 to each, there ought not to be any trouble in adjusting any difficulties which 
 might arise between employer and employe. It is true, there are a great 
 many workmen who believe that capital is the natural enemy of labor, and 
 they consequently look with much distrust upon any thing that comes from 
 the capitalist or employer, and are either unwilling or unable to realize that 
 any good can come from a mutual compact in which labor constitutes one 
 half and capital the other ; and we regret to say, that capitalists are not 
 altogether free from this bigotry, and many of them believe that labor is 
 constantly on the alei t to wrench something from capitalists by force : con- 
 sequently both interests are suspicious of each other, and wanting in faith, 
 and the conclusion is reached, that they are antagonistic, and each and 
 every successive strife in which they are engaged seems to strengthen this 
 belief, and, on the face of it, it would seem reasonable to suppose that they 
 were correct. 
 
 Labor makes a demand upon capital, for instance, and the capitalist deems 
 it exorbitant and untimely, feels angered at the demand, either at its mag- 
 nitude, or the time and manner in which it is made. The demand is re- 
 fused in toto : labor strikes, and assumes a false position ; capital follows by 
 a lock-out, which is also a false position. 
 
 In both cases reason has lost its sway, and passion has taken its place, 
 and the two interests are determined to fight it out to the bitter end ; and 
 after the losses have been sufficiently great on both sides, and when the 
 sufferings of labor and the losses of capital become unbearable, then one or 
 the other occasionally bows to the inevitable, and yields absolutely ; and, 
 whether it is capital or labor that yields, it is always with the determination 
 to renew the strife ; or, in some cases, a compromise is brought about, which 
 probably could have been done in the first twenty-four hours, had the two 
 interests accorded to one another certain rights which each was bound to 
 respect. 
 
 The losses incurred, be it either by capital or labor, have benefited no one, 
 and, whatever the results may have been, the reimbursement of these losses 
 is impossible. 
 
 If these are facts, can it be denied that the interests of capital and labor 
 
 are common 
 
 9 
 
 We will admit that arbitration has its difficulties ; it is necessary that
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 169 
 
 those becoming parties to such a compact should be guided by an honesty 
 of purpose and a keen sense of justice, and an ordinary amount of intelli- 
 gence is requisite. The employer very frequently holds himself aloof, is 
 unwilling to have any intercourse whatever with his employes except in that 
 pertaining to his work, for fear that his self-respect might be compromised. 
 
 We think this a mistake. If the employer, by his great intercourse with 
 the commerce of the world, has it in his power to enlighten the employe, 
 and fails to avail himself of it, is not he in a measure answerable? If those 
 who work for him, and who are constantly studying out their own respec- 
 tive interests as they understand them, should be led or allow themselves to 
 be drawn into a false position, or contrary to the dictates of reason, and he 
 (the employer) refuses to reason with them, they are left to the mercy of 
 agitators and demagogues, who usually profit by their (the workmen's) 
 misfortunes. 
 
 We think that in a board of arbitration these things are obviated, and 
 we also think that the employer should consult directly with the representa- 
 tives of his employes. 
 
 The employer, by his upright dealings with his employes, is sure to gain 
 the respect of his workmen. 
 
 He insists at all times to deal with facts, and not with visionary theories ; 
 and, in a board composed of both interests, in order to work at all, either 
 one or the other must have the majority. 
 
 Now, the workman would look with much suspicion upon the board of 
 arbitration in which the employer had the majority. 
 
 Say again that the workman is naturally suspicious of his employer. 
 He has nothing but his labor, and guards the interest surrounding it jeal- 
 ously. You will perceive that we have yielded the deciding voice to the 
 workmen, and at first sight this would seem to be a weakness ; but we think 
 not. 
 
 The deciding member, however, is taken from a different branch of the 
 business, and is supposed to be impartial. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that this board is a calm deliberative body, in 
 which passion plays no part, and whose members are fully alive to the 
 responsibilities imposed upon them. 
 
 Its functions are to adjust the prices of labor in conformity with the cir- 
 cumstances which present themselves. Such a board has no place when 
 capitalists needlessly oppress labor, and their success lasts only so long as 
 they are enabled to feed upon their (the workmen's) misfortunes. 
 
