The Sun.
London, England, 1869-10-06 00:00:00

TRADES UNIONS.

The question of Legislation for Trades Unions was
dealt with by Mr. Serjeant Cox. The right of workmen,
he said, to assemble for regulating the terms and conditions
on which their labour shall be supplied to employers was
now generally admitted, and the only question to be deter-
mined was," What should be the form of that recognition?"
The trade societies asked for power to place themselves
under the Friendly Societies Acts, and for a repeal of
the Combination Laws. But the objection to the
former claim is, that those Acts are framed strictly for
associations whose funds are wholly applied to benevolent
purposes, and whose rules cannot in any way affect others
than themselves. They are, therefore, inapplicable to
trade societies, whose primary object is not charity. His
proposition was to give to them the highest form of legal
recognition, with a proportionate amount of responsibility.
He suggested that trade societies should be incorporated
after the manner of joint-stock companies, with a common
seal, with power to sue and be sued in the corporate name,
with a memorandum of association specifying the objects,
and articles of association containing the rules for
the government of the society, the necessary pub-
licity being the best preventive of any abuse of
their powers. They should have the same powers
as companies to make bye-laws, and to recover
subscriptions from their members. If combining the
objects of a friendly society, the rules relating to such
object to be distinct from the general rules, and with the
table of subscription to be approved by the barrister in
like manner. To provide against the abuse of such large
powers, he proposed further to repeal the existing Combi-
nation Act, and by the "Trades Societies Incorporation
Act," as he suggested that it should be called, the
ldeawfifnued,lobjects of such societies should be specifically
namely, the right of any number of persons to
agree together to sell their labour and skill upon any terms
and
conditions they may be pleased to impose. And the
Act should further specifically prohibit by penalties the
interference in any manner with the equal liberty of any
persons not members of the society to cell their own skill
and labour on any terms they ple-
se.
b Missy ie
Carpenter,Elucat Ti
107,
,c-L'rrnTcruie°ll:l„ of WOMEN.
subjectsWiteerEN basis.
(lo
Hay diversity
between the power; of the Sexes, this (1i
not involving inequality. scarrentveerrstey, however,
Id that as
regards the labouring and mechanic classes, and grades
of society lower still, the two sexes had been equallyl
cared
for by the State ;in the ranks above tlies these, itloe
tti!leresre.
were excellent grammar and proprietary schools for the
boys, for their sisters there was nothingansweringNV
Here Government could interfere where endow-
ments had been applied to the education of
boys only, though nothing prevented their being
also employed fcr the higher education of girls.
The establishment of normal schools for training ladies to
teach—the want of -which the speaker believed cannot be met
by voluntary effort—was the grand desideratum to be sup-
plied by Government. This, if well carried out, would
produce a great effect on the status and education of the
middle and superior classes of young ladies. In connec-
tion herewith should be a system of examinations and