The Connecticut labor news., 1922-02-03

have far more idealsm and fine religious
 fervor than many an ecclesiastical gath
 ering 1 have attended.
 Between the annual meetings of the congress, the various trade unions have
 hitherto been somewhat loosely held to-
 gether by the Parliamentary Commit tee' rather ineffective and powerless organization of elected representatives. Besides this official body, there was the
 Triple Alliance" of Railway, Transpor-
 tation, and Mine unions, which broke down under the fierce test of the miners strike or lockout. But now the unions are setting to work to effect a strong and efficient consolidation of their scat tered forces, and I witnessed the creation
 of the first executive committee or coun cil gifted with some effective authority
 and power, which IS to represent the
 whole trade union movement between sessions of the congress. It was pro-
 posed to go a step further and elect a president or executive chief who should become the audible voice and visible |
 head of Trade Unionism throughout the
 land But the English as a race believe
 in the motto, "Festina 1ente"-"Make
 haste slowly" They go but one step at
 a time and try out the ground ahead be-
 fore they put down the next foot. But
 the choosing of such a head will be the
 next forward step. And soon all the forces of the trade union organization will be mobilized and unified for far
 more effective action than it has ever been capable of in the past. What has Trade Unionism in England accomplished so far for the organized workers and for the whole mass of
 British Labor? Its achievement is hard to sum up in a few words. It has to its credit much most wholesome industrial
 legislation. through some of 1t may be
 adjudged unwise by some critics, but far
 less, probably, than among us, among whom the most of such legislation is the nasty and ill-considered work of political demagogues, rather than the carefully thought-out result of economic study and investigation, as it is in England It has lifted the standard of living for vast
 masses of the toilers. But best of all, 1t has given the worker some self-expres-
 sion. some realization of himself as a
 personality; a human being and not a
 mere tool of production. It has made labor something more than commodity
 like ore or cotton or any other raw ma terial in manufacture. It has given the
 toier some voice as to the conditions and
 rewards of his toll. It has established
 some measure of industrial democracy.
 Let me cite few illustrations of these
 points.
 In Lancashire where the textile in-
 dustry of England is largely concentrat- 1
 ed, ninety-eight per cent of the textile |
 workers are organized. Conditions, hours l
 and wages, are determined for the whole l
 industry by a joint agreement of repre- |
 sentatives of the associated employers l
 and of the textile unions. Now no en-
 ployer in that industry may say, as some |
 American employers say, My business
 is my own and nobody's else. 1 will de-
 ter1nine all the conditions of my business The Lancashire textile employer has one of two choices Only-to accept the stand l ard established throughout the industry
 or go into some other business. If a weaver at his 1oom doing piece
 work, Is dissatisfied with his earnings, he calls in two experts-one appointed
 by the union, another by the association of manufacturers. If, after watching
 him at his work, they decide that he IS | ineXpert or inefficient, he must accept his reduced earnings. If they decide that the l machine is obsolete or not up to stand ard, the manufacturer is fined and re-
 quired to put in a new machine. Labor organization has won the almost
 universal recognition of the unions and the acceptance of collective bargaining
 on the part of the employers. At one of our conferences, two prom
 inent English employers were present, ,-l one the head of an immense cocoa and 1 chocolate business, the other the head of
 an electrical corporation corresponding to
 our General Electric. We asked, What | Is your attitude towards the man who ! joins a union?" The answer came at
 1 once, ''Why, If a man has guts and