 But it is intended, or rather can only be used, where the employer pos- 
 sesses the necessary qualifications befitting a successful manufacturer, and 
 where they are enabled to pay such wages as are generally paid throughout 
 the trade for like work. With them such a board of arbitration is possible. 
 
 The employer must gain the confidence of his men or employes, and con- 
 vince them that he seeks that only which is just and equitable. 
 
 That being established, his workmen will be likely to meet him in a kin- 
 dred spirit. 
 
 Our experience has been, that at no time during the operation of our 
 board have the lines been sharply drawn; or, in other words, the vote has 
 at no time been four to five. True, it has not been as yet so severely tested 
 22
 
 170 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 as it may be at some future time, because during its existence there has been 
 a general advance of labor, and it has simply been a question as to how 
 much these advances were to be, from time to time; and you will observe by 
 the report of our employes that sometimes the demand has been considerably 
 modified, and on other occasions not granted at all; and, as an evidence of 
 their sense of justice, we will cite an instance. 
 
 There was a demand made for a dollar per thousand on certain classes of 
 our fine work which came in with other matters before the board. Half a 
 dollar was granted this particular branch by the arbitrators; and we deemed 
 it just, immediately afterwai'd, to allow them another half-dollar. 
 
 We found by careful examination that they were justly entitled to it. 
 
 They preferred to take the lesser amount than feel that they had been 
 unjust, or had hampered their employers; for we asserted at the time, to 
 grant the dollar would embarrass us in the pursuit of this particular branch 
 of business, and we contended that they had no right to impose any thing 
 upon us by which our business would be in any way curtailed : hence the 
 above result. 
 
 To sum up, we think that the principle of arbitration has worked to the 
 benefit of both ourselves and our employes, and we think that the moral 
 effect upon the trade in general has been beneficial. 
 
 While there has been a general advance in labor throughout our branch 
 of business, it has been in most cases accomplished without any strikes. 
 
 Our workpeople, by their number and intelligence, occupy a position by 
 which they exercise a large influence upon their fellow workmen. 
 
 We have in this report, we think, covered all your interrogatories, and 
 hope its workings will redound to the benefit of other interests. 
 
 We have the honor to remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 (Signed) STRAITON & STORM. 
 
 These statements, relative to the only attempt at arbitration 
 in New York, of which I have been able to gather any infor- 
 mation, require no comment from me ; and with them I close 
 my report. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 JOSEPH D. WEEKS. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The settlement of disputes arising between employers and 
 employed, by such means as will insure the peaceful co-opera- 
 tion of both parties, is a result which should be hailed by all as 
 a step in advance, and indicates, whenever tried, a desire to 
 adjust those questions which have been so fruitful of strikes 
 and consequent distress. 
 
 Manufacturers combine, dealers combine, operatives combine,
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 171 
 
 and the results of all such combinations usually work injuri- 
 ously to the parties engaged ; and yet the right of grocery 
 dealers to agree, in association, on prices for necessary articles 
 of food, or of railroad officials to say what wage they will pay 
 to their engineers, or of the engineers to hold their labor at a 
 higher rate, or for the weavers in a mill to assert, after consulta- 
 tion, that they will charge for their labor, which is theirs to sell, 
 after such a date, so much per yard or cut, cannot be ques- 
 tioned as a right ; but when the welfare of many is concerned 
 in arbitrary action, and when prices are forced by either side, 
 so much temper enters into the question that the principle in- 
 volved is often lost sight of, and the dispute becomes one of 
 will, and the consequences are usually the reverse of those 
 sought. The age of lock-outs and strikes is fast passing away, 
 and the rule of reason is rapidly asserting itself ; and, when it 
 shall hold sway, capital and labor will learn that their interests 
 are reciprocal and not antagonistic. Much must be learned, 
 and much unlearned on each side before the two interests can 
 be brought to the full acknowledgment of each other's rights 
 and duties ; and any information which will tend in any degree 
 to the establishment of better relations between the employer 
 and the employed should be freely circulated. 
 
