New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-19

M, ,sten IN the rea sonable counses OF the leau-
ers who had gained this victory for them Inc!
were over-eated. rushed to extremes, naue IN
orbitant demands. went on vast strikeS' WIZ
guilty Of violence The result was inevitable III
dustry was demoralized, trade was uepresseu'
The whole trade-unon system was on the ori'A
of ruin Worst Of all. public opinion was every
where set strongly against it; ana no "o'ue''
But Place and Hume, by extraordinary e"e'-
lions. saved from the wreck the princ'p'es ior
which they had fought Combination was legal
lied and the rights of collective bargaining anu
concerted striking were established.
We have seen that the first effort OF the unions
was to get State action in their behaf. NO"
they faced round and sought entire freedom from
State interference in their affairs III Parliament
would not NEEDLE with the laws OF trade 10 Keep
uaces IN 1, must not do so to enable capitalists
to cut them down. Surely this was logical. bu'
Parliament. unmindful Of precedent as before.
continued 10 discriminate In faVor Oh the EN-
p,over Following the depression and ruin OF
1929 there came what We may call the New IN
ionisrn: though II later became the Old Union
ism. as distinguished from yet newer one IL
proposed 10 form, not trade unions. but trades
union The difference between the names makes
clear the difference between the things. There
was TO he n general national union OF workmen
~ al, trades Such an organization was indeed
formed at Manchester in 1880. and for time
promised great things. Its object was 70 resist
reduction Of wages. but not to strike lor IN
crease But strikes occurred. some OF them on a
great scale. and this National Association sup
norted them morally and financially Then 1ea'-
ousies arose between the members Of different
trades, and the association soon went 10 pieces
Other organizations sprang up to take It's place.
chief among them being the great Builders IN
ion. Their, aim nothing less than the en-
tire supersession of the capitalist employer IN
stead of the practical Place. the visionary NOD
ert Owen became their leader. lie enumerated MS
great secret" that labor Is the source OF all
wealth. and that laboring men can retain mat
wealth In their own hands by universal COM
pact for that purpose A general union OF all
the productive classes would put poverty ana
tho fcar of il forever on, OF society" Dazzled
by these pleasing visions. workmen hocRed 10
the standard of the union half million Of them
in n few weeks And then the story OF rev
wears before was repeated. The over-enthusias-
tic masses rushed to extremes. and strikes o1'eh
with violence. ensued. with loctouts and general
decentralization Of trade The Government inter-
fered again. and Lord Melbourne had laws en-
leaders were sent to jail; of them. by tyran-
nicaI peryersion Of justice. transported. by the
middle Of 1884 the unions were wrecked and
largely disbanded. or merged into Chartist ana
Ant,-Corn-Law leagues. and the New Unionism
seemed an utter failure After seven Team years
of epathy a new era dawned In lS43. The old
ideas OF social revolution were dead. ana their
prophet. owen. forgotten. Golden and Bright
we're the leaders OF the new dispensation the new
New Unionsm. The effort 10 abolish poverty
uas abandoned The aim now was to secure in
dustr!al freedom, to sweep away the last remains
Of loyal discrimination against wage-earners.
business principles were adopted and sort "f
.,tornev.eeneral was engaged. who should fight
The battles Of workmen and OF the unions In
.oour, When the employers tried 20 get add!-
tional laws in their own favor. the employees
broupht pressure TO bear at Westminster and de-
feated Them The law OF supply and demand
was recognized Efforts were made 20 abolish
overtime working ana 20 limit the number OF APP
nren,ices An emigration fund was formed. 10
ra,iave the congestion OF ovcrcrowded popula-
,,ons. and strikes were depored. discouraged,
,orhidden The public was invited 10 inspect the
workings OF the unions. The famous Amaiga-
mated Society of Engineers and similar organiza-
t,ons snrang into being. huge friendly. or nu-
tual-beneft societies accommodating large reserve
funds for the good OF their members Thus all
went on well until ls5b-'57. when hard times pre-
vailed. with strikes which the unions, powercss
N nreyent. were at last constrained to support.
Tho result Of the strikes was drawn battle;
hut the unions learned through them valuable
lesson.
=, ,,as seen that better organization was needed.
otter tho model OF the Amalgamated Society OF
Engineers and to effect such organization there
arose that remarkable group Of leaders known az
the Junta. composed OF William Allan. Robert
Ann,eearth. Daniel Guile Edwin Coulson and
coorga Odper OF these the frst two were the
dominant spirits Allan sought to transform the
nro,eesional labor agitator into the industrious
f,rc,,onarv Of business corporation. while
Ann,eparth devoted himself 10 the task OF secur-
ing for the trade unions a recognized political
.na soc,aI stains Trade councils were estab-
usbed employment and relief bureaus. and all
,ha machinery of great mutual benefit societies.
organ,,ed labor became for the first time a po-
utical force. also, and made It's voice heard with
or.ct AZ Westminster II Is difficult to realize
how much. even as late as 1863, the law dis
or,r,inated against the wage-earner. For breach
~ contract of service an employer could merely
no sued for damages but the employe was liable
N he imprisoned for three months. master
sued by a servant could be a witness In his own
behalf but servant prosecuted by his master
was incompetent to testify. Against these and
similar gross inequties the unonists worked
persstently. until in 1867 they won great legs-
lative victory remedying the most fragrant in
Justice Of the law. In all these efforts, 1t may
be observed they were opposed by the Old Union
lists. who had been New Untonists under Owen.
and who now under such professional strike
mongers as George Potter, sought only agitation
and strife The latter did little harm. however,
and the Junta led unions steadily prospered until
about 1866 Then league Of employers
formed against them, and extensive lockouts Of
union men prevailed There were purely "sympa-
thetic' lockouts. too. just as we nowadays have
sympathetic strikes" Consequently industry
was paralyzed and trade was Frustrated. The