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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmto en commengant par la premiere page qui comporte une emprelnte d'Impression ou d'illustration et en termlnant p'^r la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle emprelnte. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signlfle "A SUIVRE", le symbols y signifle "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fiimte A des taux de rAduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A drolte, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mAthode. rrata to peiure, tiA n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I^'l Trade Unions: THEIR ORIGIN AND OBJECTS, INFLUENCE AND EFFICACY. M By WILLIAM TRANT, M. A. m WITH AN APPENDIX SHOWING THE jp il History and Aims '™ OP THE American Federation of Labor FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE GROWTH, BENEFITS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE M\m\ Hnd InteMtionBl Mb Mm of Amete FOURTH EDITION. PRICE, TEN CENTS. Published by the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, President, 171 E. 91ST St., New York City. 1888. Shoved t& £f eiiatoa Hace; jmi^ov^. T^ Trade Unions: THEIR ORIGIN AND OBJECTS. INFLUENCE AND EFFICACY. / By WILIvIAM TRANT, M. A, WITH AN AI'PKNDIX SHOWING THE History and Ainis. OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR; FOULOWED BY A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE GROWTH, BENEFITS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NATIONAL .^INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNIONS OF AMERICA FOURTH EDITION. PRICE. '•• TEN CENTS. Published by the American Federation of Labor, SamObl Gompers, President, 171 East 91ST Street, New York City. 1888. PRBFACE. To the officers and members of all Trade and Labor Unions, and to that much abused but serviceable class of Humanitarians— the despised "Labor Agitators"— this pamphlet is respectfully dedicated, with the hope that a perusal of its pages may make the subject of Trade Unions better understood and more thoroughly appreciated. The five opening chapters of this pamphlet are condensed from the prize essay on "Trade Unions," written by Mr. Wm. Trant, who secured for it the ;^5o prize offered a few years ago by the Trade Union Congress of Great Britain. It is a standard work, prepared after considerable research, and it has been care- fully edited to suit American conditions. The American Federation of Labor. This pnmpblet wiU be «old to Trade Unions and Labor Organizations in wholesale lots, at the rate of Five Dollan for one hundred copies, exprengage paid. AddKH, 8AMD£L OOMTBitS, 171 Eaat Ninetyflret Street, New York City. -U '——-■— ■ »' »f jj ' ^ Labor lass of iniphlet of its erstood densed , Wm. irs ago andard n care- Labor. ale lots, at the York Citjr. TRADK UNIONS. THEIR ORIGIN AND OBJECTS, INFLUENCE AND EFFICACY. By William Trant. CHAPTER I.— Historical Sketch. **'''™ " ™F"?"J';'P"*'°"-Tho Domestlo System-The " Capitalistic Craftsman "-The WorkinK Clam Tlie First Crisis— The Statutes of Ijihorers— The Black Deatli-High Wages, Cheap Food, and Short Hours— Combination-Ouilds— The First Union— Rise of the Artispii— The LollanU- An- tagonism of the Wc«lthy-The I'easanta' Uevolt-Oppresslon of the Working ClasseH-IH-lmse- ment of the Coin— Conllscation of the Guilds— (;oml>ination l^ws-Tho Poor Ijxws-Continned I>ecllne or the Workman— His Miserable Condition in the Nineteenth Century— Trade Unions Their Original Rules— Combinations of Employers. Thosk who so often apeak of the " wel- fare of the State" would do well to re- member that the phrase haa never yet meant the" welfare of the people." The "good old times" were good only for a small portion of the community, and al- though year after year haa shown constant improvement, yet that amelioration has been very slow and lamentably imperfect. Aristotle says, in his "Politics," that the best and most perfect commonwealth is one which provides for thw happiness of all its members. The fact that the great philoso- pher conceived such a noble sentiment so long ago is in itaelf remarkable ; but ad- miration for his wisdom is somewhat diminished when it is found that, "although artisans and trades of every kind are neces- sary to a State, they are not parts of it," and their happiness, therefore, is of a kind with which the "best and most perfect commonwealth" has no concern whatever. "The same law mast be for all classes of my snbjectfl," said Henry II., but la- borers were not considered subjects. So late as Elizabeth's time they were spoken of (hy Shakespeare) as "fragments." Even the Magna Charta, of which English- men are so justly proud, referred but to a moiety of the two millions of persons who inhabited England at the time of its pro- mulgation. It affected freemen alone, and there is little doubt that nearly one-half of the entire population was then in a state of slavery so abject that, in the language of the old law-writers, "the villein* knew not in the evening what he was to do in • "Villein " was a term to denote the serf or worker ii; those days. the morning, but was bonnd to do what- ever he was commandenl (il° tiie dead. >Viiii half n nation in ithivery there rouhl Ih! no " worlrovided muterinls which they hired men to work into the articles required. The glitzier glazed, but did not find the glass ; the blacksmith forged, but did not find the iron. There was, therefore, very little hiring of lalmrers. "The capitalist employer," says I'rofe.ssor Thorold liogera in "Si.\ Centuries of Labor and Wages," "the Urst middle man, is entirely un- known till the seventeenth century ; and the cu])italist purchaser of raw materials, the second middle man, is later still in the economy of society. At a very early date, however, craftamen became the chief purchasers of the materials on which they worked, and the "capitalist artisan " developed considerably in the six- teenth century. The London tailors, even in the reign of Edward IIL, were the great importers of woolen cloths, and thtre can be no donht that at this time many of the craftsmen traded in the raw material which they worked, As, however, the trades be- came more prosperous, and the jxtor, who flocked to the towns, more numerous, the traders gradually ceased working at their craft, and, confining themselves to trading, left the manual lalwr to their less fortunate companions. That is to say, a class of small dealers in raw material sprang into existence. The distinction of classes be- came marked. The shoemaker soon learnt to look down upon the cobbler, and the leather merchant to despise the shoemaker. The "full history ot England as » na- tion," it is agreed, begins in the reign of Henry II., and it is thenabouts that we find anything like a working class gathering itself together. In the three centuries which immediately succeeded the Norman Conquest, the commerce of England was greatly extended. Foreign commodities were "introduced in abundance, and na- tive manufactui'es established and im- proved." This natnrally attracted to the towns such ^erfs as wished for liberty, and thus we find springing up in the towns » class of men possessed of personal free- dr)ni, hut dentitnle « f property and land. These were the forerunners «if the wage- working class. 'i'he Statute of Lalmiers (23 Eil . III., c. 1) clearly shows the existence of m w»Ke-r»- cciving class, the remuneration l>eingbl>ont one penny a day in additiim to food ; :nd when it is rememberepulatinn (amounting, it is said, to one- third of the nation) whi(h fol- lowed the great plague of 134H, the ''I'lliick Death," caused a natural rise in the ]irice of lalior. Whole villages died out ; houties fell in ruins ; entire fim'ks perished fi)r want of herdsmen ; and the corn crcp perished for wants of reapers. The «'l«-rgy even raised their fees for masses and prtij ers, becaase fewer persons were able lo afl'ortl snch luxuries ; merchants and trndchmen took advantage of the small supply of wares to raise their prices ; and in like manner the workmen endeavored to profit by the dearth of labor, by refusing to work except at enormous prices. The wealthy cliisn objected to all this, and the purpose of the Act rcferrel.lll.,c.l) of » waKe-ro- ioiiliein((bli|]' as tatnte nft'iud tlie o])iiiii)n of of aKricuitnral tsoive." J I ere 8ig"on ruord ploj'fd in y.ug- imouutini;. if in ion) Yihu h fol- MH,the "liliuk Re in the jirice (d out ; hdUtifs 8 peiihhtd A)r the corn crop rs. The oh-rjfy Ht'HflndpniycrH, I able to afl'ord and trndcMUfn supply of wares u like miinner ) profit by the to ■work exwpt wealthy eliisn purpose of the ie wages, liy rc- aocept thetutnie istomary be-fore ,he manor pny- cted in tre),!e d at raiAoniiblo )idden to able- tute, however, rded; and two er ahearmen of city anthorilics n at the emme - the ■workmen they were paid [ly been some- itrike," and it it any lurther l)y the wartlen 1 did not Rnb- by the mayor er, ■was of no 'prising is the k moment im> nforced. The by the Manor ;nded for eCS- isting between where statute ice was made }fee8or Rogers t some cnrions I Act, by the alteratiuuM in the re<-ord of the court from ttau priiw actually paid tothuMtatuteiiriceH; alterationa evidently made to technically uoiirorm to the law, whilu actually evading it. At last the ])eaMUUtM combined to resist the law. They organize themselves, and they Hiib:4cril>e considerable sums of money for thti defence and prote<'tion of serfs, which, it has l)een suggested, may huvein- cludt'd the payment of lines. In point of fiict, here is a rudimentary trade union to resi.stau unjust law amt to secure higher wauc.M. A similar statute to the one al>ove quoted was poKsetl in 1362, when, alter a violent tempest, a royal order was issued that the materials for rooting and the wages of tilers should not he enhanced by reason of tim d.tmage dune by the storm. An ad- ditional statute, with a similar object, was pa-ised the following year. Prom these sources, and from the indus- trious researches of i'rofessor Thorold Kogers, we learn what were the wages earned at the period l)efore the rise set in. It will be sulliuient to say here that they were nut satisfactory, though not so meagre as has been geuerally supposed. TlioActs, however, were disregarded, the meu refus- ing to work for less than double or treble tlui sums prescribed by statute. For about a given immediately. (Jreat, too, as was *!'■> nplair.ed thHt tliey lutU to eat aaiuiou more thaii luurdays a week. the rise in wages, there was no cwrrespond- ing rise in the price of provisiims. r>ery- tliing the lulmrer needed was as cheap as it ever IiimI lieen, his laNir was rising in value week by week, ane interesting to inquire whether any "union" or "combination" had given the men strength to resist the injustice which the Actsjust mentioned inllict«d upon them bj curbing the "aspiring exertions of indus- try and independency." Materials u|M)n which to found a decideil opinion are, unfor- tunately, very scarce. One thing, however, is certain. The people of England luul long l)een familiar with the principle of associa- tion for trade and other purposes. Even so early as the time of Canute, asHo'ere unions of handicraftsmen — the principal guild be- ing that of the weavers. The very essence of the guilds was mutual support, mutual protection, and mutual responsibility. They were, indeed, the first friendly societies. These guilds gradually extended their influ- ence beyond the limitsof particular trades, and ultimately became far more pow-erful than the municipal corporations of the presentday. The notions of the members of the guilds were of a very exclusive na- ture in regard to theadmisfiontf members. No viltnn» were permitted to join them, and all freeiueii wliu were proposed hud to be duly elected. The noblest of all the guilds of the Middle Ages was undoubtedly that of the masons. This brotherhood ruse from the circumstances in which the travelling builders of the Middle Ages found them- selves placed. "They were brought to- gether from distant homes to lie employed for a considerable time on such great works ns our mediosval churches and <«ithedrals. Near the rising structure on which they were engage loiiK lip) li«-eii ilmrt'gitnli'd. All thttt rciiiHiim of th« iiiiu-tiiiH' Kiiilil Ih tli« now ('aHhioiiu))li> older of " Fic«>ninNonH, " Hiul of the otlu'iH tlie rich livery ('oiii|iiinieM uf London mid the guildH ol elM'where, who now H))eiid their dying nionientN, iih they iiiaii>{iiiiiU'd their exixteneu centuiieM ago, nt dinner* 'Ihe eJnliiHivenpuHof the gnilds natnmlly fw>]innit('d Htill more the incipient working ehicH Ironi their well-to-do Bniieriorn, and t«nded more and more to give the work- men separate viewn and intereHts, which were not infre<|nently untagoniHtie to thotination of aoroe Mirt or other that it if) inipoHHible to reniBt the belief that in the fourteenth century the working man — ex- cluded from the guild — would unite with his fellows, if not for general, yet for apeci- fic ohjeetfl in connection with his condition. It iH gratifying to learn that this view in taken by bo high an authority as Dr. Lujo Brentano,whoaliii of the serlM hml lor Nome time ]>aMl ))r!' re- ictntnry/'ln I'h nnd manor ve ni'VJT met the 8Ale of 8 ay la)M)r rent ney imvnient ideed, diirinK ! practire !«•- )ney «'fn- ; and itt th» the rule hnd rhe innnove- serCu created amoDg tbem neral of Nor- » vill«in, fras 6te, the great nth century, oee days serfs ns. Th»re is they became 3eed, as they also became ley paid rent, 1 between the former could ed bis dues; I dne to him iiHtraint upon ihattels, and tttel himself, rocess l>y the : Death waa lort, enianci- ;he surviving a profiperons iklif's "Poor fed l)y John loctrines that iry doctrines, sople, are so age thu old ve span, in?" at those who smselves, but t labor, or to B "equality" explained to pressed upon d by a priv- and, or force sphere. The men were not starving, and had time toliHten and to think, and, utKive nil things, to combine. And they did combine. They niilMcribed money ; they flhieldeed serf from the |iursuit of his lord ; the iterf and the free joinnl in a common cause, and waited but the itignal to "strike" agninHt their enemies. The sign was at length given, and the result was, on the 10th of June, i:W!, the I'easants' K»ivolt, or Wilt Tyler's i{el)ellion. This was a rising cauHee forgotten. In all riflings for a particular object, the oppor- tnuity is seized of making many demands. For the particulars of that revolt the reader is referred to the history of the period. The rebellion nearly succeeded, b'^t ttie laborers were ci^oled into quietude. Prom this time forward for three centu- ries the history of the laboring class is » sad story. The governing powers never for- gave the Lollards, nor those who listened to them. They seized every opportunity of crashing the people, and it is only re- cently that policy has been departed from. It is not too much to say that from this time to 1824, in the words of the author already quoted, "a conspiracy concocted by the law, and carried out by parties inter- ested in itfl su'-cess, was entered into to cheat the English workman of his wages, to tie him to the soil, to deprive him of age, and to degrade him into irreparable poverty." The first of these repressive measures was the debasement of the coin by Henry VIII. and the guardians of lid- word VI. The nefarious transactions by which this was brought about had for their object the replenishment of the royal cofiiars out of the earnings of the artisans and laborers, and they succeeded in that object. Tlie peasantry were already im- poverished by the action of the land- owners in substituting sheep-fanning for agriculture, and the new state of affairs oppressed them with great severity. The purchasing power of the revenue fell to one-third of ita original capacity, and the consequent rise in prices was one and a half. In other words, if wages rose from Ctd. to 9(1. a day, the laborers bad to pay 38. for meat, 2k. 5d. for bread, and Us. 6d. for batter and cheese, where he bad paid In. before. This, it is obvious, put back the laborer into a position of penury to which he had not beeu accustomed, and to which be did not readily submit. His condition was ngain almost that of the serf. From childhood to old age all wer. labor. Eight honra no longer constituted a day's work. His miserable coudit '.on waa rendered worse by the diNsolntion of the tuoniisUries tlmt wcompanied the debase- ment of the coin. A great part of the vast lands of the monasteries was devoted to the relief of the poor, and to their uosiat- ancn in many ways. When this waa with- drawn, no substitute was provided in its place. These transactions were followed by the con liscation of the property of the guilds. 1 have deacrilHsl them us the flret Friendly .Societies. Thegnilds Rssisted the artisan in times of difficnlly, allowed him loans without interest, and granted benefits to his widow. The effect of the confisca- tion of the guilds was the same as would result fiom tue confiscation of the fnnds of the Friendly fiodeties; and it is worth noting, as an argument in favor of strong onion, that only the provincial guilds wtre molest4>d, those in London l)eing so power- ful that the Crown dared not inoleet them. The working men reeisted these opprrs- aions, and vigorous measures were paesfd to force them into snbmiMion. An Act was passed in the reign of Edwaid VI., which shows pretty plainly what was thought in those days of the "working claeses." If a man refused to work at statute prices, he was branded with the letter V (vagabond), and reduced to slavery for two years. If he attempted to escape from that condition, he was branded with 3, and became a slave for life ; and if he objected to that state, he was hanged. It ia also evident that tne spirit of combina- tion was growing amongst the laborers and artisans, for the laws against workmen's combinations were made still moreatrin- gent than hitherto. The preamble of 2d and 3d Edward VI., cap. 16 (A.D. 1646), set forth that "artificers, handicraftsmen, and laborers had made confederociea and promises, and have sworn mntnal oaths, not only that they shonld not n;eddle with one another's work, and perform and finish what another hath began, bnt also to con- stitate and appoint bow much Ihey aball do in a day, and what boors and timea they shall work, contrary to the laws and statotes of this realm, and to the great im- poverishment of his M^esty's subjects." Anyone convicted for the third time of having joined snch a combination hnd his ear cut off, and altogether the ponishmenta were very severe. It may be gathered, then, that the prin- ciple of combination amongst the work- people was rapidly progressing, and wai met onder the Todors and Btoarts in a spirit which, it is to be regretted, ia not wholly extinct at the present day, as recent eventa have shown. It is not surprising that this state of af- fairs should have impres-sed the thinking minds of the period ; and that the causes and remedies should be considered. States- men and persons of influence began to ac- knowledge the j ustice of the demands of the v'orkpeople. In Sir Thomas More's Utopia the great Btatestiiun advocates almost all the reforms that have taken place since his day, and many that have not yet been ac- complished. Indeed, as Mr. J. It. Green jioints out, " In liis treatment of the ques- tion of labor he still remains far in advance of carrent opinion The whole system of societyaround him seemed to him 'nothing but a conspiracy of the rich against the IKtor.' Its economic legislation was simply t he carrying out of such a conspiracy by process of law. The rich are ever striving to pare away something further from the daily wages of the poor by private fraud, and even by public law, so that the wrong «lreadyexisting(for it is a wrong that those from whom the State derives most benefit should receive least reward) is made yet greater by means of the law of the State. "The rich devise every means by which they may in the I'rst place secure to them- selves what they have amassed by wrong, nnd then take to their ow» nse and profit at t he lowest possible price ..he work and labor of the poor ' ' The resui t was the wretched existence to which the labor class was doomed — "a life so wretched that even a beast's life seems enviable." More then gives his remedies. The end of labor laws, he says, should be the welfare of the laborer. Labor should be compulsory with all. Un- less a man work, neither shall he eat. Even in those days, 151G, More demanded that the period of toil should be shortened to nine hours, with a view to the intellectual improvement of the worker: there miust be also, he pleaded, "a public system of edu- cation," comfortable homes for the people, complete toleration and equality of all re- ligions, and much more in the same strain. I do not suppose that any book that was ever written hasdane so much for the work- ing classes as the Utopia, written by the proposer of the nine hours system more than three hundred years ago. The general progress of civilization, even, had its draw- backs as regards the humbler classes. Tlie general diffusion of the art of printing, the great geographical discoveries effected in the sixteenth century, and the general ac- tivity which prevailed throughout £iux>pe immediately after the Reformation, gave a great stimulus to trade and commerce, the effects of which were long felt. This, of coarse, had a beneficial influence. It had, however, some drawbacks. Amongst them may be mentioned that in the seventeenth century the practice of setting children pre- maturely to work prevailed to a very large extent. At Norwich, the chief Beat of the clothing trade, children began to work at six years old, and earned not the "insig- nificant trifle" which was paid to the little sufferers forty years ago, but very much more than was necessary for their own sus- tenance. In the opposition which was shown at the time to this inhumanity is to I be discerned the dawn of the Factory Acts, I and of the opposition which was subse- 'lur-nwlj' offered by Trade Unions to the overworking of youths and children. I must mention another kind of legisla- tion that emphasized the evils already in- dicated. A state of affairs had been pro- duced which created a cliss who required not only work, but food, and it was sought to remedy the evil by the enactment of poor laws. I must refer the reader else- where for an account of statutes whose chief result was the manufacture of pau- pers, and whose only effect could be to make the poor, poorer. It will be suflScient to say here that the Justices in quarter ses- sions had the power to fix wagc8, a poiverth&t continued under legal sanction till 1812. Naturally they were fixed at the lowest possible figure, the Justices knowing full well that any deficiency would be paid out of the poor rates, to which all occupiers — that is, the country at large — would be obliged to contribute. There could be but one result from this. Wages would continually fall, and the amount of poor relief as continually rise. Asaconsetiuence, the time would ultimately arrive when it would require the whole of the rent from land in order to relieve the poor. Indeed, that condition was being approached and would undoubtedly have been reached but for the discovery of steam power and machine weaving, which, as will appear later on, created a great demand for labor and raised wages. In spite of all these difficulties, however, the men continued to combine, and the le- gislature to pass laws against combination. The revolution of 1688 gave no liberties to the artisans and the peasants. In the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries it was oi^ dained that "journeymen should make no unlawful assemblies, brotherhoods, congre- gations, and flockings together. " The Act of 2 and 3 Ed. VI., c. 15 (ate ante, p. 7) was confirmed by 22-23 Charles II., and remained in force nntil repealed by 6 Geo. IV., c. 129. The stringent laws, too, to which workingmen were subjected after the Restoration, rendered their position far from comfortable or just. As if the statutes were not sufliciently rigorous, the construction of the existing laws,tbe offence of conspiracy, originally referring to combi- nations for the purpose of procuring false evidence, or of committing some crime, was extended to associations of workmen whose purpose was to raise wages. Even so lato as the end of the last century the farm la- borer had no right to sell his labor in the be^t market, but was compelled to work for any employer in his parish who chose to demand his services at a price flxed by statute. It was not until 1795 that a work* j-jwww" ^ ■■^ ■' ^W W iJgi: - § ^ )n which was humanity is to e Factory Acts, Ich was subae- Uniona to the children, iud of legislft- rils already in- had been pro- who required 1 it was sought euaetmeut of e reader elae- itatntes wliose icture of pau- ild be to make e BufiScient to a quarter sea- ls, a powerthat tion till 1812. at the lowest knowing full Id be paid out ill occupiers — ate — would be ere could be Wages would louct of poor tconsetxuenee, irrive when it rhe rent from oor. Indeed, preached and n reached