INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES. 337 
Working of the Ahmedabad System. 
The system is admirable in its intentions and has had a substantial 
measure of success. It has been criticised as being somewhat dilatory in 
its operation. Of the complaints pending at the beginning of 1929, 50 
were sald to have been outstanding since 1922. The magnitude of the 
task of the settlement of disputes, however, can be judged from the fact 
that the total number of grievances recorded at the office of the Labour 
Association in the year 1929 amounted to 4,000. Although the resort to 
arbitration has not been as frequent as the number of grievances recorded 
would lead one to believe, there has been difficulty in some cases in obtain- 
ing a suitable umpire. The settlement of disputes concerning wages en- 
bails a prolonged examination of facts and figures, and some delay is often 
inevitable. Although the union is managed more for the workers than by 
the workers, it appears to have had a considerable educative value. 
Without desiring to minimise its importance, it is only fair to observe 
that there are local factors assisting its operation which cannot be re- 
produced elsewhere. In the first place, Ahmedabad is almost unique 
among the industrial centres of India in that the employers and the larger 
proportion of the workpeople belong to the same part of India and share 
not merely the same religion but the same mother tongue. Most of the 
Musalman weavers are outside the labour union. In the second place, the 
scheme seems to us to have depended largely on the unique position of Mr 
Gandhi, whose influence in Ahmedabad, both with the employers and the 
workers, is very great. Both parties have confidence in his sense of fair- 
ness and sympathy towards them, and either party would be faced with 
serious difficulties if it found itself in direct opposition to his views. 
The Employers and Workmen (Disputes) Act. 
Prior to 1929, the only Act on the statute book relating to the 
settlement of trade disputes was the Employers and Workmen (Disputes) 
Act of 1860. This provided for the speedy determination of disputes 
relating to wages in the case of certain workers. It was applicable to the 
construction of railways, canals and other public works and provided for 
the summary disposal of disputes by magistrates. The Act has every- 
where ceased to be used and this is perhaps fortunate, as it also embodies 
the principle of criminal breach of contract. We recommend its entire 
repeal. 
Consideration of External Machinery. 
The question of external machinery of general application for 
the settlement of disputes has in recent years received much public and 
official attention, particularly at times of serious industrial unrest, 
In 1920 the Government of India raised the question of legislation 
on the lines of the British Industrial Courts Act of 1919. At this 
time the serious industrial conflict at the end of the war had not 
reached its height and most of the local Governments agreed, with 
the Government of India that legislation on the British lines was not 
likely to be effective. The epidemic of strikes of 1920-21 led to a 
‘urther examination of the question, and representative committees were