Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1925-02-20

bN International lAhar News Service.
New York Cl,y, Feb. ls.-=Can-
pared WITH gbv total uumhsjs ot wage
earnefs IN thls country. sradc union
strength Is measured by its member
ship was relatively salcc n great Ia
1920 a. IN 1910, according - a fspor,
Just issued hy the National Bureau vi
Economic Resvanh. New York. under
the tlglr The Growth Of American
TRACE Union, 1880 1928 John Z,
fitA. editpr Of the Moldefs' Journal
and president ot the Ohio state fed-
Grafton ot Labor, Is president Of the
National Bureau Of Economic Re
seafeh, lus.. which Is an organization
for impartial investigation.
The rate Ct growth during the
decade, lelo-laao. this report shows.
was approximately the same whether
membership IS compared With the in
tOs,flal sage-eatning population oi
the country nr with the combined in.
dustflsl and agricultural wage-earn-
ing population.
linton Growth Measured
In a copyrighted table that sum
manaes some Of the results ot this
exhaustive investigation upon which
nr. leo Molman and his ASSISTANTS,
under che general direction of nf,
Wesley C. Mitchell and nr. Edwin +
Gay, co-drectofs OF the National Bu,
reau If Economic Research, have been
engaged for over year, II Is shown
that at the ead Of the decade one
fifth Of the wage eatnets of the eoun
ny we're members of labor ofganiAa-
tions, whereas In 1910 something Ike
one tenth were 50 organized.
ln other words, la 1920, after ten
yeats Of very substantial growth IN
numbers, about fOur-h -hfthN ai the gon.
erai category Of wape Gamers we're
not members OF unions. The hgates
" 1920. 1910.
T'n, eTs."'''.'. "'s' ''' a6,osO 6s9 22.aO6.7iA
Trade Union men.
Per e,wf erpanised ls.7 9.AI
1870. 1910,
Total wage earn
els excluding -. a..
agriculture . ~, ,isnOT lp,A"s,afi
Trade union mem. 49,,
Per cent organized 2O.s i0.oI
Strength and Weakness Revealed
"Whiie these hRuiea are IN them
selves OF considerable interest the
bureaus report continues, Their tuii
kguihranee can not be- clear without
detailed inquiry into the sources 9i
union strength and weakness. sueh
| inquiry can be conducted only by d's.
covering the varying maRnllude oi
trade unionisin 10 the great aiviNivHs
of industry.
"3 has long been generally appre.
eiaied that labor organizations receive
their nrst impetus and make theif
most striking headwas among the 30.
called mnaual workers, those who
work In factories aud mines, ON talis
roads and buildingsi and that they
have their most retarded development,
among persons. sometimes deAcf@ea
az white collar workers who embrace
unionism late and slowly. This mp.
pears to be universally true. An eN.
animation OF the extent Of labor of.
ganizntions among these two types ol
employees in 1910 and 1920 shows thls
10 have been the case Ia the United
States as Wdl.
Manual Groups Lead
"While the percentage of total en-
Moves who are members Of unions -,
roughly. 20. al of the important man
ual labor groups stood far above this
level; and Ia 1910 when the general
percentage Of organization was hp.
proxmately 10, the same groups oi
manual laborers all showed a higher |
percentage Of organization. The total |
ne rcentage Of organization Is In both |
census wears considerably reduced by |
the absence Of many large labor or,
PanizationR In trade, professional /
service. clerical occupations, domestic |
and personal service, and public
service.
Membership in the manual wofkets
group represented almost rs aud 10
Der cent Of the wage earnefs IN those
groups in 1920 and 1910 whereas
among tho non-faetory
workers Wag in the same years less
than 5 and 2 per cent Of all persons
I'm those occupations. Growth, |
from 1910 10 1920, occurred IN All
groups, but II was greatest IN manu-.
featuring, transportation, clerical oc-
cupations. aud public service; although
Tho rsq in mining and in the building
trades was also considerable.
Variations Among Indus, Ties
"Dinerences In the extent Of organ
ization among the industries that com
priee these major divisions are quite
t.il,t,,, .pd az aippiheant as the