A unique feature of industrial evolution in the United Kingdom has been the establishment of permanent voluntary Conciliation Boards in very many industries, by agreement between employers and workpeople, unsupported by legal enactment, and depending solely for their success on the goodwill of the parties. Such Boards have existed for many years past. The Board established in the Nottingham glove and hosiery industry in 1860 is probably the first example of permanent machinery in any industry for the systematic treatment of labour disputes. There is a large number of Conciliation Boards in existence. The value of Conciliation Boards (as of Joint Industrial Councils) depends on their ability to prevent stoppages of work rather than on power to settle strikes or lock-outs which may have already taken place. In most cases, the rules of Conciliation Boards provide that no stoppage of work shall be permitted pending consideration of the difference by the Conciliation Board—in some cases, the rules state that, if a stoppage of work has occurred, the Board will refuse to discuss the matter until work has been resumed. The membership of a Board consists usually of equal numbers of representatives of the employers’ associations and of the Trade Unions, parties to the agreement establishing the Board. Accordingly, it not infrequently happens that the two sides of the Board are equally divided on the question brought before them, and the efficacy of a Board as an instrument for composing differences depends largely upon the steps normally adopted for resolving such a dead-lock. The rules of some Conciliation Boards contain a clause providing that, in the event of failure of the parties to effect a settlement of a dispute, application shall be made to the Ministry of Labour for the appointment of an umpire, arbitrator or conciliator. The changed conditions during the war, and the special war-time provisions which were necessary for dealing with disputes, had a remarkable effect upon the forms of conciliation machinery in this country, with the result that, in several important industries (e.g. building), the machinery is under revision.