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It will be noted that the Administrative Code directs the Department
 to select the chairman of an arbitration board, if such request is
made to the Department by both parties to the dispute. It is not the
desire of the Department that this duty shall be forced upon it if it is
possible for the parties to the dispute to agree upon a chairman of the
arbitration board. When strikes or labor disputes are settled by agreement
 between the parties to the dispute, through their own chosen
representatives, experience has proved beyond any question that the
relationship between the parties to the settlement is far more harmonious
 and lasting than when the dispute is settled by a decision of an
arbitrator. The Department, therefore, urges the settlement of labor
disputes through mediation and conciliation and only advises arbitration
 when every effort at conciliation has failed.
It is the desire of the Department to assist in keeping the industries
continually in operation without interference occasioned by industrial
disputes. Any and all legitimate means to promote harmony and
understanding between the employer and employe, and to bring about
this condition are part of the duties of the Bureau of Industrial Relations
 and its representatives in the field.