The sun., 1901-12-18
BRIrAN'S TRADE HANDICAP.
,,p,I OF UNIONS POLICY or
.BrSTRICTTON or OUTPUT"

How LABOR " hete FApBNo
IN ENGLAND --Enecs on shipbuild'ng.
,oxpox, Dec. The grave internal peril
-stch IN bringing disaster to industrial
..d commercial England - the subject
= . scr,ee OF Remarkable articles published
nv the Timss during tho past few days
Ths I,ritish trade union policy OF resue-
.,on Of output which makes OF the brit'sh
-orhman . losfer and malingerer. was
n,,lv and oandidly discussed In several
,s1,sr, by the present wrttsr In the columns
- THs Sun last wintsr. In The course OF
o.,.idersbls commsut upon the subject
Ss,ch tbess lettsrs provoked II vss 90
..sIonally objected that II VS. hardly
...dible that Q policy % absurdiy short
sIsh,sd. 40 suicidal in its tendency, could
~ deljber ately defended by the industrial
.,.,on. of Great Britain. It came - a
s.v.l.tion 70 many Americans 70 learn
.s.t nv reaeon OF the fact that the British
,,.Ss unionist does not work dn the Amer'-
o.n sense Of the word) for his wages, the
nth Ia that labor 10 much more expensive
q, England than In the United States.
7, has como 70 be more generally recog-
r,,ed to-day that tho true measure OF
the cost OF labor Ia not tho rate OF wages
hut the cost Of accomplishment. An
American brcklayer who at wage OF
4, laws 1000 bricks a day II obviously less
sxpensiye than his English eo-easy fellow
yho for 81 lays $50 or zoo bricks. The
Times indictment Of this dangerous feature
~ Rritish trade unionism is even more
ssvere and more detailed In its example
.nd proof than was tho expose In THE
ARM A wear ago. Tho Ttnpes says In efiect
that the danger to Great Britain and Its
nrosperity from this cause is greater than
from any other source. Moreover, there
/, a vet no sign that the gigantic fallacy
On which this policy Is based is under
stood by the industrial classes. or. II under
stood. that Il will be abandoned. In other
words, the handioapping Of British industry
dsscribed in THE suH a year ago and the
ouportunitiee for the growth OF Ameri-
can trade at British expense still exist.
Most OF the results OF the Timss invesd-
ration are identical with those which The
Sun has presented. In dealing With
shipbulding and boilermaking. however
the 7Smss writer brings out some facts
which should have especial interest in
America Just now. He says:
with boilermaking u associated iron
snd steel shipbuilding. and In neither
branch OF industry does freedom OF en-
pIoyment exist, while restrictions Of all
iinds are the order OF the day. 1t Ii. for
example, no unusual thing for foremen who
seek 10 promote the interests Of their en-
ployers to receive letters telling them that,
II they persist In doing certain things. they
will have 70 render an account TO the union
70 which they are compelled to belong;
and there are numeTout instances In which
foremen who hsve given orders to the
workmen during the day have had to ap-
pear before those very same workmen at q
meeting Of the society In the evening. and
receive Judgment at their hands for some
thing or other Of which the men have dis
approved. How In these conditions dis
cipline can be maintained, II 10 difAcult to
imagine. At present the men are prac-
tcally supreme. They are the most highly
paid and they are the most irregular workers
Of any In the whole trade. Riveters could
make fi day II they really tried, but they
are content to earn from 17s. TO lis. and.
a the eject Of their high pay, at least
one-third Of their time Ia wilfully lost. On
the Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday
especially after each pay day. the streets
and the public house, In the shipbuildine
centres will be filed with idle men. and the
monthly report OF their society Ii most
persistent In exhortinR the men to give W
their dissolute habits and respect their en-
ployers' interests by keeping at work.
Even whom they are at work the amount
Of their output Ia less than 1t should be-
al. <xaptrnl fha rt,a1hipaa
and they resist the Introduction OF the new
tools and methods which are now almost
universal In the United States. There are
certain machines. for instance, which are
being introduced into American ship
building yards at the rate Of roo per month
but. when IL In sought 70 establish then
here, objections will be raised either TO theii
beins used at all or TO their being worked
by the same class of men ~ on the Other
side of the Atlantic. while, II II II agreed q
uss th. nachina~, the output viii be re-
strict.d 10 the same amount NJ would b.
done by hand. and the demand will IL made
not ouly that the same rate ~ pay shAl
h. given bu, that the sane number of mer
shall ~ put Vn A. n the work were bcinS
done by hand. the RESULT bsins that ons
nan IN Tires will have nothing 10 do but
watch too others DO tho work In ths
United States tho ure II theee very ma.
ehina. ~nabss the shipbuildefu "a eject 4
sanIs = from w 90 ~ Ter cent ia the ous'
u lAlpf Here. ostns ~ ths Tas,Itotlon'
impu,ssi tl,fr viii ~ Bo saving ~ all
'NLat siih tho NGsta/of time by tll--s
sltsHru's IT The bnt.sh slipbulliins yaTds
AZ shat pilh ,hs Restrictions imposei
o. 'hsif output when they are ~ ~oIk u
O." surpflsins a. nDd that l0ns dnlay,
spinr'.uY- oos'uf in ths sIeouli0n n ufdaIs
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