The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-08-03
COUNCILS OF ARBITRATION,

On Thursday of last week a promi
nent member of the North American
st. Georges Society presented to See.
retary Evarts, at Washington, mem
oranda adopted by the Executive Com
mittee of the st. Georges Union, pro.
posing a method of arbitration be.
tween Railroad Companies and the
strikers. The proposed plan is not
without precedent, and is now regard
ed in England as an effectual remedy
from the evils which come from the
frequent disputes between capital and
labor. The first attempt at the or
ganisation Of boards of Cancellation
and Arbitration, was made at Noting
ham, England, In 1869, at the instiga-
ton of Mr.. Mundella, now Member of
Parlianentl and a leading master of a
hosiery manufactoTy in the borough.
At this time, the Nottingham masters,
becoming wearied with the chronic
troubles aud losses growing out of
''strikes" and ''look-outs," were per-
suaded that some action should be
taken to Uring about @ better eonii-
tion OF affairs. Mr. Mundella having
been in early years an operative him.
self, was able to appreciate the just
claims of both parties, and deeply i'm
pressed with these experiences, was
ready to acknowledge that neither
blame or obstinacy were to be found
entirely on the side of the working
classes. After laboring for about three
months with his associate manu- sac.
turers the important experiment was
tried. Arbitration. Mr.. Mundella
rightly argues, Sin order to be effec-
tive in preventing disputes, must be
the result of open and friendly bar
gaining, III hiGh masters and men
meet together ind freely talk over
their common interests. Engineers
cannot legislate for tailors, nor tailors
for engineers. each must legislate for
himself.
The formation of the first Board of
Arbitration consisted of nine Masters
aud nine Workmen, to which it waa
agreed by both parties, to submlt all
questions OF wages. and that Its de-
cisions should be final and binding
upon all parties. The Workmen were
chosen by the universal suffrage of
their own Trades Unions, and the
Masters, at general meeting of their
body. The Workingman proposed a
Master for President, the Masters a
Workingman as Vice President, which
preceedents haye been since invaria-
bly, followed. In order to avoid the
disaster of one side appearing to have
the least preponderance over the 9TH
er, in cases where the President is to
give a casting vote, the vote of some
person not connected with the trade,
but in whom each side has equal con-
fidence, is admitted
In the founders own words, "when
ever men met together with the honest
purpose to aim at the truth and to do
justice to one another, a good under
standing is sure to follow" The re-
suits have been that these Boards of
Arbitration have now extended to all
classes OF industries. There are the
Golfers Boards of Arbitration; the
boards of Arbitration of the Miners
Union; the Nottingham Board. which
governs the hosiery trade, and it is also
an important adjunct of the various
Trades Union organization in England.
''Since the establishment of these or
carnations" says Mr.. Mundella,
s'strikes are at an end; levies to sus-
taip them are unknown; and one shil-
ling a year from each member suffices
to pay all expenses" And thus COM
ing into friendly contact with each
other, mutual confidence has taken the
place of former mistrust, and the
Boards of Arbitration are proving an
irfuence, the.value of whial
1t is impossible to estimate. 1t has
been observed that the loss of money
in these labor struggles is not so much
to be deplored as the increasing alien
alton of classes, and the fomenting of
hostilities and antagonisms between
those so mutually dependent upon one
another In Mr.. Mundella's visit to
the United States in the years 1870 II
he observed with surprise the general
indifference-not to say ignorance-in
our country, as to these changes,
which have been so prominently iden-
titled with the recent labor movements
in England. The conclusion OF the
present conflict will be the result of
the exercise of the powerful arm of the
law, and Its rightful administration;
but it is very evident, that permanent
peace and security can be reached only
when living men are treated upon
different rules from those which are
applied to dead material, and when |
the working man shall feel that he has
more voice in the adjustment of ques-
lions in which be has such vital con-
Commercial.