but I power and will appear land for labor ties, however, e, and the le- combination. lo liberties to In the six- ries ij was or- mld make no loods, congre- r." The Act !e ante, p. 7) arlesll., and [ed by 6 Geo. laws, too, to bjected after tieir position ;. As if the rigorous, the vs,the offence ingtocorabi- ocuring false ne crime, waa rkmen whose Even so lato the farm lo- labor in the lied to work sb who chose trice fixed by that a work- man could legally travel in search of em- ployment out of his own parish. In 1545 the City of London complained that the importation of foreign manufactures was ruining the country, and demanded low wages as a remedy. In 1680 there was, as there is now, the cry that if we paid our ar- tisans high wages we should be unable to compete with loreign countries. In that year Mr. John Bassett, the member for Barnstaple, remarked that it was impos- sible fur our textures to maintain a compe- tition with the produce of the Indian looms. ' 'An English mechanic, ' ' hesaid, ' ' instead of slaving like a native of Bengal for a piece of copper, exacted a shilling a day." Al- though this amount is equivalent to only about one-half of the present rate of wages, there were even then, as indeed there al- ways have been, attempts to reduce the amount; and there is ample evidence that so long ago as when the above words were spoken there wjis " the vehement and bitter cry of labor against capital. " " For so mis- erable a recompense, ' ' wrote Lord Macaulay on the aforesaid one shilling a day, "were the producers of wealth compelled to toil, rising early and lying down late, while thn master clothier, eating, sleeping, and id- ling, became rich by their exertions. " From the earliest times until the present day, then, employers have endeavored to pay their men as little as possible for as many hours' work as they could possibly get out of them. In this task the masters have ever been assisted by a Parliament of sympathizing friends — a Parliament which has always yielded reluctantly to any mea- sure calculated to improve the masses, but has greedily acrepted any proposal to bene- fit the few at the cost of many ; and al- though the onward and upward march of civilization has rendered such conduct less easy in the present day, yet still there is the old tendency to legislate as though the capitalist were entitled to all the plums and the laborer to all the kicks. The numerous attempts to fix wages by Act of Parliament were nearly all failures. The assessment of weavers' wages by the Justices had fallen into disuse betbre 1720. In that year the Justices reasserted the au- thority they possessed, and fixed wi^es, but tlieir injunctions were disregarded. So late ns 17(J8 an Act was passed compelling the London tailors to work from G a.m. to 7 p.m., with an interval of one hour only for re- fre.sbments. The same Act also fixed the wages of the clothworker at 'ia. Id. a day. Either master or servant was liable to im- prisonment for two months for violating these rules; and a master was further liable to a fine of £500 if he employed workmen who lived more than five miles from Lon- don. In 1795 the Berkshire magistrates at Speenhamland declared that wages should rise or iall with the price of bread, and themselves fixet! the rates. Numerous Acts were passed about this time regulating, or rather interfering with, the most minute details of manufacturing industry. To stimulate the Macclesfield trade it was en- acted that no "buttons or button-holes made of cloth, serge, drugget, frieze, cam- let, or any other stnfis, should be made, set, or bound on clothes, or worn ;" and the bare enumeration of similar legislation would occupy more space than is at present at disposal. The attempts to keep wages down were supported by statesmen who ought to have known better. Pitt, Fox, and Whitbread distinctly asserted the un- just and pernicious doctrine that a laborer's remuneration should be proportioned, not to his services, but to his wants, and in 1796 the magistrates in Berkshire attempted to "settle the incomes of the industrious poor. ' ' The liberty of operatives was still further restricted at the clote of the eigh- teenth century, by an Act of Parliament which declared to be illegal, all contracts, except between masters and men, for ob- taining advances of wages, altering the usual time of working, decreasing the quantity of work. It is difiScult to conceive, in the face of all this, how the condition of the working- man has improved in the slightest degree. Indeed, it has not increased proportionally. He has certainly been enveloped, so to speak, in the general progress of affairs ■, he has doubtless shared somewhat in the national prosperity; but whatever improve- ment has taken place in the condition of the working classes, does not all correspond with the improvement which has taken place in the middle and upper classes. In regard to the agricultural laborer the case is very bad. In 1740 a Suffolk laborer could buy for 5s., what in 1801 cost him 26s. 5d. As Professor Rogers says, " For five centuries and a half, for^Tteen, sixteen generations, there was no appreciable al- teration in the condition of the people." It remained stationary, where it did not deteriorate, from Henry III. to George III. The condition to day of the laborer in the agricultural districts of England, and the instances which are reported of the conduct of the employed, speak of misery and op- pression worthy of the Tudors and the Stuarts. Down to 1779 the condition of the miners in Scotland was lit«rally one of serfdom. They were obliged to remain in the pit as long as the owner chose to keep them there, and they were actually sold as part of the capital invested in the work. If they took work elsewhere, iheir master could always have them ff tched back and flogged OS thieves for having robbed him of their labor. It is no wonder that in 1745 the magistrates of Lanca^ihire were alarmed at the symptoms of combination and disaf- fection, and once again resorted to an .-«iP 10 attempt to fix 'wngesin spite of past experi- ences. It were tediona to mention the various everts which have ruffled tlie career of the laborer during the hist century. It is often stated that wages had gradually risen and food had cheapened. This, however, is a mistake. From 1800 until after the repeal of the Com Laws the state of the laborer seems never to have been in its natural cond i tion. During that period wages were never high, and at times the distress was very ^reat. England was then (1810-1812) in anything but an enviable position. On tbe Continent the hand of every nation was against her, and her hand was against eveiy nation. She was at war with all the em- pires she had not subsidized in the Old World, and her arms were struggling with her own offspring in the New World, as well as fighting a war of oppression in the Indies. The.se wars, which lasted for a quarter of a century, spread misery like a pall over the land. Trade was paralyzed ; foreign ports, both in Europe and America, were closetl to us, and by a pig-headed pol- icy* our ports were closed to them. There was not work for anybody, and nearly everybody, therefore, was starving. Just at this time an event took place which, al- though a great ble-ssing, and known to be so at the time by fivr-sighted men, was not unaccompanied by those disasters which generally accompany great changes. While nearly all men were out of work, capital- ists began to introduce into the manufac- turing districts labor-saving muchines, which dispensed with seven out of every eight handworkers. This was the last straw. The men were in no hamor for reasoning on the principles of political economy. They were starving ; and to their eyes the new machinery cut otT every chance of their ever working again. They formed the strongest and most secret combination ever known in this country. Their object was to destroy the new machines, and for three yeara the havoe they committed, es- pecially in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Hiid Nottinghamshire, was immense. It was not until enormous powers were granted to the military, the magistracy, and the police, that the conspiracy was brought to an end by the execution of thirty of the ringleaders, t Such was the miserable condition of the • The notorious " Orders iu Council." t The "LudditeEisinK." an the disHflTection has been called, was inteusifled by the fact that, whereas tl>e operatives were starviug, tlio capi- talists were hoarding. Mr. J. It. Green savs: "The war enriched the landowner, the capitalist, the manufacturer, the farmer; but it inipover- ishetl the poor. It is, indeed, from the fatal years which lie between the Peace of Amiens Biid >\ aterloo that we must date that war of ola».-es, that social Keveraiice between rich and poor. Iw tween employers and employed, which otillfurms the great difficulty of Ekiglibh iioIiUcji," laborers, and their meagre powere of com- bination, at the dawn of the nineteenth Century. Everywhere the combination laws were in full force ; tbe truck system was almost universally establisheti, and still further, to make the workman de'pend- ent, he was paid at long intervals ; and any advances kindly made to him by a gener- ous employer were charged for at the rate of 200 per cent, per annum. Add to these the tact that the men were kept at work sixteen hours out of every twenty-four.and it will be no matter of surprise that they were driven to defy the cruel and nnju.st laws which oppressed them, and to curry out their object, not only in the most na- tural of all ways, but by the means with which they were most familiar, namely, by combination. The progress of industry at last rendered this imperative. The application of steam power to the processes of manufacture, fol- lowed by the inventions of Arkwright, Crompton, Ilargreaves, at the close of the eighteenth century, and others, had almost annihilated the domestic system of mauu- factaring. Hitherto weaving had been carried on in private houses and in sheds adjoining them, as is still the case in some parts of Yorkshire, as, for instance, the vil- lages about Huddersfield and Leeds. Ap- prentices lived with their masters as part of the family.* It was a common occur- rence tor the apprentice to marry his mas- ter's daughter, and enter into partnership with her lather. With the improvement of machinery, however, when several looms were worked hy one engine, the domestic system was supplanted by the factory sys- tem. The rapid production of new ma- chines ruined the trade of the hand loom weaver. There can be no doubt that the introduction of machinery was at fint ex- tremely injurious to thote whose means of living were afiected — as, indeed, every im- provement in machinery must injure those who are only able to keep iu the old groove. By the invention of machinery the public, who paid less for their goods.and the man- ufacturers who produced more cloth for the same, or a less ontlny,were the gainers. The old weavers were the only losers, t I have said the men resorted to the means, with which they were most familiar, viz., combination. Their experiences on this point have already been sketched, but now a new departure was niatle. In the begin- ning of last century the principle of the guilds had extended itself beyond the mid- dle clas«, aud had reached the working • In 1806 there were above 100 such apprentices in Armley. n inanufacturinur villaso of between 4,UK) and b.OUO inhabitants. t This has always been the case. The objec- tions in 1730 to the " new-fangled machine " (for winnowiug) introduced into Scotland are well kuowu, '- M 'WiwaWi^if"!'" v ^nmm ^ t' 3 ' >»» ^M' powereof com- the uineteeuth le combination le truck system established, and orkmande'peud- tervala ; and uny him by a geuer- l I'or at thti riit« I. Add to these re kept at work bwenty-four.and prise that they rnel and nnjiist n, and to curry a the most na- tbe means with miliar, namely, at last rendered ication of steam Anafacture, tbl- of Arkwright, ihe close of tlie lers, had almost rstem of maun- 'ing had been )es and in sheds he case in some nstance, thevil- nd Leeds. Ap- iiasters aa part common orcnr- marry his mas- ito partnership improvement of several looms le, the domeKtic the factory sys- on of new ma- the hand loom doubt that the was at first ex- vhose means of deed, every im- ust injure those the oid groove, lery the public, i8,and the man- more cloth for ere the gainers, nly losers, t td tothemeanS' ; familiar, viz., ■iences on this itched, but now In the begin- rinciple of the eyond the mid- 1 the working such apprentices llage of between case. The objeo' <1 machine" (for Gotland are well classes. More correctly speaking, the ca- pitalists hiul withdrawn, and leit the men to organize and to promote their combina- tion and organization. In 170;{ the Watch- makers' Society and the Norman Society were estaltUshed in London npon the prin- ciple of the present friendly societies; and, with others nearly as old, are still in exist- ence. The example thus stt was followed by the rapid promotion of similar societies. Such aiisociatious, however, were illegal, and their meetings were obliged to be held privately. The "Friendly Society of Iron Fonndeis," which began in 1810, used to meet on dark nights on the peaty wastes and moors on the highlandsof the Midland counties, and the archives of the society were buried in the peat. These societies have now ramifications all over the empire, and in England and Wales alone have funds amounting to upwards of £150,000. It was customary at the beginning of thia century for men from various factories *o 'Zieet at taverns to pay their instalments L:oint which, would uuturuily occur to the workman would \te thiitAu taught the apprentice and received no reuiunerution. All the trouble and wui'k of training the youth were left to the iirtiHtiu, nnd when the pupil wa» per- fect he ut ouce competed with his teacher. I>(irin^ the whole of the seven years' op- preiiticeship the master received the l)ene- tiu of the youth's extra labor, and of the premium that was Nometimes paid with him, while the man who had borne the hejit and burden of the day received no ad- vantage whatever. The rule limiting the uumbier of apprenti<«.s, then, was very at- tractive to tlie foundera of trade unions. The impruvenients in machinery, however, ttru rapidly depriving the system of its util- ity. It may have required a long appren- ticeship Ijefore a man could weave ; it re- quire-i little to "mind a loom ;'' and there- fore that rule of the trade unions, which is so often (|aoted by employers as exhibiting the arbitrary principle of the unions, bad a natural birth, is dying a natural death, and will ere long be decently buried and duly forgotten. The tra4le unions copied several other ancient provisions, such as the rules against .syst'-matic overtime. The guilds also for- biule a memlier to work with a non-mem- ber. No member was to instruct another, uud "no person of the mystery was to hire him.self to u person of another mystery where greater wages were offered . " " liat- tening" (exa<;tly similar to the Sheffield systtmi, with the exception that in the old times it was legal, and now it is not) was practised ugainst those persons who neglec- ted to pay their subscriptions. The guilds had also their "black lists," and the word "donation," now applied to the money giveu to men "on tramp," ia a translation of "Geo-chenk," the word given by the old German guilds to the workmen who were similarly tramping. These and other rules were copied into the ctides of the new unions. They are rapidly becoming obso- lete, and are not enforced at all in the iron industries. In these industries no fixed period of service is imposed on apprentices, nor is their numl>er limited. The union men do not refuse to work with non-union men, and "rattening" is not allowed. From this it is seen that, in the natural onler of things, the early tntde union- ists selecteti rules which they now ignore. They also showed at times more of the bigotry and niirrow-miudedness of a by- gone age tlian one likes to see now. There have been intoleranta in every creed, and it would be strange if trade unions had furnifhed an exception. Even the most partial inquirer would fail to detect any more intolefahce in trade unionism than can l)e found in the society which was presided over by the Dukeof Cumberland— or,indeed, iu any other combination. It would, how- ever, not have been surprising if intoler- ance had reached its culminating point in trade unions. The wonder is, not that there has been so much ill-feeling on the part of the men, but that there has been so little. Oppression breeds intolerance. Th« men knew that it was illegal to combine, and having therefore to conspire, they came to regard both their maaters and the laws as their natural enemies, against whom they would have to wage a war prolonged, if not everlasting. "Consciousness," says "Thorn- ton, "of >>eing singled out as victims by a partial and ini<(uitou8 law, directed exclu- sively againstthemselves, naturally excited in tbem both general prejudice against aU law, and special rancor against those in whose behalf the specially obnoxious law had been enacted." Created by strikes and nurtured by oppression, unions long re- tained their warlike spirit, a characteristic which now happily is passing away. It remains to add that combinations began, not amongst the workmen, but amongst the masters. The employed merely followed the example of their employers. It was, and still is, the practice of large capitalists to combine to keep down the price of labor, instead of competing with each other, and so raising wages to their "legitimate rate," as it is railed. Until lately the combination of the masters baa been directed to a great extent against poor, ignorant, and disunited men, and on that account the capitalists have generally been successful. This state of things is now changed. It IS been, then, that trade unions were not improvised. They are not sudden and impulsive combinations, carelessly formed to be hastily abandoned. They are the natural outgrowth of natural laws. Work- men soon perceived that all the extra profits arising from appn>ved appliances went iuto the pocketa of the capitalists, and that a great deal of additional misery and Buffering was imposed upon themselves. They saw that the hardest fare and the most work always accompanied each other, and there were complaints loud and deep. Indeed, trade unions have always been "forced" into existence by the oppression of the masters ; and when attempts have been made by tlio men to establish a union in the absence of presisure from above, they have always failed.* At this distance of time we can now clearly see that the em- ployers of Nottingham nius"; I e blamed for the fact that, in 181*.}, half the population of th»-ir town lived upon public relief. To durtroy a loom was punishable with death, *Tho flrst attempt of the Ijondnn tnilora and thutoftliu pudillurs iii 181 j too ctkoea iu polut. lich was presided rland— or, indeed, It would, how- rising if intoler- linating point in is, not that there ig on the part of 08 ))een so little, ance. Th«i men to combine, and re, they came to and the laws as linst whom they prolonged, if not 88," saysThorn- • as victims by a directed exclu- laturally excited idice against all gainst those in r obnoxious law d by strikes and anions long re- a characteristic ng away, tt combinations workmen, but mployed merely heir employers, iractice of large keep down the [competing with wages to their 1 called. Until' ;he masters has lut against poor, en, and on that I generally been things is now le unions were not sudden and iielessly formed They are the al laws. Work- the extra profits )pliances went capitalists, and nal misery and on themselves. b fiire and the lied each other, luud and deep. i always been the oppression attempts have tablish a union om above, they his distance of ) that the em- "ile blamed for ieix)]>ulationof ilio relief. To ble with death, ndnn tailors and used iu pulut. ii»i l ' "V v f m. and it was then that numerous associations of woptmen sprang into existence. These associations developed into tinde unions as soon as the law permitted them to do so. It can hardly be doubted that the indictment, fifty-seven yard.s long, charging some me- chanics, in 1840, with conspiring to get up a strike, and with some '-thousands" of mis- demeanors, wa« the beginning of the now large association known as the Amalga- mated Society of Engineers, and if its success was at all doubtful, the conduct of the Messrs. I'latt in 1852 established its basis on a ro<'k. * It was the violation of * " After a lock-out of four monthg. and the expenditure of the whole of the acvumulnted funds of the AmalKamatcd 8oclety, the em- ployers opened their works again, and the men went back on the old terms. Had the AuialKa- mated Society broken up, a« was confldently ex- pected at the time, the labor movement miisht have been thrown back a quarter of a century 13 George IV,, cap. 68, by the masters, in favor of themselves and against the inter- ests of the men, which led the Spitaltield weavers to Ibrm their at-sociation. The oppression of the miners led to the forma- tion of the union iu 18H1 ; while the cloth- workers, the hatters, calico printers, the Scotch bakers (who in 1840 were little bet- ter than hlaves), and all the new as well as the old societies, have been forced into ex- istence by the injiistice of the employers. " I am no lover of trade unions," says the Bishop of Manchester, "but they have been forced upon the working classes )>y the inequitable useof the power of capital. ' ' . . . as it was, the defeat proved Ijetter than a victors-. It was the turninK-point In the history of the Amalttamated Society, which rapidly re- covered its looses, and at I he end of two years was BtrouBer than over." Mr. Thomas Hughes, in Tht Century for May, 1884. CHAPTER II. TRADE UNIONS— THEIR PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT. Attemuts to crush unionism-Hornby r. Close-rornVjination made legal-First conference .,f union *2uiaU^Tho Sheffield outrages-The Koyal Commi88ion-Une«,ual law»-Picketing-Th« Trade Union Acts. poses alone. The statute which gave this power, however, was anything but satis- factory. The word of the mr«ter was always to be taken in preference to hat of the servant ; the judges decided that all combinations which were "in restraint of trade" were criminal ; and the Queen's Bench in 1867 confirmed the decision of the magistrates (vide Hornby v. Close), that societies having rules enabling them so to act, could hold no property, not even for benevolent and charitable purposes. This decision had reference to boiler-makers and iron ship-bailders, and created a great sensation. More than one London news- paper declared a belief and expressed a hope that by it unionism had received its death blow. The trade unionists, The events whose history has been sketched in the previous chapter show that combinations amongst workmen have ex- isted from a remote period, as well as indi- cate the origin of tradu unions. It was necessary thus to trace the historical con- tinuity of thesteps that led to the formation of unions, else their actual objects would not be clearly defined ; the difficulties en- countered and overcome not sufficiently appreciated ; the basis on which unions rest not thoroughly understood, and the future of such institutions not readily realized. " We watch the wheels of Nature's mazy plan. And learn the future bota the past of man." When, however, the existence of unions Isecame a fact, their succeeding career was by no means smooth. Every concession had to be wrung from the legislature by the severest struggles, and there was always a readiness shown to hamper or destroy them. The power with which it was thought unionism could be crushed was very slowly withdrawn. It was not until 1824 that combinations of working men were rendered legal for *' improving wages and reducing the hours of labor " and for these two pur- too, were naturally alarmed; but they were not prepared to see destroyed an institution which had been builded up with so much trouble, and in the face of so many difficulties. A conference of trade union delegates was convened 'by the " Working Men's Association," and met in St. Martin's Hall, on March 5, 6, 7, 8, 1867, to consider the matter, as well aa the Royal Commission to inquire into the trade uniono that the Government of the day bad just i I. 14 appointed.