The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-12-14
Trade Unions.

Trade Unions and working mems As
sociations, have become in England, the
United States and other countries, power
erful organizations Their proposed OBJ
iects are the regulation of wages, the pro-
lection of their members against exact
ions of employers, and the management of
the various trades so that they may not
become crowded with workers. These
objects they endeavor to gain by STRIKES"
by which employers are forced through
fear of loss, to acctde to the terms de-
manded; and secondly, by regulations
which tend to keep down the number Of
apprentices, the hours of labor, and cause
the amount Of work to be done to keep in
advance of the men entitled to employ
ment.
Such is the extent to which these or
CARNATIONS have arrived, that orders for a
strike" issued by the few individuals
who have the supreme control, are
obeyed throughout the whole circle of
subordinate unions or associations, though
these may cover the whole country.
individuals may have no cause of com
plaint, may be satisfied with their work
and wages, but nevertheless are com
PEELED to obey the orders of their officers
in order to give that weight to the
strike" that shall cause it to effectuate
the purpose desired
Their power is derived through combi-
nation, and hence, thorough combination
must be adhered to, though as a general
rule it may work extreme hardship in in
individual cases. These associations, by
their magnitude and extent have given
rise to great solicitude in those commune
ties in which they exist, and this is great
ly increased by the fear that they will be
diverted from their original purposes and
be used by INSCRIPTIONS leaders to bring
about social and political disturbances.
We notice in the English periodicals
and magazines, numerous articles and
elaborate essays on the practices and pur-
poses of Trade Unions, in which the prin-
ciples on which they are founded and the
means employed by them are ably dis
cussed, and their tendencies and results
upon the general welfare of the whole
community are clearly pointed out
Whatever may be the fears entertained
of the future developments of these or
CARNATIONS, we do not believe they can
ever rise to the power of revolutionizing
a whole community since they move with
in the orbit that restricts all voluntary
associations. Controlling masses of men
are only held in persevering movement,
or in obstructive use, by the sword, the
pen or by money. Society does not
rest alone upon the simple founda-
ton of voluntary agreements, while
the most that can be predicated of
governments is that they rest upon the
implied consent of the governed, not
practically upon the habits, circumstan-
,es and genius of their respective
peoples
The failure of. strikes to accomplish the
ends sought for, except for the most linn
ted time, their inutility to solve satisfact-
.rily and permanently the division of the
Profits and to keep wages at an even rate,
5 becoming evident TO the workingmen
themselves. The strife is no longer for a
ixed and well understood rule of division.
IS between employers and employed, bas-
d upon those conditions of trade, which
must affect both parties in the sale of
heir combined productions, but it has be
ONE a strife, on the part of the Unions,
o fix the rate of wages arbitrarily, or to
isturb the course of trade whenever the
are dissatisfied. This, not
nth reference to the demand of the mar
ct, but by practicing upon the fears of
he capitalists, and by cornering themn
is stated, that on the average, twelve
.rikes occur each year in England in the
ase of the Amslgamated Society of Car
enters and Joiners. Their strikes have
ecome perpetual question as to the