Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-11-10
TRADES UNIONS.

England are now spending about sl,OO1,- 01j year for charitable purposes, and have a reserve fund of about s a,0J00OO. h 1879 the Engineer Unon disDursed more thaa S75O,O50ln uil of members out of employ uieat, aud its average dis bursemrnts for charitable parpnses for ave years have been m ihe ueIghOor- hood or Sl00.q00 From th's 1t appears that the trades unions in England are mutual and associations rather than or ganizations deyotlng their energies chiefly Ca wars on employers. Mr Fred eric Harris, an intelligent English gen tlemsn, who IS regarded as authority b, the press Of that cauH'ry, not long sInce made statements of facts respecting trades-unions which shed considerable light upon the purposes and growth oi those organizations in Great Britain. He says that during the period of great depression in 1873, which was manly due to the hard times which prevailed ID this country, the unions spent over million dollars @ year for the relief of members ~ho were out of employment and to their families, and he calls special attention t0 the fact that not more than one per cent Of their total expenditures las been made for the support Of strikers. It Is not believed that the
 unds Of trades unions are as JudIci lusl. expended Iu this country. 1t Is the general impression that mot of the re- serves are expended iu tbe support oi strikes. We have but httle faith iE Sen ator Blair's Llbor Committee, but if Il
 giI throw some lght on this question ii
 ril not have served in vain. There cal be no doubt bu; that trades unions, properly and eeusibly administered ,ould io much good in helping the needy aud advaacug the ID erests oi -he lablrilg cLusses: but tAe bull lf the fu4ds raised should gJ t0 hel!
 he wort l. Vh0are in need Of it, instead
 6 sqqauie-inEi' ia intellectual strikes
 The gle -+apaers are BOW pretty gener-
 .Ily of the opinion that they we're sold
 mt. and .n4 Re oatspaas of, by inc mau- .-ers Of their strike last year. The, say that the strike was no. Co be inau-- l-ated under a year from the date of Iir 1r-an,z4tion on the Pacific, yet th, strike was brought an II less .han seven months, without general consultation. and was as muci li surpr.ss to tle members oi rn' Brotherhood as To the country at large. Instead oi being brou ht on Iu the uu-s season, when congress vas n session. nd when The cammercial busiu,ss o.
 he country vas active, tLe du.lest sea son uf tle year was selected, when .
 arre portion ot the business men of tL, country were haunting cooling resorts 4ui hiding themselves away from busi- ness and when the press business Wa
 .t the minimum. II the managers ci
 Le Western Union strike had bee
 v5-kin- ID the interest of the compau.
 hey e1alI not have co4lu,tel it nor
 av1rablg its interests. Many of ta
 -le1-apuers believe that the strike wa, .uaugnratei m the interest Of the West aru Ulln company. That camFau, . was aware ot She existence of the power al organization ot the Br1therho7I, aud the telsgraphers believe that
 ought the earliest opp rtuuity e break
 tup. Itis believed that # the strik' lad been delayed until December of thi- ,ear. that n would have been impossible To break st down, as the organization would have been nearly perfect, and the volume of busin ss would have been loubIe what it was in Aug wheI the strike was ordered. T. IS further charged by the telegraphers, that the l demands made upon the company were lnressopqble 6eiuqe'ay rlhsy7 ar are greed that the strike was a failure, and resulted in disa-tsr to the te.egraphers
 The CITIZEN believes ID 9 far and just compensation for labor and would glad y see tle Iaboring classes reap their portion of the wealth their labor create
 But in this country, the general c11--e li the trales-uni0ls have not been Iu -hs interest Of ths lsbonlg classes. h dimes Of prosperity, the employer could, md m many instances no doubt vould raise the wages oi their employees, it when hard times come ou, the employees would submit to a reduction m propor-
 ion to reduced prufs But, as even one kuowz, when a audard of wages ,. once established tt is next Co impossible Co reduce it; hence tbe reluctance oi .ls employer to establish a precedent that may, 5a year or twr, 1udermin' the very foundation of hIs business
 There should be no war between th' employer and the employed. TheIf
 interests are identical, and when rn, works agaInst the interest of the other for any length o' time, disaster n.us necessarily ovsrtake one or the other. The tradss-unious m England are muci nearer a solution of the labor question, than th SC Of the United Statss, and ii would be we'll for the laboring men n this country, to study them careful! with a view of profiuac by them.