 Arbitration in industrial matters is one of the highest and 
 broadest features of co-operation, and at the same time one of 
 the simplest methods for restoring harmony where conflict 
 exists. 
 
 Do the attempts recited teach any thing of value to the man- 
 ufacturers and employes of this State ? 
 
 It seems that in England legislative provisions as to arbitra- 
 tion have not been applied, the efforts there having been, for 
 the most part, voluntary. No such legislation exists either in 
 Pennsylvania or in Ohio. While the attempts in Ohio to se- 
 cure a law for the establishment of boards of arbitration, re- 
 ferred to by Mr. Weeks, have failed, Ohio has a law (Rev. Stats., 
 sect. 5,601) which is very broad, applicable to the settlement 
 of all civil disputes, and which covers the matter of industrial 
 controversies, provided both parties really desire to adjust the 
 points in dispute. The first section of this act reads as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 " All persons who have any controversy, except when the possession or 
 title of real estate may come in question, may submit such controversy to
 
 172 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION. 
 
 the arbitrament or urapirage of any person or persons, to be mutually agreed 
 upon by the parties, and they may make such submission a rule of any court 
 of record in the State." 
 
 The other sections of the law simply provide for the enforce- 
 ment of the decisions resulting from arbitration. 
 
 All States have similar provisions of law, but they are not so 
 broad and comprehensive as the Ohio law. No advantages, as 
 a rule, can be taken of such provisions, except after strikes and 
 lock-outs have been inaugurated. The necessity in industrial 
 arbitrations is the settlement of difficulties after a demand from 
 either side has been made, and before such demand has been 
 resisted. Industiial conciliation precedes this even, and under- 
 takes not only to harmonize the features of the demand, but to 
 avoid the necessity of submission to arbitration. Legislation 
 can neither force parties to resort to arbitration to settle exist- 
 ing disputes, nor to attempt conciliatory measures to prevent a 
 rupture : legislation can, undoubtedly, invest the results of 
 industrial arbitration with the sancity of decisions of a court ; 
 but this is all legislation can do, and it is a serious question 
 whether it is wise or just even to do this. It seems reasonable 
 to suppose that if the decision of a board of industrial arbitra- 
 tion was by law to partake of the character of an award, and 
 become a decision or judgment of a court of record, there being 
 no legislative power to compel parties to resort to such boards 
 for the settlement of disputes, such law would embarrass rather 
 than facilitate voluntary attemjDts to secure arbitration. 
 
 The real practical lesson to be drawn from the valuable his- 
 tory of arbitration reported by Mr. Weeks is, that our textile 
 manufacturers can, in association with intelligent operatives, 
 construct a sliding scale of wages, on the basis of cotton or 
 print cloths, or some other leading article, either of consump- 
 tion or of product, which shall be equitable, and which shall 
 adjust itself to the market in such a way as to avoid all dis- 
 putes. For instance, if on the basis of five cents per yard for 
 print cloth, a certain price per cut for weaving rules, it could 
 be easily determined what reduction per cut should be made 
 when four and a half cents was the market price for print cloth, 
 and what increase when five and a half cents ruled. 
 
 The pa}'" of spinners could be adjusted in the same manner. 
 
 The sliding scale seems to be the tangible and practical result 
 of the attempts in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A careful study of
 
 INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION AND AEBITRATION. 173 
 
 the history of these attempts proves that where the agreement 
 has been broken it has been through causes not fully entering 
 into the matter. Such study also proves that if a sliding scale 
 of wages, adjusted to market prices, can be adopted by boards 
 of arbitration in the iron and coal districts, there should be no 
 hesitation in making the trial in the industries of Massachu- 
 setts. This suggestion is made with the sincere hope that, 
 without waiting for one or the other party to make the over- 
 tures, the proposition will be promptly made and promptly 
 accepted, for a board of arbitration to settle upon a scale of 
 wages whenever a dispute arises. 
 
 If all parties engaged in production will disabuse themselves 
 of the idea of class, and freely confer together as associates, as 
 they are, they will come to the same conclusions as those arrived 
 at by the Straiton & Storm people, whose experience presents a 
 most interesting chapter in the history of labor.
 
 .REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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