Telegram-herald., 1890-09-09

3
tAs Trsas Cnt1a Congress soest afss@a
years ASo. NJ Bxo41Azrs worxsd IA =
stoas- yar1, as his fatesE dld Before
kl1- Ar. IhenAs Bart. Ehs saszabsr
fer Asrpsta- works1 txea 4is eAlld-
Need award Ia ths - lass of Nerthua-
beElan5. and acre Ehza tseRty sears
49, Isd saeesssfui sri ks % hls fsllss
miners Ar CAarlss Fsnsiek was
toillax Ia tAs sSns pts whsa hs 49,
iasitsd % become the II r Ter thas
dixision sf ths soansy, sails Mr. Bsai
F1ekAr3, Fhs melassE Ter tas SormAatea
dislsssa - Yorkshire. v4s gagged Ia
10 less toil fer over fwsnty years, sill
he becAins Secretary of tie leFkskiEs
Minsrs' Uaioa M George H8weli,
whose services as the pioaesz Of trade
aaions secured hiA = seat ter "a East
Loadon constituency, oaly renounsed
the brieklAysrs' ho1 10 take up tie
sscEstarys pea ca behalf Of the great
s-Intsrn4tional" While Mr.. James
Ro~lanes, another London nembsr.
left xatehmakiag saop 10 take HE
seat IN 81. stsPksns. AS working
earpsatsE. MT. CrsneE, the represents
tive OF SboEeditch. founded ths Car
pentsrs' UaioE. On the other hand,
some Of the prominent leaders OF the
Socialists. such as Mr.. Hyndman and
Mr. Champion, are msfnoers or The
middle class, Who ali their lives have
drawn Incomes from the hated capital
Isl System and worn the broadeloth
OF the dstested bourgeois. They have no
"loeus standp at the Trades Congress.
On the subject of the official pay ment
OF members and their election expenses
the Congress Is In complete accord IN
regarding such measures as the means TO
the fullest representation OF labor. At
Dnndee last year . resolution emoody-
ing this view Was carried unanimously
10 be endorsed, without doubt. a. Liv-
erpool A, the present time Mr.. John
Burns' seat in the London County Coun-
ell is in jeopardy because the trnd that
was rais@d TO provide him with an in
come while he sat there instead of
working in his shop is exhausted. New
ertheless Mr.. Burns is Parliamentary
candidate for Battersea. In his case
the calibrs of the man will doubtless
attract such sympathy that the pecan
iary difficulty will DO overcome and
Honest John" will sit in Parliament
a. we'll as in the County Council. But
the whole feeling of trade unionism in
England. despairing OF voluntary funds,
is now obviously in favor of the State
acting as paymaster.
II is on the question of the''eight-
hour day" that the interest of the Liv-
verpool Congress will culminate. The
defeat that the Socialists sustained on
this question last year was not so over
whelming that victory now is quite
hopeless The Dundee delegates actu-
ally declared for an eight-hour bill ap-
piled only in favor of eolliers.
Mr.. Hardie's resolution in favor of
the legislative enactment of eight hours
as the maximum working day was
rejected by SS votes TO 63. A previous
attempt to stem a plebiscite of the
trades or the question failed to elicit
any distinct response. Only 33 unions
representing about no. 900 members
made returns and of this number there
was a majority of 46, 600 opposed TO
Parliamentary interference with the
hours of labor much larger number
of delegates will assemble At Liverpool
than Dundee, and there is reason to
think that the minority on this ques-
tion will gain most from the increase
1t is not yet safe to prophecy, but if
all the signs and portents may be
trusted, the,trade unionism OF England
is undergoing fundamental change.
Socialism pure and simple, cut and
dried, will be secuted by the Liverpool
Congress, but the socialistic spirit will
be found to permeate the delegates de-
liberations even more than il did at
Dundee. When several years ago the
Congress passed a resolution in favor
of land naturalization the Times"
described it rs "a catch rope" Even
so. the ''catch rope" scarcely antici-
pated the frame of the delegates minds
at the present day. According to the
old view of trade unions they are merely
an intallible means TO one end-the
raising IF wages. This view still pre-
walls, and it is hopeful sign of the
times that the English Socialist, unlike
his continental brother, recognizes the
trade union as a usefnl and necessary
stepping-stone to greater things. To the
old view must be added growing faith
that what the union cannot do the State
must, when the power OF combination
Sails the force of law must succeed.
FREDERICK DoLMAN.