* No auch conference had ever lieeu lield 1)etore. Theie were pretieut delegateH from uixty-iive London societiev, twelve provincial trade councils, and ■tweiity-tive ptovinciul trade societieH. This conference waa the forerunner of the trade uniunH congress that is now such a prom- inent annual public event. The delegates were unanimous in calling for an immediate alteration of the law, and so determined was their OHiwct that they refused to accept as a compromise the measure introductd into the House of Commons by Mr. Neale, M. P., for Oxford, having for its object a temporary protection to certain of the societies. On the other hand, a resolution was passed, a bill was drafted, und a peti- tion a any individual' ch association ; f legal recogni- B provided for)' y given in Law. 1 the end of the ' afler the Koyal Trade Unions ra : — deraifftitd Mem- , angemlilhtff , in the tty; seen with deep ecision of the n the case of ationof work- li nearly two 18 throughout eprived of all ection for our B contributed, ier the legiti- interests, but tual help and y ; your Peti- iichastate ot s members of ' foster fraud abit» ; and is, ble to estab- humbly pray nth to enact nd the mem- same protec- joyed by all y's subjects »y, etc. jven, too, by that showed •atives were ) the seat of em particu- ow men to 1 but which a circular to members of >n), asking onist work- lat decision ry wise one which, acknowledging that the simple act of ouo niHU }>ersuudiug another is perfectly legiil, yet stated that, because several men organized themselves to inibrm workmen thut such and such a shop was on strike, they were deemed guilty of an ofi'ence agutust the law. Nor could right-minded meu be brought to see the justice ol that law which, while it only Uned the master for breaih of contract, imprisoned the ser- vant lor the same otfence. It was not until 1871 that an Act was passed remedying these defects. The law on the subject even then was, unfortunately, very ambiguous aud imperfect. The unjust, cruel, and blundering imprisonment of the gas stokers showed that there was still plenty of scope for cunning lawyers when pleading to an excited jury and before a prejudiced judge. As a matter of fact the whole tendency of legislation for the men by the masters has ever been to keep wages low. Indeed, that has been the avowed object of the laws which have been passed. To counteract this, the unions were formed to keep them high, and we have the authority of a man who believed in a high moral standard that such conduct was praiseworthy. " If it were possible," wrote Mr. J. S. Mill, "for the working classes, by combining among themselves, to raise or keep up the general rate of wages, it need hardly be said that this would be a thing not to be punished, but to l)e welcomed and rejoiced at." The further improvements in the law iu this respect will be noticed in due course. At this time trade unions were regarded unfavorably by a large portion of the public, iu consequence of what was known as the Sheffield outrages. " In order to compel men to join their unions and comply with the rules, a system had been adopted of taking away the tools and driving bands of independent or defaulting workmen, and this system had become so universal that when tools or bands had been stolen, the sufferers applied systematically to the sec- retary of the union to know on what terms the lust articles would be restored. But the unionists were not long rontent with this exercise of their power, and proceeded to the execution of a series of outrages and crimes which are perhaps almost without parallel iu the history of communities sup- posed to be civilized. Masters and work- men who refused or failed to comply with their rules, were subjected to treatment of the most diabolical character. Their cattle were hamstrung, or otherwise mutilated, their ricks set on fire. They were shot at, aud in one instance a master was killed by an n-r gun fired into a crowded room. Gun- pov> tier was usually employed iu the case of obtidxious workmen. Canisters weietnrown down chimneys, bottles filled with the ex- plosive, to which lighted fuses were at- tached, were thrown through windows of the workmen's dwelling houses, thus ex- posing women autl (liilOrtu to itsttirible effects. It was a common practice to place gunpowder iu grinding troughs, which ex- ploued OS soon us work was commenced." injustice to the great l)ody of woikmeuat iSheilield, it should be stated that these out- rages were committed by a very few per- sons, and were at all times execrated by the great body of the working classes. Out of sixty trade unions, then in existence, twelve were implicated in these outrafies, and of these it was shown on inquiry that the greater proportion of the members knew nothing of the actions of their officers. The result of the Bhtffield outrages was, that a Koyal Commission was apjiointed in 1867 to inquire into the matter and into the condition of trade unions generally. The conference of delegates already alluded to urged upon the Uovernment that a trade unionist representative should sit upon the commission. The request was refuFed, but ultimately a concession was made that Mr. Frederic Harrison, barrister-at-law, a well-known advocate of nnionitm and pos- sessing the confidence of the unionists, should sit on the commission, and he rend- ered signal services in that position. The trade unionists also asked to be present at the inquiry to "watch" their interest. This also was refused, but the point was imma- terial as the House of Lorfs amended the constitution of the commission by throwing its doore open to the press and the public. The disclosures before the commission are now a matter of history. The authors of the outrages were discovered only on their own confession, made under a promise of par- don, and thus they escaped punishment. The good points of trade unions were also fully placed before the commission by the best of the unions' secretaries, whose evidence will well repay perusal at this day. Altogether the inquiry raised trade unions in the estimation of the public. It was seen that, purged of their impurities, they would be excellent institutions, and the legislature set to work to give them legal status. In 1871 the Trade Union Act was passed, making trade unions legal societies, and preventing the members from being liable to prosecution for conspiracy, an offence for which, in days gone by, so many had suffered imprisonment ; while by an interpretation given to Bnssell Gnmey's Act of 1868, due protection was given to the funds of the society. In short, trade unions were now acknowledged to be insti- tutions of the country. They had hence- forth a charter of liberty and under the light and freedom so given to them they began to flourish, and, as will be shown in the snc- ceeding pages, have continued to flourish, to the welfare of the working classes, and the ceneral benefit of the whole common- wealth. ' 1 .J^ ■ ■*^i , i< j vWf!'W " ' 16 CHAPTKR III. .' I TRAlJIvS I'XIOXS — TIIKIR OHJECTS. Bquality of IwrKaliilnK power— To rnlwi w»(teit— Protection— Sick lienefltH, etc.— Muiiinl miiiport— Mural imp' -vement of llie worlciiian- Ezeoiitivo of iuiIoiih prevt-ntt Mriken- UnwIttitiineB* of uiiioiiiHm— i'rade uniunii oungreaaea — Tlieir iuUuonue — Tliu International — The I'aria ooiifereiioe. The foregoing account of the origin of trade unions in almost uu answer to the question, ''Whut lire the objects of trade nniouH'/" The question must at all times be dilQcult to answer in a sentence, be- cause the scope of the objects of unionism grows with the growth of unionism. At first they were merely a protection against contracts being too unjust, too heavy to be borne. They now demand — and rightly HO — that contracts shall Ims fair. Mr. Dun- ning says the object of a trade union is " to ensure the freedom of exchange with reganl to labor, by putting the workman on some- thing like an equal position in bargaining with his employer." Professor Fawcett takes a similar view. Trade unions are formed, he says, so " that the laborer may have the same chance of selling his labor dearly aa the master has of buying it cheaply." At a later date, the same au- thority declares the intention of the men to have been "to protect themselves against what are supposed to IM the contlicting in- terests of their employers." So, too, Mr. Frederic Harrison believes that, at any rate, " theall-importantquestion is how equality is to be established, ' ' and he represents the placing of labor on the same footing as cap- ital aa the great desideratum. Mr. W. T. Thornton, however, admits of no such ob- ject as the abstract idea of equality. The object of unionism, he maintains, is not merely to free men from the dictation of their employers, but to change positions, and to dictate ; and that "their rule is to get as much as they can, and to keep as much as they can get." Although the evidence given before the Trade Union Commission by some of the most intelligent and trustworthy of the trade union secretaries endorses such views as those expressed by Mr. Thornton, yet the history of the movement shows that al- though unions may have been founded principally, if not solely, as protective as- sociations, and have developed to some ex- tent into aggressive associations, yet they have long ago embraced other features in their objects. They now aim at every means that will raise workmen to the best position it is possible for them to obtain . An impartial inquirer, then, will take a higher view of the object of trade unionism than Mr. Thornton believes in, without being liable to a charge of sentimentalism. The object of a trade union is a wide one, vie, to do all that can be done to better in every respect the condition of its members. The raising of the rate of wages is un- doubtedly the principal means to that end, but to say that it m the "sole aim" is to ni intake the one for the other. Based upon union, the efforts of these organizations are collective, and the results general, not special. Unlike most kinds of individual effort, the object is not to assist men to lift themselves outof their class, aa if they were ashamed of it, or aa if manual labor were a disgrace, but to raise the class itself in physical well-l)eing and self-estimation. No encycloptedia has yet devoted lui ar- ticle to trade anions, and yet trade union- ism is an accomplished fact. They are built on a rock — a firm, sound, substimtial basis. They cannot be annihilated. If they were done away with to-day, they would spring up again to-morrow, the same aa in ttie celebrated dispute with Messrs. Piatt, (if Oldham, when the men were storvecl into submission, and were obliged to give up their union, yet they re-joine«l as soon as they were at work. Although unionism in Lancashire languished during the cotton famine, it sprung into life with renewed vigor when the crisis was over. It would be well if the employers at present endeav- oring to crush out imionism amongst the workmen would take warning from these facta. It is a mistake to say that unions are the cause of hostility between labor and capital ; they are the result of that hos- tility. It will be well for the employers to remember this. Itwill be well for them to realize the fact that unions will not decrease iu power, aa some persons fondly hope. Wherever there has been intelligence, there has been combination. Profe«i.'H)r Fawcett pointed out, iu 1871, that there was no combination amongst the agricul- tural laborers, because they were "too ig- norant," and because there was a "want of intelligence." They quietly submitted in North Herefordshire to a pittance of nine or ten shillings a week, while their fellow- laborers in Warwickshire were getting IT — MuhibI gii|iport— iken— UiiiH*lfliitin«w tioiial — The Paris 9f trade unionism Bves in, without Hentimentalism. on ia a wide one, done to better in 1 of its membera. of wages is nn- eaustotbat end, 'sole aim" is to ler. Based upon •e» organizations ults general, not dsof individual issist men to lift 8, as if they were ual labor were a e class itself in If-estimation. t devoted lui ar- ^et trade union- Fact. They are und, snbstiuitial ibilated. If they lay, they would , the same as in b Messrs. Piatt, n were starved obliged to give ioineti as soon as iigh unionism in ring the cotton B with renewed over. It would present endeav- sm amongst the ling from these say that unions between labor «ultofthathos- he employers to (veil for them to vill not decrease )ndly hope. »n intelligent, on. Professor ^71, that there ^t the agricul- were "too ig- wa8a"want{)f y submitted in ittanre of nine le their fellow- were getting twelve shillings a week, and probably they were ko iunred to Mufl'ering that they would never have complained, had they not lieen persistently subjected to pitiU'SH, relentless, and objectless cruelty. It in a fact that the most intelligent of our nrti- t*:iUH are the must earnest advocuteM of trade unions, and these have not been slow to instruct their less fortunate brethren in the advantages of unionism. The power of trade unions will increase with experience, and their inlluence will extend as education becomes general. It is for employers to say whether they will 1k»w to a necessity gra-s than one tier cent, ol their in- come. The lionfoui. dels spent, out of an income of i;42.0(M), t214 only ; and the Amalgamated Carpenleis, who had had a numl^r of disputes, and had been engaged in strikes, spent £'2000 only, out of Jt.W.tlOO, which was only four per cent. ; the Tailora, with X18,000, spent £565 only ; and the Stonemasons, with 11,000 members in union — the report seems to say more in sorrow than pride— spentnothing in strikes. During six years of unexampled bad trade, reduction of wages, and industrial disturb- ance, there were a great many strikes, and during that period, seven great trade socie- ties expended in the settlement of dis- putes £162,000 only, out of a capital of nearly £2,000,000. Last year these socie- ties, with an aggregate income of £3:{0,000, and a cash balance of £360,000, expended altogether, in matters of dispute, about £5000, which was not two per cent, upon the whole of their income, and not one per cent, upon their total available resources for the year." The rules of unions, too, are so framed that the work of the officers of the local union is not interfered with by the duties of their offic iif the Natioiml l''e- ciuted Kiuployers, iitui prohuhly wcoiintM for tliH^iMierikl tendency to victory on the Hiiii) of tliii men whenever diHpnttH arijte. The employerH do not try to help eiu-h other. Theynrein opposition t«>ench other. Their iiDtto i«, "Eucli for hiniHelf," »nd they are only united in their utteniptH to cru.sh the men. The men, on the other hand, it is worth re|>eatin){, NJnk all indi- vidual leeliUKH, and help each other in a thoroughly jiriuitical and praitieworthy manner. it reniilin') to point out that the principle of untiini Htrengtiicn the feeling of ItrotherhiNNl iinioiig>t them whicli is the basis ou whicn nnionism rests * It is easy to see witherward this tendency pointH. From a national congrehs to an iii- tamational conjsreHH is a very short step. The Trade Union Congress of )>^'\> piuwed a rcselution on as sound a basis as are trade unions in this country. The leading *When the Trade Union ConKrera Arst Rtartcd, it woa made tlio iiiedlum of addresHesin fuvor of tlie principles of uniontam l>y Kentleineii of posi- tion, not ineml>er8 of niiy union. It was soon seen that these addresat's. Iiowever iiiterestinK, worenotof that practical business character for which the congress met, and wero delivered to a body of men wlio obviously requirvd no proof of the principle* they held , and the practice was at lengtli forbidden by a standing order "that papers in defence of trade unions are unneoesaary." Facilities, however, are always ftlven for ad- dresses on general BUl>iecta affectinK latx>r, by competent authorities, at times which do not in- terfere with the huHinesfi of the oonKrera. Another and an important point that was found torequii« alteration was that in the early days of the oon- Rress the regulations for the admUsion of dele- gates were not sufllciently stringent, or, more correctly speaking, were not carried out with proper rigor, A peculiar uircuinstanre brought the matter to a crisis. The paid agitutora of a "Fair Trade"' organlKHlinn imdolTered Ihclr ser- vices as delegates grntiiitouxly to certain unions, and theve. actuated by a tnine economy, accepted those services. The agitators presented them- selves for admission at llie congress of 1881 (held in Ivondon), butaftcr amne dittcussion were ex- pelled—the rule tlint delegiites shniild l>e for- Mially elected, and their expenses pud by the so- ciety which sent them, being on this occasion carried out, despite precedent; and the matter was Anally fiet at rest by a resolution "that no one should l>e eligible as a delegate whose ex- penses are paid by private individuals, or by any institution not iena ^dt trade unions or tiad* oounoils." ipt I'rartirea Act IcIl-t'tiolIN, HO tIlUt i( (lirec't icpreiK'ii- t altt'i'iitioriK ill ilie I'fct workiiieu diC- iiikI Unit artiwtnH y iiiHprctorM, ami K'caHioiiN wherein tivf are :i.s miieli s»<. Addt'd to r\«Ml tliat tlie aii- «»■ till) pickwl y iiniHt U-iid ut o( lirotlierhtMKl le baxia ou whicli ard thin tendency (•<)n^^•e^H to un in- very short st«j(. sof lH-;i) piiwed rt leratioii dCall the cm, and thorough federation of all e world. An iii- supcessfnlly at- knd failed at hmt ism so character- TUT, wlio dreaniH i;ainHt a claw, in- which tbelnter- r intended to do, ism cosmopolitan tte International e prumot«rs of a > r or later, to ar- nd a basis as are ry. The leading iRreraHrat fttartcd, IclrenHvsiii fuvorof Kentleinen of posi- inioii. It was soon wever iiiterestinur, ineaa character for »ere delivered to a !quir*d no proof of the practice was at order "that papers ire unneoesaary." iy« iffven for ad- ifiectinK labor, by J wliich do not In- oonftrevs. Another u found torequira r davs of the con- tdmlDsion of dele- ringent, or, more carried out with iiniHtance bruuKht »id afritatore of a oflTercd iliclr ser- to certain unions, conomy, accepted presented lliem- rressof 1881 (held wuitsion were ez- s should he for- lesp'iid by the so- on this occasion and the matter )lution "that no IcKate whose ex- riduak.or by any unions or tiad* 19 trade nnionistB in Knitland realize the fact, and are not afraid id express it. The (;crni of the orptniKiition Im prtHent in the fort-iKn braiichcH of Home of the lur^eKt unions, and it iM no iiiironinKiii tiling lor the working- men here to acsist their brethren in dis- piiteH abroad. To alinost all the meetiiiKs of tlie Trade I'nioii CoujHHeHsed the best unions. Even i these cannot bt) compared with the Hritish I nnions in stability or discipline. The dif- I Acuity ap]tears to be to get them to pay ; contributions of more than two])euce a I week. Even this sum is only paid by a I comparatively small number of the men. j The masons' delegate stated that out of I some thousands of masons who accepted the principles of their society, only about sixty men were regular subscribers. From this statement, and from other things which came under our observation, it would appear that the numerical strength of an association is reckoned upon the basis of the number of those in the given trade who approve of the objects of the union, and not upon the number of those who contribute to the funds, such as thry are. It was upon this loose condition of thingfi that the English delegates made their strongest attack, by stating the condition of membership in Great Britain, and ap- pealed to the members to exert themselves in making the societies more solid and numerous. "From what came under our notice, we are of opinion that the condition of the workpeople {i.e., the mechanics) in Paris is not so good as that of corresponding trades in Great Britain. We met an Eng- lish mat'on in Paris, who is engaged, by an English firm of contractors, at the erection of a Protestant church. He informed tu that he was receiving London wages (viz., ninepence an hour), out of which he paid eighteen francs a week (15«.) for a furnished room, firing, and the use of a kitchen, the latter shared smongst three families. A shoemaker, who was a delegate at the con- ference, said that men in his trade were working fourteen hours a day for three and a half francs (28. lid.). These and similar statements made by other delegates, in reference to some of the provincesof France, would seem to prove that the condition of other French workpeople in the large cen- tres and at large works is anything but an enviable one. "With the exception of a wish to rely upon the State for things they may do for themselves, we did not object to the gen- eral views of the French delegates on social questions. A delegate from the car- penters (M. Tortellicr)wa8 an exception. He was in favor of revolution by force, but w# .we were inCornml tlmt Him ))«>rMii< \.»f under it xfiitcntn ol iiiipiDHiiiiiierii. iinil would Nerve IiIh term iiiiihliiiieiit at hir* convenience. The niitiinil initrence to l>e dmwn from lliiH»M-en holdinK met'tinKH, and have decided to lorm A nbion on the plan of the Alliance t'alti- net-mukers' Atwuclation ol Kngland ; and indeed, any one who reads the (ilHcial documents of the traile nniims of the lini ted Kint(iloiiicannot)>utlMt struck witb the •'lose intercourhe with the workmen ufol her nations, with a view that no person takinn; work in a foreign country shall undefHeli the workmen of lhatcx)untry. It is !ieen, then, that a trade union la preeminently fitted for the work it ban to do, as must necessarily Iw the ease when the work to be done has created the orgun- i74ttion, and not that the organizattion has created the work to l)o done. The jiower to take men whence they are not wanted, and to carry them— abroad if nececnary — where there is work to do ; the tare that, is taken of the interests of the men, as op- posed to the aggression of the employer, lut shown by tbefrciiuentreportsof the branch secretaries on the trani -lM*NtriU'k with the leworknirnofolher lit no p«rmiii iitk inj; itry shall unili-ixoll antry. »t a trade anion i« the work it huN to Im) theeiwe when created the or^un- 110 organi/Mtion haa 1 done. The jxiwer y are not wunted, laA if nececitury — 1o ; the f the employer, m ports of the hran<;h Bof their diMtrii'tN: men "on strike;'' unions uMni each 1 which additional wfully Ieviey<>rM t'oiiihtnallnna — Hoard* of arhltration— Trade iiiiloiia prevent •trlken— Hpread of iinlonlam— The power of traile union* ao- knowlfdRed hy the eniployer* — Trade unver of organised action^ Those even who are unwilling to admit the efficacy of trade unions cannot help showing at times — unconsciously, perhaps — that they have an opposite conviction ; and some time ago oue who is least friendly to trade or- ganiz itions pointed out that the secret ot the attachment ol the Southern States of America to slave labor "lay chietly in the obtaining of labor at will at a rate which cannot Wc controlled by any combination. ' ' Now, in looking over the history of trade nnio»8, no impartial observer can doubt for one momeut that the employers have been gradually ginng way. In 1845, Mr. W. Phornt^m had already called attention to the fact that the result ot trade unions had iM^n to raise wages. In the baking trade in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and other Scotch towoH, before 1846, the men were 1 ittle lietter than vassals. They lived with their employers, in cheerless celibacy ; they were locked in their rooms at nine o'clock at nights ; and, in short, being driven by oppression into union, they raised wages 20 per cent, improved their oondition, and are now a sober and steady claM of men. In 1R73 the General Alli- ance of Operative House I'ainters askeil for higher wages, and the answer was an increase in the rate of pay amounting to £8000 a year. I'he annual reiwrt for 1873 of the Amalgamated Society of Tailors shows an increase of wages amounting to £40,000 per annum, while the sum spent in strikes and lockouts amounted to only £549 12«. 9d. A great deal of the increase is directly traceable to strikea or threats of strikes; though, of course, part may be dne to the general prosperity of the conn- try. Htill, it is very doubtful whether the men woald have shared in that prosperity had it not been for the existence of the union. Hardly a single report ia iMucd by the trade onions that doe<« not call attention to the rise in wages which by combined action has been brought almnt. Through- out the length aud breadth of the land the trade unions have, during the past thirty or forty years, forced wages up, and when wages have fallen, the fall has not been to the low point they were at before the rise began. It wonld therefore be tedious to fill page after page with a mass of evi- dence to prove what is nniversallT acknowl- edged. Wages have risen. That is the great fact. The principal if not the only point npon which discussion arises is aa to whether or not the trade unions have as- sisted to bring about that state of afifairs. One thing is certain, the employers are not authorities on the question. They are too crotchety. One of their great argu- ments against trade unions is that they fail in their object, that they do not suc- ceed in raising wages ; while with their next breath they excuse themselves to the public for the high price of coal, by say- ing "it is the unions raise the price of labor." Perhaps it would be ns well if they remembered the experience of the past, when out of eighty strikes for advance of wages forty-three were successful, seven donbtAil, aud only thirty unsuccessfal. t ■•/ 22 tf I How nuich of the ri»e in wagof in due to the dirtct m-tion of trailo uuioHS, how much to their indirect action, and how ranch to general progress and prosperity, are questions that it is dilHcnlt, if not im- po8Sit)le. to answer. ,V table, however, by Mr. GritFen, whom Mr. John Morley de- scribes as "singularly cool and competent, " throws a little light upon the subject. It is OS follows:— "Assuming the aggregate income of the people as aiiout TJOO millions now, and that the wages of workingmer, are per head twice wliat they were, the a;4gregates in 184:{ and at the present time would compare as follows : — 3 . * • |l;il Lilies. 