ARBITRATION IN ENGLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14357, 29 October 1908, Page 5

ARBITRATION IN ENGLAND.

MR CHURCHILL'S SCHEME. AN IMPORTANT MOVE. (Fnou Our Own Corrkgfondekt.) LONDON, September 18. Almost, the last thing Mr Winston Churchill gave his attention .16 before his mariuge was the framing of the now Board of Trade scheme for extending the system of industrial arbilraticn, which bos been quietly working in tho United Kingdom for some years past. . ARBITRATION NOT NEW. Under the Conciliation Act of 1896., the Board of Trade lias power to appoint a conciliator in trade disputes and an arbitrator at (be request of both parties. These slender means of intervention-have been employed in eases whero opportunity bas offered, and tho work of the department in this sphere has considerably increased of l'ecent years. In 1905 tho Earnl of Trade intervened in 14 disputes and settled them all; in . 1906 they intervened in 20 cases and settled 16; in 1907 tiioy intervened in 39 cases and settled 32, while during the first eight months of the present year no fewer than '17 cases of intervention have occurred, of which' 35 have, been already settled, while some o£ the remainder are still being dealt with.

EXTENDING THE SYSTEM. In a m-nmorandum to Chambers of Commerce and unions, Jlr Churchill has made his intentions clear. He says:—" It'is not proposed to curtail or replace any of the existing functions or practices untleT the Conciliation ActJ nor in any respect to depart from ils '.voluntary and permissive character. Tlio good offices of the department will still bo available to all in industrial circles for the settlement of disputes whenever opportunity offers; single arbitrators and coneiliaior.3 will still be appointed whenever do-iicd; special interventions will still be undertaken in spccial cases, ami no element, 'of compulsion will enter into any of thqso proceedings. But (he time lias now arrived w'hen t.he scale of these operations deserves,; and indeed requires, the creation of some more formal and permanent, machinery; and; willi a view to • consolidating,;, expanding, and popularising the .'working of tho Conciliation Act I propose to set up ;v standing Court of Arbitration." TIIE COURT AND ITS WORK. The court,, which will sit wherever required, will bo composed of three (or five) members, according to tho wishes of the parties, with fees audi expenses .to members of the court/, awl' to tho chairmen during oittings'. The court will be nominated by the Board of' Trade from three panels. Tho first panel (of chairmen) will comprise persons of eminence 'and' impartiality. The f-ccond will bo formed of pcispns who, while preserving an impartial mind in regard to lihe particular dispute, arc, nevertheless, drawn from tho " employer -.class.'' The third panel will be formed of persons similarly drawn from the oloss of workmen and trade-unionists. It i 4 hoped that this composition • will remove from the court the reproach which workmen have sometimes brought against individual conciliators and arbitrators that, however fair thoy mean to be, they do not intimately understand tbe position of tho manual labourer. It is believed that by tho uppointmont of two arbitrators selected from the employers' panel, and two from tho workmen's panel in difficult cases, thus constituting a court c-f fi ra instead of t'hrce ptreons, tho decisions of the court would be rendered more authoritative, especially to the workmen, who, according to the information of tho Hoard of Trade, are m'itfo ready to submit to the judgment, of two of their representatives than of one. As the personnel of t.he court woultl be constantly varied, there would be no danger of the court ilself becoming unpopular v.'ith either class in eoueequeuce of any particular decision; Ihere would be no difficulty in choosing members quite unconnected with the case in dispute, and no inconvenient, lal»ur would be imposed -upon anyone ivlio consented to serve ou the panels. Lastly, in order the peculiar conditions of any trade may be fully explained to tho court, technical assessors may b-e appointed by the Board of T.'ade ai tho request o* the court or of the parties lo assist _in the. deliberations, but without any right to vote.

The statu of public, opinion upon tho general ((Uestioii of arbilration may lw very conveniently tested by such voluntary arrangemont. Careful inquiry through various c.hannols open to the lioard of Trade justifies tihe expectation that t'ho plan would not he miwelcomo in indnslml circles. The court will only he called into if ml in proportion as it is actually wanted. No fresh legislation is ueccesary.

Opinions which have been scoured roga.riling tho new tribunal are, of course, not unanimously in favour of it. Tho English are rather too conservative in their way of thinking to accept tsucli a pill, but the presont Government. had already done suilicient of a radical nature to prepare the ]/ut>lic mind for such innovations. Sa that tho reception is more favourable than one would have expected. Needless lo say. ihe failure of tho New Zealand conciliation boards has been much discussed.