The in- vestigation and determination of disputed matters between employers and employes. In many of the states, state boards of arbitration have been provided by statute for the hearing and adjustment of differ- ences between employers and their em- ployes, and a recent federal statute apply- ing only to railroad and transportation companies authorizes the executive to ap- point commissioners for such investigation and to determine the best methods of right- ing the grievances of the employes; U. S. Laws, 1888, ch. 1063. In Missouri, Colorado, and North Dakota the functions of the state board of arbitra- tion are filled by the labor commissioner, and in New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Cal- ifornia, Maryland, Texas, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Montana, there are statu- tory provisions for private boards of arbi- tration. The constitution of Wyoming provides that appeals from the decisions of compulsory boards of arbitration may be taken to the supreme court of the state, and the manner of taking such appeals must be prescribed by law; Const. Wyo. ch. 19, sec. 2. Objections to bringing labor troubles be- fore the state board of arbitration must be urged before such board before application to the courts; 47 La. Ann. 874; and it de- volves on the board in the first instance to pass on questions of regularity and com- pliance with statutory provisions in the steps taken to bring the matter to its notice; id. See Stimson, Lab. L. §§ 67, 68. It is a curious fact that during the struggle in this country to devise some effective system of labor arbitration, little or no attention seems to have been paid to some very successful efforts in that direc tion in England which long antedated any Ameri- can legislation. At a very early period the regula- tion of wages was controlled by two masters and two journeymen, or, in default of agreement, by a magistrate after hearing both sides, but this was terminated by the separation of the masters and journeymen into two classes, and thereafter wages were fixed either by the employers or the magis- trates. The latter system prevailed under the ap- prenticeship law of Elizabeth, and this continued until early in the eighteenth century, except in the cotton factories, which were not within the law. In this industry, there was satisfactory regulation by a joint committee of laborers and employers, but to- wards the latter end of the eighteenth century, the latter obtained general control and the apprentice law was repealed. From then until about 1860, this condition remained undisturbed except by frequent petitions to parliament, although in the book print- ing business the trades unions secured an arrange- ment for settling price lists by a joint committee of employers and laborers, which was in operation with good success since 1805. In 1860 the system of arbitration and agreement originated by a manufacturer, Mr. Mundella, suc- cessfully dealt with the labor problem in the vari- ous branches of trade involved lved in the stocking weaving and glove industries of the three counties of Nottingham, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire. The system, in brief, provided for a court of arbitration and agreement to decide every question relative to wages. It consisted of nine employers and nine laborers, selected respectively by an assembly of their own class for one year. The court had a reg- ular organization with a standing executive com- mittee by which all disputes were disposed of so far as practicable, the final judgment, however, being entered by the court. The two interests involved negotiated with each other on perfect equality and the decisions were binding. Under this system, there was no umpire and no provision for the exe- cution of the judgment, the reliance being entirely upon the moral force of the statute, conscience, and the pressure of public opinion. The practical work- ing of these courts was very successful and, quoting Mr. Mundella, July 4, 1808, "during eight years we had not a single strike, and never in the history of our city and our industry did there exist such a hearty good understanding between employers and laborers as now." The rules may be found in de- tail in chap. 18 of The Relation of Labor to the Law of To-day, by Brentano, translated by Porter Sher- man, from which the historical facts here stated are mainly taken. Another system of courts of arbitration and agree- ment was that of Rupert Kettle, a judge of the county court of Worcestershire; the statutes drawn by him were adopted by the employers and laborers in the building trades in Wolverhampton. They were in their main features similar to the Mundella courts, but differed from the latter in the funda- mental point of providing an impartial umpire, and through legal provisions, the judgments were made binding in law. These provisions, however, were but seldom required in practice, as the presence of an impartial umpire had a tendency to produce an agreement without calling upon him; id. The re- sult o