5 i* I I CapttallHt clagees from capital IW WorkiiiK income In Income-' tax returns 90! Ditto not in Income-tax returns 235| Total SlSiiaoOi 1)85 130 £ 4U0 180 620 210 110 901 100 3S5 160 Thus the increase of what is known as working-class ineo'ue in the aggregate was greater than that of any other class, being 160 per cent., while the return to capital and the return to what are called the capitalist classes, whether it is from capital proper, or, as Mr. Gi£fen maintains, ft retnm more in the nature of wages, had only increased about 100 per cent. ' ' Can any one for a moment doubt that the "extra" 60 per cent, that fell to the lot of working men is due entirely and solely to action of trade unions ? Does not all ex- perience show that the capitalist class have ever taken as much as they could ? Had it not been far a resisting influence, and the only resisting influence is the trade anion, the figures would have been re- versed. The capitalists would have gained an increase of 160 per cent., the operatives of 100. Perhaps the discrepancy would have been much greater. For my own part, I believe that trade unions are to be credited with more than 60 per cent, in- crease, because it wonld be easy to show that Mr. Gifien has underrated the general increase ;* and, as I have already argued, bat for the action of the unions there would have been very little advance of wages indeed, nearly all of the increase falling to the capitalist. At any rate, 60 • "If we had commenced about twenty to twenty-five years ago, we should have l>een able to show a very great improvement since that time ; while at that date also, as compared with an earlier period, a greater improvement would have been apparent. — Mr. Omen, in the pam- phlet already quoted. per cent, of the 160 per rent, increase mnst be attribute*!, and atiribnttd us it nnni- mum, to the direct artiun of the trade unions. Although the question, "To what extent is a ri.se in wugt-s due to the action uf a trade union?" may be difHcult to answer, there can be little doubt that some portion of any particular advance is olten tlueto that influence. Where are the emplnvers who ever came forward and advanced wages unasked ? t They are few and lar between, and what chance of improving his condition would any laborer have who struck singly ? Very little chance indeed. Now labor, unlike a commodity, wilt not keep. Once gone, it is gone forever. A day idly spent is a day lost ; and as the capitalist can wait for labor longer than the laborer can wait for wages, there is a natural tendency to depress wages. Then why do they not fall? Is it not becnnse of the counteracting power of the union? When bricklayers from Liverpool went to work on the new town hall at St. Helen's, they fonnd men in the same trade as them- selves getting higher wages than they were. They instantly demanded to be placed on the same footing as their more fortnnate brethren. The employers refused to ac- cede to the request, for reasons b«»t known to themselves. A strike ensued, and after a short delay the men accomplished their object. Now, is there one sane man Within the fonr seas of Great Britain who will deny that in this case the Liverpool brick- layers obtained their advance by united action ? This instance shows something more. It shows how, with a widely spread union, the rates of wages in varions towns may be known — as in large unions they are — and the highest rate demanded. Had the St. Helen's bricklayers belonged to the same union as those from Liverpool, the differ- ence in the rate of wages in two towns so near each other would have been known and equalized, or, in other words, the lower rate would have been raised. But how can men all over the country ascertain what their labor is worth in variotu parts of the country unless they act upon the principle of association, and agree npon an organization that encourages an inter- change of . information between ditterent parts of the country? When, too, the highest rate of wages is discovered , what wonld be the good of the discovery unless there was a union strongenongh to enforce the demands it is desired to make ? If not the only way, at any rate the easiest t In the Newcastle englneerinBr strike, the employers adLuitted that the condition nf trade from the beginning permitted an advance of wages; yet no advance was proposed, till the preMure of the trade union* waa brouKbt to bear. ^:i' 1 » J rent. inciviiHf niiut frihntKl ur> n iiiini- |action of the trHde in, "To what extent to the acaion of a (iifriciilt t<> answer, J)t that sorae portion |nce is oiten due to are the einpluverH lard am) nrlvnnced ey are liew and lur lance of improving (y laborer have who ittlo chance indeed, inimodity, will not .8 gone forever. A ij lost; and as the labor longer than >r wages, there is a tprees wages. Then Is it not becnnse »wer of the union ? Liverpool went to hall at St. Helen's, same trade as t hem- ages than they were, led to be plared on leir more fortunate yera refused to ac- reasons best known ce ensued, and after accomplished their me sane man >«ithin *t Britain who will the Liverpool brick- advance by united 78 something more, videly spread union, arious towns n>ay be aions they are — and nded. Had the St. ilonged to the same liverpool, the di£fer- ;e8 in two towns so I have been known 1 other words, the I been raised. Bnt he country ascertain >r(h in various parts they act upon the , and agree upon an i:ourages an inter- between dirterent ? When, t^)o, the 8 discovered, what he discovery unless igenough to enforce id to make? If not ly rate the easiest Cdneerinar strike, the he condition nf trade iilteaid. It is, how- \,t the worst paid Bu« those which ience of the men n this point, be- y received an ad- the union. What 98 for little work, ae much wages as they can get for as little work as they can do, and if their unions could not give those benefits to them, they would cease 'to support them. " I have been a worker," says one operative, "some- thing like forty-lour years. For twenty years of that period I have been employed iu erecting machinery in difierent parts of the country, and I have no hesitation in saying, wherever we find union principles ignored a low rate of wages prevails, and the reverse where organization is perfect. The most approved remedy for low wages is combination. " • An advanceof wages, however, is not the only object of a trade union, nor the sole purpose of a strike. Sometimes the men demand shorter hours. To work a less number of hours for the same amount of wages is naturally attractive to the work- man. He not only sees that such an ar- rangement gives him more time for recrea- tion and for the enjoyment of home com- forts — for billiards, books or beer — withont calling on his wife to "pinch, cut, and con- trive," but that the reduction of hours causes more of bis fellow-workmen to be employed. The demand for a commodity being the same, and the number of work- ing hours diminished, more men must be employed to produce the same amount of work in less time. Men who were forced to be idle are thus provided with employ- ment. These additional workmen become spenders as well as producers, and the ad- TEUitages of that he knows to consist in a general improvement all round. In thus benefiting himself, therefore, he is benefit- inghisclass. No action of the trade unionists has been crowned with such signal success as that taken to bring abont the reduction of hours. The State itself watched the strain- ing eflforts that were being made, both re- cently and in years gone by ; and when there was a sign of tottering or failure, came to its assistance. "The demand is against the laws of political economy," cry the employers. "We ask a blessing," reply the men, "but are not strong enough to force it " So Parliament steps in and gives a Factory Act ; just as when the men (not the employers) complained that their union was not strong enough to bettor the condition of miners when underground, the House of Commons passed a "Mines Regulation Act." The support which the demands of the unions are receiving from Parliament is a very significant phenome- non in the History of England. What is very surprising is that the em- ployers believe that they can get more work out of a man when they work him to death. They forget that it is not the miles one travels, but the pace that kills. They ignore the doctrine of Adam Smith, that "the man who works so moderately as to be able to work constantly, not only pre- serves his health the longest, but in the course of a year executes the greatest quan- tity of work." Capitalists do not pursue such a policy in regard to their hordes. The fact is, they are not thinking of their nten. They are brooding over their valu- able machinery standing ianif>m ard mnrdi r ; its ends never inijuired into. These men were not the result of unionism, but of the at- tempt to crush unionism.* The laws of * Broadhead himiielf said to the Royal Com- mlMionera: "If the law would only frive the unions Bome power to recover contributiona, without having recourse to such measures, there would be no more heard of them." .^ w I ; i riii r ■ '■■■ ' the conntrj made all nnionists conspira- tors. Even the simplest actions, which are now allowable, were illegal, and when what is morally right is decided by tribunals to bo legally wrong, the culprit has more respect tor hiniHcll than he has for tho law. Unionism, however, needsno defence here on that head. The press may croak about tbe three miscreants above named until it is hoarse ; it can have little effect upon an institution which has pro- duced such men as Thomas Burt, Keury Broadhurst, William Allan, John Burnett, Joseph Arch, and John Kane. At the same time the unions, and espe- cially the union secretaries, have a very difflitult task to perform. The average British workman is not yet sufficiently advanced in intelligence to apprehend that wages may vary in two ways. His union, it is imagined, has power to force wages up ; he is loath to admit that it cannot sometimes resist their falling. The author once sa.w an ironworker who had been dis- missed from his work because he ho^l been drinking for three days ; and the stupid fellow was very wroth indeed because the union secretary would not order a strike on acconnt of the man's dismissal. ' ' I pay my money to t' union," said he, " for pro- tection, and this is how you serve me." The executive of a union, then, has to be careful, not only that it does not strike un- less it has right on its side, but it has to educate the men to the same opinion. The workmen have to be taujjht that they must not attempt to obtain from capital impossible concessions. They must only strike when cessation of produc- tion means loss of profit to the masters. For instance, it would not only be manifestly unjust but absurd to strike for higher wages in the face of a falling market. How ditBauit it is to impress thisnpnn tbe men, the union secretary knows full well. Some- times the men cannot see the force of the forbearance which is urged upon them, and in their ignorance are very self-willfcK It is gratifying to find that greater care than formerly is taken to prevent those strikes which, being foolish, were always disastrous. How easily this may be done is evident from the practice in Fonie tradfs of keeping complete registers in which tbe flactaatious of the market are indicated, and the union secretaries are as well acquainted with the price of cotton and iron as the masters. Even this, however, is not always sufficient, and tbe employers show, with arguments seemingly plausible, that their profits are very small. The men, however, though unable to point out tho fallacy in the reasoning opposed to them, nevertheless are aware of its existence. "We have been working at a loss for years," said a large cotton manufacturer to the union secretary. "Yes," was the shrewd reply, "you have been losing yotv little milhi and building bigger onen. ' ' Tte cotton-spinners of liolioa, ia Heptemher, 1874, sent a similar reply to the notice ot a reduction of wages given by the ma&ters. "The operatives," said the reply, "can- not judge of trade from your standpoint. They draw conclusions from circumstantial evidence, and contend that the princely fortunes that seem to be amassed around us cannot havearisen from an nnrumunera- tive business ; therefore you must pardon them if itbe difhcult to make them l)el)eve that a reduction in wages is called for." It is certainly a fair question for discus- sion whether or not the rate of wages at the present day is as high as itought to be, even in the best paid trades. Capit^il is increasing far faster than population. When the latter had doubled it.self the former hod (quadrupled itself. It seems, therefore, merely obedience to a natural law that wages should rise; and if trade unions have failed ia their eflTorts at all, it is in the fact that while they have raised wages, they have not raised them enough. War is essentially puch an ancongenial state of affairs that no surprise can be felt that the combinations of employers and of men endeavor to discover some means of amicably settling disputes. It would na- turally suggest itself to minds on both sides that a meeting of ambassadors cr le- legates from the men should meet similar officers from the employers to talk over mat- ters. That this should come about was prophesied so long ago as 1846 by Mr. John Bright, who, in opposing the Factory Bill, said that "the working classes would every day become more and more powerful and intelligent — not by violent combina- tion or collisions with their employers, but by a rational union amongst themselves, by reasoning with their employers, and by the co-operation of all classes." It is worth noting that the initiatory step in this direc- tion was taken by the trades unions. The late general secretary <• f the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, over and over again, during many years, advocated what is known now as "arbitration," and he was ably backed in his efforts by Mr. K. Apple- garth, former secretary of the Amalga- mated Society of Carpenters, and other well-known trade nnionists. In 18G0 a board of arbitration was formed, at the rrqurd nf the mm, amongst the Nottingham lace-workers, and sir.ce then the trades of Staffordshire, Middlcsborouph, Cleveland, Bradford, Sheffield, and other places have fol'owed that example. It would he out of place here to point out upon what basis arbitration should be formed. Mr. Rupert Kettle, in his pam- phlet, has provided ns with the necessary forms of proceeding. It is sufficient to state that such a mode of settling a dis- m e been loHing yonr bigger ont'H. " Tiie on, in September, y to the uotice oi _ en by the masters. 1 the reply, "can- your standpoint, rom circnmslttutial that the princely e amassed around •m an unrumiinera- you must puniou make them believe -sis called for." uestion for discus- rate of wages at .hasitoughttobe, trades. Capital is than population, doubled itself the itself. It seems, ence fo a natural rise; and if trade leir eflforts at all, le they have raised sed them enough. :h an uncongenial urprise can be felt employers and of er some means of es. It would na- minds on both mbassadors or le- ould meet sin>!tir « to talk over mat- come about was 1846 by Mr. John ? the Factory Bill, ig classes would md more powerful violent combina- eir employers, but ongst themselves, smployers, and by sses." It is worth step in this direc- ides unions. The the Amalgamated T and over again, vocated what is ion," and he was by Mr. K. Apple- of the Amalga- nters, and other lists. In 18C0 a s formed, of the t the Nottingham len the trades of onpb, Cleveland, >ther places have ce here to point fration should be itle, in his pam- th the necessary is sufiScient to if settling a dis- pute thf.nld always to be encouraged. It 18 very uuicii ctieaper to both KideM than a strike or lock-out ; and it does not leave behind it thut " immortal hate and study of leveuge" which are the nsult — in the present slate ol human nature — of a long and rancurcuM struggle. The argument that aibitration is useless because it is not binding in law, is neither true in fact nor jutr for a certain time— for so many weeks or so many days — in advance is not de- ciding upon a future price. It is merely selling a larger quantity of labor at to- day's price, or, as Mr. Kettle puts it, of "today's labor." It ia generally better in all commodities — better for both buyer and seller — to deal wholesale. The masters will buy no more of labor at r higher price than they can help ; the men will sell as little at a low price as they possibly can. To say that such a contract as the one here supposed decides the future price of labor is no more true than that a man agreeing to supply another man with apples at two- pence a pound for six months is deciding upon a future price for apples. The price is to-day's price, the ether article in the agreement relates merely to the times of delivery. Perhaps in arbitrations may be seen what will one day become an impar- tial tribunal for determining what is a "fair day's wages for a f.. ir day's work," and it is one of the best, as it is one of the most gratifying proofs of the efficacy of trade unions, that they have been success- ful in the formation of boards of arbitra- tion, and in teaching their men to submit to the decisions of the arbitrators. In order, however, that trade unions may lay claim to fitness for carrying out their objects, they must show 6<>mething more than that they are able to conduct a strike to a successful issue, to palliate the evils of an unsuccessful strike, and to suc- ceed in occasionally forming a board of arbitration. They must show that in their very nature they have the desire and the power to prevent strikes. It is gratifying to be able to state that in this respect, also, the trade unions are eminently suc- cessful. Indeed economy, if nothing else, would dictate such a policy. The execu- tories of trade unions have been taught by [ experience that, e\cn when an object ia worth striving for, u strike is olten 'he worst, and alwajs the most cxpen.-ji\o way of obtaining it. Strikes, as a rule, are a iltrnirrrcuKort, and are more frequently dis- countenanced by the general secretiuy than approved if by him. Indeed, it is the boast of most trade union secretaries that they have prevented more strikes thuu they have originated. This is all the more creditable, because Fome branch or other is 'alwujs Urging a strike. ''At least twenty times in us many months," wrote Mr. Allan, "we have recommended that a strike should not take place." "About one-third," answered Mr. Appltgarth, when questioned on the subject by the lioyal Commissioners, "of the applicati< ns mode to us to strike during the hist few years have been refused ; and &Ir. Mac- donald, secretary of the House Painters' Alliance, said — " Our parent society never originated a strike, but it has stopped many." The accounts of the various trade unions, also, shows how reluctant the execiitories are to indulge in the luxury of a stiike. This was recently pointed out by Mr. George Howell, in his clever and concise article in the Ctmtemporai y RevUw of Sep- tember, 1883, and by Mr. Frederic Harri- son in his address at the Trade Union Congress at Nottingham in the following mouth, published in the same magazine in November last. Attention has been already called to this subject, but the passage will bear repetition. " Last year, " says Mr. Frederic Harrison, "the Amalga- mated Engineers, with an income of £124,000 and a cash balance of i:tOH.(HiO, expended iu disputes altogether, including the support they gave to other trades, £895 only. Thai was far less than one per cent, of the whole of their income. Tbe iron- fonnders spent, out of an income of £42,- 000, £214 only ; and the Amalgamated Carpenters, who had a number of disputes and been engaged in strikes, spent £2.000 out of £50,000, which was only four per cent. The tailors, with £18,000, spent £065 only; and the stonemasons with 11,- 000 members in union, spent nothing in strikes. During six years of unexampled bad trade, and reduction of wages, and industrial disturbance, there were a great many strikes, and during that period seven great trade societies expended in the settle- ment of disputes £162,000 only out of a capital of nearl;^ £2,0(J0,000. Last year (1882) these societies, with an aggregate income of £330,000 and a cash balance ol £360,000, expended altogether in mattersof dispute about £5,000, which was not two per cent, on the whole of their income, and not one per cent, on their total available resources for the year." When it is re- membered that 99 per cent, of these f ^ HocietieH' expenditares were for benevolent and proviclent purpooes and one per cent, only I'or strikes, it ih absurd to say that the cbiff obje/.; influence of trade unions. They have an annual congress at which an increasing number of unions an rfully increased, ave doubled the n sixteen years, irogress of trade lerefore, ample ment. Indeed, D their infancy, many of them to bring non- dom of entering be hoped their ith Huccees, and eveiy working of Ilia trade, were considered The Press en- iblishers refused ng them. When ast recognised, ncompromising 'ded as enemies To be a trade irons character," to be suppressed ■ what is called the community, trade unions are be justifiable, editors throw ons' champions, Hcers tiiemselves leading pnblica- ipresentatives of 1 Cabinet minis- the societies is lates for parlia- )ceedings of the uphed from one 3 other. Unions 18 a power for I, they have suc- their secretaries itself, and there g, of many more lers of that as- what onionista »ital, but obtain 9 hoped that the question in this lost distressing of this question e determination a, displayed in ional Federation Labor." TThat « to the power 18, which is the consideration, isrepresentation ;e that the nn- ) organization." i.y, "of the ex- mization, large uen(M> of ti-ade loal congress at r of unions are reprewntetl eiifli je«r. '' "They have the control oi enormous funds, which they ex- pend freely in furtherance ot their olijects, and the proportion of their earnings which the operatives devote to the service of their leaders is startling." We should think so, to the mind of a selliRh master. The associa- tions "are federated together, acting in common accord under able If iiders. " " They have a well-paid and ample stolV of leaders, most of them experienced in the conduct of strikes, many of them skilful as organ- izers, all forming a class apart , a profession , with interests distinct li'om, though not necessarily antagonistic to, thof'e of the workpeople they leod." "They have, through their command of money, the im- posing aspect of their organization, and partly, also, from the mistaken humani- tarian aspirations of a certain number of literary men of good standing [eic 'mis- taken ' men, t. e., such as the late J. 8. Mill, I'rof Beetley, Frederic IIurriKon, Henry Crompton, W. T. Thornton, and others], a large array of literary talent, which is prompt in their service on all oc- casions ot controversy. They have their own Press as a field for those exertions. Their writers have free atcets to some of the leading London journals. They or- ganize frequent meetings at which paid speakers inoculate the working classes with their ideas, and ur^e them to dictate terms to candidates tor Parliament .... Tbey have a standing Parliamentary Committee, and a programme, and active members of Parliament are energetic in their service. They have the attentive ear of the minister of the day, and their communications are received with instant and respectful atten- tion. They have a large representation of their own body in London whenever Parliament is likely to be engaged in the discussion of the proposals they have caused to be brought before it. Thus, untram- melled by pecuniary considerations, and specially set apart for this peculiar work, without other clashing occupations, they resemble the staff of a well-organized, well- provisioned army, for whi(& everything that foresight and preoccupation in a given purpose could provide is at command . . . These results are the deserved reward of • the superiority of the trade unionists over the employers in those high qualities of foresight, generalship, and present self- sacrifice, for the sake of future advantage [what an admission !], which form neces- sary elements in the success of every organ- ized society." Truly, if there were any doubts as to the fitness of trade unions to attain their objects, the National Federa- tion of Associated Employers of Labor has removed that doubt. Have the trade unions succeeded? Ask the federated employers. There can be no better proof, not only of the power, but of the justice of trade unionism, than the document from whicL the above quotations are taken. Although, then, trade unions have proved themselves thoroughly fit and able to carry nut the main objects lor which they were formed, yet it cannot be denied that, in regard to one portion of their programme, they have not shown the same tact and ability. There is the authority of the < I>'ef actuaries in the country for saying that the insurance funds — as they maybecalUd — of some of the trade unions are based upon false data. The amounts expended undei this head are tor sickness, superannuation, accidents, funerals, etc., and the sum total thus expended is very large, in some in- stances much greater than is spent in con- ducting a strike or opposing a lock-out.