of compulsory trade unionism has been generally recognized." (See EXCLUSION POLICY OF TRADE UNIONISM.)

Concentration of Capital Theory. As formulated by Karl Marx, this is the theory that with the development of CAPITALISM there must be an inevitable tendency toward the concentration of industrial control in fewer and fewer hands, so that the MIDDLE CLASS must gradually diminish and at last disappear; leaving a small but immensely powerful capitalist class, or BOURGEOISIE, against which the PROLETARIAT will finally be pitted in a bitter conflict for supremacy. (See SCIENTIFIC SOCIALISM.)

Conciliation. In an industrial sense, the settlement or attempt at settlement of an industrial dispute by mutual agreement between the two parties involved, without submitting the case to ARBITRATION. It may consist in direct negotiations between the two parties, without reference to any outside agency; or it may be the result of efforts on the part of an impartial intermediary, who acts as a go-between for the two disputants and endeavors to find some common ground upon which they may themselves reach an amicable settlement. If conciliation fails, arbitration is usually resorted to. The essential difference between these two processes may perhaps best be expressed by saying that in conciliation the disputants endeavor to convince each other, with or without the help of a mediating agency; in arbitration they endeavor to convince a third party. "If the word 'conciliation' is to be applied at all in regard to labor matters it would seem desirable to restrict it to the settlement of minor disputes as to the interpretation of the labor contract. Even here it may perhaps best be confined to those cases where the parties directly interested meet in a friendly manner to settle differences of this class. In Great Britain there are many trades in which organizations of employers and employees select joint committees to which any dispute of the members of the organization may be appealed. These committees are frequently called boards of conciliation. Of course in many and perhaps in most instances the action of these joint committees consists in influencing the parties to a dispute to come to an informal understanding, rather than in rendering authoritative decisions, and their action in this direction may be perhaps accurately described by the term 'conciliation.' State boards of arbitration use the word in a very similar sense. However, the common usage of employers and employees in this country gives to these joint trade boards the name of arbitration boards or arbitration committees. Doubtless 'MEDIATION' is a word

more distinctively applicable than 'conciliation' to the intervention of State boards or other outside parties." (See CONCILIATION DIVISION; UNITED STATES BOARD OF MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION; PRESIDENT'S MEDIATION COMMISSION; WAGE BOARDS; STATE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION; FRENCH CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION LAW; SWEDISH INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATORS; CONCILIATION ACT.)

Conciliation Act. A British Parliamentary enactment of 1896, since revised and enlarged, setting up government machinery for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes. Under the Conciliation Act the usual form of arbitration tribunal was the "single arbitrator," an independent person appointed by the government and sitting as sole judge except in cases where the points in dispute necessitated the assistance of technical "assessors." Courts of arbitration (an employer's representative, a workmen's representative, and an IMPARTIAL CHAIRMAN) were established in 1908, but comparatively few cases have been referred to this form of tribunal. The provisions of this Act are purely voluntary, and contain no element of compulsion.

Conciliation Division. In the organic act of March 4, 1913, creating the UNITED STATES Department of LABOR, it is provided that "the SECRETARY OF LABOR shall have power to act as MEDIATOR and to appoint commissioners of CONCILIATION in labor disputes whenever, in his judgment, the interest of industrial peace may require it to be done." No other provision having been made by Congress for organizing a bureau or statutory division for the purpose of administering the power thus created, it has been administered from the beginning by the Secretary of Labor under his own immediate direction. At first, from total lack of appropriations for the purpose, the Secretary was obliged to draw such assistance as could be spared from bureaus organized for collateral purposes. Notwithstanding that handicap, however, and others of a kind that usually obstruct the development in practice of novel administrative functions, appreciable progress was made at once in conserving the interests of industrial peace. In the following years and supported by direct though altogether inadequate appropriations, the Division of Conciliation in the Office of the Secretary has been established. The Division is in charge of a Director of Conciliation, assisted by a corps of Commissioners of Conciliation. These latter act as industrial peacemakers, endeavoring to bring contending parties together and suggesting methods and alternatives for a peaceful solution of the particular matter in dispute. The Division has no power to

make decisions or awards in disputes submitted to it, its function being diplomatic rather than judicial.

Conciliator. See MEDIATOR.

Conditional Members. See MEMBERS AT LARGE.

Conditions of Employment. See WORKING CONDITIONS.

Confederacao Geral do Trabalho (General Confederation of Labor). The principal labor organization of Portugal. It was established in September, 1919, at a Congress representing 100,000 workers.

Confederación General del Trabajo (General Confederation of Labor). This, the most powerful labor body in Spain and the national organ of the revolutionary syndicalist movement in that country, was formed in 1900 as a loose federation of existing revolutionary labor organizations. It is devoted to the extreme CLASS STRUGGLE, with the GENERAL STRIKE as its favorite instrument. In order to create a more efficient fighting organization, it was decided at the Congress of 1919 to abolish the national trade union federations which until then had been the chief affiliated bodies of the Confederation, and to substitute in each industrial region a Syndicato Unico (a regional ONE BIG UNION) which would include all the trades of that region. At the same Congress it was decided to join the third INTERNATIONALE. The membership of the Confederation in 1920 was 800,000. Violent struggles with employers and the government alike, approximating to a condition of civil war, have marked the history of the Spanish "C. G. T." (See SPANISH LABOR MOVEMENT.)

Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana (Mexican Regional Confederation of Labor). This, the leading national labor body of Mexico, is modelled after the AMERICAN FEDERATION of Labor. It is composed of 217 workers' associations, mainly CRAFT UNIONS, including thirty-five unions of agricultural laborers. The present membership is estimated at 500,000. In opposition to the Confederation are a syndicalist and a communist organization, and a separate "Mexican Administration" of the INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD. (See PARTIDO LABORISTA MEXICANO.)

Confédération Générale des Syndicats Chrétiens et Libres de Belgique (General Confederation of Christian and Free Trade Unions of Belgium). See BELGIAN TRADE UNIONS.

Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labor). The chief national labor organization of France, formed in 1895 and now embracing nearly all the effective trade unionism of the country. For several years it was little more than a trade union congress with a standing committee; but its coalition with the Fédération des Bourses du Travail in 1902 gave it an impetus and power which have since steadily increased. In structural make-up, it has two distinct bases-the national Fédérations d'Industrie and Syndicats Nationals on the one side, and on the other a territorial grouping in the shape of UNIONS DÉPARTMENtales. Each of these two sections forms an integral part of the Confédération; the two are of equal importance and authority. Each section keeps its separate existence and has its own central committee; at regular intervals these committees meet together as a Comité Confédéral. This confederal committee elects the general secretary, and is the supreme executive body of the C. G. T. Nevertheless, it has no mandatory powers over the constituent units of the C. G. T., all of which retain almost complete autonomy. Each of these units, however large or small, has one and only one representative on the Comité Confédéral, and but a single vote. Since 1906 only industrial labor organizations have been allowed to affiliate with the C. G. T., although the craft organizations which already belonged were permitted to remain. In the matter of theories and policies, the C. G. T. has long been split into two rival camps. The minority or REFORMIST faction aims only at the direct improvement of labor conditions, and not at any catastrophic overthrow of the whole capitalistic regime by direct syndical action. It opposes the GENERAL STRIKE and SABOTAGE, aims at making its own terms with the employers, and favors association with the socialists. The revolutionaries, on the other hand, who constitute by far the largest element within the organization, are against all compromise with either employers or socialists. They believe that the workers, organized in INDUSTRIAL UNIONS, are sufficient to win economic emancipation by their own unaided efforts. They are both anti-militaristic and anti-patriotic. Their methods are those of DIRECT ACTION, including the strike in all its forms, sabotage, and the BOYCOTT. Occasionally, however, the two factions find a satisfactory common ground, and each has served to tone down the more extreme position of the other. The C. G. T. makes no money contributions to strikes, and confines itself to advice and propagandist activities, leaving to the local and national units in each industry the determination of all movements. It is supported by per capita dues paid monthly or

annually by its constituent units. The membership of the C. G. T. was put at 1,500,000 in 1920, as against only about 500,000 in 1914. An annual labor Congress, at which each national and local unit, whatever its size, is represented by a single delegate possessing a single vote, is an important part of the C. G. T.'s activities. For its part in the revolutionary general strike of May, 1920, the French government instituted proceedings against the C. G. T., with the object of forcing a dissolution of the organization. A decree to this effect was finally issued in January, 1921, and an expert was named to dispose of the Confédération's property. An appeal against this decision was lodged by the officers of the organization. (See FRENCH LABOR MOVEMENT; SYNDICALISM; CE-GE-TE-IST; CONSEIL ECONOMIQUE DU TRAVAIL.)

Confédération National du Travail (National Confederation of Labor). See FRENCH LABOR MOVEMENT.

Confederazione Generale del Lavoro (General Confederation of Labor). The leading national labor organization of Italy, founded in 1906 and constituting the central coordinating agency of the national trade union federations (FEDERAZIONE DEI MESTIERE), the local chambers of labor (CAMERE DEL LAVORO), and a considerable number of individuals not belonging to any local union. With a membership of less than 250,000 in 1918, the Confederation today embraces some two million workers. There are three important gaps in this imposing organization. It lacks the powerful Seaman's Union; a large percentage of the railway workers, sixty per cent or more, who are generally syndicalist; and most of the government employees, especially in the more skilled branches. It is, however, making headway among the last two classes. The Confederation is closely affiliated with the Italian Socialist Party-being, indeed, the latter's creation. While revolutionary in its ultimate aims, it seeks the redress of current grievances and the attainment of immediate reforms through POLITICAL ACTION. The Confederation (popularly known as the "C. G. L.") is managed by an executive council of fifteen members elected by the national Congress, and a general council of delegates from the affiliated organizations. Since the war the C. G. L. has managed to secure the almost universal introduction of the EIGHT-HOUR DAY. The main struggle has been to keep pace with the mounting COST OF LIVING, but a new factor has been introduced in the spontaneous demand of the rank and file for control of industry, manifesting itself in the frequent seizures of factories, and the recent movement of the metal-workers which was accom