* As has been already pointed out, such benevolent notions had veiy little to do with the ibimation of a union. Thty were mere subterfuges tacked to the ibaitti of a union because it was illegal for them to exist without them. When they weie "re- gistered," however, they had a sort of quasi-legal existence, and could, at any late, meet legally. It is piobable that the care and attention of the original members would be devoted more to the immediate advantage of increased wages than in cal- culating premiums for a sick and burial fund. Probably, alro, the actuarial abili- ties of the first promoters of unions were not very great. On the other hand, it must be admitted that benevolent funds and kindred funds attached to trade unions both attract members and retain them. In this respect they are a source of strength, because each man is bound to obedience under the penalty of losing all the money he has subscribed for bis support in sickness and old age. That unions force masters to pay bad workmen the same wages as good workmen is not true, and the very idea wonld be scouted by all sersible unionists. The no- tion that such is the case is, howeTer, very general. A unifoim rate of pay exists in the aimy, navy. Government offices, and other institutions, in which aristocrats have been able to appropriate the "maximum "' of pay, leaving a meagre residuum to their lees fortunate brethren ; but the trade unio- nists have not yet learned to practise sncb injustice. True, the unions sometimes- agree upon a minimum rate of wages, bnt this is quite another thing. If a man be not worth that minimum no employer need employ him, while if he be a man of supe- rior skill, or extraordinary working ability, there is no limit to the amonnt of wages sat employer may feel inclined to give him. Of course, where wages are paid by the day, a uniform rate natnally springs in existence. * The aeven lArgest unions spent £2a0,0H In.. 1881 in the above-named benefits. ■nw 30 It is, liDwever, ngreed upon between the em- plovec ami men. It is a mere ronven- tiou;il iirninKenient, nnd mny be abandoned by either Hiileiw soon as it in found unJuHtor oppri-Hsive, It mu8t he rfmenihered that wlu!ti wa^es have settled down to n " uni- form nite, " that rate is always below the aveniK**! and is therefore a gain to the mastiin to them in another resiM-tit. So far from pluciuK the competent ou the same level, nnys that gentlemen, "this 'uniform rate' has been bitterly complained of, as ext-luding the incompetent altogether. At the Jlradford meetin>» in IHT'I, one of the speakers gave, as a reason against trade unions, that he was not able to earn the usnal rates, and ns the union wonld not allow any of its raemlwrs to work for less, he conid get no employment while he was a member, and so he left." A " minimum rate " is the rate which the least (competent unionist is worth, and if the man cannot come up to that standard thd trade society cares not how soon he leaves it. In practice, the masters never complain of this "minimum" or 'uniform" rate. They know the advantages of it too well to indulge in any such complaint. It is only heard as an argument when they are airing their grievances, and laying the blame of every evil under the sun to the action of trade unions. It is a kind of reasoning which may fairly be considered a special plea. j It has been shown, 1st, That trade nnions are the natnial growth of natural laws, and that their development has been marvel- lously rapid ; 'ind, That theii faults (now diminishing) are not inhrrent or essential, but are either excrescences or mere tuples flora other corjwrations ; ;ird, That the ob- ject of unionism is a legitimate and a noble one ; and 4tli, That their fitness to attain that object is abundantly proved by the bril- liant success which has characterized their ellbrts. It remains to consider what has been the influence of that success, to which task the following chapter will be devoted. CHAPTER V. tradp: unions — their influence. Effects of high wbkcr — Deuire to retain a biKli social standard — Well-paid labor remunentlTe t* the cnpitaliHt— (\irr will be devoted. lor remunerative t* 3C8— The high price BzpendHure by the iiiHuence of trade lie unions — Political « — Good conduct of 9 of statiatlos— The DBtore similar to eing a hindrance are the necessary free market— the abling the tellers I of their own in- 3ompetition," It >ns can befoand legal means em- by labor, to in- br that labor, or if labor — which ng— or to render ire secnre, are no inciples of trade lealer who with- market in order e previous chap- resnltB of trade lise wages, and ), it is a no less are the effects le trade of the country? Now, high wages— i.e. notonlya greattr unmher of dollars a week, but no diminution in their purchasing power — cannot be otherwise than a great blessing. A great deal has been said on the wasteful way in which the extra earnings of the woikingmen were Fifuandered in 1870 and the yeivr'i before, and this will be treated of in the He(|uel. All a man's extra earnings, however, were not wasted. Home portion of them was, doubtless, spent in sober griititication, and in increasing the comfort of tliH household. Now, one of the articles in which there has been increased con- sumption is tea. Let u.s ask, therefore, what i.s the effect of an increased consump- tion of teaV Itsignifies, inthetirstplace, that more ships have been required to fetch the tea from China, to build which ships more men were re(|uired, and to man them more men were wanted. The ships had to be rigged, which was good for the ropemakers and the sailcloth manufacturers, as well as several other industries. Then when the tea arrived here, it required more ware- houses and employed more warehousemen, as well as an additional number of carriers, both by rail and road, to distribute it over the country ; it required more paper to wrap it in parcels, more string to tie them with. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any industry whatever that does not receive some advantage from the increase in the consumption of any single article ; and it may be a consolation to cosmopolitans to be reminded that the processes here al- luded to are not confined in their advan- tages to this conntry, but stimulate in a similar way the various trades in the dis- tant land which cultivated the plant ; and thns two nations mutually benefit each other, and feel that they have an interest in each other's prosperity. This, however, is not all. The tea is not sent here for nothing ; we send out other commodities in exchange for it. The cotton fabrics from Lancashire, the woollen cloths from York- shire, hardware goods from Birmingham, and steel and iron manufactures from 8hef- fied, are gathered to our ports and sent to the east, employing labor at every process, and whenever they are moved, from the time the raw material is landed on our shores until the time that it is delivered over to the consumer or the wearer in a far distant land. When the collier's wife buys an alpaca dress, she little thinks how much the world has been set in motion to enable her to do so — how that Salt wove it, Ripley dyeil it, Lairds built the ship to fetch it, Wbitworths made the tools in order that Piatt might make the machines, in order thatitmightbespun, woven, dyed, pressed, before it reached the dressmaker, who nsed a needle made by Mil ward, and thread by Brooks. An increase in the consumption of a commodity, therefore, gives work to thousands who would he otherwise idle, and has a tenden<;y to raise wages nearer and nearer to the "just rate," which has ever beep such al)one of contention. This is the great point to rememl)er — when men are earning money they spend it. They buy more lurniture for their homes, more clothes for their back, more beer for their cellar, more and better food. It is only when wages are low that, like Christopher •Sly, they have "no more donblets than backs, no more stockings than legs, nor no more shoes than feet." The prosperity of the workingman, then, increases the pros- perity of the butcher, the baker, the pul>- lican, the grocer, the tailor, the draper, and all the manufacturers and industries upon which these trades depend. It may, indeed, be the prosperity of the nation which causes high wages ; but it is eijually certain that high wages maintain and in- crease that prosperity.* The workingmen, having once tasted the sweeta of a prosperous condition, do not like to return to their old wa;s of poverty and squalor. They are always lound, therefore, struggling to maintain their wages at the maximum point they have ever reached. The reluctotace which is shown to submit to a necessary reduction is evidence in proof of this. Now it has been shown by Ilicardn, Mill, and others, that the minimum rate of wages is found amongst men in that condition below which they do not choose to live. If these men can be improved in their condition, and when that ' 'improvement is of a signal character, and a generation grows up which has always been used to an improved scale of comfort, the habits of this new genera- tion, in respect to population, liecome formed upon a higher minimum, and the improvement in their condition becomes permanent." Here, then, is an object worth striving for — a "permanent" raising of wages — at any rate, so permanent that it will not fall for one generation — truly a consnmmation devoutly to be wished, and one which may be reached, not only with- out injury to the capitalist, bat to his ma- terial prosperity and advantage. On the other hand, a permanent fall in wages means a deterioration in the " minimum" condition. When men begin to fall, they descend more rapidly than they rise, and in a few weeks will forget the comforts they enjoyed for a few months. Facilia deeenma At!emo. There can be no doubt that it was this " keeping down" in the years gone by that permanently injured the condition of * The Hhoptceepem Icnow this, and often anist to maintain n strike by gr'vinK the men credit while they are out of work. Experience haa taught them that when men liave high wages they fpend them, and they therefore assist the men to obtain an advance, knowing that they themselves will share the benefits. J the iiKrit'oltnral luborew, from which in- jury they are only now recovering. There can be no higher ntiMiioii for trade nnionn than thnt of raifiing the condition of the working men of thix country to anch un extent and for tiuch a length of time thiit the )Niint reached IjecomcH the accejtted minimum, and that any change at all muMt be in an upward direction. The laliorers, however, mnnt not expect to derive all the ae by the non-lahoring class setting to work and producing something. They would then Hhare in the advantages of the increased I)ros])erity, instead of, as now, f>a«-riliciiig u portion of their meann, and this porti' n U divided amongHt iheproduceis. •'■o li.ng, however, as they toil not, neither do they spin, and garner what they have nut. gathered, they cannot complain that they contribute towards the cost of those who work. It must not be thought, however, that well-paid labor is nnremnnerative to the capitalist. The contrary is the fact. In- deed, that style of labor tor which no wages — in the ordinary sense — are paid, is the least remunerative of any. Slaves will not work. The low state of civilization and the ignorance of even the simplest laws in which it is found necessary to keep human beings, in order that they may Ru)>- mit to slavery, do more to prevent them from working hard than the lush does to make them work at all. It was pointed out some time O'zn that "two Middlesex mowers will mo / in a day as much gracs as six Russian s> rfn ; and in spite of the dearness of f rovisions in England, and their cheapness in Russia, the mowing of a quantity of hay which would cost an Eng- lish farmer a copeck will cost a Russian proprietor three or four copecks. " It was, in tihort, considered as proven that in Russia, where everything was cheap, the labor <>f a serf was doubly aa expensive as that of a laborer in England. Men will not work their very best unless they have nn incentive to do so. This great truth hits ct last made itself known to some of our gr<.at capitalists. Sir Thomas Brassey and other large employers have found o>t that underpaid labor is by no means econo- mical. Here are a few proofs — When the North Devon Railway was being made, men were working at 2«. a day at first, then 2». 6a('rili«'in]{ u and IhiM pnrti< n in CMiucelH. >0 li'llg, ot, neither they nt they have not. complain that they coat of thoae wlio ght, however, thnt eniunerative to the ry is the fait. Jn- lior which no wa^ea -are paid, is the any. Slaves will tate of civilization even the simplest d necessary to keep thnt they may nnli- e to prevent them in the liuth does to II. It was pointed t "two Middlesex » dny as much KruHS and in ppite of the in England, and in, the mowing of a would cost an Eag- will coHta KusHiun copecks." It wax, as proven that in ing was cheap, the biy as expensive as England. Men will i8t unless they have This great troth ' known to some of Sir Thomas Brassey 'era have found o>t by DO means econo- r proofs— When the ' waa being made, I. a day at first, then d. Neverthelrsa it vork was executed best rate than at the irryingout thelarge rd Street, London, tlly raised from 6n. the higher rate of at a cheaper rate ; 4 of Basingstoke sta- lan at Ss. 6d. a day ree country od( sat ler instances might ; that intelli^'ent cheaper than \ai\ Mr. Frederic Ilar- rkman whose intel- than the minimum >p bargain even at "It is said by one of our fHi'tory inspectors thnt in France one workman litokri ufler 14 ^pindlen. In Kuglund one niindir oud tno asHiittiiniH .^ n mannKi- a uinle with 'i,^H) spindU-H. It is an obviuuH economy to employ surh a minder at even higher rates us rompiind with the Fieni'h. This is the pragn-Mt* liy which, in our cotton industry, as in ho niiiuy olheiM, wages have been rising, pro- lits liiivn lii'en growing, and goods hH>u Itetn chenpentdull at the same time." In- ('reai«ee lower. ThuH tispiiiiier inGlafguw (.Mewis. Iloulds- wcrthV) employed on a mule, and s(iin- ning cotiou l'.^() hnnks to tlio ]iouu(1, p'o- duced in 183:{, working 7-l^ hours in the week, 40 pounds of yarn, liis uett weekly enraings fur which amounted to Hin. "id. In 1H33, the rate of wages having in tie meantime betn reductd 13^ perceut., ai>d the time of working having Ixeu Ie»>Mened to 69 hours, the npinner wus enabled, by the greater perfection of the muchiuery, to produce on a mule ot the same number of spindles, fiS} pounds of yarn of thesunie fineness, and his nett weekly euiniogs iid- vanced to 29«. lOr/. Similar cauH(« rai^'td the remuneration of the faitt spinners from Txt. 6d. a week in 1871 by successive grndu- tions to 9k. in 1872 ; and almost every trade can tell the same story. Sir Thomiis BrasHey strengthens this position by point- ing out thnt in the conxtruction of the Paris and lionen iiailwiiy, although the English navvies earned r»i a day, while the Frenchmen employeil received only 2«. (id. a day, yet it was found, on comparing the cost of two adjacent cuttings in precisely similar circumdtant-es, that the excavation was made at a lower co»t per cubic yard by the Engii.sh n^wvies than by the French lalmrcrs ; and it must be remembered, too, that the former worked one and a half hours a dny less than the latter. Another authority has told us that, a few years ago, ten laborers in Ireland raised the same quantity of produce that four laborers raised in England, and the result of the work of the one was generally inferior in quality to tVat of the other. Quarry- owners tell the same tale, and it was the opinion of the late Sir Francis Crossley that our agricultural laborers would do more work if they were better paid. Although, therefore, wages increase, labor does not become dearer. This is very gratifying, because it can hardly bedonbted that the spread of education, and the com- forts which follow from it, will induce the working man to work less hard, and for shorter time, for increased wages, than he hss hitherto done. The facta above stated, too, should ser>'e to lay that frightfU hob- goblin — "foreign competition." Ashipcan hardly be lannched in America, or a for- nare lighted in P>e' aim, but Eii ' «Dd is nMiiireil that in i-oUh' lurnre of kti t>untry. Ti - niv made. It iH very amuHJng to notiei* tlwtt while liritlKh i'npitHlisIs pretend to b« nlnrniiMl at Imrign (onipetiticn, «vi ry ni^ tion under the Hun is ufrnid of EigliHh competition. When our e<'tlon nmnutoe- tureni were earning 12«. to I.'n a week, those in France, Iielginm, and Cu'rmuny were earning '11. ltd. to tin. 7 obtain a riiie when economic conditions do not warrant such rise. Failure would be certain to follow such a policy. The diflerences between employers and em- ployed do not arise from any such notion, but from the general policy of the mnstera in systematically r< fusing to acknowledge that the economic conditions are evrr such as to warrant a ri«e. As Professor Cairns says, the question is : "Is there a margin of wealth which workmen by any com- bination can conquer V" The men think there is not a mere margin, but a vast ter- ritory to which they are entitled, and the experiences of the past fill them with Furo and certain hopes as to the future. They see the final result, and are. determined upon its speedy realization. Nor do they fear that which Professor Cairns dreads, viz., thnt in consequence of advanced wages, capital must be withdrawn, and wages therefore fall. Such can only be tho case when wages are unduly advanced, about which there need be no alarm. At any rate, the workmen have no such fear. They are alive to the admission made by Professor Cairas, to which allusion has been made ; and they are acquainted with tlie facte above given, showing that well-paid, intelligent utisans, when not over-worked, are always cheapest in the end. It may be mentioned here, in porenthe- M \y--\ H,!l n\n, that nlthoUKh tnul« nniona hiive a fiir iiioro |N>witrl'ul iiilliirufa ovrr waK*""— ('<»i- Hiiiutly ini|MrtiuK uii upward U'liileDcy— Ihaii i'rot«wior CalritN ituuiiiiK^. y«t it In likewiM an error on the part nl' thflM who tliiiik that Iratle nnioiiiHtii Ht-rkH to iletrr- niine the rate of waK^H. It ciuiiiot do that ; it fiiiiuol do more than ufl'wt thrni. A triuin MM'letjr may retard a tall or ncrrle- ritte u riite, hut it rannot change the law which rexulatcB the llnctualiouH, or rentier (HTinunent that whirh in itn very eHMcuce H temporary. It irt utonoe aeen that the initancen of wfll piiid hut remunerative hilmr, added to those facta which were adduced in mip- port of n Himilar arKuniont in the previoua chapter in regard to the reduction of the iiourit of lulior, nhow that the heueticiul elftMttM of the Huccem of iinioniRm on tlie tratle of the country nro not at the coHt of the capitaliai, but to hi» advant^ige and that that ndvantoge im not leM hut grcHter liy his pay ing higher wngea for Hhorter houn*. It wiw very RurpriMing to notice the facil- ity with which the employera, in 1H74, fon«d a Kei>t iiillueiices th»t irotle nnioniHm can have on the trade of the country is the one which toaches the euiployers that what is Mxi^tht is not a favor, but justice ; and that as the iiiauufiMttucer niuk»H as nuich as he can out oi the dealer, so will the weaver nuike as much tm he can out of the mnnuluctnrer. The sooner the eni|>loyers see this the l>etter. I'rofeHHor Fawcett says "tliere must constantly he a deadening intluenie depressing industry us long as antagonism of interest continues between cniployeis and employed, and the noblest, highest, and in every sense best etlbrts of trade unionism are those that tend to remove that anUigonisni." There v«a, indeed, be little donbt that the unions have made many a great and praiseworthy sacrifice in submitting to re- ductions. In order to avoid a collision the men have yielded their just rights with very little grumbling. It by no means follows that iMicause coal falls in pri on , i» the one which ■at what in mxikIiI ' ; and that an the iiu'h aH hp cnn otit « Wfav«r niiikc a* the niontiluttiirer. :*-tn «e« thiN the rett MjH "thire radeninft intlurixe DtigaM aDtnyouiMu etween tniploypia iiohlfnt, highpftt, t ctVorts of trade t t«Qd to remove little donbt that many n (treat and Hiiljiuitl)D|{ to r«- oid Hcollmiou the jiiHt ritchtB with It by DO mranM ThIIh in price thill tall. In order to i« nec«H»ary that coarse, any other under connidera- lat point at which The men b»ye a St to r»d nee wages m coniea a! not. Die effect oi trade at least a paasing: (e that men have ates the invenUve A Btrike is not a) - [■ts to the particn- it makes demands trike of puddlers her ironworkers; work if "fullers" the advantage ) the various pro- independent of hatif onedepart- sitj of another d to a minimum. le introdnction of 1 and less neces- Mr. Nasmytb, XB, reduced the n 3000 to 1600 idnction. It has consequence of the employers 'k, as the saying ^h improvements liem the world — ners. A notable in the history of ihe strngKle in INRl of the engineem with | their niiiMierM, to which refensm'e hiu< tievn alreitdy niiMlc The priNwwt ulliided to in gulnK <>D At preaerit very rapidly. In the iron intlitfilTieiteNpecially, the iinprovenuMitH in miitt>rinl, and the ulmoMt daily intnxliiu- tl do tvliut two and a half men wvre required ' > do tliirty yeant ago, t4> say noiliiuf^ the important fact that the niat.<eur out the arKunient, hut should induce the men tx( streiiKthun their auions, to compete with the diMplm;ed Inlxir; and, wherever posMJIile, reap two prodUi by becoming owiierN of the machines they coUHtruct, as wu'< long ago suggested by the late Mr. John Kline. The doctrine that that policy is best which gives the greatest gomi to the great- est number, has become an axiom. Now, in every community the majority niUHt always consist of working men and their fiiinilieH, and it does seem a natural way of proceeding that, if you give a greater hap- piness to a greater ntimbier, a step is being made towards realizing Bentham's cele- brated dictum. The moral effects, then, of high wages are great. Of course they might be greater, but a little experience will bring that about. Htrikes, therefore, and the trade societies which render strikes pos- sible, are, for these various reasons, not a mischievous, but, on the contrary, a valua- ble part of the existing machinery of so- ciety. It would be a work of snpererogati<«n U> discuss here the great adv.^es of more leisure to the working class, but as it is one of the objects of a trade union to ob- tain shorter hours, and as the realization of such a policy has a very beneficial effect on those who belong to trade societies, the question cannot be passed over withoat a few words.* The advantages of recreation are acknowledged, but few steps are taken to afford the means to indulge in it. The men in various trades are not only showing a desire to generally improve them'telves, but to obtain a deeper knowl- ledgv of their own particular trades. Some time ago, Mr. Wilcock, the then president of the London Rcyal Lodge of the General Union of Carpenters, of England, initiated a series of lectures to its members, and the president himself delivered one on "The *It has already been pointed out that a long- hours day means decT labor. Mr. Thorold KoKen has shown, In his recent work, that it is also in- compatible with good workmanship. Speaking of the excellent masonry of Merton Tower, Ox- ford, four hundred years old, he says, " I am per- suaded that such perfect masonry would have been Inoompatlble with a loug-hours day !" Knowledge and Use of Hcales u Applied to the Hiiildlng Tnule," The following month Mr. I>ih« gave a lecture on t'reehund drawing. At present, in IahxIoii, there are several technical classes conducted by artisans, and the City of (iuilds Institute as well as the Polytechnic Instltutiun, and the Artisans' Technical AstMM'iation, are doing much to promote that object. There can Ims no doubt as to the effect of thus teaching men that what their hands find to do should l>e done with all their might, however weak that might may be. Men are made for something l>etter than to be hewers of womi and drawers of wa- ter. Indeed, the plan of lecturing Just re- ferree nniversal. The more time the unions can obtain for their men to do this (and workmen thus educated will be better workmen) the better it will be ; and it is, therefore, for the unions to struggle, with all the means in their power, in order that the men may get as much wages as they can (without infringing upon that limit when their productions w-uld be nn- remunerative) for as little wjik as possible, performed with a minim aiU' of inconveni- ence. Indeed, the great advn itage of anion men over non-union men is being discov- ered by the employers, and they are be- ginning to acknowledge the fact. A Liver- pool carpenter recently told the author that the bosses knew the union men were the best workmen, and that it was a regular thing to give them one penny per nonr more than the rate fixed npon by the society. This is not surprising, as no man can be a union carpenter unless he be in good health, have worked a certain number of years at the trade, be a good workman, of steady habits and good moral character. Unionists are not desirous ot having in- competent or unsteady workmen as asso- ciates. They can see that such men do as much to lower wages as anything else. The good workmen know this, and they crowd into the unions as fast as they can. Of conrse it is not maintained here that all unionist workmen are proficient. There are, as a matter of fact, several unionists who are not good workmen ; but there are few good workmen who are not unionists. The men out of union are, for " the most part, either inferior workmen, employed on inferior work at reduced rates, or those who have belonged to it and are erased. Of these last, some left because they did not wish to pay. to it, or, indeed, to anything -J IC-':. else that they conld avoid ; and the rest, by far the greatest number, are thuse who have been eraued for non-payment through their unfortunate habits oi intemperance, which left them no means of paying." The trade unions may fairly consider whether or not it comes within their province to take even stronger measures to ensure the efficiency of their members. A "more detinite standard of efficiency" than at present might be decided upon, so that a man's union ticket would be a standard of competency, and accepted as such by the employers. If something of this kind were practica- ble in every trade— and the unions have an excellent organization for carrying out the suggestion — it would be of infinite bene- fit to the community. The employers would readily acknowledge certificates of profi- ciency issued by the unions. It may be added that the unions are showing a lauda- ble desire to take a high tone in regard to this matter. They have, over and over again, protested against the "scamping" of work and cheating of purchasers, against jerry building, sizing cotton, etc., etc. They are not " the fault of the artisan — they are his misfortune," says an official report, and continues: "We know, from experience, that the properly-trained and highly-skilled workmau is the first to suffer by the shame- ful process. When circumstances press him into this circle of competition, he bos to undergo a second apprenticeship to acquire this sleight' of-hand system, during which he earns less wages." Mr. Thomas Hughes thinks the unions "are powerful enough now to insist, if they choose to do so, that no unionist shall work where such prac- tices prevail." Mr. Thorold Rogers takes a similar view, adding that the men should protect the public, denouncing and expos- ing "dishonest and scantling work." I may add that the desire of the workmen in the direction above indicated, is shown by the objection, on the part' of artisans, to clerks and others studying in technical classes, lest such should learn just sufficient to be a dabbler at the trade, and thus cause to be thrown into the market a quantity of incompetent labor. The same feeling is shown in the desire for sound regulations in regard to apprentices, for it is obvious that any skilled trade, not protected by an apprenticeship system, must always occupy a low status. The most important educational work which the trade unions are performing, is that of familiarizing the workman — and, for that matter, the employer as well — with the true relations of capital to labor. The unions are doing good work in another di- rection. Their attention is not solely con- fined to questions affecting capital and labor. The trade unions not only wish the laborers to be good workmen — they are also determined to make them gnod citi- zens, and are anxious to do away with all class distinctions. The men are beginning to feel "the glorious privilege of being in- dependent." It is time they did. Nothing tends so much to degrade a class nn the knowledge that it is dependent. The day has gone by when a man must feel loyal and dutiful to another simply because he has been born on his estate, cr becntit^e he works in his factory. The men are willing ' enough to receive the anibasi'ador ot the employer with all dre respect, but th* y de- mand (on the peril of a strike) that their own delegates shall be equally well re- ceived. It is now acknowledged that the demeanor most fitting towards the poor is that which is most fitting towards every one. The leaders of the unions have per- ceived that the general tendency ol human progress is in this direction, and they have deteimined not to oppose, but to assist it. It is not only part ol the policy of trade urions to demand, as rights, those piivi- leges which are now withheld fiom them, but also to render their membeis fit to ex- ercise those rights. It has already been shown that civility to their employ eis, as well as sobriety, are essential beiore a man can bectme a practical trade unionist. When men see rules, and subscribe to them, against certain wrong-doing aiid evil practices, they (for use doth breed a habit in. a man) look upon those practices us wrong, and they soon become, in every way, better men. Not only do the unions take steps to prevent evil, they exert themselves to promote good. A great deal is made by anti-nnioniF^ts of tho notion that when a man joins a union he loses his liberty^ and becomes a slave to the union agent or the union officers. It may be very properly replied that a man, it' he likes, has a right to give np his lib- erty. The argument, however, if such it can be called, is wrong in fact. The work- man in delegating the task of asking more wages, instead of asking them personally, is no more giving np his liberty than a client is in hiring; an advocate to plead for him to a jury. The men in a union come together of their own accord : they do not so, and do not remain so, unless they think it to their advantage ; and they can leave the society whenever they like. To say that this is giving np one's liberty, is the same in principle as saying that a man, in obeying certain laws of his country, of which he disapproves, is giving np his liberty. It has always been an acknowl- edged principle that a man may voluntarily submit to certain restrictions on his liberty for the common good. The trade unionist, too, is much freer in regard to his union than is the citizen in regard to the State. It is with great diffi- culty the latter can throw off his oblig»- •m^^'mmm. i4».^ jj B1l > J l| T' iii i |W )i Wi i ■." ■■ n. 'i -,i- i' ^ '* i i\vm0mmfP" i . i , i n ^ mnn ., 37 lake them good citi- to do away with all le men are beginning privilege of being in- le they did. Nothing grade a cinm iin the dependent. The day man mnst feel loyal St simply becaiihr he estate, or bei-miKe he The men are w iliing le ambas^ndor ol the respect, but thi y de- 1 a strike) that their be equally well re- iknowledged that the t towards the poor is Htting towards every the unions have per- il tendency ol human iction, and they buve )ose, bnt to assist it. Jl the policy of trade i rights, thoee piivi- withheld fiom them, nr membeistit to ex- It has already bten their employe] m. as ssential before a man 1 trade unionist. les, and subscribe to wrong-doing atd evil B doth breed a habit 1 those practices a» ecome, in every way, y do the unions take ihey exert themselves B by anti-unionictg of a man joins a union d becomes a slave to e union officers. It replied that a man, t to give up his lib- however, if such it !! in fact. The work- task of asking moi« og them personally, > his liberty than a dvocate to plead for len in a nnion come iccord : they do not o, unless they think and they can leave they like. To say >ne's liberty, is the ring that a man, in of his country, of is giving up his ' been an acknowl- lan may voluntarily i^iona on hia liberty x), is much freer in ax is the citicen in is with great diffi- row off his oblig*- tions, and then but to rest under fresh restrictions ; bnt the former can do so with the greatest facility, though, lor reasons mentioned in a former chapter, he seldom avails himself of the opportunity. luasmuch, however, an most trade unions are beneflt societies, they have all the in- fluence (;ind none of the flummery) which flowH Iroin those bodies. To teach men to prepare for a rainy day, to lay by for old age, m protect themselves from poverty in (use of accident or failing health, loss of tiH>ls, etc., and to reward merit and incul- cate the principle of brotherly love and l>enev()lence, are surely laudable objects, and so long as the criteria are sound, they cannot help but haveagood influence upon those who are prudent enough to deny themselves to-day, in order that they may enjoy to-morrow. Tbe»e societies, too, are exceedingly use- ful in the mass of valuable statistics they collect. The death rates and the causes of death in various trades point to a field in which medical men may work to great ad- van ttige ; while the fluctuations in the rates of wa^es, and the gradual shortening of liourA present an equally interesting pro- blem to political economists. This infor- mation, too, is given for, comparatively speak inij, small districts, and the problems referred to can therefore be studied when loc il influences interfere with general laws. Aito)!ether, there is ample food for both the student, the philosopher, and the states- man, in the vast amount of literature that is aiinually issued by the trade unions ; and which, by the way, must keep em- ployed a great number of printers, thus beneliting a trade by the mere action of recording the experience of their existence. It ha<) been pointed out that combination amongst workmen has existed ever since men had the intelligence to nnderstand that they were oppressed by those whose position gave them the power to oppress. The power to combine became more and more generally acknowledged, until at length, in spite of unjust and partial laws, trade unions became a fact. From combi- nations against oppression they developed into associations having for their object the amelioration of the condition of the work- ing class It has also been shown that the orgini^'Uion of a trade union is pre-emi- nently titted to carry out that object, and, aa pr mf of that, it has been argued : 1st, That t rade unions have succeeded in rais- ing wages and reducing the number of workins; hours. 2d, That these reforms do not benefit the laborer at the cost of either the capitalist or the consumer ; as, between certain limits, it is fonnd that high pay and the prospect of an early cessation from work :iro such incentives to industry that the produce of labor is actually greater than under a system of long hours and low pay. 3d, That the workmen have i>Hch confidence in the benefits (hey derive Irom union, that, after the experience of "half a millennium," they are crowding into so- cieties, into unions, in a greatsr ratio every year. 4th, That their dtclared object is to prevent strikes, and substitute arbitrations; and although the latter mode of settling disputes is olten proposed by the men and refused by the masters, it is seldom pro- posed by the masters and still lei-s olten refused by the men. It has been argued further, that such being the objects of trade unions, and such their success in obtaining those objects, the influence of that success must be very beneficial ; 1st, Because high wages means increased comforts, which are not only a social but a commercial advan- tage. High wages means incieasfd pro- duction, also the double blessing just men- tioned. 2d, Because high wages does not mean enhanced prices, but the contraiy. 3d, Because the principles of trade union- ism teach men the prudence of denying themselves something to-day, in order that they may have greater advantages to-mor- row; and the duty of self-sacrifice, by calling upon them to contribute, out of their meagre wealth, towards the allevia- of the Bufferings of their ieUow-men. 4ih, Because trade unions endeavor to obtain for the working classes more leisure for re- creation and study. 5th, Because by lec- tures and other means, the unions endeavor to make their members better woikmen ; and by rules which stigmatize and punish the idle, the vicious, and the incompetent, do all in their power to make workmen better citizens. It makes clear to them that capital does not make the man, and that a laborer is no worse because lie works. '* Jack is as good as his master ;" and the men know that if employers would only acknowledge this — if they would only meet their workmen as men on an equal looting with themselves, and discuss the wages system with them, as the late Mr. Braseey, Mr. E. Akroyd, Mr. W. E. Forster, and others were in the habit of doing — then strikes would be impofsible. It is really difficult to conceive how an institution with such noble objects, having attained those objects, can be anything but a great blessing to the community in which it is placed. Trade unionism, then, has a great fntnre before it. Its ultimate result cannot be otherwise than to convince both employer and employed that they are the truest friends, each of the other, for each derives his revenue from the other. The prosperity of the country is greatly due io the infln- ence of unions on trade, and therefore that influence benefits the capitalist as well aa the workman. ^ *f>^iifms ^ig0mmimmm'~' )» APPENDIX. THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR — ITS HISTORY AND AIMS. By p. J. McGuiEE. The National T^hor Union— Various national labor oonventions, from 1866 to 1876— Industrial panto of 1873 to 1878— SovereignH of Industry— Patrons of HuHbandry— Industrial Brotherhood— Junior Sons of '76— International Labor Union— AmalKamated Labor Union- The Pittsburgh Conven- tion of 1881— Formation of the Federation of Trades— legislation secured in Congress— Negotia- tions with the KnightH of I^abor— The general eight-hour movement in May, 1886— Difl'erenoes with the Knights of Labor— Birth of the Amerioan Federation of Laboi^Ita component parts and objects. Early in the year 1866 the trades' asaem- blies of New York City and Baltimore is- sned a call for a National Labor Congress, and, in accordance with that appeal, one hundred delegates, representing sixty open and secret labor organizations of all kinds, and covering an area of territory extend- ing from Portland, Me., to San Francisco, met in Baltimore, Md., on August 20. A number of the labor organizations there represented were merely local unions, bat a great many were national and interna- tional bodies, snch as ship carpenters, rail- road men, miners, painters, carriers, win- dow-glass blowers, stone masons, marble cutters and iron moulders. At that convention committees were ap- pointed to look into the expediency of in- troducing the eight-hour system, of taking ilitical action, and forming a permanent aa*iional organization. The qnestions of y. )lic domain, the national debt, co-op- erative associations, strikes, and convict labor were fully discussed, and measure ' were adopted for the organization of sewing women — a movement which at this day is occupying the attention of labor circles in New York City. Among the many resolu- tions passed was one favoring the speedy restoration of agriculture in the Soath,and the upbuilding of that section upon a new basis of industrial advancement. In the following year the second annual congress of the National Labor Union was held in Chicago, attended by over two hun- dred delegates, representing trades' unions in all the Northern States and in six Southern States. President Z. C. Whaley, in his report, urged that State organizations be formed, and this idea, together with the demand that the pnblic domain should l)e reserved for actual settlers, has since been adopted bodily by the Knights of Labor. As may be seen, the National Labor Union was formed in imitation of the Trades' Unioa Congrest; of England, in which local bodies, not allowed to discuss politics in their meetings, could send delegates to the central body, and there deal with questions of a political natnre and thus inflnenoe national legislation in favor of the work- ing classes. Bnt the political portion of the work was the smaller portion, for mat- ters of a social and industrial character were dealt with to a greater extent. Two conventions of the National Labor Union were held in 1868, one in May and the other in September. The first con- vened in Pittsburgh, and the principal act of that session was an alliance to cooperate with the Patrons of Husbandry and the Grangers. The September session was held in New York City, to take action regarding the general movement which was then going on in favor of the establishment of the eight' hoar rule. In his address the chairman pointed ont the need of closer coherence than had yet been attained be- tween the different trades and callings, and recommended that a central head be estab- lished, to which all the trades' and labor anions should be subordinate. This idea was not strictly carried out, however, and the mistake in disregarding it was Bubse- qnently made plain. The annual conven- tion of 1869 was held in Chicago ; that of 1870 in Boston ; that of 1871 in Philadel- phia, and that of 1872, which was the last, wound up in Columbus, O. There it was decided to nominate a ticket for President of the United States, and David Davis, of Illinois, was chosen as the standard-hearer. This drifting into political action pro- voked so much dissension that one ^ocal organization after another — believing that the National Labor Union had entered a field of operations for which it was not intended — withdrew its support, and inter- est was lost in the central body. In the next year, 1873, the great panic swept upon the country and demolished the trades' anions. Most of them were bnilt on a basis of very low does atid had no beneficial feature that would hn'd the members together when trades' qnentions failed to interest them, and, consequently, both the local anions and the national or^ ganizfttion went down in the crash. The m AND AIMS. — InduNtHal panic therbood— Junior tUburgh Cbnven- tnorreaa — Negotia- 1886— Diflerenoea component parts thns inflnenoe M" of the work- bical portion of ortion, for mat- itrial character ' extent, liational Labor le in May and The first con- le principal act oe to cooperate andry and the 988ion was held ition regarding lich was then itablishment of is address the need of closer n attained he- ld callings, and head be estab- des' and labor tte. This idea however, and ; it was subae- uinnal conven- licago; that of 1 in Pliiladel- h was the last, There it wa» for President *vid Davis, of tndard-hearer. tl action pro- that one local believing that lad entered a ti it w:is not' irt, and inter- ) great panic 1 demolished f them were Ines and had aid ho'd the ies' qtifHtions ionseqaently, national oi^ I crash. The distress of the winter of 1873-4, and the in- ability of organized labor to stem the re- dactions of wages that were taking place in every branch of industry, induced a number of leading trades' unionists to call another "Industrial Congress" in Roches- ter, N. Y., for April 14, 1874, with the in- tention of returning to the old lines of the National Labor Union, avoiding politics, and of forming a federation of the trades' and labor unions of the entire country. There was represented at this convention a secret organization, then known as the " Sovereigns of Industry," which was mak- ing great headway in the P^astern and Mid- dle States, with a purpose of establishing co-operative stores and eliminating the "middle man" from commercial trans- actions. Another organization represented was that known as the " Industrial Broth- erhood of the United States," also secret and somewhat of the character of the Knights of Labor. In the convention there was a serious clash between the champions of these two bodies on the question of a permanent or- ganization, some of the delegates desiring to form an order similar to the Industrial Brotherhood, and others favoring the Sov- ereigns of Industry plan. A platform was finally adopted, however, which was almost identical in every respect with the declara- tion of principles of the Knights of Labor, and from which the latter has copied. The movement to form a permanent in- dustrial congress, nevertheless, seemed to end with that session of the convention, and no further efibrts were made in that direction until a call for a national con- vention, to be held at Tyrone, Pa., in De- cember, 1875, was issued by a secret or- ganization, which was at that time a promising rival of < .le Knights of Labor, entitled the "Junior Sons of '76." The design of this gathering was to form a com- bination of all the scattered fragments of the labor movement. Delegates were in attendance from the "Junior Sons of '76," the Knights of Labor, the Grangers, open trades' unions, and social democratic or- ganizations, as they were called at that time. Their worthy designs did not mate- rialize, however, but were dissipated in Tain tsJk. The " Junior Sons " themselves were very short lived. After "76" had rolled away, no trace of them could be found. In that year they had engaged in politics as an order thronghout Pennsyl- vania, and had elected several members of the Legislature on labor measures. After having done that, their mission seemed to have been fulfilled and they disbanded. During the same period the Indnstrial Brotherhood, which was numerically weak, but extended through many sections of the ooontry, was also attempting to outrival the Knighta of Labor. Another order of a general and secret character had sprung up in the early part of 1877, known as the "International Labor Union," having branches in seventeen States. But little or nothing of national conseciuence was done by the trades' and labor unions until 187H, when they everywhere began to re-orgnn- ize, and, profiting by their previous fail- ures, laid the foundations ot local unions upon a basis of high dues, introducing varions beneficial features, such as sii-k, funeral, and disability benefits, and other financial provisions calculated to hold the members more firmly to the organizati<>ii. These local bodies in turn combined mid formed trades' assemblies, trades' conncil.x. etc. In these central bodies Knights of I^bor and trades' unionists were bi'th united. Coming up, however, to the preliminary steps that led ultimately to the formation of the American Federation of Labor, a call was issued conjointly by the "Knights of Industry" and a society known as the " Amalgamated Labor Union '' — an ofllnhoot of the Knights of Labor, composed ot dis- afTected members of that order — for a c« n- vention to meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on August 2, 1881. The Amalgamated Lalior Union had been organized in 1878, and was (;onfined principally to Ohio and Indi- ana, while the Knights of Industry, with which it joined hands, was confined to Missouri and Illinois. The Terre Haute convention had for its object the establish- ment ef a new secret order to supplant the Knights of Labor, although, on the face of the call, its object was stated to be to es- tablish a national labor congress. There was a large representation of delegates present from St. Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, and other Western cities, but the only Eastern city represented was Pittsburgh. The trades' union delegates represented the largest constiti ncy, but were less in num- ber themselves than the delegates of the other societies. But, by the exercise of tact and diplomacy, the trades' nnion men, who were at that time also members of the Knights of Labor, snccessfblly opposed the project of adding another new organization to the list of societies already in existence, and, for the time being, the friends of the proposed secret organization were defeated. A call was published, however, for a sub- sequent convention, to be held in Pittsbnrgh on November 19, 1881, and this gathering proved to be the most important of its kind that had thns far been held. The call for that convention was remarkable. It read in part : "We have numberless trades' unions, trades' assemblies or councils, Knights of Labor, and various other local, national, and international labor unions, all engaged in the noble task of elevating and improv- ing the condition of the working clasiieB. ^f 4 40 hut great aa has been the work done hj toese bodies, there u vuBtly more that can li'j done by a conibiuation of all these or- rt)8ent, representing 262,000 worjiingmen, and a permanent organization was effected Hiyled the "Federation of Organized Trades' and L:ibor Unions of the United •Suit«s and Canada," and a congressional <■ onmittee, like that which the Knights of Ji iborsnb.<ster, of the Intemationul Typographical I'aion, of Cincinnati; Samuel GomperH, uf the International Cigar Makeis' Union, of New York ; C. F. Kurgman, of the Tai- lors' International Union, of San Francisco, and A. C. liaukin, of the Knights of Labor Iron Moulders, of Pittsburgh. Knights of Labor assemblies and trades' unions were fqually represented, and it was thoroughly understood that the trades' unionists should ]ireserve their form of organization and the Knights of Labor should maintain theirs, und that the two should work hand in band for the thorough amalgamation of the working classes under one of these two lieads, and that they shonld use every legitimate meane to offset any movement designed to create any more fragments or divisions in the labor army. A financial system was established and thirteen measnres were adopted of a politi- cal character. They favored the compul- ^ory education of children, the abolition of child labor, the passage of uniform appren- tice laws, the enforcement of the eight-hour rale, the restriction of contractprison labor, and the abandonment of the store-order system. They advocated, also, a first lien for labor done, the repeal of the conspiracy laws against organized labor, the establish- ment of a bureau of labor statistics, the continuance of the protective tariff for American industry, the enactment of a national law to prevent the importation of foreign labor under contract, and nrge of the Federation [ several hearings mmittees of the li resulted in the 1 Senate Commit- W. Blair, of New 1, to make a thor- B labor question, had belore this Q enforcement of the erection of a statistics, and in need by Congress- and, to make the lid ever strike or 1 others during a Fs of the law of le to punishment 'as the opposition shortly atterward icts noted above,- fr the Federation ds of prominent lent. From the ) of a law requir- itional bureau of iw preventing the abor, was finally lan any labor or- ilishfd. of the Federation 0., on November 1 Gompers was ;nt, and William of Philadelphia, >aring that some s organization, as 3 predecessors, a the subordinate political action, Federation had industrial body, further, in admi- bion because it is E>similative form nd labor unions le industrial au- tonomy and distinctive character of each trade und labor union, and, without doing violen<« to their faith or traditions, blends them all in one harmonious whole — a ' fed- eration of trades' and labor unions. ' Such a hotly looks to the organization of the working classes as workers, and not as 'soldiers' (in the present deprecatory sense) or {Mliticans. It makes the qualities of a man as a worker the only tes^ of titness, and sets up no political or religious te«t of membership. It strives for the unification of all labor, not by straining at an enforced union of diverse thought and widely sepa- rated methods, not by prescribing a uniform plan of organization, regardless of their experience or interests, not by antago- nizing or destroying existing organizations, bnt by perserving all that is integral or good in them and by widening their scope so that each, without destroying their in- dividual character, may act together in all that concerns them. The open trades unions, national and international, can aud ought to work side by side with the Knightsof Labor, and this would be thecase were it not for mea either over-zealous or ambitions, who busy themselves in attempt- ing the destruction of existing unions to serve their own whims and mad icouoclasm. This should cease and each should under- stand its proper place and work in that sphere, and if they desire to come nnder one head or affiliate their afiairs, then let all trades' and labor societies, secret or public, be represented in the Federation of Trades' and Labor Unions." As will be observed from reading this manifesto, the friction between the Federa- tion and the Kuighta of Labor had already become serious and irritating. The next convention, that of 1883, was held in New York, on August 21. Samuel Gompers, was re-elected president, and Frank K. Fostor, of Boston, was chosen secretary, and arbitration was favored instead of strikes. The eight-hour rule was insisted upon and laws were demanded to limit the dividends of corporations and to introduce governmental telegraph systems. A com- mittee was appointed to wait on the na- tional conventions of both the Republican and Democratic parties the following year, and secure the insertion of planks in their respfctive platforms favorable to the interests of the labor movement ; and the Legislative Committee was instructed to present a bill to Congress creating a national Department of Industry or Labor. This project also, like many of those fore- goini;, now strenuously advocated by the Knights of Labor as an idea of their own. Before the convention adjourned another committee was appointed to confer with the Knights of Labor and other kindred organizations with a view to securing a tUMiough unification and consolidation. Correspondence was subsequently opened with the Knights of Labor on the subject, but, as is known, the proposition waa repulsed. The next convention was held in Chicago on October 7, 1884. Hteps were taken for a universal agitation in l)ehalf of the eight- hour system, and the 1st of May, 188({, was fixed upon as the date for the general in- auguration of the plan. The question was submitted to each local organization re- represented for action, those voting in favor of it to be bound by it and those voting in opposition to pledge themselves to sustain the other pioneers in the movement. Among the organizations that decided to inaugurate the system were the cigar makers, the furniture workers, the Ger- man printers, and the carpenters. As will be rememliered, the cigar makers and the German printers succeeded, and the fur- niture workers compromised on nine hours, while the carpenters succeeded in establish- ing eight hours in seven cities and com- promised on nine hours in eighty-four cities. The agitation at that time for the introduction of the eight-hour work-day was very popular among the trades of New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, at. Louis, Washington, and Baltimore. The Anarchists, members of the Interna- tional Workingmcn's party, who had hitherto violently opposed the eight-hour movement aud condemned it on every occasion, now seized upon it as an in- strument, it is believed, to further their propaganda, and the mildest of their agitators became prominent in their attend- ance ateight-hour meetings. The throwing of the bombs at the Haymarket meeting in Chicago on May 6, 1886, however, bad a very depressing efiect on the eight-hour movement, as President Samuel Gompers declared to Governor Oglesby, inasmuch as the trade-union element in general did not wish to be associated or connected in the popular mind with the Anarchists or their methods, and, consequently, the measure has not been pressed since. At the convention of 188.5, held in Wash- ington on December 8, attention was prin- cipally directed to strengthening the na- tional organization, and preparing for the eight-hour work-day. The secretary re- ported that he had communicated with the Knights of Labor, inviting its co operation with the Federation in the enforcement of tiie system, bnt that the General Assembly at Hamilton, Ont. , had adjourned without taking any action or expressing any sym- pathy for the movement. The convention of 1886 was originally called to meet in St. Louis in the latter part of the year, but the stirring events iucidet't to the eight- honr strikes, and the difiiculties existing wivh the Knights of Labor, .led to the memorable conference of 1 r u | ,_U4 i ^L WI 42 the ofticera of the trades' anions at Donald- son 'h }{all, in this city, on May 18, where defeDttive measures were outlined to pro- tect the trades' anions and to secure har- mony with the Knights of Labor. A com- mittee attended the special session of the Knights' General Assembly, at Cleveland, on May 2U, and after several days' wait- ing, marked by long and animated discns- sions in the General Assembly on trade- nnion iasaes, no definite assurances were obtained, and no action was taken. The trades' union committee a second time met the Knights of Labor Executive Bmird, at the Bingham House, in this city, on Sep- tember 20, and secured promises that defi- nite action would be taken at the Richmond General Assembly, which would lead to harmony between the two organizatious. The trades unions objected to the admis- sion to the Knights ot Labor of members who had been suspended, expelled, or re- jected for cause by their own organization ; they opposed the formation of Knights of Labor assemblies in trades already thor- oughyl organized in trades! unions, and complained of the use of Knights of Labor trade-marks or labels, in competition with their own labels, notably so in the case of the Cigar-Makers' International Union. At theKichniond General Assembly, the trades' anion chiefs presented a mass of griev- ances, showing where their local unions had been tampered with by Knights of La- bor organizers, where movements had been made to disrupt them, and where, in cases where such disruption could not be effected, antagonistic organizations were formed by the Knights. The General Assembly, how- ever, instead ot removing these alleged evils or giving satisfactory redress to the trades' onion element, administered to the Federation a slap in the face, as the latter understood it, by passing a resolution com- pelling the membera of Cigar Makers' In- ternational Union connected with the Knights of Labor, to withdraw from the order. The call for the St. Louis Convention of the Federation was then abrogated, and a circular was issued designating Columbus, Ohio, as the place of meeting on December 8. At the same time all organizations not already afiSliated with the Federation, were urged to attend a trades' union convention to be held in the same place on the follow- ing day. After four days' joint pessions of the bodies, the old Federation of trades' and labor anions was dissolved, and the Ameri- can Federation of Labor — the result of long thought, mature brains, and arduous toil — was bom to the world. Twenty-five national organizations were blended in it, with an aggregate member- ship of 316,469 workingmen. A plan of permanent organization was adopted, very aimple in its details, and an executive council of five members and chief oflScem were elected, liesolutions were pasxeil fa- voring the early adoption of the eight-hour rule, demanding of Congress the passage of a compulsory indenture law, and condemn- ing the Pinkertons' Preventive Patrol, and the Coal and Iron Police. After much de- liberation, a constitution was agreed upon, in which the main objects of the great or'' ganization were stated to be "the eix^ur- agement of formation of local unions, and the closer federation of such societies, through central trade and labor anions in every city, with the farther combination of these bodies into State, territorial, and provincial organizations, to secure legisla- tion in the interests of the working mosses ^ the establishment of national and inter- national trades' unions, based upon a strict recognition of the autonomy of each trade, and the promotion and advancement of such bodies ; and the aiding and encour- agement of the labor press of America." The revenue of the Federation is de- rived from a per capita tax o( one-qnarter of a cent per month for each member in good standing. It will l)e seen that the Federation is es- sentially democratic in principle, and that, unlike its rival, the Knights of Labor, its aifaira are conducted in the most frugal and economical manner possible. The second sewion was held in Baltimore, De- cember 13, 1887. The American Federation of Labor is nu- merically the strongest labor organization in the world, even surpassing the Knights of Labor, possessing, as it does, an aggre- gate membership of 618,000, while that of the Knights is set down officially at 535,000; Within the period during which the Knights have been retrograding, as far aa numbera are concerned, the American P'ed- eration, since its formation at Columbns, Ohio, on December 8, 1886, has been noise- lessly and rapidly gaining strength and importance. Since its first inception, following the traditions of the open trades' unions, it has not affected secrecy, and at the same time it has not courted notoriety. Its component parts, previously organized in ditferent form, have given to the world nearly all the ideas that have since been found usetnl or valuable in other labor organizations, and ' the brilliant success which has attended this the first years of its existence, bears portent of great achievement in the future. Its roster of national and international tnides' anions contains snch influential and diverse organizations as these : ^kers' National Union, International Boiler Makers' Union, Cabinet Makers' National Union, Beer Brewers' National Unirn, International Boatmen's Union, National Union of Coopers, German American Typographia, BroUierhood of Carpenters and Joinery nd chief officem were patu*«>rl i'a- »f the eight-hour u the pawaite of w, and condf uin- tive Patrol, aud After mnch de- Ktm agreed upon, of the great or'' be "theei.i«ur- ocal nniooR, and anch Bocietiei), A labor unions in r combination of territorial, and » secure Irgihla- working maanes; ional and inter- wed upon a strict ny of each trade, advancement of iling and encoor- Bof America." 'ederation la de- kx of* one-quarter each member in Federation is es- inciple, and that, {hta of Labor, ito the most frugal possible. The in Baltimore, Oe- on of Labor is nn- abor organization Ming the Knights it doef), an aggre- 000, while that of QBcially at 535,(100; luring which the igradiDg, aa far aa he American Fed- ion at Columbus, i6, has been noise- ing strength and on, following the ides' unions, it has at the same time jr. Its component ized in different )rld nearly all the 1 found uselnl or Tganizations, and ' t has attended this nee, bears portt-nt the future. Its emational trtides' ential and diverse Bakers' National er Makers' Union, lal Union, Beer n, International ional Union of »n Typographia, »8 and Joineta^ 43 Ctgir Makers' International Union, Na- tional Federation ot' Minerx and Mine La- borers, Miaera and Mine Laborers' Amal- gamated Association, Coal Miners' Protect- ive AssnciatioQ, Hor«e-Collar Makers Na- tional Union, Tailors' National Progressive Union, Furniture Workers' National Union, American Flint-glass Workers' Union, Granite Stone-cutters' National Union, Iron Molders' National Union, Amalgamated Association of Iron and Rteel Workers, Journeymen Barbers' National Union, Metal Workers' National Union, Brother- hood ot Painters and Decorators, Hhoe- lusters' National Union, Custom Tailors' National Union, Textile Workers' Progres- sive Union of North America, Intematiuoal Typographical Union, Umbrella, Pipe and Cane Workers' Uuiun of America, and the Wood Carvers' National Union. THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNIONS OF AMERICA. A Baiar Sketch of theib Gbowtb, Bbxxfits, ano AoHiBvaMBHra. Bv P. J. McGuiRK. To write a fall and complete biatory of aaota National and laternatrioaal Union, would fill la^ay valnmes. To narrate in detnil the varied straggles, the sabliois and heroic sscrifioea, tba tbrilling episode), the m>ny strikes, is a task that can not be andertuken in the ooafines of a amill pamphlet. AU that wd will attempt is to give a brief, conoiae sketch, a msre outline of the history of eaoh National aod later- national Union. The data is arraagal and presented in thesaooeisiveohroaologl- oal order of the formttiaa of aaoh sooiety, aai has bsan farnished officially by the offliars of the organisations mantioaed, to whom we are indebted fas the fa^or. Taese reports extend, in most oases, ap ta July 1, 18S8 THB I»TBBNATIOHAIj Ttpogbaphioal Union was instituted December 5, 1330, with 14 locals and 6000 taiembers, now nnmbers over 275 looal anioos and 24,000 beneficial members, its roll even extending beyond a mimhecahip of 33,000. In one of strikes, from $7 to $10 per week is paid, at the option of the local anient. Cub local fixes its own sick and funeral benefits. Ttie wjrk is obiefiy pieoe-work. The wages range from 30 canta to 60 cents per tboa- saad ems, and nine totenhoarsa dayia the prevail! ag practice. On government work in the Ojveramsat Printing Offise. at Washiaglun, D. C. , the aaton rale is eight hoars a day. Wa^es have been advanced folly 40 per cent, through the International Union. THB iNTBKVATIONAt. TbADK ASSOCIA- TION OF Hat Finishers of America was orgaiii/.ei in Philadelphia June 5, 1834, with 13 local naions. and now nnm- bers 15 locals, with 4000 members, and has almost complete control of erery hat- ting centre. The initiatioo fee is |15, and the monthly dues are 15 oents. Piece- work is universal, and nine boars a day is the limit. The work is done in seasons, known as the "spring trade" and "fall trade." Wages average aboat |12 per week for the year roand ; a few make a higher sam. Funeral benefits of from flUO to $130 have been the law, bat hereafter the sam of $300 faneral benefit will be paid on the death of a member. The silk and felt hatters were in one organization nntil 1868, when, in a convention at New- ark, N. J., diffarences arose which led to the separation of the two bodies. For- merly the practice was to strike on the least provocation ; now the union commit- tee site in conference with the Manutac- tnrers' Association, and both work in harmony together. Thb Natiowat, Silk and Fns Hat FiNiSHBBS Association dates bnck to the first local opKanization of the craft formed in Philadelphia in 1836. the National body being formed in Jnly, 1854. and now em- braces seventeen cities. No strikes have taken plaoe aince the strike of 1859 in New York, wliiah lasted six weeks, cnstins the society $6000, and resulted favorably. Pieoe-work is the rule, and the hours of labor are not fixed. One hundred dollars is paid on death of a member, and $50 on decease of a member's wife. Relief for sick members is on the voluntary basis. Cotton Mulb Spinners' Association, located in Fall River, Mass., was insti- tuted October, 1858. The monthly dues are 60 cents, and since the society has started, the hours of labor have been re- duced from eleven and twelve honrs dowa I i ' ! 44 to ten, and the wagea increased from |8 per week to |10 per week. The sick benefltHare |4 per week, and $50 in case of funeral ; |4 per week ia paid to members victimi«ed or oii strike ; $80,000 strike benetits have been paid oat since formation of the so- cieiy , iMid $40,000 in funeral and sick bene- tiu. The society now has |7000 of » re- eerve fund. ThrIbon Moldbbs' Union of Ahkrica was organised bj a few uniona on July 5, 18r>9, and now covers over 250 local unions and 28,000 members, of whom folly 20,000 are in benefits. The reserve fund at head- quarters is never allowed to fall below $30 000, and the local treasuries have hun- dreds of thonsands at their command. The dues to the general office are 25 cents per month. The burial and strike benefits are paid from this fund. This society pays $100 funeral benefit. 'When the society first organized, $12 per week was consid- ered gcmd wages ; at present the invariable rule ia $2.75 per day. They also formerly worked twelve to thirteen honra per day ; now the custom is ten hours, and in April, 18H0, a general movement for the nino- hour Work-day is projected. Pieoe-woik is general, and to restrict the greedy piece- workers, they are limited to do an amount of work not to exceed $3 60 per day. The great strike of March, 1887, against the combined Manufacturers' Defense Associa tion, resulted in a sweeping victory lor the union. Thk Bbothekhood of Locomotive Enqinekbs was instituted Auftust 17, 1863, and at this writing, has 392 subdi- visions and over 85,000 members. Since 1868 this union has paid out to the widows and orphans of its members $2,438,000. The ineuranre feature is $3000 in case of death, and $1500 in case of permanent dis- ability by accident. Wages have been ad- vanced fully 60 per cent., and the hoars of labor have been curtailed considetably. The Ctgab-Makebs International ITnton of America was founded June 21, 1864. with 21 unions and 084 members. At present it numbers 260 local unions and over 28.000 members, of whom 21,000 are in henetftR The initiation fee ranges from $3 to $10, according to locality, and the dues are 20 cents per week, and an an- nual anseMiment of one dollar. At first the bonrs of labor were ten hours and longer, now the mie is eight hours a day, while sin'-p September, 1879, wages have ad- vancvd from twentr to one hundred per cmt. ; the syptem of piece-work prevails. A sick benefit of $5 per week is paid, and the union has a funeral benefit raneing from $50 to $.500. A system of loans to travel- ine members is one of the institutions, Trhile $4 per week is paid in case of a strike or lockout. In the past ten years the sum of $883,181.82 has been paid out in variooa benefits, while the society now has in its funds the sum of over a qnarter of a mil- lion dollars. This union has hmken down the trock system of paying wi gM in cifpurs, and has battled against the teiit^ment-lMUse cigar fJDKtories, with considerable snccess. The Bricklayers' and MA8o^B' In- ternational Union of Amkbica was CHtablished Febiuary 1, ienr>, with 3 unions, and now it embraces over 160 local unions. The initiatioo fee is from $10 to $25, and the dues fiom 26 to 60 cents per month. The hours of labor have been reduced irom ten down to nine hours per day. Wages are paid by the day, and vary according to location, fh)m $2.60 to $5 per day. In strikes, $200,000 have been spent, and $360,000 more have been expended in other benefits. Strike bene- fits are at the rate of $7 per week for mar- ried men, and $5 per week for single men. Many of the local unions have sick and funeral benefits. TbK OBPEB of BaILWAT CONDlTCTOBa was organized in 1868, at Mendota, III., snd now has 8,000 members. It has insur- ance features and various benefits. The United States Wool Hat Fih- isiiERs' AssociAiiuN Was foim(d April 7, 1 869, and now « ubraces 12 locals. All ap- prentices, on becoming journeymen, are memben of the union. The system of work is pifce-work, and averages nine months' work in the year, at from $3 to $6 per day, accordirg to a workman's ezpert- ness. Orer $4000 nave been spent in strike benefits. The history of some local onions in this body dates back to 1746. The Gebman-Amkbican Ttfogbaphia was organized in 1873, with 7 locals and 400 members, now it has 9 locals and 1,400 beneficial members. The initiation fee is $3, and the dnes 26 cents per week, rnd more in some cases. Since May 1, 1S86, the eight-hour system is the uni- versal rule in all union offices among Ger- man printers, where the men formerly worked ten hours and more per day. Wages range from $12 to $S0 per week, as the work is principally piece-work. In the past five years wages have advanced 15 to 25 per cent. This society pays $6 per week sick benefit, $6 per week out of work ' benefit, $7 per week strike benefit, $200 death benefit, and $25 wife ftineral benefit, also traveling loans to the extent of $20. This society has a reserve of over $12,000. The International Union of Fueni- tueb Workers of America was ineti- tnted July 7, 1873, with 9 local nnions and 1.156 members. At present it num- bers 26 locals And over 6,000 membeiB I years th« aam of i ont in variona ' oow has in its anarter of a mil- has broken dorwo ; W) gM in cigars, i teiituient-lkoase Iderable sncccss. !»D Mabons' Iw- >F Amukica was Ibnc, with 3 ibraceH over 160 iUoD fee is from iiom 26 to 60 inrs of labor have mo to nine hours by the day, and in, from $2.60 to s, 1200,000 havo ) more have been Bte. Strike bene* per week for mar- ik for eingle men. 18 have sick and VAY CONDrCTOBS at Mendota, III., ers. It has insnr- I benefits. Wool Hat Fin- is foimfd April 7, 12 locals. All ap- jonmeymen, are The system of id averages nine r, at from $3 to |6 ToiIimBn's ezpert- een spent in strike some local anions 1745. inTtpogbaphia \vith 7 loivls and las 9 locals and I. The initiation > cents per week, 1. Since May 1, fUm is the nni- flSces among Crer- le men formerly more per day. $20 per week, as ece-work. In the ) advanced 15 to Bty pays |6 per reek ont of work ' ke benefit, $200 ) funeral benefit, t extent of $20. f over $12,000. smut OF PUEWI- iiCA was inati- 9 local anions irerant it nnm- 5,000 membeiB 45 in good standing. The initiation fee im $1, and 4U cents per month dues, with luiai- tional fees and dues for the beuetlcial features. The union has a reserve of $1H,0U0. Thebenetitaare: $10<)wife'8t'uiier»l benefit, $260 meu'ber's funeral benelii, i'in to $160 tool insuranee (fully $76,000 worth of tools are insured), sick beuetita $0 per week, aud f 5 per week in case of strikes. In strikes fully $55,000 have lieen speut, of which $30,000 Wtt8 esiieiidcd in the eight-hour strike in May, IbHO. About one-half the members are now wocking by the day, eight hours per day, in most cuj>«8, the balance nine hours a day. When the organization started the rule was piece- work, ten hours per day. Wages are now hi(^er than they were three yeurs ago, and range firom $1.75 to $3.50 per day. Thr Bbotberhooi) of Locomotivk FiKKMEN was eatablished December 1, 1873, with 1 local and members ; now has 38U divJKions and 19,000 beneficial members. The initiation fte is $5 and upwards, and the dues 25 cents per month and upwards. Since the orncanissntion was formed, the sum of $190,000 has been paid out in strikes, and $1,500,000 has been ex- pended in funeral benefits. The heuvflts are $1,500 insurance in case of death, and $1,500 in case of disability. Journeymen Hobkef^iioebs' National Union organizt^d in Philadelphia April 20, 1874, and now has 32 local nnions and 8,000 members. The initiation fee is $5, and the monthly dues 50 cents. At first the hours of labor were ten per day, now they range from eight to ten, in many castas nine hours is the average. Wages were $2 to $2.50, at present they are advanced to $3 and $3.50. The National Amalgamatbd Asso- ciation OF IBON AND STEEL WORKERS was founded August 4, 1876, with 111 lodges and 3,755 members. It was the outgrowth of a consolidation of Tarious societies of all branches of the trade. The Amalgamated now numbers 177 lodges and over 35,000 members, of whom 15,000 •re finely skilled workmen. The initiation fee is $1 to $3, the monthly dues are 60 cents. Wages have advanced over 10 per cent, since the association has been founded. In all, the sum of $228,893 has been spent in strikes. The strike idlowance is $4 per week. The first origin of the association dates back to a local lodge in Pittsburgh in 1858, known as the "United Sons of Yulcan." The formation ot the Amalga- mated has brought aboat a uniform scale of wages, and the present system of annual acale conferences between the employers and the men through duly constituted representatives. Thb Obanitb Cdttkbs' National Ubion waa established March 10, 1877. Wages then were $1.76 to $3 per day for ten Uours' work. Now they are $3 to $3.60 Eer day for nine hours' work, and eight ours Saturdays. The society has 80 branches and 5,000 membeis. Its initiation fee is trom $1 to $3, the monthly dues being 30 cents. Ihe society allows its members $10 of a traveling loan, and $125 funeral benefit. The Amkbicak Flint 0I.A6K Work KB»' Union came into life Juiy 1, 1878, with 11 local iKidies, and at presi-nt it embracev 83 local unions and over 0.0ack to 1848. The first general or natioral union oi glass workers was formed in 186(> ; it aflerwaids, in l>'ii5, became the " GlacB- Blowers' League," which, later on, in the Bottle Blowers' branch, was divided for convenience into two organizations, one the Eastern Divii-ion and the other the Western Division. Ihe flint glass work- ers and window- glass workers in the course of time withdrew from the league and formed separate organizations, to more elTectnally regulate their cratt aifairs. In the glass trade the general rule in most cases is eight hours a day's work, and by organized efibrt wages have been advanced 100 per cent. The New England Boot and Bbob LAbTER8' Pboieciive Union wiis origi- nated December 27, 1879, with 16 mem- bers ; at present it has 66 branches and nearly 10,000 members, of whom 7,523 members are in benefit. The initiation fee is $1 ; the monthly dues are 26 cents. The old custom was twelve to thirteen hours' work per day. Now the men work ten hours, and where they formerly made f 9 to $10 per week, at present they get $16 per week. The sum of $105,000 has been spent in strikes. The pay, in time of » strike. Is $4 per week, the local anions, in some cases, paying sick benefits. This or- ganization has been in upwards of 1,900 trade troubles, and, with a few exceptions, has always come out victorious. It is now extending its ramifications to other sections as well as New England. IntbbnationalBbothbbhood of Boiler MAKERS and Iron Ship-Build- bbs and Helpebs waa formed at Chicago June, 1880, and now has 33 branches and 3,500 members. Initiation fee from $1 to $5 ; monthly dues 25 to 50 cents per month. The hours of labor are nine hours per day on ships or boats, and ten hoars in the shops. Wages, previous to the organiza- tion, were $2 to $2 20 per day ; at present they are from $2.76 to $3.26. The union has sick and faneral benefits, and though not invoking strikes, has won six oat of seven strikes in the ^t few yeua. I Miii f T 4(i Thr Brothkbhood or Cabpkntkrh AMU JuiNIUd UK AMKRICA WttM tuUllUed ia ojaveatioa at Cbiuttgu, Aaguitt 1'^, 1H81. At dCiit it had only Vi local unionit aud *2,04'i luembera. Now it hati 481 local uaiouii ia over 445 cities, aud 53,UUU enrolled mem- herd. It pays a wile's funeral beuelit from 125 to 4'>U ; member's funeral benetlt, i|l(M> to $JOi); disability beuettt, $IU() to %\m. In tUe-te general beneKta the sum of i)r>:{,- «7j hat been expended, while *2()0,000 more were spent .or siuk benetits by the local unions. It has raited wages in !j(]8 cities, and placed four iitillions and a half doltard more wages annually in the poukets of the carpenters in those cities. It re- duced the hoars of labor to eight hours a day in 35 cities, and nine hours a day in 107 cities, not to spaalc of 152 cities which have established the eight or nine-hour system on Saturdays. By this means 4,000 men have gained employment. This so- ciety favors day's work, and opposes piece- work in the trade, and has broken down the system in many instances. Wages range from $2.25 to (3.50 per day. Thk Mbtal- Workers' Uwion ok NoarH A.MBRIOA, founded in 1882, now consists of 12 local unions, with 1,200 mem- berd'.' It has sick and funeral benetits. Thk OpBiIAtivb Plasterbbs' Intbb- NATioNAL Union was founded with 5 locals, in 1882 ; at present has 20 local anions and 2,300 members, of whom 1,700 are iu niood standing. Initiation fee varies from %'i to $25, and the dues are 25 to 50 cents per month. The hours worked are generally ten hours per day, with eight hoars Saturdays. A few places are work- ing eight and nine hours a day. Previous to organization, wages were (2 to $3 per day for ten hours ; now they are $2 to $5 for eight or nine hours per day. The National Wood-Caevbrs' Asso- ciation was founded in January, 1883, and now embraces 9 local anions in thrifty condition. Tbxtilb Workers' Proqbbssivk Union of America was organized May 17, 1883, at first ander the name of "United Silk Workers." July 16, 1884, the society took iu present name, and now hia 8 local anions. The Carpet Workers have decided to join this body, which will double the numbers. The great difficulty in organizing this branch of labor is the couutleas number of women and children working in the mills. The Progressive Union, however, made a gallant fight for the eight-hour system in several cities. JoUBNETMBir TAILORS' NATIONAL Union started Angust, 1883, in Philadel- phia, with 5 locals ; now has 70. Initia- tion fee averages |2, and daes 60 cents per month, with |4 per week paid in time of strike. The system of work is all piece-work, with no limit to the hours of labor. Wages average $14 per week. Over $16,000 have been paid out lu strikes from local and general funds. Nearly all of the unions hav« siok and deatu benefits. A previous attempt at a National Union of Tailors was made in 1865. Thr RnoTURRBooD of Railroad Dkakkmgn was instituted He;>tember 23, 1H83, with 8 members ; now has 2(iU lodges and 12,000 members. The initiation fee is $8, and the luuiithly dnes average $1.50. The sum of $1,000 is paid in case of death or accident ; in this way |50(),0U0 has been paid out in the past five years. The JouiiNKYMKN Bakers' National Union was formed in Pittsburgh January 13, 1885, with a few locals ; now numbers 72 local unions and 1U,IH)() members. Through its eflforts, the hours of labor have been reduced from sixteen down to ten hours per day, and wages raised from $8 to 910 per week ; and many evils, such as swindling employment agencies, have been abated. The locM anions have sick and funeral benefits in many cases. The Waiters' Union, organized in New York City January 25, 1885, with 22 members, now has over 1,200 members. When they started there was no limit to the hours of labor and no scale of wages ; men then worked fourteen to eighteen honrs per day, now work only ten hours. Then labor bureaus were kept by saloon- keepers, who compelled the waiters who were looking for work to spend their money freely. This has been broken ap, and the labor bareaa is now run by the onion. The percentage system is also stopped, and wages are $2.50 per day, instead of $1.25 as formerly. Thr National Federation of U inebs 'and Mine Laborers had its birth Sep- tember 12, 1885, with abont 6,000 mem- bers ; at this date it now embraces fully 25,000 members. The wages were $1.76 to $2.25 per day; now they range from $2 to $2.50. This body is compmed of State and Territorial nnions, which, in torn, are composed of local anions. Previous to the formation of this Federation, the coal miners had a loose, disconnected string of local anions in perpetual and disorganized strikes. This has given way to an annual wage conference with the mine operators, which results in an amicable settlement of the scale, and strikes are thus avoided. At an early date the nine-honr system is to be pat into effect by this society. Thr International B o a t h b s '8 Union had its origin in February, 1886, and now numbers over 1,000 memben. 'eek paid in time of woik is all i to the lioura of per weelc. Over t lu Hlrilies from Nearly all of the Mtti benedta. A aliooal Uuion of or Railroad d Heiiteinber 2:{, >w biM 2UU loilgM 6 initiation fee is BH average $1.50. in coHe of death 5oo,ouu has been ears. Ens' National ttsburgh January Ih ; now numbers i),(H)o members. >ur8 of labor have sen down to tea raised from $8 to y evils, snch as encies, have been IS have sick and 1, organized in J5, 1885. with 22 1,200 members. was no limit to k scale of wages ; teen to eighteen : only ten hours. i kept by saloon- the waiters who pend their money Dken np, and the n by the nnion. also stopped, and , instead of 11.25 ATIONOPHmEBS ad its birth Sep- boot 6,000 mem- w embraces fnlly )gea were 1)1.75 to range from $2 to mpmed of Stat« hich, in turn, are Prerions to the ration, the coal nnected string of and disorganized way to an annual I mine operators, tble settlement of rre thns avoided, le-honr system ia lis society. B O A T M B it's February, 1886, 1,000 memben. .w W »ll «y ThtiMe boatmen are at work on the various canalM of New York and New Jersey. The initiation fee is |5, monthly dues 50 centa. Hours of labor at first were twelve per day ; now only ten hours. Pri«w8 have been raised from 18 to 25 cents per ton for hauling, and wagen formerly i^'.Vt per month, are now (50. Spent 94, (MM) in strike bene- II tH, and raised wages over 35 per cent. The locals have a funeral benefit. UAlIiHOAD Swi-miMEM's MuTUAL AlO A88OCIATI0N OK N. A. had it« beginning Muri^b 2, 1H(4«I, at Chicago, with 4 locals and 1,000 members ; today it has 58 locals •nd nearly 5,000 members. The initiation fee is 10, and the monthly dnes 9 1 ; $700 •re paid in case of death or disability, and $6 per week in case of accident. $100,000 have been paid out in these benefits. Tailors' Froorebsivb National Union was establinhed August 32-20, 1880, at Brooklyn, N. Y., with 9 nnions, and now has 13 nnions and 1,500 members. Initiation fee $1, dnes 25 cents monthly, and |6 per week strike benefit is paid, the Moiety also has a sick and funeral fund, which is optional, and costs 35 cents per month extra, and |2 for initiation, the ■ick benefit being $6 per week, and th« death benefit 175. The National Union of the United Bbewkky Wobkmrn was brought into life Angnst 29, 1886, and now has fifty-one local unions and 2,600 members. At first wages were $45 to $60 per month, for four- teen to eighteen hours of daily labor ; now the wages are $60 to $80 per month, paya- ble weekly, for teu hours of daily labor. This Society has spent $80,000 in strikes and has a good record as indomitable workers. Brotherhood or Painters and Deco- rators or America was founded March 15-16, 1887, with 13 nnions and 500 mem- bers ; now has 116 local unions and 6,000 members. The initiation fee is $1, and up- wards ; the dues 26 canta per month, and upwards. The hours of labor range from eight to ten hours per day, nine hours being quite the general rnle. The benefits are : wife benefit of $25 to $50 ; member's fhneral, $50 to $100; disability, $60 to $100 : strikes, $4 to $5 per week. Horse-collar Maekks' Natiowal Union formed April 5, I8s7 ; now has 21 local nnions and nearly 800 members. Hours of labor, ten per day ; wages, for- merly $1.60 per day, are now advanced to $I.UO. The initiation fee is $2 to $3 ; the dues 50 centM per month. Pattern-Makers' National Leaocb, ioHtituied at Hi. lx>nis. May 18, 18H7, has I) unions and nearly 1,000 members. Hick and funeral benefits optional with locals. Pavino Cutters' National Union organimi«l June 1, 1HH7, at Baltimore, Md., with 11 branches and 500 members; has .'Ui branches and 1,800 members ; payx $100 funeral benefit, and $10 traveling loan. Journeymen ItAititRiis' National Union came into enisteore Hept«niber6, 1887, and has 8 locals and over 2,500 mtm- bers. The initiation fee ia $2 ; the dues 40 cents per month. At first the honn of labor were one hundred per week, but are now reduced to eighty-six hours per week. Wages were $9 per week, are now $13 per week. Strike benefits and sick benefits are each |5 per week. Tub Building Laborers' National Union was started September 30, 1887, in Worcester, Mass., and now has 30 locals and 8,0(N) members. Worked ten hours per day for $1.75 prior to organization ; now work nine hours per day and eight Satur- days, and gets $2.25 to $2.60. Journeymen Stone Cutters' Asso- ciArioN OP North America had its be- ginning March 1, 1888. Pays $100 funeral benefit, and has sick benefits in the locals. The men work nine hours very generally, and in many coses work only eight hours. This society now numbers over 20 locals. An Oyhtermrn's National Unioh is now in process of formation, which will in- clude li existing nnions, with a combined memberahip of 800. A sick benefit of $6 per week and $75 death benefit will be embraced in the constitution. The Silk Wobkebs have a yery pros- perous National Union, which is row arranging to become part of a t^ixuaal Federation of the Textile Woikers, in- cluding all operatives in the cotton, woolen, carpet, and silk industries, and to be organized strictly on a trade union basis. ■■^K" Lamon Omnia Vincit. AMERICAN FEDERATiliri OF LABOR AN AHl^KAL To all Local, National, and International Trade Unions iu America. It ia iinw Kanarally admitted bjr all niall.vwiliKiHtrilaiiil lionriit man ttiata tlioroiiBh orKmiiiwliun of llie ciilire wurkinK tilaaa, to rauiler ciii(iUiyiii(iiii itiiil llit* iii<-hiik hI' Hiilixinifiir* nnn iirvrHriniipi by •euuriiiK ail vqiiltablo nhara ut tha friillM of tliuir loll, la th« niiint vital iici rMiiy iif lUu |>rrh<'iii '. 'l.'u meet tuie uritaiil iicveiiaily, aiitl tu acblave (bl« DKial Uealralna reaiill, eHurla liavt* Ijeaii uimIv, loi> nuiiirruiia la ii|i*oiry, itiid too cllveriiant U>ailiiilt of uiarn tliaii Iba iiioal icaiiaral alacalttuBlioii, Rt ;'U'e It ta nay, thai Ibime atteinptM at urKHUliatluii wlilrb ailiiiittleil to nicinbcriihl|> the laryeit |ira- portion af utliara tliaii wane workvia were tliuM) wlilcli wriitthe ni(i«ta|i«> cllly tolbe lliiihu ofnioTr- lueuin that won't move; wblle.of tlii|H!rimviiti<, tlioxr whIclialHrti'il witliliiamoxlelabo- rats amd eibauallva platforiiia of abatraot |iriiiulplaa waie tbono wbK'b gut tbu kuonaat Into fatal voDiplli'atloiia, and toonaiil liecama eaiiauated, In Ihu faau of au many lUaaHtroiia failurea tuaiipjily thn undinibtedly fiiatlnK popular daniand for • prautU'Ml ineana of aolvliiu tbo icreat priibleni, Ibu iiuxry natiirallj' 9Ugf[eat« Itaalf to luauy : "WhIUk is thu beat form of oriiaiiliHlixu for tbe people, tliu worker* ','" We uiibeHltalliiwly aimwcr: "The orKanlaatlon uf Iba working people, by the working people, fortha workliiK ueople— that la, the Trade I'lilon." Tiie Trade rnloiiH are the iialurHl growth of natural laws, and from the very nature of their beinK have ittood Ibu fnt of time and eiperluiice. Thu devttloument of the Trade t'nIoiiH, rcKorUed bolb from the ataiidpiiiat of nuiucrlnil viimiixion anil thai or pratllcnl wurklitg, bita been nmrrrl- ouKly rapid. Tli« Trade ( niona have dumoiutrated Ibeir ability to nope with every amergeuvy— aaoni>mlo or |Militiual— aa It arlaea. It la true that ainK'e irade Unlona have bei-n f>flen beiitcn In piti'lied bnttica aKainnt inperlor fororaof united capital, hulauob dereutaare by nu nieaiiadlaaatroua; ou theoontrary, they are UMCfiii in calliiiK Ibn attention of the workera to thu ncueaalty of tUoroUkh orKaklxatioii.of thu InevitHbla obllKHllon of briiiKlngtbe yet MiiorKanized workera Into tbe I'liion, of unilinK the hitherto diMou- nectuil IvUchI IJniona Into National Inloiia, auil or<'IVevtlng a yet bl"hiir unity by thvafllllation of all National ami International l^iilona In one Kraiid J'\'deratluii,iu whiclt laobaud all trade orgauiaalioio to l>e aucccsitful, ~iul by comliluing our etl'orta ALI. mny. And the oombintd at'tlon uf all the Unions wbon exerted in favor of any onu Lilian will certainly be more aniuacioUN than tbe actlan of any one Union, no ivatlvr bow powerful H may ho, If exerted in favor of an uiior^nnlxedi or a partially organized inaaa. '1 he Biotberliood of Paiiitera haa, wittiin a little more tliitii onu year. Kained nearly one hundrt'd aulxirdinatu Loual Uniona, and it haa been largely enabud to aclili^vo ihi^ ruinitrkably ritpid growth l'/ tbe aMMlNtaiice of the Brotherhood of Carpestera, tbo Taiiora. thu Cigar Mnkera and othur alHIiHted I'liioiiHof the American Federation of Labor, thus furnlahlng another proof, if any further proofa were ueeded by Uuluu men, that "in uulou there la trenglh." We aaiert that it ta the duty, aa It la alao the plain interest, of all werking people to organize aa such, mt*ut ill couiiHcl, ami take practical atepa to eti'cct the unity of the working «.laas, sa an india- penaahle preliminary to any auuooaafiil attempt to eliminate the evils of which we. aaaclaaa, ho bitterly and Juatly complain. That this much deaired unity baa urvur been achieved ia owing in a great meaauru tor, however, avoida the fatal rock on which prevloua organ- izationa. haviag almilar alum, have aplit, by simply keeping ia view tbia fundamental principle, as a landmark which none but the nioal Infatuated would have ever lost Night of. Tbe rapid and steady vrowth of the American federation of LaUir, ariaing from the afflliatinn of previously iaolated, together with newly-formed. National Uniona; tbe catabliahment of local uaions of various trades and callings where none licfuru exiatcd ; tbe ai>oiilaiieous formation o< Federal Labor Uniona, compused of wage-workers following vuriuua tradta in placea where there are too few persons employed at any particular one to allow tbe formation of Local I hIoiih of thoae tradea, thus furnishing valuable bodiea of aiizniariea and recruits to exlating uniona upon change of aboile. tbia steady growth ia gratifying evidence of the appreciation of tbe toiicra of tliis broaHiatance uf a Ixxiy of organizers, who, without hape of reward, except the consciouaneas of performing a sacrrd duty to their fellow work- men, have carried the propaganda of trade unioniam into the remotest pHrls of the Continent. MiicU of our burden baa lieen alsoeaaed by the generous co-operation of the hxcculives of National and In- ternational Uniona. Ixith aniliiited and unafHIIated, thn latter of whom have doubtless so acted from • conviction that within the linos of tlie Federation will be fought to the bitter end the faal-ctmiing {crand struggle l>etween Capital and I^bor, involving the perpetuation of tbe civilization we have ao aborioualy evolvetl. Deeply grateful as we are, for your fruternal rupport, we aliould be negligent of the duty we owe to each and all did we not urge the fxical. .National, and International Uniuus who have not yet Joined the ▲merioan Federation of L«bur, to do ao without further delay. Tours fraternally, SAMPEL OOMPERS. Pritidrnl. PANiEL Mclaughlin, *m( ricePrtudmt. WILLIAM MARTIN, Second Vice- l^etiiletU. OABUIKL EDMONSTON, Trtaturer. P. J. HcOOlUB, Stertlary. LABOR n America. (MIkIi or kh m I XHllofi IrnH iirecailoUK by ' tbu prfiHriil day. » Imvr lieaii DiiMil), leritl •iKralttokUuii. il|t llio larKeil |iro- llit' lliiiliu ofojOTr- illitiiamoxt elHbo- I kuonckt InUi telHl iopul»r demand for ftoiuiuiy: "Whlvk le workinK people, Dry nature of iheir e UiitouH, rcKurdvd ;, liiM been ninrvvl- every amergeuoy— tn BKainHt aaperlor ary, ib«y are uMfiil II, of tlic liiuviialila lie liiiliertuiljMun- (li««tlllinttunif llioHe trades, thua :>ange of aboile. thla ■oad land of a form n wbiub each trade tion. , of the very moder- lur to HddrCHH you. f< int of uur orgnn- of organizers, who, II their fellow work- lie Continent. MiicU 9of National and lii- ibtleas fco actvd (runt I'lid the fartMiniiiiK ilizHtioti we have no xliould be negligent iiternatlonal tiiioiia iher delay. ilrnt. ■'tr»l Vice-PrttidmL I Vie0-Pretithnl. Fnaturcr, .'%«»»S«.- ITA 17224 .!,*; INSTRUCTIONS How to Form a Federal Labor Union or a Local Union. Ist— Unions may be formed of persons Tvorking at any trade or calling, or they may be composed of persons working at different or varied callings. The latter are called "Federal Labor Unions." 2d — Any person who desires to organize a Union of any trade will, by application to this office, aa above, be informed of the address of the chief officer of that trade ; bnt should there be no Greneral Union of that trade or calling, or should it be the intention to form a Federal Labor Union, he will be furuitihed with all necessary documents and in- formation free of charge. 3d — Any nnmbei of wage-workers, not less than seven, of either sex, can obtain a Certificate of Affiliation (charier). 4t,h — To organize : Call a meeting and read the printed appeal on page 48 of this pamphlet, also these instructions. Proceed at once to elect officers. Apply to the Presi- dent of the American Federation of Lab<'r, at this office, as above, for a Certificate of Affiliation, and enclose $5.00 for the nece&siky fee. which will be returned, in full, if the application be refused, ^.'end the fee by Post Office Money Older. 8en'!\ also a list of names and residences of the Officers and Ciiaiter members of your Union. 5th— With the Certificate of Affiliation a full working outfit for the new Union will be famished, entitling its members to all the rights and privileges, and the Union to a voice and vote in the Annual Conventionu o( the American Federation of Labor. 6th — Every Union has full charge of its own funds, and is only required to pay to the President of the American Federation of Lalx;'' a per capita tax of one quarter of one cent per month, per member in good staiuiin^. 7th — The American Federation of Iin'>or rrquires no ai^sessments from any of its Unions : and guarantees each and every Union perfect autonomy or right of self-govern- ment. IN UNION THEPEIS.STRENGTH. PRICE LIST OF SUPPLIES. Charter Outfit (Seal not included), $5 00 Seal and press (all complete), 4 00 Charter Outfit consists of one (1) Charter; two (2) Manuals of Common Pro- cednre — giving directions for opening and closing meeting, installation of officers, initiation of members, etc.; seven (7) Certificates of Membership — for framing; seven (7) Constitutions (A. F.of L.); one (1) Ode Card for each member, one (1^ quire ot Official Note Paper. EXTRAS. Duplicate of Charter, . 1 00 Certificate of Membership, per dozen, 1 00 *Trade Union Pamphlet, 48 pages, per dozen, 75 Official Note Paper, pen dozen, 25 Ode Cards, per dozen, 25 Travelling Cards, per dozen, . . 25 Constitutions (A. F. of L.), per dozen, 25 Working Cards, per hundreid, 50 Extra "Manuals," each copy, • . 25 Note —The above articles will be supplied only when the requisite amount of cash accompanies the order. Otherwise the order will not be recognized. All suppliestent by us have the postage prepaid, or express charges paid in advance. Address, Samuel Gomikbb, 171 East 9lst Street, New York City. * This psmphlet will be sold to Trade Unions and Lalyir OrganicatioDS in wholMde Iota, at the nte of Five Dollars for one hundred copies. expreBsage p4id. 0. J. MiUaHEII « CO., P.INTERS, 410 IIIMIIT (T, PWU. ■. mtmnm v ^■- ITA 17224 cal Union. ing, or they may la Iter are called 1, by application ' that trade ; bnt ) the intention to uumenta and in- Bx, can obtain a ] page 48 of this •ply to the Presi- - a Certificate of >d. in full, if the en^. also a list of n. new Union will od the Union to I of Labor. red to pay to thci e quarter of one from any of its it of self-govern- ll $5 00 4 00 lonPro- ktion of lip — for lember, 1 00 1 00 75 . . . . . 25 ..... 25 25 25 60 25 I amount of cash A.11 supplies tent 8W York City, olaiale lots, at the I ' ' '' 1|> 1 • • \' * • f" _,. • ^t'^l'i '"- ! * r